"Let"s go straight up," he invited Tweed. "Don"t fill in a form..."
Anyone who knew Tweed well would have recognized the danger signs. There was an intent expression in the eyes behind his spectacles. He crossed the hall to the lift with a brisk stride and the look on his face was forbidding as he stared at Beck.
They travelled up to the tenth floor in silence, Beck unlocked the door with his key. In the hall beyond he took out a card and inserted it in the time clock before opening the door to his office. Tweed took off his coat and sat facing Beck across his desk.
"Welcome to Berne once more," Beck began.
"I hope you will still think me welcome when we have ended this conversation," Tweed warned. "I have come here because we are very worried about the Berne Clinic - and the experiments which are being carried out there, possibly under military supervision..."
"I don"t like your tone," Beck replied stiffly.
I don"t like the reason for my visit..."
"You are talking nonsense. Where have you picked up this nonsense about a Swiss clinic?"
"From various sources." Tweed dropped his bomb. "We know about Manfred Seidler. We have in London one of the gas masks he has supplied to the Berne Clinic. Our Ministry of Defence experts have examined it and confirmed it is the sophisticated type now issued to the Soviet chemical battalions..."
Beck stood up, his expression frozen. He stood behind the desk, his hands thrust inside his jacket pockets, studying his visitor who gazed back at him.
"Just supposing I found there was even one iota of truth in this extraordinary story, how would it concern you?"
"It concerns the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Britain - both of whom are fighting to conclude a new treaty with Moscow, a treaty effectively banning the use of chemical warfare in Europe. You read the papers, don"t you? Can you imagine the propaganda advantage Moscow would have if they could point to one single country in Western Europe - a country outside NATO at that - which was equipping its forces with chemical warfare units? It would give them just the excuse they need to continue building up their own resources in this diabolical field. That, Beck, is why I am here. That is why it concerns London. That is why I take such an interest in the Berne Clinic."
"Quite a speech," Beck commented. He sat down again. "I take your point. May we speak in confidence? Good. Manfred Seidler was murdered last night in the Juras ..."
"My G.o.d! He was a vital witness..."
"Agreed. It doesn"t make my job any easier, Tweed. Can I ask you how you know so much?"
"An a.s.sociate of Seidler"s sold one of the gas masks from the latest consignment to someone at the British Emba.s.sy. Our agent followed Seidler to the airport outside Vienna -and saw him board a Swiss jet. I alerted our people here to watch your airports. We had a piece of luck at Belp. My man saw the consignment from Vienna being taken away in a van - that van carried the legend Klinik Bern on the outside. The van proceeded in the direction of the Clinic after leaving the airport at Belp.
"You have been very busy in our country." Beck smiled, a smile of resignation. "Under other circ.u.mstances I might be angry." He pressed the switch on his intercom. "Gisela, coffee for two, please. Black without sugar for my guest... just a moment." He looked at his visitor. "A little cognac in your coffee?"
"Not at this hour, thank you."
"That is all, Gisela." He switched off. "Anything else you know, my friend?"
"We know," Tweed continued in the same flat tone, "you are under great pressure to drop your investigation - pressure from the Gold Club. I come here to help you resist the pressure at all costs. You are at full liberty to disclose what I have said - what I am going to say. As a last resort - I emphasize that - we might feel compelled to leak the news of what we believe is going on at the Berne Clinic..."
"To some foreign correspondent like Robert Newman?" Tweed looked surprised. "He is investigating the same subject?"
"I don"t know," Beck admitted. "He is here with his fiancee, an American. Her grandfather is a patient in the Clinic."
"May I suggest how we should proceed?" Tweed requested with a hint of urgency.
"I am open to any suggestion. You seem to have established a network inside Switzerland. You may know more than me."
"We put the Berne Clinic under total surveillance - round the clock. Specifically, smuggle a film unit into the area, choosing a strategic position where you can survey and photograph not only the Clinic but also the laboratory and their very extensive grounds. There is a dense forest behind the Clinic on high ground..."
"You have been out there?"
"I have studied a map."
"I know the forest you mean and it would be the best point of vantage. The film unit will be inside a plain van with porthole windows which open - but I cannot send it to take up position until well after dark, late tonight. Otherwise it would be spotted..."
"By Military Intelligence?" Tweed interjected.
"You have have been busy..." been busy..."
Beck paused at a knock on the door, called out to Gisela to come in and played with a pencil while she served coffee. When she had gone Tweed leant forward to emphasize his words.
"Please use one of your sophisticated, infra-red cine cameras. The danger - the evidence to be obtained- probably is during the night. Hannah Stuart died after dark. So did Mrs Holly Laird..."
