Chapter 17 Chapter fifteen

In early 1964, Arthur and I were convinced that Hollis, not Mitchell, was more likely to be the spy still at the top of MI5.Hollis has long denied the possibility of our intelligence agencies being infiltrated; he was reluctant to authorize the use of technical equipment; his refusal to authorize interrogations; his refusal to brief the United States until under pressure, etc., all seem to us to fall into the same category. Then, while we were waiting for Symonds' second report on Mitchell, an old case suddenly fell into our hands.Sir Anthony Blunt, a senior MI5 wartime officer, Assessor of Her Majesty's Collection of Paintings, and an expert on international art history, confessed in April 1964 that he had been working for The Russians were engaged in espionage.The revelation came in late 1963, when MI5 was told by the FBI that Michael Whitney Strait, an American citizen, had told them that in the 1930s he and his Cambridge classmate Bren Special had recruited him to work for the Soviet Union.Arthur Martin flew to the United States to meet Strait, who affirmed the fact and agreed that he could testify in the English court if necessary.

We held a series of meetings in Hollis' office to consider how to proceed with the Brent case.The Commissioner regarded the case as a very embarrassing matter.In the protracted scramble for favor among the various intelligence services, only MI6 has ever harbored a confirmed traitor, but MI5 has so far not done so, which is a detriment to the prestige of our intelligence services in Whitehall extremely important.Hollis, in particular, is eager to win the favor of cabinet and Home Office officials, fearing that the Brent case will affect the status of MI5.In addition, there is the fear of a scandal.Hollis and many of his senior officials are sensitive and well aware of the danger to themselves, to MI5 and to the current Conservative government if the Blunt story becomes public.Harold Macmillan finally resigned, hit by a string of security scandals, the culmination of which was the Profumo incident.Although Hollis made no secret of his hostility to the Labor Party, at the time Labor was highly regarded in public opinion.Hollis knew full well that the torrent of scandal unleashed by Brent's indictment would overwhelm an already tottering government.

Arthur's and my motivations were simple.We'd like to get our hands on the Brent case early, to see if he can shed any light on deeper MI5 infiltrations.A trial involving Strait would in any case be unlikely to succeed in securing Brent's cooperation and would delay, if not destroy, the chance for such cooperation.Immunity to Brent from prosecution may be the only noteworthy decision regarding the infiltration of MI5.This decision was unanimously agreed by all parties in this Ministry.After the Attorney General's approval, Arthur Martin went to Blunt, who almost immediately admitted that he had recruited and spied for the Soviet Union.

One evening a few days after Brent's confession, Hollis' secretary called and told me to come to the chief's office immediately.Hollis and Jones sat on either side of his desk, serious faces.Victor Rothschild stood at the window and stared blankly at Green Park ahead. "Hi, Victor!" I said.I was a little surprised that he came to the office building without telling me beforehand. "Thank you for being here, Peter," he replied in a nonchalant tone, turning to face me.He looked very agitated. "I just told Victor about Anthony," Hollis interrupted quickly.

Victor looked downcast, which was no surprise.Brent had been his close friend for nearly thirty years, first at Cambridge and later during the war when they served MI5 together.After the war, their respective careers took them on different paths.In a world that's growing darker and darker, they're a pair of prodigies who keep each other close.After Burgess and McLean defected, Victor was as suspicious as Brent.He had been good friends with Burgess since college.He had originally rented a house near Welbeck Street at 5 Bentinck Street, where Brent and Burgess lived throughout the war.Suspicions about Victor were quickly dissipated, but at the same time suspicions about Brent persisted, especially after Courtney Young met him in the mid-fifties.

After being told the truth, Victor's main concern is how to break the news to his wife Tess.He and I knew that news of Brent's defection would traumatize Tess more than he would.I've gotten to know Tess since I first met Victor in 1958.She is charming and has a feminine softness.She and Brent were very close, and in many ways even surpassed Victor.She understood his vulnerability and shared his love of art.In the thirties, she was part of a brilliant circle of left-wing intellectuals among Cambridge students, partying in London and holidaying in Cape Ferrat as the world lurched toward World War II.

Tess Meyer (as she was then called) joined MI5 when the war broke out.There she fought valiantly, alongside her future husband, with great deeds.At that time she, like Brent and Burgess, had several rooms at 5 Bentinck Street.Her roommate was Pat Rowton Smith, who later became Sir Llewellyn Davies.Tess was well aware of MI5's suspicions of Brent after the defections of Burgess and McClain, but she tried to excuse him.She and her husband Victor knew his innocence from first-hand experience, and they believed that Brent was under suspicion because he and Guy Burgess were good friends.She felt that Brent was a fragile and extremely talented person, but because of the twists of fate and Burgess's betrayal, he was cruelly suspected for a long time and carried a heavy burden on his back.

"Anthony used to come back to Bentinck Street so drunk, sometimes so drunk that I needed to help him into bed," she would say. "If he was a spy, then I'd know..." Victor realizes that now that Brent has confessed, there is a need to talk to Tess, but he is still afraid to tell her the truth. "That's why I asked you to come to Roger's office," he said quietly. "I thought it would be better for you to break the news to her." I knew he needed to get out of Leconfield House so he could clear his messy thoughts by himself. "Of course," I said as gently as I could, and suggested that Evelyn McBarnett accompany me, since Tess knew her.

A few days later, Evelyn and I took a taxi to St James's Square.We were taken into Victor's study.It was a bright, scholarly room facing Green Park.The imprint of his extraordinary personality can be seen everywhere in the room: paintings, scientific charts, musical instruments, various ancient and modern books, and a huge slide rule of his own design hanging on the wall.There is also a piano in the room, on which Victor plays jazz music with skill and passion.Victor is fidgeting now.I could see that Tess sensed something was wrong.After a few minutes, Victor told her I had some news for her, and slipped quietly out of the room.

