push the doors shut The distinguished-looking man with the waxed moustache
held him firmly by the lapel.
“You say you found him?”
“Yes. Let go of mel”
“What’s your name, young man?-
“What?”
“I asked you your namel”
‘Derek, James Derekl Now, phone the policel”
Canfield took the man’s wrist and pressed hard against the vein. The arm
withdrew in pain and Canfield ran into the crowd after Basil.
The man in the pin-striped suit winced and turned to
248
the secretary. “Did you get his name, Miss Richards? I couldn’t hear.”
The girl was sobbing. “Yes, sir. It was Darren, or Derrick. First name,
James.”
The man with the waxed moustache looked carefully at the secretary. She had
heard. “The police, Miss Richards. Phone the polibel”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Poole.”
The man named Poole pushed his way through the crowd. He had to get to his
office, he had to be by himself. They had done itl The men of Zurich had
ordered Jacques’ deathl His dearest, friend, his mentor, closer to him than
anyone in the world. The man who’d given him everything, made everything
possible for him.
The man he’d killed for-willingly.
They’d payl They’d pay and pay and payl
He, Poole, had never failed Bertholde in life. He’d not fail him in death
eitherl
But there were questions. So many questions.
This Canfield who’d just lied about his name. The old woman, Elizabeth
Scarlatti.
Most of all the misshapen Heinrich Kroeger. The man Poole knew beyond a
doubt was Elizabeth Scarlatti’s son. He knew because Bertholde had told
him.
He wondered if anyone else knew.
On the third-floor landing, which was now completely filled with Bertholde
employees in varying stages of hys~ teria, Canfield could see Basil one
floor below pulling himself downward by the railing. Canfield began
yelling.
“Get clearl Get clearl The doctor’s waitingl I’ve got to bring him upl Get
clearl”
To some degree the ruse worked and he made swifter headway. By the time he
reached the first-floor lobby, Basil was no longer in sight. Canfield ran
out the front entrance onto the sidewalk. There was Basil about half a
block south, limping in the middle of Vauxhall Road, waving,.trying to hail
a taxi. The knees of his trousers were coated with mud where he had fallen
in his haste.
Shouts were still coming from various windows of Bertholde et Fils, drawing
dozens of pedestrians to the foot of the company’s steps.
Canfield walked against the crowd toward the limping figure,
A taxi stopped and Basil grabbed for the door handle.
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As he pulled the door open and climbed in, Canfield reached the side of the
cab and prevented -the Englishman from pulling the door shut. He moved in
alongside Basil, pushing hun sideway to make room.
“I sayl What are you doing?” Basil was frightened but he did not rain his
voice. The driver kept turning his head back and forth from the street in
front of Inm to the gathering crowds receding behind him. Basil I did not
wish to draw additional attention.
Before Basil could think further, the American grasped the Englishman’s
right hand and pulled the coat above his wrist. He twisted Basil’s arm
revealing the red and black cuff link.
“Zurich, Basill” the field accountant whispered.
“What are you talking aboutr’
“You dsinin fool, I’m with yout Or I will be, if they let you livel”
“Oh, my Godl Oh, my Godt” Basil babbled.
The American released Basil’s band by throwing it downward. He looked
straight ahead as if ignoring the Englishman. “You’re an idiot. You realize
that, don’t
YOU?,,
“I don’t know you, sirl I don’t know youl” The Englishman was near
collapse.
“Tben we’d better change that-I may be all you bave left-$
“Now see here. I had nothing to do with itl I was in the waiting room with
you. I had nothing to do with id”
“of course, you didn’t. It’s pretty damned obvious that it was the
chauffeur. But a number of people are going to want to know why you ran.
Maybe you were just making sure the job was done.”
I-rhat’s preposterousl”
rhen why did you run away?-
“I … 1. . .”
1,L_-tls not talk now. Where can we go where we’ll be seen for about ten or
fifteen minutes? I don’t want it -to look as though we dropped out of
sighL”
“My club … I suppose.”
