Call for the Dead

Call for the Dead by John le Carré Page B

Book: Call for the Dead by John le Carré Read Free Book Online
Authors: John le Carré
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Thrillers, Espionage
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still didn't make sense--it wasn't tidy. He decided to begin again. What do we know? He sat up to look for pencil and paper and at once his head began throbbing. Obstinately he got off the bed and took a pencil from the inside pocket of his jacket. There was a writing pad in his suitcase. He returned to the bed, shaped the pillows to his satisfaction, took four aspirin from the bottle on the table and propped himself against the pillows, his short legs stretched before him. He began writing. First he wrote the heading in a neat, scholarly hand, and underlined it. "What do we know?" Then he began, stage by stage, to recount as dispassionately as possible the sequence of events hitherto: "On Monday 2nd January Dieter Frey saw me in the park talking to his agent and concluded..." Yes, what did Dieter conclude? That Fennan had confessed, was going to confess? That Fennan was my agent? "... "Smiley visits Walliston early on the morning of Wednesday 4th January and during the first interview takes an 8.30 call from the exchange which (beyond reasonable doubt) Fennan requested at 7.55 the previous evening. Why? "Later that morning S. returns to Eisa Fennan to ask about the 8.30 call--which she knew (on her own admission) would 'worry me' (no doubt Mundt's flattering description of my powers had had its effect). Having told S. a futile story about her bad memory she panics and rings Mundt. "Mundt, presumably equipped with a photograph or a description from Dieter, decides to liquidate S. (on Dieter's authority?) and later that day nearly succeeds. (Note: Mundt did not return the car to Scarr's garage till the night of the 4th. This does not necessarily prove that Mundt had no plans for flying earlier in the day. If he had originally meant to fly in the morning he might well have left the car at Scarr's earlier and gone to the airport by bus.) "It does seem pretty likely that Mundt changed his plans after Elsa's telephone call. It is not clear that he changed them because of her call." Would Mundt really be panicked by Eisa? Panicked into staying, panicked into murdering Adam Scarr, he wondered. ' The telephone was ringing in the hall... "George, it's Peter. No joy with the address or the telephone number. Dead end." "What do you mean?" "The telephone number and the address both led to the same place--furnished apartment in Highgate village." "Well?" "Rented by a pilot in Lufteuropa. He paid his two months' rent on 5th January and hasn't come back since." "Damn." "The landlady remembers Mundt quite well. The pilot's friend. A nice polite gentleman he was, for a German, very open handed. He used to sleep on the sofa quite often." "Oh God." "I went through the room with a toothcomb. There was a desk in the corner. All the drawers were empty except one, which contained a cloakroom ticket. I wonder where that came from... Well, if you want a laugh, come round to the Circus. The whole of Olympus is seething with activity. Oh, incidentally--" "Yes?" "I dug around at Dieter's flat. Another lemon. He left on 4th January. Didn't tell the milkman." "What about his mail?" "He never received any, apart from bills. I also had a look at Comrade Mundt's little nest: couple of rooms over the Steel Mission. The furniture went out with the rest of the stuff. Sorry." "I see." "I'll tell you an odd thing though, George. You remember I thought I might get on to Fennan's personal possessions--wallet, note-book and so on? From the police." "Yes." "Well, I did. His diary's got Dieter's full name entered in the address section with the Mission telephone number against it. Bloody cheek." "If s more than that. It's lunacy. Good Lord." "Then for the fourth of January the entry is 'Smiley C.A. Ring 8.30.' That was corroborated by an entry for the third, which ran 'request call for Wed. morning.' There's your mysterious call." "Still unexplained." A pause. "George, I sent Felix Taverner round to the F. O. to do some ferreting. It's worse than we feared in one way,

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