Spy Hook by Len Deighton Read Free Book Online Page B

first major change he wrought was to tell Dicky to wear clothes more in keeping with his responsibilities. Dicky's extensive wardrobe of faded designer jeans, trainers and tartan shirts, and the gold medallion that he wore at his neck, had not been seen recently. Now, in line with the rest of the male staff, he was wearing a suit every day. I found it difficult to adjust to this new sober Dicky.
    'You weren't at Charles Billingsly's farewell gathering last night,' said Dicky. ' Champagne… very stylish.'
    'I didn't hear about it,' I said. Billingsly – German Desk's more or less useless Data Centre liaison man – wasn't a close friend of mine. I suppose he thought I might drink too much of his expensive fizz. 'Are we getting rid of him?'
    'A super hush-hush assignment to Honkers. Forty-eight hours' notice is all they gave him. So he didn't let you know about the party? Well, it was all a rush for him.'
    'What would Hong Kong need him for?'
    'No one knows, not even Charles. Hurry and wait. That's how it goes isn't it?'
    'Maybe the Deputy just wanted to get rid of him,' I suggested.
    Dicky's eyes glittered. After his little session on the carpet it probably made him wonder if he might not one day find himself on a fast plane to distant places. 'Get rid of Charles, why?'
    'I've no idea,' I said.
    'No. Charles is a good sort.'
    Unbid, Dicky's secretary arrived with a large silver-plated tray bearing the Spode chinaware and a large pot of freshly ground coffee made just the way Dicky liked it. I suppose she hoped it would put Dicky into a better frame of mind as sometimes a heavy shot of caffeine did. He bent over it and gave low murmurs of approval before pouring some coffee for himself. Then he went and sat down behind the big rosewood table that he used as his desk before he tasted the coffee appreciatively. 'Damn good!' he pronounced and drank some more. 'Pour yourself a cup,' he said when he was quite sure it was okay.
    I took one of the warmed cups, poured some for myself and added cream. It always came with cream, even though Dicky drank his coffee black. I often wondered why. For a moment we drank our coffee in silence. I had the feeling that Dicky needed five minutes to recover from his meeting.
    'He's become an absolute despot lately,' said Dicky at last. Having devoured a large cup of coffee he took a small cigar from his pocket, lit it and blew smoke. 'I wish I could make him understand that it's not like running his law firm. I can't get a book down from the shelf and read the answers to him.'
    'He'll get the hang of it,' I said.
    'In time, he will,' agreed Dicky. 'But by then I'll be old and grey.' That might be quite a long time, for Dicky was young and fit and two years my junior. He flicked ash into the big cut-glass ashtray on his desk and kept looking at the carpet as if lost in thought.
    I pulled my paper-work from its cardboard folder and said, 'Do you want to run through this stuff?' I brandished it at him but he continued to stare at the carpet.
    'He's talking about vertical reorganization.'
    I said, 'What's that?'
    Dicky, short-listed for the Stalin Prize in office politics, said, 'Jesus Christ, Bernard. Vertical planning! Dividing the German Desk up into groups region by region. He told me that I'd have Berlin, as if that would make me overjoyed. Berlin! With other desks for Bonn and Hamburg and so on. A separate unit would liaise with the Americans in Munich. Can you imagine it!'
    'That idea has been kicking around for ages,' I said. I began to sort out the work I'd brought for him. I knew that getting him to look at it would be difficult in his present agitated mood, so I put the papers that required a signature on top. There were five of them.
    'It's ridiculous!' said Dicky so loudly that his secretary looked in through the door to see if everything was all right. She was a new secretary or she would have made herself scarce when there was a chance of encountering Dicky's little tantrums.
    'It will