Blackmailers Should Be Discouraged

Sir Gerald Naylor (Nicholas Selby) gives a speech at a diplomatic reception, announcing his imminent departure to Canada with his young wife Ruth (Karin McCarthy) to adopt the position as head of the Nuclear Research division of the Three Power Atomic Project. However, the CIA believe Naylor to be a security risk following the receipt of an anonymous letter saying ‘Sir Gerald Naylor is a communist traitor. His sexual activities are disgusting’.

Naylor is supposed to fly to Canada the following Thursday, so Hunter must sought this out quickly. He and Callan attend the reception where the latter is introduced to Naylor by the High Commissioner (John Arnatt). In a small study, Callan accuses Naylor of communist sympathies, and of being homosexual, accusations Naylor denies. Callan insists he will find the truth. Naylor asks how he can prove his innocence, to which Callan suggests he makes all his personal records available immediately.

The following day, Callan informs Hunter that nothing incriminating has come to light yet, though he is sure Naylor is hiding something. Seeking Lonely’s help, Callan finds him at his flat, but unwilling to work for any price other than three hundred pounds. Callan realises he will have to work alone, and leaves, immediately after which, Todd (Barry Andrews) arrives, demanding an outstanding debt of three hundred pounds, or else he will tell hard-man Mike Kennedy that it was Lonely who burgled his flat. That night, Callan searches Sir Gerald’s living room, and finds a cigarette case with a secret compartment which hides an old photograph of Naylor in a compromising situation with other men. Callan photographs the picture and replaces it.

One of the young men in the photo is traced; he is a clergyman from Somerset named Richie (John Franklyn-Robbins). Callan visits him and learns that the third man in the photo is Ian Bishop (John Woodnutt), who went abroad with Naylor in 1936, but never returned. Richie suggests Callan contact an old friend of Bishop’s, Roger Benson (Denis Thorne). Before he goes, Callan notices a typewriter, and gets Richie to admit that he sent the anonymous letter.

Hunter and Callan question a drunk Benson who tells them that Naylor and Bishop went off to fight in the Spanish Civil War, and that Bishop was taken off by the Russians for ‘special duties’. Naylor receives a call from Bishop, and learns that his ex-lover is to arrive in London the following day. He has persuaded Naylor to pass on information to him to "preserve world peace".

Callan later questions Naylor again, and mentions the photo, and that he knows all about his past now. He suggests that Naylor once loved Bishop and that Bishop is now blackmailing him for secrets in return for his silence. Upset, Naylor has no choice but to admit the truth of this, knowing he now has to betray Bishop, and that if he doesn’t go to Canada, his wife will almost certainly leave him. Ruth enters, and Callan tells her that they will be staying in Britain.

Callan goes to see Lonely who is still troubled by Todd. Confronting him in the street, Callan threatens Todd with a gun and scares him off.

Meanwhile Bishop has arrived in London. He meets Naylor at a restaurant, where he is apprehended by Callan and two Section men and escorted away. Sir Gerald tells Callan that his life is ruined: his wife has left him.