Authors: Eric Ambler
‘I know.’
‘Then you’ll also know about long retreats, I dare say. Must have seen it as a war correspondent. They bring out the best and worst in men. And, paradoxically, it’s in retreat that some men find their talent for leadership. I don’t mean leadership in a race for safety, but the kind that turns headlong retreat into a rearguard action and withdrawal with light casualties. I think that’s what must have happened to Zander. I think that in those last few months he found in himself qualities as a soldier that he hadn’t known he
possessed. He found the secret of leadership at combat level. He found that he could command obedience, make men do things they were afraid to do, by making them believe that
his
respect for
them
was something really worth having. It was the confidence he had gained from that discovery that took him to the Legion. He knew his job, so he went looking for work, this time with a possible winner. I’ll bet you that was how it was.’
‘You may be right. I’ve been looking at him as a skilled survivor. As a soldier he’s only been on losing sides. First the Russian front, then Dien Bien Phu. He’s done better as a civilian. Until now, anyway.’
‘Has he said anything about this silver mine nonsense? Does he believe it?’
‘Naturally, he gives The Ruler’s version. This is a miracle treatment for asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis and a few other things. It’s been working at Oberzeiring.’
The General looked at his drink as if he were wondering why he bothered with the stuff. ‘I asked an MO in Brussels about it,’ he said, ‘and the fellow was very anti. He said that if what your asthma really needs is a regime of regular eight-degree Celsius temperatures, ninety-five percent humidity and water dripping down your neck, the place for you is Liverpool on a wet Sunday in March. He comes from Liverpool.’
‘How about the success rate at Oberzeiring? Did he have any explanation for that?’
‘Unsympathetic. A lot of asthma, he said, is psychosomatic. Back-to-the womb therapies can succeed for a time, especially with elderly patients who’ve tried everything else.’
‘Does The Ruler really have sinusitis, I wonder?’
He gave me a look. ‘So you’ve asked yourself that one, too, eh? And if he hasn’t got sinus trouble, what use has he for that old mine? Any ideas?’
I had, in fact, the beginning of an idea, but just then Schelm came back from his telephoning.
‘I have an apology to make, Bob,’ he announced. ‘I hope you will find it acceptable.’
‘What’s gone wrong?’
‘According to you, Simone Chihani’s security plan calls for absolutely no mention of your name and whereabouts that could enable Rasmuk to trace Zander.’
‘You had the same idea yourself back in Milan.’
‘Yes. But I should have given orders on the subject. There has been a leak, small but you had better know about it. We found that getting the back-up TV crew you asked for was more difficult than we expected. It was the shortness of the notice we were giving. Eventually my people found this Dutch crew in Yugoslavia who were going to be free. The trouble then was getting them to do the job. They’ve been working in the Yugoslav mountains on a documentary film and living rough for over two months. They’d had enough. Money was no argument. They had to be persuaded. We told them that the footage they’d be shooting would be for international release.’
I sighed. ‘Through an unnamed American network?’
‘That at least was avoided. However, in the course of persuading them, your name was mentioned. That’s what I wanted to check, whether your name was actually used. It was and I’m sorry. I don’t think the leak’s a bad one, but they are undoubtedly out having a few drinks in Trieste this evening. It only needs some bar fly who deals in gossip to get them talking and we could be in trouble tomorrow.’
The General broke in sharply. ‘What’s on offer, Dieter?’ he demanded. ‘What choices are you giving the man? Are you asking him whether or not he’d like to pull out because someone on your staff is a name-dropper? I wouldn’t. He might say yes, and to hell with being considered a spoilsport. If that Dutch unit were to bring a Rasmuk killer squad trailing in after them tomorrow, it wouldn’t only be Zander who got hit. I’d sooner put the question to Bob this way. If a bunch of home-sick Hollanders go out and get stinking in a Trieste nightclub, which language are they more likely to
end up gossiping in – Italian or Dutch? That’s assuming that most of them won’t end up speechless anyway. I’d say Dutch. How about you, Bob?’
‘I don’t think it matters all that much,’ I said. ‘But then, I’ve had a day or two to think about the threat-to-Zander problem.’
‘And we haven’t?’ Schelm inquired curtly. ‘Or are you saying that if we can blow the man’s whereabouts to a Dutch television crew, we’re perfectly capable of blowing it to Rasmuk direct?’
