The Main Chance

by Colin Forbes

  Nothing could have taken Tweed more aback but his face showed no reaction but interest. Paula gripped her knees tightly with both hands to conceal her shock, to keep her expression neutral. Bella frowned.

  `I'm getting this out of sequence. First, the Main Chance Bank is private, always has been. We keep well away from the idea of a flotation on the Stock Exchange, although they keep pestering, probably because it's simply the richest bank in Europe, possibly in the world. Founded in 1912 by my fathers-in-law, Ezra Main and Pitt Chance—'

  `Excuse me,' Tweed interjected, 'but are their portraits on the wall in the library outside this study?'

  `Those are the two brigands. Ezra is the one on the left.'

  `Brigands?' Tweed repeated. 'But my reading of history tells me men were tougher in those days. Two world wars softened most of the men. Now in business they trick and cheat.'

  `How right you are.' She used a hand to smooth down one side of her hair. 'They had the idea a lot of rich men living in Europe wanted a safe haven for their large sums of money. The Main Chance Bank they founded provided that haven. Has done ever since. Today you need a minimum of a million to join our bank. In dollars, Swiss francs or pounds sterling. We take ten per cent of the first deposit as our fee. They are happy with that because they know their money is safe.'

  `You take anyone with those funds?'

  `We do not! My intelligence service vets them first. We're on the lookout for money-launderers, terrorist funds, robbery proceeds. They can all jump in the fountain outside. There is more to the system than that, but first I need to know if you will join us on a permanent basis. As chief administrator with full powers. The salary would be three hundred thousand as a starter. It would go up when you'd settled in.'

  `I never guessed you had anything like this in mind.' He paused. 'I take it as a great compliment but I'm dedicated to the work I do now.'

  There was a tap on the door and Snape walked in with another silver tray with coffee and separate glasses for water. He placed a large glass carafe near Tweed. They were looking at Snape while Tweed glanced down at the carpet by the side of the desk. The runnels had appeared again, like small wheel marks; two rows, about eighteen inches apart. The sun cast light onto the carpet, reflecting off small and larger specks glittering like gold.

  When Snape had left Bella snapped her fingers, checked her watch. She turned to Lavinia, put a hand to her high forehead.

  `One day I'm going to get old. Help me find a long stiff brown envelope out of that awkward drawer.'

  Both heads dipped as they struggled to open the drawer. Tweed took his white display handkerchief from his top pocket, dipped it, unseen by everyone except Paula, into the open carafe of water. He bent down, spread it widely over the golden specks, pressed hard, screwed it up, returned it to his pocket. What on earth is he up to? wondered Paula. Bella and Lavinia were still struggling with the drawer. Then it came open.

  `You really should have that seen to,' Lavinia suggested.

  `Then I wouldn't know when someone has been prying.'

  Bella held in her hand a long stiff brown sealed envelope, the type used by lawyers. She held it so Tweed couldn't see the side with the address. The side he could see was further sealed with red sealing wax.

  `Lavinia,' she said in an unusually slow voice, 'I'm now going to fill in our visitors on the Doubenkian business — which you know all about. Could you please take this to my solicitors, Hamble, Goodworthy and Richter in Threadneedle Street in the City? Get a receipt from them.'

  `I'll take it now.' She got up, walked round the desk with her hand held out to Tweed. 'Goodbye, Mr Tweed. I really like your personality.' She turned to Paula, who braced her hand for Lavinia's strong grip. 'I like you equally, Paula. I envy you working for such a remarkable man.'

  Tweed noticed that the stiff brown envelope was tucked firmly under her arm so he could see the sealed side but not the address. He waited only a short time before he made his move.

  Lavinia, walking briskly, had left the study and Bella was quiet an though deciding how to phrase what she was going to say next. Tweed stood up.

  `Do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?'

  `By all means go ahead. I think I'll have one.'

