‘We have,’ Daniken said. He still looked distinctly unhappy.
‘Seems to be all,’ van Effen said. ‘Mr Samuelson, I’d like another snooze
before this midnight broadcast. Not that I’m convinced that we’ll see
anything. Even if there am ships or helicopters around with searchlights,
visibility in this driving rain will be zero. George? Lieutenant?’
‘Me, too,’ George said. ‘Any more of this brandy and I’ll be dropping
those detonators all over the place.’
Vasco was already on his feet. Without as much as a glance at the four
girls they left and made their way up the stairs. In the corridor above
van Effen said admiringly: ‘You really are a couple of fearful liars.
Have a word with Julie, George?’
279
‘Certainly not.’George spoke in a lofty tone. ‘We professionals operate
on a higher level.’He produced a folded bit of paper from his pocket and
replaced it.
‘Splendid. Vasco, we approach our bedroom door. Has anything occurred to
you?’
‘Visitors.’
Once inside, van Effen carried on a brief conversation about the weather,
the best way of securing the missiles and other weapons aboard the
helicopter and their conviction that the truck should have no trouble in
getting through to its destination while Vasco carried out his usual
meticulous inspection. After a few minutes he returned from the bathroom
and put his fingers to his lips.
‘Well, me for bed,’van Effen said. ‘Any gallant volunteers to keep the
midnight watch?’
‘No need for anyone to keep a watch,’ Vasco said. ‘I have a travelling
alarm.’
Seconds later all three were within the bathroom which had both the
mirror and overhead lights on. Van Effen and George had gone in first,
from darkened bedroom to darkened bathroom followed immediately by Vasco,
who left the now lit bedroom door slightly ajar and turned on the light
as he entered. He then switched on the overhead shower in the bath.
‘One doesn’t have to be a genius to know that O’Brien is elsewhere,’
Vasco said. ‘He could never have been responsible for the crude device
that’s attached to the underside of my bed. The one device that can’t be
de-activated without a listener knowing is inside a shower head – the
listener can hear it being unscrewed – and even if there were other bugs
in here, which there aren’t, no one can hear a thing over the sound of
a shower. Odd, but a fact.’
‘You’re just like our big friend here,’ van Effen said. ‘You should have
joined the criminal ranks years ago. You’d have made a fortune. Well, the
FFF should now have a taperecording reassuring them that there’s no way
they can fad. Let’s have a look at that note, George.’ George did so and
van Effen read it out.
“Something goes on which neither Annemarie nor I under-
28o
stand but which may be of use to you. We have become quite friendly with our
two lady criminal ‘kidnappers’ and if they are criminals so are Annemarie
and 1. Hardened criminals don’t go around looking as if the day of judgment
is at hand and trying all the time not to have tears in their eyes. They
do.”‘
Van Effen broke off and looked thoughtfully at George. ‘Anyone see Julie
slip this note to you?’
‘No.
Vasco was perturbed. ‘What if Julie, I’m sorry, sir, your sister – you must
remember I don’t know her – has told them about us?’
‘Rubbish!’ George said. ‘As you said, you don’t know her. Peter’s faith in
her intelligence, judgment and intuition is total, as is mine. In fact,’
George added confidentiallly, ‘she’s a lot cleverer than he is.’
‘That was quite uncalled for,’van Effen said coldly. ‘ “Kathleen is quite
definitely the one who is under the most pressure. She is definitely afraid
of Samuelson or something that Samuelson might do. Maria is under less
pressure but doesn’t seem to like what her brother Romero is up to. But she
seems to like him and I have to admit that he has been very kind and
courteous to us since they took us away.
‘ “I think that, in their own way, they are as much prisoners as we are. I
think Kathleen and Mafia are here under a form of coercion just as Anne and
I are hem under coercion, but a different kind of coercion.” ‘
‘ “Coercion,”‘ Vasco said. ‘That’s the word you used. On the verandah,
remember?’
