'He's a slippery bastard,' I said. 'But I wouldn't deliver him to Morgan.'

'It might be him or you,' she said with that ruthless simplicity that women call feminine logic.

'It's not him or me yet. And it's not going to be him or me for a long time to come.'

'So you'll do nothing?'

'I haven't decided yet.'

'But how can it be Bret?' she asked. It was the beginning of the same circle of questions that whirled round in my head day and night. 'Bret takes your advice all the time. He's even agreed to moving Stinnes here from Berwick House at your suggestion.'

'Yes, he has,' I said.

'And you're having second thoughts about his coming here. I know you are. Are you worried that Bret might try to kill him or something?'

'At Berwick House they have guards and alarms and so on. They're not installed there solely to keep the inmates in; they keep nasty people out.'

'So send him back there.'

'He'll be here any minute.'

'Send him back tomorrow.'

'How can I do that? Think what a damned fool I'd look going into Bret's office, cap in hand, to tell him I've changed my mind about it.'

'And think what a damned fool you'd look if something happened to Stinnes.'

'I have thought about that,' I said with what I thought was masterful restraint.

She smiled. 'It is funny, darling. I'm sorry to laugh, but you have brought it on yourself by telling Bret how incompetent the Debriefing Centre staff are.'

'I'm wondering to what extent Bret manoeuvred me into that one,' I said.

She hooted. 'That'll be the day, beloved. When you're manoeuvred into one of your tirades.'

I smiled too. She was right, of course; I had walked right into this one, and the consequences were entirely of my own making.

She said, 'But if Bret is a KGB agent

'I've told you there's nothing…'

'But let's play "if",' she persisted. 'He's placed himself into a wonderful position of power.' She hesitated.

Her hesitation was because any conjecture about Bret and Stinnes inevitably made me look a fool. 'Go on,' I said.

'If Bret Rensselaer is a KGB agent, he's done everything just right. He's been pushed into taking over the Stinnes debriefing without showing any desire to get the job. Now he's going to isolate the best intelligence source we've had for years and do it at your suggestion. All the Stinnes intelligence will pass through him, and if anything goes wrong, he has you as the perfect scapegoat.' She looked at me but I didn't react. 'Suppose Bret Rensselaer knows you have the photocopy of that Cabinet memo? Did you think of that, Bernard? Maybe Moscow knows what's happened. If he's a KGB agent, they would have told him.'

'I did think of that,' I admitted.

'Oh, Bernard, darling. I'm so frightened.'

'There's nothing to be frightened about.'

'I'm frightened for you, darling.'

I heard the apartment front door bang and an exchange of voices as Ted Riley let Stinnes step past him into the hallway and then double-locked the door.

I let go of Gloria and said, 'Hello, Ted.'

Ted Riley said, 'Sorry we're late. Those bloody Berwick House people can't even understand their own paperwork.' He went across to the window and closed the curtains. Ted was right of course; I should have kept them closed when the lights were on. We were high in the sky and not overlooked, but a sniper's rifle could do the job all right. And Moscow would think Stinnes worth that kind of trouble.

Erich Stinnes watched us with solemn and sardonic respect. Even when he was introduced to Gloria his reaction was a polite smile and a bow in the German fashion. Over his grey suit he wore a stiffly new raincoat and a soft felt hat, its brim turned down all round in a way that made him look very foreign.

'You'll probably be anxious to get away to your gut-bash,' said Riley, throwing his coat onto a chair and looking at his watch.

'It won't be crowded,' I said. 'It's just a little family place.' Stinnes looked up, realizing that I was warning him not to expect a banquet. My available expenses did not extend to a lavish treat, and with Gloria along, the modest dinner for three was going to have to sound like a big dinner for two if I was going to reclaim it all.

Before we left I took Stinnes upstairs to show him his study. There was a small desk there with an electric typewriter and a pile of paper. On the wall there was a map of the world and over his desk a map of Russia. There was a shelf of assorted books – mostly Russian-language books including some fiction and English-Russian and English-German dictionaries. On his desk there was the current copy of The Economist and some English and German newspapers. There was a small shortwave radio receiver too, a Sony 2001 with preset and scan tuning. Instead of using batteries it was plugged into the mains via a power adapter and I warned him that if he unplugged it there was a danger that the adapter would burn out, but he seemed to know that already. Not surprising since the 2001 had long since been standard issue for KGB agents.

'Eventually you'll be able to go out alone,' I told him. 'But for the time being, Ted Riley will have to accompany you wherever you want to go. But if he says no, it's no. Ted's in charge.'

'You have gone to a lot of trouble, Samson,' Stinnes said as he surveyed the room. The suspicion that was to be seen in his eyes was in his voice too.

'It wasn't easy to arrange, so don't let me down,' I said. 'If you bolt, I'll get all the blame… all the blame.' I said it twice to emphasize the truth of it.

'I have no plans to bolt,' he said.

'Good,' I said, and we went downstairs to where Ted was unpacking his overnight bag and Gloria was holding the curtain aside, staring out at the London skyline. Bad security, but you can't live your entire life by rules and regulations. I know: I'd tried.

'We won't be late, Ted,' I promised.

Ted looked at Gloria who closed the curtains and put on her coat. Ted helped her into it. 'At midnight he turns into a frog,' he told her, indicating me with a movement of his head.

'Yes, I know, but he's seeing someone about it,' she said affably.

Ted laughed. He guessed that I'd asked for him to do this job and it seemed to have given him a new lease on life.

To entertain Erich Stinnes, my first choice would have been a German restaurant or, failing that, a place that served good Russian food. But London, almost alone among the world's great cities, has neither Russian nor German restaurants. Gloria suggested a Spanish place she knew in Soho, but my dislike of Spanish and Portuguese cooking is exceeded only by my dislike of the fiery stodge of Latin American. So we went to an Indian restaurant. Erich Stinnes needed guidance through the menu. It was an unusual admission; Stinnes was not the son of man who readily admitted to needing assistance in any circumstance, but he was a great ladies' man and I could see he liked having Gloria describe to him the difference between the peppery vindaloos and the milder kormas. Gloria was what gossip columnists call a 'foodie': she liked talking about food and discussing restaurants and recipes even more than she liked eating. So I let her order the whole spread, from the thick puree of dhal to crispy fried papadoms and the big bowl of boiled rice that conies decorated with nuts and dried fruit and edible bits of something that looks like silver paper.

I watched them, heads close together, as they went muttering their way through the long menu. For a moment I felt a pang of jealousy. Suppose Erich Stinnes was a KGB plant – I'd never entirely dismissed the idea, even when he was at his most cooperative – then what an extra laugh for Fiona if I lost my girlfriend to one of her field agents. Gloria was fascinated by him, I could see that. It was strange that this sallow-complexioned man with his hard face and balding head could attract women so effortlessly. It was his evident energy, of course, but now and again, when he thought I wasn't observing him, I could see signs of that energy nagging. Stinnes was growing tired. Or old. Or frightened. Or maybe all three. I knew the feeling.