condensed master

The Reluctant Agent
A Compelling Story of Espionage
minutes walk from the underground station.
The next day was Friday and Will had decided to take a late morning train. It
was only a one hour and forty minutes ride and he arrived at Euston Station in
North London around lunchtime. After a quick journey on the underground he
soon found himself walking across Ealing Common to identify the street. In
contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city there were very few people about.
Taking out his sandwiches he sat down on one of the park benches to eat lunch.
The thoughts of what may transpire during the next few hours were churning
around inside. The main purpose for his action was to try and place Billy Boyd in
an insecure environment, thereby taking away some of the security he enjoyed
within the confines of the organization. This would in turn make him think twice
before blindly following his superior's instructions, without taking the consequences
into consideration.
His job as a courier at the Embassy fitted the organization's needs perfectly
and after analyzing the events in the office two nights ago, Will had come to the
conclusion that Billy's role was probably a minor one, confined to passing on
instructions and reporting back. As the minutes slipped by he began to ponder
what to do next, perhaps watch the house until he arrived? What if he had taken
the day off and was over there right now? It would be best to go and glean
whatever information he could about Billy's whereabouts.
Will made his way along the street of Elizabethan four storey terraced houses.
They were set back a few feet from the pavement behind wrought iron railings
through which the branches of an occasional shrub was growing. He paused at the
gate which was permanently propped open in a state of disrepair, and read the
number painted in white on a large black door with a tarnished brass knob.
As he mounted the three stone steps he couldn't fail to observe the paint
peeling away from the ornate figured woodwork, probably the result of a hundred
years and many coats. He reached for the Victorian bellpull but as with everything
else in sight it was painted over and solidly fixed in a non functioning position. The
door knocker had long since either fallen off or been stolen, leaving just the striker
stud behind.
Will tried the door. It opened and he stepped into a hallway that perfectly
matched the disintegration of the exterior. The expanse of the stairway leading to
the upper floors took up most of the space, leaving a narrow passage that led to
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