  Reaching for a silver box on her desk, she lifted the lid and extracted one of her own. She lit it with a silver ball after pressing a button. Tweed was now standing in a dark cubbyhole by the window. The sun had gone in. Looking down he saw Lavinia diving inside a Saab. He was looking straight down the drive to the entrance gates as he pretended to have trouble with his lighter. When a high flame appeared he shook it, dousing it. He repeated the exercise four times before lighting up. Parked in the concealed track opposite the gates he felt sure Harry had seen his signal. He watched as the gates opened automatically and Lavinia drove out, turning left — which was the way to Gladworth, not right to Threadneedle Street in London, the address Bella had spoken aloud so clearly. He went back and sat in his chair.

  `Time I came straight to the point,' Bella began. `Mr Calouste Doubenkian. A billionaire and a crook. Owns large contracts in Eastern oil, an immense steelworks, several banks in the Balkans. All obtained by dubious, not to say murderous methods. To get one bank he had the wife of the owner kidnapped, one of his minor crimes. Now he wants to buy the Main Chance. He's offered a huge sum, about half what we're worth.'

  `Normal procedure with those people,' Tweed observed. 'You offer a low price to start with, then they haggle like Arabs in the Mouski bazaar in Cairo.'

  `His name sounds Armenian,' Bella remarked.

  `Yes, but I doubt it's his original name. He could come from anywhere east of Bulgaria — Georgia, Dagestan, Tajikistan, an oil-rich state.'

  `You know something about him, then?'

  `No. I've heard the name, know that he's dangerous. That's all. He has never crossed my path.'

  `I had him investigated by Medfords Security...'

  `They've very good,' Paula assured her. 'I was trained by them before I joined the SIS. Who did you deal with?'

  `A director called Matteson, who struck me as clever.'

  `After my time,' Paula said with a smile.

  `So what did he find out?' Tweed interjected.

  `Well...' Bella sighed. 'He used his best man in Europe, someone codenamed Louis in Paris. Poor Louis ended up in his apartment with his throat cut. He's on my conscience.'

  `It goes with the territory. You have a large family working for you. I met them downstairs.'

  `It's a dubious tradition going way back. They all want to work for me. They're all bright. Must be a genetic thing lasting for centuries. They know they can't get anything like what I pay them anywhere else. A few wandered off on their own.'

  `What is the executive set-up?'

  `Marshal Main and Warner Chance are co-directors with equal powers. I was once married to Marshal's father, Charles, deceased. Later I married Rupert Chance, but he was killed in a road accident. So Marshal and Warner are my sons.'

  `They choose their clients?'

  `They certainly do not! I do that. If they're accept-

  able I then decide who would handle them best. Marshal is charming and boisterous, very extrovert. Warner is quieter and more deliberate.'

  `What made you choose Snape?'

  `Good question. Originally he was an officer with the Berkshire Blues, then transferred to the Engineers. Among other duties he can cope with the lift if it goes wrong. He has presence when greeting clients.'

  `What about security? When we arrived the gates opened before I identified myself on the speaker-phone.'

  `We knew you were coming.' She smiled. 'You don't miss much. He spotted you leaving Park Crescent, took a photograph, then tore back here on his motorcycle.'

  `He took our photographs?' Tweed was alarmed. 'He wasn't spotted.'

  `He's clever.' She chuckled. 'The Invisible Man. When you arrived he was watching from the manor with binoculars...'

  `He's in charge of security
?'

  `No. Lavinia, Chief Accountant, is. She's a forensic accountant. So is Crystal, who assists her. Now, Mr Tweed, you have an overall picture, so can't I persuade you to come and live here as Chief Administrator, with total power? Paula would be most welcome as your assistant.'

  `Again, I appreciate the compliment.' Tweed had stood up. 'I am dedicated to the position I hold now. I am sorry.'

  `So am I.' Bella rose from behind her desk to escort them to the door. She pointed to the portraits of the two men who had originally founded the bank.

  `I couldn't stand having them staring at me in my study. You won't think again about my offer? Mrs Grandy has prepared two large suites which interconnect...'

  `Mrs Grandy?'

  `Our tyrant of a housekeeper. Outspoken too, but so reliable. I do need you, Mr Tweed, to come and protect our treasure.'

  She hugged Tweed, then turned to Paula and hugged her. When Snape appeared to escort them to the lift Tweed walked quickly towards him, followed closely by Paula. When the panel doors opened Tweed walked with Paula to the open door into the library. They were greeted by Leo shouting viciously, 'I'll kill you.'

