Rhinoceros (45 page)

'An emergency!' Thunder exploded. 'In that case I
would have thought your reaction was obvious. Clearly
it isn't. You pass it straight to the PM,' he roared. Then
his tone became casual. 'If I have any more of your foolish
chatter when I return you will be fired. You may be anyway
when I get back. Now get out of my room!'

Alone, he unlocked a cupboard, took out his packed
case, left the room. He departed by a back entrance,
got into the parked modest Ford car waiting for him,
drove off.

Aware that his appearance was well-known, due to the
many times he had blasted inerviewers out of the water
on TV - a popular act with the public - on his way to
Heathrow he parked in a deserted
side street. It took him only a moment to perch a Jewish skullcap on his head, concealing his hair. He checked his fake passport in the
name of Rosen, then strapped a dark patch over his left
eye. Checking himself in the rear-view mirror, he decided
he was unrecognizable, drove on to the airport.

After passing through the controls he looked at the
monitor. His flight would be leaving in fifteen minutes.
His flight to Hamburg.

'I saw Marler while I was walking with our host in the park
behind the mansion,' Tweed remarked as Newman headed
back for the hotel. 'I thought it was a shadow, then, as he was vanishing, I recognized his walk.'

'He takes good care of you,' Paula told him.

'The odd thing was I couldn't see any guards at first. A
man like that would have guards, I thought. Then I noticed a couple of gardeners. One of them was bent over and his
bolstered gun was exposed.'

'Incidentally,' Newman called out from behind the
wheel, 'Marler and Nield are only a little way behind us in the Opel.'

'How did Rondel's partner strike you? 'Paula asked.
'Would you trust him?'

'I can't say that, one way or the other. We were talking
about the present state of chaos. He mentioned strong
government being needed. I responded by recalling Hitler,
Mussolini and Stalin. His reaction was ambiguous.'

'You mean he approved of those three terrible dic
tators?'

'In one way he seemed to, but I did say he was ambigu
ous. He wants me to meet him again. He said he had his
headquarters in the far north. That could mean north of Hamburg or even further north. Scandinavia.'

'He doesn't tell you much,' she observed.

'He's a very wily man. Oh, Rondel's real name is Blondel
— had a French father, a German mother. Milo explained it
was vanity, that Blondel is conscious of his blond hair.'

'So,' she mused, 'I'd better be careful if I meet him
again. To call him Rondel, not Blondel. Safer if I just use
Victor.'

'You rather like him, don't you?' Tweed suggested.

'He's a charmer.'

'I always did mistrust them. Maybe because I lack charm
myself.'

* * *

Tweed had lunch in the Condi with Lisa, Paula and Newman. He sensed that Lisa was ill at ease, although
she chattered quite animatedly to Paula. They were having lunch when the Brig appeared. He dragged a chair over to
their table.

'Mind if I sit with you?'

'You are doing.' Tweed smiled. 'And welcome too. You
do look serious.'

Paula thought Tweed was right. The Brig, clad in khaki drill, looked grim. It seemed to her that his hawk-like face was even larger, more ferocious than when she'd last seen him. They had reached the coffee stage and the Brig said he'd like some too. He remained oddly silent until coffee
had been served.

'You've heard there was a fatal shooting outside here
late last night?' he said suddenly.

'We have,' said Tweed.

'I saw the body when I was coming back from a walk.
I may have been the first person to see the corpse. Head blown clean off.'

'We know,' Tweed said, annoyed at the brutal descrip
tion when Paula and Lisa were present.

'I called the police.' He paused. 'I thought what was left
of him looked like one of your people.'

'It was.'

'Might be wiser if you went back home. Hamburg has
become a dangerous place.'

'Coming from you I find that suggestion surprising.
Since you were in the Army you must have seen worse
in the way of casualties.' Tweed leaned forward. 'Much
worse. So why are you so anxious that we should leave
Hamburg?'

'Anxious?' The Brig drank some of his coffee. 'I'm never
anxious. But what was lying on the pavement did rather
hint that Hamburg is - or may be - not a healthy city for
any of you.'

'I'm fairly experienced in unhealthy situations,' Tweed
said in the same even tone.

'You are. But what about the ladies here?'

'What about them?' snapped Paula. 'I don't wish to
sound callous but it goes with the territory.'

'Very dangerous territory,' the Brig told her.

'Just how dangerous?' enquired Tweed. 'Maybe you
could tell us, since you seem to be on the inside track?'

'I'm just here on business.' He stood up. 'Must go
now . . .'

