by Ann Bridge
Now she had Richard’s full attention.
‘Did you see Luis?’
‘No—they were below among the bushes, and I did not wish to be seen. But who but he could have pointed the Admiral out to them at the Cathedral, and know all our plans, and speak in Hungarian?’
‘I didn’t know he knew Hungarian,’ Richard said.
‘But of course, since he is a Hungarian.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘The Ambassador told me. And then I thought I recognised him as a member of the Secret Police, whom I had seen in Hungary ages ago.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me that at once?’
‘Because you would have laughed at me, and said I must stop seeing spies behind every bush,’ she retorted vigorously.
‘Well, yes—perhaps,’ Richard admitted. ‘But yesterday, when you had just heard of this ambush—why on earth didn’t you tell us at once?’
‘Because then I was sick,’ she replied flatly. ‘I had to find a lavatory—and afterwards I had to wash and tidy myself in one of the servants’ bathrooms. And when I came downstairs you were all wishing to start, and the Admiral in a hurry, and Luis sitting in the car listening—it was too difficult.’
‘But you couldn’t have let the Admiral drive into an ambush, if you were so sure of it?’
‘No, of course not. I was trying to think of something to show him that would take us off the main road before we came to the place, and I couldn’t think, and he kept talking all the time—it was frightful! And then, thank God, we had this accident.’
Richard almost laughed.
‘Tell me,’ Hetta went on rapidly, ‘did you see a motor-bicycle anywhere near those obras?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact I did, when I had to pull up—a motor-bike with a combination. It was in a small side-road just between the bridge and a little tumble-down building; I noticed it because there was no one in it. Why?’
‘Because I heard it drive off from the cigarral. Of course the men will have been hiding in the building, ready to shoot; I heard them speak of it.’
Somehow this detail, and the fact that he had seen the empty motor-cycle combination himself while he waited to pass through the one-way lane—a sitting shot, if ever there was one—dispelled the last of Richard’s doubts about Hetta’s story. He looked grave. But there was one point he wanted to get quite clear.
‘You say you thought you recognised Luis as someone in the Secret Police, whom you had seen in Budapest. But what made you think, there, that he was in the Secret Police?’
‘Because he came, with many others of the A.V.O., to close our School, and turn the nuns out. But he was the worst—he laughed when they cried!’ Hetta said angrily. ‘Of course he was younger then; and much less tidy,’ she added.
‘But you weren’t positive it was the same man?’
‘Not till yesterday. Then, I was,’ she replied, with absolute conviction.
‘Because of what you had overheard?’
‘No. It was when the car turned over, and I was thrown across into the front, right on his lap! I cried out, I suppose in Hungarian, and I saw his face—only inches from my own! I shall never forget how he looked.’
‘How did he look?’ Richard asked, falling into her idiom.
‘Astonished—frightened—furious! Oh, he looked at me so wickedly!’ she exclaimed with a shudder. ‘Then I knew him without any mistake. He should not be here with the Parrotts; it is not safe.’
Richard was inclined to agree with her. He did his best to soothe her; she was trembling all over now.
‘It is all right; I have a tablet,’ she said, feeling under her pillow.
‘What a curious place to put it!’ he said smiling, as she swallowed it with a sip of water.
‘I pretended to take it, and then hid it instead,’ she said, now smiling a little too.
‘Why?’
‘So that I should be fully awake, and able to make you believe me.’
Richard felt rather ashamed. It was true that he had often teased her about her suspicions, not always remembering that she had been a prisoner in Communist hands herself, when in Portugal.
‘I do believe you, my darling,’ he said. ‘But you are safe here. Rest now—I will see about it.’
‘Tell the Ambassador,’ she said, urgently.
In fact Richard intended to do precisely that, and at once; but on his way out, in spite of what he had said to Hetta about her safety in the clinic, he saw the matron, and gave strict orders that no one was to be allowed to see his wife but himself, the doctor, and the Condesa. He did not at all like the idea of Luis knowing that Hetta was a Hungarian, even though the man could have no means of knowing that she had overheard his plans.
At the Embassy he was lucky enough to catch Sir Noël just setting out for a cocktail party—the car was at the door.
