“I think we are all in agreement on that,” Anne said. “Martin and Spencer will return there for another survey in three weeks, as arranged with Sing, the Smuggler. I’d like to see a well-defined outline of this trip, please.”
“Well,” the admiral said, “I suggest that if our Singing friend comes up with any kind of positive results to Martin’s requests, and, furthermore, shows indications of true cooperation, we should reveal to him that we’re not an aid program at all, but that we’re out to seriously damage the North Korean tyrant’s public image.”
Sir Cedric, startled, sat up straight.
“Why on earth would we want to reveal such a secret to a smuggler?” he remarked. “He could throw a wrench into the entire operation.”
Martin spoke for the first time. Much as he had wanted to, he had avoided kissing Anne in front of the others, and so far had, with great difficulty, managed not to exchange looks with her any more than a normal friendship would allow.
“I think there is a lot of sense in what Admiral Stone has just suggested,” he said. “If Sing is in tune with us, no pun intended, we will now have a very powerful ally. If not—we give him something very insignificant to smuggle across, pay him, and never see him again. However, if we don’t tell him of at least the general nature of our activities, I’m sure he’ll find out anyway—after all, we’ll be delivering materials and operational instructions through his good graces. And if he thinks we’re hiding something from him, we may find him a hindrance rather than a confederate.”
Sir Cedric relaxed.
“Yes, I see now,” he said.
“Thank you, Martin,” the admiral said. “You’ve presented my case better than I could have done it myself. But I’d go even further. If, after revealing our purpose, our two faithful scouts see that he is still in a cooperative mood, they might test him with the notion that we’re going to disrupt a public speech.”
“I trust Martin and Spencer will employ the utmost caution before revealing anything,” Anne said, her look lingering on Martin. “Many factors need to be examined on site, as they happen, not least the psychological attitude of the smugglers.”
“And, of course,” Sir Cedric said, “it all depends on the political atmosphere between the two Koreas. We may need to revise our plans if something dramatic happens during the next three weeks.”
“Can we consider the Korea issue closed for tonight?” Anne was all business again. “Good. Now we need to discuss the testing of Lemke’s anesthetic gravel. Come on, gentlemen—how do we do it?”
“I really have nothing better to suggest than to find a small village and test it there,” Sir Cedric said. “I know we’ve deliberated and argued about the discomfort we may cause the inhabitants to experience, not to mention bringing down a governmental investigation, but I see no other way. So, I picked Donegan, a little village up in the Lake District. We’ll need to learn the working habits of the local population and find the appropriate place to strew our gravel. We’ll time it to work in two days, and on the third day we’ll return to the place and see what effect it had.”
“I don’t like it,” Sir Cedric muttered.
“Neither do I,” the admiral snapped. “But unless you can think of something better, our only other option is not to test the gravel at all.”
“I’m afraid that’s it then,” Anne said, and stood up. “We’ll meet again to hammer out the details of the test in Donegan. Or maybe we could even do it by phone. Let’s call it an evening for now, okay?”
The admiral and Sir Cedric filed out the door. The minute they had gone, Anne rushed into Martin’s arms, and he covered her face with kisses. It had been a long parting for them both, and their passions were easily kindled. They made love on the sofa again and again, and night had fallen by the time their ardor was quenched.
Later, comfortable and satisfied, they sat holding hands in only their underwear, her head resting on his shoulder. Several minutes passed.
“So tell me,” Anne said finally.
“I thought I had,” he replied.
“That was reporting, silly, not telling. I want to know everything you saw, what the people are like, the food, the landscape … the women, especially the young women …”
Martin laughed.
“Forget about the women, Annie. They’re relatively tiny compared to us, and they have those distinct oriental features, almost Mongolian. I know that many Western men find some of the Korean girls exceptionally beautiful—in fact, I saw a few myself—but they just don’t do it for me. And the other stuff you mentioned is truly uninteresting. For the first two days, we were one hundred percent tourists and took in all the tours and sights they could throw at us. And that’s more or less it. I was never any good at botany, so I can’t tell you anything about the flora in Korea. There was no language problem as most of the population speaks English quite well, albeit with a heavy accent. The hotel served good food, with a mixed local and Western cuisine. Pretty good trip, overall. And you?”
“Me?”
Anne hesitated. Should she tell him about her visit to the Laval family? She preferred not to conceal anything from him—especially seeing that she needed him to be with her when she continued her investigations.
“I know you’ll be mad at me for what I’m about to tell you, darling, but what’s done cannot be undone.”
Martin grew tense. He listened silently while Anne told him about her inner conflicts regarding the visit, and how she finally made up her mind to go ahead with it. He was horrified.
“Are you out of your mind?” he said, his eyes staring at her.
“Actually, I don’t believe I am,” Anne retorted, “considering the results I got out of Mme. Laval.”
