She tittered, and her hand flickered in front of her lips. ‘This woman was what the British call a red herring. And they told me a little about her.’ She glanced again towards Maksud. ‘But not the part played by my sister. And I was never left alone for more than seconds, until late this afternoon when comrade Uncle Maksud decided to have a bath. But by then I had done my duty. Hadn’t I, comrade?’
Maksud was lolling against the arm of his chair but his eyes were steady and even as they dulled Grant saw that the man’s spirit had not been broken. ‘No, Doctor Grant. While this woman Tania was working with the President and your Prime Minister I was busy with a much more important person. And it is only now, during this last hour, that I fully realise exactly why everything has been done. You see,’ she said, and as Grant watched Maksud Wang’s face suddenly go heavy with sorrow he knew that this was it. This was the moment of truth. ‘You see,’ she continued, ‘why bring pressure upon America from people who can’t really do very much? Why not go straight to a top American and use him instead?’
Grant tried to ease his aching back but still forced a smile. ‘Much more sensible,’ he agreed.
But Miki ignored him. Her thoughts were far away and her voice had levelled into a weird monotone. ‘Perhaps you forgot that a State visit to Moscow by the American President and his wife was arranged many months ago. Your Élysée party was only fixed to round off a mission from Britain to France which was timed so as to enable the President of France to act as middle-man and pass on off-the-record information to Washington. So a stop-over of exactly sixteen hours was arranged for the Americans while your own British Prime Minister took off at eight hundred hours, exactly thirty minutes before they arrived.’
Maksud was watching her like a rabbit faced with a snake, and not even Grant could guess what was coming. American security was top flight and it would have been utterly impossible for the woman to get near anyone who mattered.
Miki almost read his thoughts. Yet her voice remained in that weird monotone and her eyes had a remote look which seemed as though she was no longer in the room. ‘Miki as she then was could never have contacted a top American. But don’t forget that Tania Monham is a celebrity, that she was even able to be photographed along with the President of France and splash all over the morning newspapers. Some journalist then had an inspired idea.’ She looked again at Maksud. ‘But I don’t need to tell you that it was really comrade Maksud’s idea and that the journalist was under control by Peking. Anyhow, the idea was that it would be exciting publicity for a notorious society beauty to be photographed with three heads of State in the same twelve hours, because, remember, a picture or two had also been flashed while this woman was dancing with the Prime Minister.
‘And if the Americans co-operated it would be a sort of reflected notority for the President. But of a very pleasant kind. Because if he failed to rise . . . as they call it in England . . . it somehow meant that he wasn’t interested in pretty girls. Or else, that one very special pretty girl wasn’t interested in him.’
Grant was fascinated in spite of himself. Pain had almost been forgotten, and he took off his hat to the dying man who had worked all this out as political situations had developed and then figured timing to the last second. ‘Congratulations,’ he said. ‘But surely a very innocent picture! Not a very useful secret weapon.’
The girl ignored him, and Grant suspected that whatever had happened, she was still re-living it far away from the Ritz. ‘A publicity man suggested that I might join an American Embassy cocktail party that afternoon. So I agreed. And once again comrade Maksud has had proof of how clever his estimate of the Americans has been. They are hospitable, and they enjoy a gimmick. So I went for cocktails.’ Her voice again hardened. ‘That was easy. But the next part was difficult, because you see I hate men. I hate touching them, and since I love only women my job suddenly became difficult because I had to handle a man and do things which are against my nature.’ She shuddered. ‘Our decision had to be made at the last moment. It had to be influenced by opportunity, by sheer chance and by fast thinking. But it worked. You heard Maksud say that I am an expert with drugs. So it was simple to drop a few grains of powder into the President’s glass. It was simple to watch him suddenly feel faint and wish to lie down. It was even simple to take him by the arm, knowing that the drug had made him forget his training. And it was simple for me to accompany him to a quiet sitting room. I had my own camera and it was even simple to put it down where it would take self-release pictures and to focus it on a drunk looking President of the United States of America.’
Grant knew that it was impossible. Even inside the Embassy, personal security of the President would be water-tight.
She shook her head. ‘There were guards, but this drug works in a special way. It makes a man susceptible—is that the word—to suggestion, and on the instant that it began to work I told him that if anyone tried to stop us he was to say something.’
‘What?’ The word cracked out in spite of himself and Grant cursed silently as Miki broke off to stare at him. ‘Polite, Doctor. Just remember to be polite. I am telling you this only to hurt comrade Maksud who thought of almost everything. Even about the security men. But security guards don’t go everywhere, so on my orders the President sent one of them to call for his wife and the rest was then easy. He told them to stay put outside the door of his private room and I took the liberty of giving the lady a white rose for good luck. She sniffed it and was asleep in less than two minutes because its petals were heavily covered with the drug in powder form.’
