As ever many thanks to those who read and the efforts of those who reviewed are much appreciated.
This is my attempt to explain the contradiction in Harry's martial status between S1 and S3. The parts in 1.6 when Jed referred to Harry having a wife and child were never broadcast, so I'm ignoring them.
May 4: 22.00pm: We still unclear as to Mary's exact plans re Sullivan. Various options have been examined with the returning team members following the Liverpool based observations. None of which have considered operationally acceptable.
a) We increase the current low key surveillance of Sullivan's flat and workplace hoping to intercept Mary Kane. Objection: She has already evaded us once and would almost certainly detect any heavier MI5 presence with the result that she moves on leaving us the problem of seeking a new lead with no clues as to who/what they might be.
b) Despite moving Sullivan to a safe house – confirmed by Helen Flynn who is acting as liaison between Sullivan and the Grid - we somehow persuade Sullivan to act as bait to draw Mary out. Objection: even if she agreed we can't guarantee her safety and she is a civilian.
c) We pull in the Goldsmiths and Barfield for further interrogation. Objection: Mary will almost certainly have contacts who would alert her to this resulting the scenario outlined in option a.
Zoe suggested an alternative to c) which was to approach Rachel Goldsmith again now she has had time to consider the implications of what she is involved in. Objection: that would be extremely difficult since ongoing monitoring of the family comms suggests that she is being escorted everywhere by either her husband or brother who have also id'd her as their weak link.
Further to the above, discussions between Tom Quinn and the CIA Liaison suggest that if we do not expedite the handover of Mary Kane our failure to do so will be escalated to diplomatic incident level.
The meeting was suspended at 21.30 hours as my officers were exhausted. My risk assessment was that Mary Kane was unlikely to make her move tonight, allowing us time to sleep on any decision. Malcolm Wynn Jones has reorganised Sullivan's computerised calendar to suggest that she has been called to an emergency meeting that necessitated her overnight absence from home this evening and workplace tomorrow. That gives us a twenty four hour window to decide upon our actions. In the event of us needing longer, a time period defined by the last few hours of Paul Kane's life, in order to avoid arousing suspicion we will either arrange for an officer to spend tomorrow night at Sullivan's flat to produce the illusion that it is inhabited, or Malcolm in the guise of a workman will set up some light and curtain commands that can be controlled remotely.
So overall two steps forward and one back as we still fumble in the dark with disparate views on how we proceed from here, assuming we can progress at all when faced with various blank walls. The team are working hard although Zoe quietly implied to me that she'd have preferred Tom not to go in so hard on Rachel Goldsmith. She didn't want to say it to him, given that he is a superior officer, but her unofficial assessment was that Rachel is a fairly decent but needy woman, caught up in all this almost by default and who may have cracked more readily had she been given thinking time to absorb the condition young Sarah had been reduced too. Zoe could be right, I suspect that a child being involved has affected Tom more than I would have anticipated, unlike Zoe though I can understand why he was so affected, I remember how terrified I was when Catherine was caught up in Iran.
I've decided not to say anything to Tom since I wouldn't be surprised to discover that he is having difficulties with the Ellie Simm situation. Tell me a dedicated spook who doesn't have problems keeping their private life safe and on an even keel ,and I'll show you an ace liar – a problem that encapsulates the eternal domestic dilemma of the spy since in our job being a convincing con man is a career requirement that tends to spill over into all aspects of one's existence. That probably accounted for his foul temper when he returned from his meeting with Ms Dale, further exacerbated by Tessa apparently asking him what his girlfriend wanted. Malcolm overheard and mentioned the exchange to me later, adding that Tessa had a smirk on her face when she said it. Always ominous – she's up to something – and she, God help us, is on our side!
Anyway at this juncture Tom has my sympathy, I knew the other day he was worried about the vetting and his future with Ellie Simm: only stress would have made him refer to my marriage, a verboten topic in Thames House. Of the current Grid personnel only Tom, Malcolm and, unfortunately, Tessa, know that I wasn't always single. Being a typical spy I prefer secrecy –not because the thought of gossip bothers me, that I could deal with via various methods I prefer not to mention out loud. My main concern is the prospect that my enemies - the creation of whom is one of the my less pleasant career rewards - would use any information leak vis a vis my children as leverage. For that matter, much as I resent Jane's attitude, I wouldn't want her harmed either, the children need one parent to turn too and as my daughter and son refuse to speak to me I'm forced to protect their mother as well, although I wouldn't be too upset if Robin ended up as collateral damage (could I organise it?). Malcolm is a friend and will keep his mouth shut, Tom I was forced to confide in when I commissioned him to drag an utterly uncooperative Catherine out of danger, and since our very secret debrief, after he kidnapped her back to England, he's not mentioned it again. Tessa I can't trust, but since the divorce plus my other private personal details, including data on the offspring, reside in an encrypted file, secreted behind a Malcolm special firewall that no one could out geek - access DG only - I doubt that anything she could say would be a revelation to our alleged superiors. Today though I nearly gave myself away when someone described Sullivan's relationship status as thirty, divorced, no children. Considering the painful parting of the ways with Jane, plus the endless on going angst, a mild stab of envy led my to commenting incautiously 'lucky woman'. A stupid momentary slip that thankfully passed over unremarked. I must be more careful in the future, especially since I really don't regret having my children, or to be strictly accurate Jane having them for us. What I really regret is how we ended up, utterly estranged – unconditional love being, in my not so humble opinion, an unrewarding pain in the heart.
Tomorrow, is I suppose, another day. A weary statement of fact pointing up the differences between now and my earlier existence as a field officer. In those far off days I'd have been grateful just to survive the night, as Section Head I regard the rays of dawn as the harbinger of yet more gloom and hassle. Tomorrow morning's priority being to deal with the increasingly acute problem of keeping the CIA at bay. Their demands delivered via Christine Dale nearly saw Tom dissolve into a white fury, clearly neither had impressed the other with their respective charms. In fact had Tom had his gun on him he might have concluded the argument by using it, even with the knowledge that he'd have been only shooting the messenger. I can sympathise, but have to remember that infuriating as the message undoubtedly was, and even if, referencing my views on Tessa, I wonder exactly whose side the Americans are on, Ms Dale is as much in thrall to the wooden headed decisions of the headline seeking politicians as we all are.
When I see what our Cousins actually elect to office the increasing Americanisation of our own politics makes me shudder. Thank God I serve Queen and Country, not President and State, although I might just change my tune if I'm still in post when Charlie boy inherits. Yea Gods he talks to plants and wanted to reincarnated as a tampax. On second thoughts the average plant is more decorative and useful than the average politician so perhaps he is showing more sense than his endless pseudo intellectual witterings suggest. Not so sure about the second suggestion though, much as I enjoy being inside a woman - ahh memories - I think for those purposes I'd rather employ something that's larger and actually attached to my body. No, my preference for reincarnation would be to return as a wasp. I might quite enjoy the opportunity to buzz around irritating everyone I loathed, sting them, and then fly away without having to worry about the consequences.
Thanks for reading and a review would be appreciated if you have the time.