The Janus Man

Sixteen

'I'm flying back to London,' Tweed announced. 'In the strictest secrecy. They'll know I've arrived at Park Crescent when I walk through the front door.'

He was pacing his bedroom at the Jensen with slow deliberate steps when he told Newman. He stood very erect and there was a hardness in his voice which startled Newman.

'What has happened?' he asked. 'I'm coming with you…'

'You are not. You stay here to guard Diana Chadwick. I shall catch the express to Hamburg tomorrow, go straight from the Hauptbahnhof to the airport, buy a ticket and board the first flight.'

`I'll ask you again. Why this sudden turnabout? I know you came here because you suspected you were being led into a trap – and you wanted to spring the trap yourself…'

`I have learned things since which make me realize the crisis facing me could be infinitely worse than I suspected – the most appalling crisis Park Crescent has been confronted with since I joined the service. If I'm right – and I hope to God I'm not – I can't see how the situation could be resolved without a terrible scandal. Don't question me. I could be wrong.'

`You were going to tell me,' Newman said quietly, 'what it was that Diana said that was important.'

`She said, I quote her exact words, "or so you can see him". She was referring to the fact that I was puzzled why Dr Berlin should want to see me. She turned it round the other way.'

`You're talking in riddles…'

`And I am referring to a really gigantic riddle.' Tweed sat down and his whole manner changed. 'Now, Bob, find out any more about how Diana lives – the source of her income?'

`Ann Grayle started on about Goldenlegs again but I cut her short. Then she stopped being catty. She told me there is a strong rumour Dr Berlin supports her with an allowance – a very generous allowance. More than enough to live on. She looks after the Sudwind – and his other power cruiser, the Nordsee, berthed at that marina on Priwall Island near the ferry. Ann marked its position on this map.' He handed a folded sheet to Tweed.

`Another cruiser? How big is this Nordsee? Did she say?'

`Very big – the twin of the Sudwind. Capable of travelling long distances – and in rough weather. Berlin himself crews whichever vessel he takes out. He's often absent for long periods. No one knows where. A friend of Ann's swore he once saw the Sudwind at a marina in Oslo.'

`What is he doing on these extended voyages?'

`Contacting various European organizations which provide him finance for his work with refugees. There are quite a few in Scandinavia – I know that from my own travels…'

`And who pays for all this? The mansion on Priwall Island, the two large power cruisers. Those things eat money – even in a marina,' Tweed remarked.

`The charitable organizations I've just mentioned. I gathered from Ann Grayle Dr Berlin has a hypnotic effect on the more liberal element. His influence extends as far as the States. He's a power in the land.'

Tweed looked unhappy. 'All you're telling me makes it seem I could be right in my bizarre theory. And I want to be wrong. You simply must not let Diana out of your sight while I am away. She is blonde, remember – as were all the victims.'

`And how long will you be away?'

`A matter of days, I expect. No one must know where I've gone. If you find yourself under pressure, say "Copenhagen". And one man must not know above all others. Otto Kuhlmann.'

`Why Kuhlmann?'

`Because there is one other man who was present in Frankfurt when that Dutch girl was killed, and also here when Helena Andersen and Iris Hansen were hacked to pieces.'

`Who is that?'

`Otto Kuhlmann.'

`That phone call was negative,' Markus Wolf reported to General Lysenko in his fifth-floor office in Leipzig.

`In what way? Get to the point.'

`Munzel carried out an initial attack on Tweed. He does that sometimes – to get the measure of his target. The attack was not conclusive owing to the intervention of the British foreign correspondent, Robert Newman…'

`Tweed is still alive and well? Is that what you are trying to say to me in your devious way?' Lysenko demanded.

`Tweed still exists, yes. For the moment. Call it a trial run. The elimination of Tweed will proceed as planned…'

`Balls!' Lysenko gave full vent to his fury. 'And I have to fly back to Moscow to report to the General Secretary. He will be most pleased, I am sure.'

`Please pass on to Comrade Gorbachev my warmest regards.'

`That will make him the happiest man in the Soviet Union. I think we may have to substitute someone more effective for Munzel…'

Wolf removed his horn-rimmed glasses and stared at Lysenko. He seemed quite unruffled by the news, by Lysenko's outburst. He chewed on a corner of one of the handles of his spectacles.

