◆ SpookStack

one whoa ke ower. Se HE VANISH the his. disappearance, that he was under investigation. One explanation may be that he observed that he was no longer receiving certain types of secret papers. It is also possible that he detected that he was under observation. Or he may have been warmed, =. Searching Inquiries. involving individual. interregations were made into this last possiblity. Jnsullicient evidence was abtain- able to form a definite conclus- ion or ty warrant prosecution. Maclean's absence did mol be- come Known to the authorities until the morning ef Monday, May 28. The Foreign Office is regu- Jarl® open for normal business on | Saturday mornings but ofiders can from time to time obtgin leave to take a week~ end? off. He asked for week-end off | wow ot In accordance with this: prac- tice Maclean applied for and oblained leave to be absent. on wae mortiing of Saturday, May His absence therefore caused no remark unt the following Monday morning when he failed to appear at the Foreign. Office. Burgess was on leave and under no obligation to report his ; movements. inimediately the flight was krown all possible action was takpn in the United Kingdom |. ang the French and other Con- tindntal security © authorities wert asked to trace the where- . ca ee mye wt » ° et AE gE ee sea pete Pee All British Gomsulates jn Western Europe were alerted and special @foris were made to discover whither the fugitives had crossed the French frontiers on May 26 @r 27. As & result of these and other inquiries it was established that Maclean and Burecss together Jeft Tatsfield by car for South- arpton in. the late evening of Friday, May 25 arrived at Southampton at midnight, caught the S § Falalse for St. Male and disembarked at. that port at 1145 the following morn- ing, leaving suiteases and some of their clothing on board. They were not seen on the train from St. Malo to Paris and tt has been reported that two men, believed ta be Maclean and Burgess. took a taxi to Rennes and there got the 1.18 p.m, train to Paris. Nothing more Was Seen Since the disappearance var- jous communications have been received from them by members at their families. . Two telegrams sent from Paris:to Macican’s mother, Lady Maclean, and his wilt, MYs. Melinda Maciean. had evidently been written by a foreigner ac- cording to the handwriting and spelling. ‘But one was signed with a nickname known only in the family circle. Security officers were unable to trace who handed them in. A telegram was also. received by Burgess’s mother, Mrs. Bas- sett, in London. It had been handed jn ab Rome and was also in a fqreign hand. According $o information given to the Fordign Office in confi- dence by lean’s motipr-inlaw, who was abouts of the fugitives. | then iving “with her daughter cera SE cig tate tt et tT gg EP at ee . aa =o . a ae ‘ . rm 5. Dunbar, Mac--.. anne te at ete, vay © + ” t. * at ‘Tateficid, she recelved on August 3, 1951, two registered jetiers. posted in &t. Gaken,. Bwitzerland, on August 2. ‘ One contained « draft on Swiss Bank ST Ses eie F i eet 7 SOP Poreciok, don, for the sum of £1,000," “R The other, a draft payable to - Mrs. Dunbar for the same sum, | drawn by the Union Bank of Switzerland on the Midland Bank. 12%, Old Broad-atreet, London, Both drafis were stated te have been remitted by order of g@ Mr. Robert Becker, whose address was given as the Hotel Central, Zurich. Exhaustive inguitiés fn cal- jaboration with the Swiss authorities have not led to the identification of Mr. Becker, and gt is provable that the name given. was false. Mrs, Maclean and Lady Mac- leary Jater received. letters ‘in Maclean's handwriting, both posted in England. Mrs. Bassett, also got a letter from Burgess. posted in South-- East London. Taek tenes Bet SLE oot jeiter ftom Burgess toy his yiother delivered in Londdn on Christmas Day last yearjand posted in Poplar. ; fer car found wae roms | Resa at garage On September 12, 1953, Mrs.- Maclean, who was living in Geneva, left there by car with her three children. She tela her mother, Mts. Dunbar, that she would re- tum to Geneva on September anothor . 13, in time for the two elder | children toe attend achool the By September 14. her mother, alarmed at. her failure to, re- turn, reported the matter to Her Majesty's Consul- General) in Geneva and also by telephbne ta London, | Security officers were at once dispatched to Geneva where they placed themselves st the disposal of the Swiss. police who - were already making intensive enquiries. On bhe afternoon of Septem- ber 16 Mrs. Maclean's Car was jound in a garage in Lausanne. - On the same day Mrs. Dunbar got a telegram from her saying she had been delayed. it had been handed in at Tertitet, near Montreux, hy & woman whose description did not fil Mrs. Maclean, Again it was in a foreign hand. . From information subse- quently received from witnesses in Switgeriand and Austria it seems clear that the arrpnge-. ments for Mrs. Maciean’s[ de- 3. _parture from Geneva. ha been carefully planned, and th: proceeded by train from ee! € pew she... Beg on the evening of Septem ~ mee ue 8 ge hog m . . + a : by Q *, pen EE ot reed 3 f- Me Wy 4 % * 45 re