This United state

23

'It's time we killed some of Tweed's people.' Vernon grunted, then continued. 'Better still, wipe out all the m**** with one bomb. Put them underground for good.'

'Or underwater,' Ronstadt said viciously. 'You've given me an idea.'

He had called a meeting in his suite. Only three people were present, Ronstadt, Vernon and Brad. Recently Ronstadt had promoted the two men to be his deputies. He played with his pack of cards. That had been a smart move, he was thinking. If he gave them a task which was dangerous they'd go for it, puffed up with pride by their new status. Which left him in the clear if anything went wrong.

'Underwater?' queried the squat Brad. 'Don't get it.'

'Wouldn't expect you to – otherwise, feller, you'd be sitting in my chair. Like this suite?' he asked suddenly.

'It's great, Jake,' Vernon said quickly.

'It's really great,' Brad agreed.

'Play your cards right and maybe – just maybe – you'll have a suite like this one. Play your cards,' he repeated, then held up his pack. 'See what I mean, dopes?'

'Sure, Jake,' they both said at the same time.

'It was a joke, morons,' Ronstadt snarled. 'Trouble with you guys is you ain't got no sense of humour. Remember what we pulled off outside Paris last year? You do? Amazing. Guess we could do the same thing here. We need a whisperer. Has to convince that bastard Tweed. Guess I know who could do it for us.'

Standing up, Ronstadt left the table, walked over to a window, gazed at the traffic outside the Euler. He was turning the idea over in his mind. He suddenly returned to the table, where his two deputies were waiting for him.

'I've got it, you- guys. We use the bar here at the Euler. I hope you brought back the explosive when I recalled you from Hollental on my mobile. Hollental!' He grinned nastily. 'I've heard that's German for Hell's Valley. That's what we're going to give them. Hell.' His tone became savage. 'Tweed's mob has eliminated five of my men. I always pay back. And do I have to ask you again? Did you bring back the explosive?'

'We did,' Vernon said hastily. 'Enough to blow the Three Kings Hotel sky-high.'

'We'll need that kind of amount for this job. Give you details later. Stay in your rooms. Don't drink. Why are you still here? I have phone calls to make.'

'We're going now,' Vernon said, jumping up, followed by Brad.

Alone in the room, Ronstadt shuffled his cards, almost without realizing he was doing so. He'd had to tell his deputies about the five dead men – they'd soon notice they were missing. What he had kept to himself was the disaster at the Zurcher Kredit. He'd threatened Vernon with mayhem if he mentioned the scene he'd witnessed. In any case, what did Vernon know about money?

The one thing Ronstadt had hated doing was having to explain to Charlie what had happened. On top of that he'd had to ask Charlie to have more funds transmitted electronically from the US to the Zurcher Kredit. Charlie had given him a roasting.

Standing up again, he went back to the window. He'd better make that phone call, get the show on the road.

He grinned as he visualized what was going to happen this evening. He waved a hand behind the net curtain. 'Bye-bye, Mr Tweed…'

Paula stared with shock at the document, the typed sheet Tweed had passed to her. She could hardly believe what she had just read.

THE COMMONWEALTH OF BRITAIN.

Governor – Tweed.

Following Tweed's name was a list of other positions. One was Chief Medical Examiner. Each position had the name of a well-known Englishman or Englishwoman shown. She stared at Tweed as he spoke.

'Hand it round to everyone.'

'What does it mean?' she asked, passing the sheet to Newman. 'Why is the word Commonwealth used?'

'Because in America a number of states are called by that name. The Commonwealth of Virginia is one example. You're looking at a blueprint of Britain to be absorbed into the United States. If they pulled it off we'd be the fifty-first state.'

'You really think they're going to try and do this?'

'I know they are. Morgenstern practically said so when I had dinner with him. Gave me a lot of plausible reasons why they had to do it – from America's point of view. I just listened most of the time, to find out what they were up to. For some reason Jefferson has great faith in me. Hence my appointment to the top job – Governor.'

'You'd make a good one,' Newman commented.

'Except I'd slip abroad rather than have anything to do with their plan. When you've all seen that sheet you'll realise what a supreme effort we have to make to defeat them. And I have a horrible feeling we're up against a tight deadline.'

'So how do we hit them?' asked Marler, who had just read the sheet.