`Munzel is the best – as the General Secretary well knows. I shall go ahead with the next stage in the operation while you are away…'

'I shan't be away long,' Lysenko said savagely. 'So what do you expect to achieve? And something else worries me greatly. I told you Munzel is a sadist. Who do you think might be responsible for the ferocious killings of those two blonde girls in Travemunde?'

'I cannot accept scandalous implications about a member of my staff…'

`Implications be damned! If it were Munzel, if Tweed turned the tables and proved it – and unmasked his identity. God! Can you imagine the propaganda he could make of that?'

'It won't happen…'

'I find that statement immensely reassuring.' Lysenko's tone dripped with sarcasm. 'I am not prepared to leave it at that.' `What do you mean?'

Wolf rose from his chair, replaced his glasses and glared at the Russian. They were on the verge of a major confrontation. Lysenko rumbled on, refusing to give an inch. He hammered his clenched fist on the desk.

`Balkan is in the area. Contact him. Ask him to investigate these killings with all energy. Any development, report to me in Moscow. Understood?'

'If you insist…'

'I don't insist. It is an order.'

`And am I permitted to tell you my next move?'

`Hurry up.' Lysenko checked his watch. 'I shall be late for my flight to Moscow.'

`I have already sent the instruction to Munzel, who has, for a short while, gone underground…'

`What instruction? I said. I was in a hurry.'

`He is to kill Newman, Tweed's protector. Then kill Tweed. Both at the same time if possible. Both will appear to have been accidents. A mutual accident…'

`Get Balkan to check those blonde murders,' Lysenko said and left the room.

The taxi transporting Tweed and Newman pulled up outside Lubeck-Sud police HQ. Tweed had phoned Kuhlmann before they left the Jensen and the man from Wiesbaden was waiting in the entrance hall.

The scrambler phone is ready for your use,' Kuhlmann said as they ascended in the elevator. 'Newman and I will wait in the canteen as before.'

Tweed entered the same bleak room, locked the door and sat at the desk. He thought for a moment, then lifted the receiver and dialled Monica's number at Park Crescent. She answered almost immediately.

`Hadrian here, Monica. Any developments? This is a safe phone – as far as any instrument is these days.'

`Nothing to report. Except an absence of calls from anyone. I find that strange, a bit nerve-wracking. It's good to hear your voice.'

`I agree it's abnormal. But it might fit in with a theory I'm developing – so don't worry,' he reassured her.

`Any instructions?'

`Yes. I'm coming back – but no one must know. And this is priority one – contact all four sector chiefs. Order them to return to London base. They must be available by nine in the morning the day after tomorrow.'

`All four? There could be problems…'

`I said priority one. They must be found, they must arrive.' `They will be. Take care…'

He replaced the receiver. Before leaving the room he took a deep breath, aware that his expression could be grim. He strolled into the canteen, sat down at the table where Newman and Kuhlmann were talking over coffee.

`Satisfactory?' Kuhlmann enquired.

'Up to a point. We'd better get going. And thank you for the use of the phone…'

`Kuhlmann has something to tell you,' Newman interjected. `Oh, yes?'

`Dr Berlin returned to his mansion as soon as the search had been completed. That was after all of us had left. I heard on the phone from the local Travemunde police station.'

`Are you going to interview him?'

`No authority. I can't go back. The warrant was to search the premises and grounds, note down all the guests' names. We did find one interesting item. High-powered transceiver hidden behind a bookcase in the library. Range would permit messages to and from Kaliningrad. That happens. to be a major Soviet communications centre.'

`Illegal? You said it was hidden,' Tweed commented.

`Not at all. And Danny Warning, that toad of a security chief, said it was expensive equipment – so it had to be concealed from burglars.' He lit a cigar. 'I don't like that Warning. I can't do anything more.'

`Can you do anything about Kurt Franck?' Tweed asked.

`If I could find him – which I can't – negative. Neither of you made a positive identification. He checked out of the Movenpick, drove off in his hired BMW. Vanishing trick. See you.'

Waiting outside in the night, which was warm and humid, for their cab, Tweed stared into the darkness. He spoke suddenly.

`Guard Diana well, Bob. She could be the key to this mysterious business – the murders of Fergusson and Palewska in Hamburg, the enigma of Dr Berlin. And something much bigger.'

`Since you keep on about my guarding her you wouldn't care to tell me why?'

