Sound chap, Blakey. Fane’s words were in the back of Liz’s mind as she sat in the office of the Director of UCSO. David Blakey had the characteristic poise of an MI6 officer, but seemed a good deal more relaxed than the version Liz usually found herself working with. True, Blakey’s suit was beautifully cut, but she noted with relief that there were none of the flamboyant extras that Geoffrey Fane and Bruno McKay liked to affect – no paisley silk handkerchief peeping out of the top pocket, no obvious shirt cuffs with gold cufflinks, no regimental tie.
Blakey had calmly explained the history of UCSO’s concerns: how his original call to Fane had come after the head of UCSO’s Athens office, Mitchell Berger, had become suspicious about the recent spate of hijack attempts on valuable shipments. Now, as Liz moved the discussion on to the murder of Maria Galanos, David Blakey begin to look uneasy.
She said, ‘We’re still waiting for the Greek police report, but we know Maria Galanos was strangled.’
‘Yes, I’d heard that. Do they think she knew the person who killed her?’
‘It doesn’t sound like it – apparently her electricity had been tampered with, presumably to make the flat dark when her attacker struck. Which means it wasn’t some sort of argument that suddenly escalated. It was planned – someone must have got into the flat beforehand. Do you know if she had a boyfriend?’
Blakey shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea. The thing is, I never met the girl. I would have thought Geoffrey’s colleagues in Athens would know all that sort of thing. They chose her for the job,’ he added with a note of weariness. He seems more disturbed by her death than Fane was, thought Liz, even though he’d never met her. It must be causing a big upset in the Athens office.
She said, ‘Berger met her, of course, so he probably knows more about her. When’s he coming to London next?’
But Blakey didn’t answer. Instead he reached for his phone and dialled two numbers – an internal extension. ‘Could you pop in?’ he said without preamble.
Moments later, the door to his office opened and a tall, slim woman walked in. She wore a smart linen shirtdress and plain but expensive-looking jewellery – a necklace of gold coins and a bracelet of fine gold wires. No wedding ring, observed Liz. The new arrival was about forty, with a mature, lightly sunburned face, blonde hair tied back, revealing a high forehead, bright blue eyes, and a sharp chin. The effect was smart and attractive rather than beautiful. It was a look that Liz would love to be able to achieve, though she had long ago accepted that she never would.
Blakey stood up and pulled out a chair for the woman. ‘This is Liz Carlyle. She works with the friend I mentioned,’ he told her.
Liz looked at him in surprise; her understanding from Fane was that only Berger in Athens (as well as Blakey himself) knew about the involvement of Fane and his colleagues in tracing the possible UCSO leak. Just how much had Blakey told this woman? She decided to ask Fane at the earliest opportunity what the agreement with Blakey had been.
‘Katherine Ball,’ said the blonde woman, stretching out her hand to Liz.
‘We were talking about the problem in Athens,’ said Blakey.
‘Yes,’ said Katherine, non-committally.
‘Liz was asking about Maria, and I said I’d never met her. I think you did, though.’
‘Yes, though I can’t say I got to know her particularly well. Mitchell and I are usually pretty busy when I’m there,’ she said, looking at Liz and smiling. ‘I’m never in Athens very long, so my days are full – I don’t have much time to chat to the staff.’
Liz nodded. ‘I understand. Do you know if Maria was friendly with anyone in particular?’
While Katherine thought about this, Blakey interjected, ‘She hadn’t worked in the office very long…’
Katherine interrupted. ‘The twins,’ she said. Liz looked at her and she explained. ‘Two Greek girls who work in the office. Anastasia and Falana. They’re not related, actually, but I always call them the twins because they’re inseparable.’
‘And Maria knew them?’
‘Everybody knows them. They’re the dogsbodies in the office. I don’t mean that unkindly – it’s just that if you need anything, from a photocopy to coffee for a visitor, one of them gets it.’
‘And Maria and these two?’ asked Liz, trying to move the woman on.
