Microbes of Power (Wallace of the Secret Service Series) (24 page)

‘You must not think back, dear,’ he insisted.

‘No; I must not – I will remember. Oh! What was that?’

They heard a dull thud, a low groan and, it seemed to their startled ears, the sound of a heavy body falling. Hill was about to dart in the direction from whence the sound came, when Sir Leonard’s voice reached them from a short distance away.

‘It’s all right – don’t worry! I am afraid,’ he went on, and the girl jumped as she found he was by her side, ‘that General Radoloff was more inquisitive than I expected. At all events I saw him approaching from the direction of the house and, as there wasn’t time to warn you, I hit him on the head with the butt of a revolver. He will be quite safe where he is for the present. There is nobody else about. Now, Miss Thalia, perhaps you will go on.’

The utter unconcern in his voice did more to still her alarm than anything else could possibly have done. She suddenly felt an inclination to laugh. Everything that had previously seemed so deadly and dangerous appeared somehow almost trivial now that Sir Leonard Wallace had come on the scene. His manner was so delightfully casual, she thought; it was that which made the desperate affairs in which she was involved lose a lot of their fearsomeness.

‘Can you see in the dark?’ she asked curiously.

‘Well, now you come to ask,’ he returned, ‘I suppose I can fairly well. I have never thought of it before.’

She told him in a low voice of her visit to Shannon at the Hotel Splendide and of the news she had imparted to him there. She also spoke about the report she had written at his instigation, of their discovery of the waiting Baltazzi in the corridor, and Shannon’s plan, which had enabled her to get away without her presence there being suspected. Hill had, of course, heard the story from his colleague’s own lips.

‘What did you do with that report?’ asked Wallace, when she had finished.

‘I sent it by a special messenger from the English library of Miss Wilson near the Spanish stairs. I knew it would be delivered with safety, if it went from there.’

‘Excellent,’ approved Sir Leonard. ‘Now I think I am au fait with everything.’

‘You will see that Captain Shannon is warned about the plot to kill him?’ she asked anxiously.

‘I am going to him now,’ he assured her.

‘Do you know where he is?’ came eagerly from her.

‘No; but I rather suspect Mr Hill does.’

‘Do you, Raymond?’

‘Yes; it was him I dined with this evening,’ was the response.

‘Oh!’ She suddenly realised that she, as a secret agent, must seem very much of a novice to these experts, who appeared to accomplish everything they did with such ease and celerity. ‘Then, Raymond, you will tell Sir Leonard, and he will warn Captain Shannon.’

‘It is very much to your credit, Miss Ictinos,’ declared Wallace, ‘that you are filled with so much anxiety on Captain Shannon’s behalf. I am far more concerned about you.’

‘About me!’ she echoed. ‘Why?’

‘Well, the unconscious body of Radoloff lying over there has rather complicated matters, hasn’t it? Whether he suspected you and Hill of conspiring against him and his companions, or merely came out after you because he was jealous does not make any difference. Either you or he must not go back. I am rather inclined to think it had better be you. We don’t know if he said anything to the others about his intentions, do we?’

‘But I must go back,’ she insisted. ‘You would not have me
neglect my duty now that danger threatens, would you?’

‘No; I would not, but I suggest you have done all you can do. Won’t you leave the rest to us? If I may criticise your government, I think it was unwise to give you such a task. You have done magnificently, but the time has arrived, as it was bound to arrive, when it becomes a man’s job. At least you should have had a man in the background somewhere to assist you.’

‘They were not to know it was so big and desperate a plot.’

‘No; I suppose not. And you really feel you must go back, even though there is little you can accomplish now?’

‘I must. There are things I can, perhaps, overhear, as I have overheard them today.’

‘That’s true. Well, I will not attempt to dissuade you further. It means that Radoloff must not go back. He won’t know who hit him on the head, but he will certainly think it was Hill, I’m afraid.’

‘Then will it not be better,’ she asked him anxiously, ‘if Raymond disappears for a little while?’

‘And leave you to face his wrath and suspicions alone!’ commented Hill. ‘Not likely.’

Sir Leonard laughed quietly.

‘You might almost have been forgiven then,’ he remarked, ‘if you had said that as Mrs Patrick Campbell said it in Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”.’

Hill indulged in one of his comfortable-sounding chuckles, which Thalia had learnt to love. She did not understand what her lover and Sir Leonard were amused about, but again she reflected upon the light-hearted manner in which they seemed to take matters which appeared to her to be so deadly serious.

