Leeward

by D. Edward Bradley

  “I can’t see anything wrong with that,” replied the Judge after a slight pause. “When would you go?”

  “The day after tomorrow, Dad. And in case I forget, we have the two extra copies of Hans’ diskette. We’ll leave one with you and one with Meg, just to be on the safe side.”

  “I could see about a computer as well as a fax machine if you like,” offered Trilby.

  “Don’t bother,” Judge Winchester replied. “Without the password it won’t do us much good, and we have no software to sort out the problem.”

  Trilby drained his coffee. “I’m off then. Maybe we should all do a bit of sightseeing when I get back. This hanging around isn’t good for the nerves.”

  “We could come and watch you play cricket,” Jon teased.

  “Sorry,” replied Trilby. “But you’ll be well on the way to Boston before my next game. Probably just as well.”

  Tuesday, October 9, Stockholm

  Kurt Gruber gained access to Anna’s apartment without any trouble—it was ransacked. The furniture was ripped, the crockery smashed and the chairs were overturned. Only the bathroom was undamaged but even so, the detective went over it carefully. The last place he checked was the medicine cabinet. The door was ajar and when he opened it fully, he found one shelf empty and those above and below jammed with cosmetics, pills and lotions. The white plastic back of the empty shelf was smeared with what was probably blue toothpaste, and the smears formed a single word, Larsen.

  Wondering if Larsen might be connected with Thibald and Sörnsen, Kurt went to the public library and found a Directory of Companies, which listed principal directors, managers and shareholders. Olaf Larsen was shown as a director of Thibald and Sörnsen, along with Anna Andersson and several others. Home addresses were included, so the detective drove by Larsen’s house, which he found to be surrounded by a high chain-link fence. Two Dobermans paced at the gate as the car slowed in passing.

  Next day, Kurt found Hedi Wetzlar’s apartment almost undisturbed, but the television in the living room had been left on with the sound turned down. When he went into the bedroom he caught his breath. A gray-haired woman was lying on her back on the bed, fully dressed save for her shoes. The dim light was barely enough to show how pale her complexion was, but her open, staring eyes told their own sad story. He took a few photographs and left.

  Friday, October 12, Bonnie Beach, Jamaica

  Everything seemed to be falling into place. The fax machine had been installed and tested, and that morning Trilby drove Josie and Jon to Kingston Airport to catch their plane to Atlanta and Boston.

  “Keep an eye out for anyone following you,” warned Trilby. “And it may be worth altering your appearances between flights.”

  “We’ve already thought of that,” said Jon. “We’ll call you from Boston in a day or so.”

  Unfortunately, Kurt Gruber’s report didn’t turn up until after they had left. Meg grabbed the sheet of paper from the fax machine, which was in the small lounge where she had been waiting since breakfast. Rushing outdoors, she found the Judge in the pool. He got out of the water and read the message over Meg’s shoulder.

  The fax ended with a request to call Dougal at his office without delay.

  “What a mess,” commented the Judge. “I’ll talk to Dougal right now.” He went to a phone on the outside wall of the villa, and dialed the number.

  “Things look pretty bad for your friends,” said Dougal. “The way Hedi Wetzlar was lying suggested to Kurt that the body had been moved after she died, either from another room in the apartment, or elsewhere.”

  “Meaning he thinks her death wasn’t due to natural causes?”

  “Aye, Marvin, exactly. When I talked to Kurt he seemed to think she may have been drugged since her pupils were rather dilated. There will be an autopsy, of course, and when that’s done, the body will doubtless be released to the Wetzlar Winery for burial. The Swedish police should have been notified by our Stockholm affiliates, and the investigation will undoubtedly be under way. Would you consider coming to Heidelberg, Marvin? I’m sure you don’t want to give up on Ms. Andersson and Mr. Wetzlar, and it would obviously be better if we could all put our heads together.”