"What's the matter, Peter?" she asked nervously. "It's about Anthony," I told her, "and he confessed at last." "What? Didn't you say he was a spy?" "No, Tess, that's what I mean." For a second or two she raised her hand to her mouth as if in pain, and then let it slide slowly down to her lap.I told her the whole story as best I could: how he admitted he had been recruited in 1937, a year or two after Philby, Burgess, and McLean; And exhaustive reports of his espionage throughout the war.Tess didn't cry, she just sat pale, hunched over, listening and staring at me.Like Victor, she's the kind of person who values ​​the loyalty of a friendship above all else, and when that friendship is betrayed, it's a shock to the depths of her heart.

"All these years," she said softly, "but I never had the slightest doubt." I understood for the first time how intense the emotions were forged in those wonderful, remote Cambridge life of the thirties. Brent's confession strongly affected Arthur's behavior, and years of hard work finally proved him right all along.He had suspected Brent from the start, although many in the Bureau, such as Dick White, Brent's close friend during the war, initially did not believe in the possibility.Arthur became more involuntary, more unruly.He looked like a man who could smell meat, greedy and impatient in pursuit of his long-sought prey. Blunt's confession dramatically sheds light on the issue of infiltration.The existence of spies inside the Fifth Military Division was unbelievable in the past, but now it suddenly becomes so real.Arthur decided that if we seized this opportunity, the new D-task force would be able to reach the heart of the cabal in the 1930s.He felt that things were going our way, that defectors and confessors were emerging in large numbers and rapidly, and that he could solve the greatest of all mysteries - the identification of spies within MI5 today.But just as Arthur was pressing for quicker action, he was opposed by Cumming, the new director of Department D.Cumming tends to take a slow and cautious approach. In early 1964, their relationship deteriorated in surprising fashion.Arthur had no respect for Cumming: he thought Cumming's methods were too archaic.Arthur had been in charge of rebuilding anti-Soviet espionage since 1959, and because of his reputation, his influence went well beyond D-1.He is ambitious and ambitious, yet lacks strategy.He thought he, not Cumming, should be the head of D, and he was unabashedly counting on getting the job soon.In his view, Cumming was mishandling the whole infiltration problem.Cumming resented Arthur's little hidden attitude and his various infringements.He also resented himself for being excluded from the Mitchell investigation, and he guessed Arthur's secret suspicions of Hollis.It was clear that the final showdown was only a matter of time. It happened shortly after Brent confessed.In May 1964, I visited Washington to try to persuade the CIA to help develop our fledgling operational analysis program.Hal Doian Dietmars, who was in charge of operations analysis, and I wanted computer assistance from the CIA in order to process the bulk of the seven million operations a year generated by the program.My request to the CIA had been approved by Hollis.Angleton was all for it, and Helms agreed to send a team of twenty instead of one or two technicians, and guaranteed the CIA's computer time for the project.As soon as I got back, Arthur told me that Hal Doian Dietmars had been transferred and that the CIA computer team was due to arrive next week.I couldn't help but lose my temper. "What do we plan to do when key people are transferred just after they've gotten used to their jobs? What the hell!" I was outraged. When it really started to produce results, he was transferred away." Arthur and I were equally manic. Many of the staff in Branch D were handpicked, and he resented their removal, especially at a critical time when anti-Soviet espionage was at its height.Arthur storms into Cumming's office, claiming that Cumming should have prevented the transfer.The arguments carried down the hallway, months of pent-up resentment pouring out all at once.Cumming accused Arthur of being domineering over Department D, which was a blatant sneaking.Arthur, for his part, made no secret of his opinion that the current work in D Branch was a complete mess.The debate