Battle for Inspector West (12 page)

He listened tensely for the sound of patrolling men, and the night seemed filled with the lurking shapes of wild dogs. They were loose by night, he knew, and were his greatest danger. And in this darkness he could go round and round. He must wait at least until dawn.

Unless …

A dog began to bark, not far away.

At him?

He walked on, every step an ordeal. The howling and barking stopped, but it seemed to Roger that above the sound of his own footsteps there was the padding of the paws of twenty straining beasts. The fringe of trees, with the moon behind, gave a deep shadow.

The dogs began again, and now he knew that it was not at him. Hope surged. He still went on, telling himself that the wall of the grounds could not be far away.

Then dogs began to howl behind him. He glanced round and saw the wolf-like shapes heading towards him in a pack, with two or three strung out in the lead.

Then he heard a sharp crack of sound, and a flash lit up the darkness ahead.

Roger saw a high wall, and a man sitting astride it, bright in another flash. Then a powerful light lit the whole of the grounds near here, dazzling Roger, dazzling the dogs. He blundered on, then heard a voice he had almost lost hope of ever hearing again: ‘This way, Roger!' bellowed Gill. ‘This way.'

 

‘Now this is going to be a fight, me boyo,' said Mulloon to O'Leary.

Mulloon and O'Leary were still astride the wall. Gill and several others had jumped down. A group of Carosi's men was fleeing across the parkland, with as many Civic Guards in full cry after them, but the shooting was spasmodic.

 

Roger stood near the wall.

He had hardly grown used to the fact that Gill and Batten, with a strong company of Civic Guards, had been waiting to raid it when the dogs had started howling and the shooting had begun. And now the fighting near the wall was all but over. At least a dozen of Carosi's men were dead or captured. Most of the dogs were dead; no live ones were in sight. Little groups of men were standing about and talking. There were still no lights in the house.

Gill's hand rested on Roger's arm.

‘Feeling all right, Roger?'

‘I'm fine,' said Roger. ‘Gill, I'll never be able—'

‘Well, now, if it isn't the great Inspector West!' boomed Mulloon, bustling forward from a group of men. ‘It's a proud man I am to know ye, Inspector!' He thrust out a great hand. ‘And it's glad ye are to see me, ye needn't be telling me, a fine hearty night it's been. Meet me friend, Captain O'Leary of County Kerry; it's O'Leary ye have to thank.'

‘Will ye keep your great voice quiet a minute, we cannot hear ourselves speak,' said O'Leary. He shook hands vigorously. ‘'Tis a pleasure to meet Inspector West,' he declared, ‘and a good night's work, ye'll be agreeing. Will ye come and help us raid the house itself?'

‘It can't be soon enough,' Roger said, ‘we should find all of Carosi's records and—'

A sheet of flame lit up the grey night, and the great house was suddenly a blaze of light. There came the roaring boom of an explosion, then a blast which carried them off their feet.

As they recovered, a dull, red glow showed through a glassless window of the house.

As they ran, Roger realised that there was no hope of saving Kinara.

He heard aeroplanes taking off, and knew that Carosi had escaped.

And how he would hate, now.

 

 

Julieta sat in a deck-chair on board the motor cruiser. On the bridge, the little Captain, Marco, looked down at the bows where Carosi stood, his hands clasped behind him like a pocket Hitler, surveying the empty waste of water. There was no other ship in sight; no land.

Carosi had been standing there for nearly two hours since they had vanished in the early morning mist. Julieta had been conscious when men had come in, to waken her and to carry her to safety.

Julieta could not see him.

A white-jacketed steward came round the cabin and approached her. His impassive face gave no indication of the crisis through which they were passing, although every member of the crew knew what had happened in Kinara.

‘Mr Carosi would like to see you, Miss.'

‘Very well,' said Julieta, but instead of going straight to Carosi, she leaned against the rail. She had on no lipstick or rouge and her face was pallid and drawn. Only her eyes were bright, and they held a strange, wild glow. She lit a cigarette, tossed the match into the sea, then went towards Carosi.

‘You have been a long time.' His hoarse voice had not changed. ‘What is the matter with you? Are you ill?'

‘No,' said Julieta. ‘I'm not ill. I am just—eaten up with hatred.'

‘For West?'

She said: ‘For everyone who helped to do it.' Her lips hardly moved. ‘And you were so sure they could not find out. Even you have failed.'

‘I
never
fail,' said Carosi.

‘You have failed. Even you. So much boasting, so much confidence, and now—failure. Everything gone. Everything.'

‘You are hysterical,' said Carosi, flatly. ‘You do not shout or scream, but it is the same thing. I am tired of your behaviour. You have been like this since two dogs died on the day that Dempster came. He injured them, so they had to be killed. So you should not waste affection on animals of any kind.'

