so naturally to us British.
Anyway, Landau’s hackles went up in a flash.
‘Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?’ Johnny said.
‘If it’s all right by Ned,’ said Landau.
‘Of course it is,’ said Ned.
‘So we’re at the audio fair that night. Okay, pal?’
‘Well, evening really, Johnny.’
‘You escort the woman Yekaterina Orlova across the room to the top of the staircase. Where the guards are. You say goodbye to her.’
‘She’s holding my arm.’
‘She’s holding your arm, great. In front of the guards. You watch her down the stairs. Do you also watch her into the street, pal?’
I had not heard Johnny use ‘pal’ before, so I took it that he was trying to needle Landau somehow, a thing that Agency people learn from their in-house psychologists.
‘Correct,’ Landau snapped.
‘Right into the street? Pause and think,’ he suggested, with the attorney’s false expansiveness.
‘Into the street and out of my life.’
Johnny waited till he was sure everyone was aware that he was waiting, and Landau more aware than anybody. ‘Niki, pal, we’ve had people stand at the top of that staircase in the last twenty-four hours. No one sees the street from the top of that staircase.’
Landau’s face darkened. Not in embarrassment. In anger. ‘I saw her walk down the stairs. I saw her cross the lobby to where the street is. She did not return. So unless somebody has moved the street in the last twenty-four hours, which I grant you under Stalin was always possible –’
‘Let’s go on, shall we?’ said Ned.
‘See anyone walk out after her?’ Johnny asked, riding Landau a little harder.
‘Down the stairs or into the street?’
‘Both, pal. Both.’
‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t see her go into the street, did I, because you just told me I didn’t. So why don’t you answer the questions and I’ll ask them?’
While Johnny sat idly back, Ned intervened. ‘Niki, some things have to be very carefully examined. There’s a lot at stake and Johnny has his orders.’
‘I’m at stake too,’ said Landau. ‘My word’s on the line and I don’t like having it made a fool of by an American who’s not even British.’
Johnny had returned to the file. ‘Niki, will you please describe the security arrangements for the fair, as you yourself observed them?’
Landau took a tense breath. ‘Well then,’ he said, and started again. ‘We had these two young uniformed policemen hanging about the hotel lobby. Those are the boys who keep the lists of all the Russians who come and go, which is normal. Then upstairs inside the hall we had the nasties. Those are the plainclothes boys. The dawdlers, they call them, the toptuny ,’ he added for Johnny’s enlightenment. ‘After a couple of days you know the toptuny by heart. They don’t buy, they don’t steal the exhibits or ask for freebies and there’s always one of them with the butter-blond hair, don’t ask me why. We had three boys and they didn’t change all week. They were the ones who watched her go down the stairs.’
‘That everyone, pal?’
‘As far as I know it is everyone but I’m waiting to be told I’m wrong.’
‘Were you not also aware of two ladies of indeterminate age, grey-haired persons who were also present every day of the fair, came early, left late, who also didn’t buy, didn’t enter negotiations with any of the standholders or exhibitors, or appear to have any legitimate purpose for attending the fair?’
‘You’re talking about Gert and Daisy, I suppose.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘There was two old biddies from the Council of Libraries. They came for the beer. Their main pleasure was whipping brochures off the stands and cadging free handouts. We christened them Gert and Daisy after a certain British radio show popular in the war years and after.’
‘It did not occur to you that these ladies might also be performing a surveillance function?’
Ned’s powerful hand was already out to restrain
Anyway, Landau’s hackles went up in a flash.
‘Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?’ Johnny said.
‘If it’s all right by Ned,’ said Landau.
‘Of course it is,’ said Ned.
‘So we’re at the audio fair that night. Okay, pal?’
‘Well, evening really, Johnny.’
‘You escort the woman Yekaterina Orlova across the room to the top of the staircase. Where the guards are. You say goodbye to her.’
‘She’s holding my arm.’
‘She’s holding your arm, great. In front of the guards. You watch her down the stairs. Do you also watch her into the street, pal?’
I had not heard Johnny use ‘pal’ before, so I took it that he was trying to needle Landau somehow, a thing that Agency people learn from their in-house psychologists.
‘Correct,’ Landau snapped.
‘Right into the street? Pause and think,’ he suggested, with the attorney’s false expansiveness.
‘Into the street and out of my life.’
Johnny waited till he was sure everyone was aware that he was waiting, and Landau more aware than anybody. ‘Niki, pal, we’ve had people stand at the top of that staircase in the last twenty-four hours. No one sees the street from the top of that staircase.’
Landau’s face darkened. Not in embarrassment. In anger. ‘I saw her walk down the stairs. I saw her cross the lobby to where the street is. She did not return. So unless somebody has moved the street in the last twenty-four hours, which I grant you under Stalin was always possible –’
‘Let’s go on, shall we?’ said Ned.
‘See anyone walk out after her?’ Johnny asked, riding Landau a little harder.
‘Down the stairs or into the street?’
‘Both, pal. Both.’
‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t see her go into the street, did I, because you just told me I didn’t. So why don’t you answer the questions and I’ll ask them?’
While Johnny sat idly back, Ned intervened. ‘Niki, some things have to be very carefully examined. There’s a lot at stake and Johnny has his orders.’
‘I’m at stake too,’ said Landau. ‘My word’s on the line and I don’t like having it made a fool of by an American who’s not even British.’
Johnny had returned to the file. ‘Niki, will you please describe the security arrangements for the fair, as you yourself observed them?’
Landau took a tense breath. ‘Well then,’ he said, and started again. ‘We had these two young uniformed policemen hanging about the hotel lobby. Those are the boys who keep the lists of all the Russians who come and go, which is normal. Then upstairs inside the hall we had the nasties. Those are the plainclothes boys. The dawdlers, they call them, the toptuny ,’ he added for Johnny’s enlightenment. ‘After a couple of days you know the toptuny by heart. They don’t buy, they don’t steal the exhibits or ask for freebies and there’s always one of them with the butter-blond hair, don’t ask me why. We had three boys and they didn’t change all week. They were the ones who watched her go down the stairs.’
‘That everyone, pal?’
‘As far as I know it is everyone but I’m waiting to be told I’m wrong.’
‘Were you not also aware of two ladies of indeterminate age, grey-haired persons who were also present every day of the fair, came early, left late, who also didn’t buy, didn’t enter negotiations with any of the standholders or exhibitors, or appear to have any legitimate purpose for attending the fair?’
‘You’re talking about Gert and Daisy, I suppose.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘There was two old biddies from the Council of Libraries. They came for the beer. Their main pleasure was whipping brochures off the stands and cadging free handouts. We christened them Gert and Daisy after a certain British radio show popular in the war years and after.’
‘It did not occur to you that these ladies might also be performing a surveillance function?’
Ned’s powerful hand was already out to restrain
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