Алистер Маклин - Floodgate

He wasn’t given time to complete his sentence. Van Effen stabbed the button and less than two seconds later, deep and muffled like a distant underwater explosion but very unmistakable for all that – to anyone with normal hearing, the sound must have been audible up to a kilometre away – the reverberation from the detonating amatol rolled across the square. Van Effen took the bottle from Agnelli’s unresisting hand – Agnelli, not smiling and with lips parted, seemed to be seeing something very far away – and poured himself a schnapps.

‘Seems I’ll just have to congratulate myself. A nice loud bang but the royal walls still stand. As guaranteed. My health.’

‘That was splendid,’ Agnelli said warmly. He was back on his own usual smiling balance again. ‘Perfectly splendid, Mr Danilov. And no damage after all that noise. Unbelievable.’

‘Perhaps a little royal wine spilt on the royal table-cloth.’ Van Effen made a dismissive gesture. ‘I don’t want to seem unduly modest – not in my nature, really – but that was next to nothing. Next time – if there is a next time – something a little more demanding perhaps.’

‘There’ll be a next time. That I promise. And a little more exacting. That I also promise.’ He paused to sip some schnapps as the others, obviously excited and elated, turned to congratulate van Effen, then held up a hand for silence as the buzzer rang again.

‘Ah! You heard it also, did you? Very, very satisfactory. Mr Danilov is a man of his word.’ He was silent for almost a minute then said: ‘Yes, I agree. I’d been thinking along those lines myself. Most fortuitous, most…Thank you. Ten o’clock then.’

He replaced headpiece and microphone, then leaned back in his seat. ‘Well, now, time to relax.’

‘You relax,’ van Effen said. ‘Not me. If you’re not moving on, I am.’ He made to get up and a puzzled Agnelli caught his arm.

‘What is wrong?’

‘There’s nothing wrong with me. It’s just, as I’ve told you, that I’ve got a very acute sense of self-preservation. As soon as the police come to their senses – if they ever lost them, they’re a pretty efficient bunch hereabouts – they’re going to start questioning everyone within eyesight of the palace. I should imagine – no, I’m certain – that a minibus with eight odd characters such as us parked in a rainstorm in the Dam would be a prime target for questioning.’ He shrugged off Agnelli’s hand and rose. ‘I’ve an acute aversion to being questioned by the police. A criminal – and we are criminals – has to be some kind of retarded lunatic to remain in the vicinity of his crime.’

‘Sit down. You’re right, of course. Foolish of me – one should never let one’s guard down. Helmut?’

Paderiwski, who was obviously in full agreement with van Effen, drove off at once.

Back in the room they had so recently vacated, Agnelli sank into an armchair. ‘Thank you, ladies, thank you. Schnapps would be fine. Now, perhaps, Mr Danilov, we can relax.’

‘Safer than where we were. But relax? For me, no. Still too close. Instinct? Plain cowardice? I just don’t know. Anyway, I have an appointment tonight. Nine-thirty.’

Agnelli smiled. ‘You were pretty sure that you were going to keep that appointment?’

‘I never had any reason to doubt it. No, that’s not quite accurate. I never had reason to doubt that the arranging of the explosion was a simple matter. I had ample reason to question your ability to get us in and out undetected. But, then, I had no reason beforehand to be aware of your rather remarkable organizational ability. I’ll have no doubts about you again.’

‘Nor we of you – not after tonight’s performance. I had mentioned the possibility of finding a permanent niche with us. That’s no longer a possibility, it’s a guarantee if you’re still of the same mind.’

‘Of course I’m of the same mind. Tonight, you had a free demonstration. Now, I would appreciate some steady employment.’

‘The point I was about to raise. I think you are now entitled to be taken into our confidence.’

Van Effen looked at him in silence, took a thoughtful sip of his schnapps and smiled. ‘Not, I feel certain, your full confidence. You are not about to tell me your ultimate aims. You are not going to tell me how you came together. You’re not going to tell me how you are financed or by whom. You are not going to tell me where you stay – although, if we’re to work together in however limited a capacity, you’ll have to give me some intermediate contact phone number. You’re not even going to tell me why, in what would appear to be an otherwise highly organized setup, you require my services at such a late date.’

Agnelli was thoughtful. ‘That’s a lot of things you seem to be certain that we’re not going to tell you. How come?’

Van Effen let a little impatience show. ‘Because that is precisely the way I would behave myself. The need-to-know principle. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of that again. What I do believe is that you are about to let me into your very limited confidence about your immediate operational plans. No abnormal prescience on my part. You have to. If, that is to say, I’m to be of any use to you.’

‘Correct on all counts. Tell me, Mr Danilov, are you in a position to acquire explosives?’

‘Good God!’

‘Is that so extraordinary a question to ask of an explosives expert?’

‘My astonishment was not at the fact that you ask me. I’m surprised that – well, that such an organized group should embark upon what I take to be an ambitious project without the essentials to hand.’

‘We have some of what you call the essentials. We may not have enough. Are you in a position to help?’

‘Directly, no.’

‘Indirectly?’

‘Perhaps. I would have to make enquiries.’

‘Discreet, of course.’

Van Effen sighed. ‘Please don’t be so naive. If it were possible to obtain explosives without official permission in the Netherlands you would already have done so.’

‘Sorry. Silly remark. But we have to protect ourselves. Your contact would not, of course, obtain supplies – if he could – in a legitimate fashion?’

‘I’m not being indiscreet in saying that, to the best of my knowledge, my contact has never been involved in any legitimate dealings in his life. He would regard it as an affront to his professional code. He is also, incidentally, the only man in the country who knows more than I do about explosives.’

‘Sounds like a person whose acquaintance it might be useful to make.’ Agnelli studied his glass then looked at van Effen. ‘Not by any chance your friend Vasco? The person who introduced us at the Hunter’s Horn?’

‘Good lord, no.’ Van Effen creased his brow and compressed his lips. ‘Vasco is hardly what you might call my friend, Mr Agnelli. I got him out of bad trouble, once, and have employed him occasionally on some none-too-demanding errands. But we are not soulmates. I’m quite certain that Vasco knows nothing about explosives, has no access to them and would find it difficult to obtain a child’s cap pistol in a toy shop.’

Agnelli turned to his brother and shrugged. ‘Had we known that, Leonardo, you wouldn’t have spent so much time looking for him this afternoon.’

‘Vasco frequently disappears,’ van Effen said. ‘Has a girlfriend in Utrecht, I believe. You are seriously trying to tell me that you were, also seriously, thinking of engaging Vasco’s services?’

‘Not exactly, but –’

‘He comes in the front door and I go out the back and that’s that,’ van Effen said. ‘He’s unstable, unpredictable and highly dangerous, whether he means to be or not.’

‘I don’t quite understand what you mean by that.’