Cross of Fire (54 page)

'Tweed told me you were in this area when I phoned
Monica. Careful lady, that. I had to give her a number
where Tweed could call me back.'

'And why are you here, Victor? It's good to see you.'

'My immediate purpose was to find you. Which is why I was walking along the front. Can we talk?'

'Later in the day. I'm off to see someone. See the caf
é
down that side street? Could we meet there about four this afternoon?'

'I'll be there at three-thirty. If necessary I'll wait and wait and wait...'

'Who was that?' Butler asked as he drove down the side street away from the front, still heading for the port.

'Victor Rosewater, a Military Intelligence officer based at
Freiburg in Germany. Has a roving commission...'

She told him how with Tweed she'd first met Rosewater
at the Drei Konige Hotel in Basle, recalled the murder of his
wife, Karin, which she had almost witnessed. Butler drove back to where the road continued along the
bassin
as she
talked. They arrived at the port. No sign of the
Steel Vulture.

'We'd better go straight to the Villa Forban,' Paula said, checking her watch. 'I wish I could tell Tweed about Brand
being here.' .

'I noticed a public call box on the way in,' Nield called
out. 'You could contact him from there ...'

Tweed, still in Paris, had spent the night at the Ministry of
the Interior. Navarre had supplied himself and Kuhlmann
with camp beds. The close co-operation between Britain, France, and Germany - between Tweed, Navarre, and Kuhl
mann - was to become legendary in later years when it
came to light.

Tweed was still stiff from his night on the camp bed
when Paula phoned. He listened as she reported the pres
ence of Brand in Arcachon, her meeting with Victor
Rosewater.

'Yes, I told him he might find you in Arcachon,' Tweed
confirmed. 'He's moving closer in to the enemy. Tell me
what he says to you after you've met him later in the cafe.

He may have obtained fresh information. I need to be kept
very up to date.'

'How is Bob Newman?' she asked.

'No word from him. I expect I'll hear what he's found
out soon. Now listen, Paula. This visit to the Villa Forban is
fraught with danger. France has no President, but Navarre was confirmed as Prime Minister early today by a narrow
majority. This may activate de Forge to make his ultimate
move. He's unpredictable. You could run into something
pretty dangerous at the Villa Forban.'

'The coast is clear at the moment. It's a unique chance to discover something vital. Jean is very close to her friend.'

'You will have company?' Tweed pressed.

'The whole time. They're staying closer to me than one of those sticking plasters. Stop worrying. Must go. Bye.'

Tweed put down the phone with grave misgivings. He
now wished he'd forbidden her to risk the trip.

General de Forge straightened a ruler so it was precisely parallel with the edge of his desk. Lamy thought it a typical gesture: de Forge was noted for his meticulous attention to detail. Some officers called it an obsession. The General
looked at his subordinate, seated opposite in the large room,
who had just reported on the arrival of more sabotage units
in Paris.

'So,' Lamy concluded, 'Paris can now be destabilized at the moment you give the signal. Despite the appointment of Navarre as Prime Minister. He won't be able to control the situation.'

'I keep thinking of Jean Burgoyne,' de Forge remarked,
staring into the distance. 'Whether I can trust her.'

'You'd decided not to see her today.' Lamy reminded him. 'There is a great deal requiring your attention
.'

'Security is paramount.' De Forge continued as though he had not heard Lamy. 'It takes precedence over everything. Order the car.' Taking one of his instinctive decisions, he stood up and put on his képi. 'We are driving immediately to the Villa Forban. With a heavily armed escort.'

'You are sure about this, General?' Lamy enquired.

'I am a very observant man.' De Forge's mouth tightened.
'I was at the villa recently and left my dispatch case on a
table while I had a bath. Afterwards when I came to pick up
the case I noticed it had been moved slightly, did not line
up with the table's inlay design as I'd left it. I know we
have a spy who is reporting to Lasalle. When we identify
that spy he - or she - will pay the ultimate penalty. They
will end up in the Landes with the others. My escort is to
carry automatic weapons ...'

Chapter Thirty-Five

Marler carried two holdalls as he disembarked from the
Air
Inter flight which had transported him from Paris. The fact that there were no security checks on internal flights was a
huge advantage.

Dressed in denims, a windcheater, and trainers, he wore
his beret down over his forehead at a jaunty angle. He
strolled across the concourse at an easy pace, whistling a French tune. Slim and slight in build, no one could have
picked him out from the average Frenchman.

The hired Peugeot he'd phoned ahead for from Paris was
waiting for him. He showed the girl his false papers in a
common French name, paid her in cash, winked at her and
got behind the wheel.