inevitably focused on the recent Mitchell case.Cumming accused Arthur of dreaming about the case, which, in his opinion, was completely closed, and which went on to do enormous damage to the morale of our intelligence agencies.Arthur countered that, as far as he knew, the case was not only unfinished, but still had a long way to go.Cumming reported the quarrel to Hollis.Hollis immediately asked for a full report on the matter.Cumming sent Arthur the next day a draft of the report he intended to submit to Hollis. Arthur was taken aback by the reports he read.Cumming's report made no mention of how Doian Dietmars' departure from the Operations Analysis Program would affect the CIA's upcoming visit.The report was a blatant attack on Arthur, and ultimately claimed that Arthur harbored secret doubts about the identification of spies inside MI5 and was unwilling to share his suspicions with his chief. Arthur had now reached the point of breaking openly with Cumming. "Nonsense!" he scribbled across the margins of Cumming's report, altering nearly every line of the report before sending it back to the office.Cumming realized that this was an opportunity for him to win decisively.He immediately sent the report intact to Hollis, who promptly suspended Arthur for two weeks for discipline. I was in a desperate situation: twenty CIA technicians could arrive at any moment, counting on important negotiations with Hal Doyne Dietmars, Arthur Martin and myself, but the status quo was I was alone on MI5's side of the table.I went to see Hollis privately and tried to explain the nature of the problem as non-vincibly as possible.I reminded Hollis that the cooperation with the CIA was on his behalf.So he agreed to bring Doian Dietmars back for another year. "But what about Arthur?" I asked, hoping that Hollis would change his mind on this one too. "I'm not going to discuss it," he retorted. "What about Brent?" I begged. "We've just made a breakthrough and we can't leave him alone..." "It's time for Arthur to find out he's not the chief yet," said Hollis sternly. "When he's in that position, he'll have to decide. Until then, I'll have the final say." .” On Arthur's return we set to work carefully interrogating every detail, systematically identifying each of Brent's men and their recruitment operations, and verifying every piece of information he had given the Russians.Arthur met with Brent regularly and grilled him on the basis of the detailed research outlines provided by D-3 and Evelyn.Each interrogation was recorded and sorted out by the three divisions of Division D to check out ambiguity and corruption and points that need further questioning. Brent was quick to name his fellow spies Leo Long and John Cairncross.Leo Long is a former British military intelligence officer.John Cairncross served in the British Treasury in 1940 and later attended the Government Code and Cryptography School at Bletcherey, where he was exposed to "Enigma Signal" material, and later in the In 1944 he became an officer of MI6.Arthur told Long that if he had cooperated with MI5 he would most likely escape prosecution, and Long immediately confessed.Cairncross did the same after receiving a visit from Arthur in Rome. But after giving the initial clue, Brent said nothing more.He sat and listened to Arthur's questions, helping where he could, but not in as much detail as we might have hoped.Arthur and I decided to tackle him together.According to prior arrangements, I was introduced as the official who analyzed Blunt's confession, and then I would play the red face and Arthur the bad face, and I would tell Brent that I had serious doubts about the veracity of his confession.It's an old-fashioned interrogation trick, but it's worked before.There was a further novelty: we arranged the meeting at Maurice Oldfield's flat, which was in the Chanders compound, Caxton Street, Westminster.There is a recording system hidden in the apartment.Usually, when Brent and Arthur met, Arthur openly recorded the conversation with a portable tape recorder.We decided that when I went to see Brent, we would turn off the visible tape recorder to increase his sense of security.Hollis vehemently opposed the plan.From the outset he had instructed that no pressure could be exerted on Brent lest he defect.But we managed to convince him that, in this case, it was worth the risk. One evening