The Miernik Dossier - Charles McCarry [0]
DOSSIER
ALSO BY CHARLES MCCARRY
Old Boys
The Tears of Autumn
The Secret Lovers
The Better Angels
The Last Supper
The Bride of the Wilderness
Second Sight
Shelley’s Heart
Lucky Bastard
CHARLES
MCCARRY
THEMIERNIK
DOSSIER
DUCKWORTH OVERLOOK
London and New York
This edition first published in UK in 2009 by
Duckworth Overlook
90-93 Cowcross Street
London EC1M 6BF
Tel: 020 7490 7300
Fax: 020 7490 0080
info@duckworth-publishers.co.uk
www.ducknet.co.uk
Copyright © 1973 by Charles McCarry
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, as a photocopy, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-0-7156-3957-3
ePub ISBN: 978-0-7156-4040-1
Adobe PDF ISBN: 978-0-7156-4041-8
For Nancy
On pense à moi pour une place, mais par malheur j’y étais propre: il fallait un calculateur, ce fut un danseur qui l’obtint.
—BEAUMARCHAIS (Le Mariage de Figaro)
This narrative is set in the middle years of the cold war; the year could be 1959. Travelers familiar with that time, and with the scenes in which the story takes place, will recognize landmarks and atmosphere and attitudes. But they will search in vain for familiar figures. No character is intended to resemble any person who ever lived, and no event is based on fact.
THEMIERNIK
DOSSIER
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The attached dossier is submitted to the Committee in response to the request by its Chairman for “a complete picture of a typical operation.”
The file includes:
a) agents’ reports, including those of intelligence services other than our own;
b) written communications exchanged by the principals outside security channels;
c) transcripts of telephone conversations and of other conversations that were recorded by listening devices;
d) certain other documents, e.g., surveillance reports, diary entries, biographical sketches;
e) footnotes supplied by our Headquarters.
Apart from a minimal number of footnotes, which were considered necessary to a full understanding of the material, no comment or interpretation has been provided. It is hoped that the documents will, as it were, “draw their own picture” of this operation.
No changes have been made in any of the documents, except that some have been shortened so as to exclude extraneous material, and each of the principals has been assigned a single fictitious name. In the original documents, they were, of course, identified under a variety of cryptonyms, identification numbers, etc.
For reasons that will be understood by the Committee, the means by which certain of these documents came into our possession are not specified.
The genuinity of all material in this file may be assumed.
1. INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FILES OF THEWORLD RESEARCH ORGANIZATION.*
To Mr. Khan
The Polish Ambassador has requested, in a conversation with me today, that we not renew the contract of Mr. Tadeusz Miernik when it expires next month. The Ambassador explained that Mr. Miernik’s professional skills are required by the Polish Ministry of Education.
May I have your advice as to whether we may accede to the Ambassador’s wish (which has the effect of a formal request from the Polish government) without undue inconvenience to the Organization?
8 May DIRECTOR GENERAL
To Director General
Mr. Miernik’s work can be assigned to another official without undue inconvenience. I venture to add that I should, in the ordinary course of events, have recommended a permanent contract for Mr. Miernik, whose performance over the past two years has been of the highest quality.
Mr. Miernik has, moreover, expressed a strong interest in remaining with the Organization. He considers that he has personal as well as professional reasons to remain in Geneva.
If you wish me to do so, I shall be happy to discuss these reasons