“He could have been sitting.”
“I said probably.”
The field accountant opened the closet door. “Hey, shine the light here.”
“There you are.”
“Here it ist”
On the closet floor was a sloppily coiled pile of rope. Through the coils
at the bottom were three wide straps of leather attached to the rope by
metal clasps.
“It’s an Alpine rig,” said the English agent.
“For mountain climbing?”
“Precisely. Very secure. The professionals won’t use it. Unsporting. Used
for rescues, mainly.”
“God bless ’em. Would it scale a wall at the Savoy?”
“Beautifully. Very quick, very safe. You were correct.” “Let’s get out of
here,” said Canfield.
“I’ll take that drink now.”
“My pleasure.” Canfield rose from the bed with difficulty. “Scotch whiskey
and soda, friend?”
230
The American walked to a table by the window that served as his bar and
poured two large quantities of whiskey into glasses. He handed one to James
Derek and half raised his own in a toast.
“You do good work, James.”
You’re quite competent yourself. And I’ve been thinking, you may be right
about taking that rig.”
“All it can do is cause confusion.”
‘Ibars what I mean. ft could be helpful. … It’s such an American device.”
“I don’t understancL”
“Nothing personal. Just that you Americans are so equipmew conscious, if
you know what I mean. When you shoot birds in Scotland, you carry heavy
milliniew cannon with you into the field… When you fish in the Lowlands,
you have sfx4~undred artifices in your tackle box. The American’s some of
sportsmanship is equated with his ability to nutster the sport witli his
purchases, not ilk ski]L-
“U this is hate-the-Ainerican hour, you should get a radio program”
‘TUase, Matthew. rin trying to ton you that I think you’re right. Whoever
broke mto the Scarlatfl suite was an American. We can Vace the rig to
someone at your embassy Hasn t that occurred to you?-
“We can do what?”
“Your embassy N ft is someone at your embassy Someone who knows Bertholde.
The men you suspect of having been involved with the I securities. … Even
an Alpine rig has to be manipulated by a trained mountain climber. How many
climbers can there be in your embassy? Scotland Yard could check it in a
clay.”
“No… We’ll handle ft ounelves.”
“Waste of time, you know After all, embassy personnel have dossiers just as
Bertbolde has. How many are mountain ciimbenr
The field accountant turned away from James Derek and refilled his glaw
‘That puts it in a police category. We don’t want that. Well make the
interrogations.”
“Just as you say. It shouldn’t be difficult Twenty to thirty people at
most. You should track it down quickly,”
‘We will.” Canfield walked to his bed and sat d~wn.
“Tell me,” said the Englishman, finishing the last of
231
his whiskey, “do you have a current list of your embassy personnel?
Up~to-date, that is?”
“Of course.”
“And you’re absolutely sure that members of the staff working there now
were part of this securities swindle last Year?”
“Yes. I’ve told you that At least, the State Department think so. I wish
you’d stop harping on it.”
“I shan’t any longer. Ifs late and I have a great deal of work on my desk
which I’ve neglected.” The British operative rose from the chair and went
to the bureau where he had put his hat- “Good night, Canfield.”
,,oh, you,re leaving? . . . Was there anything in the Bertholde file? I’ll
read it but right now rm bushed.”
James Derek stood by the door looking down at the aLhausted field
accountant. “One AeM I’M Sure YOU’ll be interested in. . . . Several
probably, but one comes to Inind.19
-whars thatr
S Among the marquis s athletic pursuits is mountain climbing. ne imminent
sportsman is, in fact, a member of the Matterhorn Club. Hes also one of the
few hundred whove scaled the north side of the Jungfrau. No mean feat, I
gather.9-
Canfield stood up angrily and shouted at the Engrlshman. -why dimt you say
so, for Chrisfs sake?”
“I frankly thought you were more interested in his associations with your
embassy. TWs really what I was looking for.-
The field accountant stared at Derek. “So it was Bertholde. But why? …
Unless he knew she wouldn’t open the door for anyone. 19
“Perhaps. I really woulddt know. Enjoy the dossier, Canfield. it’s
fascinating. . . . However. I don7t think :you’ll find much in it related
to the American embassy. … But that’s not why you wanted it, is it?”
