Vorpal Blade (33 page)

'Soon to be President once the present occupant of the
Oval Office retires. And the existing President is backing
Russell to be his successor.'

'You've got the picture. A significant factor I suspect in
these horrible murders. Hence my emphasis on power. I
do believe Russell Straub would go to almost any lengths
to make sure nothing blocked his ambition.'

'You're making me think,' Paula told him.

'That was my purpose. To make your realize what
we are investigating has the world's future security at stake.'

'Then we could be up against colossal forces,' she said.

'We are. This explains the intervention of Nathan
Morgan and Special Branch. They are doing everything they can to stop our investigation. I'm sure the President
has asked our Prime Minister for a favour. The PM wants
to keep in the good graces of Washington. Hence the
pressure we are facing. I must not discover the great
secret.'

'You think the PM knows what it is?'

'I don't think for a moment he does. I also doubt whether
the President knows what it is.'

'So,' she suggested, 'you find it strange that Russell
Straub keeps turning up?'

'Very strange.'

'I haven't told you about my conversation with Marienetta
over tea.'

Tweed had been pacing as he explained what he had learnt from Monica. Now he sat down, facing Paula, his expression alert, preparing to concentrate.

'Oh, before I start, it did strike me as possibly significant
that all the victims so far have been men.'

'I had pondered that. Now, it sounds as though you
found out something interesting from Marienetta.'

'I did . . .'

She stopped speaking as someone hammered urgently
on the door of the suite. Tweed jumped up, opened the door on the chain, then released it. Beck walked in.

'There's been another murder. Close to this hotel.'

21

It was very chilly in the night as Tweed and Paula
were led by Beck out of the main entrance where he
immediately turned left up the street running parallel
to Bahnhofstrasse. Two plainclothes detectives, escorting
their chief, kept their distance.

'Have you identified the victim?' Paula asked quietly.

'Not yet. I'm waiting for Dr Zeitzler to arrive. He insists
nothing is touched until he's made a quick examination.
He's right, of course. Ah, there is his car . . .'

They turned left again and Paula realized they were
walking along an extension of the street she had seen
Roman Arbogast disappear down from Bahnhofstrasse.
That seemed ages ago now.

'At the end of this street is the River Sihl,' Beck
explained. 'It's an offshoot from the
Limmat and not
far down from here it enters the lake.'

The street was narrow and a tunnel of darkness apart
from the occasional street lamp. As they drew closer to
where it ended Paula saw the glow of police lights perched on tripods, a lot of police cars parked, a police tape across
the end of the street.

'Does Roman Arbogast have an office around here?'
she asked.

'There.' Beck pointed to a building they were about to
pass on the opposite side of the street. On the second floor a light glowed behind a closed blind. 'That is his
headquarters for running his plants in Switzerland and
certain surrounding countries. It has a big staff.'

'And we're now approaching this little river, the Sihl?' she enquired.

'You'll see it any moment now. Boat owners moor their
craft here for winter. Some very expensive.' He stopped
suddenly, turned to Paula and Tweed. 'This is pretty grim.
I'm not sure Paula should see it. I don't doubt her courage
but this is pretty eerie and horrific.'

'I have seen worse things,' she snapped obstinately.

Beck raise both hands in a gesture of resignation. As
they came to the corner she saw the narrow River Sihl,
almost black in the darkness except where the police lights
reflected off it. Dr Zeitzler suddenly appeared. When he
saw her he took her arm, spoke in English, no longer abrupt
in manner. His tone was gentle and sympathetic.

'Fraulein Grey, I beg of you not to proceed one step further. This is an escalation -I trust that is the right word - in horror.'

'I appreciate your sentiments, Dr Zeitzler. But I have
seen beheaded bodies before. Please do not stand in
my way.'

Zeitzler looked at Beck. He made a gesture.
I have done
as much as I can.

She walked round the corner. Boats covered with green
canvas to protect them against the winter were moored at intervals. Policemen who had been chattering went
quiet when they saw her. A ghastly silence descended on the promenade running along the side of the Sihl.
One powerful police light was focused on a boat where
the green canvas had been rolled back. At the stern there
was a seat with a canopy and it was occupied.

A woman sat in the seat, propped up by the back rest.
Her green fur cap was tilted to one side. Her eyes were open. Paula stopped, stood quite still, unable to take her
gaze away from the occupant.

