◆ SpookStack

grea reat oo eemiisnndtitieihiniahmiomnstemenaminaniel eR ee ee nam eee ty ‘ad got his embassy, in ‘ton the afternoon ‘of the ’ flat-bottom to the smooth waters of the el al morms over Maks, wet being diverted fubject. to impr toy following day, ‘we arrived at last in Cairo, too late to catch the onward plane for Istanbul. fo it was not until the day after that, a Friday, that reached my destination. Gyrll Machray, the hea Istanbul station, whom I to brief on the nature of my mission. Buch were the relations between the Foreign Service and 8.8. in those days that nobody on the embasey oF ® consulate - general ad ought of consulting him about Volkov. — . 7 We called together that afternoon on Knox Helm. bo. ‘whom I presented the letter ;’ from the Foreign Office. But if I expected enthusiastic sup- port for our plans.-l was soon”. disabused. : Bome years later. after Heim Buda- pest. a colleague told me that was the most helpful and ~ understanding of ambassadors. : But when I saw him, he was still only a Minister, and as prickly as a thorn-bush. He demurred stubbornly. Our suz- gestions "might well.¢ aus he would surely have to tie the ambassador before [ went — any further, He asked me to. call on him next morning (an-— other day wasted). When I called on Helm next morning he looked at me accus- ingly : You never told me that you knew the ambassador | ™ ‘After that our conversation acarcely got off the ground, but gathered from Helm’s manner hat there were also reservations Peterson’s mind Rather grudgingly he told me that the ambassador wanted me to spend the following day. Sunday, with him on the yacht Makouk. It would put off from the Kabatash landing stage at jl a.m. Meanwhile, I was to do nothing. So the whole weekend was shot. _ ‘* Most visitors to Istanbul know the Makouk, the ambassadorial cht, originally built for Abbas iimi of Exypt, It was @ large, vessel, well suit _ Nile, but it rolled somewhat in the sweil of Marmara. ; ‘There were several other . guests on board, and it was not until after luich that I could taik to Petersoa in conditions of reasonable rivacy. As he did not break the Ice, I did so myself, remarking that I had heard that he had some objections .to the plans 1 had brought with me from London, What plans? he asked—a *. question that gave pie another ‘ gidelight on Helm. He listened attentively to my exposition, and:-then asked one question; Had we consulted the Foreign: Office? . But ves. I answered, «. ae ie woe eas . hoe r by ; . rat wan if v Grove Press, Ino. 1968 - All rights reserved ;:" 335 f. we EOE. conditions, we would _ meses Strangely — | ww the vital +1 ‘was met at the airport by our informant The Forelgo everything, and I had brought Helm o letter asking him to offer all reasonable facilities. Then _ Bestlons migEt the euibasoy rasa ne” piled Yo “ches Came Inv from the The ‘last excuse for- gone. * r ee oto —_ = That evening, Machray and 1 discussed the plan of campaign in detail We exchanged several ideas for spiriting Volkov away, © some involving Turkish co-opera- © tion, some noL : . It seemed clear that we could not decide detinitely which was the best plan unlt! we had spoken to Volkov himself. Much might depend on his own position and his particular cit- curstances—his hours of work, the degree of freedom of move- ment he enjoyed, etc, The first step was to establish contact with him, and clearly our best instrument was Page, of the consulate-general, whom Volkov had approached in the first place. ‘ ; Next morning, accordingly. Machray invited Page to come over to his office, an explained to him as much #8 he needed to know, namely, that I would like him to make ane. appointment .for me to see» Volkov some time that after- fioon in conditions of greatest secrecy. (I did mot want a morning appointment, because I needed time to brief John Reed on the Hnes already described.) We discussed several possible places for the meeting. but opted finally for the simplest. Page said that he frequenwly had routine consular business with Volkov. It would be per- fectiy normal practice for him to invite Volkov over to his. office for a talk. At long last, as Page reached for the receiver. gero hour had arrived ‘Page got on to the Soviet. Consulate-General and asked for Volkov,c; A man's volce came: faintly*on, the line. Page's half.of the'conversation meant aire a fou Office had approved ~¢ - .for Volkov, 4 The spy who cold: ‘Philby.and . Melinda Maclean In Moscow. a at at nothing to me. But Page's face was a study in puzzlement, telling me that a hitch had developed. When he put the receiver down he shook his head at me. “He can't come?" I asked, “that’s funny.” “It's a great deal funnier than you think,” Page answered, “J asked for Volkov and a man came on saying he was Volkov. But tt wasn't Votkov, I know Volkoo's poice perfectly well. I've spoken to him dozens of times.’ Page tried again, but this time got no further than the tele phone operator, “She said he was out,’ sald Page indignantiy. -“A minute ago. she put me on ‘to him!” * We looked at each other, but none of us could find a con- structive idea. I finally suggested that there might be some flap on at the Soviet Consulate- General, and that we had better try again the following day in hopes of better luck. I began to feel strongly that, somewhere along the ine, something decisive had happened. I whiled away the afternoon encyphering a brief report to the Chief. Next morning, we met again, Machray, Page and myself. and Page telephoned the Soviet Consutate-Geheral 1 heard the faint echo of a woman's voice. then a sharp click. ' . Page looked at the silent receiver in hig hand. “What do you make of that? T asked and the girl sald