  “I’ll talk to Meg,” Judge Winchester answered. “Jon and Josie left for Boston this morning, so the two of us could come. The children would have to stay here with the Barkers and Trilby. Give us a few minutes, and I’ll call you back.”

  Meg had been listening on the kitchen phone. “As a matter of fact, going to Heidelberg would fit in with an idea I’ve been mulling over. I’m worried about Bobbie’s emotional state, and was considering taking her to Scotland to stay with relatives near Fort William. They have a boy and a girl about her age, and I’m sure a month or so with them would do her a lot of good. You and I could deliver Bobbie then go on to Heidelberg.”

  “That sounds an excellent scheme,” replied the Judge. “There’s no doubt that Anna and Hans need our help, and since they disappeared in Europe, that’s where we should start. This Larsen person may hold the key.”

  “Let’s set it up today,” said Meg.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Friday, October 19, Heidelberg, Germany

  The Judge and Meg were still somewhat jet-lagged from the previous day’s flight to Frankfurt, and the subsequent drive to Heidelberg in an airport bus. As arranged, Dougal picked them up at their guesthouse in the morning.

  “I’d like you to meet Kurt Gruber as soon as possible,” he said. “So I’ve asked him to stop by my place.”

  “I was most impressed by his report,” Judge Winchester replied. “He sounds like a useful person to have around.”

  As they pulled up in front of the house, a tall young man in his late twenties crossed the driveway to greet them. He tossed his long blond hair to one side to reveal blue eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

  Over coffee, the Judge brought up the question of Larsen. “We were thinking of contacting him to see what he would say about Anna.”

  “I wouldn’t advise that,” Kurt replied. “In fact I have a feeling he’s the person behind her disappearance. In this business, instinct counts for a lot. His house is like a fortress, though you wouldn’t notice except for the Dobermans. There’s an electric fence and several mini surveillance cameras that are well-camouflaged. I can’t imagine why he needs all that security in a place like Stockholm, unless, of course, he’s up to something. And then there’s the message in Ms. Andersson’s medicine cabinet. It’s unlikely she’d scrawl the name of a friend.”

  Meg turned to Dougal. “By the way, we have a copy of Hans’ diskette with us. Maybe you can find some software to break the password protection.”

  “You haven’t said anything about a diskette, Marvin,” said Dougal.

  “It must have slipped my mind,” the Judge replied. “But maybe the contents will shed some light on the events in St. Barbe’s.”

  “It sounds important,” Dougal commented. “As soon as we’re finished here, I’ll contact the company that looks after our office computers. They might have something. But where did Hans find it?”

  After Dougal had been told all about the diskette, he shook his head. “Aye, that’s a very weird story indeed.”

  Later that afternoon, he called Judge Winchester at the guesthouse and announced that the required software had been set up on his home computer. The Judge said he and Meg would come over right away. Once again Kurt Gruber was on hand when they crowded into a small study off Dougal’s living room. A computer was humming softly.

  “The program was very easy to get.” Dougal indicated a menu on the screen. “Like all law offices these days, ours is almost entirely run by computers. All I had to do was call the company, and say we’d lost a password.”

  Meg handed him her copy of Hans’ diskette. Dougal put it into the drive, and in a few moments the directory with its twenty-four numbered files appeared on the screen.

  “Now, Marvin, choose one of these documents, any one
you like. Aye, and while you’re at it, cross your fingers.”

  Judge Winchester was getting excited. “Try the first, it’s as good as any.” He leaned forward over Dougal’s shoulder.

  The lawyer selected the file, punched Enter, and after a second the directory was replaced by text. The short document was entitled Covert Action Section Meeting, Hilton Hotel, London, and consisted of a list of names.

  “My God!” cried the Judge. “I don’t believe it! I must have walked in on them! Dougal, it’s the meeting at our hotel!”

  “Finally, a breakthrough!” exclaimed Dougal, thumping the desk. “What we have here seems to be a list of the participants, and look, there’s Larsen’s name.”