‘I think they were intrigued by her. Another Greek girl – slightly older but roughly the same generation. Yet half-English, educated – she’d travelled.’ She glanced over at Blakey as she said this. ‘Anyway, I think they got quite friendly. Even went out together.’
This was not surprising, given Maria’s brief from the Athens MI6 Station. It would have been a good way for her to learn the office gossip. The ‘twins’ would have known far more than Berger about the personalities in the office, all their foibles and little habits, which when added up could provide the lead she’d been asked to look out for.
Katherine went on, ‘I have to say, I was a little surprised. Not to be snooty about it, but Maria came from a different background – I don’t think either of the twins has much education, and they both come from fairly humble families. I wouldn’t have thought they had much to offer someone like Maria. All they ever talk about is pop music, clubbing and boys.’
‘Well, they’re young after all,’ said Blakey mildly. ‘That’s understandable.’
But Katherine shook her head. ‘There was more to it than that. I have the feeling they’ve got some pretty ropey friends in the clubs they go to. The girls are often the worse for wear when they come to work; I was going to speak to Mitchell about it, in fact. I think sometimes he’s too tolerant.’
‘Was Maria like that?’ asked Liz. It sounded unlikely. Surely she wouldn’t have been on the books of the Athens Station if she had been a committed party girl.
Katherine shrugged. ‘I don’t know. But she was young and single – and pretty.’
‘But wouldn’t the boys she met through the “twins” have been a bit young for her?’ asked Blakey. ‘Or was she a… what do they call it these days… a cougar?’
‘I’m surprised you know that expression, David.’ Katherine smiled at him. ‘Maria wasn’t anything like old enough.’
Liz nodded. ‘Anything else we should know about Maria?’
‘I don’t think so. She was very professional, and very good at her work.’ Katherine seemed to be backtracking. ‘I had the feeling everybody liked her.’ She paused and Liz could see from her expression that there was something she wasn’t saying.
This slant on Maria was rather different from the picture that had emerged from the thin file which the Athens Station had copied to Geoffrey Fane. That gave the impression of a serious professional young woman, soon to become thirty. Someone who was most unlikely to go clubbing – unless it was in the line of duty. But maybe the file was out of date. When Bruno Mackay had chosen Maria for this job, he didn’t seem to have bothered to update it. Most people had some sort of hidden self – why should Maria Galanos be any different? She might have had a whole web of emotional entanglements, one of which could have gone disastrously wrong. With the bare facts Liz had, it was impossible to tell.
She wanted to talk further about all this to Blakey, though not in front of Katherine. But the woman continued to sit there, as if expecting to be included in the rest of the conversation. Then Liz noticed Blakey give her a look and Katherine stood up. ‘I’d better get back to my office. Mitchell is supposed to be ringing me from Athens. Is there anything you’d like me to ask him?’
‘No, thank you,’ said Liz, and Katherine Ball left the office, closing the door firmly behind her.
After she’d left, Liz and Blakey sat in silence for a minute; Liz sensed he was uncomfortable. ‘I hope that was helpful,’ he said at last.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Has Katherine been working here long?’
‘Two years.’
‘And before that?’
‘Before that she’d had a bit of a hiatus.’ He gave a small smile. ‘She trained as a lawyer originally, and worked for a few years in one of the big City firms. Very good at it too, I gather. Then she married a businessman, quite a wealthy one; he had business interests in the Middle East and they lived out there in various places for over ten years. Then one day out of the blue the poor chap dropped dead – a heart attack. They didn’t have children, and Katherine didn’t want to stay out there on her own, so she came back to London and started looking for work. Someone suggested she come in for a chat, we hit it off, and I took her on as my deputy. Within six months she was irreplaceable.’
‘You’re obviously lucky to have her,’ said Liz.
They spoke for a few minutes more, and Blakey arranged for Liz to have copies of the CVs of the staff in both UCSO offices. As she left, she wondered again how much he had told Katherine Ball about the investigation. Had he told her of the suspicions about leaked information and why Maria had been taken on in the Athens office? Just how indiscreet was he?