The Ways of the World (17 page)

There was a surprise in store for Max, however. He realized when he reached the lobby and caught sight of Sam, travel-weary and tousled but smiling the same old dependable Twentyman smile, that he was damnably pleased to see him. He piloted him out to the café he had taken Corinne to the previous morning and stood him a breakfast he looked in sore need of.

Max contented himself with coffee and cigarettes and listened with mounting concern to Sam’s account of the difficult, not to say expensive, week he had had. In Sam’s mind, the flying school was clearly still a viable proposition, notwithstanding Ashley’s ominous utterances. Max had not appreciated just how heavily he was relying on it. Allowing him to continue relying on it was unconscionable.

‘I’m sorry, Sam,’ he said at last. ‘You should understand that Surrey Wings is almost certainly a non-starter.’

‘A
non-starter
?’ It was obvious from his tone that Sam did not want to believe it. ‘Why?’

And so Max set out the reasons. They hinged on the whole question of his father’s death. Another surprising realization came to him as he explained why he was certain Sir Henry had been murdered and how he had so antagonized Ashley by maintaining as much that there was no possibility of Gresscombe land being used for their flying school. The realization was not a new one. Max had simply forgotten the bond of trust that he had established with Sam during the war. The plain fact was that Sam Twentyman had probably saved his life a dozen times in a dozen different ways by his assiduousness and ingenuity. He had never once let Max down. And there was no one else of whom that was true.

‘I have to stay in Paris until I get to the bottom of this, Sam. You can see that, can’t you?’

Sam nodded. ‘I see it, right enough. That brother of yours, sir, if you don’t mind me saying, is—’

‘A first-class shit. I know. But he’s cock of the walk now. And you were lucky. You didn’t meet my sister-in-law. She pulls the strings. And she doesn’t like me one little bit.’

‘Sisters-in-law can be like that.’

‘I’m afraid we’re going to have to abandon our plans. I’m sorry, but there it is.’

‘I was hoping you wouldn’t say that, sir.’

‘I know. Look, Sam, why don’t you stay at the Mazarin tonight and see a bit of gay Paree before you head back? We can paint the town red tonight. I’ll pay for your accommodation and you’ll be home in time to reclaim the deposit on those blessed planes.’

‘Ah, home.’ Sam looked wistful. ‘Not sure I’ve properly got one of those any more.’

‘Maybe there’s some other pilot you served with who’d be interested in starting a flying school.’

‘None I’d trust further than they could fly without an engine.’

‘It’s a bugger, Sam, I know.’ Max spread his hand sorrowfully. ‘There’s nothing I can do.’

‘I appreciate that, sir. And I appreciate the offer of a night in Paris. It’s handsome of you. I’ll take you up on it.’

‘Capital. Let’s get you booked in, then I must run.’

‘This Ireton, sir …’

‘You’re going to tell me he sounds like a wrong ’un.’

‘Well, if the scrape you got into last night is anything to go by …’

‘I’ll be on my guard, don’t worry. I won’t let him pull a stunt like that again.’

‘Seems to me you need as much looking after here as you did at the Front.’

‘Possibly. But, fortunately for you, looking after me is no longer your job. Whatever trouble I may get into, I’ll have to get myself out of it.’

After securing Sam a room at the Mazarin, and wishing him a pleasant day’s sightseeing, Max took a cab to 33 Rue des Pyramides, where Malory, dressed this morning in a fractionally lighter shade of tweed, informed him that he was expected (as well he might be, Max thought) and should go straight into Ireton’s office.

‘Morning, Max.’ Ireton greeted him with a broad smile and an
expansive gesture that raised loose lassos of smoke from his cigarette. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘I think sore would capture it in your vernacular.’

‘Ah. Schools said you seemed to be limping when he left you last night. But you’ve bounded in here in sprightly fashion, so I guess you’re nursing nothing worse than a few bruises.’

‘No thanks to you.’

‘That’s hardly fair. I chose a meeting-place with a rear exit, didn’t I?’

‘But you didn’t tell me I’d need to use it.’

‘Call it an initiative test.’

‘I call it being set up like a decoy duck.’

‘You sound angrier than you look. More fun than you’d have expected, was it, Max? Maybe it stirred a few happy memories of dogfights over no man’s land.’

‘You lied to me, Travis.’

‘Not at all. It should and could have gone as simply as I said. But obviously they rumbled Buisson and he told them everything.’