a few days later, we met with Brent.He was tall, extremely thin, and wore a tweed suit and a large bow tie.He looked dignified and slightly effeminate.He is friendly and defensive, especially towards Arthur.I could see that there was a tension between them; neither of them could forget that they sat together ten years ago, and that Brent was lying all this time.They talked in a businesslike fashion for about half an hour, mostly about the documents Brent had taken from the archives.Brent glanced at me now and then.I could see that he had a presentiment that something was going to happen.Finally, Arthur brought me into the conversation. "Peter has been working on this analysis, Anthony. I think he has something to say..." I turned off the tape recorder and took a short pause to heighten the effect. "After reading your statement, it's clear to me that you didn't tell us the whole truth..." Brent flinched as if I had hit him.He was sitting in an easy chair, with two long pencil-thin legs crossed, and the protruding leg shook involuntarily. "I've answered every question you've asked," he replied, looking me in the eye. "That's nonsense, and you know it. You say you only know Long and Cairncross, and only the two of them. I don't believe it." His face turned purple, and the muscles in his right cheek twitched.He poured himself a glass of gin and stalled for a moment. "We have treated you very fairly," I continued, "we have been courteous and honored our promises like gentlemen, but you have not..." He listened intently as I delivered this performance.Where did he lie?He wants to know.I pointed out some aspects that we thought he was hiding.I knew he was trying to weigh whether I had new evidence and information that could kill him, or if it was just our subjective intuition. After a few agonizing minutes, he began to regain his confidence and the twitching of his cheek subsided.He knew we couldn't throw anything new. "I've told you, Peter," he whispered, "there's no one else." I switched tactics and started to put pressure on his conscience. "Have you ever thought about those who died!" Brent pretended not to know. "Nobody died," he said flatly. "I've never been exposed to that kind of thing..." "What's up with Gibby's spy?" I said angrily.I'm referring to the agents embedded inside the Kremlin, commanded by Harold Gibson of MI6.Gibby's spy had provided MI6 with Politburo documents before the war until he was betrayed by Blunt and executed. "He's a spy," Blunt said sharply, letting his guard down for a split second, revealing the KGB's professionalism. "He knows the game, he knows the risks here." Brent knew his lie had been exposed, and the twitching of his cheeks started violently again.We wrestled for an hour, but the longer this fight went on, the more he realized the strength of his position.We ended the meeting in a fit of rage that couldn't be concealed. "The truth is, given your choice, you wouldn't sell out anyone you thought was an underdog, would you?" I asked Brent as he was about to leave. "That's right," he said, drawing himself up, "but I told you there's no other name..." He said it so forcefully that I felt he almost believed it himself. At this time, a disturbing accident happened.One of the tape recorders we put in there openly winds up.I knelt on the floor to unroll and straighten the tape, then run it on.While I was doing this, Brent said to Arthur, "Wouldn't it be fun to watch a technologist do what he does?" So far, neither Arthur nor I have told him that I am a scientist, I have only been introduced as the person handling his conversation with us.I looked directly at Brent, who was flushed purple.Who has told him who I really am? "Go on with him," said Arthur angrily, after Brent had gone. "He's done." Arthur was eager to chew the other two - Long and Cairncross. Long had been a member of Cambridge's "Apostolic Society," a self-respecting club of prominent intellectuals, many of whom were left-wing and gay.When the war broke out he joined military intelligence and was sent to MI14 to evaluate the Wehrmacht's "signal" intelligence and thus learn about its strength.Throughout the war he had been meeting Blunt in secret, handing him all the information he could get his hands on.After the war he transferred to the British Control Council for Germany, where he eventually rose to Deputy Chief of Military