I shrugged. ‘It’s no good getting mad at me, Dieter. I’m the one who asked about the risks. Remember? You’re the one who described them to me. I think you misread the evidence.’
The General intervened again. ‘I hope you’re not going to go cryptic on us, Bob? You’re going to tell us
how
the evidence was misread, aren’t you? My desire to learn is just as keen as Dieter’s I assure you.’
‘Your teeth are beginning to show, Patrick,’ I said. ‘I’ll tell you exactly what I mean. Through force of circumstances I’ve been looking at the evidence from a different angle. I need to know something, Dieter. How far back do you go on this whole deal? How long have you been involved, you personally?’
‘Almost a month. Naturally, I’ve had access to a lot of research. What do you need to know about?’
‘The time when the contract to kill Zander was put out to Mukhabarat Zentrum. You told me then you didn’t know who was paying.’
‘I still don’t.’
‘Do you know who it was who told Zander that Mukhabarat Zentrum had accepted the contract, who it was who tipped him off?’
‘No.’
‘Do you know about the two attempts to kill him that failed?’
‘I’ve been told about them. They didn’t seem relevant to this operation.’
‘I can see that they wouldn’t. They were both outstandingly amateurish. The first time it’s a couple of kids with a pistol that jams. The second time, it’s a girl with a grenade that’s thrown the moment the pin’s out so that he has time to roll clear. Must have shaken him though. I think that Rasmuk – or Mukhabarat Zentrum as he insists on calling it – organized both those attempts.’
Schelm was watching me carefully now. ‘Why should you think that, Bob?’
‘Because immediately after the second attempt The Ruler sent for Zander and warned him that he must take no more risks, that Mukhabarat Zentrum had accepted a contract to destroy not only him but his family too.’
Schelm’s drink slopped. ‘The
Ruler
told him?’
‘That’s what Zander said and I believed him. The warning came via The Ruler and Zander reacted promptly. That’s when he went out of circulation and sent his family into hiding. Kids with grenades can’t do him much harm, only soften him up a little maybe, but Mukhabarat Zentrum is different. So, that’s when he went to work in secret for The Ruler, setting up the deal for Abra Bay.’ I paused. ‘Mind if I have another drink?’
Schelm took my glass. ‘You’re not trying to tell us, I hope, that there’s
no
contract out on Zander. There you’d be quite wrong.’
‘I’m trying to tell you that there are some unusual clauses in the contract.’
‘Go on,’ said the General.
‘Last Friday, when I went to Malpensa as instructed, I was tailed. Miss Chihani, very efficiently I thought, lost the tail.’
Schelm handed me a fresh drink. ‘So you’ve already told us.’
‘What I didn’t tell you about was the tailing operation. I’m important to them, right? I’m the one who’s going to lead Rasmuk to the Zander hide-out and a quick killing. Well, they had three men on the job, three men who made themselves very conspicuous moreover. They had no back-up
team that I saw. Now, whether more men would have helped against what Chihani had planned is beside the point. I thought it was common knowledge that a thorough tailing job calls for minimum teams of eight working in shifts. What’s the matter with the all-powerful Rasmuk? Don’t they know this? Do they have a manpower or cash-flow problem?’
‘What’s
your
answer, Bob?’
‘I think they were simply going through the motions so that Zander and his people would continue to believe that they were under
immediate
threat. That way he would remain isolated and out of free circulation during the run-up period to the opening of the Abra Bay negotiations, the talks about talks that are due to begin tomorrow. The moment The Ruler tells you to sit down facing him, Patrick, Zander will become expendable. After that, Rasmuk can do their killing any time they like.’
‘Oh Christ!’ said the General softly.
But Schelm had still to be convinced. ‘You say we misread the evidence.’
