Алистер Маклин - Circus

‘I’d like to. If you could just wait a moment. Two thirds of The Blind Eagles seem to have slept in this morning. Ah! Here’s Johann.’

Urgency in his voice, Malthius’s assistant said: ‘I think you’d better come, Bruno. Quickly!’ Bruno said nothing, just jumped quickly aboard the train. Dr Harper and Wrinfield, after an uncomprehending glance at each other, followed closely behind him.

Vladimir and Yoffe had shared a double-bedded compartment, nothing like the princely quarters of their elder brother but comfortable enough for all that. They had become renowned and teased for their almost compulsive tidiness: unquestionably, they would have been distressed to see its present state.

It was a shambles and looked as if a small but determined tornado had recently passed through it. Bedding lay scattered over the floor, two chairs were broken, glasses were smashed, a small hand-basin had been splintered and even a window – of heavy plate – had been cracked and starred without however, shattering. Most ominously of all, there were bloodstains on the torn sheets and on the cream-panelled walls.

Bruno went to move inside but Harper put a restraining hand on his shoulder. ‘Don’t. The police wouldn’t like it.’

The police, when they arrived, didn’t like it at all. They were shocked that such a monstrous thing, the kidnapping of two famous American artistes – if they knew that Vladimir and Yoffe had been born less than half a mile from where they stood they were keeping the information to themselves – should happen upon their soil. The most immediate, the most rigorously thorough investigation would be held immediately. To begin with, said the inspector who had arrived to take charge, the area had to be completely cleared and cordoned off by his men, which was a lot less impressive than it sounded, for the cordoning off consisted merely of stationing two of them in the corridor. The occupants of the coach in which the brothers had slept were to remain available for questioning. Wrinfield suggested the dining-room – the temperature outside was below freezing point – and the inspector agreed. As they moved off, plain-clothes detectives and fingerprint experts arrived at the scene. Wrinfield elected to join them in the dining-car, after directing his immediate deputies to proceed with the unloading of the train and the setting up of the circus and the cages in the arena immediately outside.

The air in the dining-wagon was almost unbearably warm – the giant locomotive was still hooked up and would remain so throughout the day to provide the necessary heat for the animals, who would remain there until they were moved up to the circus in the evening.

Bruno stood apart with Wrinfield and Harper. Briefly, they discussed what could possibly have happened to the brothers and why; but as there was clearly no answer to either question they soon fell silent and remained that way until no less a person than Colonel Sergius himself made his entrance. His face was set in hard, bitter lines and he gave the impression that his anger was barely under control.

‘Dastardly!’ he said. ‘Unbelievable! Humiliating! That this should happen to guests in my country. I promise you, you shall have the full criminal investigating weight of our country behind this. What a welcome and what a black day for Crau!’

Harper said mildly: ‘This can hardly be laid at the door of any citizen of Crau. They were missing when we arrived here. We had two intermediate stops on the way up. It must have happened at one of those.’

‘True, true, Crau is exonerated. Does that make it any easier for us to bear, do you think? What hurts our country hurts us all.’ He paused and then his voice took on a deeper timbre. ‘It needn’t have happened at either of those two stops.’ He looked at Bruno. ‘I’m sorry to have to suggest this but they might have been thrown off the train while in motion.’

Bruno didn’t stare at him, his feelings and emotions were always too tightly under control for that, but he came close to it. ‘Why should anyone do that? Why should anyone even lay hands on them? I know my brothers better than anyone in the world – they never did anyone any harm.’

Sergius looked at him pityingly. ‘Don’t you know that it is always the innocent who suffer? If you want to commit a burglary you don’t go to the home of a notorious gangster to do it.’ He turned to an aide. ‘Get the radio telephone in here and get the Minister of Transport on the line for me. No, do it yourself. If he complains about still being in bed tell him I’ll come and talk to him personally. Tell him I want every inch of track between the capital and here searched for two missing people. Tell him it’s urgent. Tell him they may be badly hurt and that the temperature is below freezing. Tell him I want a report within two hours. Then call the Air Force. Tell them the same thing but only to use helicopters. I want their report within the hour.’ The aide left.

Wrinfield said: ‘You think there’s a serious possibility–’

‘I think nothing. A policeman’s job is to overlook nothing. We’ll know inside the hour. I have no faith in that old fuddy-duddy transport minister, but the Air Force is a different matter altogether. Pilots flying at ten metres, a trained observer for either side.’ He looked at Bruno with what he probably intended to be a sympathetic expression. ‘I commiserate with you, Mr Wildermann. I also commiserate with you, Mr Wrinfield.’

Wrinfield said: ‘With me? Admittedly, two of my very best artistes are gone. True, I held them in the highest regard. But so did a score of others. So, for that matter, did everyone else in the circus.’

‘The others won’t have to pay the ransom. I merely advance a possibility. If such a possibility existed you would pay a great deal of money to get them back, would you not?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Alas, even in our glorious country, we have our villains. We even have kidnappers – and their favourite method of seizing a victim is from a train. And they are very desperate men – kidnapping is a capital offence in our country. This is but supposition, but a fairly strong one.’ He looked again at Bruno and the gash that substituted for his mouth parted fractionally. Sergius was smiling. ‘And we commiserate with ourselves. It looks as if we shall not be seeing The Blind Eagles in Crau.’

‘You’ll be seeing one of them.’

Sergius looked at him. A score of people looked at him. Maria slowly passed a tongue across her lips. Sergius said: ‘Am I to understand–’

‘I used to be a solo act before my brothers were old enough to join me. A few hours’ practice and I can do it again.’

Sergius looked at him for a considering moment. ‘We all know you are a man totally without nerves. Are you also a man totally without feelings?’

Bruno turned away without reply.

Sergius looked after him thoughtfully, then turned away also. He said: ‘All the occupants of that coach here?’

‘All present, Colonel,’ Wrinfield said. ‘But you voiced the opinion that kidnappers were–’

‘Might. And you heard what I said – a policeman’s job is to overlook nothing. Anybody here heard any noise, any unusual sound during the night?’ From the loud silence it was apparent that no one had heard anything. ‘Very well. The brothers slept in the end compartment in the coach. Who slept next to them?’

Kan Dahn moved his massive bulk forward. ‘I did.’

‘Surely you heard something?’

‘I already haven’t answered your question. That means no. I’m a very heavy sleeper.’

Sergius looked thoughtful. ‘You’re big enough to do it single-handed.’

Kan Dahn’s tone was mild. ‘Are you accusing me?’