“I see. Thank you.”
The first message was from Derek. “Imperative you contact me.”
The second was from Elizabeth Scarlatti. “Please come to my suite at two
thirty. It is most urient. I cannot see you before then.”
Canfield lit one of his thin cigars and settled back into the curved Savoy
dining chair. Derek could wait. The Englishman probably had gotten word of
Benjamin Reynolds’s new arrangement with the British government and was
either furious or apologetic. He’d postpone Derek.
Scarlatti, on the other hand, had made a decision. If Janet was right, she
was folding up. Forgetting for ‘ the moment his own potential loss, he
could never explain her reversal -to Reynolds, or Glover, or anyone else at
Group Twenty, for that matter. He had spent thousands
235
of dollars on the premise that he -had Elizabeth’s cooperation.
The field accountant thought about the old woman!s visitor, the fourth
marquis of Chatellerault, veteran of the Matterhorn and the Jungfrau,
Jacques Louls Bertholde. Why had he broken into the Scarlath suite the Way
he had? Was it simply the locked door and the knowledge that it would
remain locked? Was it to terrify Elizabeth? or was he searching for
something?
Just as he and Derek had searched in the darkness two Boors above.
once confronting her what could Bertholde have said to bend her will? What
could he possibly say that would frighten Elizabeth Scarlatti?
He could promise the death of her son if he were still alive. That might do
it… But would it? Her son had betrayed her. Betrayed the Scarlatti
IndustrieL Canfield bad the unnatural feeling that Elizabeth would rather
see her son dead am let him continue that betrayal.
Yet now she was retreating.
Again Canfield felt the inadequacy he had begun to feel aboard the
Ca1purnia. An assignment conceived of as theft had been complicated by
extraordinary occurrences, extraordinary people.
He forced his mind back to Elizabeth Scarlattie He, was Convinced She could
16not See” him before two thirty because she was completing arrangements to
return home.
Well, he had a shock in store for her. He knew she bad had an early-morning
visitor. And he had the Bertholde dossier.
The dossier she could refuse. The Alpine rig would be irresistible.
,,I wrote in my note that I couldnt see you before two thirtyl Would you
please respect my wishes?”
‘It cant wait. Ut me in quicklyl”
She opened the door in disgust, leaving it ajar as she walked back into the
center of the room. Canfield closed it, loudly inserting the bolt. He spoke
before she turned around to face bm Ive read the dossier. I know now why
your visitor diMt have to open the door.”
it was as if a pistol had been fired in front of her an-
236
cient face. The old woman turned and sprang her back forward and arched her
neck. Had she been thirty years younger, she would have leapt upon him in
fury. She spoke with an intensity -he had never heard from her before.
“You unconscionable bastardl You’re a liarl A thiefl Ilarl Liarl I’ll have
you spend the rest of your life in prisont”
“That’s very good. Attack for attackl You’ve pulled it before but not this
time. Derek was with me. We found the rig. An Alpine rig, he called
it-which your visitor let down the side of the building.”
The old woman lurched toward him, unsteady on her feet.
“For Christ’s sake, relaxl I’m on your side.” He held her thin shoulders.
“You’ve got to buy himl Oh, my Godl You’ve got to buy hinil Get him herel”
“Why? Buy him how? WhoT’
“Derek. How long have you known? Mr. Canfield, I ask you in the name of all
that’s holy, how long have you known?.1
~’Since about five o’clock this morning.”
“Men he’s talked to othersl Oh, my God, he’s talked to othersl” She was
beside herself, and Canfield was now frightened for her.
“I’m sure -he has. But only to his immediate superiors and I gather hes
pretty superior himself. What did you expe
‘WO,
The old woman tried with what strength she had left to regain control of
herself. “You may have caused the murder of my entire family. If you’ve
done that, Ill see you dead!”
