A grey-faced officer from SIS London sat and oversaw the tribunal, with each side giving their version of events. Rodney Grenham-Smythe was up first and downplayed the series of events. The agent had become aggressive, demanding too much money for what she had to offer. When he had refused, she had turned violent and he had been forced to defend himself! It was as simple as that.
And of being drunk on duty? What of that, Rodney?
Well, Berlin was an intense posting; it was normal to have a drink or two with an agent, so okay, perhaps he had made the measures rather on the large side, but it was no reason for a junior contract officer, one with a history of violence like Jack Grant, to overreact and assault a senior SIS officer, reflected Grenham-Smythe.
With Grant on suspension, it was u
