Colin Forbes - The Janus Man

`A lot of people must have those dinghies,' Newman objected. 'I've seen at least a dozen of them.'

`That's what I said to her. There's something she didn't tell me – but I think she told Kuhlmann. Hence the raid. I think we've lost Dr Berlin for some time, maybe for good. And I've remembered what Diana said that seemed important – but not when she said it.'

`What was that?'

`Later…'

Tweed had spotted Diana leaving her seat and coming back to their part of the coach. She seemed quite different, her mood was impish, her walk light-footed. She sat down opposite Tweed.

`Sorry,' she said.

'For what?'

`Being so ill-mannered – going off on my own. I had the Black Dog perched on my shoulder – isn't that what Churchill used to say? I read it in a book. I had a decision to make…'

`Nothing to be sorry about,' Tweed assured her. 'Want to tell me about your decision?'

'Yes. I told that Federal policeman, Kuhlmann, more than I told you. That was why I had the raid on my conscience. I think you should both know what I did tell him. Especially since what happened when the police raid took place – the way Dr Berlin drove off at speed.'

`Clearly he wanted to avoid the police,' Tweed remarked.

'I told you Kuhlmann could be very persuasive. I told him I'd phoned Dr Berlin at his home just before midnight. He never goes to bed before two o'clock. He was always up late in the old Kenya days.'

She hesitated, dropped her eyes, and Tweed frowned at Newman to stop him speaking. Diana asked Newman for a cigarette and took a deep drag after he had lit it. She stared straight at Tweed.

'There was no reply. I'd called his private number which goes straight through to his study…'

'Maybe he was in another part of the house – it's a big place.'

'Which is exactly what Kuhlmann said. After trying the private line I called the house number. Danny Warning answered it. When I asked for Dr Berlin he said he was in his study and didn't want to be disturbed. Oh, God, I must be wrong.'

'The fact remains,' Tweed said, 'your calls proved Dr Berlin was not at home at just about the time Iris Hansen was killed on the beach.'

'I'm flying back to London,' Tweed announced. 'In the strictest secrecy. They'll know I've arrived at Park Crescent when I walk through the front door.'

He was pacing his bedroom at the Jensen with slow deliberate steps when he told Newman. He stood very erect and there was a hardness in his voice which startled Newman.

'What has happened?' he asked. 'I'm coming with you…'

'You are not. You stay here to guard Diana Chadwick. I shall catch the express to Hamburg tomorrow, go straight from the Hauptbahnhof to the airport, buy a ticket and board the first flight.'

`I'll ask you again. Why this sudden turnabout? I know you came here because you suspected you were being led into a trap – and you wanted to spring the trap yourself…'

`I have learned things since which make me realize the crisis facing me could be infinitely worse than I suspected – the most appalling crisis Park Crescent has been confronted with since I joined the service. If I'm right – and I hope to God I'm not – I can't see how the situation could be resolved without a terrible scandal. Don't question me. I could be wrong.'

`You were going to tell me,' Newman said quietly, 'what it was that Diana said that was important.'

`She said, I quote her exact words, "or so you can see him". She was referring to the fact that I was puzzled why Dr Berlin should want to see me. She turned it round the other way.'

`You're talking in riddles…'

`And I am referring to a really gigantic riddle.' Tweed sat down and his whole manner changed. 'Now, Bob, find out any more about how Diana lives – the source of her income?'

`Ann Grayle started on about Goldenlegs again but I cut her short. Then she stopped being catty. She told me there is a strong rumour Dr Berlin supports her with an allowance – a very generous allowance. More than enough to live on. She looks after the Sudwind – and his other power cruiser, the Nordsee, berthed at that marina on Priwall Island near the ferry. Ann marked its position on this map.' He handed a folded sheet to Tweed.

`Another cruiser? How big is this Nordsee? Did she say?'

`Very big – the twin of the Sudwind. Capable of travelling long distances – and in rough weather. Berlin himself crews whichever vessel he takes out. He's often absent for long periods. No one knows where. A friend of Ann's swore he once saw the Sudwind at a marina in Oslo.'

`What is he doing on these extended voyages?'

`Contacting various European organizations which provide him finance for his work with refugees. There are quite a few in Scandinavia – I know that from my own travels…'

`And who pays for all this? The mansion on Priwall Island, the two large power cruisers. Those things eat money – even in a marina,' Tweed remarked.

`The charitable organizations I've just mentioned. I gathered from Ann Grayle Dr Berlin has a hypnotic effect on the more liberal element. His influence extends as far as the States. He's a power in the land.'

Tweed looked unhappy. 'All you're telling me makes it seem I could be right in my bizarre theory. And I want to be wrong. You simply must not let Diana out of your sight while I am away. She is blonde, remember – as were all the victims.'

`And how long will you be away?'

`A matter of days, I expect. No one must know where I've gone. If you find yourself under pressure, say "Copenhagen". And one man must not know above all others. Otto Kuhlmann.'

`Why Kuhlmann?'

`Because there is one other man who was present in Frankfurt when that Dutch girl was killed, and also here when Helena Andersen and Iris Hansen were hacked to pieces.'

`Who is that?'

`Otto Kuhlmann.'

`That phone call was negative,' Markus Wolf reported to General Lysenko in his fifth-floor office in Leipzig.

`In what way? Get to the point.'

`Munzel carried out an initial attack on Tweed. He does that sometimes – to get the measure of his target. The attack was not conclusive owing to the intervention of the British foreign correspondent, Robert Newman…'

`Tweed is still alive and well? Is that what you are trying to say to me in your devious way?' Lysenko demanded.

`Tweed still exists, yes. For the moment. Call it a trial run. The elimination of Tweed will proceed as planned…'

`Balls!' Lysenko gave full vent to his fury. 'And I have to fly back to Moscow to report to the General Secretary. He will be most pleased, I am sure.'

`Please pass on to Comrade Gorbachev my warmest regards.'

`That will make him the happiest man in the Soviet Union. I think we may have to substitute someone more effective for Munzel…'

Wolf removed his horn-rimmed glasses and stared at Lysenko. He seemed quite unruffled by the news, by Lysenko's outburst. He chewed on a corner of one of the handles of his spectacles.

`Munzel is the best – as the General Secretary well knows. I shall go ahead with the next stage in the operation while you are away…'

'I shan't be away long,' Lysenko said savagely. 'So what do you expect to achieve? And something else worries me greatly. I told you Munzel is a sadist. Who do you think might be responsible for the ferocious killings of those two blonde girls in Travemunde?'

'I cannot accept scandalous implications about a member of my staff…'

`Implications be damned! If it were Munzel, if Tweed turned the tables and proved it – and unmasked his identity. God! Can you imagine the propaganda he could make of that?'

'It won't happen…'

'I find that statement immensely reassuring.' Lysenko's tone dripped with sarcasm. 'I am not prepared to leave it at that.' `What do you mean?'