◆ SpookStack

O “ Third, why did they kee inwecomecstin trom ghee . iney had wisheg they cou! i. a have | had, an} red ae ‘hrot . hindered ‘any Communist escape —the man who first broke the news of the vanishing i diplomats in 1951 —writ ‘BU eo answe seat aun ie hat he the second Instaiment of his a 1 ere not Secret History of the hunt certain that the men had in Tact escaped,” I repiled, for’ the two men, “T do not believe that,” sald the” Frenchman. ‘Even the thost naive policeman would at jeast have suspected this case wefgh the question: If the soemed escape ‘an accident, bungled job (an inquisitive an not being ore: handled by thie mot: mals aid the eee ve to Tear a "do jn such a hurry? Who slerted meg tina do you suggest?” 1 them and for what reason? “Tm not in a position to. suggest anything.” hesaid, “But PBI. men } know that In common larceny in Britain in April 1951 and vf the thief can get into the were in consultation with the iE ine inlet can et ee ouse British, authorities on problems REE where are people inside we Of mutual security. the suspicion that While fully protected by it's an inside job.” diplomatic immunt YY, Maclean's “You are jumping at conclu- contacts | in ‘Washington and sions" I asid, “What reason New York had nevertheless nave you to think that the twa aroused suspicions and ‘these men were being wa! Ld were communicated to the A Apparently u hey thought British. J were ler icion. ney. gelaway' hes the appear: HIS FRIENDS ance of ® very hurried job.” @) NE of Maclean's associates id ESCAPE ROUTE be Willen ‘Reming- 1 E: the next few days "The answer js that American had arrived ton, now serving & prison the British and snvence for perjury before ® Prench | investigators Congressional Committee. on the spot pieced ide Years before, while at, the cveape spot pleced togetner he gritish Embassy in | Cairo, eee eute oria the seuiion Maclean had been, known, {9F ced A a ne eee is caustic anti-Americanism, Rennes, the Paris then nothing. While this was considered as no more than, Vigorous frankness T reoeived the impressios y an, sliied diplomat, it ood Cee eae epregta net policed that Maclean's moos tee aly’ believe in this route. became, ,biUEL fovowi on seriously believe in this route. incident involving an American Tam convinced that Burgess and Maclean never were on the train io Paris, but that someone who Was in on. the escape plot did (ravel on that train in order to itl. Waiter sn all-night drinking party, Maclean was chai with injuriig the giz, and but Het euch ave throw a false scent, fe this incident ny re ‘One clumsy missiep by that ended Maclean's career. agent persuades me that he was Maclean, brilliant and person- agent eur called’ in as an | Sble, had friends in high places ae eat ihe last moment. in both Washington and Lamdon, “His mistake, which has not hitherto been divulged, was to love RNa Matton ent, rs. Melinda Maclean American policy. on the seat of his carriage. By his British colleagues he THE QUESTION | .*% *#eréed_ os the best PPARENTLY hhe- intended this ‘0 establish without doubt that the two men bed taken the train. ¢ "This snapshot, retrieved by the train ,cobductor. ‘was only dis covered in the train refuse days jater and convinced at least one key investigator that the escape - route of the two-diplomats not through Paris but to one of the abandoned airstrips not far from Rennes. A fleeing man, with Maclean's Teputation for meticulous detail, Ss a noi ‘arelessly leave his wife's photo Q ind as B Und wo nila It is mo exaggeration to say that among the British he was regarded by the Americans as the best -informed-on Anglo~ MRS. MACLEAN * As she was two ycars ago. equipped to deal with the Amencans on {asues where differences had arisen. Did one of Maclean's’ friends tell him, at the crucial moment, that he was suspect? ‘The facts are that enough was ‘arouse about his loyalty, His superiors @id not take the obvious step to ensure that he would be avail able for the inquiry that had been requested. ‘What makes the situation even mor: amazing js that had Burgess and Maclean failed to keep their rendezvous with their Communist, aides in France they could have returned Britain with a “missed-boat " story and none would have been the wiser. Behind this apparent inepti- tude there seems to be, some- thing more deliberate and more sinister. Burgess and Mpclesn behi fron Curtain serving their Communist masters, But where fe the man, or the men, who helped the two diplomats 1 escape ? WORLD COPYRIGHT RESERVED NEXT: The secrets they possessed . =~ ——— =