Deadlock tac-5

by Colin Forbes

  'In Rotterdam you stay at the Hotel Central on Kruis-kade – just down the street from the Hilton. It's as central as its name implies, and not far from police headquarters.'

  That's a good idea?'

  'Yes. The police never expect to find suspects under their noses. And by the way, you register as Miss Eva Winter.'

  Klein smiled to himself as they crossed a reclaimed polder. Miss Winter. It rather suited the grisly role he'd allocated for her to play.

  The Alouette was just crossing the frontier into Holland as Benoit returned from the pilot's cabin. Tweed sat by the window with Newman alongside and Butler in front. Tweed was restless, Newman sensed, although he sat like a graven image. He looked up as Benoit stood by Newman, holding a sheaf of papers in his hands.

  'Several radio messages. Van Gorp, The Hague police chief, welcomes you to Holland. He's meeting us at the Hilton. He says if you're coming something must be up. And we've had a report of a large explosion in the North Sea between Norfolk and Europort.'

  Tweed glanced at Newman. 'What kind of explosion?'

  'No one seems to know. A Nimrod aircraft setting off on a patrol saw it from a distance. When it got there it could find nothing to explain it – no sign of a ship's wreckage. Which is strange. They thought at first a vessel's boilers must have blown.'

  Benoit handed the messages to Tweed and went back to the pilot's cabin. Tweed read the signals, handed them to Newman.

  'Don't like the sound of that,' he said. 'A normal explosion, there should have been plenty of wreckage…'

  'Whereas a Triton Three bomb might leave nothing behind?'

  'Exactly. I do wish we had news from Nield. Not like him to leave us in the dark. And still no news of that bargee, Haber. We'll just have to wait.'

  Nield was nearly at the end of his tether as he drove through the deserted streets of London. Thank God he'd arrived before traffic built up. His head was pounding like a bass drum, his vision blurring. With a sigh of relief he pulled up outside Park Crescent.

  George, the all-night doorman, let him in, stared at his bandaged head. 'My, been in the wars, sir?'

  'Something like that.'

  He hauled himself up the stairs, saw a light under the door to Tweed's office, pushed it open. Monica, now fully dressed, also stared at him. He sagged into Tweed's armchair, began talking quickly while she made coffee. She made him keep quiet until he'd drunk the first cup, then went on listening.

  That's it,' he said eventually. 'You know where Tweed is?'

  'In Brussels last night. I'll send a message via police HQ in Brussels after I've called a doctor…' 'Send the message first.' 'As soon as I've called the doctor,' she said firmly.

  The Alouette had just landed when Benoit hurried from the pilot's cabin with more signals. He handed them to Tweed who scanned them quickly. He pursed his lips and stared outside where several cars were drawn up.

  'Van Gorp sent them to meet us,' Benoit explained.

  'What's happened?' asked Newman.

  'I think we were right about that explosion at sea. Nield drove through the night to Park Cresent. In Blakeney last night he watched that coaster of Caleb Fox's being loaded with so-called furniture belonging to Dr Portch. Portch has left Norfolk to take up a post in, guess where – here in Holland.'

  'You think something went wrong? That the coaster carried the whole Triton Three armament and blew up?'

  'No. I see the hand of Klein behind that. I'm sure he offloaded all the bombs and sea-mines except one. He couldn't leave the coaster's crew behind to tell the tale. So he liquidated every man jack of them. A massacre. Fiend is the word for Klein. But it follows the same pattern. The one that started in Marseilles and Geneva. Leave no one alive who has any knowledge. Those bombs and sea-mines have been landed somewhere in Holland by some method. I'm really afraid, Bob.'

  Newman stared at him. He'd never heard Tweed say anything like that before. That's it?' he enquired.

  'No. Van Gorp reports they've found Joseph Haber. Don't too much like the sound of that either. Just that they've found him.'

  'So, that's it.'

  'Not quite. Monica has transmitted another brief message from Olympus.' He kept his voice low. 'My contact inside Klein's organization. The message is that it's not Antwerp – it's Europort. Probably.'

  'Olympus never seems sure…'

  'Which is because I'm certain Klein is working on the cell system. Maybe only two or three members of his team actually know each other. And no one except Klein will know the target until the last moment. He's a devil – his security is very professional. But then, considering his background and training, it would be. And that may be the last message I receive from Olympus. I'm very worried about my contact.'