She told him of the conversation she had with Lucien Laval’s mother. Martin paid close attention to what Anne said, and had to admit that the information she provided was a remarkable step forward. They had a substantial lead.
“You’re a very naughty girl,” he chided her. “Don’t ever do that again!”
She put a finger in the corner of her mouth and pursed her lips in a mock pout.
“Are you going to punish me?”
In reply, he swept her into his arms, ripped off what little she was wearing and took her violently on the floor. She gasped, then clung to him and returned his thrusts eagerly, urging him on. When they both sank exhausted side by side, she said:
“Promise me you’ll always punish me that way.”
“I hope you’ll find safer reasons for me to do so. Come to think of it, no reason at all is also a good reason.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. She turned on her side to face him.
“When you return from your next trip to Korea,” she said soberly, “we’ll look for Ninette together. We’ll dress up as residents of the neighborhood, and you can scout around and see how things are handled there.”
“I don’t want to leave you waiting for my return from Korea. Your impulses have a way of getting the better of you, even after you gave me your solemn promise. We shall go to Saint-Denis this week together, after I get updated on what’s happening at the gym. But just a look-around, mind you. I mean it, Annie darling. No asking questions, and no attempting to find this hooker Ninette. That may come at a later stage. Is that quite understood?”
Anne nodded silently. He really loves me, she thought happily. He wasn’t as furious as I thought he would be.
She got up, made a comical scene of being seen naked by a man, and prepared something to eat. In bed, they made gentle love again and fell asleep in each other’s arms.
FORTY-THREE
A sack load of gravel had arrived from Hamburg the day before. Martin had consigned John and Bernard to the task of testing its capabilities. They observed the region around the village of Donegan and noticed that most of the population, at one time or another, walked along the main road that passed through the village. This was where they planned to scatter the tranquilizing gravel.
The next step
was the preparation of the liquid solution—the “conditioner,” as it appeared on the instructions attached to the sack. Accordingly, they diluted the solution and dipped a few kilograms of stones into it. Their timing was such that the gas would be released in the early morning of the day after tomorrow.
After dark, when nobody was about, John and Bernard, equipped with the treated gravel, drove along the main road and spread the stones on both its sides. Now all they had to do was to return in three days and be inquisitive.
Commissaire Duval called up an old friend in Scotland Yard. He and Assistant Commissioner Neville MacLeod had known each other since Police Academy days, and remained in touch ever since—occasionally helping each other out informally on particularly tough cases.
“Neville, my dear friend, how are you?”
“Felix, is that you? It’s been a long time since we last talked.”
“True. And very sad. I must make it up to you soon. But Neville, I need your help again. I am working on an important case, and a British citizen just might be involved.”
“Ah, Felix, Felix—you always call when you need something, never to socialize. And I miss your wife, Yvonne, sorely. So, tell me first when we can meet, and then I shall try to help you all I can. Bien?”
“You always made arguing so pleasant, Neville.” Duval was getting impatient. “I promise you that when this case is solved we shall spend a weekend in London with you and Dorothy. And the sooner you can help me now, the sooner we’ll be there!”
“Done! Now, what can I do for you? What is this case that involves a British citizen?”
“I have reason to suspect that this gentleman arrives from London to Paris almost every week and meets a certain person here. I do not know what the meeting is about—but I need to know whom he is meeting with in Paris. I have already spoken with him on the telephone, but he was not very cooperative. Do you understand?”
“There’s not much to understand so far, old boy. What do you expect of me?”
“His name is Sir Cedric Norton.” MacLeod gave a low whistle. “He is the head of Norlaser, a laser and electronics enterprise in London. I do not even have his description, but you probably do not need it.
“I know of him,” MacLeod said. “Felix, my friend, you are skating on very thin ice here. I would like to caution you….”
“I know, I know,” Duval said hastily. “Never fear, I do not intend to work up a scandal. I just need more information for my investigations.”
“So? What exactly do you require?”
“I was wondering whether you could check with the London airports that have flights to Paris. And if you find his name on one of the passenger lists, could you alert me when he is expected to arrive here? That is all I ask.”
“Is that really all, Felix? I know you too well. You wouldn’t call me …”
“All right, all right.” Duval laughed. “You’re still the wily fox you always were. Yes, I could make good use of his description as well. I admit this is a bit much to ask, so I might as well tell you that I’m investigating a murder case. Can you help me?”
“Felix, are you’re telling me that Sir Cedric Norton is involved in a murder case in France?”
“No, Neville. I’m telling you that I am examining a murder case here, and that enhancing my knowledge of Sir Cedric Norton could serve me in this investigation. I repeat—can you help me?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you so much, Neville. I am counting on you.”
FORTY-FOUR
It had been three days since the gravel was put in place. John and Bernard returned to Donegan as the sun was setting. They went into a pub near the village square. The pubkeeper was slow in serving them their beers, and it was obvious that he was in poor health.