She looked at him with that curious intensity.

‘Men—women—dogs—they are all animals to you. Just animals. You use them, but you have no affection for them, they do not matter. What
are
you?'

‘I am a rational man,' said Carosi. ‘And you have been a rational woman until now. We are not in such a serious position as you imagine. I have not failed –
I
, Carosi, to fail?' A new and menacing note sounded in his voice, which grew deep and unfamiliar. ‘I will not have you talk such nonsense! With all my plans, my great conception all ready to put into action—am I to be stopped by such a thing as this? You are losing your faith when I need your loyalty most. Remember all I have done for you. Your life of luxury. Your servants. Everything you owe to me.'

She didn't answer.

‘You see, Julieta,' went on Carosi, ‘I am going on with my plans. And they will succeed. The loss of Kinara' – he shrugged – ‘it was not welcome, it was not expected, but I had prepared against it. It was unfortunate that Dempster, one man who knew where to find the house, had been released from prison, but—'

‘Talk!' she spat at him. ‘You are just a windbag of words!'

Carosi took his hands from behind his back and struck her across the face. The blow sent her staggering to one side. Her eyes blazed, she looked as if she could fly at him, but regained her balance and stood still.

‘It was a set-back, no more. In all, twenty-seven men were lost. Including Pyne. I am sorry about Pyne, because he was so valuable in America. But there are still more than a hundred men and some twenty women waiting to receive orders. They will receive them. West escaped, but does not know what I plan. All the documents at Kinara were destroyed. You see how carefully I had prepared for any emergency.'

‘You had a hundred men and twenty women waiting to receive instructions,' said Julieta fiercely. ‘Will they be now? Every newspaper is full of the disaster. Everyone is laughing at you. All your own people will read the newspapers. How can they trust a man who allows such a disaster to happen?'

‘Julieta,' began Carosi softly, ‘
I
will not permit—'

‘Listen to me!' she screeched at him. ‘Forget that you are always so right, listen to
me.
We know the people, the fools. Hardly any of them are like Pyne and Maisie, who would always remain loyal. Most of them are mean, cruel and easily frightened. Scared to death in case they offended you, compelled to obey while you were all-powerful, but now –
scared of the police as well.
You taught them to believe that the police could not harm them if they had your protection. Now all that is over.

‘Every little fool will be scurrying around, trying to make sure
he
doesn't get hurt. Nine out of ten will fail you because they've never learned to act or think for themselves. They all depend on you.'

‘But I am here, I shall instruct them,' said Carosi. His voice was a grating sound in his throat.

‘But they cannot be sure of you any more!' cried Julieta. ‘I will tell you what you should do. Go away! Leave Europe! Give up your plans. Only a fool would think he could succeed now.'

‘You have lost faith,' said Carosi heavily. He squared his shoulders. ‘I am sorry for you. Two dogs die—and you become a hysterical fool. Now I am beginning to ask myself questions.
Has
this change come about
just
because of two dogs?'

Julieta said: ‘I loved them.'

‘I made a mistake when I allowed you to give your affection to those animals; I should not have allowed you to have affection for any living thing,' Carosi said. ‘You have disappointed me, Julieta. But I do not believe that you behave like this because of the dogs. It is something else. I have never known you behave over a man as you have over West. You pleaded for him from the first. You were anxious that he should not be tortured. Anxious that I should talk to him freely. You did not want him hurt. A very good-looking man, yes. An Adonis. The first man to make your heart beat fast. The first man—'

‘No!' cried Julieta. ‘It is not true!'

Carosi shot out his hand and caught her wrist. He drew her nearer, and looked down coldly, unfeelingly.

‘Tell me the truth,' he said, twisting. ‘Admit it'

The sun shone on to her eyes, and she tried hard to keep them open.

‘Julieta, tell me the truth,' said Carosi, and his voice seemed to grind itself into her ears.

She cried. ‘Yes, yes, yes, it's true! You tried to make me inhuman, tried to crush every spark of natural affection out of me, tried to make me a machine, a machine with a cruel mind and a perfect body. You made me indifferent to men, and yet men gazed at me with terrible passion. You robbed me of my birthright. You made sure that I should never know the thrill and wonder of real passion, and then
he
came. And I compared him with you. I saw a man who could be hard and terrible, yet so soft and kind. And I wanted to see how you behaved when you were together. I came and heard you talk to him, and I matched you against each other. West is a
man.
You—'

Carosi's left hand moved to her throat. She flinched but made no effort to get away. His pressure grew tighter, and she made a choking noise.

Julieta's face became tinged with red, her breasts heaved as she struggled silently for breath. Her eyes began to close. Then Carosi released her, and flung her aside.

