Ben was dead, murdered by one of their own, an act so unbelievably evil that it had transformed the mood on the grid into something that Ros, Malcolm and Jo couldn't define, or understand why in the name of god that Harry who no less than an hour ago had been helpless at the hands of Charles Grady was considering driving all the way to Cheltenham or more precisely GCHQ the next morning, to sit on an interview panel whose sole aim was to decide which of the three applicants should replace someone who Malcolm had called a murdering cow.

That he appeared to have gone home, did at least they thought give them time to decide which out of either Ros or Malcolm was going to tell him that they thought it unwise, only for the pod doors to open and for the man himself to walk back in and with an expression that gave nothing away. Until with a flick of his head demanding they should follow they decamped to the meeting and with the coffee which Jo had made in front of them, for the simple reason that she couldn't rid the image of Ben's blood soaked body or the fact that Connie had deemed it a merciful release out of her mind, Harry saying, 'first and foremost you need to understand that what I am about to suggest doesn't mean that I undervalue Ben's service to this country in any way whatsoever, but the last thing we need is for the powers that be to foist someone on us, especially as at this stage the list of candidates hasn't been issued which in itself makes me suspicious.'

Then what hung in the air just long enough for Ros to realise even before Harry spoke again, that during the time he had been away from the grid that rather than go home he had almost certainly been walking along the embankment to clear his head and having done so had come up with a plan that would ensure their next analyst was one he himself chose and for the right reasons.

In contrast to a confused if only temporarily Malcolm, who in addition to knowing Connie as long as Harry, responded to Harry's suggestion that he himself applied for the position by saying, 'what if they offer me the job and why do you want me to apply anyway?'

'Because you'll get to speak to and be able to assess the other candidates in advance of the interviews, which is something I won't be able to do.'

'And if I'm offered the job?'

'You say you've changed your mind and turn it down, which means I'll get the casting vote.'

'As opposed to my current job which is what in this plot you are hatching?'

'Anything you like but the next thing we need to do is to book you a room at The Regency Hotel which is where I'll be staying, although we won't be able to acknowledge that we know each other, well not until it's over.'

At which point, Ros who had been surprised that Harry hadn't risen to the hatching comment of Malcolm's, revised her opinion when it came to Harry's decision to one that using the innocent that was Malcolm was genius, because not only would it give him a chance to do some real spying, but allow him to distance himself from the recent nightmare they had all witnessed.

.

Later that evening by which time Malcolm had calmed down sufficiently that he had accepted Harry's suggestion as necessary, the finer points of which they were discussing in Harry's kitchen with a takeaway and a bottle of wine, Ruth Evershed was doing exactly the same thing in her own kitchen, not a million miles from where she worked, with two of her colleagues who over the time she had been at GCHQ had also become firm friends, in the firm hope that she would be saying goodbye to her current job and heading to one where she would be appreciated and with a boss who unlike the current one and not only by her, was thought to be arrogant in the extreme because he spent most of his time taking the credit for what they as analysts did. That and he had a reputation that came under the heading of creepy.

None of which prevented her own latest put down which was that he would give her a poor reference, to which Steff her closest friend had responded, 'then let's hope that whoever has the casting vote has the sense to look at your record beforehand because as much as we don't want you to leave, you're the best candidate for the job by a country mile.'