‘May I make a suggestion, sir?’ asked Hill somewhat diffidently.

‘Of course. What is it?’

‘I think T. will find a way of hiding Radoloff until everything is cleared up. Shall I go and ring him up and explain? He can take charge of the Bulgarian then, as soon as he recovers consciousness, force him to write a note to his companions saying that Shannon is on his track and, rather than lead him to the building where they live, has retired, for the time being, to the house of a compatriot.’

Sir Leonard considered the suggestion.

‘Yes; it might do very well,’ he declared presently, ‘especially as today’s events have made it necessary for us to act at once.’ He turned to Thalia. ‘You have no reason to think that they suspect Captain Shannon of knowing their address?’ he asked.

‘I do not think they do,’ she replied.

‘That settles it. Go and telephone now, Hill, but not from your flat, of course. I hope you will find T. in. It is not very late, and he goes out a good deal. See Miss Ictinos back to her flat, and continue your delightfully open method of being seen together. May I request though,’ he added, ‘that your goodnights are not prolonged on this occasion. Au revoir, Miss Ictinos. As soon as there is the slightest hint of danger to yourself, leave your rooms without delay, and go to Hill. I think he will accept the role of protector with a good deal of alacrity.’

‘Goodnight, Sir Leonard,’ she murmured, ‘and I thank you very much for your kindness to me. There is just one little request I would like to make. The name Ictinos I hate more and more every day. Do I ask you too much to drop it, and call me – just Thalia?’

‘Not at all. Goodnight, Thalia. Don’t fall over the general, Hill.’

With another comfortable chuckle the ex-doctor escorted the girl back to the building in which they both lived. Sir Leonard walked to the place where General Radoloff still lay unconscious. He had been struck by a hard blow expertly delivered. Sir Leonard
calculated that he would not recover his senses for another hour at least. Hill was gone a little more than ten minutes; came back to announce that he had been fortunate enough to find Tempest at home, had delivered the message, and received the assurance that the Rome agent of
Lalére et Cie
would be on the spot very shortly. Hill then acquainted his chief with the plans Shannon had conceived for the early hours of the morning. Wallace listened attentively. At the end he approved heartily.

‘That puts a different complexion on this Radoloff business,’ he added. ‘It will not be necessary to make him write that note. If all goes well, they should be under lock and key tomorrow by this time. I shall not visit Shannon after all. I’ll wait in your flat for his arrival.’

Hill went to the road to watch for the arrival of Tempest’s car. He had not long to wait. A great eight cylinder Lancia purred to a standstill a few yards away from him.

‘OK, Hill,’ came a voice. ‘Will it be all right to stop here?’

Hill stepped towards the driving seat, and peered within. Tempest was sitting at the wheel and, by this side, a man whom the ex-doctor recognised as a stalwart retired English soldier, who acted as general factotum to the Rome branch of
Lalére et Cie.

‘No; don’t remain here,’ replied Hill. ‘There is too much traffic. Go on by the gardens for fifty yards or thereabouts, and you come to a private road leading to the houses behind.’

‘I know it.’

‘Well, drive up about twenty yards, and wait for me.’

Tempest nodded, and the big car moved quietly away. Hill returned to Sir Leonard, informed him of the arrival of the others; then went to meet them at the spot he had indicated. Within three or four minutes he was back with them. The ex-soldier was
carrying a roll of strong cord and a gag. At a word from Wallace, he and Tempest, assisted by Hill, proceeded to bind the still senseless Bulgarian general, who was then conveyed to the Lancia, and placed on the floor of the tonneau.

‘Where do you propose to take him?’ asked Sir Leonard of Tempest.

‘I have a large loft over my flat, sir,’ was the reply. ‘It will be an ideal place, and Merryweather and I can attend to him ourselves.’

Wallace rubbed his chin dubiously.

‘He must not know where he is,’ he observed, ‘and it will be wiser if he does not see you. On no account must any suspicion be raised that the firm has a connection with the British Intelligence Department.’

‘He won’t know where he is, sir, and, when he is removed, we’ll blindfold him.’

‘You’d better wear masks when you attend to him. It sounds rather melodramatic I know, but I don’t want him to see your faces. At all events, you will only have to keep him there for a short while. When you have put him safely in the loft, Tempest, come back with Merryweather, and wait somewhere close by. I should think this is as good a spot as any. If an emergency arises, we may want your help, but don’t let yourselves be seen.’

