The Secret Agent

Who is it?

Mr Verloc.

Wait a moment.

He won't be long.

- It's Verloc! - I know.

A combination of time and shock device it has to be said, are perfect.

Is it dangerous? - Not if you don't panic.

When can I have it?

A week.

Good.

Stevie? Stevie!

Stevie, Stevie, I'm here, keep calm.

Be calm, be calm, Stevie, Stevie.

There we are.

There we are.

Where are your lovely patterns, hey?

All those circles, and...

patterns you were drawing.

Here, sit down here.

I'll get you a glass of milk.

There's a letter for you.

Here we are.

Have you got it?

These ideas put into your head, hey?

Anybody home?

Come on, Stevie.

Go upstairs and have a rest.

Hello, Stevie. Here!

Stevie, go upstairs.

I heard that Mr Verloc is on the continent. - Did you now?

On business, I heard.

You should read this.

There's an article about marriage and free love.

Mr Verloc has returned from the continent, he's upstairs asleep.

Oh.

Every morning I read The Times these days I can't suppress a feeling of disappointment.

- Disappointment? - Hmm. It's so damnably quiet.

No secret meetings broken up by the police.

No Members of Parliament wounded in the street.

No bombs thrown at the carriages of Royalty.

And no vicious suppression by the forces of law and order.

In short, nothing to make on nostalgic for the mother country.

The Times Editorial is scathing about the bill to bring the fisheries into public ownership.

Oh dear.

Oh, the Secret Agent, whose name was so secret

that he was designated a Greek letter of the alphabet

in the correspondence of my predecessor, Baron Stott-Wartenheim

has not done what he was told to do.

Is it a question of time? Planning?

Time is fast running out for Mr Verloc, the Milan conference on terrorism has begun.

We may have to dispense with his services.

All we need to do is make sure that one of his anarchist friends

finds out he is a police informer.

- Would they kill him? - Oh, of course.

- He was very useful to us in the past. - In the past. Exactly.

It is planned!

It will be done!

We'll give you one week.

Winnie?

Oh, Winnie.

Oh, Stevie's gone missing again.

He went to the greengrocer's two hours ago, I've been everywhere!

Well, he won't go far.

He's being funny again, Adolf.

Mr Verloc!

Ah! It's alright, he's there.

Where have you been? Where have you been?!

I recognised him, he's been in the bookshop for hours.

He couldn't remember the name of your street.

Did you go to the greengrocer's?

Oh, he's been looking at those books again, curse the day they taught you to read!

Go inside, I'll have some strong words with you later, thank you.

Come inside, Stevie. Stevie, come inside.

It's alright.

Hey.

Now then, young man, what's all this about, hey?

It's alright, it's alright! You're home now, you're home.

I don't see why they should be invited.

He is my cousin.

They never invite us.

We've never invited them!

To be honest...

I think they're provincial.

I suppose to be literal, yes.

She's always cool to me.

She thinks you were promoted quicker than Albert.

I don't think that's the case.

It works differently in the army.

I don't think they're the k... Thank you, Mary.

They're the kind of people who are going to sit down with a duchess.

It wouldn't be fair on them.

I can't see why.

He is an officer.

- Stevie. - Mmm.

Did I see you wearing Mr Verloc's overcoat yesterday?

No, Win.

I did, Stevie, you were hurrying to the greengrocer's.

Sorry Winnie, it was a mistake.

We have to watch out for your mistakes.

I better do both.

Have you got your pocket money?

Mmm.

Where have you been? 'All the day, billy boy, billy boy?'

Well?

There's nothing, it's as quiet as the grave.

Nothing's as quiet as that.

Any foreign visitors?

There's nothing.

Perhaps your other employer knows more than I do.

Hmm?

Don't worry.

What about Michaelis?

He's only out of jail on ticket-of-leave

and I want him back there.

Why?

All he wants to do is write books.

Are you alright?

Yes.

A timetable for Sittingbourne, please.

That's tuppence please, sir.

Thank you.

All aboard, come on now.

Hurry on now, please!

Yes.

Your Grace.

Ahh.

My dear Henry.

Thank you for your note.

There seems to be something of a hornet's nest over this soirée of mine.

Annie's been in touch with you, has she?

Oh yes she has. I am very fond of Annie, but she's always been a difficult girl.

One thing in my favour is, she seems to listen to me.

She's very fond of you.

And I believe she has made a very good marriage.

I think it's important that you invite your cousins to my soiree, in spite of Annie's feelings

if only for the sake of good family relations. I would be delighted to meet them.

I am very grateful.

What are you reading? - Ah.

It's a manuscript.

The Autobiography of a Prisoner. By that ticket-of-leave man you met.

Friend Michaelis, is it?

It is very fine.

I'd like to read it.

'Do you not think, dear reader, that if I had not been the optimist I am

'I could not have found in 15 years some means to cut my throat?

'And, in the last instance, there were always the walls of my cell to dash my head against.'

I think if he went back to prison again he would die.

And I would never forgive you, Henry, if he did.

The violence that appears to be part of the development of civilisation

does not speed up man's progress

but rather acts as a brake upon it.

Violence is not a catalyst, but...

...a diversion.

He's been moping.

Mother leaving us.

I don't know what to do with him.

Stevie, Stevie.

Why don't you use the point of the knife

to take the eyes out, like that. Then you can peel them more easily.

You should take him out with you, Adolf.

As long as he didn't get lost again.

I've taken care of that.

That's better, now you've got the hang of it.

Morning!

There's no need to feel hopeless.

People can fight injustice.

Kill the bad men.

No, it's not necessary to do that.

But they're bad!

Well, then, you have to show the world, you have...

to let people see that for themselves.

How?

How, Mr Verloc? Tell me.

You want to help poor people?

Yes, I do yes. - Well, that's good.

Am I good? Am I? - Yes.

Yes.

Stevie still gets very excited when any of your friends have been here talking.

Well, some of them are foolish.

Tom Ossipon's alright though.

You know, we should keep Stevie away from the meetings.

Perhaps he might profit from being sent out of town for a while.

Out of town?

Well, perhaps you couldn't get on without him.

Well, I shouldn't get on without him, the idea!

It was just a thought.

Of course I can get on without him, there's nowhere for him to go though, is there?

Michaelis?

He wouldn't mind giving the boy a room.

No visitors there, so no talk.

Well, he...

he's very good to the boy.

Does he really like him?

Sure, he likes him.

Oh, well he's a good boy.

I could take him to Sittingbourne myself, if you like? Make sure he's alright.

If he doesn't get on I'll fetch him back.

Mind you don't get your clothes dirty in the country, Stevie.

Oh goodness me, don't look at me like that.

You know how you like to get yourself untidy given half the chance.