‘Yes,’ Samuels replied, matter of fact. ‘Though we still need to establish that the Pope, Archbishop and Numpti did indeed send the packages (he knew they had, but had to suggest he did not), but no holy smoke without fire is the MI5 motto in these cases.’ It wasn’t, but Samuels thought it quite apt and, within himself, he chuckled some more, while externally he maintained his appearance of cold and calculating alertness, which he reinforced with an applied stern visage. It was what they expected of him and he wasn’t about to disappoint.
There was a palpable silence in the room, which did not last long, as you would expect with career politicians and pretty soon this changed to one of, ironically, righteous indignation, expressed no more fervently than by the deputy prime minister, Mr Blo