‘Could I possibly see you for a moment, H.E.?’ he asked. ‘It won’t take long,’ he added, seeing his chief glance at his watch.
‘Very well. Come into the study. How is Hetta?’ Sir Noël asked, as they sat down.
‘Getting on very nicely, thank you. But she has just told me something that I thought you ought to know at once.’
‘About yesterday?’
‘Yes.’
‘Does she think that chauffeur-man of Parrott’s drove off the road on purpose?’ Sir Noël asked. Richard looked at him in surprise.
‘No, she’s sure he didn’t. It was worse than that.’ He repeated what Hetta had overheard about the projected ambushing of the Admiral. ‘And when we got to the one-way traffic, sure enough there was a motor-cycle, empty, waiting in a little side-road.’ He went on to describe how after the crash Hetta had at last definitely recognised Luis as an A.V.O. member whom she had seen in Budapest all those years before.
Again the Ambassador surprised his Counsellor.
‘Ah, that’s why she was suspicious about him, and was so upset when I told her he was a Hungarian by birth. H’m—well she’s rather smarter than the American Security people—as one would expect!’
‘How do they come into it?’ Richard asked, with increasing surprise.
‘Oh, they screened him at that Camp place they had for Hunks, and were so well satisfied that they gave him American papers!’ Sir Noël said ironically. ‘One moment—I think Ainsworth had better be in on this.’ He raised the baize-lined lid of the box in which his desk telephone was housed, and lifted the receiver. ‘Mr. Ainsworth, please.’ A pause. ‘Ainsworth? Oh, good. Could you come to my study for a moment.’ He put down the lid of the box again, and rang the bell; when a servant answered it he ordered drinks to be brought, and the chauffeur to be told that he would not be wanted for another half-hour. ‘This is rather more important than drinks with the Japs,’ he said to Richard—‘so we might as well have some drinks ourselves. Oh, I wonder if Miss Manson is still there?’ Again he uncovered the telephone. ‘Miss Manson, please. Help yourself, Richard’—as the tray of drinks was brought in. ‘Miss Manson? Oh, good. Could you ring up the Japanese Embassy and say that I am very sorry, but that I may not be able to come this evening’… ‘Oh, an urgent cable, I think … Thank you so much. Don’t stay too late.’ Once again he replaced the baize-lined lid.
Richard was full of curiosity as to what had been going on between his chief and his wife about the Parrotts’ chauffeur—clearly Sir Noël knew much more than he himself had yet been told. But before he could frame a question Ainsworth came in.
‘Ah, that’s right. Give yourself a drink, Ainsworth,’ Sir Noël said, pouring out a whisky for himself as he spoke. ‘Now, you remember that enquiry we had made in Washington about the Parrotts’ chauffeur?’
‘Yes, Sir. It cleared him completely.’
‘Well, now listen to what Atherley’s wife has just told him. Carry on, Richard.’
Richard repeated Hetta’s story, still astonished that an enquiry should actually have been made in Washington. Had that been done at Hetta’s instance
?
‘Good Lord!’ Ainsworth ejaculated at the end. He paused for a moment. ‘They seem to have had much the same idea in London,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘Does your wife know Torrens?’ he asked Richard.
‘I think she met him in Portugal, ages ago,’ Richard replied.
‘But they don’t correspond?’
‘Definitely not,’ Richard said, rather nettled at the suggestion.
‘Why, Ainsworth?’ the Ambassador enquired, surprised in his turn.
‘Only that just after we got the reply from Washington, I had a signal from Torrens, asking if we were perfectly satisfied with the security arrangements here for the Admiral.’
‘You never told me that.’
‘No, Sir. I’m sorry—I thought as this Luis had been given such complete clearance in the States, it wasn’t worth bothering you again. But now I just wondered if by any chance it tied in.’
‘I wonder too,’ Sir Noël said thoughtfully.