Newman had been studying their guest. He waited until
he had left the Condi.

'That was very odd. The way he spoke it was almost as
though he was giving us orders. I didn't like it.'

'I didn't like
him,'
Lisa said. 'Back at Barford Hall down in Sussex he was the soul of courtesy. He's like
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Today Mr Hyde was in control.
I'd been in the lounge when I saw you coming in and
joined you for lunch. It's sweltering. I'm going up to my room for a shower. Thank you for the lunch - and your
company . . .'

'Changing the subject,' Paula began, 'at least Rondel's
partner didn't urge us to leave town. Just the opposite, he
suggested you must meet again, didn't he, Tweed?'

'Yes, he did. I'm wondering why Mrs France wants to see me. Milo told me she was his chief accountant.'

'Milo?' Paula queried. 'That's the second time you've used that weird name.'

'It's what Rondel's partner suggested I call him.'

'Sounds Balkan,' Newman commented.

'He did say he was from Slovenia. Remote country.'

'And difficult to check someone out coming from there.
You think he could be Rhinoceros?'

'My best bet for Rhinoceros is the Brig,' Paula sug
gested.

* * *

Gavin Thunder had arrived inside his suite at the Atlantic. Earlier, after disembarking from the flight, he had slipped into a lavatory, locked himself in a cubicle, and removed
the skullcap and eyepatch. He had then walked through
Passport Control, had stuffed the skullcap and the eyepatch
in a rubbish bin. He had never appeared on German TV, nor had his picture been printed in the newspapers, so
recognition was unlikely.

He took a taxi to the Atlantic Hotel, registered as A.
Charles, was escorted to his suite. Once alone, he checked the time. His visitor should arrive soon. He poured himself
a stiff Scotch from the drinks cabinet, looked round,
decided that he would dominate the discussion best if he
sat in a high-backed chair behind an antique escritoire.

He then decided he would dress in a more formal
lightweight suit to emphasize who was in control. He moved quickly, remembered to attach the reverse letter
'E' symbol to the inside of the jacket's lapel. He had just
sat down again when there was a heavy hammering on the
door. He called out.

'Come.'

Oskar Vernon entered, wearing an orange shirt and a
fawn suit. The fact that he wore his jacket unbuttoned at the front emphasized his weight. Thunder stared at
his outfit as his visitor closed the door, then surveyed
the suite.

'You're pretty conspicuous in that wild shirt,' Thunder
observed critically.

'Ah! It is a double bluff. Staying in a hotel, people see
me at first. But soon they get used to the sight and I am hardly noticed. A matter of psychology.'

'Sit down, then. We haven't got all day.'

'We have indeed got all the rest of the day if we
needed it.'

Oskar was not a man easily intimidated. He had already
noticed how Thunder had positioned himself. He was
invited to sit in a low chair placed in front of the desk.
He selected another high-backed chair from against the
wall, carted it over, shoving the lower chair aside. Sitting down he crossed his long fat legs, gave a beaming smile.

'The problem.' Oskar announced, 'is Tweed. He is here and has based himself in the Four Seasons Hotel, roughly a mile closer in to the city . . .'

'I know that,' Thunder interrupted. 'Delgado phoned
me at my home. We have to deal with him - permanently
and immediately. We must make preparations . . .'

'They are already in the process of being made.' Oskar's
tone was lofty. 'To eliminate him and his team.'

'How many in the team?' Thunder snapped, feeling he
was losing control.

'That we don't know, have no idea. But Delgado has
twenty men, which should be more than
enough to do
the job.'

'I would certainly hope so.'

'It will be simple and easy,' Oskar assured him.

'You think so?' Thunder leaned across his desk, lost
control. 'Now listen to me, you complacent buffoon.
Tweed is very clever, very experienced, very dangerous.' He raised his voice. 'So you make damned sure he doesn't come back alive.'

'You are tense,' Oskar replied calmly. He folded his
arms over his ample chest. 'Tension causes a man - or
a woman - to make bad mistakes. You must remain calm.
Incidentally, they may never find the bodies.'

'That would be the best solution.'

'I thought you would like that.' Oskar gave his beaming smile again. 'And you will never again insult me by using
that word "buffoon". Never! You have understood that?'

'I heard you.' Inwardly Thunder was struggling for control. He had to remember he was not back home now. 'So now can we talk about the arrangements?'

289
'I was just about to explain them. You stay in this hotel
at all times. You do not go outside. You will travel to your
destination, the island of Sylt, by helicopter
..."