A Perfect Spy

In his letter to Jack, Pym apologizes for his “selective” memory. After being scammed by the baroness, Pym tried and failed to contact his father. Eventually, he concluded that he was on his own, so he left the hotel with the bill unpaid and found a series of jobs to get by in Switzerland. Pym charmed his way through the Swiss school system and enrolled in a university after scrubbing elephants in a circus. Signing up with false documents, he attended student forums and an English church. In a dark, cheap bar, he met a man named Herr Ollinger. The generous Swiss man offered Pym a “very small room” (165). Ollinger’s family was “truly happy”; Pym exchanged vapid, vague letters with his father and continued to correspond with Belinda. He befriended a writer named Axel, another resident in Ollinger’s house whose past was shrouded in mystery. At Christmas, Axel gifts Pym a copy of Grimmelshausen’s Simplicissimus that describes his hometown, Carlsbad, which was Austrian, then German, and is now part of Czechoslovakia, meaning that the German Axel no longer has a hometown. They take long walks together, the disabled Axel using Pym as his “walking-stick”—in a way that they’d walk together for the rest of their lives.

Axel became Pym’s tutor in the German language and culture. In addition to the classic cornerstones of German literature, Axel and Pym read Marx, Engels, and other socialist or communist texts. Axel became sick, a lingering result of a wound he incurred during the British bombing of Germany. Pym doted on Axel, reading to him and playing music on a gramophone. As Axel’s fever intensified, he became increasingly “delirious” but grew closer to Pym. Axel gradually revealed how he traveled from Carlsbad to Bern through a series of “tricks” (175).

Pym describes how he met Jack at the English church in Bern. Pym was immediately struck by the “straight-backed English brave of the officer class” (176). Jack was then the Assistant Passport Officer at the British Embassy in Bern, though this was just a cover story. He had a long, decorated military record that impressed young Pym. Between conversations with Jack’s then-wife, Felicity, and Jack’s then-boss, Sandy, Pym found himself agreeing to talk about the “rum characters” he knew from the university. Pym was delighted to meet Jack but decided to keep the “two saints” of his acquaintances—Jack and Axel—a secret from one another. Carefully, Jack recruited Pym to perform increasingly complicated jobs for the intelligence services. These jobs tested Pym’s capabilities and trustworthiness. Jack wanted Pym to spy on the members of the Cosmo club, a youth organization, and was pleased when Pym obtained a list of the members’ names and addresses under the pretext of starting a newsletter. One of the members was named Axel; Jack was very interested in Axel and quizzed Pym about his friend’s life story. The more Pym talked about Axel, the more he realized that Axel’s story was strangely like that of a spy. After the conversation with Jack, Pym viewed Axel with resentment. Having not seen the truth about Axel’s past, he was annoyed at the “arrogant German”—but noted everything he observed about Axel for Jack’s benefit. After months of Pym’s living at the Ollinger house and observing Axel, Jack’s men entered the house and took Axel away. For years, Pym held a “grudge” against Jack for taking his friend away. Now, however, he understands that Axel’s arrest was all part of the intelligence game. Pym’s writing is interrupted by the delivery of a cabinet to his room. He tries to tempt Miss Dubber with the gift of a vacation to Tunisia, but she refuses to entertain his offer.

Jack feels like “the latest unperson in the latest looming scandal” (190). Taking care not to be followed, he visits Pym’s first wife, Belinda, and her current husband, Paul, a left-wing activist and writer. Jack tells them that Pym has gone missing but insists that Pym has “strayed but [is] not lost” (192). Jack thinks he can still save Pym. Talking alone with Belinda, Jack quizzes her about Rick, Jemima, Poppy, and Wentworth. Belinda admits that Pym telephoned her recently and sounded “strange” while thanking her for their brief, unhappy marriage. Jack’s questioning expands to Pym’s war record, Greensleeves, and the places Pym might like to go. Belinda refuses to answer. She says that Jack “invented” Pym, so Pym is his responsibility.

