Dennis Wheatley - They Found Atlantis

'Never mind—the name serves as well as any other—sit down.' Mr. Kate carefully ticked the McKay's name on a list which he had in front of him and, as he looked up again, Count Axel was marched in between two more of his men.

'Count Axel Fersan?' he enquired sharply.

'That is my name,' Count Axel regarded him steadily from beneath lowered lids.

'You, I am sure have heard of Seal and Unman—am I right?'

The Count's face went blank with surprise for a second then he smiled. 'Of course, when I can afford such luxuries I still get my things from them.'

'Do you? In that case my people will probably call you Maud—be seated please.' Despite the cynical jest Mr. Kate's blue eyes remained cold and unsmiling as he ticked off the Count's name on his paper.

The McKay's two captors had disappeared and, after a few moments of almost electric silence, they reappeared with Sally between them.

'Miss Hart I think?' the man behind the desk rose to his feet politely as he asked the question.

Sally stared at him angrily. Her hair was scraped back from her forehead and, below her dressing-gown which she clutched tightly round her, portions of her seductive pyjamas were visible.

'Yes,' she snapped, 'what's the meaning of all this?'

'A little meeting to save you inconvenience tomorrow. Will you be seated—to the left there next to my friend Mr. Slinger. You know each other of course.'

'So he's your friend, eh?' Sally cried bitterly, 'and he's up and dressed so he's let us in for this.' Her glance flashed murder at Slinger, then it fell on the still form of the Roumanian Prince.

'Oh, what have you done to him!' She started forward but Oxford Kate waved her back.

'Don't worry please, Miss Hart. He very foolishly resisted when I sent for him, so my men were compelled to hit him over his thick skull with their rubber truncheons—he will come round in a minute.'

'You brute!' Ignoring his signal she fell on her knees beside Vladimir just as Camilla was brought into the room.

'Kate' turned to her at once. 'La Duchessa Da Solento-Ragina?'

Camilla's face was pale but her eyes were steady. 'What is this?' she asked in a low voice. 'A hold up?'

Vladimir groaned and Camilla, catching sight of Sally 89

bending over him, ran to them without waiting for an answer.

'Oh my poor lamb!' she exclaimed, slipping her arm gently beneath his head.

His painful grimace gave way to a sudden smile. 'Camilla, it is you! 1 was sprung upon too much but to see you safe is my reimburse for all distresses.'

'He was the only one who had the pluck to put up a fight,' said Sally, glancing indignantly at the others.

'My brave Vladimir,' Camilla whispered and, with tears filling her blue eyes for a second, she stooped and kissed him swiftly on the cheek.

'Very pretty,' sneered the big man at the desk. 'Now, if you've quite finished I would be glad if you would give me your attention.'

The two girls stared angrily at him but he motioned to a couple of his men. 'Get the Prince up into a chair and if the ladies won't sit down kindly persuade them.'

As the gunmen advanced Prince Vladimir staggered to his feet unaided and collapsed next to Nicky on the settee. The girls did as they were told without further argument. 'Kate's' eight men took up positions at the entrances of the apartment and he sat down heavily behind the desk again.

For a moment he remained silent, his hard eyes travelling without a flicker of emotion over each of their faces in turn, apparently assessing and registering the qualities of his prisoners, then he said quietly:

'My business concerns only the Duchess, but it occurred to me that if I saw her alone, she would pass on some garbled version of our interview to the rest of you immediately she got the opportunity. It is better therefore that you should hear what I have to say then there can be no excuse for any of you men attempting any heroics under the impression that you can prevent me carrying out my decision regarding her.

'I hope it is obvious to you all that my word is now law on board this ship. Anyone who endeavours to interfere with my wishes will be summarily dealt with. Captain Ardow and his men are in my pay so you need not imagine that you will receive any assistance from the crew——

'Damn it, man!' the McKay broke in, 'this is worse than piracy!'

Thanks,' Oxford Kate snapped with equal sharpness. 'If you are thinking of treating me to a dissertation on the punishment meted out to seafaring criminals at Execution Dock in the years gone by you may save yourself the trouble.'

'It's a kidnapping hold up,' cried Camilla. 'But you're making a big mistake if you think you can extort money from me.'

'I don't,' he replied evenly. 'That would be crude and my plans have been worked out with considerable care. To begin with, you, my dear Duchess, are going to die.'

The effect of his words was electric. The whole party stiffened with a cold positive horror. Camilla went deadly white and clutched at Sally. Axel's thin lips contracted in a sudden spasm, Nicky jerked back his legs and sat forward with staring eyes, while the Prince staggered to his feet and let out a roar like a bull.

One of the gunmen jabbed him in the ribs with an automatic and he fell back with a choking cough on to the settee but, his eyes night-black with rage, he would have struggled up again if the McKay had not held him down by the shoulders from behind for fear that they would shoot him.

'You can't!' cried Sally wildly. 'You can't!—you can't! Oh, you inhuman devil. She—she'll pay—of course she will,' and she threw her arms protectively about Camilla.

'Kate' held up his hand for silence but they refused to heed him. Doctor Tisch's face had gone a deep suffused red, as though he was going to have a fit. 'No bloodshed,' he spluttered, 'no bloodshed. Herr Slinger I appeal to you!'

The McKay released the Prince and stepped from behind him with his chin stuck out. 'Look here,' he said firmly, 'you can't get away with murder on the high seas in these days. Even if you butcher the lot of us, the truth will out, and if your own people don't give you away there are too many hands in the crew for one of them not to split on you. If you think you can make off safely because you've got this ship, you're mistaken. Within a week half the navies in the world will be after you.'

'If you think that I could not kill her and get away with it you are wrong, my gallant Captain.' The fair man suddenly leaned forward across his desk. 'The Duchess, with her well-known love of excitement, has been sufficiently ill-advised to finance Doktor Herman Tisch's expedition for the rediscovery of the lost continent of Atlantis and become a member of it. You would not know it, of course, but the papers in London and New York are already full of wild statements regarding this unusual cruise. I have seen to that. Now the essential portion of the exploration is to be carried out by a series of descents into the ocean depths in Doctor Tisch's bathysphere. The public has been well informed, by my agents via the press, as to the very grave risk attaching to such courageous descents to the ocean bottom. Should some unfortunate accident occur to the bathysphere when the Duchess is in it no one will be the least surprised. The newspapers will run it as a great story for a week and preach delightful sermons about this beautiful and wealthy young woman who so courageously gave her life in the interests of science. After that there will be silence and no one outside this room would ever have cause for the least suspicion that the Duchess had been murdered.'

'You, I imagine, have taken steps to become her heir?' Count Axel suggested quietly.

'Exactly. You are a man of intelligence, Count.'