Sweet Tooth

Though Serena is expecting to be punished for Shirley’s outburst, the two of them are sent on an errand by a desk officer named Tim Le Prevost. They are told to drive a designated van to a safehouse. Inside the van are cleaning materials, providing the women with the cover story that they work for a cleaning agency. They are told to clean the safehouse thoroughly, including changing the bedsheets and scrubbing the toilets. They are also told to buy food from the local supermarket to stock the house, including four bottles of expensive whisky. Afterwards, they should lock the house and then never mention the assignment to anyone, including their colleagues. Shirley is skeptical of the task, but Serena stoically carries out her duties. The safehouse is in an even more disgusting state than she expected, included a patch of dried blood on one of the beds.

Serena is better suited to the assignment than she expects. As they work, Shirley scribbles in her ever-present pink notebook and then tells a story about a childhood visit to communist East Germany. She describes the small German village as “paradise” (49), where the relaxed people seemed to really care for one another. Serena pushes back against this idea, criticizing the East German state and praising Britain. She is shocked that Shirley would join MI5 despite being so critical of the British establishment and political system. Shirley accuses Serena of buying into the British propaganda, which angers Serena. Rather than retort, she cleans the bedroom in a furious manner. While cleaning under the bed, she finds a scrap of newspaper with something written in pencil. On closer inspection, she realizes that the scraps of writing contain Tony’s initials and half of the Finnish island where he spent his final days, Kumlinge. Serena is confused and begins to wonder whether the yellowed piece of paper has anything to do with the bloody mattress. She tries to find the paper from which the scrap was torn but her investigations lead nowhere. Eventually, Serena returns to cleaning. Shirley apologizes for her outburst. Serena accepts the apology but does not mention the piece of paper tucked into her pocket. They finish the job and return the van, their friendship repaired.

The next morning, Serena is invited to Harry Tapp’s office. She expects to be fired but instead finds herself meeting with Tapp and four other men, one of which is Max. The men make small talk and Serena becomes nervous, especially as the oldest man in the room watches her carefully over steepled fingers. The conversation switches to politics and, even though she is less sure of herself, Serena decides to “sound decisive” (55) and commits to her opinions. She realizes that she is being interviewed again but has no idea what role the men have in mind. Nevertheless, she strives to please them.

At last, Tapp comes to a point. He mentions Serena’s interest in mathematics, as well as literature. He quizzes her about contemporary writers and seems satisfied with her comments. The old man introduces himself as Peter Nutting and asks whether Serena knows about a literary magazine titled Encounter. She does not, so he reveals that the magazine is known for its center-right politics and scathing criticisms of communism. Supposedly, the CIA funds the magazine to lure intellectuals away from more left-leaning publications. The Soviets engage in similar cultural schemes, fighting a very different kind of war for the attention of the intellectually-minded. MI5, Nutting reveals, intends to start their own scheme. They intend to target “suitable young writers, academics and journalists” (57) at the beginning of their careers and offer them financial support in exchange for publishing ideologically approved material. One of their aims is to find a suitable novelist, one who is well-at-home among left-wing people, so they need Serena to vet one candidate named Thomas Haley.

Nutting explains that Serena’s assignment will be to introduce herself to Thomas Haley and evaluate whether he might be of any use to MI5. She will go to Brighton and make Haley an offer, though the actual source of funding will be unknown to him, as Serena will be representing a fake foundation. She is given clippings of all Haley’s published work to date. Nutting closes by admitting that they will have no real control over the writers’ output during the long-term project, but hopes that by funding the right people, they can achieve their aims. Serena will be helped in this assignment, code-named Sweet Tooth, by Max and a young man named Benjamin. Before accepting the assignment, Serena asks for clarification regarding her status. Tapp offers her a promotion in line with the importance of her new role. She is happy and believes that Tony would approve.

Serena works through the folder of Thomas Haley’s writing at home. She is delighted to be reading for “a higher purpose” (61) other than personal enjoyment. Her excitement clouds any doubts or moral qualms she might have. She reads Haley’s short stories. The first is about a pair of ideologically opposed twin brothers who must navigate a farcical weekend together. When the religious brother falls sick, the atheist brother must dress up as a priest and deliver his sickly brother’s sermon. However, he deviates from the agreed script, praising the unity and brotherhood of Christianity as though it were socialist in nature. The congregation applauds. At this point, the story pauses and Serena wonders whether the atheist brother might learn a lesson from his experiences. She notes that the church setting reminds her of home, while the characters remind her of former lovers. Then, she realizes that Haley has “got under [her] skin” (64). She is fascinated by his writing and wants to know how the story ends.

The story resumes by following a different character, a middle-aged widow who sat through the sermon and finds her life profoundly changed by it. Worse still, she finds herself attracted to the priest who delivered the sermon. She quickly deduces that the religious brother is not the right man, so seeks out the atheist brother and they spend two passionate weeks in his apartment. She commits to teaching the atheist brother about religion, but he decides to return to his estranged wife. The woman suffers a breakdown and disappears into the street. Over the coming months, she stalks the brother and his reunited family; her harassment causes the marriage to break down again, so he returns to her for comfort. However, her jealous rages terrify him, and he becomes entirely dependent on her. He loses interest in all the political issues which once inspired him, and she models him entirely in her image. By the end of the story, Serena is impressed by Haley’s wisdom and writing. She is fascinated by him and the sense of intimacy his story has engendered in her.