‘Do you think he was susceptible, given his erratic personal behaviour, to some kind of foreign approach?’

‘Ian?’ She shook her head. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. The idea would terrify him. The consequences – even the thought of them – would literally make him pee his pants. If you want an able administrator, a brilliant diplomat, a mind capable of seeing around corners, then, my God, he is your man. But if you want bravery or principle, then forget it. It takes a peculiar kind of courage to betray your country – and, believe me, Ian does not have that.’

‘I presume you know that the word among some foreign services is that, at the time of your New York posting, you were a probable KGB agent?’

‘Ah! Now I see it.’ She leant back again and crossed her legs once more. ‘You mean the CIA, of course. And, yes, I am well aware of the file they have on me at Langley and so are my employers. I suppose your theory is that I recruited Ian while we were in New York together.’

‘It’s one possibility,’ Kate said.

Eva snorted with what appeared to be genuine incredulity. ‘And so, having recruited him, I arranged that we should both be posted to Santiago at the same time – a fact easily confirmed by even the most casual survey of your internal files, I am sure – making me the most incompetent KGB officer in the history of the organization? Is that really your working theory?’

Now it was Kate’s turn to lean forward. ‘No,’ she said emphatically. ‘Which is why I’m here. I don’t think Ian has the courage to betray his country either. But I need to be sure. Completely, absolutely certain.’

‘You’re hunting a mole,’ Eva said.

‘I can’t tell you what we’re doing.’

‘And you came all this way to strike him out?’

‘I’m following every lead I can.’

Eva was silent for a long time. Eventually, she nodded. ‘In that case, I can help. Ian Granger is many things – able diplomat, as I have said, capable intelligence officer, liar, cheat, adulterer. But I would stake my life on the fact that he is not a Moscow stooge. You will need to look elsewhere.’

She stood abruptly. ‘I’m sure you can see yourselves out. I’ll know where to find you when that favour falls due.’

20

THEY WERE SILENT in the back of the taxi until Kate finally roused herself. ‘I’m going to need a tour of central Prague, on foot. Pick a route where we move from crowds to empty streets and back again.’

Callum looked confused. ‘What do you want to see?’

‘I don’t care.’

‘You’re interested in art, history, music?’

‘I don’t give a damn what you show me. I think we were being followed by two cars playing tag from the airport and one of them – the grey Prius – is behind us again.’ Callum was about to turn around when Kate prevented him. ‘Don’t look back.’