'Barmy outfit, this one,' Humble complained as he thumbed the bell. 'Allowing women like that to visit the place. Our first stop is Colonel Grogan. Right tartar from what I hear. Runs this pansy bunch of propagandists.'
That attractive girl you were talking to . . .' Partridge began.
'Married to some RAF type. Flying Officer Malloy. And she had her eye on you. If you know what I mean.' Humble made a crude gesture with his fingers which Partridge found distasteful.
'I was going to say,' Partridge persisted as Humble pressed the bell again, 'it was odd. She never asked who had been murdered.'
'Who knows what goes through a woman's mind?'
The door was opened by a private in the SIB. They're still examining the murder room,' he informed Humble. 'Haven't found anything that helps much yet, sir,' he continued as he escorted them into the lift. The body was removed hours ago.'
'I know. You needn't come up with us. Colonel Grogan's on the third floor? We'll find him.'
'Anything from the pathologist yet?' Partridge enquired as the lift began its rheumatic ascent.
'He's been up all night working on the corpus delicti. All he'll say so far is that the weapon which carved up Ionides could be a commando-type knife. Could be,' he snorted. 'I have yet to get a straight answer from any of those buggers.'
Colonel Grogan's door faced the lift beyond the entrance to the corridor running round the building. Humble knocked on the top panel, a voice rapped out, 'Come in, close the door, you're two minutes late.'
'Accounted for, sir, by the two minutes we had to wait outside to gain admittance to this place.'
'Sit down. This place, as you call it, is one of the most sensitive propaganda centres in Mid-East Command. And who am I talking to?'
Humble introduced himself and his companion, produced his identification, which Grogan glanced at and settled back in his chair. Humble had him weighed up at a glance. A regular soldier, contemptuous of all those 'in for the duration', which appeared to include his visitors.
Grogan, he estimated, would be in his late fifties. His thatch of white hair was trimmed close to his bony skull, his clean-shaven face was craggy, his expression bleak. He sat erect as a poker in his hard-backed chair.
'What do you want?' he demanded.
'Well, sir, we are investigating a particularly horrific murder which took place on these premises . . .'
'Get to the point. I haven't all day.'
'Up to this moment we have interviewed Sergeant Higgins who found the body. Nothing much he could tell us. But I understand that among the units you oversee . . .'
'Command!' Grogan snapped.
'As you say, sir. I understand there is a secret unit led by a Colonel Maurice Barrymore . . .'
'Half-colonel. Temporary appointment. Lieutenant-Colonel Barrymore you must be referring to.'
Oh, my God, Humble thought, no wonder they gave him a desk job a thousand miles behind the lines. A World War One type. Up boys, and at 'em. Never mind the casualties - take that machine-gun post. He changed tactics.
'I need to interview this Lieutenant-Colonel Barrymore - and his men. I understand they've just returned from some training course. That they've only been back here in Cairo for two days . . .'
'Good luck to you.' Grogan stood up. 'They're waiting for you. Can't imagine why you're interested in them.'
'I don't have to explain my reasons. Sir.'
'Can't imagine why they call you Humble.' Grogan glared. 'Follow me.'
Stiff in his walk, he led the way down the corridor, back straight, the veteran of a thousand inspection parades. Turning along a fresh corridor, he stopped in front of a closed door, opened it and walked in. He made a dismissive gesture towards Humble and Partridge.
'SIB. Over to you.'
Without a glance at them, he walked out, closing the door. The three men waiting in the room stared at their visitors in silence. The windows - again barred - overlooked the front street where the jeep was parked. Partridge noted as Humble made introductions.
'Better sit down, I suppose,' the half-colonel behind a desk suggested. 'Although we can't give you long. We have things to do.'
'So have we, sir,' growled Humble. 'Like investigating a grim murder . . .'
Partridge, seated next to his chief, assessed the three men with interest. Lieutenant-Colonel Barrymore had spoken in a languid voice, was dark-haired with a trim moustache, thin-faced with an aquiline nose. Effortlessly, he carried an aura of authority and command.
The records showed he was only twenty-one years old but from his air of sophistication Partridge would have guessed he was in his thirties. He sat back in a swivel chair, turning a short swagger cane between strong fingers. He pointed with the cane to the two men seated in hard-back chairs on either side of the desk.
'Captain Robson. Company Sergeant Major Kearns. Members of my unit.'
'Which unit is that. Colonel?'
'Classified.' He used the tip of the cane to push a typed sheet of paper across the desk. That explains.'
Partridge studied the other two men while Humble scanned the letter. Robson was twenty-two, more heavily built than the lieutenant-colonel. Brown-haired, he also sported a moustache, straggly, and his whole manner was more relaxed. He sat with an arm stretched across the back of his chair and his expression was amiable. He reminded Partridge of a country doctor. Again, he looked older than his years.
Kearns was tall, thin, clean-shaven and hadn't moved a muscle since they entered the room. His brown eyes reminded Partridge of glass marbles. He sat very erect and his expression was bleak, his jaw clenched. All three men had skin tanned the colour of mahogany.
'I can still ask you some questions. I'm going to do just that. It's my job,' snapped Humble, pushing the letter back over the desk-top, the letter from GHQ signed by a general.
'Let's hurry it up, shall we?' Barrymore suggested in his silken tone. 'I'm beginning to get irked.'
'Unfortunately Ionides can no longer be irked. You have met him, of course? All of you? Seeing as you have your unit stationed in the same building?'
