Original subtitles

SMILEY: Bobchik...

Bobchik!

Bobby.

( keys jingling )

( man whistling tune )

If you've anything for flat 6B,

I can save you the climb.

Miller... V. Miller.

POSTMAN: Miller, Miller, Miller, Miller.

Miller.

Thank you.

( whistling )

Bywater Street, Chelsea.

MAN: Right, sir.

Would you make that Hampstead, please?

Which part?

The Heath.

( crows cawing in distance )

( wind blowing softly )

Moscow Rules, Vladimir, old friend.

( traffic bustling )

( coin clinks )

Straight and Steady Minicabs?

I'd like to speak to Mr. Lamb, please, one of your drivers.

Excuse me, this is not a personal call.

I want Mr. Lamb to drive me, and nobody but Mr. Lamb will do.

Tell him I'll need him for a couple of hours or so.

My name is Sampson, Sampson with a "p."

South End Green, outside the bus shelter.

SMILEY: "General, some men are watching my house.

"I do not think they are your friends or mine.

"This morning I had the impression

"they wanted to kill me.

Will you not send me your magician once more?"

( no voice )

Straight and Steady?

Sampson with a "p"?

SMILEY: Would you please switch off the engine?

I'm a private detective.

I expect you get a lot of us and I'm sure we're a nuisance,

but I would be happy to pay for a little bit of information.

( pleasantly ): Oh, yeah.

You signed a receipt yesterday for £17.

Do you remember who your fare was?

Tall party, foreign, white moustache and a limp.

Old?

Very-- walking stick and all.

Where did you pick him up?

Cosmo restaurant, Praed Street,

10:30, morning.

And where did you take him, please?

Charlton.

Charlton in southeast London?

Saint somebody's church,

off the Battle of the Nile Street.

Asked for a pub called the Defeated Frog.

Frog?

Frenchman.

Did you leave him there?

One-hour wait, then back to Praed Street.

Did you stop anywhere else?

Once at a toy shop going, once at a phone box coming back.

Party bought a wooden duck on wheels-- yellow job.

The phone call was local.

How do you know?

I lent him 5p, didn't I?

Then he comes back

and borrows two 10p's for in case.

You can tell your firm

I didn't turn up.

Tell 'em what I bloody like, can't I?

CAB DRIVER ( through glass ): You ever tried to use a phone box in London these days?

Awful-- you just can't do it.

They're either pulled to bits, coins jammed in 'em.

No discipline, you see.

If I had my way, I'd bring back capital punishment.

And repatriation.

Cheers.

Hello, Mr. Brownlow, how are you?

Hello, sir, how are you?

How's Lady Ann?

She's very lucky.

I've bought her a present.

Could I pop it in your safe

for the day and collect it later?

It doesn't tick, does it?

Only in wet weather.

I adore the bag.

( car horns blaring )

( doorbell rings )

( knocking )

Mrs. Craven?

Stella?

Stella?

It's me, Max.

Where's Villem?

His name's William.

Get that straight, Max.

William Craven.

That's his choice.

British to the core.

Not Estonian.

Not Russian.

British.

I want to talk to him, Stella.

I'm not asking him to do anything.

I may even be able to help him.

I've heard that one before, haven't I?

He's out.

He's gone to work, where he belongs.

Then what's his lorry doing outside?

He's gone to the depot.

They sent a car for him.

Then who's the second cup for in the kitchen?

He's got nothing to do with it.

( speaking softly )

Shh.

Perhaps if you made that tea.

You're not talking to him alone, Max.

I'm not having you

charm him off the tree again.

It's about Vladimir.

I know what it's about.

They've been ringing half the night.

Who have?

"Where's Vladimir? Where's Vladi?"

What do they think William is, Jack the Ripper?

He hasn't had sound nor sight of him for God knows how long.

( baby whining )

Yeah, Beckie, darling, do be quiet.

( speaking softly to baby )

I'm not usually like this.

Who was asking for him?

Mikhel, who else?

Remember Mikhel?

Our Freedom Radio ace?

Prime minister-designate of Estonia, betting tout?

Half past midnight--

while Beckie's cutting a tooth--

the bloody phone goes.

It's Mikhel doing his heavy-breathing act.

( in Eastern European accent ): "Where's V1adi, Stella?

Where's our leader?"

Why was he so worried?

Vladi owed him money, I expect.

50 quid.

Probably lost it on a horse together,

one of their many losers.

"Look, Mikhel", I said, "he's not here.

We're not hiding him in the attic."

So he rang off?

Did he, hell.

He's a leech.

"Villem is Vladi's favorite," he said.

I said, "What for, the 3:30 at Ascot?

Look, Mikhel, go back to sleep."

( door thuds shut )

William's right out of this now.

He's not political and he's not slimy,

and he's got over his dad being a martyr.