‘Or had it misread for you. Dieter, when you briefed me the other night you told me that, according to the experts, not even The Ruler was crazy enough to make this approach to you about Abra Bay without the tacit approval of his UAE brothers. Well, I think your experts misread him, I think they credited him with too much sense. They were wrong. He’s made the approach without any approval except that of his own peculiar ego. However, to protect himself against the wicked slanders of enemies – and all men of true worth have enemies, remember – he’s dreamed up a beautiful lie. It goes like this. Here he is in Austria, quietly treating his sinus trouble and talking to architects about the clinic he wants to build for his people, when an American television reporter arrives with a camera unit to interview him about the project. The interviewer had been expected. What had not been expected was the arrival with him of three other persons in no way concerned with television. The first of these, my brothers, was a man no doubt well known to some of you. He
is the European entrepreneur who calls himself Zander among other names. Such men have their uses and he has served me on occasion. Normally though, he does not enter my house uninvited. The two men with him he introduced to me as a West German senior diplomatist and a British lieutenant-general both at present in the service of Nato. The laws of hospitality obliged me to receive them. Judge of my surprise, then, when these Nato officials proceeded to put to me a secret proposal. They wish, they say, to discuss with me the building of a great port and other facilities on territory of mine at Abra Bay. They speak of the vast benefits that such an enterprise would bring to my poorer people. I listen politely and, I hope, with dignity. I say that I will give the matter thought, but make no promises. Then, without a moment’s delay, I report to my brothers this thing that has happened and seek their fraternal advice on behalf of my people.’ I looked from Schelm to the General. ‘Who’s to know that that’s not the way it happened? Only one man who would be believed in the UAE – Zander.’
‘
We
might be believed,’ said Schelm.
‘If Patrick’s committee decides that it wants Abra Bay you’ll keep your mouth shut, Dieter. And you’ll see that I do too.’
‘What about The Ruler’s entourage? If you’re right, he’ll have to have all of them killed off as well.’
‘I wouldn’t worry too much about the entourage, Dieter,’ the General said. ‘They’ll be well-trained non-observers. I don’t suppose you’ve ever seen a man have his tongue cut out. They, almost certainly, have. The victim makes some very strange noises, believe me, and quite often he goes on making them for a long time before he bleeds to death or chokes. If Bob’s right, Zander’s the only witness The Ruler has to fear. He knows that The Ruler cheated on his princely brothers and he’ll know exactly how the cheating was done if he ever gets to be questioned. He also probably knows what The Ruler will be asking for as his personal under-the-counter sweetener.’ He glanced at me. ‘Have you
any ideas about what that might be?’
I thought. ‘One of The Ruler’s current anxieties is about chemical and biological warfare substances which might hasten his decline into impotence. He may ask for special protection. There’ll be a huge instant cash demand too, I guess. I doubt if Mukhabarat Zentrum likes giving extended credit. Otherwise, I can’t think of anything in particular that he might want.’
Schelm had been swirling a piece of ice around the bottom of an empty glass. ‘If you’re right, Bob,’ he said, ‘and maybe you are, do you think Zander has seen it this way?’
‘Until quite recently, I think, he only had a nagging suspicion and was taking care. As I told Patrick, Zander seemed to me like a skilled survivor. But he’s a survivor for whom time is running out, who’s losing his self-confidence and wondering if he has begun to depend on luck rather than his wits. On the way to Zürich yesterday he talked of having one more battle to fight. Today, he was in a funny sort of mood. Now, I think, he’s finally faced the fact that he was set up.’ I took the note Simone had given me out of my pocket and handed it to Schelm. ‘It’s from Zander. His daughter gave it to me just before I left to come here. I read it on the way. It’s handwritten by him. He likes to print with a felt-point pen.’
In response to a nod from the General, Schelm read it aloud.
‘ “It is essential if our conference tomorrow is to succeed that the nature of my modest personal rewards for initiating this project and bringing the parties concerned to the negotiating table is
NOT
repeat
NOT
described or alluded to in any way at all. Kindly convey this in the strongest terms when reporting to your colleagues.”
Well, that seems to clinch it.’
The General grunted. ‘He doesn’t want The Ruler to know that, if his luck holds, he’s getting the defectors’ vanishing-cream treatment for himself and his family somewhere in North America. Don’t blame him. Is that how you read it?’
‘Yes,’ Schelm said; ‘but I can’t help wondering what he
has
told The Ruler that he’s getting from us for his trouble.’
‘I can tell you that,’ I said. ‘Peace and tranquillity. The Ruler was very sympathetic when Zander told him that. I guess he thought that, for poor old Zander, peace and tranquillity could only mean money.’