She was alone in her cabin. The marks of Carosi's fingers and thumbs were on her wrist and throat. She sat staring out of the port-hole, as the ship moved quietly and steadily on.

She had been here for an hour.

She heard a man approaching along a corridor, but did not look up when the door opened.

It was Carosi.

He stepped in briskly, closed the door behind him, went to a small cupboard and got out a bottle of whisky. He took glasses from the little railed shelf, and poured out two drinks. He gave her one, and she took it without looking at him.

‘We shall berth a little after dark,' said Carosi, ‘and we have a great deal to do before then. Instructions to our agents must be sent out tonight. You will prepare the messages and the codes.'

Julieta sipped her drink.

‘The first step will be to take Mortimer Grant and his friends away, before we take the others,' went on Carosi. ‘If they cannot be taken away, they will have to be killed.'

Julieta sneered: ‘You promised West you would not harm them. You always keep your promises.'

‘The situation is different now,' said Carosi. ‘Let us have no more argument.'

He left her.

 

 

Roger saw the light on at his Bell Street house as he was driven up to it. The sergeant driver jumped out to open his door, then said: ‘Good night, sir.' Roger hardly heard him, his heart was pounding so much.

The door opened, and there was Janet.

There was life.

 

‘I'd feel on top of the world if Chatworth would tell you that you must go away and leave Carosi to the others,' said Janet, as they lay together in bed, close, warm, content. ‘But I suppose I might as well wish for the moon.'

‘I don't think you really want me to give Carosi to someone else, now that he's on the run.'

‘Don't be too confident, darling,' cautioned Janet, slowly. ‘He won't be easy.'

‘He's going to be as tough as they ever come,' agreed Roger, ‘but although he'll lose hard, he'll lose.'

He thought a lot about Carosi, and as much about Julieta, and he wondered if he would ever tell Janet about Carosi's ward. He was awake long after Janet went to sleep.

It was surprising how quickly things were back to normal. Breakfast, the boys boisterous with delight at seeing him again, welcome home from several neighbours, Janet's kiss a little more passionate perhaps …

Then the Yard; a hundred hands to shake, a hundred voices wishing him well, the newspapers splashing his name and photograph.

Chatworth was alone in his office. A chair was pulled up for Roger, and Chatworth pushed the silver cigarette-box across.

‘Now, Roger—the lot, please.'

‘Before I go back to the motor-boat trick, I ought to confirm what I arranged by telephone yesterday,' said Roger. ‘Sir Mortimer Grant, Dana, Raffety and Harrison are being watched from a distance, because I think Carosi will have a cut at them. The prisoners taken at Kinara are all in England now, and are being questioned. I telephoned New York and asked the Police Department for a report on Pyne. He was caught trying to get out after the fire,' went on Roger. ‘He hasn't said much yet, but I think he'll crack. He's over at Cannon Row, sir. The woman Maisie is in our nursing-home. Fingleton's back on duty, but I doubt if he'll touch this job now.'

‘And that leaves Michael Grant,' Chatworth said.

‘I still don't know what to make of him,' said Roger. ‘If the woman Julieta was right, he was allowed to take his Christine away because he'd helped Carosi. I've talked to Superintendent Morris, who questioned Grant closely, without learning anything. He's being watched at a distance, too. I don't think any of the people we're watching will get away. We've arranged for a walkie-talkie radio to be used wherever possible, and the hunt for Carosi's men as well as Carosi couldn't be fiercer, sir. And we're checking the red disc, or pass—it seems to be a kind of identification tag. Anyone who has one will be held at once.'

‘Good. Now let me have your own story,' Chatworth said.

That took a long time.

As Roger talked, he felt the queer, almost hypnotic influence of Carosi; even here in this room it was as if the man was watching him, mocking him. This was reflected in his voice, and affected Chatworth, too. When it was told, Chatworth said very slowly: ‘We haven't any idea what he's up to, have we?'

‘None, sir.'

‘The little red disc is the best we have for a clue.'

‘Yes.'

‘And you're still scared, in case Carosi pulls it off,' said Chatworth.

‘Yes,' admitted Roger slowly, and said what he had kept from Janet. ‘I'm scared because I think that after this he'll be so vicious that he'll be more cold-blooded than ever. He'll do all the harm he can for the sake of it, and—'

‘I'd ordered a guard back and front at your home,' Chatworth said. ‘I'll have it doubled.'

‘Thank you, sir,' Roger said, and went on: ‘I'm going to see the Grants, sir. I can't understand why Carosi let them go, it's been bothering me all the time. It wasn't simply reward for services rendered. Carosi must have had some purpose or a good reason.'

‘See what you can do,' Chatworth said, and Roger realised that he looked very tired. ‘Carosi's scared me, too,' the AC admitted. ‘I feel as if I'm sitting on top of a volcano which is going to erupt any minute.'