'Oh God, no!' she gasped, muffling her outburst with her
hand which she clamped to her mouth. She stiffened her legs, steeled herself. 'Oh, dear God, no,' she said behind
her hand.

The figure sitting so still in the boat was that of Elena
Brucan. Apart from her extreme immobility she appeared
normal, as if taking a rest. Throwing off Zeitzler's hand,
which had again grasped her arm, Paula advanced slowly
along the narrow walk. Tweed was now beside her,
Newman, who had rushed from the hotel, behind her.

'At least it didn't decapitate her,' she said in a steady
tone of voice.

She was walking closer to the boat as she spoke.
Behind her back Zeitzler glanced at Beck with an alarmed expression. The police chief made a gesture of resignation.
No point in stopping her now. She'd just have to see it.

The first thing Paula noticed with puzzlement and then
a shock of growing presentiment was a large brownish pool
on the walkway alongside the boat. In the middle was a clear area, an area shaped like the oblong she had seen imprinted into the grass near the asylum at Pinedale. The
site of an execution block. She went closer to the still figure
of Elena Brucan, propped against the headrest at the stern.
A few inches below the chin a brownish rim of encrusted
blood encircled the neck.

'She has been beheaded,' she said in a low voice. 'That
is why her hat is tilted at the wrong angle.'

'And then,' Tweed said, 'it lifted the head by the hair
from where it had fallen and perched it back on the
severed neck.'

'It's obscene!'
she shouted.
'I'm going to locate it and when
I do I'm going to kill it. .
.'

She was shaking as Tweed, gripping her by the arm, led
her back to the hotel. Both he and Newman thought it
was the appalling shock of what she had seen which was making her tremble. They were wrong. She was shaking
with fury.

'She was such a nice lady,' she said eventually as they
approached the entrance to the hotel. Her voice was
trembling now with sorrow. 'She meant no harm to any
one. Why?'

'Probably because she spoke to the wrong person,'
Tweed told her. 'It realized Elena suspected it.'

'Can we pause here for a moment?' Paula asked.

They waited while she took in deep breaths of the
ice-cold air. Her figure stiffened and she turned to Tweed and spoke.

'I'm OK now. I've got control of the anger. Let's not
say anything to anyone we meet.'

As they walked into the hotel Marienetta rushed out
of the lift. She stared at Paula, came forward with an
expression of concern.

'You've lost all your colour. Are you all right?'

'I'm fine. I tripped up as we were coming back from a walk. Sprawled full length. Knocked the breath out
of me.'

'You'd better go upstairs and lie down.'

Paula was looking past her into the lounge. In a chair
near to the entrance Sophie, wearing an overcoat, was
gazing at her. She had the most peculiar look on her face,
a strange smile as though she had just achieved something
which delighted her.

'Not feeling so good, Paula,' she called out.

'I was wondering why you're looking so pleased with
yourself.'

'She gets like that sometimes,' Marienetta remarked.

'Marienetta thinks she's
so
clever,' Sophie sneered.

'That's enough of that,' Marienetta rapped back.

'She thinks she's the Queen of ACTIL,' Sophie sneered
again, standing up. 'She should have been an actress,' she
ploughed on. 'She tried to be once in the provinces and the
producer threw her out, told her to get a job as a typist.'

Marienetta swung round. Her manner was calm as she
walked to Sophie.. Her right hand swung up and gave
Sophie a ferocious slap on the side of her face, a slap
which caused her to sway and almost fall.

'Nearly took her head off her shoulders,' Newman
whispered. 'Sorry, just realized what I said. Let's get upstairs. We can do without this.'

He had just spoken when Blackjack, clad in an overcoat,
came in from outside. He was carrying a large leather bag.
Paula thought he was drunk as he grinned at everyone,
buoyantly shouted at the top of his voice.

'I'll take the first lift. Damned well freezing out there. A hot shower is next on the programme for me. Sure you won't mind.'

Newman had never seen him in such a joyous mood.
A man who was so pleased with an achievement he had pulled off. He blocked Black Jack taking another step. He
was in a mood to knock him down.

'The lift is booked for us. And there's no room for you.
It's warm enough in here.'

'Don't like your tone of voice, old man.'

Tve never been over the moon about yours.'

Tweed was escorting Paula to the lift, waiting with its
doors open. Behind them Newman and Black Jack glared at each other face to face. It was Black Jack who backed
down. He called across to Marienetta still standing close to Sophie.