‘And what’s everything?’

‘I’ve been paying him to supply me with copies of the proofs of Supreme Council minutes and consultative papers so that my clients can have advance notice of how the great and not necessarily good plan to carve up their nations. It’s his word against mine as far as that goes, of course, since I didn’t walk obligingly into the trap last night and the person who did got clean away. So, all’s well that ends well. Or as well as it can be, considering the documents Buisson gave you are certain to be fakes and now I have to recruit someone to replace him, which won’t be easy. Rumour has it they’re going to limit the decision-making from here on to a new Council of Four – Clemenceau, Lloyd George, Orlando, Wilson – because there have been too many leaks.’ Ireton grinned. ‘You could say I’m a victim of my own success.’

‘My heart bleeds for you.’

‘Don’t take it like that. Sit down, Max. I’m a man of my word. You deliver for me; I deliver for you.’

With a show of reluctance, Max sat down. ‘Do you know who killed my father?’

‘No. But I might know
why
he was killed. Ever heard of Fritz Lemmer?’

‘No.’

‘I’m not surprised. Lemmer would be disappointed if you had. He was the Kaiser’s spymaster. Well, maybe he still is, in a sense. A former naval officer turned intelligence-gatherer. A shadowy figure, by choice and need. Thirty years in the game, apparently.’

‘What game?’

‘Spying. Sabotage. Assassinations. You name it, he’s had a finger in it. So they say.’

‘What’s he to do with my father?’

‘Well, the thing is this. Cigarette, by the way?’ Ireton proffered his case.

‘I prefer my own brand.’ Max studiously took out one of his Wills and lit it. ‘The thing is?’ he prompted.

‘Delicate, Max, delicate. Like I told you the other day, Henry’s put a few pieces of information my way since this conference began. Nothing treasonable, I assure you, just … titbits.’

‘And like
I
told
you
, I don’t believe it.’

‘You’re going to have to if you want to find out who killed him. The fact is, Henry was eager to raise money. I don’t know why. Maybe to set up Corinne Dombreux in the manner to which he thought she should become accustomed. He wasn’t typical of my sources of information, far from it, and the information he supplied was minor stuff. Then, just last week, he offered me something in an altogether different league. Or, rather, he offered me some
one
. Lemmer.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Lemmer vanished last November, around the time the Kaiser decamped to Holland. Since then his whereabouts have preyed on a lot of people’s minds. The word is that he recruited spies for Germany in every European government. He probably didn’t stop at Europe either. Nobody except Lemmer knows who they were and they’re mostly still in place, presumably hoping and praying their well-paid work for the Kaiser never comes to light. The question is …’

‘Where is Lemmer?’

‘Exactly. Where is he? And what’s he up to? Maybe he’s still in touch with his agents, many of whom could be here in Paris, negotiating on their countries’ behalf. You see how significant that could be? Whose interests are they really serving? Maybe Lemmer’s trying to soften the peace terms for Germany, or sow discord among the Allies. There’s no way to tell. The Americans, the British, the French and all the others would like to lay hands on Lemmer and sweat the truth out of him. But they can’t find him. Which means his whereabouts constitute a very valuable commodity. Off-hand, I can’t think of a more valuable one.’

‘And that’s what my father was offering you.’

‘In a nutshell, yes.’

‘But how would he know where Lemmer was?’

‘It seems improbable, I grant you. But not when you think about it. Lemmer is notoriously elusive, not to mention camera-shy. There are precious few people who know what he looks like. Henry happens to have been one.’

‘How?’

‘Lemmer was a naval attaché at the German Embassy in Tokyo in the early nineties. He hadn’t perfected his knack for invisibility then. Henry met him several times, apparently. So, when he told me he’d seen Lemmer here, in Paris, I was inclined to believe him. And happy to agree to act as his broker.’

‘Pa said he knew where Lemmer was? An actual address?’

‘Not quite. He said he was in a position to lure Lemmer to a meeting. That would have been enough.’

‘What could he lure Lemmer with?’

‘He didn’t say. But he assured me it could be done. For a fee.’

‘How big a fee?’

‘I never got the chance to find out how high an interested party might have been prepared to go. Before I could open negotiations, Henry was killed. It would have been some auction, though. Remember, Lemmer could tell a government not only who the traitors are in their own ranks but who they are in other governments’ ranks. And with the right persuasion a traitor in one cause can be recruited to a different cause. Lemmer would be quite a catch.’