Intelligence, until he left in 1952 to pursue commercial activities.He left MI because he was getting married and didn't want to tell his wife that he had been a spy. I met Lang several times with Arthur and I disliked him very much.Unlike others in Cambridge circles, he lacked grace.I have often wondered how he was accepted into the "Apostolic Society".He was a nosy, fussy, busybody with the looks of an auto mechanic and who seemed to think he was a good officer despite his betrayal.The confessions he gave were worthless, and when he was questioned at a certain point, his attitude was to repeat the old saying "we should believe".He told us his story with gusto, saying he had no idea there were other spies, and claiming that he had given up all espionage in 1945.That doesn't line up with what Brent told us.Blunt said he had been to Germany in 1946 and persuaded Long to apply for a job with MI5.Long agreed, and Brent, who had just left the intelligence community at the time, wrote him a letter of recommendation.As luck would have it for MI5, Guy Liddell had such a deep prejudice against officers in uniform that he opposed Lang's entry on the Bureau's committee, despite Dick White's support at the time, for which reason It was embarrassing for White afterwards.But in addition to trying to join MI5, Long continued to operate covertly in Germany.He categorically denied any further contact with the Russians, which is obviously nonsense. Cairncross has a completely different personality.He was an intelligent, slightly weak-looking Scot with tousled red hair and a rustic accent.He was born into a poor working-class family, but with his amazing intelligence, he knocked on the door of Cambridge in the 1930s, became an open Communist, and then quit the party on the instructions of the Russians and applied to join the diplomatic service. department. Cairncross was one of Arthur's suspicions in early 1951, after Burgess defected and documents containing Treasury information were seized in his flat.Evelyn McBarnett recognized the handwriting on it as that of John Cairncross, and he was placed under constant surveillance.But although he went to an appointment with his commander, the Russian never appeared.When Arthur confronted him in 1952, he denied being a spy, claiming that he had given him information as a friend of Burgess and hadn't realized Burgess was a spy.Cairncross left the UK shortly thereafter, and he never returned until 1967. After Cairncross confessed, Arthur and I went to Paris to meet him again for a further account at a neutral country rendezvous.He had told Arthur that he had been recruited by a veteran Communist, James Klugman, and that he had handed over details to the Russians from GCHQ and MI6.We're eager to find out if he has any other information that could lead us to another spy.Cairncross is a man who can give people a good impression.Lang drifts with the tide, a communist when communists are fashionable, then desperate to save his own life; Cairncross is a devoted communist through and through.Communism was his belief, and he stuck to it with a Scottish stubbornness.Also unlike Lang, Cairncross does what he can to help us.Because he was eager to go back to his hometown and thought that cooperating with us was the best way for him to win an entry permit. Cairncross said he had no conclusive evidence to denounce anyone, but he could identify two high-ranking civil servants who were his fellow Communists at Cambridge.One of them was subsequently asked to resign, while the other was banned from accessing secrets related to defense.We were particularly interested in what Cairncross could tell us about GCHQ.So far, it appears on the surface that it has somehow escaped the attention of Russian intelligence agencies, but we are very suspicious because of the large number of personnel employed there. Cairncross told us there were four people in GCHQ who he thought deserved further investigation.One of the men who had worked with him in the GCHQ air section had talked about his attempts to get British signals intelligence material into the Soviet Union.Cairncross was amused by his irony, but he had no way of judging the truth of the statement, so he kept quiet about his own role.This second man, according to Cairncross, told his former mentor on his return to Oxford the details of his work inside GCHQ, and his