1990 by Wilfred Greatorex Read Free Book Online

wrong too often and you'll find yourself a clerk in the civil service.'
    'Think of the pension!' He was ruffled. She would never be clumsy enough to try to suppress a story with a direct lie which could be blown up into a major scandal later, quite apart from totally destroying any future co-operation between them.
    'Ellis and Boswell are not the men,' she was saying in measured tones. 'Kill tomorrow's story and I'll give you the real facts within a week.'
    'The facts!' He looked up to heaven in disbelief.
    'The real appointments,' she confirmed, with a slight smile.
    'No deal,' he said. 'I have tomorrow's lead.'
    'I'll give you an alternative. After all, you have two anti-Public Control Department stories in hand for tomorrow. The Ellis-Boswell lie... And the poor doctor with the asthmatic child we won't allow out to Arizona to earn a ransom.'
    Kyle's face stayed blank, as he waited for the double-cross.
    'Drop the Ellis-Boswell lie and I'll tell you about the King's Birthday Honours list...' she haggled.
    Kyle half committed himself with a nod.
    'The next one will be scotched,' she went on. 'And it'll be the last...' She could see he was genuinely interested now. 'The Home Secretary's been pressing this in Cabinet. And he's got it through.'
    She waited. They studied each other. Finally, he said, 'Fair swop. That's a lead...'
    At least that would get Skardon off her back, she thought, instantly. And keep Henry Tasker in his place.
    '...I hear you told that doctor to apply to the Ombudsman's Court?' Kyle said: 'D'you think they'll let him out?' Kyle was asking.
    But the bargaining was over and she was not going to be drawn into this one. 'Do you?' she answered, coolly. 'This country needs every doctor it can hold on to.'
    'What was it Pitt said? "Necessity is the creed of slaves"?' Kyle taunted.
    'Somebody else said, "Liberty is the luxury of self-discipline",' she parried, rather stuffily.
    He smiled. 'I'm writing no pleas for Doctor Vickers.'
    Betrayals happened in a variety of ways, some through trusting the wrong people, others through reports by citizens with a strong sense of duty, some through anonymous tip-offs to the authorities, probably inspired by the age-old jealously of brawn for brains. And some were accidental like seaman Tyler's. Tyler was always talkative after a few Scotches and had been overheard by a stevedore who, not unaware of the government bounty for such information, told an Emigration Officer, who told Jack Nichols, the Chief Emigration Officer, who told Skardon.
    Delly and Tasker were summoned and arrived jostling for position. Skardon repeated the information and concluded, 'Something good for a change, so let's have no cock-up.'
    'Not even a rat could get off that ship now,' Jack Nichols claimed confidently.
    'It was mice last time, Mr Nichols. I recall your saying not even a mouse could get aboard without being seen by your Emigrating Officers.' It was Delly Lomas. 'But that Concorde got out of Heathrow with four illegals for New York.'
    The Chief Emigration Officer flushed. A middle-aged bachelor, he was shy with women and had never learnt how to cope with Delly Lomas' sharp tongue.
    'You're in no position to have a go at Jack,' Skardon intervened. 'You spent a long time with Kyle getting not very far.'
    Delly looked bewildered and rather cross.
    Tasker observed, cattily, 'You were with him a long time.'
    Then she began to understand and glared at the three men, indignantly. 'Somebody kept tabs on my movements?'
    Tasker realised he should not have pushed the subject. 'Forget it.'
    'Who?' she demanded.
    'It was an error,' Skardon looked guilty.
    'Some error! Who?'
    Embarrassed, Skardon quickly asked Jack Nichols to leave the room.
    The row which followed was short and sour.
    Although Delly Lomas was accustomed to having other people tabbed, she found it preposterous that it should happen to her. But the Controller and Tasker played it as a team, giving nothing away, and she was left staring