He's a big boy now,

and he can stand on his own two feet, right?

I said, "Right?"

Hello, Villem.

( with accent ): Hello, Max.

How you doing?

That's the way, huh?

I gather you've already heard the news about Vladimir.

News?

What news, please?

He's disappeared.

I'm told his friends have been ringing you up

at unsocial hours.

Friends?

( chuckles )

Old emigres.

Drink tea, play chess all day.

Politics-- talk crazy dreams.

Mikhel is not my friend, Max.

But Vladi is your friend.

Vladi was your father's friend before you.

Brothers-in-arms.

Sure!

Vladimir, he was my father's friend--

his good friend-- also of Beckie the godfather.

But not for politics, not anymore.

Me, I am William Craven.

I got English home, English wife,

English kid, English name, okay?

Also English job.

A good job.

You know how much I earn, Max?

We buy house, maybe a car, okay?

When did you last see him...

William?

Who, Max?

See who?

I don't understand you, please.

Tell him, Bill.

When did you last see Vladimir?

Long time, Max.

Weeks?

Sure, weeks.

Months?

Months.

Six months... seven.

At christening.

He was godfather, we make a party.

But no politics.

And not since?

No.

What time did William

get back yesterday?

Early.

As early as 10:00 in the morning?

Could have been.

I wasn't here.

I was visiting Mother.

Vladimir came down here yesterday by taxi.

I think he saw William.

On his way, he bought a toy.

The taxi waited an hour,

then took him back to Paddington, where he lives.

Vladi is of Beckie

the godfather.

Stella don't like him,

so he must come here like a thief, okay?

Vladi is an old man, Max!

Who knows when he sees his Beckie again?

He is friend of family.

Not of this family he isn't-- not anymore.

He was friend of my father-- comrade!

They fight together Bolshevism.

So he bring to Beckie a toy.

Why not, please?

Why not, Max?

STELLA: You said you bought

the bloody thing yourself!

Stella don't like

the old man, okay?

Is afraid I make more politics with him, okay?

So I don't tell Stella.

She goes to see her mother in Staines Hospital

and while she is away, Vladi makes a small visit

to see Beckie, say hello.

Why not?

Stella, listen to me!

So Vladi don't get home last night.

Please, I am so sorry!

But it is not my fault, okay?

Max, that Vladi is an old man-- lonely.

So maybe he finds a woman once.

Okay?

For this he was pretty famous, I think, okay?

Okay? Why not?

And before yesterday?

You saw Vladi yesterday.

He came by taxi and brought a yellow wooden duck for Beckie.

On wheels.

Sure.

Very well.

But before yesterday-- not counting yesterday--

when did you

last see him?

Monday-- I see him Monday.

He ring me, we meet, sure.

Oh, William!

( phone rings )

I want you to go.

I want you to walk right out of here

and never come back.

Please, Max, now!

I'm afraid Vladi's disappeared for good, William.

It's in the papers.

He's been shot dead.

The police will want to ask you questions.

I have to hear what happened

and tell you how to answer them.

Bozhe moy!

VILLEM: For the others... I give nothing.

For Vladi everything.

I love this man.

After the death of my father, Vladi become father to me.

Sometimes I even say him my father.

Not uncle-- father.

Perhaps we could start with Monday.

With the first meeting.

Vladi took the negatives,

like they were sacred from a church.

In their envelope?

Sure, yellow envelope, from Kodak.

He look at them slowly, one after another,

till he find the one he's all the time searching for.

Just one? One negative?

Sure.

One frame or one strip?

Frame...

One small frame.

35-millimeter.

Like Agfa automatic

I have.

And on your journey, all the way home from Hamburg,

you never once thought to look?

Was secret, Max, military secret.

STELLA: He wouldn't.

He's too straight.

Was Soviets, Max!

Was Soviet spies.

They kill Vladimir!

He know too much.

STELLA: So do you.

So do we all.

That's all he said?

Just Max would believe?

Nothing else?

Nothing about the value of what you have done, for instance?

Nothing... about there being other "proofs," for instance?

Nothing.

No more.

SMILEY: Nothing to explain how he communicated

with Hamburg in the first place,

set up the arrangements?

Whether others of the Group were involved?

Please think.

So, whom have you told this to, William,

apart from me?

Nobody, Max!

Nobody!

He hasn't had time.

Do you think Vladimir told anybody...

anybody you know of, that is?

From the group, only Mikhel,

which was necessary,

but not all, even to Mikhel.

I ask him, "Vladimir, who knows I do this for you?"

"Only Mikhel, a very little," he said.

"Mikhel is my friend.

"But even to friends we cannot trust.

Enemies I do not fear," he said, "but friends I fear greatly."

Whoever may get in touch-- the police, the Group, anyone--

they know all they need to know.

Vladimir came yesterday to bring Beckie a present.

