Werner said, 'Stinnes says he's frightened of this man Pavel. He says Pavel is desperate to get back to Moscow and that his only way of doing that is to get back into favour. Stinnes is frightened that Pavel will make trouble at the first opportunity.'

'It sounds like a cosy chat, Werner. He said he's frightened?' Stinnes was not the type who was easily frightened, and certainly not the type to say so.

'Not like I'm telling you,' said Werner. 'It was all wrapped up in euphemisms and double-meanings but the meaning was clear.'

'What is the end result?'

'He wants to talk to you but it's got to be somewhere completely safe. Somewhere that can't be bugged or have witnesses hidden.'

'For instance?'

'Biedermann's boat. He'll meet my contact on Biedermann's boat, he says.'

'That sounds sensible,' I said. 'You did well, Werner.'

'Sensible for him, but not so sensible for you.'

'Why?'

'Are you crazy? He's sure to have Biedermann with him. They'll cruise out into the Pacific and dump you over the side. They'll say you had cramp while swimming. The local cops are sure to be in Biedermann's pocket, and so is the local doctor who'll issue a death certificate, if that's the way they decide to play it.'

'You've got my demise all worked out, haven't you, Werner?'

'If you're too stupid to see the danger for yourself, then it's as well I spell it out for you.'

'I don't see them going to all that trouble to do something that can be more easily achieved by a hit-and-run traffic accident as I hurry across the Reforma one morning.'

'Of course, I don't know what kind of back-up you'll be arranging. For all I know you'll have a Royal Navy frigate out there, with a chopper keeping you on radar. I realize you don't tell me everything.'

There were times when Werner could drive me to the point of frenzy. 'You know as well as I do that I tell you all you need to know. And if I'm going out to meet Stinnes on this bloody boat I won't even be carrying my Swiss army knife… Royal Navy frigate… Good God, Werner, the ideas you come up with.' Below us the guitar player sang:

… Only the winner is respected.

That's why life is worth nothing in Guanajuato…

'Do whatever you want,' said Werner mournfully. 'I know you won't take my advice. You never have in the past.'

I seem to have spent half my life listening to Werner handing out advice. And engraved on my memory there was a long list of times when I heartily regretted taking it. But I didn't tell him this. I said, 'I'll be all right, Werner.'

'You think you're all right,' said Werner. 'You think you're all right because your wife defected to the Russians. But that doesn't make you any safer, Bernie.'

I didn't understand what he was getting at. 'Make me safer? What do you mean?'

'I never got along with Fiona, I'll admit that any time. But it was more because of her attitude than because of mine. When you married her I was ready to be friends. You know that, Bernie.'

'What are you trying to say, Werner?'

'Fiona works for the KGB nowadays. Well, I'm not saying she's going to send a KGB hit team after the father of her children. But don't imagine you will enjoy complete immunity for ever and ever. That's not the way the KGB work, you know that, Bernie.'

'Isn't it?'

'You're on different sides now, you and Fiona. She's working against you, Bernie. Remember that always. She'll always be working against you.'

'You're not saying that Fiona sent Stinnes to Mexico in the hope that you might come here on holiday? Instead of going to Spain, for which you'd already booked tickets when you read in Time magazine about Mexico being even cheaper. That she did that because she hoped you would spot Stinnes and report it to London Central. Then she figured that they would send me here with an offer to enrol him. I mean that would be a lot of "ifs", wouldn't it? She'd have to be a magician to work that one out in advance, wouldn't she?'

'You like to make me sound ridiculous,' said Werner. 'It makes you feel good, doesn't it?'

'Yes, it does. And since you like to feel sorry for yourself we have the perfect symbiotic relationship.' It was getting warmer in the morning sunshine, and the sweet scents of the flowers hung in the air. And yet these were not the light, fresh smells of Europe's countryside. The flowers were big and brightly coloured; the sort of blooms that eat insects in slow motion in nature films on TV. And the heavy cloying perfumes smelled like an airport duty-free shop.

'I'm simply saying what's obvious. That you mustn't think that you'll continue to have a charmed life just because Fiona is working for them.'

'Continue to have? What do you mean?'

Werner leaned forward. 'Fiona made sure nothing happened to you during all those years when she was an active agent inside London Central. That's what you said yourself. It's no good denying it; you told me that, Bernard. You told me just after they let you go.'

'I said maybe she had a deal like that.'

'But she's not going to be doing that any more. She's running Stinnes – and whatever he's doing with Biedermann – from a desk in East Berlin. Moscow is going to be watching every move she makes, and she's got to show them that she's on their side. Even if she wanted to protect you she'd not be allowed to. If you go out on Paul Biedermann's boat with the idea that nothing can happen to you, because the KGB will play it the way Fiona wants, you might not come back.'

'Well, perhaps this would be a good chance to find out what the score is,' I said. 'I'll go out on the boat with Stinnes and see what happens.'

'Well, don't say you weren't told,' said Werner.

I didn't want to argue, especially not with Werner. He was worried for my safety, even if he was clucking like a mother hen. But I was nervous about what Stinnes could have in store for me. And Werner, voicing my fears, was making me twitchy. My argument with Werner was an attempt to allay my own fears but the more we argued the less convincing I sounded. 'Put yourself in his place, Werner,' I said. 'Stinnes is doing exactly what you or I would do. He is reserving his position, asking for more information, and playing it very safe. He doesn't care whether we will find it easy or convenient to rendezvous on Biedermann's boat. If we don't overcome our reservations, our fears and our difficulties he'll know we're not serious.'

Werner pushed his lower lip forward as if in thought. And then, to consolidate this reflective pose, he pinched his nose between thumb and forefinger while closing his eyes. It was a more elaborate version of the faces he'd pulled at school when trying to remember theorems. 'I'll go with you,' he said. It was a noble concession; Werner hated boats of any shape or size.

'Would Stinnes permit that?'

'I'll just turn up there. We'll say you had trouble with the traffic cops. We'll say they wanted a notarized affidavit from the legal owner of the car you're using. That's the law here. We'll say you couldn't get one, so I had to drive you in my car.'

'Will he believe that?' I said.

'He'll think the cops were trying to wring a big bribe from you -it's common for cops to stop cars with foreigners in and demand a bribe from the driver – and he'll think you were too dumb to understand what they really wanted.'

'When is this meeting to be?'

'Tomorrow. Okay?'

'Fine.'

'Very early.'

'I said okay, Werner.'

'Because I have to phone him and confirm.'

'Codes or anything?'

'No, he just wants me to phone and say if my friend will be able to go on the fishing trip.'

'Good. A lot of mumbo-jumbo with codes would have made me uneasy. It's the way the Moscow desk men would want it done.'