A Most Wanted Man V

This week, the main characters in A Most Wanted Man continue to find themselves in difficult situations. Annabel is forced by German intelligence to follow their directions or face a veiled threat that harm will come to Issa. Brue is forced to sign a legal document obligating him to aid the British intelligence service. During this time, Brue learns that Annabel is in trouble. Also, Le Carré reveals more information about the Lipizzaner accounts. Bachman interviews Frau Ellenberger. She is Edward Brue’s secretary at the time the Lipizzaner accounts were created. We learn about Edward Brue and Tom Fridley’s role in these accounts. (Fridley was the man who set up the Lipizzaner accounts). Ellenberger says, “Mr. Fridley had initially represented himself as some kind of British diplomat… An informal diplomat, if there is such a breed, which I doubt… Later he reinvented himself as a financial consultant… He was a charlatan and that was all he ever was… On the night Mr. Edward returned from that first meeting at the embassy, he outlined the entire arrangement to me… Thereafter, whatever refinements or improvements were proposed invariably followed consultations with Mr. Fridley. Whether in a foreign town, or in Vienna, but well away from the bank, or over the telephone to an artfully disguised form…” (210-211). We know that Fridley is in British intelligence and that Karpov and his cronies dealt with British intelligence to use the bank to hold this ill gotten treasure. As Ellenberger continues she cries, “And now he’s [Fridley] back… Doing it all over again to poor Mr. Tommy, who isn’t half the man his father was…. He’s a Beelzebub. Foreman. This time he called himself Foreman” (211). Apparently the British intelligence agency is back in town to manipulate the bank to do its bidding. This brings up an upsetting reoccurrence for Frau Ellenberger, who struggles with this.

In the next chapter, the story jumps back to Annabel. Annabel reluctantly goes along with German intelligence to introduce Issa to the teachings of Dr. Faisal Abdullah, a respected Islamic scholar living in Germany. Annabel figures out Bachman’s plan. She guesses, “I lure Issa. Then I lure Abdullah. Then you destroy Abdullah. That’s what you call saving innocent lives” (226). German Intelligence believes Abdullah is financing terror with the charity funds he raises. The idea is to use Issa’s money to lure Abdullah in, so they can use Abdullah to track the charity money that feeds terrorism. Then the intelligence agencies can understand the terror networks and how they work. In a meeting of intelligence agencies about this operation, Bachman reveals this plan as ‘Operation Felix’. An agent congratulates Bachman on his successful plan. Le Carré writes, “To Bachmann’s ear, the plaudit sounded like an obituary” (254). Le Carré is hinting that Bachman’s plan for Issa is going to fall apart.