“Give him the addressl”
250
CHAPTER 32
“What the devil do you mean I was there?” James Derek shouted into the
phone. “I’ve been here at the Savoy since midafternoonl . . . Yes, of course
I am. Since three or thereabouts. . . . No, she’s here with me.” The
Englishman suddenly caught his breath. When he spoke again his words were
barely audible, drawn out in disbelief. “Good Lordl How horrible. . . . Yes.
Yes, I heard YoU. It
, Elizabeth Scarlatti sat across the room on the Victorian couch, absorbed
in the Bertholde dossier. At the sound of Derek’s voice she looked up at the
Englishman. He was staring at her. He spoke again into the phone.
“Yes. He left here roughly at three thu-ty. With Ferguson, from our office.
They were to meet Mrs. Scarlett at Tippin’s and he was to proceed from
there to Bertholde’s. … I doet know. His instructions were that she
remain in Ferguson’s custody until he returned. Ferguson7s to call im . .
. I see. For heaveres sake, keep me posted. I’ll phone you if there’re any
developments here.”
He replaced the telephone receiver on the hook and remained at the table.
“Bertholde’s been killed.”
“Good Godl Where’s my daughterr,
“With our man. She’s all right. He reported in an hour ago.19
“Canfieldt Where’s Canfieldr,
“I wish I knew.”
“Is he all right?”
“How can I answer that if I don’t know where he is?
251
We can presume he’s functioning. He identified himself as nxe and left the
scenel”
How did it happen?”
“He was garroted. A wire around his throat”
“Ohl” Elizabeth suddenly, vividly recalled the picture of Matthew Canfield
thrusting the cord in her face after Boothroyd’s attempt on her life aboard
the Calpurm& “If be killed him, he must have had a reasonl”
-For killing him. He must have w tor
67bafs most interesting.”
‘What isr’
“That you would tbink Canfield bad to kill him.”
“It couldn’t have happened otherwisel He’s no killer.”
“He didn’t kill Bertholde either, if Ws any comfort to
YOU. 9.
Her relief was visible. “Do they know who didT’
-11my believe so. Apparently it was Bertholde’s chauffeur.19
“That’s odd.”
Very. The maes been with him for yeam”
Verhaps Canfield’s gone after him.”
“Not likely. The man left some ten to twelve minutes before they found
Bertholde.”
James Derek walked from the telephone table toward Flizabeth. it was
obvious that -he was upset. “In the light of what!s just happened, rd like
to ask you a question. But, of course, you needn’t answer. . .
“What is it?”
‘Td like to know how-or perhaps why-Mr. Canfield received a full clearance
from the British Foreign Off!=”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Come, madame. If you doift care to answer, I respect that. But since my
names been used in the killing of an bfitiential man, I believe rin
entitled -to something more than another … falsehood.”
“Another … falsehood? ThaiVs insulting, Mr. Derek.”
‘Is it? And are you and Mr. Canfield still setting elaborate traps for
embassy personnel who returned to the United States over four months agor
“Oh.” Eizabeth sat down again on the couch. She was not concerned with the
Englishmans complaint; she only wished Canfield was there to answer him
What she
252
was concerned with was the agent’s reference to the Foreign Office. “An
unfortunate necessity.”
“Most unfortunate. . . . I gather, then, that you don1 care to answer.”
“On the contrary, I have answered you.” Elizabeth looked up at the
Britisher. “I wish you’d explain. What is full clearance?”
“Extraordinary cooperation from the highest echelons of our government. And
such decisions from the British Foreign Office are generally reserved for
major political crisesl Not a stocks-and-bonds struggle between squabbling
millionaires…. Or, if you’ll pardon me, a private citizeifs personal
‘tragedy.”
Elizabeth Scarlatti froze.
What James Derek bad just said was abhorrent to the head of Scarlatti. More
than anything else she had to operate outside the boundaries of “highest
echelon ” scrutiny. For the sake of Scarlatti itself. Canfield’s minor
agency had seemed heaven-sent. Her arrangement with him gave her the
facilities of official cooperation without answering to anyone of
consequence, If she had wanted it otherwise, she would have commanded any
number of men in either or both the legislative and executive branches of
the United States government. it would not have been difficult. . . . Now,
it seemed, Canfield’s relatively unimportant department had grown in
significance- Or perhaps her son had Involved himself in an undertaking far