The Way To Dusty Death Part 12

'Well, thank you, Mr. MacAlpine. Insurance papers?'

'Everything in -the glove box. Very kind of you to go to such trouble, I must say.'

They're my boys too, Mr. MacAlpine.'

Dunnet gazed expressionlessly into the middle distance.

The Ferrari's speedometer registered 180 kph. Harlow was clearly paying scant attention to the French no kph restriction, but from time to time, purely from instinct, for it seemed unlikely that there was any police car in France capable of overtaking him, he consulted his rear mirror. But there was at no time anything to be seen except the coils of rope, hook and first-aid box on the back seat and the hump of a dirty white tarpaulin which had been clearly flung carelessly on the floor.

An incredible forty minutes after leaving Vignolles the Ferrari pa.s.sed the Ma.r.s.eilles sign. A kilometre farther on the Ferrari pulled up as traffic lights changed to red. Harlow's face was so battered and bruised and covered in plaster that it was impossible to tell what expression it wore. But the eyes were as calm and steady and watchful as ever, his posture as immobile as ever : no impatience, no drumming of fingers on the wheel. But even Harlow's total relaxation could be momentarily upset.

'Mr. Harlow.' The voice came from the rear of the car.

Harlow swung round and stared at Rory, whose head had just emerged from its coc.o.o.n of canvas tarpaulin. When Harlow spoke it was with slow, deliberate, s.p.a.ced words.

'What the h.e.l.l are you doing there?'

Rory said defensively : 'I thought you might be needing a bit of a hand, like.'

Harlow restrained himself with what was obviously an immense effort.

'I could say this is all I need, but I don't think that would help much.' From an inner pocket he fished out some of the money that Dunnet had given him. 'Three hundred francs. Get a hotel and phone Vignolles for a car in the morning.'

'No, thank you, Mr. Harlow. I made a terrible mistake about you. I'm just plain stupid, I guess. I won't say sorry, for all the sorties in the world are not enough. The best way to say 'sorry' is to help. Please, Mr. Harlow.'

'Look, laddie, I'll be meeting people tonight, people who would kill you soon as look at you. And now I'm responsible for you to your father.'

The lights changed and the Ferrari moved on. What little could be seen of Harlow's face looked slightly bemused.

'And that's another tiling,' Rory said. 'What's wrong with him? My father, I mean.'

'He's being blackmailed.'

'Dad? Blackmailed?' Rory was totally incredulous.

'Nothing he's ever done. I'll tell you some time.'

'Are you going to stop those people from blackmailing him?'

'I hope so.'

'And Jacobson. The man who crippled Mary. I must have been mad to think it was your fault. Are you going to get him, too?'

'Yes.'

'You didn't say 'I hope so' this time. You said 'Yes'.'

That's right.'

Rory cleared his throat and said diffidently: 'You going to marry Mary, Mr. Harlow?'

The prison walls appear to be closing round me.'

'Well, I love her too. Different like, but just as much. If you're going after the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who crippled Mary I'm coming too.'

'Watch your language,' Harlow said absently. He drove some way in silence then sighed in resignation. 'OK. But only if you promise to stay out of sight and keep safe.'

'I'll stay out of sight and keep safe.'

Harlow made to bite his upper lip and winced as he bit the gash in that lip. He looked in the rear mirror. Rory, now sitting on the back seat, was smiling with considerable satisfaction. Harlow shook his head in what might have been disbelief or despair or both.

Ten minutes later Harlow parked the car in an alleyway about three hundred yards away from the rue Georges Sand, packed all the equipment into a canvas bag, slung it over his shoulder and set off, accompanied by a Rory whose expression of complacency had now changed to one of considerable apprehension. Other factors apart, there was a sound enough reason for Rory's nervousness. It was a bad night for the purposes Harlow had in mind. A full moon hung high in a cloudless starlit Riviera sky. The visibility was at least as good as it would have been on an overcast winter's afternoon. The only difference was that moon-shadows are much darker.

Harlow and Rory were now pressed close into the shadow of one of the ten-foot high walls that surrounded the Villa Hermitage. Harlow examined the contents of the bag.

