‘That was exciting,’ he told her. ‘I felt like a movie extra.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you felt more important than that.’ She sat on the opposite side of his desk, and despite the view on offer looked nowhere but at him. He supposed, once you’d had professionals do the business for you, you didn’t need to pay extra attention.
‘Coffee? Tea? I used to have a PA somewhere.’
‘I won’t be long. You were at the Park yesterday.’
‘I was.’
‘Can I ask why?’
‘There’s a visitors’ tour. Fascinating stuff. Fascinating.’
‘And you thought it would be cute to tag along, oohing and aahing with the common herd.’
Cantor was wearing a blue suit today, with matching tie and three-day stubble. For his common-herd outing, he’d worn windcheater and nerd-specs: plastic frames with vanilla lenses. He wasn’t surprised he’d been recognised.
Taverner said, ‘Do I have to explain to you why it’s not a good idea that our connection be flagged?’
‘And yet here you are. Openly and in broad daylight.’ He smiled. ‘I don’t mean to teach you your trade. But doesn’t the full court press compromise the, ah,
‘Well, now. Imagine how complicated it would be to explain away a furtive encounter.’
He was nodding already; his expression that of the bright child who understands first time of hearing. ‘So your coming here in the open renders our meeting official but banal. Remind me why it’s happening?’
‘I’m curious about footage you’ve been airing. Wanted to quiz you on its provenance.’
‘Which is something First Desk would do.’
‘It’s something this First Desk does. As the fact of my doing so might indicate. Mr Cantor—’
‘Damien.’
‘Damien, I’m going to outline how our relationship works. And then, if you see any difficulties arising, we’ll know we need to rethink its viability.’
‘Oh, I’m liking this. Loving it.’
‘This is not a partnership, Damien. This is a strictly one-way arrangement. You, along with a number of others, dispense funding. In doing so, you’re providing a service to the nation, in return for which the nation is in a better position to be able to protect those things you value and hold dear. With me so far?’
‘I am.’
‘What you don’t get is any say in the uses to which I put that funding. That can not and will not happen. Ever. I would have hoped Peter Judd had made that perfectly clear.’
‘Oh, he did. He did.’
‘Further to which, I’m not saying there might not be advantages to your role. Potential priority when stories are breaking, for instance. But you can forget about my appearing anywhere near a newsroom camera.’
He showed his palms. Total surrender.
‘Well then. Now I’ve underlined the message, we have no more to discuss.’
‘Of course not. But just so I’m not getting any wires crossed,’ he said. ‘It’s like I make a donation to the Red Cross. That doesn’t give me the right to tell them how to apply bandages. Yes?’
‘Yes.’
‘Or say I give a dosser in the street ten quid. If he wants to piss it up against a wall, that’s his choice.’
‘Or perhaps he’ll just piss all over you, Damien. That would be his choice also.’ She stood.
‘Sure you won’t stay for coffee?’
‘I’m sure.’
‘Or a tour of the company? I mean, you’ve shown me yours. By the way, I keep meaning to ask, do you ever get called “M”?’
‘Enjoy your day.’
He said, ‘One other thing. How’s Doyle working out?’
‘… What’s that?’
‘My man Tommo Doyle. Joined your internal police a few months back, what do you call them? The Dogs?’
Taverner said, ‘In what way is he “your man”?’
‘He worked security for me a couple of years, but he was wasted, frankly. I’m not exactly a high-risk subject. And Tommo was SAS, back in the day. Definitely a good fit for you guys.’
‘I’m not personally acquainted with Mr Doyle,’ she said.
‘Really? I make it my business to be on first-name terms with all my staff,’ said Cantor. ‘Not that I’m trying to teach you how to run your Service.’
‘A wise decision.’
After she’d left, he reran the footage and approved it for that lunchtime’s bulletin. Ultimately this would be the editor’s decision, but ultimately he paid the editor’s salary. Then he stood near the window, looking down on London: its starts and stoppages, its daily chaos. He shouldn’t have mentioned Doyle really, but the worst that would happen was Doyle would lose his job and there was always room for him back here. Tommo was full of good stuff once you got him loosened up. A couple of drinks and he’d tell you stories would make your hair curl.
Treat those you despise with humanity, especially if the reason you despise them is that they have none. One of those lessons you pick up along the way, a little shard of wisdom – aspirational goodness – that becomes a moral anchor, if only by virtue of the fact that the words are there, in your head. So Lech Wicinski supposed that’s how he ought to regard his fellow beings – with humanity – seeing as how he seemed to be suffering the contempt of all around, but mostly what he felt was, fuck them. Especially Jackson Lamb.