  'Why?'

  'Because Klein is so clever. Olympus is now in mortal danger.'

  Klein dropped Lara at the entrance to Kruiskade opposite the Hilton. She walked the short distance to the Hotel Central, an old five-storey building with a facade which had survived the wartime bombing.

  Reception was expecting her, a room had been reserved, she registered and went up to her room on the second floor. As the door closed on the porter she sank on to the bed. Was this the objective at long last?

  Lara felt unsure – Klein had led her such a dance. There were other potential targets further north. The German ports of Bremen and Hamburg. On the way Klein had given her the usual instructions.

  Check Europort after hiring a car. Check the security. And check the potential for a safe escape route – more than one if possible.

  She checked her watch. 7.30 a.m. Better get on with it. She unlocked her suitcase, opened the lid, undid the inner straps to save her clothes from being too compressed. Taking out her camera and binoculars, she went downstairs and had breakfast in the dining room.

  She was dressed in her smart gaberdine suit – chosen deliberately before she left the Antwerp hotel. She felt good in it, which helped her keep up a front of still being besotted with Klein.

  After breakfast she decided she needed a breath of fresh air to take the ache out of her limbs from travelling in the BMW. She turned left out of the entrance and soon entered a large spacious shopping precinct.

  Rotterdam was different from what she'd expected. She'd anticipated a congested mass of concrete blocks. They existed, but the precinct was beautiful. Paved in stone, it was decorated with raised troughs containing evergreen shrubs. Pergolas projected from modern shop fronts. Hanging baskets of flowers were suspended from the overhead beams. She sat on a seat, taking in the beauty of the place. Was it Europort? she kept asking herself. After ten minutes' rest – Lara had enjoyed very little sleep – she walked to the car hire agency whose address she'd obtained from the directory in her bedroom, aided by the street plan obtained from the concierge. Near the agency was a row of phone booths.

  'There is the barge, Erika, and there is the late Joseph Haber,' said Van Gorp.

  Poker-faced, Tweed stepped aboard the barge, followed by Newman and Benoit. They had been driven from the airport to the Hilton. They had dumped their bags. They had driven straight to the huge docking basin of Waalhaven.

  It was almost an exact replica of the horror Tweed had seen in the Dames de Meuse – where the other bargee, Broucker, had been buried up to his chest in mud. The Erika 's hold still carried its load of gravel. Near the bows two shovels lay where men had carefully started removing gravel – until they unearthed what Tweed now stood staring down at.

  Haber was buried up to his chest in gravel. His head flopped back, exposing the rim of dried blood which curved from ear to ear. His mouth was open, slack, and he appeared to be grinning. His skin had a deathly pallor.

  'Found him in the middle of the night,' Van Gorp explained. 'Benoit called me, extended the search across the border. We checked and it was reported the barge had been seen in Waalhaven.'

  'So,' Tweed said slowly, 'Klein now has the last instruments he needs to organize his catastrophe. The timer devices w
hich will explode the bombs and the sea-mines. Have you issued a general alert? Declared an emergency?'

  'No.'

  Van Gorp was an impressive-looking man. Towering over Tweed, six feet one tall, in his forties, his hair was greying and he sported a trim moustache. There was a natural air of command about the man, softened by a hint of humour in the eyes. Slim in build with a longish face, he stood in a grey overcoat and a grey trilby hat.

  'For God's sake why not?' Tweed rapped out. 'Klein has been here. Haber is wearing his trademark. He carried the timers aboard this barge, I'm certain.'

  'I've already spoken with the Minister of the Interior at The Hague. Benoit sent me a long radio message giving me the information you've accumulated.'

  'With what result?'

  'He's not convinced…'

  'The same problem I had in Brussels,' Benoit intervened. 'A lack of solid evidence.'

  'There's your evidence.' Tweed nodded to Haber, then turned his head away.

  'The Minister is attending a cabinet meeting this morning,' Van Gorp continued. 'He promised to bring the matter to their attention. His exact words.'

  Tweed glanced at him suspiciously, detecting a touch of irony. Van Gorp stared back, his grey eyes motionless.

