The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Page #5

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Oh, come on, Leamas.

You don't give a Tibetan

a German alias...

if you want him to be able

to visit a bank inconspicuously...

and draw out large sums of money!

You give a German alias to a German.

And what kind of German?

If Control ran him, an East German.

And if Control ran him...

somebody very, very big.

Do you see what I'm after?

Yes.

Your last agent was Riemeck.

Karl Riemeck.

- I never had a chance to interrogate him.

- Mundt shot him.

How did you first approach Riemeck?

- We didn't. He approached us.

- Offering what?

Offering a roll of microfilm

which, when we developed it...

turned out to contain photographs

of the minutes of a weekly meeting...

held by the Praesidium

of the East German Communist Party.

After that the information got better

and better. Never handled stuff like it.

Did it ever occur to you to ask him

how he got his information?

Why the hell should I?

He worked in the Praesidium.

- Did Control ever ask you how you got it?

- No.

- Did Control meet Riemeck?

- Yes, once.

I was against it for simple security reasons,

but, uh, yes, he did.

Control came to Berlin last spring.

He asked to meet Riemeck to, uh,

to thank him.

Were you present at the... thanksgiving?

- Of course I was. I introduced them.

- But were you present all the time?

No. I introduced them,

and then I left.

Control insisted on that?

He wanted to be alone with Riemeck?

Yes. Suppose it gave him a kick.

- How long were they alone?

- Five minutes, 10 minutes.

What are you trying to prove?

I'm not at the proving stage.

You're going down a blind alley, Fiedler.

You forget I ran the Berlin station.

I ran all the agents

in East Germany.

If Rolling Stone had been an East German

agent, I'd have known about it.

He couldn't function any other way.

You're wasting your time.

I ran all the agents

in East Germany.

Karl Riemeck was the last.

Would you like some fresh air?

- What are you going to do with the money?

- Oh, I don't know.

Settle down in

some sunny spot on the Caspian...

with one of your

flaxen-haired discus throwers.

I can't go home.

- Don't you mind giving up your country?

- What the hell's my country done for me?

I worked for the service for 18 years and they

kicked me out as if it had been 18 minutes.

- Why did you work for them?

- Well, the money.

- Only money?

- It was a job.

You would have done it anywhere,

for anyone?

I'm a technician, Fiedler.

Just a technician.

- But not a Communist technician.

- Oh, for God's sake.

- A Christian, then.

- I don't believe in Father Christmas.

I don't believe in God or Karl Marx.

I don't believe in anything

that rocks the world.

But how do you sleep?

You have to have a philosophy.

I reserve the right to be ignorant.

That's the Western way of life.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

You think ignorance

a valuable contribution to world knowledge.

- You fight for ignorance.

- Go to hell.

Look, all I want to know is why.

What's the motor?

As a matter of fact, I invented the

combustion engine and the two-way nappy.

I'm a hero of the Soviet Union.

I wear the Order of Lenin on my rump.

I'm a man, you fool.

Don't you understand?

A plain, simple, muddled,

fat-headed human being.

We have them in the West, you know.

That's what it's all about.

Is that why you became a spy?

Look, your job and mine

permit us to take human life.

If I want to kill you and I can only do it

by putting a bomb in a restaurant...

then that's the way I'll kill you,

that's what I'll do.

Innocent people die every day.

They might as well do so for a reason.

Afterwards I may draw up

a purely academic balance,

20 men killed, 15 women, nine children,

and an advance of three yards.

What about you?

If ever I have to break your neck,

I promise to do it with a minimum of force.

- Now, when do I get my bloody money?

- Look, I could lie to you.

I could say you get your money in a month

just to keep you sweet.

But I'm telling you I don't know,

and that's the truth.

You have given us indications.

Until we have run them to earth

I can't think of letting you go.

But afterwards,

if things are as I think they are...

you'll need a friend.

You're bustling about bloody early.

Is Mundt back?

I want you to sign something.

The courier's waiting.

Letters to the banks

in Copenhagen and Helsinki...

asking for a statement of any recent

withdrawals by your two partners.

The letters will be mailed

from Switzerland.

Where will the bank

send the statements?

To one of our accommodation addresses

in West Berlin.

Control will find out that I've written.

He'll have forgotten

by the time you next meet.

Will you sign with your aliases, please?

Let me have the pad.

Here you are.

The Copenhagen letter.

The Helsinki one's easier.

I wrote it in my own handwriting.

Now what?

Within a week

we should at least know the dates...

when Rolling Stone was last in Copenhagen

and Helsinki to draw the money.

Is Mundt back?

Not yet.

Until we hear from the banks

there's nothing more we can do.

We shall be constantly

in one another's company.

If that's distasteful to you

I apologize.

I thought we could go for walks again...

or drive around in the hills for a bit

while we talked.

Incidentally...

we have some facilities here

for people who,

for people who are spending

some time with us.

Facilities for diversion and so on.

- You offering me a woman?

- Mmm.

I don't need one.

You had one in England, didn't you?

The girl in the library?

Oh, yes, yes. She was a Communist too.

She believed in free love.

At the time it was all I could afford.

- Morning, Mr. Lofthouse.

- Good morning, Miss Perry.

You're at the J's already.

You are settling down quickly.

I was so very happy

the job fell vacant.

We're very happy you applied for it.

- Good morning, Miss Crail.

- Good morning, Miss Perry.

- Miss Crail.

- Yes, Miss Perry?

Would it be possible

for me to take my holiday now?

I've been invited

to spend a week in Germany.

You have, uh, friends in Germany?

- No, not exactly friends. Comrades.

- Oh.

You know I'm secretary

of the local branch of the Communist,

I've never held that against you, Miss Perry.

This is a free country.

I know.

I know, and I'm very grateful.

Well, uh, the Party center has arranged

a series of exchanges...

to promote cultural amity

and world peace...

and I've been chosen to exchange with

the secretary of the Neuenhagen Branch...

outside Leipzig.

Isn't Leipzig east, behind the curtain?

I should very much like to go,

Miss Crail.

I'll speak to Brigadier Blantyre...

but I think I'd better just

tell him Germany, not East.

He doesn't hold with the Russians.

Thank you.

Blonde or brunette?

- Do you know Mundt?

- Well, we have talked about him.

He shoots first and asks questions afterward.

The deterrent principle.

It's an odd system

in a profession where the questions...

are always supposed to be

more important than the shooting.

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