'In Kurt's black book he mentions a place called St Ursanne. I happen to know it. It's an attractive village, or small town, south of here, in Switzerland, the French-speaking part, and close to the border with France. That's where we're going this morning.'

'Why?' asked Paula.

'Because in his little book Kurt has written after St Ursanne the Hotel d'Or, in La Ruelle. And a name, Juliette Leroy. He has scribbled after that General Guisan. I assume I have to use the same password when I meet Leroy as Marler used when he met Irina. I think Kurt Schwarz had great faith in women keeping secrets – providing he chose the right women.'

'He could make friends with women easily,' Paula said. 'I was very taken, by his gentle personality when he had dinner at my flat.'

'Hold on,' said Marler. 'We all come with you? I think we should after what's happened. But what about the Black Forest? If Ronstadt and Co. take off for that area we won't be here to follow them.'

'Ronstadt isn't going anywhere at the moment. He's waiting for more funds to arrive after Keith's conjuring trick at the bank.'

'You sound as though you know,' Paula said.

'I'm betting on being right. I'll cover the Black Forest before we go, by phoning Beck. No, I'll pop across the road, hope he's in, and see him. I think I can persuade him to get two off-duty officers to stand by the checkpoint in an unmarked car. If Ronstadt leaves they can follow him. We have to find out what there is in St Ursanne. I have great faith in Kurt Schwarz.'

'When are you going to see Beck?' Newman asked. 'Now.'

'Then I'm coming with you.'

'I welcome your company. The rest of you get ready for this trip. Incidentally, we're going by train. Paula, find out train times to St Ursanne. We have to change at a place called Delemont.'

The phone rang, Paula answered it, asked the caller to hang on just a minute. She extended the phone to Marler.

'It's for you. Denise Chatel. She says she has urgent news. She wants to meet you immediately. She's in the hotel.'

'Ask her to go to my room. Give her the number. Tell her I'll be waiting for her…'

'I wonder why he gave her his name as Alec,' Paula remarked when Marler had gone. 'Good job he told us all.'

'Probably the first name that came into his head,' Tweed surmised. 'Bob, we'll wait until Marler gets back. I'm intrigued by what Denise calls urgent.'

'Come in, Denise,' Marler said at the open door of his room. 'I must say you look great in that outfit.'

She wore a navy blue trouser suit, a colourful scarf at her throat. She looked pleased at the compliment even though she dismissed it.

'It's just workaday clothes, but they're warm. I'm in a rush.'

'Well, at least you can sit down. Care for some coffee? I think it's probably still fairly hot.'

'No, thank you.' She was breathless, sat down in an armchair. Her small hands twisted in her lap. She was nervous. 'I can't really understand what I'm going to tell you, but it sounded threatening.'

'I'm a good listener.'

'I had a phone call in my room here a little while ago. It was from a man. I didn't recognize his voice. An American. I'm not telling this very well. He said he had a message from Sharon who had had to leave in a hurry. She wanted to meet me immediately at the bar in the Hotel Euler. So I grabbed a cab and went there.'

'What sort of voice did the caller have?'

'Oh, very polite and smooth. He talked quickly. An educated voice. I should have asked his name but it all happened so quickly.'

'I understand. Do go on.'

'Outside here I was lucky. I grabbed a passing cab and it dropped me outside the Euler. I found the bar quickly. It was almost empty and there was no sign of Sharon. I ordered coffee and sat in a booth. I thought she'd been held up. Soon afterwards two men came in and sat in the booth behind me. Americans.'

'Ever seen them before?'

'No, never.'

'Can you describe them briefly?'

'Up to a point. They walked past where I was sitting to get to their booth. Funny pair. One was quite short, squat might be the right word. The other was very tall and thin. I didn't like the look of either of them:'

'What happened next?'

She was still tense, nervous. She unconsciously ran her fingers through her long dark hair.

'They ordered drinks. As soon as they'd been served they started talking quietly, but I could hear every word. The thin man said a meeting of everyone, including Charlie, had been arranged for later today. It would take place aboard a barge on the Rhine called the Minotaur…'

'Are you sure you got that name right?'

'Certain, Alec. Minotaur. Like the legend about the monster on Crete thousands of years ago. He said they'd cruise down to the harbour before dark, about four in the afternoon. They were meeting to work out a plan to destroy Tweed and his whole organization. That's why I used the word threatening. I just wouldn't like anything to happen to you, Alec.'

'I really appreciate your concern. Hear anything else?'