mentor, appalled at his indiscretion, went to This was reported to GCHQ and he was subsequently fired.The third Cairncross mentioned, like the first, had long since left GCHQ to enter his academic career.So our efforts focused on No. 4, a senior official in GCHQ's technical division.After a full investigation, his matter was completely clarified. Investigations by D and C, based on information provided by Cairncross, provoked a strong reaction from GCHQ.They vigilantly guard their own noble empire and resent what they seem to be meddling in their internal affairs, especially when I comment wryly on how they should improve their censorship in this way. I've thought carefully about how to handle Brent as we pursued these leads in D-3, and now he's my responsibility.Before my meeting with Brent, I have to attend a briefing by the Queen's private secretary, Michael Ardeen.We met in his office in the palace.He was discreet and well-mannered, and assured me that the royal family was willing to cooperate with any inquiries the intelligence services deemed appropriate.He spoke with a detached air, as if he didn't wish to know too much about the matter.He said: "Her Majesty is fully aware of Sir Anthony's situation. As long as it is dealt with realistically, the Queen will be satisfied in any way." There is also a note to prevent misunderstandings. Ardeen said: "Every now and then you'll find Brunt referring to a commission he was on on behalf of the Crown - a visit to Germany at the end of the war. Please don't press on that. It's strictly about national security. considerations are irrelevant." Ardeen led me carefully to the door.I couldn't help but ponder what a difference there must have been between his tactful dexterity and MI5's hysterical approach to Brent!MI5 had to worry about his possible defection and the leak of the scandal.Although I spent hundreds of hours with Brent, I never learned the secret of his mission to Germany.But the royal family had, after all, centuries of experience in learning the difficult art of covering up scandals, something MI5 had only been doing since 1909. After I took over the Brent case, I stopped all meetings with him while I considered a new strategy.It was clear that confrontation would no longer work: first, because Hollis was vehemently opposed to doing anything that would provoke him to defect or make a public statement; Still only groping in the shadows, in a position of blind ignorance rather than force when interrogating him.I decided we had to outsmart him and try to play with his character traits.I could see that Brent wanted us to think he was willing to help, even though he never did.Plus, he dislikes being found out as a liar.We have to extract intelligence from him through a slow, gradual pressure build-up process, to make progress in one area, not to attack across the board.In order to do this, we needed to have far greater knowledge than MI5 had at the time. I also decided to move the meeting place to his residence and have him come to Morris Oldfield's flat, always with an antagonistic mood, in a state of restless, tense defensiveness, and aware that he The words were recorded.I felt that moving to his place relieved his tension and allowed us to form some kind of relationship. For the next six years, Brent and I spent about every month in his study at Cordold College.Brent's study was a large, sumptuously baroque room, with a golden-leaf frieze painted by his pupils at Cordold College.Elaborate paintings hung on every wall, including over the mantelpiece a Poussin which he had bought in Paris in the thirties with eighty pounds lent to him by Victor Rothschild. . (He was supposed to leave the painting to Victor's eldest daughter, Emma, ​​but he didn't. It was later turned over to the state when it was valued at half a million pounds by his estate.) It was a discussion of betrayal. Ideal place for behavior.Every time we met, we sat in the same place: around the fireplace, next to a Poussin painting.Sometimes we drank tea, with carefully cut sandwiches; more often than not, we drank wine, martinis for him and whiskey for me.We were always talking there, about the thirties, about the KGB, about spies and friendship, love and betrayal.This period of life experience left me with the most vivid memory in my life. Brent is one of the most elegant, charming, well-bred people I have ever