  All the family were there. Crystal stood calmly as Leo rushed at her brandishing a knife. She kicked him hard on the leg. He yelled with pain, fell down. Warner appeared, pressed both hands on his shoulders as he slowly clambered upright. Quietly he ordered Leo to his room. Leo limped towards the lift.

  They made a point of shaking hands with everyone. As he reached Snape Tweed smiled as he spoke. `I'm afraid we shan't be coming to protect your treasure, as Mrs Bella expressed it.'

  `She said that to you!' Snape burst out.

  `We're leaving now,' Tweed told him, ignoring the strange outburst.

  4

  Tweed drove down the drive. The gates had opened, and he turned left into another fir-shrouded tunnel. It was cold again. It would always be cold. Paula stared at him. His expression was grim.

  She was looking at a man of uncertain age, of medium height and well built inside his smart navy- blue suit. He had horn-rimmed glasses on his strong nose above a determined mouth and well-shaped jaw.

  He had changed recently, seemed to her younger and very fit.

  `You're going the wrong way,' she ventured. 'We should have turned right beyond the gates for London' `You're not as analytical as you usually are.'

  `What does that mean?'

  `Bella and Lavinia made a great performance about hiding the address on that envelope, the type of envelope which often contains a will.'

  `I still don't get it,' she protested.

  `Hamble, Goodworthy and Richter, well-known solicitors with offices in Threadneedle Street, London. Bella raised her voice to make sure we heard. I do have an advantage over you,' he admitted. 'Watching her leave in her Saab from that window I saw Lavinia turn left beyond the gates.'

  `This is the way to Gladworth..

  `Precisely,' he went on in the same grim tone. 'I signalled to Harry with my lighter. He'll have followed her. When we find him he'll tell us where Lavinia did go to.'

  `Oh, I see.'

  `On top of that I don't like people laying plans to kill me, especially when I have you in the car. The attempt on our lives was skilfully planned. Be analytical and you can work it out for yourself.'

  `I'm lost,' she confessed.

  'Think!' he snapped. 'From the moment we left Park Crescent.'

  She glanced at him, taken aback. He so rarely snapped at her. She sensed he was concealing a cold rage.

  `This must be Gladworth,' Paula said as they emerged from the fir-enclosed tunnel into an old street paved with flat stones. 'Now, to find Harry and see if this is where Lavinia was headed for.'

  Tweed had slowed to a crawl. A notice warned 20 m.p.h. maximum speed. Paula had her face pressed to the window. She was searching for his brown Ford with its souped-up engine. Both sides of Gladworth's streets were lined with large expensive-looking terraced houses. Residents obviously occupied the first and second floors, which all had stone troughs perched on the outside ledges, packed with spring flowers — crocuses, daffodils and shrubs. The ground floors were occupied by shops Paula had not expected. Expensive, she spotted Escada where a dress cost a small fortune, then Aquascutum and many more in the same price range.

  `There's loads of money somewhere round here,' she observed.

  `Probably in big houses hidden in The Forest,' Tweed remarked vaguely. 'What we have to do is to see if Harry is here.'

  `There's a sign pointing to a car park down a side street,'

  `We'll check that. 1 don't see cars parked in the street.'

  As they turned down a narrow street bordered with grey-stone houses Paula lowered her window. The park was filled with expensive cars neatly slotted in. She saw a Lamborghini and stared at an ancient Lagonda. Tweed found a slot, slipped carefully inside, switched off the engine. He had seen Lavinia's Saab. The number plate was the one he'd memorized while watching her drive off from Hengistbury Manor.

  `Now, where's Harry?' she called out.

  `The old mucker's here,' Harry's Cockney voice replied, standing outside her window. 'And,' he went on, addressing Tweed, `if that silver Saab is the one you wanted me to follow you've come to the right place. The girl driving it could drive me nuts. If I put on a decent set of clothes and got educated.'

  `She'd probably be fascinated by you,' Paula said, grinning. 'Especially when you started telling her East End jokes.'

  `What did she do when she arrived?' growled Tweed. `Where is she now?'