  Dougal scrolled down the document. When he reached the letter S, there was another familiar name. “And believe it or not Mr. Stoker’s on it too.”

  He chose another file at random, but this time they were in for an unpleasant surprise. It was in some kind of code made up of numbers and what looked like Arabic characters.

  “Och, shit! Begging your pardon, Meg, but I don’t think we’ll get far with this one. I’ll copy everything onto the hard drive to speed things up a bit, then go through the rest and find the files that we can read.”

  Of the remaining twenty-one documents, they managed to read three, but these were of incalculable value. One was a summary of plans for the Neuhausen massacre. Dated August 1, it had been written well before the actual incident. The second was another summary. The Judge read the frightening contents aloud.

  DIRECTORY: COVERT ACTIVITIES RECORDS

  FILE: REMOVAL OF ADVERSARIAL HEADS OF STATE

  DATE: UNDATED

  SUMMARY

  Introduction

  It has become apparent that certain heads of state pose a significant threat to The Organization due to the religious or political nature of their governments. It is our primary objective to set up mechanisms for the removal of such persons by constitutional processes, which can be activated as required. High ranking ministers, currently in positions of influence with the heads of state, will be replaced by Organization members prior to any election. This will take time, but in most cases a waiting period of a few years is acceptable. Should the activities of The Organization be discovered by a head of state during this period, his or her removal by covert means will be required.

  Intelligence

  At this time two heads of state are considered to pose significant threats. For normal in house security reasons, their identities and nationalities have not been revealed to Covert Activities at this time, but notification has been issued that we will be required to set up executions.

  Action

  The approximate dates for executing the above heads of state have already been agreed upon. The first will be October 20, and the second, October 30. The names of the targets will be provided eight weeks in advance. Field trials of the biological method of execution (see File 20) are to be completed as soon as possible.

  Nobody spoke for a moment, then Kurt Gruber straightened up from the monitor, which still showed the text.

  “What in God’s name have you people stumbled on?” he said. “What kind of fiendish Organization is this? To deliberately murder two heads of state just boggles the mind. And as for Larsen, well I was right, wasn’t I?”

  “This sure is one hell of a shock,” replied the Judge. “So, what now? What can we do about it?”

  “And who are they going to assassinate?” Meg asked. “Even this Covert Activities Section doesn’t know, or rather didn’t when this was written. We haven’t a hope of finding out in time, especially on our own. And even if we did, no one would believe us. What about this File 20, Dougal? I suppose it’s too much to hope that it’s the last uncoded document?”

  Dougal looked the screen. “No, Meg,” he said softly, pointing at the monitor. “This is it. But look at the date.”

  DIRECTORY: COVERT ACTIVITY RECORDS

  FILE: POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS

  DATE: JULY 1, 1985

  SUMMARY

  Introduction

  Scientists in the Research Section have developed a highly efficient method for transmitting a lethal biological agent to a selected dignitary under conditions of minimal personal interaction. In collaboration with Intelligence Section, Covert Activities Section has arranged to test this device. The target will be a Head of State who is currently preventing The Organization from taking over his country. In case the transmission procedure cannot be carried out, we have set up a backup kidnapping and cremation operation for two weeks later.

  Method

  The Organization member administering the biological agent will be among the entourage of a politician visiting the subject. He or she will be required to shake hands with the subject, preferably when the delegation arrives, and again when it departs. The agent will wear a heavy college or other decorative ring, which will be provided. It will contain a micro-syringe, which will be activated when the subject’s hand is grasped. The syringe is small enough so that the puncture will neither be felt nor subsequently detected. It will administer 0.002 milliliters of a suspension of genetically modified polio virus A152 at an extremely high titer (approximately one hundred million particles per dose). Half this amount is sufficient to cause death in 4-7 days. While virus A152 may be detected in a postmortem examination, the investigators will think it is a new strain. Many new viruses exist in the large pool present in the natural environment, and examples similar to A152 have been encountered in the past.

