Flyaway

by Desmond Bagley

  I smiled gently. 'A man called Wright once wrote about William Ewart Gladstone imputing that he was a hypocrite, particularly in sexual matters. This was in 1927 and Gladstone was long dead. But his son, the then Lord Gladstone, took umbrage and also legal advice. Like Paul Billson, he was told that the dead cannot be libelled, but he nailed Wright to the cross all the same.'

  English gave me a wet-eyed look. 'What did he do?'

  'He libelled Wright at every opportunity. He called Wright a liar, a fool and a poltroon in public. He had Wright thrown out of his club. In the end Wright had to bring Gladstone to court to protect his reputation. Gladstone had Norman Birkett appear for him, and Birkett flayed Wright in open court. When the case was finished so was Wright; his professional reputation was smashed.' I slid the knife home. 'It could happen to you.'

  English shook his head. 'Billson won't do that — he's not the man for it.'

  'He might,' I said. 'With help.' I twisted the knife. 'And it will give me great pleasure to appear for him and to swear that you told me that you thought his father to be dead, in spite of what you wrote in your dirty little article.'

  I rose and left him. At the door of the pub I stopped and looked back. He was sitting in the corner, looking as though someone had kicked him in the belly, knocking the wind out of him.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I had an early lunch and then belatedly thought to ring Paul Billson's half-sister. I had expected to find her absent from home in the middle of the working day but the telephone was picked up on the third ring and a pleasant voice said, 'Alix Aarvik here.'

  I told her who and what I was, then said, 'I take it you haven't heard from your brother, Miss Aarvik.'

  'No, I haven't, Mr Stafford.'

  'I'd like to talk to you about him. May I come round?'

  'Now?' There was uncertainty in her voice.

  'Time is of the essence in these matters, Miss Aarvik.' A platitude, but I find they tend to soothe people.

  'Very well,' she said. 'I'll be expecting you.'

  'Within the half-hour.' I rang off and took a taxi to Kensington.

  With a name like hers I had envisaged a big, tow-headed Scandinavian, but she was short and dark and looked in her early thirties. Her flat was comfortable, if sparsely furnished, and I was interested to see that she was apparently moving out. Two suitcases stood in the hall and another on a table was open and half-packed.

  She saw me looking around and said, 'You've caught me in the middle of packing.'

  I smiled. 'Found another flat?'

  She shook her head. 'I'm leaving for Canada. My firm has asked me to go. I'm flying tomorrow afternoon.' She made a gesture which was pathetically helpless. 'I don't know if I'm doing the right thing with Paul still missing, but I have my job to consider.'

  'I see,' I said, not seeing a hell of a lot. Her mother had come into a windfall of?100,000 but there was precious little sign of it around, either sticking to Paul Billson or Alix Aarvik. I made a little small talk while I studied her. She was not too well dressed but managed to make the most of what she had, and she didn't overdo the make-up. You could see thousands like her in the streets; a typical specimen of Stenographica londiniensis — the London typist.

  When I married Gloria I had not a bean to spare and, during my rise to the giddy heights of success, I had become aware of all the subtle variations in women's knick-knackery from the cheap off-the-peg frock to the one-off Paris creation. Not that Gloria had spent much time in the lower reaches of the clothing spectrum — she developed a talent for spending money faster than I earned it, which was one of the points at issue between us. But I knew enough to know that Alix Aarvik was not dressing like an heiress.

  I took the chair she offered, and said, 'Now tell me about Paul'

  'What do you want to know?'

  'You can start by telling me of his relationship with hi; father.'

  She gave me a startled look. 'You've got that far already?'

  'It wasn't difficult.'

  'He hero-worshipped his father,' she said. 'Not that he ever knew him to remember. Peter Billson died when Paul was two years old. You know about the air crash?'

  'There seems to be a little doubt about that,' I said.

  Pain showed in her eyes. 'Y ou, too?' She shook her head. 'It was that uncertainty which preyed on Paul's mind. He wanted his father to be dead — rather a dead hero than a living fraud. Do you understand what that means, Mr Stafford?'

