‘My Lords,’ he said in fluent Russian – commandingly but with respect, ‘I raise an objection to the timing of this trial, in particular to the uncommon haste in which it has been called. My principal objection centres on the treatment of Ms Sabatino. She is hardly in a fit physical state to undertake the gruelling ordeal of a trial. Not only that, she is still mentally in no fit state to have produced a witness statement, let alone to account for herself before your Lordships under the stressful ordeal of trial conditions. She was declared psychologically unfit to be questioned by the police – a certificate signed by the senior trauma consultant, Mr Pyotr Uglov of the Yeltsin Meditsinskiy Tsentr, where she was being treated. Not only was she interviewed before she was medically sound, but she was interviewed by the police – without being allowed any legal representation. As a consequence, the prosecution is affording Ms Sabatino no right to defend herself equitably.
‘Moreover,’ Brogan went on, ‘it is not solely Ms Sabatino's fate that is in the balance, here. Much of what your Lordships will decide in relation to Ptarmigan and Mr Nazar will depend directly on Ms Sabatino's evidence. As her testimony can only be unreliable, how can your Lordships possibly be confident in their judgment of the other two accused?’
Gazdanov jumped up and interrupted: ‘Mr Justices, we cannot rely on the evidence of this doctor, Mr Uglov.’ With disdain he said: ‘This man gave his clear approval for Ms Sabatino to be questioned before the interview was started. And then, no more than an hour later, the same man declared her to be unfit. If we are to take Uglov at his word, I suggest we take the doctor's first opinion – offered freely – before he was intimidated and threatened by the lawyer for the accused.’
‘You will notice, my Lords, that my learned friend did not respond to the lack of legal representation afforded to my client.’
‘This was merely a preliminary interview,’ replied Gazdanov dis-missively. ‘A simple process of fact-finding, only.’
Pudovkin and the rest of the courtroom watched and listened to a consequential series of tit-for-tat arguments over the viability of the trial, all predicated on the uncertainty of Sabatino's state of health.
Despite the delay to proceedings, Pudovkin was relieved that Gazdanov was not conceding any ground. But the balance of argument shifted when the defence lawyer did make one particularly resonant point: he invited the court to look at Ms Sabatino, who, in her neck brace and plaster casts, appeared anything but a picture of health.
Gazdanov kept rebutting Brogan's points, but eventually the defence managed to trigger a private conference between the judges and the two advocates.
At the decision of the senior Supreme Court justice, the court official announced that the court was temporarily adjourned. The judges filed out, followed by the two advocates – to thrash out the legal issues in private chambers.
Pudovkin moved out of the courtroom. Finding himself some privacy, he telephoned his watch commander, Major Kuprin.
‘Where is Straker? What the hell is that man up to now?’
Twenty minutes later a court officer appeared back through a door at the front of the room. Calling for attention, he announced that the court would be adjourned for the rest of the day. It would resume at nine thirty the following morning.
Pudovkin hung around the Supreme Court until Gazdanov finally reappeared. He rode with the prosecutor general back to his offices. The police colonel found the prosecutor to be in an upbeat mood. ‘I take it things went well with the justices over Sabatino's ftness to stand trial?’
‘That man Brogan never stopped jumping up and down. My points about public opinion, though – quoting the president's comments at the memorial service after the crash – were powerful arguments with the judges.’
‘Have you won the right to continue with the trial, then, Mr Prosecutor?’
Gazdanov manifested an expression of cautious optimism. ‘There is an urgent matter, though, colonel. Get onto your mole in the Brandeis office, immediately. I want an insight into the opposition's response and mood after today. I want to see if there are any developments from the other side we ought to know about.’
‘It takes a few hours to set up a call or a meeting, so that I don’t compromise the contact.’
‘We don’t have that sort of time,’ replied Gazdanov. ‘Do it now. That mole is only useful to us for a few more hours, anyway.’
Pudovkin was not pleased. Having expended considerable effort in cultivating that source, all his work – and potentially valuable future intelligence – could be blown. What could he do? Gazdanov had issued him with a direct order.
Pudovkin sent his mole a text with the agreed signal for instant communication – a reference to FC Dynamo.
Once inside the office of the prosecutor general, the police colonel sat quietly, while Gazdanov went through some of the witness statements again.
Pudovkin's phone rang shortly after.
As the policeman looked down, he knew instantly that something was up. His Brandeis mole was calling him straight back – on an identifiable mobile phone, clearly not following their normal procedure.
Pudovkin answered the call. ‘Can you tell us anything about today?’ he asked, looking at Gazdanov as he spoke.
It didn’t take long for Gazdanov to realize that something wasn’t going to plan.
Pudovkin ended the call.
‘What is it?’ the prosecutor general asked. ‘What's wrong?’
‘Anatoly Pokrovsky, my mole inside Brandeis Gertner, has been fired.’
‘What? Why? For God's sake.’
‘Colonel Straker suspected him of being a mole, sir.’
‘Jesus – how the hell did he know that?’
‘Straker is sharp, Mr Prosecutor. With all that's been going on, he must have anticipated that we would try and infiltrate his team.’
‘This man Straker is a pain in the arse, Pudovkin,’ said Gazdanov, his face noticeably flushed. ‘What else is he capable of doing in this trial? He has to be stopped.’
SIXTY-THREE
Police Colonel Pudovkin left Gazdanov's office an hour later feeling troubled. How had Straker been able to identify his mole? Had Pokrovsky been careless? Highly unlikely: the man was fastidious to a fault – to an irritating degree. This sacking, though, showed just how much Straker understood of their modus operandi; the British colonel had clearly managed to get one step ahead of them.
More concerning to Pudovkin, personally, was that Straker had cost him his valuable inside source – the one element of leverage Pudovkin was banking on to keep him indispensable to the operation. The policeman suddenly felt he needed to do more to protect his position and standing.
Pudovkin decided to take direct charge of the police's surveillance.
Radioing his team, he wanted to find out where Straker was now. Apparently, the British man was back in the Brandeis office in the Presnensky District.
‘Right, I’ll be with you shortly.’
Pudovkin had his car pull up two streets away, from where he walked in to rendezvous with the watch commander just round the corner from the lawyer's office. Climbing into the back of the unmarked command vehicle, the police colonel was briefed on the extensive net of watchers Major Kuprin had deployed to surround the building. Five detachments of police were secreted in the streets and alleys around the different exits of the Brandeis building.
