"I believe the correct response in these situations is 'I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.'"
"Or someone from AGRA will do it for you?"
"Oh, my dear boy, you know the British Government would never align themselves with assassins... directly, anyway."
"So is AGRA not filled with assassins, or not aligned with the government?"
"What was it John said regarding your knowledge of history in that charming little list of his? Feeble? I think it was feeble."
Sherlock grinned broadly. "That was my knowledge of politics. My knowledge of history is nonexistent. Worse than non-existent. I would argue that filling one's head with such rubbish is more than a waste, but is actually detrimental to developing the unique methodology which could prevent the endless cycles of wars, but then again, studying who killed whom and how to carry on doing so has always been right up your street."
Mycroft cleared his throat. "If you had bothered to pay attention during your quality schooling, you would know about Arabel and Garbo."
"So that's the AG... the RA is Something Association?"
"Recruiting Agency, actually. But you wont find it anywhere. And you didn't hear about it from me. As a matter of fact, I am only mentioning this right now because I expect full disclosure on how you were aware it existed at all.
"Mary Morstan's previous employer. Reference."
Mycroft sighed. "There was an audit of our personnel department. They wanted some kind of documentation to be assured that we were practicing proper hiring practices. Records were... provided. As if anything aside from competency or lack thereof would ever be an issue for someone in my employ."
"Well, clearly the number of years of relevant work experience isn't an issue." Sherlock didn't need to see Mycroft to know his expression. "The only reason I'm so calm about your having put John in the hands of a hack with two years experience is because I fully expect to be convinced of why this record is completely falsified and she has been doing this far, far longer than I could ever possibly have imagined in the next," Sherlock glanced at his watch, "three minutes. I couldn't care less about Arabel or Garbo."
"Your abysmal knowledge of history will require at least four. Arabel and Garbo are the same person. Code names for Joan Pujol Garcia. The Germans called him Arabel. We called him Garbo."
"Wonderful. So it's an organisation for double agents. Or...triple agents that you haven't discovered yet."
Mycroft sighed a second time. "Might I continue? Garcia wanted to work for British Intelligence. We refused his help. He decided the best way to make a difference was to head over to the German side, work for them for a while, and then come back to us. Naturally, at that point we were far less likely to refuse him again and dubbed him Garbo. Garbo has the unique distinction of being the only person to receive decorations from both sides during World War II... an Iron Cross --that would be from Germany, my politically feeble brother-- and a Member of the Order of the British Empire. AGRA is a point of contact for people who are in some way connected to the enemy and who sought us out voluntarily, rather than having been discovered and persuaded through various means to work for our side."
"And Gerbers... the employer?"
"Garbo had created a whole line of fictitious agents working under him... all on Germany's payroll. One of them was William Gerbers. His imaginary widow even received a lovely, and quite real, pension when he was tragically killed in the line of duty... ensuring the information he was to have passed on to Germany would arrive too late to be useful, but woud still be completely accurate. Bolstered their confidence in the remaining agents. "
FILL 15b/? "138" (John in slave auction)
"Or someone from AGRA will do it for you?"
"Oh, my dear boy, you know the British Government would never align themselves with assassins... directly, anyway."
"So is AGRA not filled with assassins, or not aligned with the government?"
"What was it John said regarding your knowledge of history in that charming little list of his? Feeble? I think it was feeble."
Sherlock grinned broadly. "That was my knowledge of politics. My knowledge of history is nonexistent. Worse than non-existent. I would argue that filling one's head with such rubbish is more than a waste, but is actually detrimental to developing the unique methodology which could prevent the endless cycles of wars, but then again, studying who killed whom and how to carry on doing so has always been right up your street."
Mycroft cleared his throat. "If you had bothered to pay attention during your quality schooling, you would know about Arabel and Garbo."
"So that's the AG... the RA is Something Association?"
"Recruiting Agency, actually. But you wont find it anywhere. And you didn't hear about it from me. As a matter of fact, I am only mentioning this right now because I expect full disclosure on how you were aware it existed at all.
"Mary Morstan's previous employer. Reference."
Mycroft sighed. "There was an audit of our personnel department. They wanted some kind of documentation to be assured that we were practicing proper hiring practices. Records were... provided. As if anything aside from competency or lack thereof would ever be an issue for someone in my employ."
"Well, clearly the number of years of relevant work experience isn't an issue." Sherlock didn't need to see Mycroft to know his expression. "The only reason I'm so calm about your having put John in the hands of a hack with two years experience is because I fully expect to be convinced of why this record is completely falsified and she has been doing this far, far longer than I could ever possibly have imagined in the next," Sherlock glanced at his watch, "three minutes. I couldn't care less about Arabel or Garbo."
"Your abysmal knowledge of history will require at least four. Arabel and Garbo are the same person. Code names for Joan Pujol Garcia. The Germans called him Arabel. We called him Garbo."
"Wonderful. So it's an organisation for double agents. Or...triple agents that you haven't discovered yet."
Mycroft sighed a second time. "Might I continue? Garcia wanted to work for British Intelligence. We refused his help. He decided the best way to make a difference was to head over to the German side, work for them for a while, and then come back to us. Naturally, at that point we were far less likely to refuse him again and dubbed him Garbo. Garbo has the unique distinction of being the only person to receive decorations from both sides during World War II... an Iron Cross --that would be from Germany, my politically feeble brother-- and a Member of the Order of the British Empire. AGRA is a point of contact for people who are in some way connected to the enemy and who sought us out voluntarily, rather than having been discovered and persuaded through various means to work for our side."
"And Gerbers... the employer?"
"Garbo had created a whole line of fictitious agents working under him... all on Germany's payroll. One of them was William Gerbers. His imaginary widow even received a lovely, and quite real, pension when he was tragically killed in the line of duty... ensuring the information he was to have passed on to Germany would arrive too late to be useful, but woud still be completely accurate. Bolstered their confidence in the remaining agents. "