  Target

  The Prime Minister of St. Barbe’s must be eliminated for the reasons given above. This will allow agents Crick and Stoker, already elected to parliament in the ruling party, to take over government. The island country will thus be converted to an Organization Territory.

  1986 ADDENDUM

  Results

  Virus A152 was administered on two occasions three days apart. Death ensued at six days. This field trial was thus successful.

  Recommendation for further research

  Documents obtained by The Organization indicate that virus A152 was detected in the target’s body tissues, but could not be made to replicate in human cell lines. While subsequent research by the Center for Disease Control in the US did not raise any suspicions of genetic tampering, it is felt that additional virus strains should be developed using new bioengineering techniques. Specific receptors should be targeted. These could be in the heart to emulate heart failure, or in the brain to emulate stroke. In addition, a viral variant, which disintegrated at low temperatures, would be a particularly valuable asset since cadavers are refrigerated before postmortem examinations.

  END

  “My God!” Meg cried. “Now we know why St. Barbe’s suddenly turned into some sort of police state!”

  Dougal pushed back his chair. “And another thing, a direct link to The Organization is right in front of our noses in the form of friend Larsen. Anyway, we can’t do any more on the computer so let’s move into the living room. I need some air, and I think this calls for a wee dram while we put the rest of the pieces together.”

  In the course of the discussion that followed, they all agreed that Hedi had probably been the most recent victim of the biological method. Hopefully, Anna and Hans were alive and still healthy. Another surprising revelation was that The Organization didn’t seem to like public enemies. Their link to the Neuhausen massacre was truly alarming. While it had been crude, it was nonetheless effective, and demonstrated all too well both strength and ruthlessness.

  After some time, Judge Winchester’s stomach indicated that it was well past dinner time. “There’s a restaurant near the guesthouse. I don’t know if it’s any good, but I think we should have something to eat, regardless.”

  “We go there from the office sometimes,” Dougal replied. “It’s not bad at all.”

  As luck would have it, they got a secluded table and were able to continue their conversation safely.

  Judge Winchester picked
up a menu. “One thing I’m going to do tomorrow is call Jon and Josie in Boston. I’ve thought of someone who could help them find Marshall Thompson. It’s absolutely vital that we tell him what we’ve found out.”

  “I’m having some new thoughts,” said Dougal, a curious expression on his face. “Maybe the idea’s stupid, but what if we kidnapped Olaf Larsen?”

  Meg frowned. “And made him talk?”

  “I think the whisky’s gone to your head, Dougal,” said the Judge with a smile.

  “Maybe not,” said Kurt. “I think it could be done. Apart from a lead to Ms. Andersson and Mr. Wetzlar, we might be able to get some tangible information about The Organization. We have no idea what we’re up against, where they’re located, and generally what makes them tick. Let me sleep on it, and I’ll come up with some sort of plan by tomorrow morning.”

  Saturday, October 20, Heidelberg

  Rather than waste time on a meeting, Kurt Gruber called Dougal, and then the Judge and Meg. He said he would fly to Stockholm on Sunday evening to map out Larsen’s movements to and from work, and at the same time find a site for the proposed interrogation. He would decide by Tuesday afternoon whether or not the idea was feasible. If so, whoever was to be in on the kidnapping would have to leave Heidelberg immediately. No one had any problems with this, so Kurt’s plan was approved.

  Meg sat on the bed in the Judge’s room while he called Jon and Josie immediately after speaking to Kurt.

  “How’s Heidelberg, Dad?” Josie asked.

  “Things are happening,” he replied. “But I can’t tell you over the phone. I presume you haven’t found Marshall Thompson yet?”

  “No such luck. We aren’t really sure how to go about looking for him. All we’ve done is talk to his lawyer who said he’d see what he could do. He advised keeping away from Mr. Thompson’s office, but didn’t give a reason.”