`She could be a witness,' Tweed said. 'The witness…'

The following morning, his bag packed, Tweed phoned Kuhlmann at police HQ. The German came on the line and sounded impatient.

`I'm throwing out a dragnet across North Germany – looking for Franck. What is it?'

`I just wondered whether there were any developments on the Dr Berlin front.'

`You psychic? He's disappeared again. Early this morning. I had him tracked to Lubeck airfield – that's close to the border. He was flown off in a light aircraft. The flight plan filed was for Hamburg and Hanover…'

`Thank you. I won't hold you up any longer.'

Tweed replaced the receiver, looked at Newman sitting in one of his bedroom chairs and clapped his hands together.

`You look pleased with yourself,' Newman commented.

`Not really. Kuhlmann tells me Dr Berlin has flown off from Lubeck – from that airfield I spotted on the map. We must visit it when I get back. What are you going to do today?'

`Diana is restless, edgy. She wants us to go out to Travemunde. Which suits me. I want to have a word with that chap, Ben – Ann Grayle's friend – on his own…'

`Don't forget. No one must know I've left Germany.'

`You're pretty conspicuous in that safari jacket. I'll come with you to the station. Diana will wait till I get back. So stop fussing.'

At the Hauptbahnhof Tweed joined a small queue for tickets. A plump individual walked up behind him and also stood waiting. Newman, pretending to look at a paperback, tried to recall where he had seen the man before.

Tweed bought a one-way first class ticket to Bonn and hurried to his platform, carrying his white suitcase. Newman continued watching as the plump man bought his own ticket, then made for a phone booth.

Inside the booth he dialled the number of Martin Vollmer's apartment in Altona. Vollmer came on the line at once.

`Gustav here,' the plump man said in a throaty voice. 'Tweed is leaving Lubeck by train. Bought a one-way ticket for Bonn.' He described how Tweed was dressed.

`I'll report to Balkan. I'll also check at Hamburg. Just to make sure…'

Newman followed the plump man who shoved his ticket inside a pocket. He walked outside the Hauptbahnhof, climbed behind the wheel of a parked BMW and drove off. He remembered now where he had seen him. He was one of Danny Warning's guards who had patrolled the grounds at the party.

The wires began humming again.

`Tweed is coming to Bonn… to Bonn… Bonn.

Aboard the Hamburg Express, Tweed found an empty compartment on the train which was very quiet. He took his large white case, bought the previous day in Lubeck, with him to the lavatory and locked the door. Unfastening the white case he took out the smaller blue one and opened that. He performed the athletic process of changing into a dark blue business suit.

Then he put the safari jacket and the tropical drill slacks inside the white case and closed it.

Opening the door, he glanced along the deserted corridor, opened the window of the exit door and waited. The train reached a point where it travelled along an embankment. At the bottom a tangle of high weeds grew; beyond the empty fields stretched away. Perching the case on the edge of the window, he gave a great heave. The case shot out, landed amid the weeds. He closed the window, went back to the lavatory for his blue case and returned to his compartment.

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. Martin Vollmer stood on the same bridge overlooking the platforms where he had weeks earlier watched as Tweed and Newman boarded the Copenhagen Express. His lips moved in tune with his thoughts.

`Safari jacket, TD trousers, white case…'

He was watching the platform as the train came in from Lubeck. A handful of passengers trailed off the coaches and wandered to the staircase. Vollmer shook his head as the express moved off again, then walked to the nearest phone booth and dialled a number.

`Martin here. Tweed still aboard express for Bonn…'

Tweed was the first passenger to leave the train at Hamburg. He walked faster than his usual pace, and he had taken off his glasses. Climbing the staircase, he headed for the taxi rank.

`The airport,' he informed the driver and settled back in his seat. He glanced back twice through the rear window as the cab proceeded along the boulevard-like highway leading to the airport. No sign of anyone following.

Tweed sensed there was a dragnet out searching for him. They were probably using Markus Wolf's favourite technique – the leapfrog method. Station watchers at intervals along the target's known route. A technique almost impossible to spot – provided the target obliged by travelling the route they expected.

At the airport he bought a single first-class ticket to Heathrow for Lufthansa Flight 042, departing 13.40, arriving 14.05, local times. He was arriving in London twenty-four hours ahead of when he was expected. There was plenty to do before the meeting of the sector chiefs scheduled for nine the following morning. One appointment he hoped to make was crucial.