'Now then. Rope, hook, tarpaulin, twine, insulated wire-cutters, chisels, first-aid box. Yes, the lot.'

'What is that lot for, Mr. Harlow?'

'First three for getting over that wall. Twine for tying things up or together, like thumbs. Wire-cutters for electric alarms -if I can find the wires. Chisels for opening things. First-aid box -well, you never know. Rory, will you kindly stop your teeth from chattering? Our friends inside could hear you forty feet away.'

'I can't help it, Mr. Harlow.'

'Now, remember, you're to stay here. The last people we want here are the police but if I'm not back in thirty minutes go to the phone box on the corner and tell them to come here at the double.'

Harlow secured the hook to the end of the rope. For once, the bright moonlight was of help. With his first upward cast the hook sailed over the branch of a tree within the grounds. He pulled cautiously until the hook engaged firmly round the branch, slung the white tarpaulin over his shoulder, climbed the few feet that were necessary, draped the tarpaulin over the broken gla.s.s embedded in the concrete, pulled himself farther up, sat gingerly astride and looked at the tree that had provided this convenient branch: the lower branches extended to within four feet of the ground.

Harlow glanced down at Rory. the bag.'

The bag came sailing upwards. Harlow caught it and dropped it on the ground inside. He took the branch in his hands, swung inwards and was on the ground in five seconds.

He pa.s.sed through a small thicket of trees. Lights shone from the curtained windows of a ground floor room. The ma.s.sive oaken door was shut and almost certainly bolted. In any event Harlow considered that a frontal entry was as neat a way as any of committing suicide. He approached the side of the house, keeping to shadows wherever possible. The windows on the ground floor offered no help - all were heavily barred. The back door, predictably, was locked: the ironic thought occurred to Harlow that the only skeleton keys which could have probably opened that door were inside that house.

He moved round to the other side of the house. He didn't even bother looking at the barred lower windows. He looked upwards and his attention was at once caught and held by a window that was slightly ajar. Not much, perhaps three inches, but still ajar. Harlow looked around the grounds. About twenty yards away were a cl.u.s.ter of garden and potting sheds and a greenhouse. He headed resolutely in their direction.

Rory, meanwhile, was pacing up and down in the lane outside, continually glancing at the rope in what appeared to be an agony of indecision. Suddenly, he seized the rope and began to climb.

By the time he had dropped to the ground on the other side, Harlow had a ladder against the lower sill of the window and had reached the level of the window itself. He pulled out his torch and carefully examined both sides of the window. Both sides had what were clearly electrical wires stapled to the framework of the window. Harlow reached inside his bag, produced the wire-cutters, snipped both wires, lifted the sash high and pa.s.sed inside.

Within two minutes he had established that there was no one on the upper floor. Canvas bag and unlit torch in his left hand, the silenced pistol in the other, he stealthily descended the stairs towards the hallway. Light streamed from a door that was slightly ajar and the sound of voices from inside, one of them a woman's, carried very clearly. This room he temporarily ignored. He prowled round the ground floor ensuring that all the rooms were empty. In the kitchen, his torch located a set of steps leading down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. Harlow descended those and played his torch round a concrete-floored, concrete-walled cellar. Four doors led off this cellar. Three of those looked perfectly normal: the fourth had two ma.s.sive bolts and a heavy key such as one might expect to find in a medieval dungeon. Harlow slid the bolts, turned the key, pa.s.sed inside, located and pressed a light switch.

Whatever it was, it was certainly no dungeon. It was a very modern and immaculately equipped laboratory although what precisely it was equipped to do was not immediately apparent. Harlow crossed to a row of aluminium containers, lifted the lid of one, sniffed the white powdery contents, wrinkled his nose in disgust and replaced the lid. As he left he pa.s.sed by a wall telephone, obviously, from the dial, an external exchange one. He hesitated, shrugged and walked out, leaving the door open and the light on.

Rory, just at the precise moment when Harlow was mounting the steps from the cellar, was hidden in the deep shadow on the edge of the thicket of trees. From where he stood he could see both the front and the side of the house. His face held a considerable degree of apprehension, an apprehension that suddenly changed to something very close to fear.