  `First —' Harry ticked off the points on his thick fingers — 'she parks her car here. Second, she darts back into the street and pops into a solicitors — Lowell, French and Browne. Small place in the main street with a big window. A thin streak with a pince-nez is sitting behind a desk. She hands him the long brown envelope she's been carrying. Pince-nez scribbles in a small book, tears out a sheet, hands it to her and she's away.'

  `The receipt,' said Tweed.

  `Then Pince-nez uses the phone, a short call.' `Telling Bella it's arrived safely,' Tweed commented. `What does she do next?'

  `Goes into the Pike's Peak, presumably for lunch since she's still there. At least I think so. Not in the dining-room or bar.'

  `That posh place with white walls and a doorman?' asked Paula.

  `You've got it in one. Best place in town is my guess.'

  Tweed was hurrying out of the car as Paula closed the window. When they joined Harry, Tweed's voice was crisp, that of a man who did not waste time. He looked at Harry.

  `Guide us discreetly. I'd like to see Lowell, French and Browne without them seeing us.'

  `Follow me. Slowly. No one hurries in Gladworth. No one except the glorious dish who drives the Saab. We'll cross to the other side of the main street.'

  There was no traffic when they strolled after Harry. Among the few pedestrians were elegantly dressed women gazing into the shop windows. This is better than the Piccadilly end of Bond Street, Paula thought. Harry paused, turned round.

  `Other side of the street. That big window!

  Tweed glanced at the window of sheet glass. Inscribed in old lettering was the name. Lowell, French & Browne. Solicitors. No one was seated at a large desk at right angles to the High Street. Nor was there any sign of any occupant anywhere in the office. Tweed frowned.

  `Don't go to the Pike's Peak for lunch,' Harry warned. 'Your target must be in the restaurant.'

  Tweed chose a tea shop which served full lunches. They invited Harry to join them but he had a packed lunch in his car. Paula ordered ham and eggs and Tweed followed suit. He had a faraway look and Paula kept quiet.

  `Excuse my not talking,' he said, 'but I have a lot to think about.'

  They were driving back towards London through the dark tunnels with Harry a quarter-mile ahead of

  them when Tweed began. talking.

  `Worked it out yet?' he asked Paula.

  `Yes. My brain must have gone to sleep. That attempt
to kill us with the digger was brilliantly organized. First, there must have been someone watching us leave Park Crescent. Then he'd use his mobile to alert a pilot waiting at a private airfield, describing our car and maybe us. Pilot takes off and checks the lane leading to Hengistbury Manor. When he sees us the pilot flashes a signal to the digger driver, already waiting for us.

  `Very good. But how did they know we were heading out to see Bella this morning?'

  No idea.'

  `Think!' he said with a smile. 'There's a traitor inside the Main Chance family. They all knew we were coming. Bella will have told them, maybe days ago. The traitor informed the brilliant organizer of that attack on us.'

  `Oh, my God! You have to be right.' She leaned forward. "There's a police barrier across the road. Very close to where that digger crash-landed.

  `Leave the talking to me,' Tweed suggested as he stopped, but kept the engine running.

  A uniformed officer, exuding self-importance, strolled towards them as Tweed lowered his window. He peered into the car and Paula stared back. He then addressed Tweed.

  `Driving down from London, sir?'

  `I'm driving to London from Gladworth. What seems to be the problem?'

  `I'm Inspector Tetford from Leaminster. There's been a nasty accident. Fatal. Driver of a large digger missed seeing a small gorge, plunged into it. Weight of the said digger killed him.'

  `Really,' said Tweed.

  `Coming from Gladworth, would you know a Jed Higgins?'

  'No, I wouldn't.'

  `Odd business. Digger was stolen from his barn. Earlier the farmer received a phone call saying his wife had been injured in a car smash on the motorway nearer London. So he dashes off and later finds there's been no car smash. Gets back to his farm after the digger was stolen. Finds his wife safe and sound, back from shopping in Gladworth.'

  `As you said, odd business.'

  `And, sir, none of the locals ever heard of Jed Higgins. I won't detain you any longer.' He stood back, saluted, waved to someone and the barrier was lifted.

  Tweed drove on without a glance into the field where a canvas tent had been erected over the digger.