It was Moro who spoke first.“So, you crossed into India safely, you and Dr. Hoffner and the Kazakhs?”“That’s right.”“But what happened then? No further word of Hoffner, not anywhere. I’ve checked all sources.”“The whole thing was handled with total secrecy, just as if he didn’t exist. It was all meant to fool Chinese intelligence, of course.”“So he was taken to England?”Chavasse nodded. “Moncrieff arranged everything. As I say, total secrecy. There was a safe house arranged in the countryside outside Cambridge where he was supposed to meet with Professor Craig from the Joint Space Research Programme at NATO.”There was a pause. Moro said, “You said ‘was supposed to.’”“Life playing its usual bad joke. Karl Hoffner died of a heart attack on his first night in the house. He was an old man, remember; that dreadful journey and all that stress proved too much for him. Since in a manner of speaking he didn’t officially exist, he had a very private cremation by the Bureau’s disposal unit.”“But you had his papers, all the details of his research.
What do You think about Jack Higgins - Chavasse 02?