A squat, powerfully built man, clad in dark trousers and a dark roll-neck pullover, had suddenly appeared from behind the back of the house. For a moment the man, the patrolling guard that Harlow hadn't bargained for, stood stock-still, staring at the ladder propped against the wall. Then he started running towards the front door of the house. As if by magic two items had appeared in his hands - a large key and a very much larger knife.

Harlow stood in the hallway outside the occupied room, thoughtfully regarding the bar of light streaming from the partially opened door and listening to the sound of voices. He tightened the silencer on his gun, took two quick steps forward then violently smashed the door open with the sole of his right foot: the door all but parted company with its hinges.

There were five people inside the room. Three of them were curiously alike and might well have been brothers - heavy, well-suited, obviously prosperous men, black-haired and very swarthy. The fourth was a beautiful blonde girl. The fifth was Willi Neubauer. They stared as if mesmerized at Harlow who, with his bruised and battered face and silenced pistol, must have presented a less than friendly appearance.

Harlow said: the hands high, please.'

All five lifted their hands.

'Higher. Higher.'

The five occupants of the room stretched their arms very high indeed.

'What the devil does this mean, Harlow?' Neubauer's tone was intended to be harsh and demanding but it burred with the sharp edge of strain. 'I come calling on friends -'

Harlow interrupted in an iron voice. The judge will have more patience with you than I have. Shut up!'

Took out!' The almost panic-stricken scream was barely recognizable as Rory's voice.

Harlow had the cat-like reflexes that befitted the outstanding Grand Prix driver of his time. He turned and fired in one movement. The dark man, who had been just about to start a vicious down-stroke, screamed in agony and stared in disbelief at his shattered hand. Harlow ignored him and had whirled back to face the others even before the dark man's knife had struck the floor. One of the swarthy men had dropped his right hand and was reaching inside his jacket.

Harlow said encouragingly : 'Go on.'

The swarthy man lifted his right hand very quickly indeed. Harlow stepped prudently to one side and gestured briefly with his gun towards the wounded man.

'Join your friends.' Moaning in pain, his left hand clutching his bleeding right, the dark man did so. Just then Rory entered the room.

Harlow said: Thank you, Rory. All sins forgiven. Get the first-aid box from that bag. I told you we might need it.' He surveyed the company coldly. 'And I do hope this is the last time we need it.' He pointed his gun at the blonde girl. 'Come here, you.'

She rose from her chair and came slowly forward. Harlow smiled at her, chillingly, but she was either too shocked or stupid to realize what lay behind that smile.

'I believe you have some pretensions towards being a nurse' Harlow said, 'even though the late and un-lamented Luigi might not agree with that. There's the first-aid box. Fix your friend's hand.'

She spat at him. 'Fix it yourself.'

Harlow gave no warning. There was a blur of movement and the silencer of the pistol smashed against the blonde's face. She screamed, staggered and fell to a sitting position, blood welling from gashes on both cheek and mouth.

'Jesus!' Rory was appalled. 'Mr. Harlow!'

'If it's any consolation, Rory, this charmer is wanted for premeditated murder.' He looked at the blonde and what little could be seen of his face was totally devoid of pity. 'Get to your feet and fix your friend's hand. Then, if you wish, your own face. Not that I care. The rest of you, face down on the floor, hands behind your back. Rory, see if they have guns. The first man that as much as twitches will be shot through the back of the head.'

Rory searched them. When he had finished, he looked down almost in awe at the four guns he had placed on the table.

They all all had guns, 'he said. had guns, 'he said.

'What did you expect them to be carrying? Powder puffs? Now, Rory, the twine. You know what to do. As many knots as you like, the twine as tight as possible and the h.e.l.l with their circulation.' Rory set about his task with enthusiasm and in very short order had the hands of all six securely bound behind their backs : the dark man now had his hand roughly bandaged.

Harlow said to Neubauer: 'Where's the gate key?'

Neubauer glared venomously and kept silent. Harlow pocketed his gun, picked up the knife his would-be a.s.sailant had dropped and pressed the tip against Neubauer's throat, just breaking the skin.

'I'm going to count three then I'm going to push this knife clear through to the back of your neck. One. Two.'

'Hall table.' Neubauer's face was ashen.

'On your feet, all of you. Down to the cellar.'