‘I know just what you mean,' Roger said.

He went out, and hurried along the passage towards the front hall, passing his own office as the door opened. He didn't want any of the CI's who shared the office to delay him, but he did not go fast enough, for Eddie Day called out: ‘Handsome!'

‘Can't stop,' Roger called.

‘You must!' insisted Eddie, and came lumbering along the passage. ‘Everything's gone haywire in this last half-hour,' he grumbled. ‘Trouble all over the place. Smash-and-grabs -hold ups—every ruddy crook in the country seems to be busy this morning. Think it's Carosi's big show?'

 

Roger felt as if that volcano was beginning to erupt.

 

A car engine roared outside and drove out of the Yard. Another engine started up, and someone shouted along another passage: ‘We want every Flying Squad man on duty. Rout 'em all out!'

‘See what I mean,' said Eddie. ‘All the Divisions are asking for Squad cars—and there's a riot down Mile End Road. Brewster's gang and Red Finnigan's mob are mixing it.
I
think it's Carosi!'

‘It may be,' said Roger.

If it was, what chance was there of stopping the man?

Gill turned into the passage and came hurrying towards them, his face bright with excitement.

‘You've heard, sir?'

‘I've been telling him,' said Eddie, complainingly, ‘and I don't think he believes me.'

‘Looks like
it
,'
said Gill, trying to keep his voice low. ‘Biggest thing since I've been at the Yard. It doesn't matter where you look, there's trouble. Been two big hold-ups in Oxford Street, one in Piccadilly.'

‘What are we going to do?' shrilled Eddie.

Roger said: ‘I'm going to see the Grants. Stay here, Gill. Don't go out unless you're forced to, and summarize all the reports.'

Gill said eagerly, as Eddie moved off:

‘I think this is it, Roger. It's like an eruption. Everything's happening at once, exactly the kind of wholesale scoop that Carosi would try to pull off.'

‘Could be,' said Roger. He hated even to think it, but at heart he knew that it was true. ‘I won't be any longer than I can help.'

He hurried on, hearing two more Flying Squad cars snorting off.

‘Bit of a do, sir, isn't it?' asked a sergeant. ‘This is it all right.'

‘Looks like it,' said Roger. ‘Telephone my house, will you, and ask Mrs West to stay indoors today until she hears from me.'

‘I'll see to it, sir.'

‘Thanks,' said Roger, and hurried on his way.

Did Grant know anything, he wondered? Could he be made to talk?

Why had Carosi let him and Christine go?

 

Gill had the most exciting hours of his life. He sat in the Information Room, with another sergeant, an inspector and two detective-officers, and watched little multi-coloured pins being stuck into huge maps of London and its environs which hung all round the walls. He noted reports as they came through with increasing momentum. A big store was raided by half-a-dozen armed men, furs and jewellery were loaded into private cars and driven off. Almost simultaneously, three smaller fur shops in Oxford Street were raided.

In the West End, the City and the suburbs, it was crime with the lid off. Every Flying Squad car had already been detailed to a certain area, the Divisional HQs were ringing up one after the other for more help. The gang-fight in the Mile End Road was the forerunner of several in the East End. At the Elephant and Castle, Aldgate, Bethnal Green and Limehouse, the rioting drove the people off the streets and held up traffic until, along some main roads, there were lines of cars nearly a mile long.

By half past eleven, the first report of a hold-up at a City bank was soon followed by three others. Two safe deposits were entered. Armed and masked men held up cashiers and shop-keepers, took what ready money there was available, and made off.

Only a few were caught, and each of these carried one of the little red discs, obviously both pass and identification tag.

By midday, after a hurried consultation with the Home Office, Chatworth asked for military assistance to keep the streets clear and to reinforce the Flying Squad.

Soon trouble started in the provinces. The police of Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Hull were all on the telephone to Scotland Yard, reporting a condition not far removed from chaos – and reporting the considered opinion of the local CIDs that this was Carosi's big day. Special watch was kept on ports and airports to make sure that the goods stolen, which amounted to over a million pounds by midday, weren't taken out of the country. Arrests were being made in all these centres and in London, and still everyone had the red discs. In spite of the arrests, there was no slackening in the outbreak.

No one at the Yard doubted that the eruption had been carefully organized, that the simultaneous outrages had been calculated to strain the resources of the police to breaking-point. Gradually a pattern could be discerned in the chaos -a pattern made by a cold, logical and ruthless mind.

How far would it go?

So far, none of the men known to have been blackmailed by Carosi had been visited, all seemed normal.

Everything was normal at Grant's London apartment until Roger West arrived. When the door was opened Michael Grant and his wife stood together, with little Arthur Morely near them in meek silence.