'Yes. Incidentally, the thin man is called Vernon. The squat man used his name once. He went on to say that at long last they'd meet the mysterious Charlie. Then they got up and left. I was lucky again outside the Euler. I grabbed a cab and came back here to tell you. Heaven knows what happened to Sharon.'

'Will you tell her about this experience of yours?'

'No, I won't. She has her own problems. The Swiss couple she goes to see are thinking of separating. She's known them for years. She's trying to persuade them to stay together while they give it some more thought.'

'I'm very grateful to you, Denise, for passing on this news.'

'I must go now. Sharon has given me a ton of backlog work she brought from London.' She had stood up, was near the door when Mailer gave her a hug. She smiled. 'You take good care of yourself.'

'I've had a bit of experience at doing that.'

'Oh, I forgot something.' She paused before he had opened the door. 'The thin man said Jake was organizing the meeting on the Minotaur…'

'Quite a bit to tell you after listening to Denise,' Marler said after returning to Tweed's room.

'We have time, said Paula. 'I phoned the station. We've just missed a train to Delemont. The next one is not departing for an hour.'

'We've still a lot to do,' warned Tweed. 'We have to see Beck before we leave. Paula phoned the Spiegelhof – Basel police HQ, just across the road. Beck is waiting until we arrive. Now, Marler, I'm listening.'

There was complete quiet in the room as Marler recalled every word Denise had said to him. Tweed sat back in his chair, his eyes half-dosed as he absorbed the information. Marler waved a hand when he had finished.

'Interesting that Charlie will be aboard that barge. And now we have even more to tell Beck,' Tweed remarked. 'You get on rather well with Denise, don't you, Marler?'

'She's a nice lady.'

Something in the way he'd said the words made Paula glance across at Marler. Was he falling for Denise? Then she also wondered about Newman – who seemed so enthusiastic about Sharon. Newman spoke just after the thoughts had passed through her mind. He addressed Marler.

'Could you repeat Denise's description of the man she heard called Vernon?'

'First, she called him very tall and thin. Later she referred to him simply as the thin man.'

'And she said his name was Vernon. I think we're encountering at a distance – which is safest – Vernon Kolkowski. He was the man in the Zurcher Kredit Kent described as accompanying Jake Ronstadt. We'd better watch out for him – I told you I saw his mug shot when I was in New York. He's already killed several times and got away with his murders.'

'Time to go and see Beck,' Tweed said briskly, standing up. 'I will take Bob with me. Paula, I've made a note of the train time you gave me, the one to St Ursanne, while Marler was out talking to Denise. Scribble those details dawn on a bit of paper and give it to Marler.' He looked round the room at Butler and Nield. 'You go with Paula and Marler so you're at the Hauptbahnhof in good time. It's a weird set-up – you go to the section known as the French station. Make sure you have your passports. Bob and I will get there as soon as we can – we have a lot to discuss with Beck, including that meeting on board that barge. The tram stop is near where we had the episode with the Umbrella Men. A No 1 or a No 8 will get you there.'

With his coat on Tweed paused at the door. He looked back at Marler.

'You called Denise Chatel a nice lady. You'd all better get it through your heads we can trust no one. No one at all.'

Jake Ronstadt, in his suite at the Euler, made a phone call to another room standing up. Ronstadt had always disliked sitting down – it made him restless. Ever since he was a kid in Hoboken, not the best district in New York, he liked to keep moving. When his number was answered he was cautious. Wouldn't do to have someone listening in to what he was going to say.

'That you, Leo?'

'Operator!' he snarled suddenly. 'Something wrong with this goddamn line.'

He waited for a reply. Nothing. The line was clear, safe.

'Leo, you have started sending down men in relays to watch the Three Kings Hotel?'

'Sure, boss. Got a man on duty now. Just about to drive down myself and take his place.'

'This is a smart mob we're watching. Would they spot the guy there now – or you?'

'No way. We're dressed as Swiss. We pretend to be waiting for a tram. There's a stop close to the hotel. Don't matter that we don't get aboard one. Looks like we're waiting for another one going to a different destination.'

'Sounds like you've got it tied up,' Ronstadt agreed reluctantly. 'Get on down there. You've all got mobiles.

You see any of them, report back to me instanter. I gave you a description of Paula Grey and Tweed. You have pics of Newman from the reference library back in London. Get off the line. Move!'