The dim winter light seeped into the room through the heavy curtains, with delicate London-style furnishings and a rug rich with Russian character complementing each other.
The birch logs burning in the fireplace emitted a slight crackling sound, contrasting with the howling wind outside.
Arthur placed his two hands on the carved solid wood desk where a map was spread out, the chaotic reports on the desk's edge indicating he was busy handling urgent intelligence.
For the British Embassy in Russia, Sir Arthur Hastings was not only a cultural attaché, but he also served as a cryptographer.
Documents with the British Consulate in Tehran's red wax seal had sparse text yet were densely coded.
Arthur lightly sketched out the key decryption words with a fountain pen dipped in ink, checking the intelligence content word by word.
