Rhinoceros

CHAPTER 42

They went back into the castle along the corridor and Milo, who had been hurrying, slowed down. He had a large body with small feet and now he walked in his normal manner, padding forward with slow deliberate steps. He reminded Paula of a tiger stalking its prey. Something different about his mood too. She began to feel tense and wondered why.

'That's the laboratory where the scientists work,' he said.

She looked through the windows. Inside the large room were a number of men in white coats. On metal-topped tables were various pieces of advanced equipment she didn't recognize.

'Don't forget to press the red button,' Milo warned as they passed the steel door, 'unless it's an emergency. Then the girls need to get away from their screens damn quick.'

Behind their host Tweed looked at his watch. He was hoping Milo would operate his extraordinary system soon. They were running out of time. They entered the oblong study and a babble of voices greeted them. Rondel was performing as usual, making Paula laugh as he walked placing one foot in front of the other without losing his balance.

'We have things to discuss,' Milo said in a grim voice.

'All joy ceases from now on, ladies and gentlemen,' Rondel called out. 'Serious business is afoot…'

'Please keep quiet, Blondel,' Milo said severely. 'This is no laughing matter.'

'Everyone stand to attention,' Rondel called out.

Milo ignored him, sat behind his desk which was fairly close to the vast picture window at the other end of the study. Paula noticed Milo's desk was piled high with a muddle of books. She froze. Milo had put a cigar in his mouth and picked up a silver-plated automatic. Milo swivelled his eyes, sensing she was watching him.

'No call for alarm, my dear.'

He aimed the automatic at the far wall. He pressed the trigger. A small flame spurted up from the top of the muzzle. He moved it round the tip of his cigar, began puffing it. He dropped the 'automatic' back into the muddle of books, looked at her.

'It is just a lighter. My late wife had it designed for me in London. It is one of my most precious possessions.'

'It's so original,' Paula said.

'And this is so original,' Rondel burst out, as though he wished to hold the stage. He was pointing at the huge picture window comprising the end wall. 'You thought it was ordinary glass?'

'Yes, I did,'

'Milo had it made in the Czech Republic to his own specification. It's quite thin glass but very strong. If I threw a paperweight through it all you would see would be the exact hole, the shape of the paperweight. So repairing it would be simple – using the same type of glass.'

'I thought it had great clarity.'

'We have serious matters to discuss immediately,' interjected Milo. 'Tweed has told me the final messages informing the bandits when to wreck major cities will be sent out within hours.'

'Really?'

There was a sceptical note in the way Rondel spoke.

'You don't believe it, then?' Milo suggested.

'I do believe you have shown him the system you designed inside the chimney. The diabolical system.'

'Diabolical?' Tweed enquired.

Everyone, including Tweed, was now seated on the banquette that ran under the wall at the far end of the room, the wall opposite the special window. They had been ushered to the banquette by Rondel when they re-entered the study. In front of the banquette was a long table. On it were Meissen gold-rimmed plates with gold knives, forks and spoons. Each plate contained mouth-watering food. There were various glasses, buckets of ice with bottles of champagne, bottles of chilled white wine, wicker baskets with bottles of red wine resting at an angle, carafes of water.

'Diabolical,' Rondel repeated. 'He probably told you it was a system designed to destroy the Internet. He didn't, I am sure, tell you it is something different. Milo thinks the world has become a rotten place. The system inside the locked room is equipped with long-distance missiles. One is aimed at London, another at Paris, another at Berlin, and a fourth is aimed at Amsterdam. Each missile contains a huge quantity of poison gas.'

Paula stared at the place next to her which was unoccupied. Obviously meant for Harry Butler. She felt chilled by what Rondel had told them. She looked at Milo. He was sitting hunched behind his desk, his large body very still, his eyes gazing straight ahead at the blank wall opposite him. Oh, my God, she thought. We've got it all wrong.