The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

‘If that is so, Alec,’ she said at last, ‘what was my part in all this?’ Her voice was quite calm, almost matter-of-fact.

‘I can only guess, Liz, from what I know and what Mundt told me before we left. Fiedler suspected Mundt; had suspected him ever since Mundt came back from England; he thought Mundt was playing a double game. He hated him, of course – why shouldn’t he – but he was right to: Mundt was London’s man. Fiedler was too powerful for Mundt to eliminate alone, so London decided to do it for him. I can see them working it out, they’re so damned academic; I can see them sitting round a fire in one of their smart bloody clubs. They knew it was no good just eliminating Fiedler – he might have told friends, published accusations: they had to eliminate suspicion. Public rehabilitation, that’s what they organised for Mundt.’