The car drove silently away. Hill was directed to ascend to his flat, and leave the front door ajar. He obeyed instructions. Ten minutes later Sir Leonard entered quietly, closing the door behind him. He accepted the whisky and soda Hill mixed for him; then, from the depths of a comfortable armchair, regarded his assistant with a quizzical smile.

‘It was not very bright of you,’ he commented, ‘to break out suddenly into English, when you proposed to Miss Ictinos.
However, as it was under the stress of great emotion, I must forgive the lapse, I suppose. Probably I should have done the same thing.’

Hill’s face turned crimson as he stammered his apologies. He knew very well that Sir Leonard would not have committed such a blunder. They discussed Shannon’s coming enterprise thoughtfully, being chiefly concerned with the question of whether General Radoloff’s continued absence from his flat would be noticed and cause alarm. Two or three times Hill crept out and, ascertaining that the way was clear, listened at the door. He was unable to hear anything to indicate whether the occupants were still up or had gone to bed. The fact that neither Bikelas from the floor below, nor Plasiras and Doreff from the opposite flat, had been summoned seemed to indicate that all was well. There was a possibility, of course, that they were already with Michalis and Kyprianos but, as time went on, and the building remained as silent as the grave, except for the occasional hum of a lift as a resident returned home, the waiting men felt reassured. Soon after midnight, Hill was directed to fetch Tempest and Merryweather. Acting on instructions, he switched off the dim lights that remained burning in the corridors and hall. The two newcomers, therefore, were brought silently up the stairs in complete darkness. Afterwards, Hill again switched on the single lamps that had been alight on each floor.

Nothing now interrupted the profound silence that reigned over the whole building. Tempest and his ex-soldier assistant were provided with refreshments by the hospitable Hill, and given chairs in which they could doze if they wished. Sir Leonard sat for long periods smoking his pipe; hardly moving. For three days he had been exceedingly busy, and had had little rest, but he showed no inclination to sleep. During that time he had learnt to know each of the conspirators by sight except Kyprianos. He had even been
inside the flats of Bikelas and Plasiras, when he had assured himself their occupants were out, and had searched in vain for evidence of their activities. In addition, he had had a long conference with the British ambassador that morning, handing over to the latter a document in which the conspiracy was set out in full detail. The result of the conversation was that the ambassador was ready, on notification from Sir Leonard, to place before the Italian government all particulars of the conspiracy; demanding on behalf of Great Britain the arrest of Michalis and Kyprianos for plotting against the safety of the people of Cyprus. He could not, of course, insist on the apprehension of the others, but, as Bruno’s part in the activities was aimed against Italy, and the rest were conspiring against their countries on Italian soil, the capture of the whole band would naturally be the object of the authorities.

At first Wallace had considered the advisability of asking the British ambassador to inform the Italian government at once, but the risk of such a proceeding was too apparent. A representative of a foreign power could not dictate or advise a course of action to Italy, and it was certain that, directly the police were acquainted with the facts, they would proceed against the conspirators. In that case, the result might have been appalling. Like Shannon, Sir Leonard felt certain that Kyprianos – a man whose mind had conceived a scheme so diabolical – would not submit quietly to arrest. It was certain that he was prepared for eventualities. Wallace envisaged him locking himself in his room on the first sign of alarm, opening the phials containing the cultures and, by some means or other, no doubt to hand, starting them on a journey of death through Rome. A catastrophe of such a nature was to be avoided at all costs, which was the reason why the British ambassador was not to move until Kyprianos had been rendered powerless.

The time passed slowly to the men awaiting the coming of Shannon. At fifteen minutes to two, Hill again made a journey downstairs, switching off the lights. He had hardly returned, leaving the door open, when Shannon slipped into the flat, moving with astonishing noiselessness for such a big man. His surprise was great, when he became aware of Sir Leonard Wallace reclining in an armchair in the sitting room. The two men shook hands warmly, Sir Leonard’s first question being a thoughtful enquiry after Shannon’s wounds. The young man assured him they were practically healed. The question naturally brought up the subject of the tragic fate of Barbara Havelock and the events in Nicosia. Hill, Tempest, and Merryweather stood in the background awaiting instructions, and their hearts went out to Shannon, as they observed the sorrow which mention of Barbara had brought to his face. They realised, as Sir Leonard did, that, though he was in no way to blame for her death, nothing that could be said would prevent him from blaming himself for the tragedy. Wallace switched the conversation quickly to the affair on hand.