‘I remember. “We’re here – Annemarie and I – simply because we were
abducted. They are here, I’m sure, because they have been misled, tied to,
because appeals have been made to their love or loyalty or some misguided
sense of honour or all three. I think that they, especially Kathleen, have
been lured here under totally false misapprehensions”.’
‘Jesus Christ!’ For once George’s massive calm had deserted him. ‘I’ve
heard of rare cases of telepathy between twins but she’s only your young
sister. That’s what you said, almost word for word.’
281,
‘Nothing to do with telepathy. Great minds tend to think alike. Still
question her intelligence, judgment and intuition, Vasco?’
Vasco shook his head very slowly, several times, and said nothing.
Van Effen looked at George. ‘Hah! And you still think she’s cleverer than
I am?’ George stroked his chin and said nothing. Van Effen read on and
his face became very still. ‘Maybe you were right at that, George. Listen
to this last paragraph.’
‘ “I know why Maria is here. Despite her disapproval of what Romero is
up to, there is a genuine bond of affection between them. As for
Kathleen, I have mentioned that she is afraid of Samuelson and whatever
he has in mind. I have also mentioned misguided love and loyaltv. I am
convinced that she is Samuelson’s daughter.” ‘
There was a considerable silence then George said: ‘I take back what I
said about her being smarter than you. She’s smarter than the three of
us put together. She has to be right. There’s no other explanation.’
Van Effen set fire to the note and flushed the ashes away. Then they
turned off the shower and left.
Vasco shook van Effen by the shoulder. ‘It’s time, Mr Danilov.’ Van Effen
opened his eyes and, as always, was instantly awake. ‘I didn’t hear the
21arm bell.’
‘Turned it off – I’ve been awake for some time. GeorgeP
Only Samuelson, the Agnelli brothers and Daniken were in the living-room
when the three men arrived.
‘Just in time, gentlemen, just in time,’ Samuelson said. Even though
normally cheerful he seemed to be in uncommonly good humour that
midnight, a condition that could possibly have been accounted for by the
bottle of brandy and glass by his side, but which was almost certainly
due to an anticipatory euphoria. ‘Ten minutes and we’re all back in bed.’
‘Not me,’ George said. ‘I’m staying here. Your loading supervisor,
remember. When do we begin the transfer?’
‘Of course, of course. Half an houri say. Leonardo, we are neglecting our
guests.’
282
While Leonardo proceeded to remedy the neglect, van Effen looked at
Samuelson. He bore no resemblance to Kathleen but that meant nothing: she
probably took after her Irish mother. Van Effen didn’t doubt his sister’s
conviction.
The same announcer, whose depth of depression seemed to be matched only
by his remarkable stamina, appeared on screen just after midnight.
‘It is with regret that we have to announce that we will be unable to
show live the threatened breaches of the Flevoland dykes when and if they
occur. It is impossible for our TV cameras to operate in conditions of
total darkness and torrential rain. We are, however, in constant
radio-telephone touch with a number of observers and will inform you at
once as soon as any positive news is at hand.’ His image faded from the
screen.
‘Pity,’ Samuelson said. He seemed in no way disappointed. ‘It would have
been a stirring spectacle. Still, we shouldn’t have long to wait.’
They had very little time to wait. Less than a minute elapsed before the
announcer re-appeared, replacing a phone on his desk.
‘The Oosthjk-Flevoland and Zuidslijk-Flevoland dykes were breached
simultaneously some ninety seconds ago. Both breaches appear to be fairly
massive but the appalling weather conditions make it impossible to gauge
their extent or the severity of the flooding. The authorities say they
must wait until the first light of dawn before the scope of the disaster
can be accurately assessed. We shall, however, be on the air every hour
on the hour to give you what fresh details are available.’ He paused to
look at a sheet of paper that had just been handed to him.
‘A phone call has just been received from the FFF. The message reads:
“Markerwaard 2 p. M. today.”
283
Eleven
Two men were to play particularly important parts in the morning hours of
that day.
One of those was Sergeant Druckmann, who was accompanied by two other
officers. All three were in plain clothes. Their urunarked police car was