Mrs Harris Goes to Moscow by Paul Gallico Read Free Book Online Page B

intense satisfaction. By a most brilliant inspiration of total recall he felt himself on the verge of serving Mother Russia and his own career by exposing yetanother capitalistic spy plot. He reached for pen and paper and composed the following memo:
    Comrade Colonel Gregor Mihailovich Dugliev
Chief of Foreign Division Internal Security.
    Dear Comrade Dugliev:
    I have been so fortunate as to have uncovered a Capitalistic plot on the part of the British to infiltrate spies into the Soviet Union in the guise of tourists on a package tour, namely Tour 6A scheduled to leave London for Moscow on Sunday 26th August. It would appear from information supplied by our computer system that over a period of years, a woman by the name of Ada Harris has acted as a courier for a number of known enemies of the Soviet Union whose dossiers I will be sending you under separate cover. These include the Marquis Hypolite de Chassagne of whose activities you have been aware for some time, Colonel Wallace who was Captain Wallace when he spent a year in the Embassy in Moscow as Military Attaché and MI5 Intelligence Officer, the Wyszcinska family, the notorious Polish emigrés who have never ceased their efforts to undermine the revolution, Joel Schreiber, an American film producer who has specialized in anti-Russian pictures, Sir Wilmot Corrison and Sir OswaldDant. Sir Wilmot was involved in the affair of the expulsion of some hundred of our innocent diplomats and attachés from London while Sir Oswald Dant was responsible for the cancellation of a trade deal which would have been greatly to our benefit.
    Mrs Harris’s connection with these people has continued over the years. The cover she has employed has been that of a char, the British word for a daily cleaning woman, which has enabled her to maintain her contacts. We have evidence that in 1958 she made a trip to Paris to contact Chassagne and in 1960 made a journey to New York in the company of the anti-Russian producer, Schreiber, where she was known to have travelled widely in connection with subversive activities. In 1965, as a reward for her services to her country, she was appointed to the Houses of Parliament but apparently resigned shortly afterwards at the behest of the British Secret Service for further duties all the while maintaining her cover as a cleaning woman which as you will note appears upon the enclosed copy of her application.
    Of the companion accompanying her, Mrs Violet Butterfield, nothing is known and I consider that our operatives in London have been highly remiss in failing to penetrate the activities of this unquestionably likewisedangerous woman. The very fact that she has been able to conduct her work without attracting our attention is sufficient indication of what appear to be truly extraordinary abilities.
    It is my recommendation that the application for visas of these two spies be granted and that they be allowed to enter the Soviet Union in order that we may ascertain the nature of their mission and what new plots are afoot in London. Naturally they will be kept under constant surveillance but I would presume to counsel with particular attention to the one known as Mrs Butterfield who must obviously be the more dangerous of the two since she has been able to operate so long and successfully without her objectives being known. Our branch will keep you supplied with all photographs and information as soon as available.
    I sign myself, dear Comrade Gregor Mihailovich, as your faithful and obedient servant,
    Vaslav Vornov
    Inspector Foreign Division
    Internal Security.

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    Ten days later Mrs Harris and Mrs Butterfield received a notification from Regent Street that their applications for visas had been granted, that they were leaving for Moscow on Aeroflot Flight 101 at 10:30 Sunday morning the 26th of August and would they kindly come to the Intourist office to collect their tickets, documents, vouchers, instructions, etc.
    Mrs Harris hovered over