“Thaes pretty strong languagel You’d better tell me whyll’
“I’ll tell you nothing until you get Derek on that telephone. 11
The field accountant crossed the room to the telephone and gave the
operator Derek’s number. He talked urgently, quietly, for a few moments and
turned to the old woman. “He’s going in to a meeting in twenty minutes. He
has a full report and they’ll expect him to read iV,
237
The old woman walked rapidly toward Canfield. “Give me that phonel”
He handed her both the stand and the receiver. “Mr. Derekl Elizabeth
Scarlatti. Whatever this meeting is, do not go to itl I am not in the habit
of begging, sir, but I implore you, do not gol Please, please do not speak
to a soul about last nightl If you do, you will be responsible for the
deaths of a number of innocent people. I can say no more now. . . . Yes,
yes, whatever you like. . . . I’ll see you, of course. In an hour. Thank
you. Thank you I”
She replaced the receiver on thehook and slowly, with great relief, put the
telephone back on the -table. She looked at the field accountanL “Thank
Godl”
The field accountant watched her as she spoke. He began to walk toward her.
“Sweet mother of Jesusl I’m beginning to see. That crazy Alpine thing. The
acrobatics at two in the morning. It wasn’t just to scare you half to
death-it was necessaryl”
“What are you talking about?”
“Since early this morning I’ve thought it was Bertholdel And he’d conie to
you like that to scare hell out of youl But it didn’t make sense. It
wouldn’t accomplish anything. He could have stopped you in the lobby, in a
store, in the dining room. It had to be someone who couldn’t do thatl
Someone who couldn’t take a chance anywherel”
“You’re babblingl You’re incoherentl”
“Sure., you’re willing to call the whole thing off I Why not? You did what
you’d set out to dol You found himl You’ve found your missing son, haven’t
you?”
‘I”hat’s a liel”
“Oh, no, it’s not. It!s so clear I should have thought of it last night.
The whole damn thing was so weird I looked for insane explanations. I
thought it was persuasion by terror. It’s been used a lot these past few
years. But it wasn’t that at aRl It was our celebrated war hero come back
to the land of -the livingl Ulster Stewart Scarlettl The only one who
couldn’t risk stopping you outside, The only one who couldn’t take a chance
that you might not unlatch that boltl”
“Conjecturel I deny itl”
“Deny all you likel Now I’m giving you a choicel Derek will be here in less
-than an hour. Either we straighten this out between us before then, or I
walk out that door
238
and cable my office that in my highly, regarded professional opinion we’ve
found Ulster Scarlettl And, incidentally, I’m taking your daughter-in-law
with me.”
The old woman suddenly lowered her voice to nearly a whisper. She walked
haltingly toward the field accountant. “If you have any feeling whatsoever
for that girl, you’ll do as I ask. If you don’t, she’ll -be killed.”
It was now the field accountant’s turn to raise his voice. It was no longer
the shout of the angry debater, it was the roar of an angry man. “Don’t you
make any pronouncements to mel Don’t you or your rotten bastard son make
any threats to mel You may buy part of me, but you don’t buy at[ of mel You
tell him I’ll kill him if he touches that girll”
Pleading without shame, Elizabeth Scarlatti touched his arm. He withdrew it
swiftly from her. “It’s not my threat Please, in the name of God, listen to
me. Try to understand. . . . I’m helpless. And I can not be helpedl”
The field accountant saw the tears roll down her wrinkled cheeks. Her skin
was white and the hollows of her eyes were black with exhaustion. He
thought, quite out of context with the moment, that he was looking at a
tear-stained corpse. His anger ebbed.
“Nobody has to be helpless. Don’t let anybody tell you that.19
“You love her, don’t you?”
“Yes. And because I do, you don’t have to be quite so afraid. I’m a
committed public servant. But ‘far more committed to us than the public.”
“Your confidence doesn’t change the situation.”
“You won’t know that until you tell me what it is.”
“You leave me no choice? No alternative?”
“None. .0
“Then God have mercy on you. You have an awesome responsibility. You are