The Britisber let himself out the door, closing it sharply behind him.
Canfkeld stared after him, confused but too th-ed to care.
232
I\
CHAPTER 30
The telephone awoke hm
“Matthew?”
les, Janr- He held the phone and the blood drained from his arm and it
hurt.
,,rm in the lobby. I told Mother Scarlatd I had some shopping to do.”
The field accountant looked at his watch. It was eleven thirty. He had
needed the sleep. “What happened?”
“rve never seen her like dus, Matthew. She’s frightftled.”
“Thaes new. Did she bring up the Sheffield businessr,
“No. I had to. She brushed it aside and said the situation had changed.”
“Nothing else? Just that?-
“Yes;… There was something else.. She said she was going to talk with you
this afternoon. She says there are problains back in Now York that have to
be attended to. I think she’s going to WH you that she’s decided to leave
Ennishad and so home.”
’11wes imponiblel What did she say exactlyr’
“She was vague. Just that Chancellor was a fool and that it was senseless
throwing away time on a wild-goose chaw”
“me dmnt believe thatr
I know she doesn’t She wasti’t oonvim:ing alther. But she mum IL Wha an you
Wing to do?”
ftke her by mqxiW I hope. Stay out shopping for at least two hours, will
you?-
They made plans for a late lunch and said good-bye.
233
Thirty minutes later the field accountant walked across the Savoy lobby into
the grin and ordered breakfast. It was no time to go without food. Without
energy.
He carried the Bertholde file with him. ~ He promised himself that he’d
read through it, or most of it, at the table. He opened it and placed it to
the left of his plate and started at the top of the tint page.
Jacques Louis Auniont Bertholde~ fourth marquis of Chatellerault.
It was a dossier like so many other dossiers on the very wealthy Exhaustive
details about the family lineage. The positions and titles held by each
member for several generations in business, government, and society-all im-
pressive sounding, all meaningless to anyone else. The Bertholde
holdings-enormous-mainly, as Elizabeth Scarlatti had said, within British
territories. Ilie specific education of the subject in question and his
subsequent rise in the world of tomirirce. His clubs-all very correcL His
hobbies-automobiles, hone breeding, dogs.also correct. The sports he
excelled in-polo, &%ffing, the Matterhorn and the Jungfrau-not only
correct, but colorful, fitting. And finally the character estimates elic-
ited from his contemporaries. The most interesting part and yet the part
many professionals disregarded. The flattering contributions were generally
supplied by friends or associates hoping to gam. The unflattering, by
enenues or competitors with a wish to undermine.
Canfield withdrew a pencil and made two notations in the dossier.
The first was on page 18, paragraph 5.
No particular reason other than the fact that it seemed out ‘of
place-unattractive-and it contained the name of a city Canfield recalled
was on Ulster Scarlett!s European itinerary.
The Bertholde family had extensive interests in the Ruhr Valley, which were
sold to the German Ministry of Finance several weeks before the assassina-
tion at Sarajevo. The Bertholde offices in Stuttgart and Tassing were
closed. The sale caused considerable comment in French business circles and
the Bertholde family was criticized by the States General and in numerous
newspaper editorials. No collusion accused, however, due to explanation
that the
234
German Finance Ministry was paying exorbitant prices. Explanation proved
out. Following %the war, the Ruhr Valley interests repurchased from the
Weimar government. Offices in Stuttgart and Tassiag reopened-
The second, on page 23, paragraph 2, referred to one of Bertholde’s more
recently formed corporations and included the following information.
The Marquis de Bertholde’s partners in the importing firm are Mr. Sydney
Masterson and Mr. Harold Leacock….
Masterson and Leacock.
Both were on the Zurich list. Each owned one of the fourteen properties in
Switzerland.
No surprise. They tied Bertholde ‘to the Zurich contingent.
No surprise at all. Just comforting-in a professional way-to know that
another piece of the puzzle fittedL
As he finished his coffee, an unfamiliar man in a Savoy waistcoat
approached the field accountant.
“Front desk, sir. I have two messages.”
Canfield was alarmed. He reached for the notes extended to him. “You could
have had me paged.”
“Both parties requested that we not do that, sir.”