  'You tell me.'

  'I arranged for Paul to have psychiatric treatment. The psychiatrist told me that it was this that was breaking Paul in two. It's a dreadful thing to hero-worship a man — your father — and to wish him dead simultaneously.'

  'So he had a neurosis. What form did it take?'

  'Generally, he raged against injustice; the smart-aleck kind of injustice such as when someone takes credit for another's achievement. He collected injustices. Wasn't there a book called The Injustice Collector? That's Paul.'

  'You say generally — how about specifically?'

  'As it related to his father, he thought Peter Billson had been treated unjustly — maligned in death. You know about the court case?' I nodded, and she said, 'He wanted to clear his father's name.'

  I said carefully, 'Why do you talk about Paul in the past tense?'

  Again she looked startled and turned pale. 'I… I didn't know

  …' She intertwined her fingers and whispered, 'I suppose I think he's dead.'

  'Why should you think that?'. 'I don't know. But I can't think of any reason why he should disappear, either.'

  This neurosis about injustice — did he apply it to himself? Did he think that he was treated unjustly?'

  She looked straight at me and said firmly, 'Never! He was always concerned about others. Look, Mr Stafford; I'll come right out and say that Paul wasn't — ' she caught herself — 'isn't too bright. Now you're in security at Franklin Engineering and I'll tell you that Paul isn't a thief or anything like that. He may not be an entirely balanced man, but he's honest.'

  'I have no doubt about it, Miss Aarvik,' I said. 'My enquiries are as much on behalf of Paul as they are for Franklin Engineering. The management of Franklin are very much concerned about what happens to their employees.'

  That was pious piffle which I hoped she'd swallow. Neither Stewart nor Isaacson had shown a whit of concern.

  She said, 'Paul knew… knows he'll never make his way in the world, but he never showed resentment. I knew he found it hard to make out on only two hundred a month, but he never complained.'

  I opened my mouth to contradict her and then closed it firmly. I waited the space of ten heart beats before I said, 'Is that all he got?'

  '?2400 a year — it was all he was worth,' she said a little sadly. 'But you must have checked.'

  'Yes,' I said bemusedly. 'The exact figure had slipped my memory.'

  So Paul had been cheating on his sister. He had told her he earned?2400 a year when he got over three times as much, although according to Hoyland, and now his sister, that was probably as much as he was worth. You think you have a man taped, his life spread before you like a butterfly pinned iff a showcase, and he surprises you with an inconsistency.

  I said, 'Did you ever help him financially?'

  She hesitated. 'Not directly.'

  Slowly I coaxed the story from her. She had been supporting their mother in her last illness. Mrs Aarvik had been dying of cancer painfully and protractedly. Alix paid for a nurse and private hospital treatment and, towards the end, for the services of a specialist — all beyond the stark necessities of the National Health Service. It was very expensive and her savings ran out.

  'Then Paul needed treatment,' she said. 'The psychiatrist I told you about'

  The psychiatrist was also in private practice and also expensive. Miss Aarvik had an understanding bank manager who allowed her a sizeable overdraft in spite of the prevailing credit squeeze. 'I'm paying it off as quickly as I can.' She smiled ruefully.
'That's why I'm pleased about the Canadian job; it's at a much higher salary.'

  Paul Billson contributed nothing.

  1 knew he couldn't save,' she said. 'So what else could I do?'

  What else, indeed? I thought of the?12,000 tucked away in Paul's deposit account and marvelled at the curious quirks of mankind. Here was a man whom everybody agreed to be a nonentity — a spineless, faceless creature hardly distinguishable from a jellyfish — and he was proving to be human, after all, just like the rest of us. Human enough to have an eye for the main chance and to batten mercilessly on his sister. Which may only go to show that my view of humanity is jaundiced, to say the least of it.

  Anyway, it accounted for Miss Aarvik's sparsely furnished flat and for her neat but somewhat aged dress. If she was paying off a big overdraft she wouldn't be spending on luxurious fripperies. Which was a pity — she deserved better.

  I said, 'Did the treatment do Paul any good?'

