The Tamarind Seed

Sam? Would it inconvenience you...

...if I took a holiday early?

Rest up, get some sun.

What about one of those pleasant little islands in the Caribbean?

Goodbye, Richard.

Rachel!

Hurry or we'll be late again.

It's only 8:30.

The ambassador arrives at nine! I'd rather not sweep in at the same time.

I just want to get a hanky.

Can I help you?

Mrs Farrow is out of town for two weeks.

No. I'm sorry, Mr Paterson,

I have instructions not to give out that information.

Do you want her to call you?

No.

Rachel!

Coming!

I wish to call Paris, please.

3064353, extension 211.

Yes?

Good evening, Comrade Sverdlov.

Extremely well, thank you. And you, comrade?

Are you enjoying your vacation?

Well, it is somewhat dull, but certainly restful.

If there is no pressing business I shall be back on the 14th, as planned.

There is nothing pressing, comrade Sverdlov.

But should the situation change I will, of course, call you at once.

Thank you, comrade. Good night.

General Golitsyn wishes to see you.

How about lunch at the club next week, Richard?

Tuesday? I'll drop Rachel off and meet you.

I'll have my secretary call you - tomorrow?

Bye-bye, my dear. Now, you take good care of her, Richard.

She needs someone to stand up for her, he's such a cold-blooded swine.

I wish I'd had someone to stand up for me.

You never needed anyone.

No. Hard as nails.

You did that for me, at least.

- Good evening, sir. - Good evening.

Madam.

Excuse me.

Who's that man?

MacLeod? He works with Jack Loder.

Oh, that frightful man.

Getting a wee bit crowded in here.

Get rid of this, will you?

- Evening, Group Captain. - Good evening.

- Mrs Paterson. - Good evening, Mr Loder.

- Enjoying yourselves? - Very much.

Good, good.

I don't like him.

Very few do. He wasn't picked for his personality.

In the final analysis it's results that count.

If you consider our...

Excuse me, Colonel, can I have a word?

Excuse me, please.

All right, Jack, what's on your mind?

General Golitsyn arrived without Sverdlov,

- And so far Sverdlov hasn't shown up. - I know.

He wasn't at the Belgians' last Tuesday either.

- I was going to call you tomorrow. - Where is he?

He's out of France, on vacation, we assume.

Hm. If you gave us more information we might assume something for ourselves.

Sorry. It really looks like a vacation, nothing more.

- Barbados. - Barbados?

They never go anywhere for a holiday except home.

He must be up to something.

Setting up a rocket base...?

The Caribbean could just be a blind.

Maybe Sverdlov's been recalled.

Unlikely.

Maybe Golitsyn's being moved up?

No, too old, too rigid.

If Sverdlov's pulling out, then his replacement's already here.

And we don't know who that is.

It's gonna be very pretty, isn't it?

I'll bet there is no replacement.

Sverdlov's on a holiday.

But we're keeping a close check.

Good morning.

It seems hotter this morning.

Yes, I think it is.

Perhaps we will have rain. I see clouds over there.

Yes, but it never lasts long.

You know not to shelter under those trees?

Which trees?

Those trees there.

They have a curious name, I can't pronounce it.

But if the rains come and you stand beneath them, the water burns your skin.

They're very poisonous, someone should have told you.

I haven't given anyone much chance.

Yes, you have remained very much to yourself since your arrival.

Being neighbours, I couldn't help but notice.

I also came here to get away from people.

You are English.

Yes.

Feodor Sverdlov.

How do you do?

I'm Judith Farrow.

Do you take sugar?

Yes, three spoons, please.

What do you do at the Embassy?

I am a military attache with General Golitsyn.

- Milk? - No.

Does his name mean anything to you?

No, should it?

He's been in Paris nearly three years. You said you know Paris.

I know someone who works there.

I used to go over and stay with friends.

I don't mix in Embassy circles.

Yes, they're not very exciting.

Always the same faces.

I would have remembered you, if I'd seen you.

Do you work in London?

Yes, I'm a personal assistant to a man called Sam Neilson.

- He's with the Home Office. - Yes, I know him.

- A Russian cigarette? - No, thank you.

I promise it isn't drugged.

Well, even if it was... I don't smoke.

If I go away and leave you in peace, will you have dinner with me?

Yes, if you like.

It would be very pleasant for me.

Eight o'clock?

I'll wait for you by the bar.

Gentlemen, I have here a comprehensive report...

...on how Colonel Sverdlov has been spending his holiday.

So far he has done nothing suspicious.

He has been behaving like an ordinary tourist...

...spending a holiday out of season.

He's even got himself a girlfriend.

She's British. Judith Farrow.

Works for Sam Neilson.

Bloody hell!

What's wrong?

Sam Neilson is in a very confidential position.

Not enough to involve a man as important as Sverdlov.

One of the glamour boys could have been sent to do that.

Well... All right, maybe it's just a coincidence.

- Exactly. - Yeah, and maybe not.

I'm skeptical about coincidences.

If Sverdlov has made contact with a British subject...

...then it's my responsibility.

All right.

But I think it would be imprudent to act...

...as if she was already passing him secrets.

Naturally, Colonel.

I also suggest it would be imprudent not to consider it possible.

Naturally.

Pompous bastard.

Does he know about Mrs Farrow and Captain Paterson?

No.

I'd like to see his prudent face...

...when he learns Sam Neilson's personal assistant...

...is also shacking up with our gallant air attache.

It's a hell of a contact.

Oh, aye. For a chance like that...

...the Russians'd bloody swim to Barbados!

Excuse me, may I have your picture? Thank you.

There he goes!

Sorry I'm late.

That's OK, I haven't been here long.

Had a meeting with the Colonel.

- Confidential? - No, no.

Nothing your husband won't know all about by tomorrow.

Well?

You know we talked about Paterson and Mrs Farrow?

And she went to Barbados?

Apparently, she met Feodor Sverdlov there.

They're worried she might be passing on classified information.

Be a sweetie and turn off that bloody television.

- Good morning. - Good morning, Commissioner.

Thought I'd bring you up to date on Mrs Farrow and Mr Sverdlov.

Oh, nothing very new, they continue to see each other.

The last two nights they had dinner together...

...and as usual went for an early-morning swim.

But so far she has not invited him into her bed.

We made a reservation for him tonight at the Colony Club.

And this morning he took her to the Bridgetown Museum.

Look at this.

A slave on Hayward's plantation, Saint Peter...

...accused of stealing a sheep was hanged from a tamarind tree.

He protested his innocence...

...saying the tree would vindicate him.

Since then, the tree's seed has taken the shape of a man's head.

Isn't that extraordinary?

It's just like a man's head.

- You believe it? - Well, there's the seed.

I wonder what the owners felt like when they saw those seeds appear.

You think they were worried? You think they had a conscience?

Everyone has a conscience.

You don't think so?

Would you say I have a conscience?

Perhaps not a very big one, but a conscience.

Your whole ideology is based on righting a basic wrong.

Some people with far too much, others with nothing.

Marx? Marx had a conscience?

"The expropriators will be expropriated"?

Is that what you're saying?

In a way. Your conscience knows if you've done something wrong.