  'The Dutch Government won't close down Europort without an overwhelming case.'

  'Then Klein will close it down for them. You've taken no action at all?'

  The Dutchman's eyes twinkled. 'I didn't say that, did I? I believe you. I have cancelled all police leave. I have brought in extra units from The Hague. We are combing the city – looking for any unusual activity. The trouble is you are Secret Service. The Minister made great play with that. Not your scene, man. Tracking bandits.'

  'My omission,' Tweed apologized. He produced his warrant card. 'Temporary appointment. I'm a Commander of the Anti-Terrorist Squad.'

  Van Gorp grinned. Thank you. Now I may have the Minister by the balls. Let's get back to the Hilton fast.' He called out to detectives waiting in a group near the stern. 'Do something about this horror in the gravel. And hurry it up.'

  They made their way round the tall white cloth screen erected to shield the barge from public gaze. On their way back in the car Tweed thought about Paula searching for Haber's wife and son.

  The car pulled up outside the mill in the middle of the Ardennes. Paula jumped out, followed by her police escort, Pierre. She studied the old stone tower, the shuttered windows, then walked all round it.

  'I think this is a very likely prison,' she told him. 'You have the spare set of keys the agent gave you?'

  'Yes.' Pierre puckered his lips doubtfully. 'Strictly speaking I need a warrant from a magistrate.'

  'Why? We checked the other places yesterday.'

  'This one has been bought. Paid for outright.'

  'Suppose they're starving inside? A woman with her child?'

  'You are very persuasive. After all,' he joked, 'I can only lose my pension.'

  The heavy door opened with a groaning creak. Paula followed him inside. Creepy. Pierre switched on his torch. It was Paula who mounted the old circular staircase to the door on the first floor landing. She took a deep breath as Pierre studied the labels attached to the keys, selected one, thrust it inside the keyhole and turned it.

  Taking hold of the ancient handle, he paused, turned it swiftly and entered, his automatic in his hand. Paula followed. At the far circumference of the circular wall a woman with bedraggled hair stood, her arm round a boy.

  'Marline Haber?' asked Paula in French.

  'Yes. Thank God. Who are you?'

  'Paula Grey. Pierre and I have been looking for you, searching empty houses from lists supplied by estate agents. Are you all right?'

  'Yes. Perhaps because we didn't drink that.' She pointed to a thermos standing on a crude wooden table. 'It is coffee supplied by the kidnapper, but it tasted odd. So we did not drink any…'

  'I'll take that,' said Pierre, 'for analysis…'

  'My husband, Joseph. Is he all right? Do you know where he is? Who are these madmen?'

  'We'd better get you both back to Dinant,' Paula said. 'Then I can enquire further.'

  Entering the Hilton, Tweed was approached by the concierge who told him there was a gentleman waiting for him in the breakfast room, a Commander Bellenger. Tweed hurried to the room.

  'Hello, Tweed. Thought I'd have a spot of breakfast while I waited. Flew over as soon as I'd got the message. Luckily we checked with Brussels before I took off. They told us you were on your way here. Are you on your own?'

  'No.' Tweed lowered his voice. The Dutch Chief of Police is waiting in my room when you've finished your meal…'

  'Finished now, old chap. Duty calls.' Bellenger stood up, wiping his mouth with a napkin, leaving his half-eaten meal. 'Get used to sudden calls to action in the Navy,' he continued as they made their way to the elevator. 'Snatch a bite to eat between watches – and before you've swallowed two mouthfuls there's an emergency. There's one here, isn't there?'

  'Let's talk with everyone present. And thank you for flying over so quickly. I want you to impress on these people what we're facing. That armoury of explosives -Triton Three – is now hidden somewhere near here, I'm convinced. Target – Europort.'

  'Oh God,' Bellenger said as they stepped out of the elevator. 'They could shut down a continent…'

  In his room Van Gorp waited with Newman, Benoit and Butler. Tweed made quick introductions, then poured another cup of coffee for the bluff, ruddy-faced Bellenger who perched on the arm of a chair.

  'Tell them,' said Tweed. He looked at Van Gorp, standing with his back to the window. 'But first you should know a huge quantity of new type of explosive was stolen from a depot inside Soviet Russia…'

  He phrased the next bit carefully, embroidering to keep his promise of secrecy to Lysenko not to mention Igor Zarov.

