This United State (9 page)

She got out, still steaming. Tweed was taking risks in a situation which had already proved potentially lethal. It was not only the incident at the American Embassy she had in mind. She was recalling the brutal attempt to murder Cord Dillon in the middle of London. Pressing a button by the side of the speak-phone, she waited. A buzz. Then a commanding voice she recognized. Strangeways.

'Who the hell is it?'

'Paula Grey. I have Mr Tweed with me. We understood you—'

'Enter.'

'The gates are closed.'

'Use your eyes.'

She caught sight of movement. The large gates were opening inwards. She ran to the car, jumped into her seat. Tweed immediately drove forward at a slow pace. Behind them the gates closed, making no sound.

'Hinges must be well oiled,' Tweed remarked.

Their tyres crunched on the gravel surface. High banks of rhododendron bushes masked any view on both sides. Paula was experiencing a feeling of claustrophobia - shut away from the outside world like the approach to a monastery where the monks had an evil reputation. At the end of the gently curving drive crouched the house, an ancient mansion, three storeys high and dormer windows in the mansard roof, round like ports for cannons. The style of the mansion was Gothic, grim, its dark stone bleak. Gargoyles leered down at them below the turrets flanking each end of the house.

'Strangeways himself answered me,' Paula recalled. 'He sounded strange - no pun intended. Like a bear with a sore head. When I sat next to him at that dinner he was charming. Amiable and jokey.'

'Interesting.'

She realized Tweed was only half-listening to her. He was peering up at the right-hand turret. He parked the car at the foot of a wide flight of old stone steps leading up to a balustraded terrace. As he locked the car Tweed again looked up at the turret.

'What a ghastly place to live,' Paula whispered.

'You have to remember Strangeways spent twenty years in the army as a young man before he went into business. Prior to that he was at a public school. That sort of background does not make you aware of your surroundings. You take no interest in taste or comfort.'

A heavy front door opened as they reached it. Framed in the doorway was Strangeways. Five foot ten tall, well built, his fleshy face was red, his nose like a hawk's, the eyes dark and forbidding, his mouth tight-lipped above an aggressive jaw. Grey-haired, he sported a trim moustache, stood ramrod erect and was wearing a blue business suit.

'You're late,' he rapped out.

'We're on time. Your watch must be wrong,' Tweed said mildly.

'I pride myself on punctuality,' Strangeways barked. 'An old army habit.'

'My watch is an Accurist. Greenwich mean time. Better buy one for yourself,' Tweed rapped back. 'Are we going to stand out here all afternoon in the cold?'

'Of course not. Please do come in.' Their host's manner had mellowed. As he closed the door he lowered his voice. 'My apologies to you both, but my wretched son turned up out of the blue. I'll introduce you, then tell him to push off...'

They followed Strangeways across a large stark hall with woodblock flooring. The only furniture was a large ugly oak chest stood against one wall. No pictures. Strangeways opened a door into a large room, again without a carpet or rugs. Close to the left-hand wall was a plain desk supporting an outsize globe and behind it a map of the world. A heavy oak table occupied the middle of the room and the chairs which surrounded it were hard-backed and looked uncomfortable to Paula. The interior of the house reminded her of a prison.

'This is my son, Rupert,' their host said without enthusiasm.

Sprawled on a couch was a man of about thirty. He wore riding kit with jodhpurs thrust inside gleaming knee-length boots. His right hand held a riding crop which he was tapping against his thigh. His boots were resting on the end of the couch.

'Get those damned boots off the furniture,' Strangeways growled. 'This is a friend of mine with his assistant, Paula.'

Rupert took his time about planting his boots on the floor. He stood up, five feet eight inches tall, a slim man, his jet-black hair neatly trimmed. He had his father's hawkish nose, his dark eyes alert, and a foxy chin, and he surveyed Paula insolently. She bridled inwardly as he slowly took in her legs, higher up her body and then her face.

'Rather like the look of you, Paula. You're not bad.' 'I'm supposed to take that as a compliment?'

'I take my time.'

Tweed had been studying Rupert, who ignored him. Strangeways guided Tweed to a seat at the table. Standing behind him he stood erect, looking embarrassed. He coughed, glanced at Paula.

'I don't quite know how to phrase this. The last thing I want to do is to appear impolite.'

'But you'd prefer it if the two of you, could talk alone,' Paula suggested with a smile.

'My dear, there's a library on your left as you go back into the hall. If you're interested in books it's quite an unusual collection I've built up over the years.'

'I'd be happy to wait there.'

'Not so fast.' He went over to the wall, pressed an old-fashioned bell. 'The housekeeper, Mrs Belloc, can provide you with tea and cakes. Indian, Darjeeling, Earl Grey? And I'd better warn you Mrs Belloc is an odd character. Goes around with a black shawl over her head. A hard worker but it's difficult keeping local servants. They don't like her. Ah, here she is.'

Paula had a shock. When the door opened a short powerfully built woman walked slowly in. The black shawl was worn so it concealed most of her features, exposing only gimlet eyes and a nose like a parrot's. A black dress reached almost to her ankles. There was something sinister about her.

'You wanted me, sir?' she asked, addressing her employer.

Strangeways gave her instructions to serve Paula tea in the library. Mrs Belloc was staring at Tweed while she listened. Then she withdrew without a word.

Rupert opened the door again, bowed in an exaggerated way. He was smiling sardonically. Without a backward glance at the two men in the room, he closed the door and caught up with Paula.

'You don't want to waste your time in the library. Let's go riding. I can give you a gentle nag.'

'I want to see the library. And Mrs Belloc is bringing me tea.'

'Never read a book in my life,' he replied jauntily, following her as she opened the door on her left.

'Might do you good if you did read a few.'

'I seem to get by without them.'

She was already inside a large room, the walls lined with bookcases. A wheeled ladder was attached to one wall so the high shelves could be reached easily. Nondescript coffee tables were scattered round the room near large leather couches which looked as though they'd been there for generations. The room was chilly. She pulled out a book on Alexander the Great and perched at the end of a couch. Rupert joined her.

'You'll end up with that old horror, Mrs Belloc, for company. I'm much more fun.'

'I'm sure you are.'

'Please yourself, then,' he said acidly. 'Bury your nose in a crummy book. You don't know what you're missing. We could shoot a few birds instead of riding.'