It’s a pub in Whitehall, on Parliament Street, actually. It sits on a corner and is usually busy. A summer a while ago, two people met to discuss things.
The convener of the meeting had been making a request. A snippet of the exchange goes something like this:
“Competitors?”
“Yes, competitors. I need you to make them look tired, worried, and anxious. Can you do it?”
“Yes, I can do it”.
It’s not often spies meet together in such a clandestine way, but it’s not unusual for journalists to try it.
Indeed, one of them was in fact a French journalist, but the other involved in a different line of work.
Her intended targets were “people of significance”, and she got the confirmation she wanted. Her contact said he’d try his best.