  'Klein organized the theft of thirty sea-mines and twenty-five bombs of a very advanced type. He used the so-called Free Armenian Movement and others he bribed. That armoury was transported aboard a Greek ship, the Lesbos, which vanished into thin air. Only very recently did we realize it is now a wrecked hulk which has lain off the Norfolk coast for months. The armoury was smuggled ashore, hidden inside a hundred-year-old crypt. The whole operation was brilliantly organized – because in Klein we are up against one of the most ruthless men I've ever encountered. I've lost count of the people he's murdered personally to cover his tracks.' Tweed addressed Bellenger. 'I've just returned from viewing his latest victim – Joseph Haber, a bargee from Dinant. He's lying in his own load of gravel aboard a barge in Waalhaven near here, his throat slashed from ear to ear. That was how the timers and control boxes – designed by a Swiss – came to be smuggled into Holland. We've reached today.'

  'Very bad news,' Bellenger commented, 'that bit about Swiss-made timers and control boxes.' He looked at Van Gorp. 'I can't tell you how, but I do know the one crude element used in the Soviet mines and bombs is the detonating device.'

  'These mines and bombs,' Van Gorp commented, 'must be pretty large – difficult to hide so many.'

  'Not at all. It's a great technical breakthrough-achieved, I suspect, with East German scientists. Both bombs and mines will be very light in weight, exceptionally small in size.' He cupped his hands. 'One no larger than a pineapple could entirely destroy a small ship.'

  'What about a seven hundred ton coaster?' Newman enquired.

  'Wipe it off the face of the earth. You'd have trouble finding any bits left.' He glanced at Tweed. 'I've heard reports there was a mysterious and huge explosion in the North Sea off the Dutch coast last night.'

  'That was the coaster – bringing across the armoury. We're sure the armoury was off-loaded on to smaller vessels in the middle of the sea passage from Norfolk to here. Then a bomb was used to eliminate the coaster.'

  'Entirely possible,' Bellenger agreed. He looked at Van Gorp. 'And a frightening prospect for you.'

  'Just how powerful are these mi
niaturized mines and bombs?' the Dutchman asked. 'I mean I'd like some idea of the explosive power of this new stuff.'

  'Very crudely put, midway between conventional high-explosive and an atom bomb.'

  'I see.' Van Gorp's expression was unusually grim. 'As you say, I might have a problem. Where do we start?' he asked Tweed. 'You've been in on this business from the start. You know more than any of us about this Klein. Incidentally, I've informed the Minister of your status with the Anti-Terrorist Squad. You know what he replied? "Well, that regularizes the situation." Just that…'

  He broke off as the phone rang, picked it up, spoke a few words in English, then handed it to Tweed. 'For you. A Paula Grey, speaking from Dinant.'

  'How is it going, Paula?'

  'Fine. Marvellous news!' She sounded jubilant. 'We've found Martine and her son, Lucien.' Her voice became guarded. 'I'm speaking from Dinant police HQ – over an open line.'

  'Understood.'

  'They're both OK. A bit stressed after their experience – we found them locked up in an old mill tower. I'll be catching a train to Namur, then another from there to Brussels. I'll catch the first flight to Rotterdam. See you at the Hilton.' Her voice changed again. 'Any news of Joseph Haber?'

  Tweed braced himself. 'Are Martine and Lucien in the room with you?'

  'No, I'm alone, but they're here. Why did you ask that?'

  'Bad news, Paula…'

  'Oh, no. He's not…?'

  'Dead. Yes. Found by the Dutch in the middle of the night aboard the Erika in a docking basin here. His throat was cut. More of Klein's work.'

  'I'll have to tell them – Martine and Lucien…'

  'Get that policeman, Pierre, to break the news. Police are used to it.'

  'I'll leave out the part about his cut throat.' Her tone was firm. 'But I'm going to tell them. Don't try and argue me out of it. See you at the Hilton. I'm going now.'

  There was a click at the other end. Tweed replaced the receiver. Gutsy, very gutsy. He told the others the news. It was Newman who reacted first.

  'She shouldn't come to Rotterdam. She's had enough. Hell is going to break loose here.'