He found William here, they strolled in the garden,

talked old times.

End of story.

Were you here?

If they ask, yes.

I came with the bad news.

Did Vladimir mention Hector?

VILLEM: Of Hector nothing.

So he didn't mention him.

William said he didn't,

for Christ's sake!

Did you bring anything else for Vladimir?

Apart from what was in the yellow envelope?

A present, perhaps?

Something he liked and couldn't afford

in England?

Cigarettes!

On boat, I buy him French cigarettes as gift.

Gauloises, Max.

He like very much Gauloises.

No tax, no filter.

Sure.

And the £50 he'd borrowed from Mikhel?

VILLEM: I give back, sure.

All?

All.

Cigarettes was gift.

Max, I love this man.

For my father, I love him.

You haven't been talking to anyone

on the other side of the business, have you?

Anybody who might help you get rid

of a tiresome old man

who's making a bore of himself?

No?

Well, well.

I've reached an age where I'm allowed to ask, you know.

We have good news for you, madame!

The X-rays show that nothing is broken,

nothing is displaced.

You have a few lacerations and a few bruises, but that is all.

You are free

to leave.

Madame.

I have friends.

They are good people, but rough.

They give no privacy, no quiet.

We women, sometimes we need calm.

You understand?

I understand, but it is difficult.

Give me one night here.

This is not a hotel...

but you may stay.

You are very kind.

Max!

You came.

I am glad.

I had hoped, but I did not dare to expect.

I was waiting for you, nevertheless.

I waited all day until now.

He loved you, Max.

You were the best.

He said so always.

You were his inspiration.

His example.

SMILEY: I'm sorry, Mikhel.

I'm really sorry.

As we all are, Max.

As we all are.

Inconsolable.

But we are soldiers.

Elvira loved him also very much.

He was a brother to her.

He instructed her.

Elvira?

My wife, Max.

Who do you think did it, Mikhel?

Was he betrayed?

Max, you know as well as I do who did it.

We are all of us at risk, all of us.

The call can come at any time.

To the Bolshevites, we exiles remain enemy number one.

Anathema.

Where they once destroyed our culture and our churches,

where they can, they destroy us.

And they are right to be afraid of us.

One day we shall defeat them.

They could have killed Vladimir years ago.

Why did they choose this particular moment?

Unless Vladi was up to something,

I suppose.

Unless he provoked them in some way.

Which he might well have done,

knowing him.

Who can tell?

Well, you can, Mikhel,

if anyone can.

Don't tell me he didn't trust you.

Our leader was

a secretive man.

This was his strength.

He had to be.

It was a military necessity.

But not towards you, surely.

Come, you do yourself an injustice.

Even towards me.

At the end, even towards Mikhel.

He came to see me one evening.

I was asleep upstairs.

He gave the special ring on the bell.

"Mikhel, I need £50."

When was this?

Twelve days ago.

One week last Monday.

"General," I say to him,

"you are making a conspiracy.

Tell me what it is."

He shakes his head.

"Listen," I say, "if this is a conspiracy,

take my advice, go to Max."

He refused.

"When I have landed the big fish I am hoping for,

"then I will go to Max and I will claim our expenses

and perhaps many things besides."

In my wallet I had £50.

Fortunately that day I had made a successful investment.

I give them to him.

That was very good of you.

It was my duty.

From the heart.

I know no other law.

And this approach to you--

this request for operational funds-- it came out of the blue?

There'd been nothing before,

to tell you he was up to something big?

Some months ago, perhaps two, he received a letter.

Here, to this address.

Did he receive so few?

It was from Paris, Max,

addressed to the General personally,

not to Mr. Miller.

I pressed him, and he told me

it was a military secret.

( phone rings )

Uh...

um, yes...

Put me five each way.

Did he say any more about the big fish?

Please, Max?

The big fish.

The operation he said he was planning.

I wondered if he enlarged on it in any way.

He asked for some maps.

I was in two minds

whether to tell you this.

You were his vicar,

but you are not of our cause.

But as I trust you, I shall.

Maps of where?

Street maps, city plans.

Danzig, Hamburg.

Lubeck, Helsinki.

The northern seaboard.

He telephoned.

Elvira!

We are having a conference here!

ELVIRA ( with accent ): To Hamburg.

It was special call.

You owe him for this call.

£2.80.

You owe him.

How do you know that?

He asked operator to call him back.

And you were present while he did that?

Izvinite.

Izvinite.

She is distressed, Max.

Forgive her.

She has no discipline.

But he did telephone Hamburg.

Do you happen to know the number also?

How could we?

He told us nothing.

He was entirely secretive.

So, what was your last contact with him?

Yesterday afternoon, he calls me.

I haven't heard him so excited for many years.

"I have been fishing," he said, "and I am happy.

"Stay awake.

I will be with you at 11:00."

He never came.

To life.

To life.