In spite of the way he had been trussed up Grant was thinking clearly. And he saw that it could have been done. And done in just that way. Modern physicians used a device for spraying various drugs in powder form into the bronchi. Medihalers or snuff gave a more rapid absorption into the blood stream where certain chemicals were concerned than when swallowed in pill form. Medihaler powder could produce results which were almost instantaneous. And certain sophisticated chemicals could be blended for use exactly as Miki had said. A certain dose would knock a person out. A heavier dose might kill. But response could be calculated with reasonable precision, and Peking wouldn’t have found it difficult to learn the weight of both the President and his wife. So accurate calculations would have been possible.
And any fool knew that expert publicity men could do almost anything . . . even persuade a shrewd Embassy official into inviting a socialite of the moment to a party. And once inside the place a woman like Miki, with knowledge of drugs and the courage to use them wouldn’t have found it too difficult. But Maksud had shown terrific insight into how everyone concerned would react. He had even figured out how to isolate the President from his guards. And who could be a better guard than his own wife? The security men would have been on duty outside the private room with probably another group in the gardens downstairs, all beautifully unaware of what was happening to the most important man alive—political-wise at any rate.
He tried to stop thinking. To stop assessing. The girl was still speaking and time was running out. Harry ought to arrive at any moment, and he would have taken a bet that ADSAD weren’t far away either. It was even credible that ADSAD had bugged the room and was recording everything. He forced himself to listen and to keep further questions till later. ‘We were alone for only twelve minutes, but during that time I snapped a series of pictures which have already been processed and they are deadly. The President with his wife are in each of them. They look drunk, because the drugs we chose work that way.’ She suddenly smiled. ‘Being a doctor you may want to know what they were, and since you are shortly going to die I shall tell you. Just a blend of methohexitone sodium to make the person either unconscious or stupid, plus a little scopolamine to ensure loss of memory on recovery and one other chemical with an unpronounceable name to act as synergist. Quite easy really! We needed just over 250 milligrammes for the President and rather less for his wife . . . of the whole mixture that is. And I had to give
them both a final swift dose of methohexitone alone to keep them under until I was finished.’ She shuddered again and returned to that same monotone. ‘I shall never forget the things I did. And posing was the worst part. But I’m sure that Peking will be able to do as it pleases with Washington if ever the photographs are delivered. They are very, very nasty. And if they were published in Asia America’s moral influence would be destroyed for years. If they were published in America they would ruin a political party for a lifetime. And if they were shown in Britain they would shake public confidence in political leaders anywhere for a generation.’
Grant guessed that she was winding up. But if what she had said was true where were the pix and where had Tania sent Harry’s party? And who was the student in Boulevard Saint Michel?
Maksud Wang was still conscious. He was even able to speak, and Grant watched him struggle to control himself. But even in these moments his thoughts were only to save what he could from the wreck. ‘I understand why you are killing me, comrade Miki. And I was wrong not to have told you everything. But I ask you for the sake of our country to deliver the American photographs as we arranged.’ He paused for breath. His cheeks were flushed and his lips beginning to turn purple. ‘I have very little time left. Perhaps thirty minutes or so. Will you grant a dying man his last wish and handle the pictures only for the good of our people?’
She lifted her blow-pipe and raised it to her mouth. ‘Would you like to see the woman die first?’ She puffed and Grant heard a smack as the tiny dart buried itself in the wood of the chair within an inch of Tania’s knee. ‘You see, comrade, I am very good with this. Let’s torment her a little. She won’t know which dart will kill her, but perhaps I’ll do it so that you can have the adventure of dying together. Then you will have company if there is a world on the other side as the missionaries used to call it.’
Another barb grazed Tania’s cheek and hit the upholstery of her high-backed chair. ‘Nearer that time, comrade,’ said Miki and then she faced Grant. ‘Stay very still, Doctor. I am going to put one between your fingers from over here. If you don’t move it will hit the wood. If you do move, or if I shoot badly it will kill in about fifteen minutes.’ She lifted the ivory tube and Grant froze. ‘Now,’ she said, and he felt something like the sting of an insect brushing in high wind against skin. The barb was on target, his fingers weren’t even punctured and only a thin red line showed how near he had been to death.
The girl clapped her hands. ‘So now you have all looked at death. Were you afraid?’ She lit another cigarette and Grant felt that sweat break on his back as she laid down the blow-pipe. ‘Were you afraid, Doctor?’
He chose his words carefully. ‘A little. But you are a wonderful shot.’
‘And you are learning to be polite. So many things to learn in life! Even when you are dying.’
Maksud had again pulled himself together. ‘Please tell me if you will send them to Peking.’
The girl inhaled deeply. ‘I shall tell you in the moment that you die. And then you will either die happy, or sad. But in any case you will have had the thrill of suspense, and that is better than just lying and thinking about nothing.’
Chapter Fourteen – ‘Paradise can be just round the corner’
Grant’s back was drenched with sweat. He had played it cool and trusted to others. But if the Admiral had monitored the room why in Hell had he not broken in by now? The department would want to save Maksud for further examination. They would have tried to save his life, but the woman had never stopped watching him for more than seconds at a time, and although even his wrists were now dripping he didn’t dare risk trying to pull his hand through the cuff. And in any case the thing was too tight.
Until he saw a loop-hole. But it would all depend on Tania.