Driving a few yards along the kerb, he paused, took out a map of the area. Checking his recollections of the route, he drove on. The call from Tweed giving him his fresh instructions had come through to his base in the apartment
near the rue du Bac.

'Step up the pressure,' had been Tweed's final order.

At the Ministry of the Interior in Paris Tweed had been
given his own small office by Navarre, a room equipped
with a scrambler phone. It was mid-afternoon as he sat in
his shirtsleeves, polishing his glasses on his handkerchief.
He was trying to work out how
Lord Dawlish could
smuggle arms aboard the
Steel Vulture -
assuming his
Lordship was doing just that. After all, he was in the
international armaments business. But the
Vulture
had twice
been subject to search at its base port, Harwich, for drugs.
So would Dawlish risk using his unique vessel for transport
ing arms? At any time Heathcoate, the Habour Master,
might order a third search. No, Dawlish was too shrewd to gamble on ruin, a heavy term of imprisonment. There was something at the back of Tweed's mind he couldn't bring to the fore. He dialled the number for Park Crescent, spoke to
Monica.

'Paula dictated to you a statement of the events at Dunwich and Aldeburgh - on the day her friend, Karin Rose-water, was murdered. Could you read it back to me. Detail
is what I'm after...'

He listened as Monica rapidly read the report back to him. Occasionally he made a note on the pad in front of
him.

'That's it,' Monica said eventually. 'Any help?'

'I'm not sure. Something still eludes me, but I'm certain it's there. It will come back to me - I just hope it does in time. No further developments here ...'

Earlier Tweed had called Monica, had given her details
of his new temporary base.
No
further developments -
that was not strictly speaking true. Navarre had been confirmed as Prime Minister by the National Assembly - by the most narrow of margins.

The door opened and the man he was thinking about
walked in. Navarre had had only two hours' sleep but was
full of energy. He perched on the edge of Tweed's desk, clasped his lean wiry hands.

'Well, my friend, I now have a problem. I was about to
dispatch a large contingent of heavily armed CRS south
together with a fleet of helicopters. Now Lasalle tells me a small army of saboteurs have infiltrated Paris, taking up position to start an insurrection. So do I concentrate on the
north - here - or the south?' He waved a hand. 'I expect no
answer. Only I can decide. But de Forge is close to making his big move, his masterstroke. The takeover of the French government.'

'What about the Chief of the Army Staff, General Masson,
de Forge's superior? He could remove him.'

'I have already asked him to do so. He refused. Said if I insist he will resign. What would that do to public morale? The announcement that the Chief of the Army Staff had
resigned. It would play straight into de Forge's hands. I
now suspect Masson is a secret member of the
Cercle Noir,
that he is de Forge's creature.'

'You have a difficult decision - where to position the paramilitary CRS units.' Tweed observed.

'A decision I have to take within hours. Oh, Kuhlmann is
wanting to see you...'

The German police chief came in almost as soon as
Navarre had left. Smoking his inevitable cigar, he looked
fresh, determined, aggressive. He sat in a chair, looked
directly at Tweed as he spoke.

'I've decided to handle this
Siegfried
problem in my own way. Nearly every Kriminalpolizei officer has left Wiesbaden, covering most of Germany. They're putting maximum
pressure on all known underworld informants to locate the
hidden
Siegfried
cells. I've told them to use any method necessary to make people talk.'

'The Chancellor knows this?'

Kuhlmann clapped a hand to his broad forehead in a
mock gesture of forgetfulness. He grinned.

'You know something? With all that's going on it never
crossed my mind to tell him. Now I think I'll wait for the results of this ruthless and intensive search. I'll keep you in touch...'

Alone again, Tweed read through Paula's report for the
second time. Everything was becoming a race against time.
Navarre's protection of Paris. Kuhlmann's offensive to
locate
Siegfried,
and his own search for the way Dawlish
might be smuggling huge reinforcements to de Forge.
Paula's report that Brand was in Arcachon made it all the
more urgent.

It was dusk as Lord Dane Dawlish walked down the beach
at Dunwich to board the large waiting rubber dinghy with
a powerful outboard motor. He had substituted for his hard
riding hat a peaked naval cap. He also wore a blue blazer with gold buttons and dark blue trousers.

Dawlish believed in dressing for the role he was adopting
at any given moment. He was now presenting his sailor
image. It went with the occasion. And emphasized his reputation as a playboy. Of course, if he happened to meet
a beautiful woman so much the better: he'd live up to his
playboy image with her.

The
Steel Vulture,
which had sailed from Harwich early that morning, was anchored offshore. Even in the twilight scuba divers were going over the side, exploring the depths of the sunken village.

'Is the operation completed?' he asked the First Mate who
had come to escort him as the crew manoeuvred the craft
closer to the weird twin-hulled giant.