met.He speaks five languages ​​and is impressive in the breadth and depth of his knowledge.This learning was not limited to the arts, in fact, as he told me with some pride, his first degree at Cambridge was in mathematics, and he also maintained a lifelong fascination with the philosophy of science. What stands out most about Brent is the tension between his palpable strength of character and inexplicable vulnerability.It's this ambivalence that drives some people of different genders to become deeply infatuated with him.He was obviously gay, but in fact, as far as I could tell from him, he had at least two mistresses with whom he remained intimate for life.Brent could be an art historian and scholar one minute and an intelligence bureaucrat the next, or a spy, a effeminate gay, a slow-moving state churchman.But all those roles cost him as a person.在我们开始会面后不久，我就发现，布伦特远没有从免于起诉中得解脱，而是继续背负着沉重的负担。这并不是一种负罪的负担，因为他不觉得自己有罪。他感到痛苦只是因为觉得自己欺骗了特罗思柴尔德和像狄克·怀特、盖伊·利德尔那样的好朋友（在盖伊的葬礼上他曾泪流满面）。但这种痛苦只在于做了他不得不做的事，而不在于做了那些本来可以避免的事。他的负担来自他的那些朋友伙伴和爱人赋予的责任的重压，他了解他们的秘密，而且他感到有责任保守这些秘密。 我们一开始在科道尔德学院的会见，我就能看出布伦特略见松弛。但是，他保持着机警，因为他知道有关特殊装置的一切，我马上就注意到了电话机被谨慎地移到了厅的最深处。我们在那儿会面的第一个下午，当他走出去端茶时我就注意到了这一点。 “把茶壶的保暖罩取来盖在电话机上。”我大声说道。 he laughed. “哦，不用，彼得。你们决不能用那个玩艺儿在那儿听到我。” 起初，我在一个小笔记本上做笔记，但是要把所有的东西都记下来是相当困难的，因此我不得不设法采用一种暗中记录谈话内容的方式。最后，紧邻科道尔德学院的房子要改装成现代化的。于是我安放了一个探针话筒，穿过墙通到了布伦特的书房。这是一件棘手的工作。测量必须十分精确，才能确保探针放在挨着我们座位的布伦特这一边的正确位置上。A处二科安排了一位布伦特的艺术家朋友在我访问他的预定时间里给他打电话，趁他出去到厅里听电话时，我用我的卷尺为话筒的安装做了所有必要的测量。话筒安装得很成功，并且直到最后，它一直工作得非常出色。 在我们起初的几次会见时，我设法形成一种松弛的气氛。我努力不给他施加太大的压力，只满足谈论对往事的回忆。他谈到了他如何由当时年青而才华出众的盖伊·伯吉斯的招募，参加了苏联的事业。对于布伦特，盖伊仍旧是一个痛苦的话题；他刚在莫斯科孤身一人地死去，他那昔日魁梧强壮的身躯被多年的凌辱压垮了。 “你会发现这是难以置信的，”他一边倒茶一边告诉我，“但是任何很了解盖伊的人，真正了解他的人，都会告诉你他是一个伟大的爱国者。” “哦，我相信是如此，”我说，“他只是想要英国成为共产主义！他死之前，你得到过他的消息吗？” 布伦特神经质地慢慢喝着茶，杯子和茶托在他的手里微微地颤抖。然后他走向他的书桌，取出一封信给我。 “这是最后一封，”他说，“你们没有漏检它，它是被亲手交来的……”随即，他离开了房间。 这是一封凄楚动人的信，相当松散而充满情绪低落的观察见闻。伯吉斯谈论莫斯科的生活，并试图把它说得像过去那样生机勃勃。时不时他提起往日，提起“改革俱乐部”，提起他们两人共同认识的人和三十年前他们两人共享的爱情。他知道自己快死了，但临终前他一刻也没有停止他的呼唤。我读完这封信时，布伦特回到了房间里，他心烦意乱，因为他知道我能看出伯吉斯对他仍然意味着什么，这就更增加了我的怀疑。我第一次赢得了一个关键性的胜利。他第一次撩开遮在脸上的面纱，允许我探视那个把那“五人集团”紧密维系在一起的秘密世界。 布伦特是在俄国情报机构的全盛期加入这个组织的，这个时期现在被西方反间谍界称为“伟大的非法者”时代。一九二八年，警察对伦敦苏英贸易公司进行了搜捕，在这次搜捕中军情五处得以破坏了俄国间谍机构的一大部分。在这之后，俄国人得出了教训，认为他们的合法住宅、大使馆、领事馆以及类似地点，作为间谍指挥中心都是不安全的。打那以后，他们的谍报人员就改由“非法者”指挥，这些人如西奥多·马利、多伊奇、“奥托”、理查德·佐尔格、亚历山大·拉多、“索尼亚”、利奥波德·特雷普尔、皮克夫妇、普里基茨夫妇以及克里维茨基等。他们根本就不是俄国人，虽然他们都有俄国国籍。他们都是信奉国际共产主义和共产国际的托派分子。他们搞地下工作，常常冒着极大的个人风险，并走遍全世界去物色潜在的招募对象。他们是俄国情报机构有史以来最出色的招募者和指挥者。他们彼此都熟悉，相互招募并建立起高级间谍组织，如在英国的“五人集团”，在中国和日本的佐尔格小组，在瑞士的“红色三人小组”，在德国占领下的欧洲的“红色乐团”，这些都是历史上最出色的间谍组织，它们对第二次世界大战时俄国的生存和胜利作出了巨大的贡献。 与菲尔比和伯吉斯不一样，布伦特从没有见过他们的第一任指挥者“西奥”。他从前是个匈牙利神父，名字叫西奥多·马利。马利理解像菲尔比和伯吉斯这一类人的理想主义和他们采取政治行动的愿望。他在国际政治方面是个具有强烈感染力的导师，他的学生都崇拜他。在一九三六年到一九三七年间，马利由“奥托”接替。精心安排伯吉斯招募布伦特的人正是“奥托”。和西奥一样，“奥托”是个东欧的中产者，也许是捷克人。他能够使得苏联的革命事业具有吸引力，而他并不只是通过谈论政治原因来做到这一点，而是通过同他的年轻的招募对象分享相同的欧洲文化背景来达到。布伦特在许多场合下对我承认，若是由俄国人提出让他参加，那么他是否会这样做很值得怀疑。 由于某些原因，我们从未能够识别出“奥托”的身份。菲尔比、布伦特和凯恩克罗斯都声称他们从来就不知道他的真实姓名，尽管菲尔比在他的供认中告诉尼古拉·埃利奥特，他在华盛顿时从联邦调查局档案里的照片中认出过“奥托”，那时他是以一个名叫阿诺德·多伊奇的共产国际间谍的面貌出现的。但是当我们核对时发现，菲尔比在华盛顿期间，联邦调查局档案中并没有多伊奇的照片。我常常带着布伦特一大册接着一大册地翻阅军情五处的俄国情报机构官员的档案，希望他能认出他来。布伦特对待这些文册就好像它们是国家美术馆的编目一样。他透过他的半月形眼镜仔细地研究它们，间或作一下短暂的停留，好像在欣赏一下某个特别生动的面孔，或是街角上一个惹人注意的优雅的雕塑。但是我们还是一直没有认出“奥托”，也没发现“五人集团”在这么多年后还如此不顾一切要隐瞒他的身份的原因。 一九三八年斯大林清洗了所有的“伟大的非法者”。这些人是托派分子和非俄罗斯人，斯大林坚信这些人伙同红军中的一些人一起图谋反对他。他们被一个个地召回莫斯科，然后被杀害。他们中的大多数人是在完全清楚等待着他们的命运的情况下甘心回去的，也许他们希望能以他们在西方为他所做出的伟大贡献来说服这位发疯的暴君。而像克里维茨基这样的一些人决定叛逃，其下场几乎是肯定的。一九四一年他最终在华盛顿被俄国刺客所暗杀。 “奥托”走后，有一年多时间，“五人集团”处于自生自灭的状态，中断了联系，似乎是被遗弃。后来伯吉斯和菲尔比通过菲尔比的第一个妻子丽思弗里德曼——一个长期的欧洲共产国际代理人，同俄国人重新接上关系。据布伦特说，“五人集团”是通过这样一种复杂的信使链和俄国人联系的：从而棋·弗里德曼开始，把情报传递给她的密友和共产国际代理人伙伴伊迪丝·杜德·哈特，然后再传给鲍勃·斯图尔特，他是英国共产党负责同俄国大使馆联络的专员，最后，再到达莫斯科。在布伦特供认前，我们一点也不知道这条信使链和它产生的巨大影响。布伦特声称，这条信使链中的每一个人都肯定知道“五人集团”的身份，但总使他感到迷惑不解的是，“五人集团”居然一直没有让军情五处发现。我们总是假设“五人集团”和英国共产党组织是完全隔绝的，后者在三十年代已被马克斯韦尔·奈特领导的特务彻底渗透了。现在看来，我们遗漏了英国共产党所有秘密中最大的一个。一九三八年，军情五处正为伍尔维奇兵工厂案件的胜利而沾沾自喜。在此案中，由马克斯韦尔·奈特的最出色的特工琼·格雷（X小姐）提供的证据，致使英共高级领导人因在伍尔维奇工厂进行间谍活动而被判刑。要是我们当时把这案子搞得更深入一些，我们就可以在这个英国历史上最危险的间谍集团开始活动之前就把他们一网打尽。 一九四〇年末，俄国人终于同“五人集团”恢复了联系。从这个时期起，他们直接进入了情报世界。这个时期他们的指挥者是“亨利”，一个真名叫阿纳托里·格洛莫夫或高尔斯基的俄国情报官，他在外交官的外衣掩护下进行工作。格洛莫夫一度负责指挥“五人集团”中的所有间谍，几乎可以肯定包括在“维诺纳”通讯中出现的那八个匿名人，直至他一九四四年赴华盛顿去领导唐纳德·麦克莱恩，后者当时在英国使馆任职。留在伦敦的间谍后来则由鲍里斯·克罗托夫接手指挥。他是克格勃官员，他在“维诺纳”情报中透露了那几个匿名间谍的存在。布伦特说，他对克格勃指挥官的职业特性非常佩服，但是他们从来没有用像“奥托”那样的方式来激励他。格洛莫夫和克罗托夫是现代俄国情报机器的专家官员，而对布伦特来说，三十年代天才的欧洲指挥者才是真正的艺术家。 “这就是你离开军情五处的原因？”我问道。 “哦，一部分是，”他说，“他们劝诱我留下，但是他们并不真心需要我。金将很好地为他们服务。我知道，他已经爬得很高了。