‘Oh, I expect you’re right,’ growled Loftus. ‘Forget it. Who are you sending over there?’
Craigie’s tension relaxed.
‘Arkwright, I think. Thanks, Bill, I’d be in a hole without you just now. You’ll probably do far more against the Ring over here at the moment, than you could in Vienna. De Casila is a ladies’ man—but you know that.’
Loftus nodded.
‘But with good taste, by all accounts,’ added Craigie. He got up, and taking a file from one of the cabinets at the far end of the room, he handed it to Loftus. ‘Have a look at this.’
Loftus opened the file, and stared down at the photograph of a woman of undoubted beauty. Only the head and shoulders were shown. Dark hair and eyes held more than a hint of the provocative beauty of the Southern European. Two pearl earrings drooped from shapely ears. The mouth was full, the lips parted voluptuously.
Beneath the photograph was the letter ‘A’.
Loftus turned it over, to find another photograph taken from a similar angle. Another woman of great beauty. The main difference was in the line of the woman’s mouth and chin: the second woman, marked ‘B’, looked as though she could be bad-tempered, although in the photograph she was smiling.
Beneath this there was yet a third photograph.
Loftus, whose standards were high, raised his brows. This woman was so startlingly lovely that she seemed unreal. She was fair: a broad, smooth forehead seemed to give added size and brilliance to her eyes. There was a hint of a smile on her lips. No suggestion of sulkiness or temper, no hint of voluptuousness.
‘Don’t tell me this is one of de Casila’s inamoratas?’ said Loftus.
Craigie nodded. ‘His latest. American, young, and penniless. Her name is Woodward.’
Loftus widened his eyes.
‘Not Diana?’
‘Don’t you recognise her?’ asked Craigie.
Loftus frowned as he looked down at the photograph again. From the many pictures of Diana Woodward that had appeared in the illustrated weeklies and monthlies, he should have recognised that beautiful face. Up to only a few months ago Diana Woodward had been the acknowledged beauty of American society—then had come the financial crash in which her father, Arnott T. Woodward, had lost everything.
‘What the devil is a girl like that doing with de Casila?’ demanded Loftus.
Craigie shrugged.
‘She’d been used to wealth, then suddenly found herself without it. De Casila is known to be generous.’
‘Sad business,’ grunted Loftus, who in some ways was a romantic. ‘Why the devil didn’t she...’ he broke off, with a sudden grin. ‘But I’m getting off the rails. I suppose Diana is known in records as “Exhibit C”?’
‘She should be Exhibit “A”,’ said Craigie. ‘She went with de Casila to Vienna, and then travelled alone to London. She’s here now, at the Éclat. It’s inconceivable that she’s fond of the man. She might easily be persuaded to desert him for someone richer, or more attractive. In other words, we’ll have to cultivate Diana Woodward.’
Loftus frowned.
‘I don’t like that kind of double-dealing.’
‘It’s the only way of getting into close contact with our man,’ said Craigie. ‘It’s got to be done.’
‘My job?’ Loftus asked glumly.
‘To try, anyhow. Just sound her out, for a bit. I can arrange an introduction, and the time’s auspicious, de Casila being out of town. You ought to be able to find whether she’s bored, what she feels about her keeper...’
Loftus heaved himself out of his chair, patted Craigie’s shoulder in fatherly fashion, and went out when Craigie pressed a button to open the sliding door. With the ability of most Department Z agents to live in the present and not in the past, he was gradually forcing the memory of Belling to the back of his mind. His new task, intriguing, probably dangerous, might well lead to the identification of members of the Ring. Like Craigie, Loftus believed it possible that one of the bigger Powers was backing the Ring, working towards a moment when it could safely wage war...
The threat of a new conflict had been troubling Europe for several years. Rumours and alarms were daily events, movements of troops, stories of fortifications of the frontiers, quarrels in the Baltic and Balkan States, were ten-a-penny. None was groundless, although Craigie could not conceive of any great Power wanting, or daring, to start another holacaust. The days of the 1938 crisis were too vivid in most memories.
In the forefront of his mind, and that of his leading agents, was the fear that one day something would happen to make the outburst inevitable. Time and time again the agents of Department Z had helped to avert a catastrophe. But always they walked with a fear that their efforts would fail.
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John Creasey
Master crime fiction writer John Creasey’s 562 titles (or so) have sold more than 80 million copies in over 25 languages. After enduring 743 rejection slips, the young Creasey’s career was kickstarted by winning a newspaper writing competition. He went on to collect multiple honours from The Mystery Writers of America including the Edgar Award for best novel in 1962 and the coveted title of Grand Master in 1969. Creasey’s prolific output included 11 different series including Roger West, the Toff, the Baron, Patrick Dawlish, Gideon, Dr Palfrey, and Department Z, published both under his own name and 10 other pseudonyms.
Creasey was born in Surrey in 1908 and, when not travelling extensively, lived between Bournemouth and Salisbury for most of his life. He died in England in 1973.
ALSO IN THIS SERIES
The Death Miser
Redhead
First Came a Murder
Death Round the Corner
The Mark of the Crescent
Thunder in Europe
The Terror Trap
Carriers of Death
Days of Danger
Death Stands By
Murder Must Wait
Panic!
Death by Night
The Island of Peril
Sabotage
Go Away Death
The Day of Disaster
Prepare for Action
No Darker Crime
Dark Peril
The Peril Ahead
The League of Dark Men
The Department of Death
The Enemy Within
Dead or Alive
A Kind of Prisoner
The Black Spiders
This edition published in 2016 by Ipso Books
Ipso Books is a division of Peters Fraser + Dunlop Ltd
Drury House, 34-43 Russell Street, London WC2B 5HA
Copyright © George Bellairs, 1938
All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Contents
Chapter 1Strange Visitor
Chapter 2A Shock For Freddie
Chapter 3Things Move
Chapter 4Mr Criff and Others
Chapter 5Milady Lies
Chapter 6So Easy
Chapter 7Kerr Takes It Hard
Chapter 8Criffs’ Story
Chapter 9Old Friends
Chapter 10Lois Meets A Lady
Chapter 11Freddie Sings Again
Chapter 12Bad for Matthew Horn
Chapter 13Lull
Chapter 14Baj
Chapter 15Shocks in Baj
Chapter 16The First Big Step
Chapter 17Under Arrest
Chapter 18Rumbles of Revolution
Chapter 19Came Chaos
Chapter 20Four Against Odds
Chapter 21And Others