  'I think so. He's been much quieter of late, until…'

  Until English wrote his poisonous article and Paul blew up, nerved himself to tackle a newspaper editor, and then vanished.

  'Think carefully,' I said. 'You probably know your brother better than anyone else. If he went off the rails for any reason, what would he be likely to do?'

  'I can't think of anything. Unless…' She shook her head 'No, that's silly.'

  'It may not be,' I said encouragingly.

  'Well, when he was a boy he used to dream of clearing his father's name by finding the aeroplane; actually going out to Africa and looking for it. It was never found, you know. Not a very practicable dream, I'm afraid; but Paul was never a practicable man.'

  I thought about it. Somewhere south of the Mediterranean and north of the Congo. The Sahara. Not at all practicable.

  'Of course, he gave up the idea long ago,' she said. 'Even Paul realized it was futile. It would need a lot of money, you see; and he never had the money.'

  To tell her that her brother had his pockets stuffed with boodle would have been needlessly cruel. But now I had a lead, for what it was worth. '1936 is a long time ago,' I said. 'I doubt if there'd be anything to find now. What did your parents think of Paul's obsession?'

  'My mother always said he'd grow out of it, but he never did. She lived with me and didn't see very much of him. She didn't like him talking so much about his father; she thought it was unhealthy. I suppose it was. He never knew his father, you see.'

  'And your father — what did he think?'

  She gave a wry smile. 'You must think we're an odd family. I never knew my father, either. He died before I was born. My mother married him during the war and he was killed in action. He was Norwegian, you know.'

  'Your mother had a tough life,' I said. Two husbands killed leaving small children to bring up wasn't my idea of a bed of roses.

  'Oh, she was always cheerful — right up to the end.'

  'One thing puzzles me,' I said. 'Your mother was awarded?100,000 by the court. What happened to it? There must have been something left to keep her more comfortable in her old age.'

  'I don't know,' said Miss Aarvik sombrely. 'I've wondered about that myself, but Mother never talked about it. You must realize that I only knew about it years afterwards when I was about thirteen. It didn't mean much then; children don't think of things that happened before they were born — the present is much more exciting.'

  'But later — didn't you ask her?'

  'I tried, but she would never talk about it.' She looked at me squarely. 'I think I take after my father, Torstein Aarvik; I never knew him, of course, so I can't be certain. But Paul took after Mother; they're alike in so many ways. She could be very silly and thoughtless at times. Not wilfully, you understand; but she did things without thinking too far ahead. Perhaps something happened that she was ashamed to talk about. She wasn't very bright, but I loved her very much.'

  So Paul was the not too bright son of a not too bright mother. That didn't get me far. I stood up. 'Well, thank you, Miss Aarvik, for all the information. You've been very frank.'

  She rose with me. 'I must thank you for your interest, Mr Stafford.' She smiled wanly. 'You've certainly been more thorough in your enquiries than the police. Do you think you can find Paul?'

  That put me in a moral dilemma. As far as Franklin Engineering was concerned the case was finished; Billson hadn't embezzled the petty cash nor had he breached security as far as I knew a9d I couldn't load further investigation costs on to the Franklin account. Nor could I load the costs on to Stafford Security Consultants Ltd — that wouldn't be fan- to Charlie Malleson or Brinton who weren't in business for charity.

  Neither was I. As far as I was concerned, Paul Billson was an unbalanced man whom I had discovered to be of an unscrupulous disposition and, as far as I could see, Alix Aarvik was better off without him. I decided to give what I had to the police and call it a day.

  I said diplomatically, 'Your information will make it more likely.'

  'If I give you a Canadian address will you write to me?' she asked. 'I've been wondering whether I should go at all while Paul is still missing.'

  It struck me that Canada was the best place for her — somewhere away from the leeching of her brother. There's nothing you can do if you stay here,' I said. 'I'll certainly write to you.'

  She scribbled an address on a stenographic note-pad. 'I don't have a home address yet, but that's, the firm I'll be working for.'

