No Peace

Abstract To the FBI’s confidential informant in the Commerce Department (an economist named Acree), it must have been a remarkable moment. There, on the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue was William Remington talking to a mysterious woman. After a while, Remington took from his pocket a piece of paper that he gave to the woman, who then hailed a taxi and drove away. On February 6, 1950, Acree informed the FBI, and the next day Inspector Howard B. Fletcher recommended to Assistant Director D. M. Ladd that the Bureau reopen the Remington investigation. “Yes, do so at once,” J. Edgar Hoover ordered; “cover carefully and DISCREETLY.” It seemed to the FBI that William Remington was up to his old tricks, the woman obviously another Elizabeth Bentley. Bureau memoranda on Remington were again captioned, SUBJECT: ESPIONAGE. “I wish an FBI agent were assigned to watch me twenty-four hours a day,” he had told Daniel Lang in 1949. In 1950, Remington’s wish came true. The FBI moved quickly. On February 10, they interviewed Acree about what he had observed. He did not know the woman Remington was seeing but could give them a good description: about thirty-five years old, sharp features, medium height, medium build. Her hair was brown, cut in a masculine bob, and she wore brown horn-rimmed glasses with unusually thick lenses. She also dressed like the FBI’s idea of a Brunette Spy Queen-her body was completely covered by an olive-green Army officer’s military coat, belted and with a hood. Special Agent Lambert Zander, assigned to watch Remington, saw her for himself on March 2, when she and Remington entered the Tally-Ho Restaurant for lunch.