Humble's gaze swept over the three men. Nothing changed in Kearns'expression. Barry more tapped his small white teeth with the tip of his cane. It was Captain Robson who replied.
'Personally speaking, no. I gather he was stuck away up on the next floor. As far as I know I've never set eyes on the chap. Horrible business. Any clues - as to who did it?'
'The investigation is continuing.' Humble turned to Kearns who was studying Partridge like a hangman measuring him for the drop. Only twenty years old. Must be the youngest CSM in the British Army.
'What about you?'
The same as Captain Robson.' There was a snap in his voice. He'd be a bastard on the parade ground. Humble thought. It was the sheer immobility of Kearns which fascinated Humble. He looked at Barrymore.
'What about you, sir? I've heard there are special units which slip into Greece to help the Resistance there. And Ionides was Greek.'
'Rather an obvious observation. That last remark.' Barrymore made no attempt to conceal the sarcasm. 'No is the answer. And now, I think we've told you all we can. I'd prefer this interview to draw to a close. You've read that letter...'
'Which authorizes you not to answer any question affecting military security. No, I haven't quite finished. Colonel Barrymore. I understand the three of you returned to Cairo forty-eight hours ago. That means you were all in the city last night. Where were you between the hours of nine and eleven? Last night. And that has nothing to do with military security.'
'If you must know . . .' Barrymore sounded as though he were having trouble stifling a yawn. 'All three of us were getting some well-earned kip aboard a houseboat on the Nile. The location is top secret.'
'Any witnesses to confirm your story?'
Despite his tan, the hint of a flush of blood appeared on Barrymore's face. He stood up and Humble saw for the first time his khaki drill trousers were thrust into the tops of gleaming leather cavalry boots. Walking to the door, he opened it.
'I am not accustomed to being insulted in front of subordinates. May I suggest the interview is concluded? That you both leave now. If you please.'
Humble stood up, nodded to Partridge, and strode out of the room. The door closed behind them as they headed for the lift.
'Botched that one, didn't I?' observed Humble. 'Sprawled right into it. Gave him just the excuse he was looking for to chuck us out. What did you think of them?'
'Funny trio. I couldn't get it out of my mind there was a lot of tension under the surface.'
'Which there would be if they've just returned from some mission to the Greek islands. They're Special Operations Executive - and commandos to boot.'
'SOE? Then that explains . . .'
'It explains a lot,' Humble interjected as they ignored the lift and walked down the staircase. 'It explains why some flaming desk wallah of a general at Grey Pillars provides Barrymore with a letter giving total immunity from questioning. It explains why he could throw me out on my ear. And we can't check their alibi. That houseboat is where the SOE plan operations. It's called
Tara
. Don't know why - but it's off limits even to us.'
Partridge waited until they were settled inside the jeep before he asked his question. First he paid off the chief urchin of the gang guarding the vehicle. 'Not enough!' the urchin screeched. '
Imshi! Yallah!'
Partridge bawled. They ran off, shouting obscenities.
'Did you notice Captain Robson qualified his statement that he'd never met Ionides? As far as I know I've never set eyes on the chap.'
'You spotted that, too? You're learning. Gives him an out if we came up with a witness who saw them talking together. Any idea how the murder was done?' he asked as he started the vehicle moving.
'From our visit in the night it seems impossible. The only way out is the front entrance - guarded by the Sudanese receptionist. Our people searched the place from top to bottom. No one there. All windows are barred. You can get out on to balconies from certain rooms on the upper floors. But you're thirty feet from the ground. Yet the killer had to be behind that locked door Higgins tried before he went into the next room.'
'And we found traces of blood in the bathroom. My bet is Higgins sat on that lavatory seat quite a long time. I can't say I blame him - but that was when the murderer was cleaning himself up before performing his vanishing trick.'
'Unless the Sudanese receptionist was bribed?' 'I talked with Selim. I've carried out enough interrogations in my time to know he wasn't lying. You know something. Partridge? I've a hunch we're not going to solve this one.'
'This is a bloody waste of time. You do know that?' Humble rapped out as he pulled the jeep into the kerb in front of the Antikhana Building. It was dark, the street was deserted.
Partridge checked his watch. 'Ten o'clock. The exact time Higgins arrived back on the night of the murder. I want to walk right round the outside first. Then go inside - just like Higgins did.'
'You're on your own, laddie. I'll wait here. And watch it at the back. The native quarter . . .'
Partridge jumped down on to the pavement and began walking slowly away from the entrance steps. Although it was dark there was plenty of light from the street lamps. He looked up as he walked, stared at the projecting balconies with their iron grilles.
It was very quiet. The only sound the smack of his shoes on stone. No one about. Probably it had been like this on the night of the murder. He turned the first corner of the building and the side street was a canyon of gloom. He unbuttoned his holster flap, felt the butt of his Service revolver. Butterflies in the stomach. The silence became oppressive, sinister.
He turned the next corner, walking more slowly, trying to make no sound. Across the narrow street to his right loomed the ramshackle tenements of the native quarter. Black as pitch now. He looked up again. The roof of the building was a blurred silhouette against a distant background of star-studded sky. He heard a scuffling sound and his hands were moist. A half-starved cat scuttled across the street.
Completing the circuit, he saw Humble leaning over the wheel, the red glow of a cigarette near his mouth. He mounted the steps, pressed the bell. An SIB sentry opened the right-hand door, Partridge showed his pass, went inside, nodded to the Sudanese behind the desk.