"I have kept all reference to Mrs Laird out of the papers," Beck said sharply.
"Certain individuals inside Military Intelligence are as uneasy about this business as we are," Tweed observed and sat back to drink his coffee.
"Who are you going to see?" Nancy asked as Newman put down the phone inside their bedroom. "You didn"t mention a name."
"I"m stirring the pot to boiling point before that reception tonight - hoping to break someone"s nerve. Then they may make a mistake. I"m on my way now to start the process. You wait here till I get back..
Two minutes later he walked out of the main entrance of the Bellevue. There was the smell of fog in the heavy air. The clammy damp of mist caressed his cheeks. He went straight inside the Bundeshaus Ost and was taken to Captain Lachenal"s second-floor office. When the attendant closed the door and Lachenal, dark circles under his eyes, rose from behind his desk, Newman unb.u.t.toned his coat but made no attempt to take it off.
"Manfred Seidler is dead," was his opening shot.
"My G.o.d! I didn"t know, I swear to you..."
"He was murdered up in the Juras. You were looking for him. I was there when a marksman blew off half his head-and so was Colonel Signer. Do you take orders from Signer?"
"Have you gone crazy? Of course not..."
"Maybe indirectly - through a complex chain of command whose ultimate origin even you don"t know..."
"That"s impossible. Bob, you don"t know what you"re saying..."
"That rifle with a sniper scope that was stolen from the Thun district was probably the murder weapon. Who are the marksmen in Thun? There can"t be too many of them- and you hold a record of such things. Care to let me look at that record? Or are you going to try and cover up? We are talking about cold-blooded murder, Lachenal."
"Two such rifles have been stolen - both from the Thun district," Lachenal said quietly. "We tried to keep the second theft quiet. It reflects on the Swiss Army..."
"So you will have consulted that record of marksmen very recently - probably still have it in this office," Newman pounded on. "May I see it? I might believe in you if you show it to me."
"You are telling me the truth about Seidler?"
"You really didn"t know? There"s the phone. Call Beck and ask him..."
"There is a temporary hitch in liaison."
Which, Newman thought, was a neat way of saying they were no longer speaking to each other. Lachenal looked worried sick, close to the end of his tether. Without another word he went over to a steel filing cabinet, produced a ring of keys, unlocked the cabinet, took out a red file and brought it back to his desk.
"This is cla.s.sified information..."
"Since when did brutal a.s.sa.s.sination become cla.s.sified?"
Lachenal rifled through the typed sheets inside the file. He stopped at a page near the end and Newman guessed it was arranged alphabetically by district. "T" for "Thun".
The Intelligence chief gestured for Newman to join him on his side of the desk. He used the flat of both hands to prevent Newman flipping over to another page. There were five marksmen in Thun, a high proportion, Newman guessed. Alongside one was an asterisk. He pointed to this name. Bruno Kobler.
"What"s the asterisk for? Or is that top secret?"
"Expert with both rifle and handgun. A crack shot..."
"Get the link?" Newman queried. "Kobler, deputy to Professor Grange. And Grange"s closest financial supporter is Victor Signer - present at the execution of Manfred Seidler..."
"Execution?" Lachenal was shocked.
"By a one-man firing squad, a marksman. And Signer may have given the order. Think about it, check it, Lachenal. And I"m leaving now..."
"There are questions I would like to ask..."
Newman shook his head. He b.u.t.toned up his coat. He had turned the handle of the door when he fired his closing shot over his shoulder.
"And at long last.I know what Terminal Terminal means - yesterday in conversation with someone they told me by chance." means - yesterday in conversation with someone they told me by chance."
Thirty-One.
"I"ll be there if I"m needed," Lee Foley said, gripping the phone with his left hand while he reached for the lighted cigarette with his other hand. "All those people at that reception means something"s going to break. I"ll be there like I said - to watch it happen..."
Inside Room 214 the American replaced the receiver, checked his watch and stretched out on the bed. 11.30 am. Today he was staying in the bedroom which had already been cleaned. On the outside door handle a notice hung. Please Do Not Disturb Please Do Not Disturb.
He had used Room Service to order lunch. The fox was in its hole - and would remain there until the moment came to act. Closing his eyes, he fell fast asleep.
Newman walked out of the phone booth and headed along the familiar route to the Junkernga.s.se. Blanche was waiting for him, clad in a beige sweater and her wet-look black pants, the outfit she wore when she thought she might need to ride her scooter.
