The Greek Key

10

'Go in there. No notes will be taken. I will join you when I can.'

Barrymore turned his back on them and disappeared through a doorway. They were standing in a stone-flagged hall. At the back a huge staircase mounted to the first floor, turning on a landing. Grim-faced, Mrs Atyeo stood holding open a heavy panelled door.

'In 'ere is where 'e wants you.'

'Always wears his riding boots, does he?' Tweed enquired as he walked towards the doorway.

'Part of 'is uniform, 'ain't it? 'E is The Colonel.'

'In capital letters, it appears.'

Tweed entered followed by Paula holding her notebook, the bracelet she had taken out of Masterson's last envelope still dangling from her wrist. Mrs Atyeo's expression changed, became ashen. She was staring at the bracelet and shrank back against the wall to let Paula pass, closing the door behind them.

Tartar is the word,' Paula commented. 'And for some reason Mrs Atyeo nearly had a fit when she saw this bracelet.'

'I wonder why. Keep wearing it. Sit over there, notebook poised. It puts you offside from the chair behind that desk, may put the colonel off balance.'

The study was also a library. Three of the walls were lined with books. The door into the room was cut out of a bookcase wall and lined with green baize on the inside. The fourth wall was occupied by tall mullion-paned windows which overlooked the garden and the distant moor.

'Not very comfortable,' Paula remarked, staring at the tall hard-backed chair behind the desk, the spartan woodblocks forming the floor, the lack of any soft furnishings and the desk which was a large block of oak. She shifted in her chair, trying to find a less awkward position. Tweed was looking at the books.

'What a man reads can tell you a lot about him. Military history of the Second World War, the campaigns of Wellington, a lot of travel books. None on Greece…'

'Prying, are we?'

The soft voice came from the direction of the well-oiled door which had opened silently. Tweed turned slowly and faced the colonel. He wore a dark silk shirt, a regimental tie, his cavalry twill trousers and the riding boots.

Tweed sat down in front of the desk, made no reply as Barrymore crept round the far side and sat upright in his chair, crossing his legs. The man moved like a cat. That was it, Tweed decided: cat-like in his movements and gestures.

'Well?' He waited for Tweed to respond but his visitor sat studying him. He glanced round at Paula. 'I said no notes.'

'And I said Special Branch,' Tweed snapped. 'A statement has to be taken of this conversation. If you object, we can always drive straight to London and conduct the interrogation formaiSy. You know our powers.'

'Get on with it then.'

Barrymore opened a drawer. Taking out a ruler he held it between both hands. As they talked he bent the ruler slowly, then let it revert to its original shape. Substitute for an officer's stick.

'You've got yourself a good suntan, Colonel,' Paula intervened before Tweed began.

'Just, back from the Caribbean.' He swivelled his gaze, looking at her shapely crossed legs, her well-formed breasts outlined by her N. Peal cashmere sweater. Her windcheater was draped over the back of her chair. He took his time studying her. There are some lovely islands out there,' he went on. 'Not the package-deal spots. Islands with hotels like select clubs. Emphasis on privacy. The last bastions of a civilized holiday. Native servants to attend to your every wish. All the guests vetted. Word of mouth the only entree. None of your wog nonsense like Marbella. You'd like it. I didn't catch your name.'

'Paula Grey.' She clamped her mouth tightly.

'Siros,' Tweed said suddenly. 'During the war you led a raid on the island.'

'Did I?'

'The Ministry of Defence files say you did.'

'Oh, you've been permitted to poke round the MOD?'

'No doors are closed to us. Especially when the murder of a Government employee is involved…'

'Which murder?'

The ruler was bent like a bow, close to snapping point. The colonel released the tension, straightened it. His eyes were dark under hooded lids. No trace of expression crossed his tanned face as he watched Tweed.

'The murder of Harry Masterson. You've met him? He was in this area – with a Greek girl.'

'He called here.' Barrymore paused. 'He asked a lot of damn-fool questions. Who was this Greek girl?'

'We're straying. You led the raid on Siros. Tell me what happened – what went wrong? And who came with you?'

'Someone knew we were coming. Cairo was a hotbed of gossip. We were carrying a fortune in diamonds to hand over to the Greek Resistance. To help finance them. Two first-rate men came with me. Captain Oliver Robson and CSM Stuart Kearns. Plus one Greek who knew the island. Andreas Gavalas. His job to hand over the baubles. Someone grabbed them off him. Mission aborted.'

'Haven't you left something out?'

'Probably. Over forty years ago? Is there much more?' He glanced at his watch. 'I've had a long journey. A bath would be welcome.'

He stifled a yawn, hand over mouth. Long slender fingers, more like those of a beautiful woman. Paula was writing shorthand in her book, recording every word. She looked up. Tweed was again waiting. She glanced at a side table near her elbow. A copy of The Times lay on it, folded open at the personal advertisements section.

'Andreas Gavalas was murdered,' Tweed said eventually.

'Top secret. They couldn't have let you read that file?'

'That was the most significant incident of the raid. Tell me about it.'

'Unpleasant. One of my few flops. The four-man party got separated. There was an alarm. Someone – forget who

– said a German patrol had been spotted. We dived for cover. False alarm. When we found Gavaias he had a knife in his back – the diamonds were gone. We beat a hasty retreat – back to the beach for rendezvous with the motor launch. Then back to Mersa Matruh by night. That's a wog port on the African coast – inside the Gyppo border.'

