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Back A Shadow Intelligence Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Also by Oliver Harris
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. TWENTY-NINE
  32. THIRTY
  33. THIRTY-ONE
  34. THIRTY-TWO
  35. THIRTY-THREE
  36. THIRTY-FOUR
  37. THIRTY-FIVE
  38. THIRTY-SIX
  39. THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. THIRTY-NINE
  42. FORTY
  43. FORTY-ONE
  44. FORTY-TWO
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. FORTY-FOUR
  47. FORTY-FIVE
  48. FORTY-SIX
  49. FORTY-SEVEN
  50. FORTY-EIGHT
  51. FORTY-NINE
  52. FIFTY
  53. FIFTY-ONE
  54. FIFTY-TWO
  55. FIFTY-THREE
  56. FIFTY-FOUR
  57. FIFTY-FIVE
  58. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

‘No. I work with the consular section of the Russian embassy. I’ve told you this. I wish you’d really talk to me. This is a question we’ve asked ourselves: can you blackmail someone over something they didn’t actually do? Perhaps the question is, can someone feel shame over something they didn’t do? What do you think?’

‘I don’t feel ashamed because someone is trying to play games with me.’

‘Are you ashamed of the things you do while you are someone else?’

‘Shall we cut the philosophy? I thought you wanted to know what’s going on. Perfect Vision.’

That got him attentive. ‘Indeed.’

‘First tell me: is Joanna Lake working for you?’

‘Not for me personally. Whether she’s working for anyone else, I’d like to know.’

‘If she’s in Russia, just tell me and I’ll clear off.’

‘Not as far as we’re aware. What she was working on?’

‘Next time, Sergei.’

‘You’ve got a day, by my reckoning. You know where the Russian embassy is: Aleksandr Barayev Street. You’ll be safe there. We can get you out of here, start making sense of things.’

‘This isn’t the cold war.’

‘You don’t need an ideology to defect, just a life. I was sorry to hear about Hugh Stevenson.’

I grabbed his arm as he got up to leave. A bottle fell from the table and smashed. People turned.

‘What’s happened?’ I said. ‘The question I’d be asking is: what hasn’t happened? Why are you still alive?’

I pulled him back into the booth, got my fingers around his larynx. His protection detail moved in.

‘What’s happened to Hugh Stevenson?’

‘I’m trying to save you,’ he gasped. I released him. He gathered himself together, then walked out, followed by his team.

FORTY

I searched online for news of Stevenson once I was out of the club. A BBC report had been published two hours ago: Body found on heath identified as senior government official.

The body of senior Foreign Office official Hugh Stevenson was spotted by a jogger on Hampstead Heath in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It is believed his wallet and phone were missing. The area, a notorious cruising spot, has seen two violent robberies in the past week. A police spokesperson has said that there are no immediate suggestions of any connection, but individuals are being warned to stay away from the area after dark. A government spokesperson has said that a full investigation is under way and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.