They trooped down to the cellar, all with highly apprehensive expressions on their faces. So apprehensive was the last of the six, one of the three swarthy men, that he made a sudden vicious lunge at Harlow, probably with the intention of knocking him down the steps and then stamping on him, which was a very foolish thing to do, for he had already had eye-witness proof of the quite remarkable speed of Harlow's reactions. Harlow stepped nimbly to one side, struck him above the ear with the barrel of his pistol and watched him topple then fall halfway down the steps. Harlow caught one of his ankles and dragged him down the lower half of the stairs, the unconscious man's head b.u.mping from concrete step to concrete step.

One of the other swarthy men shouted: 'G.o.d's sake, Harlow, are you mad? You'll kill him!'

Harlow dragged the unconscious man down the last step until his head hit the concrete floor and looked indifferently at the man who had made the protest.

'So? I'm probably going to have to kill you all anyway.'

He ushered them into the cellar laboratory and, with Rory's a.s.sistance, dragged the unconscious man in after them.

Harlow said: 'Lie down on the floor. Rory, tie their ankles together. Very tightly, please.' Rory did so, displaying not only enthusiasm for but now positive enjoyment in his work. When he had finished, Harlow said: 'Go through their pockets. See what identification papers they are carrying. Not Neubauer. We all know who our dear Willi is.'

Rory returned to Harlow with quite a bundle of identification doc.u.ments in his hand. He looked uncertainly at the woman on the floor. 'What about the lady, Mr. Harlow?'

'Never confuse that murderous b.i.t.c.h with a lady.' Harlow looked at her. 'Where's your handbag?'

'I haven't got a handbag.'

Harlow sighed, crossed to where she lay and knelt beside her. 'When I'm finished with the other side of your face no man will ever look at you again. Not that you'll be seeing any men for a long time to come-no court is going to overlook the testimony of four policemen who can identify you and the fingerprints on that gla.s.s.' He looked at her consideringly then lifted his gun. 'And I don't suppose the wardresses will care what you look like. Where's that handbag?'

'In my bedroom.' The tremble in her voice accurately reflected the fear in her face.

'Where in your bedroom?'

'The wardrobe.'

Harlow looked at Rory. 'Rory, if you would be so kind.'

Rory said uncertainly: 'How will I know which bedroom?'

Harlow said patiently: 'When you come to a bedroom where the dressing-table looks like the toilet counter in a pharmacy, then you'll have found the right bedroom. And bring down the four guns from the living-room.'

Rory left. Harlow got to his feet, crossed to the desk where he'd placed the identification doc.u.ments and began to study those with interest. After about a minute he looked up.

'Well, well, well. Marzio, Marzio and Marzio. Sounds like a firm of well-established solicitors. And all from Corsica. I seem to have heard of the Marzio brothers before. I'm quite certain the police have and will be delighted to have those doc.u.ments.' He laid down the papers, pulled six inches of a roll of stand-mounted Scotch tape and affixed it lightly to the edge of the desk. He said: 'You'll never guess what that's for.'

Rory returned, bearing with him a handbag so large as to be more a valise than a handbag, along with four guns. Harlow opened the bag, examined the contents, which included a pa.s.sport, then unzipped only a side compartment and pulled out a gun.

'My, my. So Anne-Marie Puccelli carries a fire-arm around with her. No doubt to fend off those would-be nasty attackers bent on robbing her of those cyanide tablets such as as she fed to the late Luigi.' Harlow replaced the gun, then dropped into the bag the other doc.u.ments and the four guns Rory had brought. He extracted the. first-aid box from the bag, took out a very small bottle and poured white tablets into his hand. she fed to the late Luigi.' Harlow replaced the gun, then dropped into the bag the other doc.u.ments and the four guns Rory had brought. He extracted the. first-aid box from the bag, took out a very small bottle and poured white tablets into his hand.

'How convenient. Exactly six tablets. One for each. I want to know where Mrs. MacAlpine is being held and I'm going to know in less than two minutes. Florence Nightingale there will know what those are.'

Florence Nightingale had no comment to make. Her face was paper-white and drawn, she appeared to have put on ten years in ten minutes.

Rory said: 'What are those things?'