The Scarlet Papers: The Times Thriller of the Year 2023

According to the papers, he had unwittingly committed the cardinal sin of being pale, male and stale. None of the above seemed likely to change in the immediate future.

‘Just nothing. One whiff of my arrival to the DGSE or DGSI and you’ll be posted to outer Mongolia with drone attacks as mood music. Do we understand each other?’

‘A hot war’s better than a cold one. At least everyone knows the score.’

‘The sun has gone over the yardarm,’

The first twenty years of life, he was starting to realize, were all external. Spots, grease, hormones – the bumpy ride to adulthood. The next twenty were all internal, far more difficult to catch.

‘You’ve given your life to a cause,’ said Aunt Maria. ‘The cause has given nothing back. A life is to be lived. Forget the world. Think for yourself. I’ve lived with regrets, but I don’t want to die with them too.’

It was always the first question a handler asked an asset, the practical realities of spying so much more mundane than the movie version. Assets didn’t usually get caught by grand, heroic gestures. It was the small things that undid them: unexplained absences from work, erratic behaviour at home, seemingly pointless travel or diversions.

‘History, my child, is the most powerful motive of all.’ Aunt Maria rested her hand gently on Scarlet’s shoulder. ‘Now, I’m afraid, we must leave.’

The secret war, the scientific struggle, depended on that. Spying was a performance and the costume, the voice, the initial entrance were as vital as the lines themselves.