‘So you’d rather have a Russian spy running our country?’ Kate asked.

Ian faced her. ‘Well, first, we should be careful in our language. If we accept your theory, he isn’t a Russian spy but an agent of influence. Compromised, yes, if it were true, but unlikely to be doing much more than simply giving their arguments a fair hearing. And, much more importantly, there is absolutely not a shred of hard evidence that he is working for the Russians.’

‘That’s what they’re offering us,’ Kate said.

Sir Alan was sitting back in his chair, watching the pair of them fight this out.

‘It’s a trap, Kate. Surely you can see that. They’ve offered us some tasty bait again. We’ll be drawn in again. And then they’ll seek to embarrass and confuse us. Again. They hardly need to bother with any serious operations, these days, because we do all their work for them.’ Ian looked at them, waiting for a response, and, when he didn’t get one, simply ploughed on. ‘It’s too damned neat. Last time, they drop in the intelligence that our prime minister has prostate cancer. We don’t know this, so we discount it. Then, hey presto, he suddenly walks out into Downing Street to announce both his illness and resignation within twenty-four hours. We take this as clear evidence that the original operation was a stroke of genius and the intelligence it gleaned thus one hundred per cent genuine and correct. And the rest is history. Weeks of total chaos and confusion not just inside these four walls but in our country at large.’ Ian paused to draw breath. If his frustration was confected, it was very convincing. ‘And now here we go again. They offer us another juicy morsel. Proof, this time, in the form of some disgusting video of our new prime minister – and who can argue with that? It couldn’t possibly be faked – that the original intelligence was correct. They know Kate will be inclined to believe—’

‘Do not personalize this, Ian,’ Sir Alan said. ‘And that’s an order, not a request.’

‘But we’re going around the same mountain.’

‘Perhaps we are,’ Sir Alan said, ‘but if there is a video and a chance it proves that our prime minister is a liar, a traitor and a cheat, then we would be neglecting our duty if we failed to mount even a cursory investigation into its credibility. I have enough faith in our organization to believe us capable of determining whether a piece of video is faked or not.’

‘But that’s exactly the point. No one can ever determine that with one hundred per cent accuracy. So they’ve just put this fly out on the water, waiting for us to come up and swallow it whole, like a lazy trout.’ Fly-fishing was another of the new hobbies Ian liked to show off about, along with skiing, shooting and an apparently endless succession of Ironman competitions. He glanced at his watch. ‘Time is money’ was another of his favourite phrases. ‘I have to go or I’ll be late.’