我需要我的艺术，总而言之，他们若真想要我，他们可以轻而易举地胁迫我留下来的。” 冷战的开始和麦卡锡主义的泛滥增强了布伦特的信念：他在三十年代所做的选择是正确的。他继续完全忠实于那些仍然还在进行间谍活动的人。在一九五一年，他决定留下来，厚着脸皮继续干下去，而不是随同伯吉斯和麦克莱恩一起叛逃。当时，莫丁（“彼得”）曾逼迫他叛逃。他告诉我，在莫斯科的流亡生活对他来讲是不能容忍的。他在三十年代曾访问过俄国，那是个美丽、令人神往而又富有悲剧性的国家，那里的“修道院”，即列宁格勒美术馆却是最使他流连忘返的地方。 一九五一年后，留下来的只剩布伦特和菲尔比了。他和菲尔比的交情比起伯吉斯来却要淡薄得多。菲尔比个性很强，好支使人，然而他极其需要布伦特。布伦特仍能从他在军情五处里的从前的朋友那里打听到消息，从而能为菲尔比提供一些有关针对他的案情发展的零星材料。他们常常全面讨论他们幸存的机会。菲尔比除去他在军情六处的职业生涯，似乎没有什么事能引起他的兴趣。他完全不理解艺术和学术成就对于布伦特的重要性，即使在那张罗网把他俩紧围在一起的时候也是如此。 “金和我有不同的生活观点，”布伦特告诉我，“他毕生只有一个抱负——当一名间谍。而我还有其它的追求……” 布伦特佩服菲尔比，其中一部分原因是他对菲尔比绝对的信念和冷酷无情的一维生活观念的恐惧。布伦特需要爱情，需要艺术，最后需要英国政府中的舒适的生活。而菲尔比则是过着从床到床的单调生活；他对女人抱有一种阿拉伯式的态度，需要的只是来自谍报活动的刺激。艾赛亚·伯林曾对我说：“安东尼的困境在于，他既想要用社会的猎犬去打猎，又要同共产主义的野兔跑在一起。” “金从不会动摇。”他说，“他永远是忠诚的，直至最后。” 一九六四年末，我被淹没在大堆的来自朗、凯恩克罗斯和布伦特供词的材料中。此外还有一项繁重的任务，即核对和系统地重新考察自一九六〇年以来各种叛逃者交给军情五处的所有材料。正在这个节骨眼上，西蒙兹关于米切尔案件的第二份报告终于送到了我手上。 一天早晨，大约在一九六四年十月大选的前两周，霍利斯的秘书给我送来了一个厚厚的文件夹，并告诉我当天下午去局长办公室讨论这份报告。我连把它读完都嫌时间少，更不用说研究它了。西蒙兹积极地遵循霍利斯的指示，花费了八个月的时间准备了这份文件。他从来没有同阿瑟或者我讨论过这份文件的内容。但是，它的锋芒所向则是足够清楚的。西蒙兹利用布伦特的供词重新估价了米切尔案件，当然，在拟写第一份报告时，我们还不拥有这些供词材料。按西蒙兹的说法，针对米切尔的案子并不十分有力。西蒙兹不准备排斥新的渗透的可能性，但是他觉得这种可能性已经明显减小了。 阿瑟也在当天早上收到了西蒙兹的报告。他知道他正被人撇开，并知道在这样迟的阶段上散发这份报告的决定是一种蓄意的策划，以防任何反击。他告诉我，他打算在会议上采取这样的立场：在获得充分的时间来研究它之前他不对此发表意见。在会议开始时他保持着沉默，积郁着怒火坐在会议桌的一边。 霍利斯轻快地宣布开会。 “我提议不要浪费太多的时间，”他开始说，“我已经阅读过这份报告，它很使我信服。在作出决定之前，我希望听听你们的意见。正如你们知道的，先生们，大选在即，我感到如果我们现在能够了结此案，那么对我们情报部门将更为有利，因为这样我就不必向新任首相汇报了。” 每个人都知道他的意思。他不想向工党领袖哈罗德·威尔逊汇报，而后者看来越来越有可能在未来的竞选中击败保守党对手。霍利斯的态度非常直截了当：布伦特、朗、凯恩克罗斯的案子停顿在某些有用的初步结果上，米切尔一案则被攻克，所有的事情都干净利索地解决了。他想要结束这件案子，并把渗透问题已经消失这一点记录在案。 霍利斯征求围在桌子四角的人的意见。奇怪的是开始几乎没有人评论。米切尔案件的调查在各方面看都搞得如此糟糕拙劣，以至于我们中间很少有人觉得它是个防卫严实的球门，特别是因为阿瑟和我现在都强烈地怀疑霍利斯本人就是罪犯。我直率地说，如果西蒙兹的第一个报告是为此案提起公诉，那么这后一个报告则是为了保护此案。不经审讯，我不能接受“无罪”的判决，并希望把我的观点记录在案。霍利斯在放在他前面的便笺上做了一个简单的记录后，把它交给了卡明。卡明发表了一通演讲，说到在调查米切尔案件当中出现了无纪律现象。我们大家都清楚，把他排除在训导者之外的决定刺伤了他的自尊心。琼斯说，有关米切尔案件能说的最好的话只是，此案完全没有得到证实。 “那么你，阿瑟……”霍利斯问。 正在查看报告的阿瑟抬起头来。 “但是，”他说，“存在第三种可能性。某些人能操纵米切尔来作他们的挡箭牌。” 桌子四周一下子沉寂下来。他和霍利斯互相盯视了一会。房间里的每一个人都准确地知道阿瑟的意思。 “我希望澄清这个说法。”卡明从桌子另一端说。西蒙兹焦急地急速翻动着他的报告，好像他在寻找阿瑟的假设是否以某种方式被不知不觉地搞到报告里去了。 霍利斯只是捡起他刚刚丢下的话头，而忽视了阿瑟的评论，好像他根本没有听见。 “好，我们必须做一个决定，”他说，“因此我建议把这个案子了结并记录在案……” 他的笔停在了文件上。阿瑟再也控制不住他自己了。 “按理，你根本不能这样做。”他大叫起来，态度极其明朗。“你实质上是无视戈利金有关渗透问题的全部断言。有关克拉布行动也存在一个泄漏机密的问题。还有技术文件问题——我们迄今为止仍然不知道戈利金提到的文件是什么。无论米切尔案件的状况如何，忽略这些情况的存在不可能是正确的。” 霍利斯试图躲避这一攻击，但是阿瑟步步紧逼。他知道霍利斯做得太过火了。西蒙兹承认他对有关戈利金的材料知道得太少，无法提出一个权威性的意见。琼斯也认为，对戈利金做进一步的工作是较稳妥慎重的解决办法。霍利斯感到他已经无法控制这个会议了。他恼怒地扔下他的笔，指示帕特里克·斯图尔特对戈利金的一系列尚不甚分明的材料进行最后一次审查。同时，他命令，米切尔的案子到此结束。 这次会议后，我去找了琼斯。我说，局长委派一个官员研究任务却不跟我这个研究部门的头头商量一下，而且当时我正整天忙于对付从布伦特、朗、凯恩克罗斯以及在华盛顿的叛逃者那里接踵而至的大堆材料，这简直是无法容忍的。 “事情本来已经够难的了，”我说，“但是如果我们还要各自为政，那岂不是乱套了吗！” 琼斯看清了问题所在，我们这个系统已经超负荷了，他同意我们增加更多的合作，而不是去削弱这种合作的观点。我提议我们尝试去建立某种部门之间的工作组，来专门研究从供词和叛逃者那里得到的有关英国情报机构渗透问题的全部材料。琼斯说，他要看看他能做些什么。 不久后，他打电话来叫我到他的办公室去，对我说他已经把整个事情和狄克·怀特讨论过了，怀特赞成建立一个这样的委员会。狄克去说服霍利斯，后者最后勉强表示同意。这个委员会由军情五处D处的人员和军情六处反间谍处的人员组成。它向D处的处长和反间谍处的处长报告，并由我担任执行主席。这个委员会的代号叫“流畅”。 霍利斯用对西蒙兹的报告争吵作借口来压缩阿瑟的权力范围。他把现在正在成长发展的D处一科一分为二：D处一科负责指挥战役和行动，新D处一科（调查科）处理反间谍方面的调查。阿瑟仍留下来负责被截短了的老一科，而西蒙兹则被提升为副科长，负责新一科（调查科）的工作。 这是对阿瑟的一个残酷打击。因为对阿瑟来说，从四十年代末以来搞调查就是他的命根子，并且从一九五九年他回来以后，就一直以主要精力从事调查工作。不让他担任“流畅委员会”主席已使他烦恼不安了，尽管他知道这基本应该是D处三科的业务范围。但是在他自己的部门被他以前的下属、长期以来一直把阿瑟看作他的导师的西蒙兹所取代，对他来说无异于吞咽一副难咽的苦药。阿瑟感到他被西蒙兹的报告出卖了。他不能理解西蒙兹怎么能在相隔这么短的时间内写出两份看上去内容相互矛盾的报告。他深信军情五处犯了一个很大的错误。 阿瑟变得非常鲁莽，就好像一种总是处于潜流状态的自我毁灭的冲动突然征服了他。他坚信，他成了牺牲品是因为他忘我地追踪渗透问题的缘故。使事情更为糟糕的是，霍利斯指示，尽管这二个部门是彼此独立的，但还让阿瑟对两边都进行照看，以尊重他的广博的经验和知识。这是个荒谬透顶的安排，必然导致灾难。这两个人不断地争吵。阿瑟认为这种照看意味着控制，而西蒙兹则要按他自己的方式行事。最后，有一次阿瑟专断地命令西蒙兹带着他的办案人员出席会议，而西蒙兹却拒绝执行，于是他们终于闹翻了。阿瑟告诉西蒙兹，说他正在妨碍他的协调工作，而西蒙兹则反驳说这是阿瑟对他的干涉，并向卡明递交了一份书面的控告材料。卡明把这份材料交给了霍利斯并建议立即将阿瑟解雇，霍利斯对此欣然同意。 这件事情在下一次的处长会议上进行了讨论。阿瑟在那里没有盟友，许多处长都感觉受到他那强硬的、有时是狂放不羁的工作作风的威胁。在这些处长当中他只有比尔·马根一个朋友，他坚定地护卫阿瑟直至最后。但在作出决定时，比尔刚好缺席。 我记得，事情发生的那一天，阿瑟来到我的办公室，神情出奇地安详。 “他们把我解雇了，”他简单地说，“罗杰给了我两天时间清理我的办公桌。”事实上，他被调到了军情六处，这是由于狄克·怀特的坚持并克服了霍利斯的反对才安排的。尽管这个调动保住了阿瑟的养老金，但他的事业却在其全盛期中断了。 我简直不能相信真有此事：一个世界上最优秀的反间谍官员，当时由于他的娴熟的技能和丰富的经验而享有名副其实的国际声望的专家，却为和官僚上司之间的小小的口角而遭到解雇。正是此人，从一九五九年以来把D处一科从一个极其缺乏效能的部门建设成为一个现代化的、富于进取心的、高效率的反间谍单位。不错，这个部门仍然人员不足，但这不是阿瑟的过错。 阿瑟的最大缺陷就是他的天真质朴。他从未理解这些年来他树敌之多已到了何等程度。他的错误是认为提升应和相当的成就为伴。他是一个雄心勃勃的人，他也自认为有这样的雄心，但是他的雄心不在渺小卑劣的内部咬斗上。他要斩杀恶龙，和外部世界的猛兽格斗。他从不理解为什么支持他的直率做法的上司居然寥若晨星。他容易冲动，容易着迷，脑子里常有一些独特的想法。但是军情五处没能扬弃他的冲动，没能发掘他的伟大天才，这是军情五处的一个抹不掉的污点。 在他被解雇的那天晚上，他说：“对我来说，离开这个地方真是件大好事。” 但我知道这不是他的真心话。 我试图让他打起精神来，但他坚信，霍利斯是为保护他自己而制造了整个事件，而我对此却又无能为力。对二十年间的艰苦奋斗、成绩卓著的报偿，却是背上一口惨遭解雇的黑锅，真令人心寒之至。他知道他的事业破灭了，并且，正如在一九五一年一样，他为之奋斗的一切都被摧毁了。我从未见过有谁比那天夜晚离开办公室的阿瑟更为凄惨了。他握了握我的手，我感谢他过去为我所做的一切。他环顾了办公室一眼，“祝你走运，”他说着，最后一次走了出去。