Salting the Battlefield Page #4

when you looked at my phone.

When you checked my calls.

I hated that.

Well, then I won't be

doing that again.

And also, just asking,

how was my daughter?

Julianne? Julianne's fine.

You're up.

Mm hm. Yeah. Are you OK?

I'm fine.

I was just reading this stuff about

Beasley. What a dag.

Dag? Yeah. Dag's the stuff that

hangs off the end of a sheep.

You like him that much? I just don't

like people who invent threats

to justify doing what they wanted to

do all along.

Look at that face. He looks like a

Russian mobster.

You don't think this

country's under threat?

On the contrary. It's because I take

real threats seriously

that I don't want to be blackmailed

by phony ones.

Politicians who cry wolf are

the most dangerous kind.

I'm interested,

how can you know so much about it?

I'm interested. How can you not?

Sometimes I feel I really don't

know anything about you.

Don't you? No. No I don't.

But I'd like to.

Well, you'll

have plenty of time to find out.

Here is the phone.

Danke.

Good luck.

I hope you're moving.

We are. I just said goodbye to her.

Good.

As a matter of interest, who told

you today was the day to get going?

Because, believe it or not,

I still have some friends.

I'm amazed.

Johnny, you'd be even more amazed

if you knew how many people

in Millbank are rooting for you.

Good afternoon.

I believe you may have a car for me.

Do you speak English? We do.

My German is rusty.

Marsden? OK.

Gerry Marsden.

Do you mind?

I guessed you were English.

Where are you going?

You don't mind me asking? Erm...

back to school. I'm a teacher.

Where? Where?

I was asking, where do you teach?

I'm sorry... I'm tired.

I need to sleep.

You're well loaded up.

Isn't that what the continent's for?

We all love a booze cruise.

..the Arsenal,

unto victory, yeah!

We all follow the Arsenal! Over...

Thank you

Miss Springfield.

Thank you

Ah, you must be Belinda Kay.

Yes, I am.

How kind of you to see me.

How are you?

And who are you?

I'm the man who telephoned.

Yes, of course you are.

24 bottles of wine.

Thank you. How thoughtful.

Because I'm a journalist

I must be alcoholic?

You've come from abroad?

Erm... I hope you like Bourgueil.

Well, aren't you the welcome guest?

Come this way.

Goodness, this is quite imposing.

Hey! Hey.

This is Barry.

He's my boyfriend,

or some such thing...

Hi. Barry.

I was just making some tea.

You're going to have to hop it.

Sorry? This is confidential.

Hop it!

You never saw this man.

He doesn't exist.

He's none too bright.

Come through.

Or perhaps you'd prefer whisky.

Not right now, I need a clear head.

Look, first of all I want

to thank you

for all your paper's done already.

It's been a wonderful job.

Do you know how lonely that

makes an editor feel?

You run a story

and no-one else touches it.

I'm hoping we can change that.

People have low expectations.

You'd be surprised - Beasley's

feathering his nest, so what?

He's got disreputable friends. So?

He's a politician.

I'm hoping to make the story

a little more specific than that.

A newspaper's not a blog, you know.

I know that.

It's not just whatever you think, or

whatever anyone happens to tell you.

There are editorial protocols.

Have you ever heard of them?

Of course.

I'm hoping to satisfy those.

And somehow you're going to do that

without telling me your name?

Unlikely.

The girl's a plant, isn't she?

No, I don't think so.

If you mean Allegra.

The one with the damask cheek.

She of the butter-wouldn't-melt

brigade.

Allegra isn't a plant,

she's a conduit.

As a matter of fact, she's

the niece of a colleague of mine.

Well, there you are.

That's England, one big family.

And I suppose now she's served her

purpose it's time to move on to me.

All right, go ahead.

Make your pitch.

I don't know much you know about

Britain's intelligence service...

Funny.

I had a feeling

you might start there.

Well, the last ten years have

been kind of bumpy.

It used to be very

clear who the enemy was.

And so also it was

clear what the job was.

And then? And then we got caught

out.

Trouble came from

an unexpected direction.

Or rather it started

coming from every direction.

Suddenly we were told we were meant

to be fighting a worldwide movement.

And weren't you?

Let's just say we got a bit

careless about distinguishing

between people who would like to

do terrible things

and people who were

actually doing them.

We became indiscriminate

about the methods we used.

It was dog eat dog.

The only problem is, we're not dogs.

Is "indiscriminate methods"

a euphemism for torture?

Torture's just part of an apparatus.

An apparatus of bad practice,

which is out of control

and which I don't believe is helping

anyone, least of all us.

Meanwhile, politicians

want to cut corners. Sure.

Alec Beasley's been trying to

reorganise the service.

Reorganise it? And bypass it.

His mind's made up

and the facts don't bother him.

Well that's his right, isn't it?

After all, he won a couple of

elections. He certainly did.

Because people like his strength.

He has a mandate. That is democracy.

And, speaking for myself,

I have a great deal more faith

in someone I've elected than some

disgruntled intelligence officer -

I'm assuming that's what you are -

who arrives at my house

with two cases of wine

and an outsized grievance.

I'm too young, but you may remember a

prime minister called Harold Wilson.

I do remember him.

Didn't the security services spend

a great deal of effort

trying to get rid of him?

I don't think that's ever

been proved.

I didn't ask if it was proved,

I asked if it were true.

And I'm not trying to get

rid of Beasley. Aren't you?

No. I'm trying to put

the facts in front of the public.

You're a very plausible fellow,

aren't you, whatever your name is.

Remember, I'm a rat-catcher myself.

It takes one to know one.

And everything you say stinks

to high heaven.

Tell me why.

No editor likes to be used.

You may be burning to bring

down a prime minister, but I'm not.

That's not my intention.

All I'm trying to do

is throw a little light

on some of his activities.

Oh, I see, this is assisted killing,

is it?

You put the pill in the hand

but you don't put it in the mouth.

No. You leave that to us.

I mean, just one more question -

aren't you rather over-stretching

your remit? I don't think so.

I thought you were meant to gather

secrets, not give them away.

So far, I don't remember giving

you any secrets. I thought you did.

No. Everything you've been told has

been on the public record. Truly?

Only, just like most

newspapers nowadays,

you've lacked the diligence

to go out and find it.

Or maybe the motivation?

All right, these are the facts.

Great. Let's hear them.

The Prime Minister is linked to

a series of interlocking charities

which are partly financed by a firm

called Gladstone.

Gladstone has built an international

complex of detention camps

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