"The Honourable Schoolboy", set in 1974, finds Smiley having assembled a new team, made up of former colleague Connie Sachs; Doc di Salis, a Jesuit priest who is an expert on Communist China; Guillam; and a rehabilitated Esterhase. After learning that Karla has been making exorbitant payments to a heretofore unknown Chinese source, Smiley tasks agent Jerry Westerby with going to Hong Kong disguised as a reporter and identifying the spy. Although Westerby identifies the man as Nelson Ko, the brother of a prominent Triad, he also falls in love with the brother's mistress and attempts to betray the Circus. Realising Westerby's treachery, Smiley orders his bodyguard, Fawn, to assassinate him; concurrently, the CIA takes Nelson into custody, cutting off Circus access to him. The incident prompts Smiley's dismissal as Circus boss, with Guillam contemplating the possibility that Smiley permitted the CIA to succeed to get himself removed from the position.