misc #21.

I made a firm and immediate decision to curtail Chico's participation as far as our illegal activities were concerned; he was easily the most loquacious and not the most tactful.  The commissioner broke through my reverie.

"That fellow with you, dark chap, good talker."

I went cold.

"Murray?" I said, hoping...

"No! No! No!  Young feller-me-lad, er, now, er..."

I said, in a dull voice, "Phillip Chillicott-Oakes [Chico]."

"Yes, a charming chap, absolute charmer-- that's him."  He smiled for the first time and leaned aross to me in a conspiratorial gesture.  "At school with my youngest!" he said.

The pub across the road had just opened.  I downed a couple of Dubonnet and bitter lemons.  What chance did I stand between the Communists on the one side and the Establishment on the other-- they were both outthinking me at every move.