Epilogue

An anonymous office somewhere in central London approx thirty hours later.

"These are very good Peterson. Yes I can see them being most useful. You weren't spotted? You are sure of that aren't you? This must remain between us for now."

"Yes sir, for a man of his reputation Mr. Pearce was surprising easy to follow, he" and here the man laughed quietly "He seemed to have his mind on other matters. He never once checked to see if he was being followed or did even a visual sweep of his surroundings as they were sat outside the café. And when they began to dance I would hazard a guess that he was not taking any notice of anyone or anything other than his companion."

"Yes, yes I see that. After all the evidence is here in front of me. Did you manage to get any surveillance equipment in their rooms? "

Peterson explained that he had thought that planting anything in their rooms would have been too risky as all the rooms occupied by Section D were routinely swept twice a day. Here he'd made some fatuous remark about "Entente Cordial" being alive and well and living in Paris laughing at his own wit. The silence that greeted his flippant remark was tangible and for maybe the first time he looked, really looked at the man across the desk. The naked look of disdain and loathing was there albeit briefly before the man joined in the hollow laughter, smiling but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

He continued masking his growing discomfort as best he could "Can I ask how you knew that something was going on. How you knew they were a couple Sir? I'd heard that they were close, that he paid heed to her advice, that she was brilliant but no one ever intimated that it went further than that. In fact just lately the gossip was that their friendship was cooling. That they were much more formal with each other,"

"God you youngsters!" barked the man sitting across the desk from him "I along with Harry was a spy while you and your colleagues were in nappies, and I hazard a guess that you were still in short trousers while we were risking our lives operating in the old Soviet Block. We were real spies! None of this namby pamby nonsense that prevails these days. I watch people Peterson, I gather intelligence and store it up here." Here he tapped his head. "You'd be surprised what people give away without even being aware they have. A glance here, a softer word there. Leaping to the defence of a junior officer a little too quickly. Hanging about in the corridor on the off chance that the self same junior officer might just happen to be walking your way. Meetings on a bench by the Thames just a little too often for them not to be planned. I could go on."

"Can I ask Sir are you responsible for Miss Evershed joining Section D in Paris when Mr. Pearce specifically ordered her to stay in London? And just how did you manage that?"

"Aggh that." And here the man's voice could only be described as sneering. "Politicians my young friend as just so predictable. Walking egos most of them. It's well known that the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary despise each other. Just a word here and there about the Home Secretary's team for the talks not being up to speed, not being as strong as the one the Foreign Office was taking and hey presto! Miss Evershed is on the plane before Harry got even a sniff of it. And then just a little manipulation back here in London to throw up something that Harry would need the fragrant Miss Evershed's help with, that and a good pinch of kismet and mission accomplished!"

"Now tell me Peterson what's the latest state of play? Where are our subjects now?"

"Well as you know Sir, Mr. Pearce travelled back on the plane with the official party and he and Miss Evershed rode back to the Grid together in his official car. When the rest of the team arrived back there was a quick preliminary de-briefing and then he sent the whole team home with instructions to take twenty fours off, Red Flashes permitting. Miss Evershed left with the rest of team, Mr. Pearce staying on for a couple more hours."

"And where are they now?"

"Well Mr. Pearce went home briefly, emerging with an overnight bag. He got into his car and drove to Miss Evershed's address stopping on the way to pick up a couple of bottles of wine and a Chinese take away. He's still there. The latest intel is that all the downstairs lights are out and about fifteen minutes ago Miss Evershed's bedroom light went out. If I had to hazard an opinion I would say he was staying the night."

"And all this can be verified? There is hard evidence to back this up? I want all the latest on my desk tomorrow morning. And the surveillance carries on until I say otherwise. And Peterson this goes no further. If I hear just one whisper about this I will hold you personally responsible." Here the voice took on a menacing, sardonic tone "And you don't want that do you? Now go get out of my sight."

Peterson stopped, his hand grasping the door knob, taking a deep breath and summoning up all his courage he turned to face the man across the desk "Just one more thing Sir if you'll allow me?" Having received a curt nod of agreement he quickly carried on before his courage failed him "Why are we gathering this intel? I thought that Harry Pearce was above reproach, was a loyal as they come, was dedicated to the service. So why?"

"Because you moron, knowledge is power! Now I repeat, get out of my sight. Now!"

As he walked down the obscure corridor Peterson reflected that he may very well have just made the biggest mistake of his life. He'd been flattered to be approached by the man he'd left in the office and had readily agreed to his requests without giving much thought to the consequences...but now. He now realised that he was in very muddy waters and that he'd have to take steps to protect himself. He suddenly felt very dirty.

When he was alone the man poured himself a large brandy and poured over the photographs in front of him sipping the drink he said to the air in the room.

" Ever the romantic eh Harry?I knew if I waited long enough I'd find a way in. A way to bring you to heel. Well Harry Pearce let the games begin!"