Gabriel clicked PAUSE. Seymour stared at the phone.

“Alexei Rozanov?”

Gabriel nodded.

“Perhaps you should play it from the beginning.”

“Actually, I think we should start at the end.”

Gabriel recued the file and clicked PLAY a second time.

“His name, Alexei. Tell me his name.”

“Grrrrr . . .”

“Sorry, Alexei, but I didn’t catch that.”

“Grimes . . .”

“Is that his last name?”

“Yes.”

“And his first name, Alexei? Tell me his first name?”

“Arthur.”

“Arthur Grimes—is that his name?”

“Yes.”

“Arthur Grimes of the Personnel and Security department of MI6 is a paid agent of Russian intelligence?”

“Yes.”

Next there was something that sounded very much like a gunshot. Gabriel tapped the PAUSE icon. Seymour closed his eyes.

At nine that morning a team from the A1A Branch of MI5 broke into the warehouse at 22 Thames Road in the Barking section of East London. They found no vehicles of any kind and no visible evidence to suggest a bomb had been constructed on the premises. Simultaneously, a second MI5 team entered the Internet café on Lord Street in Fleetwood. In a small stroke of good fortune, one of the employees on duty had worked the previous evening and recalled seeing a man and woman matching the descriptions of Quinn and Katerina. The employee also recalled which computer the couple had used. The MI5 team impounded the machine and loaded it onto a Royal Navy helicopter. It was expected to arrive in London no later than noon. Amanda Wallace had insisted that MI5’s computer lab handle the forensic search. Graham Seymour, for political reasons, had agreed to her demand.

“Where’s Grimes?” asked Gabriel.

“He entered the building a few minutes ago. A team is tearing apart his flat as we speak. It’s a rather tricky business. Grimes is their immediate superior.”

“How deep is his knowledge?”

“He’s involved in the vetting process for current and prospective MI6 officers.” Seymour glanced at Keller. “In fact, I spoke to him a few days ago about a special project that we would be undertaking soon.”

“Me?” asked Keller.

Seymour nodded. “Grimes also investigates allegations of security breaches, which means he’s in a perfect position to protect other Russian moles or spies. If he’s really on the SVR’s payroll, it’s going to be the biggest scandal for Western intelligence since Aldrich Ames.”

“Which is why you didn’t mention any of this to Amanda Wallace.”

Seymour said nothing.

“Would Grimes have known that Keller and I were staying at Wormwood Cottage?”

“He generally doesn’t deal with safe houses, but he certainly knows when someone important is staying in one of them. In any case,” Seymour added, “we’ll know in a few minutes whether he was the source of the leak.”

“How?”

“Yuri Volkov is going to tell us.”

“Who’s Volkov?”