The King is Dead (30 page)

‘We're about through,' said Colonel Spring to the Prime Minister.

‘All right, Spring.'

The men went out under their last burdens. Colonel Spring followed them, lighting a fresh
cigarillo
. As he approached the Queens he looked up, smiled, spread his hands in a charming gesture, shrugged, and passed on.

‘Getaway?' said Ellery.

‘Yes,' said Abel.

‘You seem to be doing it on a wholesale basis, Mr. Bendigo. Who gets left holding the bag?' the Inspector asked.

‘You'd better get ready, too,' said Abel. ‘We're leaving in a very few minutes.'

‘Not before you answer a question or two, Mr. Bendigo! Where is Max?'

‘Max'l?' Abel sounded preoccupied. ‘I really don't know, Inspector. When the evacuation started, he disappeared. Search parties are looking for him now. I'm hoping, of course, that he'll be found before we leave the island.'

The Inspector's jaws worked,

Ellery stood by in silence.

‘And where,' rasped the Inspector, ‘have you and Mrs. Bendigo and your brother Judah been since you left us at the pool?'

Abel's stare did not falter. ‘The three of us — I repeat, Inspector, the three of us — went directly to the Home Office, and we've been here, together, ever since. Isn't that so, Karla?'

‘Yes,' said Karla.

‘Isn't that so, Judah?'

‘Yes,' said Judah.

‘You haven't left this room, I suppose,' said the Inspector, ‘not one of you?'

The three shook their heads.

‘When did Colonel Spring and his men get here?'

‘Only a few minutes ago,' said Abel with a faint smile. ‘But that's of no importance, is it, Inspector Queen? Since the three of us vouch for one another?'

Now the Inspector was silent. But then he said, ‘No. No, if you vouch for one another, I don't suppose it is. By the way, my condolences.'

‘Condolences?' said Abel.

‘I'm sorry, Mr. Bendigo. I thought you knew that your brother King is dead.'

Karla turned away. She faced the wall, and she remained facing it.

Judah took a flask from his coat and unscrewed the cap.

‘We know,' said Abel. ‘I wasn't sure you did. My brother's death was reported to us — a few minutes ago. I'm told he took his own life.'

‘He was murdered,' said Ellery.

They stared at each other for a long time.

At last Abel said, ‘If there were time to go into it … But of course there isn't, Mr. Queen. You understand that?'

Ellery did not reply.

Abel came around King Bendigo's desk and took his sister-in-law's arm gently. ‘Come, Judah.'

‘But are you going to leave him lying there —' began the Inspector.

‘My brother,' said Abel, and before his stare the Inspector felt himself tighten all over, ‘will be buried in a fitting manner.'

A half-hour later the father and the son were in a launch, with their luggage, roaring up the bay. Ahead of them sped another launch, a larger one, with the two Bendigos and Karla.

The Queens said nothing to each other. The Inspector was sunk in something remote from launches and islands and people who did murder in such a way as to confuse and defeat a man, and Ellery was taking in the fantastic scene on shore and in the bay. He had never seen so many ships, such a variety. This is what Dunkirk must have been like, he thought, minus the bombs. The whole island seemed on the move, converging in its thousands on the little harbour. Far out to sea scores of other ships lying low in the water were hove to, as if awaiting something — a signal, or nightfall. Overhead, the planes screamed and streaked, most of them leaving the island, some of them still coming in.
He must have put in a call for every seagoing vessel and aircraft in the Bendigo empire …

When they climbed aboard the big cruiser, a seaman saluted and conducted them to the chartroom. There they found the Bendigos and Karla, looking back at the harbour through glasses. Two pairs of glasses were waiting for them. In silence Ellery and his father each picked one up. In silence the five kept their eyes on the island.

The activity had noticeably slackened. The gush of vehicles down the cliff roads had dwindled to a trickle. Most of the bay spread clear; the piers were still crowded, but things were coming to the end.

The end came ninety minutes later.

The last ship edged away from the dock and headed up the bay.

The roads, the piers were deserted. From one cusp of the harbour to the other, nothing moved.

The last flight of planes rose from the heart of the island, circled once, gaining altitude, then straightened out and skimmed off into the remote skies.