Odd.

What is odd, Max?

He asked for me.

Always Max.

He loves you, Max.

Like we all do.

He never asked for Hector.

Never his postman-- why not?

That was always the procedure in the old days--

first the postman,

then the vicar.

Why did he cut out Hector?

Hector was no good for him.

Oh?

He told me...

"Our good postman, Hector, is like the city banks.

When it rains, he takes away the umbrella."

Well, well.

It seems we've all betrayed him somehow or another, doesn't it?

Not I, Max, never.

Really?

But you had such good reasons, I'd have thought.

Envy, money.

A woman.

That is wicked talk, Max.

I never loved any woman like I loved Vladimir.

( quietly ): Not even her.

The Circus has no stake in this.

That's official.

He was shot and robbed.

End of story.

And I never came here, Mikhel.

You make the smallest fuss, we'll stop your subsidy forever.

You'll have to rely on the horses.

( metal clattering )

( water sloshing softly )

( quiet piano music playing )

( grunts wearily )

Oh, my Lord, yes.

( doorbell rings )

( doorbell rings again )

LACON: George, old friend.

There you are.

Hello, Oliver.

Tried you earlier-- no answer.

In the neighborhood.

Saw the light.

You, uh, got back all right, I trust?

Where from, Oliver?

Cleaning house?

Late for that.

Um... got some bits for you.

LACON: I felt I owed you an apology.

We parted on a sour note.

I was brusque.

Well.

How are things? Hmm?

You are done?

Finished?

I've had the Home Office on the line again.

They've had the pathologist's report

and the body may be released.

Early cremation recommended.

I thought perhaps if I gave you

the name of the, uh... the firm handling things,

you might care to pass it on to those concerned.

I'll get a pencil.

Unattributably, of course.

Who the devil's Olearius?

A 17th-century explorer.

Oh?

And where'd he explore?

China.

Good chap?

Do you mind leaving that alone, Oliver?

It's not mine, and it's worth

half the gross national product.

Hmm.

You were talking about undertakers.

LACON: Oh, yes.

Sutherland's the firm.

Local chap.

Uh, Heath Street, Hampstead.

Twenty-seven.

Have you got that?

Want me to repeat it?

No, I think I have it, thank you.

Now, George, we have a date, you and I.

A seminar on marriage with no holds barred.

I've cast you as my elder statesman here.

There's a very decent trattoria near me,

and I shall treat you to a slap-up dinner

whilst you give me of your wisdom.

A Friday, say.

All right, Friday?

Gives us the weekend to sleep it off.

Oh, a Friday would be fine.

And you found nothing, hmm?

No snags, hitches, loose ends?

It was a storm in a teacup, was it?

As we suspected.

What about the phone bill?

What, uh... what phone bill?

I asked you for a breakdown of all traceable calls

from the Baltic Library and Vladimir's flat.

Oh, you mean these.

( chuckling ): Yes, of course.

Reason I came.

Slipped my mind.

Anything else?

No-- no, I don't think so,

thank you.

( sighs )

( laughs quietly )

Funny about children.

Beggars keep you awake when they're there;

when they're not, you can't sleep.

Don't you think you ought to try

all the same?

You look whacked.

Yes, I suppose I am.

Busy day.

Well, uh, cheerio, then.

I won't have a drink.

Best to Ann.

Out, is she?

Yes, she's out.

What, gallivanting?

Some woman's thing?

Good works?

You'll find plenty of cabs in the King's Road, Oliver.

Take care of yourself.

MAN: Kirov betrayed me in Tallinn

when we were students together, oh, many years ago.

He thinks I don't know this.

Now this fat pig spies for Moscow Center.

Two nights ago, in my new apartment in Paris.

The rue du Bac.

Kirov and I, we get real Russian-drunk.

You know, vodka, champagne, vodka.

And then, then he started talking.

"Who is this Karla?" I asked him.

"Is she beautiful?

Shall we sleep with her?"

He laughs at me.

He thinks I am ignorant.

"Karla is not a woman!" he says.

"Karla is a cover name for a man!"

Max-- he is the most cunning fox

in the whole of Moscow Center, this Karla.

So listen, then.

Listen to how we know that Kirov is Karla's man.

Karla has asked him to find a girl.

One he can use, Max.

Max, help us.

Give us resources of the Circus.

We return to Paris tonight.

And we find the girl.

And the girl will lead us to Karla.

I know it...

And you, too.

I can read it in your face.

SMILEY: I would need proof.

( footsteps passing by )

( footsteps recede )

( siren wailing in distance )

( dialing )

( phone line ringing )

MAN ( on phone ): Guten Abend.

Blaue Diamant, guten Abend...

Hier ist der Blaue Diamant.

Guten Abend.

Blaue Diamant.

Antworten Sie bitte.

( loud music playing in background )

( phone rings off )

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org