  I glanced at the sheet. Apparently she'd be with the Kisko Nickel Corporation of Vancouver; I'd never heard of it. I folded the paper and dutifully put it into my wallet as she escorted me to the door. Already the street lights were on as darkness descended. I thought of the quiet fortitude with which Alix Aarvik faced a not too happy life. She had not paraded her troubles before me; indeed, it had taken quite a bit of my not inconsiderable skill to extract many of the details from her. I hoped she'd be happy in Canada; she was good value.

  I deliberated about the best way to go to find a taxi and turned in the direction of Kensington High Street. As I walked a man got out of a car parked by the kerb just ahead. He waited until I came abreast of him, then said, 'Your name Stafford?' He had a rough Cockney voice.

  A door slammed on the other side of the car as someone else got out. 'Yes, I'm Stafford.'

  'Got a message for yer, mate. Keep yer bleedin' nose outter fings wot don't concern yer. This'll 'elp yer remember.'

  He suddenly drove his fist into my midriff, just below the sternum, and I gasped and doubled up, fighting for breath. I didn't have much of a chance after that. There were three of them and when I went down they got to work with their boots. It wasn't long before I passed out — but long enough to feel the pain.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A lot of people came to see me in hospital, some of whom surprised me by their appearance. The police came, of course, but they were followed by a man from the Special Branch checking on Billson because of the defence work done at Franklin Engineering. My wife didn't show up but she took the trouble to spend two minutes on the telephone ordering flowers to be sent to the hospital, which surprised me mildly.

  Lord Brinton came, his hands behind his back. 'Don't want to drink this London water,' he said, and put a bottle of Malvern water on the bedside table. 'Spoils the taste of the scotch.' A bottle of Talisker joined the Malvern water.

  I smiled — a painful process at the time. 'My doctor might not approve.'

  'Better than bringing bloody grapes.' He. pulled up a chair and sat warming his ancient and expensive bones at the wall radiator. 'Not as good as a real fire,' he grumbled.

  'Hospitals don't like open fires.'

  'Well,' he said. 'What the hell happened, Max?'

  'I was beaten up,' I said patiently.

  'So I see,' he said with a straight face. 'Why?'

  'I don't know. It seems I was "poking my nose into fings wot don't concern me", to quote the spokesman of the assault committee. He neglected to be more specific.'
>
  'Mistaken identity?'

  I began to shake my head and hastily decided against it for fear it should fall off. 'He made sure he knew who I was first.'

  'What were you doing in Kensington?'

  'Following up on a case.' I told him about Billson and what I had done. 'Miss Aarvik will be in Canada now,' I said.

  'Good country,' observed Brinton. 'I was born there.' He said it as though the act of his being born there had conferred a distinction on Canada. 'I don't see how all this relates to your being beaten up.'

  'Neither do I. Neither do the police or the Special Branch.'

  His eyes sharpened. 'What's their interest?'

  'Franklin Engineering makes bits and pieces of tanks.'

  'And they're following up on Billson?'

  'So it seems — but they're not pushing too hard. For all anyone can find out he hasn't committed a crime — yet.'

  'You think he might?'

  'Who knows what a man like Billson might or might not do. He's lived like a vegetable for fifteen years at least, and now he's gone charging off God knows where. He could be up to anything.'

  'Well, you're out of it,' said Brinton. 'By the time you get out of here Andrew McGovern will have taken over responsibility for the security of Franklin Engineering.'

  'How big a piece of the Whensley Group have you got?' I asked.

  'About thirty per cent Why?'

  'Then you'll be a big enough shareholder to ask why Bill-son was paid three times as much as he's worth and why there's a mystery made of it.'

  'I'll look into it,' said Brinton. 'Can't have the shareholders diddled like that. All right, if you weren't beaten up because of Billson, what else have you been doing recently to get you into trouble?'

  'My life has been blameless.'

  Brinton grunted in his throat. 'Don't try to con an old sinner. Nobody's life is blameless. You're sure you haven't been sleeping in any of the wrong beds?' I just looked at him and he said, 'Not that I'd blame you under the circumstances.'

  Soon after that he went away.