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T his is a revised, abbreviated version of a diary kept for my fiancée, Millicent Mooney. The entries have been run together to form a continuous narrative. While in Ankara, it was my custom to send Millicent an instalment every week in the diplomatic bag, keeping a carbon copy for my own records.

I excise expressions of affection, pertinent only to Millicent and myself, and omit the beginning of the diary since it deals with the first six months of my posting and would contribute little to the proper understanding of subsequent events. The murder story begins in March 1969. I see this with hindsight. At the time I was quite blind to the circumstances. An experienced reader will have the advantage of me. I am obliged, by editorial pressure, to restrict descriptive passages, political comment and observations made while away from Ankara on consular duties. I have, however, resisted pressure to 'begin with a bang'. There was no 'bang' at the time.