Desmond Bagley - The Snow Tiger

His head rocked sideways and he grabbed her wrist. ‘Steady, Liz.’

‘How could you?’ she said passionately. ‘How could you do that to Charlie?’

‘Someone had to stop him.’

‘But not like that. You needn’t have crucified him in public.’

‘How would you suggest? He was mad, Liz; he was going insane. Even Eric thought so. Eric told him outright he was losing his mind. He was eaten up by guilt and he wanted to pour it all out on lan.’

‘Ian!’ Liz said contemptuously. ‘That man wanted to marry me. I never want to see him again. He could have suppressed that letter.’

‘He wanted to,’ said McGill. ‘But I talked him out of it. It would have been a fool thing to do. He was supposed to see you last night. Did he?’

She shook her head. ‘Charlie played one of his tricks. He got me into his car on some excuse and then drove me out of town going like a maniac.’ She stopped as she realized what she had just said and then swallowed. ‘Anyway, he dumped me on a country road and just drove away. It was nearly midnight when I got back into town. I phoned Ian but he wasn’t in. I thought I’d see him this morning but he had the accident.’

‘Did Charlie know you were going to see Ian?’

‘Not unless Eric told him.’

‘So you told Eric, and Eric mentioned it to Charlie. That was a fool thing to do.’ He took her arm. ‘You need talking to, my girl, and you’d better have a drink while you listen.’

Five minutes later at a discreet table in a hotel lounge McGill said, ‘It’s a bit of a convoluted story. When Miller’s letter came, Ian read it and asked me just one question. He wanted to know if the avalanche would have happened anyway, regardless of what Charlie had done. I had to say that it would have come down. It was only a matter of time, Liz.’

He picked up his drink and stared at it. ‘Once Ian heard that he wanted me to suppress the letter. I talked him out of that, but then he said he wanted to clear things with you.’

‘And I didn’t turn up,’ Liz said dully.

‘The next time I saw him he was a hospital case, and I was lying like a flat fish to a man called Stenning — you’ve met him.’

‘What’s he got to do with it?’

McGill told her about old Ben Ballard, the Ballard Trust and the task that had been laid upon Stenning. It took quite a while. He wound up by saying, ‘Even when Ian knew about Miller’s letter he told Stenning to go to hell. Stenning just told me that.’

‘He was prepared to give all that up?’ said Liz slowly.

‘Not because he didn’t want to hurt Charlie, but because he didn’t want to hurt you. Don’t blame Ian for anything. Anyway, it doesn’t matter any more. Stenning has evidence that Ian did walk over the Petersons in the end. He might suspect a fiddle but he can’t prove it, and because he’s a lawyer he’ll accept it.’ McGill smiled. ‘From something he said just now I rather think he likes it this way.’

‘Aren’t you cheating Stenning?’ asked Liz with a half smile.

‘Not really. I think old Ben was wrong. He said a man must have steel in him to run the Ballard Group but I think there are enough men of steel around — too many, perhaps. They’re going out of fashion. What the Group needs now is a man-manager, an administrator, a diplomat — and Ian is all of those. And if he needs any steel he’ll have it if he has a Peterson next to him.’

‘Oh, Mike, do you think...?’ Liz put her hand on McGill’s and her eyes were bright with unshed tears. ‘I’m torn, Mike. The police have taken Charlie away because of the avalanche and...’

‘No!’ said McGill sharply. ‘Not because of the avalanche. That hasn’t been proved — and may never be.’

‘Then why?’

‘Ian intended to meet you last night but, instead, he got Charlie. Stenning saw them at the hotel. And Charlie beat Ian half to death in the car park, probably when he was on his way to look for you. There was no car accident. The police were waiting to arrest Charlie for assault as soon as he came out of the hall.’

Liz was as pale as she had been when McGill had first seen her in the church after the avalanche. He said gently, ‘He had to be stopped, Liz. I’ve often wondered what would have happened if he and I had gone that extra two hundred feet up the west slope after the avalanche and I’d seen those ski tracks. I think, maybe, there’d have been another avalanche victim. He’s strong enough to have torn me in half. He had to be stopped and I took the quickest way I knew.’

Liz sighed shudderingly. ‘I knew he was violent and had his strange ways, and I knew they were becoming worse. But not as bad as this. What will become of him, Mike?’

‘He’ll be all right. There’ll be people to look after him. I don’t think he’ll stand trial for anything. He’s beyond that, Liz — way beyond. You saw him this afternoon — you know what I mean. Harrison said as much, too.’

She nodded. ‘So it’s all over.’

‘It’s over,’ he agreed. ‘My masters want me to go south to the the ice. They’ve put up a geodesic dome at the South Pole — Buckminster Fuller strikes again — and they want a snowman to check the foundations.’

McGill leaned back in his chair and picked up his glass. He said casually, ‘Ian is in the Princess Margaret Hospital — third floor. The Ward Sister is a tough old bird called Quayle but if you say you are Ian’s fiancee she might let you...’

He became aware he was talking to thin air. ‘Hey, you haven’t finished your drink!’

But Liz was halfway across the room on her way, and beside her Victor trotted, his tail waving in a proud plume.