“Looks like you stayed up pretty late last night, eh?” Bernard commented jovially.
The pubkeeper leaned on the bar and tried not to slur his words too much.
“It’s no joke, mister. Since the day before yesterday, some kind of disease has hit a great many of us.”
“Really?” John said. “You’ve had an epidemic outburst?”
“Can’t say for sure. We had a doctor come in but he says it isn’t the flu, so we all got double doses of aspirin. He suspects water contamination and sent out samples to be tested in the lab.”
“Yeah, that could be it,” Bernard said. “That’s why I drink only beer.”
John used his elbow to nudge Bernard.
“Is water pollution the only suspect?”
“Well, he said that if the water was clean, he’d try to see if there were any heavy industries nearby. They sometimes ‘emit noxious fumes,’ those were his words, and the wind could have carried them here.”
“Hey, bartender, you should be in bed until this blows over.”
“Aye, that I shall. You’d best get out of here damn quick, too, mark my words.”
John took out his wallet and paid for the drinks.
“Thanks for warning us. Take care.”
Outside he and Bernard exchanged grins. The test had worked!
The four board members assembled again at Sir Cedric’s office in London. Anne had just completed a satisfying visit with her family in Reading. It would have been so much nicer if Martin could have been there, too, she thought, but his backlog at the gym had prevented him. Anyway, he’s here now.
The report on the successful Donegan experiment with the gravel was delivered by Martin. Everyone seemed pleased by this.
“Which brings us to the Iranian topic,” the admiral said. “The Western powers have failed to stop the Iranian leaders by threatening sanctions—no wonder, most of them are unfulfilled. We need to speed up our preparations in this direction. I suggest that Martin take a trip to Iran and look around. As this is a country open to tourism, a couple of travelers—I mean, a man and a woman—would look perfectly normal.”
“Well,” said Martin, “we don’t have much of a choice, do we? Anne is the only woman around.”
“I’d gladly go on that trip,” Anne said, “but I’m afraid the timing is impossible. I’m in the middle of the semester exams and there’s no way I can back out of them. We’ll need another solution.”
Anne was secretly pleased to see a look of disappointment on Martin’s face.
“What about that girl we employed before, for our Tunisia trip,” the admiral said. “George’s sister. She did pretty well then.”
“I assume,” Anne said, “that she isn’t stupid. You cannot sell her that movie story again. Patrick and Martin, you two know her best. What do you think? Can we recruit her into our ranks?”
“As far as I could tell,” Admiral Stone said, “she is a bright, educated and experienced young lady who knows her way around. Sometimes I got the impression that she was observing us with a silent kind of irony, as if to say ‘Come on, guys, do you take me for an idiot? I know damn well you’re not making a movie!’ I see it as a point in her favor that although she saw through us from the start, and could have embarrassed us with uncomfortable questions, she never let on and played her part to the hilt.”
“I concur with everything we’ve heard from the admiral,” Martin said. “It’s true that I could make a survey of Iran without explaining anything to her. However, I would not feel as free as I would like when I investigate those particular locations that interest us specifically. I mean, like public squares and the adjoining streets and alleys. I’ll be searching for places to plant acoustic devices and the like. And it’s especially at those moments when I shall need her most as a cover. So if I do nothing irregular she’ll wonder why I dragged her all the way to the Middle East, considering that no relationship developed between us while we were in Tunisia, and that she was aware that we were up to something at the time.”
“Do we recruit her or not?” Anne said sharply.
“I vote yes,” the admiral said.
“Let me talk this over with her brother, George,” Martin said
quietly. “If he’s of the same mind we are, I’ll recruit her according to our rules. She’ll definitely be a valuable asset in future operations. Perhaps we should also consider letting George do the recruiting.”
Anne would have preferred Martin not to be involved in the recruiting of a beautiful young woman. However, she understood that Martin would be spending a couple of ‘romantic’ weeks with her, so going through the motions of recruitment would be insignificant anyway. She joined the others who voted for Martin to do the recruiting.
“Very well,” she said. “That’s settled. Now—what are we hoping to achieve with this trip to Iran. Yes, I know it’s still a bit early to plan, and that we have our third trip to Korea coming up shortly, but we can put a kind of framework on our goals, can’t we—like we did for Korea? Martin? Admiral?”
“Offhand,” Martin said, “I would say we need to know: a) the lay of the land, so to speak, b) border crossing procedures and security issues there, c) how tourists’ bags and luggage are handled, d) how tourists are treated at the hotel, if there is any kind of noticeable surveillance, e) car rental procedures, f) if you can drive freely throughout the country, if there are roadblocks at sensitive locations, and if you can you cross from district to district without inspection. I’m sure there’s more …”
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