He coughed spasmodically and sent out a mayday signal in Morse. There was at least a chance that Miki had missed up on Morse during her training. Or that she wouldn’t expect it.
Tania also coughed. One word. ‘S . . . A . . . Y . . .’
He tapped it out with his heel on the carpet. He could still see her with the corner of his eye, and Miki was now playing with her cigarette, watching Maksud and blowing smoke rings. ‘Still wondering about what I’ll do, comrade? And finding out how it feels to face death?’
She struck where it would hurt most and every sentence must have spelled defeat for the dying man. But Grant’s message was received.
Tania braced herself as he let loose a torrent of abuse which made Miki stop in the middle of a sentence. He seemed suddenly to have gone mad and he was taking it out of the woman beside him. She had led him into this: She had been even more blind than Miki or his own department. She would die. And he only hoped that she would die soon. He had forced his head round so that he was staring up at her and his face was red with effort. Miki saw him tighten his leg muscles and then he rocked his chair sideways. It crashed against Tania, and the girl fell to the floor. He seemed to be biting her legs, and Miki was laughing when Tania suddenly leapt forwards with the ferocity of a young cat. She had strained with every muscle as the chair fell and the straps of her bra had broken. Even the belt which anchored her to the spars of the chair had snapped, and she tackled Miki round the waist. Her head crashed against the girl’s stomach wall and her right knee smashed up in a kick which caught the struggling woman straight in the groin while Tania’s hands moved like striking mongooses, slapping short sharp side cuts to the neck until Miki collapsed and Tania jumped astride her, rolled the woman on to her face and anchored her hands behind her back with a bell rope pulled from the wall. It was only an ornament, and Grant knew that it was simply a period piece used to harmonise with the furniture. But Tania knew that as well as he did. After all, she had lived in the place for several weeks and if anything could be saved she would save it.
She rolled Miki round and ripped her top open. Her bra was of black silk, edged with turquoise lace, and she pulled it off with one wrench. Miki was conscious and Tania was putting first things first. She glanced at the clock. Maksud had less than fifteen minutes to go and his breathing was now shallow, while his face had darkened to a grey cyanosis.
‘The antidote,’ said Tania. She still spoke in French but she had lit a butane gas cigarette lighter. ‘Three seconds left. Tell me and you won’t be marked but play it dumb and I’ll burn your breasts off. You’re a lesbian. Think how many women would want you once the flame has done its work. The antidote. Three seconds as from now . . . deux . . . trois.’
She placed the lighter against the crests of Miki’s figure and the girl screamed in agony. ‘I’m holding it there till you talk,’ said Tania. And then she drew the flame across the girl’s chest from one armpit to the other. She had started to work on the girl’s eyelashes when Miki began to sob. ‘The antidote,’ said Tania. ‘Where? And fast.’
‘Let me stand up.’ Miki sounded desperate and Tania jumped to her feet, but before Miki could rise Tania had snatched the blow-pipe. She looked towards Grant. ‘One dart in position. It should be enough.’ And then she turned back to the woman who stood cringing beside her. ‘You said that this gave a bad death. Slip up with the antidote and you’ll find out for yourself exactly how bad.’
Miki staggered across the room to a small escritoire. There was a syringe in one drawer and she pointed to a box of ampoules. ‘Give him two ampoules into a vein. If he is lucky he will live.’
‘If you are lucky he will live,’ snapped Tania and bared Maksud’s forearm. The needle slipped into a prominent vein in front of the elbow and Tania pressed the plunger. Grant noted that she even sucked some blood into the syringe to check that the needle was in the vein. She remained efficient even during emergencies!
And then she withdrew it, eased Maksud back, laid him on his right side and placed a cushion under his head. She double-checked that his tongue was not blocking the airway and then she returned to the girl. But this time she said only one word as she pointed towards Grant and flicked open the light
er. ‘Keys.’
Miki stared at her, eye to eye and spat straight into Tania’s face. But Tania didn’t hesitate and ran the lighter across the woman’s chest. ‘Keys.’
Only then did Miki really crack. She flopped to the floor and fumbled in the pochette lying beside her. The keys were on a ring and Tania was lucky with her fourth choice. Grant’s cuffs opened smoothly and he eased himself to his feet. ‘I’m very obliged.’
Tania shrugged her shoulders. ‘I pay my debts. You saved me from that cat Farouk.’ And then she smiled. Her cheeks flushed crimson and Grant saw that she was actually embarrassed. ‘We are two of a kind and we know the rules. That night on the roof I was working by the book because rules are now part of me.’
It was almost an apology, and Grant turned to Maksud. His colour was better and his breathing less shallow. He lifted the house phone and the porter sounded formally polite. ‘There are some people down here waiting to see you, sir. But they said not to disturb you, that you would call when you were ready.’
Grant smiled appreciatively. Harry had paid him a big compliment. ‘Tell them to come up in exactly ten minutes and send champagne five minutes later with slices of chicken breast, cheese straws and a fresh pineapple. Instruct room service to leave it on the dumb waiter which he will find in our foyer and tell him to lift the note which will be waiting for him.’
The Girl From Peking Page 20