A red-faced man in a brass-buttoned blue uniform and a cap visored with gold came in.

He said to Abel: ‘All ready, sir. There is no one left on the island.'

‘There's at least one,' said Inspector Queen. ‘King Bendigo.'

The officer looked at Abel Bendigo, startled.

‘My brother,' said Abel steadily, ‘is dead. I'm in charge now, Captain. You have your orders.'

Ellery put his hand on Abel's arm. ‘Dr. Akst?' he asked.

‘On board. Safe and well.'

The
Bendigo
got under way slowly. Slowly the cruiser headed out to sea.

They were all at the railing in the stern now, watching Bendigo Island shrink and lose colour and definition.

Gradually the cruiser picked up speed. The sea was calm; the air was mild.

The armada of small ships and medium-sized ships and large ships was at full steam. Most of them had already vanished over the horizon.

Through the strong glasses Ellery kept watching the island. Nothing on it anywhere moved. Nothing lived.

Five miles from the island the cruiser's speed slackened, the seas churning. Gradually they subsided, and the vessel lifted and fell gently in the swells.

And suddenly, very suddenly, the whole island rose in the air and spread itself against the sky. Or so it seemed.

A great puff of smoke rose swiftly from the place where the island had lain. It mushroomed like a genie.

The cruiser trembled. A blast of sound struck the vessel, staggered them.

And then there was another explosion, and another. And still another.

And another …

They had no consciousness of time.

Eventually the smoke pall drifted clear, and the debris sank and vanished.

And a sheet of flame stood out of the sea from one end of what had been Bendigo Island to the other. The entire island was burning — the ruins of the exploded buildings, the trees, the roads, the very sands. When it should burn itself out, in the course of days, or weeks, there would be nothing left but a flat black cinder on the surface of the sea.

Ellery turned, and Abel Bendigo turned, and their glances met. And Abel's glance seemed to say:
Trust me
.

Ellery's remained opaque. He was deeply troubled.

But the Inspector said with bitterness, aloud: ‘And what difference will this make? Nothing has changed. It's one king or another!'

‘Something has changed,' said Abel.

‘Yes? What?'

‘It's me now, not him.'

‘And will that make a difference?' cried the Inspector.

‘Yes. There's nothing wrong with power. The world needs power. The world needs power more today than ever before in history. Enlightened power — if you won't laugh. Power directed toward the good. Instead of the other way.' Abel spoke awkwardly. His eyes were on the flames now.

‘Do you think I believe that?' said the Inspector scornfully. ‘That the leopard can change his spots? You were in it up to your neck for twenty-seven years.'

‘My brother always spoke to me of a dream he had,' murmured Abel. ‘A dream of a glorious world, a dream that could come true only if power were absolute. I believed his dream. I convinced myself that the end justified the means.'

Abel stared at the flames, one hand over Judah's on the rail, the other over Karla's. ‘But then I discovered that my brother was a liar and a cheat and that there was no good in him at all. And I saw how a man can fool others with “ends” while he plays with rotten means. Because, when you get right down to it, no end is worth a damn that isn't the sum total of all the means used to reach it. And I knew that if the power ever passed into my hands, I'd use it differently. And Judah and Karla,' he pressed their hands, ‘agreed with me.'

Abel turned then and glanced up at the bridge.

He raised his arm.

The seas churned and ran white again.

The
Bendigo
moved.

Judah Bendigo stirred. His hand went up to cup his eyes as he stared back at the burning island.

Karla turned from the rail. Her eyes were full of tears. She walked away, looking down at the deck.

Abel Bendigo put his coat collar up. His lips were compressed, as if he were making some great effort.

‘So the King is dead,' said Ellery in a bleak voice. ‘The King is dead, long live the King. Point of information: Now who keeps an eye on the incumbent?'

Judah Bendigo looked over his shoulder. One eye was visible, and it was fixed on his brother Abel. It was a bleary eye, but it held remarkably steady.

‘I do,' said Judah.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1952 by Ellery Queen

Copyright renewed by Ellery Queen

Cover design by Kat Lee

ISBN: 978-1-5040-2001-5

This 2015 edition published by
MysteriousPress.com
/Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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New York, NY 10014

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EBOOKS BY ELLERY QUEEN

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