Chapter 5
To cause the diplomatic mission of another Power, however friendly, to get rid of a valued and trusted servant is a matter of some delicacy, and Sir Noël eventually decided to see Hetta himself; after all, the whole case against Luis rested on her ipse dixit, and her recognition of a man she had last seen so many years before. He trusted Hetta completely; it was a case of persuading the Americans to trust her word. There was some corroborative evidence in the fact of Richard Atherley having himself seen the empty motor-cycle combination in the precise spot indicated by his wife as the scene of the ambush, and also in Torrens’ independent enquiry about security for Admiral Luxworthy from the London office; in fact what the Ambassador chiefly wanted to clear up was just how independent that enquiry had really been—and he guessed, rightly, that he was more likely than Richard to learn this.
Accordingly Ainsworth was told to take no action that evening—in any case by this time no one would be in their offices any more—and through Richard it was arranged that Sir Noël should go to the clinic at 9.45 the next morning.
‘Oh, I am so glad that you have come!’ was Hetta’s greeting.
‘Are you, my dear? Well I am very glad to see you looking so well, except for that bruise. Does your wrist hurt much?’
‘No, hardly at all, unless I move it, thank you.’
‘That’s good. Well, it seems that you were quite right in your suspicions of that chauffeur,’ he said, sitting down. ‘Tell me, did you write to anyone in London about it? Said you were worried?’
‘In London, no.’
‘Then where did you write?’ he asked.
‘To Mrs. Jamieson—she used to be Luzia’s governess in Portugal; I met her there, ages ago. I was so worried, and her husband is in Intelligence, so I thought she might be able to help. He is abroad somewhere. Was it wrong?’
‘No—though it might have been a help if you had told us more,’ he said, smiling. ‘Tell me, does Mrs. Jamieson know a Major Torrens in Intelligence?’
‘Very well—at one time he wanted to marry her!’ Hetta exclaimed, laughing.
‘Do you know if she told him about your—well, your anxiety?’
‘That is what we hoped she would do!—it was why we wrote to her,’ Hetta said frankly.
‘H’m.’ The Ambassador reflected. ‘When you say “we”, who else wrote, or knew that you were writing?’
‘Luzia. She has had experience of Communists, too—in their own house, at Gralheira!’ Hetta replied. ‘So of course I consulted her. To write to Mrs. Jamieson was her idea.’
‘Do you know if she spoke to anyone else about it?’
‘Yes, to Ellington, this young aide-de-camp of the Admiral’s.’
‘Told him that she had written to Mrs. Jamieson?’
‘No no—told him that Luis should not drive anyone to Rota,’ Hetta said, laughing again. ‘We were afraid that he might not pay attention, but he did.’
‘Did she tell him why not?’
‘No—she just said it would not be right. But he was sufficiently èpris with her to do as she asked.’ Hetta looked amused.
‘H’m,’ the Ambassador said again. He had been thinking that when dealing with the American Embassy it would be extremely convenient if the fact of Hetta’s letter to Mrs. Jamieson could be suppressed, if it were safe to do so; that would give its full weight to Torrens’ enquiry from London. Well, Ellington was gone now.
‘Have you still got Mrs. Jamieson’s reply to your letter?’ he asked.
‘Oh no—I burnt that.’
‘Did she write to the Condesa too?’
‘No, the one letter to us both.’
‘Good. Well, tell your lovely friend not to mention the fact that you wrote, to anyone. I need not tell you that!’ He paused. ‘Look, Hetta,’ the Ambassador went on, ‘I hope it won’t be necessary, but if our American friends are—well, difficult—about getting rid of this man, would you be willing to repeat to their Intelligence people what you told Richard?’
‘Of course. He ought to be got rid of,’ she replied vigorously. ‘But Nell will make a great fuss!’ she added.
‘I don’t doubt it,’ Sir Noël replied drily—Mrs. Parrott’s ‘fuss’ was partly what he had in mind. ‘One of us will bring him, of course,’ he said. ‘Goodbye, my dear. Get well quickly.’
Back at the Embassy he first saw Richard.
‘Yes, both she and Luzia did write to a friend in England—a Mrs. Jamieson, who has a husband in Intelligence. But in her reply this lady never actually said that she had communicated with Torrens, so when dealing with our allies I think we can forget that they wrote at all! Ainsworth had better go ahead with his opposite number at once. Will you tell him? Oh by the way,’ he added, as Atherley made to leave the room, ‘Hetta said she would be quite willing to tell the American Intelligence man what she told you herself, in case of need.’
