Crash Bang Wallace

The developing story of the murder of Gareth Williams, the GCHQ staffer who was on loan to MI6, has all the elements necessary to run and run. For a start, it allows headline writers to use the word “SPY” a lot, which is both exciting and conveniently short.

Then there is the awful way in which he died and was discovered, stuffed into a holdall. Add to that the competing theories and allegations about possible terrorism or foreign espionage, and the scrutiny of his private life, and you have a really big story.

What has truly gasted my flabber about this case, though, is that MI6, MI5 and GCHQ combined don’t seem to have noticed that he was missing – never mind dead – for around two weeks. My colleagues would probably notice a (sizeable) Wallace-shaped gap in the room if I didn’t show up for a day, never mind a fortnight – and I’m not in possession of facts pertaining to national security.

Spying (and spying on other spies, and so on and so on) is, I appreciate, a difficult business – but can it really be so hard to notice the disappearance of one of your own men? If it takes two weeks to notice one of your operatives or analysts has vanished from the radar, what is to stop them defecting to a hostile power or – like the unfortunate Gareth Williams – being murdered?