Agent in Place Read Online Free PDF

instead of Sunday.
    “Then who’s on duty tomorrow?”
    “Barney, if he gets over the grippe.” Maclehose wasn’t optimistic. “He’s running a temperature of a hundred and two, so I may have to sub for him. Thank God no one—so far—is talking about working here this Sunday.”
    “I may have to come in and finish this job.”
    “Pity you didn’t keep it in your drawer upstairs.” Maclehose could see his Sunday being ruined, all on account of one over-dutiful guy. That was the trouble with the young ones: they thought every doodle on their think-pads was worthy of being guarded in Fort Knox. “Then we could have locked up tight. Is that stuff so important?” He gestured to the folder in Kelso’s hand.
    Kelso laughed and began to unlock Cabinet D. He was slow, hesitating. Once its door was open, he would find two vertical tiers of drawers, three to each side. Five had the names of each member of his department, all working on particular problems connected with defence. The sixth drawer, on the bottom row of the right-hand tier, was simply marked Pending . And there the NATO Memorandum had come to rest. For the past three weeks it had been dissected, computerised, studied, analysed. Now, in an ordinary folder, once more a recognisable document, it waited for the analyses to be evaluated, the total assessment made, and the last judgment rendered in the shape of a Shandon Report which would accompany it back to Washington.
    “Having trouble with that lock?” Maclehose asked, about to come forward and help.
    “No. Just turned the key the wrong way.”
    And at that moment the telephone rang on Maclehose’s desk in the outer office.
    It was almost as though the moment had been presented to him. As Maclehose vanished, Kelso swung the cabinet door wide open. He pulled out the Pending drawer, exchanged the NATO folder for his own, closed the drawer, shut the door. He was about to slip the memorandum inside his jacket when Maclehose ended the brief call and came hurrying back.
    He stared at the folder in Kelso’s hand. “Taking your time? Come on, let’s hurry this up. Everyone is packing it in—just got the signal—no more visitors today.”
    “How about Farkus and Thibault? They were working on some pretty important stuff.”
    “They were down here half an hour ago. Come on, get this damned cabinet open and—”
    Kelso locked it, handed the keys over with a grin. “You changed my mind for me.”
    “Look—I wasn’t trying to—”
    Sure you were, thought Kelso, but he only tucked the folder under his arm. “It isn’t really so important as all that. I’ll lock it up in my desk. Baxter will see no one gets into my office.” Baxter was the guard who would be on corridor patrol tomorrow. “Have a good birthday party—how many kids are coming?”
    “Fifteen of them,” said Maclehose gloomily. The door to the filing-room clanged, was locked securely. Its key, along with the one for filing-cabinet Defence, was dropped into the desk drawer beside those for the other departments—Oceanic Development, Political Economy, Space Exploration, Population, International Law, Food, Energy (Fusion), Energy (Solar), Ecology, Social Studies.
    “Quite an invasion.” Kelso watched Maclehose close the drawer, set its combination lock, and turned away before Maclehose noted his interest. “All seven-year-olds?”
    “Good God,” Maclehose said suddenly, “I almost forgot!” He frowned down at a memo sheet lying among the clutter on his desk. “There would have been hell to pay.”
    What’s wrong now? Kelso wondered in dismay, halting at the door. His hand tightened on the folder, his throat went dry. Some new security regulation?
    Maclehose read from the memo. “Don’t forget to pick up four quarts of chocolate ice-cream on your way home.”
    “See you Monday if you survive,” said Kelso cheerfully, and left.
    * * *
    Kelso drove through Appleton, hands tight on the wheel, face tense. His briefcase, picked