‘I hope they won’t want to bother her,’ Richard said, frowning a little.
‘So do I. But if they do, she’s the key witness. The important thing is to get rid of this fellow.’
‘Yes—and to get him right out of the country!’ Richard said anxiously. ‘I don’t like their even being in the same town, now that he knows she’s a Hungarian. He may think back and remember her from Budapest, too. And the Communists are certain to have a file on her.’
‘Why?’ Sir Noël asked, rather startled.
‘Because she was mixed up in getting that Father Horvath out of Portugal. They kidnapped her there, and drugged her—it was a miracle that she escaped.’
‘Good Heavens!’ Sir Noël said, horrified. ‘I’d no idea of that—you must tell me some time. Yes, certainly they’ll have a dossier. Ainsworth had better lose no time.’
Within twenty minutes Ainsworth, briefed by Richard, was talking to Milton Day, his American colleague. Day took the point at once, though he too expressed surprise that the office in London should have made enquiries about security for the Admiral—Ainsworth said nothing to that. Major Day also thought it remarkable that Mrs. Atherley should have recognised the man from so long ago.
‘I wonder if maybe we hadn’t better get a report on him from home,’ he observed. ‘He must have been screened at that camp, before he got his papers.’
‘We did that.’
‘You did? For Pete’s sake! Why?’
‘The Ambassador realised that Mrs. Atherley was suspicious about him, and thought we’d better check; she’s a highly responsible person, with a first-hand knowledge of Communists and their methods—which is more than you or I have,’ Ainsworth replied firmly. ‘We did it through our Embassy in Washington.’
‘Any result?’
‘No, completely negative.’
‘And you still think he ought to be fired? Captain Parrott isn’t going to like this at all,’ Day said, looking rather worried.
‘Of course he isn’t. All the same he’ll have to lump it,’ the Englishman said bluntly. ‘He can hardly call our Counsellor’s wife a liar—and don’t forget that At
herley did see the motorcycle combination, empty, at the very spot where Mrs. Atherley overheard that the shooting was to take place.’
‘Yes—yes, that sounds like confirmation. Tell you what, Jim, will you come along with me to see the Captain?’
Ainsworth agreed, and they went together to Parrott’s office, where Day said his piece. Walter was no better pleased than Major Day had anticipated at the idea of losing his chauffeur, but he was too sensible to raise serious objections.
‘I just don’t quite know how we’ll get along,’ he said rather gloomily at the end. ‘How soon do you people want him to leave?’ He looked at Ainsworth as he spoke.
‘With the minimum of delay,’ Ainsworth answered. Richard had thought it well to stress to him that the Communists had been up against his wife once already, and would certainly be keeping tabs on her since the incident on Sunday; he rubbed this in. Parrott nodded gloomily, and reflected.
‘How do we go about it? He’s an American citizen; I can fire him, but I can’t very well deport him, nor dictate to him what he does after he’s fired, so far as I know.’
Major Day grinned.
‘Leave that to the Spanish Security Police! The people here had all they wanted in the way of Communists back in their Civil War; they’ll see him clear out of the country, which is just what’s needed. I’ll see them and fix it.’
‘Then maybe I needn’t even fire him myself,’ Parrott said hopefully. It would be easier for him if it was done in that way; he wouldn’t have to explain anything to Nell.’
‘Maybe you needn’t,’ Day said. ‘In fact I think it might be better if you don’t. I don’t have to tell you that the fewer people know about this the better,’ he added—he too knew Mrs. Parrott’s tongue. ‘He isn’t working alone, and Mrs. Atherley ought not to be put at risk. The less warning he gets the better. That right?’ he said to Ainsworth.
‘Perfectly right.’ Ainsworth turned to the Captain. ‘Have you any idea where he’s likely to be at this time of day?’
‘In the flat, I’d fancy. The car’s being repaired, so my wife was going to let him polish the floors and do the silver,’ Parrott replied ingenuously. ‘He’s marvellous at those things. I don’t know how she’ll get along without him—we’ll never get another man like that.’