'I know where Mersa Matruh is. What kind of knife?' Barrymore slammed down the ruler. 'If you read the file you know. This isn't quiz time. A commando knife – as well you are aware. Embarrassing. I checked both Robson's and Reams' equipment. Both had their knives. Showed them my own. Any more? I hope not.'

'One final question. Could you please – in a few words

– give me your estimate of the characters of Captain Robson and CSM Kearns?'

It was the last question Barrymore had expected. Paula saw the puzzlement in his saturnine face. The colonel steepled his hands, a concentrated look in his dark eyes. Like a man reliving some experience of long ago.

'Robson was seconded from the Medical Corps. Steady as a rock in a tight corner. Cautious. Always looked where he was placing the next footstep. Never panicked. Dour.'

'And Kearns?'

'Courage came to him second nature. Fast on his feet, in his thinking. Could be impulsive. Didn't matter. Had a sixth sense for danger. In an emergency very audacious. Time you went.'

Tweed stood up, showed no sign of resenting the abrupt dismissal. Like the ending of a military inspection. Paula slipped her notebook inside her shoulder bag, walked after Tweed to the door without a glance at Barrymore.

Opening the door, Tweed stood aside and let her walk into the bleak hall. He glanced back. Barrymore sat behind his desk like a statue, hands still steepled, a glazed expression on his long-jawed face. Suddenly he seemed aware they were leaving. He stood up, remained behind the desk, bowed formally, said not another word as Tweed closed the door.

'You'll be leavin' now.'

Mrs Atyeo was waiting in the hall. She unclasped the hands which had rested on her thin waist, went to the front door, drew back bolts, peered through the diamond-shaped window, unleashed the heavy chain, opened it and waited as they filed past her into the night.

They paused under the lantern on the porch as the door was shut behind them. They could hear the bolts sliding back into position, the chain being fixed, a lock turned. The lantern went out, plunging them into darkness. Night had fallen.

Tweed looped Paula's arm through his and they made their way slowly down the drive. He waited until they were inside the car before he sighed and asked the question.

'What was your impression of Barrymore?'

'Nasty piece of work. Like a satyr. Did you notice how he was looking at me? Undressing me with his lecherous eyes. I felt I was naked. Thinks a lot of himself. I can imagine him riding a horse inspecting his troops, riding very slowly along the line with an expression of cynical contempt. And he moves oddly – like a cat. Took those gloves off with a feline grace…' She paused and shivered. 'I'm glad you're back with me in the car.'

'You didn't think I'd leave you on your own in a lonely place like this, did you?'

Tweed was watching his wing mirror. Paula froze suddenly and then jerked her head round. A slim hatless man was walking alongside the car from behind them. He leant on the window ledge. She let out her breath, lowered the window. Pete Nield grinned, pulled at his small dark moustache with his index finger.

'How goes the battle?' he enquired.

'Where on earth did you spring from?' she asked.

'Pete has followed us in my Cortina all the way from London. I told you he was coming. He's been parked a short distance behind you ever since I left you.'

'In this road?'

'No,' Nield told her. 'I parked the car beyond a gate leading to a field. Then I sat in a hedge close behind you. I was ready to intervene when that character in the Daimler pulled up by you if he'd tried anything on.'

'But what about in Dunster?'

'Parked the car at the other end of the village. I still have to register at The Luttrell Arms – but I warned them over the phone I'd be late. They won't realize we're together. At the hotel, I mean.'

'You haven't told me what you spotted about the colonel,' Tweed remarked. 'Only that you dislike him. Irrelevant. Pete, get in the back of the car and listen. Now I want both of you to grasp this. Ready, Pete?'

'Jolly comfortable back here. Nice to see how the other half lives.'

'Masterson came down to Exmoor with the Greek girl,

Christina. All three men involved in a raid over forty years ago on Siros, a German-occupied Greek island, are living on Exmoor. Harry Masterson, I'm sure, knew that. From Christina…'

'Assumption,' interjected Paula.

'Listen! Our main task is to interrogate all three men. And every word said by these men is important. One of them may let something slip. There was something very peculiar about that raid on Siros. Now, Paula, you were there when Barrymore gave his version.'

'Well, he was very suntanned,' she said slowly. 'So he could have just come back from Greece…'

'Now we're getting warmer. You see, Pete, this Colonel Barrymore has a terse way of speaking. Typical Army officer. But when Paula remarked on his suntan he became positively loquacious – explaining at some length how he'd been to the Caribbean. No specific mention of locales. It was the only time he really opened up.'

'You mean he was lying?' Pete asked.

'Paula, when we get back to London, will type out the transcript of each of the three men's statements – including their description of what happened on Siros. You can read them, decide for yourself.'

'You also asked his opinion of the other two men,' Paula recalled. 'I couldn't see the point.'

'In the end the whole thing may hang on the psychology of these three men. Would one of them be capable of murder? And did you notice,' he asked Paula, 'that when I mentioned a murder, Barrymore said, 'Which murder?' It sounded to me as though he was thinking of more than one murder. Who else could he be thinking of besides Andreas Gavalas who accompanied them on the Siros raid?'

'Harry Masterson?' suggested Nield.

'Or possibly a third murder over forty years ago – mentioned briefly to me at the Ministry of Defence. Back to your car, Pete. We must tackle our next member of the trio.'

'Who is that?' asked Paula as Pete left the Mercedes.

'Captain Oliver Robson. He lives the other side of Oare. I was given directions at that pub at Culbone. Robson calls there for a pint occasionally…'