‘Do you think he killed my father?’

‘It’s possible. Not personally, of course. He hires people to do that kind of thing for him. Alternatively, word of what Henry was trying to sell might have reached one of Lemmer’s agents, who had good cause to fear exposure.’

‘How would word have reached them?’

‘I made some inquiries, as Henry asked me to.’ Ireton shrugged. ‘I’d be sorry to think that action on my part led to his death, but I warned him of the risks he was running and he insisted on going ahead.’

‘Who did you make these inquiries with?’

‘I spoke to them in strictest confidence. It wouldn’t be fair to identify them.’

‘Who are they?’

‘Like I say, I can’t—’

‘Who the hell are they?’ Max jumped up and leant across the desk. ‘I want their names.’

Ireton did not flinch, though he frowned slightly as he looked up at Max. ‘I think I’ve told you as much as I agreed to. More from me requires more from you. We share an interest in Fritz Lemmer, Max. I don’t delude myself that you’ve told me everything you’ve found out about your father’s activities. You’d have been a fool to. By the same token, I can’t be expected to disclose everything I know or suspect at this stage. We have to learn to trust one another, you and I. We have to pool our resources. We have to collaborate.’ The frown faded, to be replaced by the scar-distorted smile. ‘Now, how does that sound to you?’

MAX WAS UNDER
no illusions about the bargain he struck with Ireton. ‘You want me to find Lemmer for you, don’t you, Travis? Then you can sell his whereabouts to the highest bidder. I take all the risks. You take all the rewards.’

‘Not at all.’ Ireton looked shocked by the suggestion. ‘I’d be happy to split the proceeds fifty-fifty. If that’s what you want.’

‘I’m not interested in turning a profit. I’m interested in finding my father’s murderer.’

‘I know. But you may as well take your share. If only to deprive me of it. I’m sure you wouldn’t class me as a good cause. Now, let’s get down to it, shall we? I sounded out three people about Henry’s proposition. I didn’t name Henry. It was all done on a hypothetical basis. But if one of them – or an associate they confided in – knew of my links with Henry and Henry’s knowledge of Lemmer, they might have figured out who my source was. That seems to me the likeliest explanation for Henry’s murder. But if you confront these people and start throwing accusations around they’ll know I pointed you in their direction. Given what happened to Henry, that could have unhealthy consequences for me. You follow?’

‘I could say I found their names along with Lemmer’s on a list I came across amongst my father’s possessions.’

‘That’s good. You appear to have a real talent for this kind of thing, Max. A list. I like that.’

‘So, who were the three?’

‘Not so fast. I need to be sure you don’t drop me in it. I also need to know what, if anything, you learn from them about Lemmer.’

‘I won’t mention you. And I’ll tell you whatever I find out.’

‘I have your word on that?’

‘Of course.’

Ireton smiled, as if genuinely amused. ‘Sadly, in this serpent-pit of a world we inhabit, the word of an English gentleman is no longer sufficient to quell all doubts in such matters. Schools will go with you when you meet them. He occasionally works freelance as a bodyguard, so the arrangement shouldn’t arouse any suspicion.’

‘If you think that’s necessary …’

‘Oh, I do.’

Max had no choice, as Ireton must have known, but to agree. ‘All right, then.’

‘Fine. We have a deal.’ To Max’s surprise, Ireton offered him his hand. They shook. ‘OK. We’ll take them in the original order. Kuroda, at the Japanese delegation.’

‘
Kuroda?
’ Max was genuinely surprised, but also disappointed. The first name he had been given was one he already knew.

‘You’ve heard of him?’

‘Corinne told me my father knew him.’

‘Did she? Well, that’s interesting.’

Max had the distinct impression his acquaintance with Corinne was well known to Ireton, though for some reason he did not want to admit it. ‘I guess it’s no surprise. Kuroda’s certainly old enough to have met Henry when he was in Japan.’

‘Why did you go to him?’

‘Because there’s a persistent rumour Lemmer was behind a plot to assassinate the then Tsarevich when he visited Japan in 1891. His visit was supposed to smooth Russo-Jap relations, but the assassination attempt scotched that mighty effectively. A big feather in Lemmer’s cap and an even bigger grudge for the Japs to bear. So, I thought they might be willing to pay over the odds for a chance to grab him.’