The Francis Blake Affair

The Francis Blake Affair
Cover of the English language (Cinebook) edition
Date	1996
Series	Blake and Mortimer
Creative team
Writers	Jean Van Hamme
Artists	Ted Benoit
Original publication
Published in	Tintin magazine
Language	French
Translation
Publisher	Cinebook Ltd
Date	September 2008
Translator	Jerome Saincantin
Chronology
Preceded by	Professor Sató's Three Formulae, Volume 2: Mortimer vs. Mortimer
Followed by	The Voronov Plot

The Francis Blake Affair was the thirteenth Blake and Mortimer book and the first one not to be written by Edgar P. Jacobs. It was published in 1996.

The United Kingdom is shaken by the revelation of the existence of an espionage network in the country. At a meeting at Scotland Yard between intelligence (MI5 and MI6), Scotland Yard and the Home Office, Captain Francis Blake, Director of MI5, explains that whenever its services take a track, spies managed to disappear without a trace. Only a carrier of message name of Jennings was arrested. He then speculates finds a mole within the Intelligence Service. The same night, at the Centaur Club, Blake explains Professor Philip Mortimer the difficulty of dismantling such a network where agents unknown even among themselves.

Le next day, during the interrogation of Jennings, a photograph of his contact is revealed: to the surprise, it's captain Blake. The latter escapes with Jennings after a chase on a motorcycle with his former, David Honeychurch. A few hours later, Mortimer is escorted to his apartment trying to be searched by police. Made aware of recent events, he refuses to believe in the betrayal of his friend, even in the face of mounting evidence. He thinks rather that he is in danger and that he must find it to help him. He remembers while the day before, Blake told him about innocuous way of his escape to his cousin Virginia in Yorkshire. After escaping surveillance by the police, he joined with the help of a wanderer, the North of England in a freight train to avoid police checks. It happens eventually by bike to Seanberry where Virginia already seems to know him and wait for him.

De their side, Blake and Jennings are level in the British capital via a postal van. Entered a home in the English countryside, Blake faced his old enemy colonel Olrik and his man, Jack, descending Jennings. Olrik is not convinced by the betrayal of Blake, and to test it, he orders him to kill Fielding, an agent of MI5 in captivity. Blake does not run and manages to knock out Olrik and Jack at the end of a struggle during which Fielding is seriously injured. In order to escape, it triggers a fire, what pushes Olrik and his men to hurriedly leave the residence before firefighters arrived. In Seanberry, Virginia reveal to Mortimer that she is sleeper agent (aka 'cousin') in the service of Blake and officer that the betrayal of the latter is just a covert operation to infiltrate the spy network. But in the early morning, things get complicated when the Home Secretary, only person of significance abreast of the operation, is the victim of a car "accident". In addition, the Chief Inspector Glenn Kendall find Mortimer and stops him. About to be embedded, the Professor jumps in the convertible from Virginia who manages to lose his pursuers. She takes Mortimer on a farm where he exchanges his clothes with a man like him to deal with the police. In London, Honeychurch – who turns also make part of the operation – is caught red-handed by the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office, Harold Doyle-Smith, in person.