The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comcans and hamburger wrappers. `They're not police surveillance,' theyassured me. I had already guessed as much. The surveillance was far tooamateurish to be from the Italian authorities, and the occupants wouldnot have run away if they were officials. The only explanation was thatMI6 had hired an amateur surveillance team to watch me once theItalians had refused to help them any more. When the patrol car left, Ibought a Stanley knife in the service station and slashed their tyres.Back in my car, I faxed the British ambassador in Rome using my newlypurchased replacement Psion and mobile phone and asked him to send methe bill. Not surprisingly, he didn't send me the bill - I would havesent it straight to my lawyer.A few days later, my stay in Rimini was over. The landlady of myapartment did not like the embarrassment of the police visit and shetold me that the apartment had been `booked by some Germans last year'.She asked me to leave with a week's notice. I was without a home andwith the holiday season approaching fast it was impossible to findother accommodation in Rimini. But perhaps that was a blessing indisguise. I moved north and after a few weeks roughing it in varioushostels I found an apartment in Riva del Garda, a far more pleasanttown on the northern edge of Lake Garda. It was a sportsman's paradise,with fantastic cycling, windsurfing and walking opportunities for thesummer, and with good skiing nearby in the winter. I decided to settlethere for a while, MI6 permitting.But my optimism was short-lived. A few days later, on a trip to MonteCarlo for a job interview, MI6 had me arrested again by the MonacoSpecial Investigations Unit, who threw me into the cells of theirstation, by the harbour front. Sitting on a hard bench for a few hours,I rued that I was becoming even more of a connoisseur of police cellsthan Ronnie from Belmarsh. MI6 asked the Monaco police to confiscate mynew Psion and mobile phone, but fortunately they rang for advice fromthe DST, who advised them to let me go. After six hours of detentionthey released me on condition I went straight back to Italy.Shortly after returning home to Riva del Garda, I found that MI6 hadbeen busy again in my absence. The estate agency with whom I had foundmy flat rang me up and called me into their office on the pretext ofrequiring a copy of my passport. `Richard,' announced Betty, the elderof the two sisters who ran the agency, `while you were away, we had avisit from two men who said that they were from the police.' Angerwelled up inside me at this latest intervention from MI6, but worse wasto come as Betty explained. `But we realised straight away that theywere not really from the police because they asked such unprofessionalquestions about you.'`Like what?' I asked.`They wanted to know how much you were paying in rent for your flat,and whether you had a telephone line - the real police would not beinterested in that.'`Did they say anything else?' I asked.`Yes,' Betty hesitated for a moment before continuing. `They told methat you were a paedophile and warned me to keep you away from mydaughter.'page- 231 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com