◆ SpookStack

| i | ; reported Mr, Carey-Foster was acest ing. “Don't worry,” said . "I'm sure. your husband will be back soon. But I think it would be best if you said nothing at all about this to any- one else.” Clearly, however, @ more serious view wae taken when the Chief Security Officer Donald Maclean’s High-level jrmmediately “ non-appearance.” inquiries were opened. pearance—and she n't worry, your be,.back soon” ener eee De ee ee + eee An urgent: That night an urgent signa! ‘ane gent out to al! British ! diplematic and consular posts ‘on the Continent to look out - for Maclean and his companion Vand report back on a “ clear- the-linc” level to the Prime . Minister, In other words. the j message was to have the high- Lest possible priority and was ‘to be sent in plain language to ‘avoid any delay in coding and decoding. LV a yi a a Gragg wwe & a : ' missed At the same time the various special branches, M15 in ‘England, M16 and other sa a ace -tagencies abroad were alerted, / jbut no warning was sent to the { [French or other European >. lpoliece, At atsfeld. _ At this stage the Foreign ‘Office obviously hoped it would fter “they left, the guests i arrived and Melinda neaie be possible to _find Donaid oe explain to them that Macleah (ithaut any publicity. ; signal had been unexpectedly calted without on publicity. om away—as she watched the i, o°% So Ma bata ce They were reported’ as drive with ever = increasing KDOW ina cleans | com: “aving gone first into a café ad then an hotel to try to hange English money, and ‘hea to have hired & taxi 10! pounbar — Mes. tive them to Hennes, filty “nies away, where they could ‘atch the train they missed at at. Malo, There (s certainly no evi- lence that they did in fact soard the train, and while the stoty ef the taxi journey was vitarly related in good faith hy+t the driver, the French Sureté. were by no. means satis- ied of iis reliability, “The identificatjon appeared ip be open wo h they told From: that mogient the two men disappeared utterly completely. ~ The- remarkable difference beiween the amateurishness of the Gret part of the disappear- the $ Shen riou: and tage is one of the - the the efficiency of the” panion was not an unknown Roger Styles but Guy Burgess, _ very much known in official Aivelac % SAP OLSS anxiety for his return, On Sunday, May 27. Mrs., * Maclean's «, ‘’ mother, Mrs mother—by chance telephoned |. Bure me is — from Paris to ask after the » Bassett, eq wes Foreign Office either on th : Monday or the Tuesday to sa that her soh was missing. His health of the two little boys, who were ill with. measles. . Melinda said to her-in a low, miserable voicd: “Oh, Mummy, I wish you would come over, I'm afraid Donald has gone off disappearance had noticed, despite the errant, bohemianism of his usual life, because he had not kept two _on a drinking ‘party again.” : me he | On the Monday morning. highly important engagements.! still without news of him, And the captain of the Melinda telephoned to his . Falatse had notified his office and was to.d that he had not arrived And that afterncon she again telephoned, but this time te speak to Mr. G. A. Carey- Foster,* the -Foreign Office's Chief Security Officer. ield him that. Maclean had gone ay for the week-end had failed to. rejoin the ship when she left St. Malo. - Mrs. Dunbar arrived from Paris on Wednesday, May 39, in response to her daughter's telephone appeal. She fo, Melinda, who in any case was far “from well, Jat that time: she “clearly ex=" ‘pected Donald to returit +e “superiors that two passengers - : extremely asemith a irlend named Roger | worried and upset, but by no Oe _Styles but had not returne @ans. overcome by. grief, for’ RT FET eh re Mr. Harto Me. Mohr —— i t — Mr. Parcoas..—— Mr. Resen | Mr 7 Mr. Sp and although that was.a long i hime indee & escapade—which was the ex- ordinary capacities. \. It was on that day, in the en hn oe a ee LAHIGGTL Bparlement oi- Le »Maciean, Donald's mother, that. heat Mr. Wintorrowe | He had been gone five days, | drunken © oo F t planation which Melinda was - clinging to—it did not seem to ; her entirely outside his extra-- 4 | y i fe Melinda first met the senior ! M.L5 officer who was in charge of the javestigations. hrought there by Mr. Caréy- Foster and not.to Beaconshaw, He was © heravse Melinda had ta be in | ‘London ta see her docter. time also to expect Donald tor The interview that day was __ short and matter-of-fact.” The | investigators seemmed at that: tie ‘return~—at Jeast, that was the - impression they gave Melinda. Pre ( But it is now clear that by ‘May $0 the authorities must. - have been in. possession of a : igood deal of information, cer=- itainly that Maclean’s com- ‘panion was Burgess and that ‘they had gone to France. \Obviously too, whatever |Melinda may have believed, }the authorities did not place much reliance in the early theory of a hectic week-end in Paris. : Gbviousiy if Was mecessary sponer or later te seek the ca- eperation of. the French police. When was this done? The impression I gained in Paris at the time was that the French police were not 4 PT 4 - al i formes of the fiennnraren WiSG Ppt al are ntil some six or seven days fter it was discovered, Mr, Herbert Morrison later + # 1 se suggested that the co-operation © -gf the French police had been requesied only one day after the disappearance had become nownh. Once the French police knew, a “leak” was Inevitable and the only surprising thing is that it was so slow im arriving. On Wednesday, Tune 4. an inspector “at the Sdreté nalist, who worked also as an Informant for an English news- paper, that they were looking two missing Briti i ~ Nationale told a French jour-— _Mmats, That was sufficient, YS 6.