"I have a big favour to ask," Newman told her, "and very little time to spare. Would you be willing to evacuate your flat for a day or two - I"ve provisionally booked you a room at the Bellevue. I may need a hideaway - this would be ideal geographically..."
"Of course you can have it..."
"Not for myself. If you agree, lock up any valuables or confidential papers. Your temporary lodger might be nosy. I just don"t know..."
"When do I move to the Bellevue? And here is a spare key."
"By one o"clock. About clothes, pack what you"re wearing. And something dressy - for a reception. This has two plusses for me. I have what the pros call a safe house. And I have you where I can keep an eye on you. People are getting killed. A lot of people."
Inside the Bellevue Tweed knocked gently on the door after first making sure the corridor was deserted. The door to the suite was opened by a small, very broad-shouldered man with a large head, thick black hair and a wide, firm mouth. He was smoking a Havana cigar and he wore an expensive and conservative dark grey business suit.
"Come in, Tweed," said Dr Max Nagel. "On time to the minute, as always."
"We may be getting somewhere," Tweed replied as Nagel shut the door and ushered him to a deep arm-chair which enveloped the small Englishman.
"Tell me," Nagel continued in English, drawing up a similar chair to join his guest. "You saved me a lot of embarra.s.sment over that Kruger affair when you traced the funds he"d embezzled to my bank."
"That was only achieved by keeping track of that newspaperman, Newman"s, activities. I"ve manoeuvred all the pieces on the Terminal Terminal board as best I could. Now we hope and we pray ..." board as best I could. Now we hope and we pray ..."
"Maybe not." Nagel, who spoke in a hoa.r.s.e growl, reached for his brief-case, unlocked it and handed a file to Tweed. "Those are photocopies of highly intricate banking transactions covering the movement of no less than two hundred million Swiss francs. At one stage they went out of the country to a company in Liechtenstein - then, hey presto! they come back again and end up, guess where?"
"In a bank account accessible to Professor Armand Grange?"
"Where else? You can keep that set of accounts. What is your strategy? When you phoned me before you left London telling me you were coming here you didn"t say too much..."
"Not over an open line..."
Tweed then told Nagel all he had discovered - including the gas mask "an emissary" had brought from Vienna and Manfred Seidler"s involvement. Nagel listened in silence, smoking his cigar. His appearance reminded Tweed of a gorilla in repose, an amiable, determined and highly intelligent gorilla. Great force of character emanated from the man and his energy was proverbial.
"So," he declared when Tweed had finished, "I repeat, what is your strategy?"
"To squeeze Grange from every possible quarter - to exert such psychological pressure he miscalculates. I don"t think we have much time left, Max. And have you another spare set of those accounts?"
"Certainly. Here you are. May I ask who they are for?"
"Newman, the foreign correspondent - pa.s.sed to him through an intermediary so he doesn"t know their source. I can"t believe he"s here simply to pay a visit with his American fiancee who, incidentally, has a grandfather as a patient at the Berne Clinic. Max, as the Americans say, we may have to go public as a final resort."
"That I"d like to avoid. This Newman, can you trust him?"
"When these doc.u.ments are handed over it will be conditional on his not publishing them. Yes, he lives on trust. But if Grange knows he"s got them it will unnerve him..
"I hope so." There was a hint of doubt in Nagel"s voice. "Grange is a fanatic-you do know that? He"ll go to any length to achieve his objective - which is to change the whole military policy of this country. Tread carefully - Grange is a very dangerous and unpredictable man. Like a cobra he strikes when you least expect it ..."
Half an hour later Newman, who had phoned from Blanche"s flat, walked into Beck"s office. The police chief began to feel he was under bombardment when Newman started speaking.
"I don"t see any reason why you shouldn"t take a full team including Forensic to the Berne Clinic today with a warrant to examine not only the Clinic but also the laboratory..."
"You are trying to rush me? On what grounds could I furnish myself with a warrant?"
"On the basis of the findings of Dr Kleist concerning the death of their patient, Mrs Holly Laird. Cyanosis poisoning was the diagnosis, for G.o.d"s sake..."
"Please!" Beck held up a defensive hand. "And won"t you sit down. All right, stay on your feet! Dr Kleist has not yet produced her final report. There are aspects about Mrs Laird"s demise which still puzzle her. Until I do receive her report I cannot - will not - obtain a warrant. Haven"t I already explained I have to move cautiously - that there are powerful forces trying to have me taken off the case?"
"Then I"ll give you my affidavit about the events in the Juras last night and go..."
"I also need a statement from Dr Kennedy..."
"She is waiting downstairs. I insist on being present when you take her statement..."