A Real Spy Story: Part Thirty-Five

~ beetleypete

This is the final part of this fiction serial.

Field Report.

To: Quentin Hughes. MI6 London
From: Field Operative Martin Green-Tompkins
Subject: Helen Renton. MI6 (Retired)

Sir, I would like to thank you for this opportunity. After so long monitoring Russian interest publications at Magee Press, it was rewarding to be back in the field. Enclosed is my full report, including all relevant original papers, sound and video recordings, along with my claim for out of pocket expenses. (Receipts attached)

As for the last day, Renton was welcoming and hopeful. I went back over our long sessions together, perpetuating the idea that I would be writing her book and that it would be published. I showed her some notes I had made, including ficticious names of documentary makers, film producers, and publishers who might show an interest. She was very bullish about who should play her in any film adaptation, so I noted her suggestions.

Once you have read the report in its entirety, you will see that she was unlikely to stay quiet about her experience. She was aware of self-publishing online, and blogging too. I suspect she would have eventually got something published on a conspiracy website, and she had even spoken briefly about approaching Russian organisations such as Russia Today TV to offer them her story. There would no doubt have been much embarrassment, and questions to answer.

It seems we have little to learn from my extensive interviews with her. She told nobody anything during her detention, and I believe that.

Once I was convinced that she had nothing hidden away, I went ahead with the agreed arrangement.

The bottle of Gorlovka Vodka I took along was a nice touch, as she was happy to toast the forthcoming book by swallowing a large glassful from the bottle I offered her. The Potassium Cyanide worked very quickly, probably because of her poor health. She expired without a word, and I left her slumped in her chair. Once I had waited long enough to be sure she was dead, I carried out an extensive search of the house, including the loft. All the original papers, the Russian doll, her mobile phone and her laptop are in the box accompanying this report.

Naturally, I wiped all surfaces before leaving. Even though my fingerprints are not on record, I left little trace of my presence, short of some DNA on her furniture that will be of no consequence. As when her body is eventually found, it will certainly be judged to be the suicide of a lonely old woman with poor health, and nothing to live for.

No doubt by now you have cancelled her bank account, and her Foreign Office records and pension. So in most respects, Helen Renton never existed.

As you know, I resigned from Magee’s as planned, and now await your next instructions.

Martin Green Tompkins.

56 thoughts on “A Real Spy Story: Part Thirty-Five”

  1. Even though it’s taken me over a year to finish reading this serial, I always remembered where I left off 🙂

    I was captivated by Helen, I really was and I had hoped she finally got some closure and lived the rest of her life in peace. But at least she is with her parents now.

    I did not expect the ending at all, silly me for hoping for a happy ending 😉

    Brilliantly done as usual, Pete!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I really do appreciate you reading it all, Ami, and also your kind words. Helen was one of my personal favourite fictional characters, but such a story could only ever have had an ending like that.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

      Like

      Reply

  6. I am crushed. I was truly taken in by Martin. I had come to really value Helen. This was definitely the story I invested the most emotion in! Your details were stellar. Your character depiction completely convincing. Sadly I was just as fooled as Helen.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I am so pleased to hear that you were invested in Helen. She was one of my favourite characters. The ‘Martin Twist’ seems to have fooled everyone, which was obviously my intention from the start.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. I was wondering at the title, “A real Spy Story’ and thinking well Helen never did any sying much of note so it would have been better as A Real Prisoner Story, but now I see it was Martin all along who is the real spy! Bravo Pete!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. (1) Helen was “very bullish about who should play her in any film adaptation.” She pushed hard for Sandra Bullock. (Aside: Did you know that Sandra Bullock is fluent in German?)
    (2) Martin brings it to Quentin’s attention, because it’s worthy of mention, that Helen said nothing during her detention.
    (3) The effects of potassium cyanide “typically occur within a few minutes of ingesting the substance: the person loses consciousness, and brain death eventually follows. During this period the victim may suffer convulsions. Death is caused by cerebral hypoxia.” And this is what happened to Helen? That’s a hard pill to swallow!
    (4) Martin waited long enough to be sure Helen was dead. Ironically, due to her fifty years of captivity, she’s already been to Hell and back.
    (5) Helen had nothing to live for but fame and fortune–a fortune she would use, in part, to open a liquor store specializing in imported Russian vodka.
    (6) Considering that she was a fictitious character in a 35-part spy serial, Helen Renton never really existed. Martin somehow failed to take that into account!

    Note: I was impressed by the amount of research that must have gone into the details of this entertaining serial. Also, I was amazed how often you brought up food and vodka without making it sound redundant. Finally, I did not expect the twist at the end, which I know will please you very much!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Glad to surprise you at the end. The over-use of food, vodka, and cigarettes was deliberate of course. It hinted at Martin’s obsession with Helen’s consumption, more so than referencing Helen’s excesses.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  18. Of course! I was curious about how Martin knew Russian. Duh. Poor Helen. The awful thing is, I imagine this happens. Where to next Pete? You know London so well and with all the experiences you had in the police and ambulance service.. You must have seen every sort of situation.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

All comments welcome

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.