In London, Grant Lederer sits in a dark room with nine other men. Lederer’s boss, Wexler, describes the “accumulation of indicators” (196) that they think has earmarked Pym as a potential danger for a long time. However, they don’t yet know that Pym is missing. Wexler is a confused old man but a legend in the Central Intelligence Agency, and Lederer thus sees himself as an “ambitious jerk.” Lederer trusts the data that he has spent many hours feeding into a computer, which suggests that Pym is a risk. When he first pointed this out, however, the British refused to entertain the idea. Lederer has meticulously watched Pym ever since. Now, one of the Americans explains to the gathered British intelligence operatives that the Czech transmissions they’ve studied for years have become “very peculiar.” Jack loudly insists that the Czechoslovakian transmissions are simply attempts to “frame” Pym. Lederer doesn’t mention to the other men that he sees much of himself in Pym, regarding himself and Pym as “howling psychopaths.” Instead, he calmly outlines the evidence he thinks conclusively establishes that Pym is a rogue agent. This evidence includes the presence of a Czech intelligence agent named Petz on the Greek island of Corfu at the same time that Pym was there. On inspecting Pym’s recent movements, Lederer and his computer deduced that Pym’s travels aligned exactly with those of the “Czech spy of uncertain age” (204), even when the Czech man traveled under different names. When the Americans demand to know Pym’s whereabouts, however, the British decline to respond. Lederer speaks out of turn, unable to contain his claim that his father and Pym’s father are “not in certain ways dissimilar” (206). The meeting ends awkwardly.

Later, Lederer takes Jack aside to tell him how much he’s “sorry” that Pym is involved in this potential scandal. As Lederer describes his long, detailed conversations with Pym about defection and tradecraft, Jack is reluctant to talk. Lederer mentions that Pym once referred to a small town in Wales where he might like to go to write his book; Jack asks Lederer about Czech spy techniques. When Jack declines Lederer’s invitation to dinner, Lederer asks Jack to tell Pym that Lederer will always “be there as his friend” (209). After Jack’s departure, Lederer rushes to the US embassy with the sudden realization that “Pym’s flown the coop” (209). Later, Jack visits Tom to see if he recognizes Petz from a photograph. Tom tells him about Syd Lemon, Rick’s friend, who—Tom has been assured by his father—can always be trusted. Jack calls the Firm; with Pym’s loyalty now in doubt, he reiterates his desire that all agents be evacuated for their own safety. On his own, Jack carefully pieces together the various legs of Pym’s journey into hiding. He calls the police to ask for information about Syd Lemon and, in a call to the Firm, suggests that the Americans try to use a “an early text” (214) of Grimmelshausen’s Simplicissimus to decode the radio transmissions.

Pym remembers studying at Oxford University—a time as close as anything to a “perfect time” (215) in his life. In his final lonely months in Bern after Axel’s departure, he increased his correspondence with Belinda and his father before returning to England. Rick was in a period of prosperity that funded Pym’s enrollment at Oxford; Pym was made an employee of Rick’s company and told that Rick’s mansion was “in [his] name” (216). In addition to reuniting with his boarding school friend, Sefton Boyd, Pym quickly ingratiated himself to the Oxford culture. However, he focused his studies on German literature rather than law and neglected to tell his father. He also developed a sudden interest in women, though he always wrote to Belinda. When Sefton Boyd’s sister, Jemima, visited, Pym told her he loved her and lied to her about the “secret missions” he conducted in Switzerland. Jemima seemed too interested in sex, he decided.

Jack wrote to Pym; his letter led to an interview with a man from the War Office who wished to keep tabs on Pym’s progress with a view to a potential future in the intelligence agencies. The man was the first of several men sent to follow Pym’s university career with interest. These men asked him for information about university societies, especially those with left-leaning political interests. Pym did everything they asked of him. One day, he learned that Rick was running in a local election as the “Liberal Candidate for Gulworth North” (227).

Pym pauses writing momentarily to worry about his health and his father’s memory. In Vienna, Mary attends the Saxon church and notices the mysterious man from Corfu in a nearby pew. This is the third time she has seen him; previously, he offered to “help [her] find him” (229). Mary ignores his presence but catches the eye of Bee Lederer in the back of the church.