The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy (14 page)

'And as it was kept in this room, the somebody must have been the man who went through this window - we know he spent some time here; we know he was running in the dark towards the lake. But why in heaven's name would he want to take an egg cosy with him?' Deveraux turned away and started to prowl aimlessly round the room.

'To carry something in?' Wilkins suggested.

'What could you get in it? Not a diamond necklace, certainly. And why would you want to carry anything in it?'

Sergeant Leather gave a discreet cough. 'Sir, the man might have been intending to knock or tap something - perhaps using the wire cutters as a makeshift hammer. The egg cosy would be a good thing to muffle the sound.'

Wilkins looked impressed. 'Well thought out, my lad.'

Leather flushed, then emboldened went on: 'He might have had it in his hand when he was disturbed, sir. Then he broke the window and jumped through, cutting his hand and staining the wool. He ran down the path as you say, and either dropped it or threw it away as he was passing the lavender bush. That would explain everything, I think.'

'Not everything,' Deveraux said. 'It's an ingenious theory, but it doesn't explain the earth and mud.'

'He might have tripped and fallen on a muddy patch with it in his hand, sir.'

Deveraux smiled. 'I wish I could agree with you, Leather, I really do. But look at it.' He handed him the cosy. 'If that's what had happened, you'd surely find a great heavy patch of mud on one side, and virtually none on the other. But you don't. The stuff has been lightly and evenly smeared over every part of it. It's been done deliberately and systematically. And I think I can prove it. Look at this.' He picked up the pot plant. 'Examine the surface of the soil. It's been disturbed. It's had something rubbed on it. See all those little marks? And if you look really closely you'll spot lots of tiny scraps of white wool.'

Wilkins took a magnifying glass from his pocket and together he and Leather closely scrutinised the soil. Wilkins said: 'Yes, you're quite right.'

'It doesn't mean your theory's all wrong, Leather.' Deveraux told him. 'Far from it. But it doesn't go far enough. He must have had a reason for deliberately soiling it. What do you think, Wilkins?'

'Nothing.'

'What do you mean - nothing?'

'I've stopped thinking about it. I reckon I've spent quite long enough on a dirty egg cosy. It doesn't mean anything. If I keep on trying to work it out, I'll go crazy.'

Deveraux laughed.

'Leather,' Wilkins said, 'get it confirmed that that is human blood, and if so, which group. After that I'm going on with this investigation as though it had never been found. And now, Mr. Deveraux, we'd better get along. We mustn't keep Mr. Felman waiting.'

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Mr. Felman's Bombshell

They beat Felman to the music room by about a minute. He looked pale and tired when he came in, but there was a decisiveness in his manner that Deveraux hadn't seen before. When Wilkins explained what they wanted, he nodded briskly.

'Yes, it's true. I've got a lot to tell. But not to you two alone. Mr. Saunders must be present. I was just going to seek him out when I got your message.'

Wilkins cocked an eyebrow at Deveraux, who nodded and rang the bell again. When Merryweather came Deveraux said: 'We'd be glad of a few words with Mr. Saunders, Merryweather. Would you ask him where would be convenient?'

'I've no doubt he will join you here, sir.'

'Tell him I think he might like to have Mr. Thornton present, too,' Felman added.

'Very good, sir.' Merryweather withdrew.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Richard and Thornton arrived. When everyone was sitting down, Felman said: 'I'm afraid what I'm going to say may be a shock. I hope, though, that it may not be an altogether unpleasant one. The truth is' - he took a deep breath - 'the man killed last night was not Martin Adler.'

A stunned silence greeted these words. It was broken by Wilkins. 'It said on his passport he was,' he remarked calmly. ,

'His passport was a fake. He was an impostor.'

'Oh no.' Richard breathed the words. He sank his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

'I knew it!' Thornton's normally pale face was flushed and his voice raised. 'He never rang true. Never. I was a fool! I let myself be convinced he was genuine, merely because I thought he had to be.'

'Would you mind telling us who he really was?' Wilkins said.

'I'm afraid - well, he was a spy.' Felman looked at Deveraux. 'You may have heard of him. His real name was Batchev.'

Deveraux drew his breath in with a sharp hiss. 'Not - not Stanislaus Batchev?'

'That's right.'

Deveraux's face was a study. 'I don't believe it!'

Felman shrugged. 'That's what he told me his name was. I have no reason to doubt him.'

Richard raised his head and opened horror-stricken eyes. 'I've, been negotiating with a foreign agent.'

'Don't worry,' Felman said, 'he didn't get the information he wanted. His mission failed. His death was the best thing that could have happened, for both our countries.'

'What - what was he after?'

'What he kept demanding during the talks - full details of your government's commitment. I needn't be more specific, I'm sure.'

'Who was he working for?' Thornton asked.

'He didn't say. He was a freelance, apparently, who worked for the highest bidder.'

'I can guess who that was,' Richard said grimly.

'Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing,' Deveraux said. 'Stanislaus Batchev is - was - a legend in my line of work. He was probably the greatest undercover agent in the world.' He stood up suddenly. 'And I lived in the same house as him for nearly three days and didn't spot him!' In frustration he punched his right fist into the palm of his left hand.

'Perhaps it'll be some consolation,' Felman said, 'if I tell you I don't think he spotted you, either.'

'May I ask, sir,' Wilkins said softly, 'if you knew who he was and what he was after, why you cooperated with him?'

'It's very simple. His accomplices are holding my sister Anna a prisoner.'

Richard stared. 'Oh, my dear chap!'

'I think you ought to tell us the whole story, sir,' Wilkins said.

'There's not a great deal to tell. It started on the Orient Express. On the last night as I entered my compartment I was knocked out from behind. When I came round I was bound hand and foot and gagged, lying on the bunk. Batchev and another man were standing over me. Batchev had a gun. He told me Martin Adler was dead, that they'd stripped him of all identifying documents and thrown him out of the train when it was crossing a bridge over a river. Batchev said he himself was going to take Adler's place at the talks, that I had to go along with him to show him the ropes - and that Anna would be held in safety until the talks were over and he was out of England; but that if I didn't cooperate she'd be killed. He then showed me a photograph of her tied to a chair with a masked man holding a gun to her head. I had no choice but to agree. He had a full set of false identity papers, including a passport in the name of Martin Adler, but with his own photo and description. He needed me because I knew all the arrangements, and could brief him and help him along during the talks.'

'What a fantastic risk to take!' Deveraux said.

'Yes; he could only hope to succeed because the negotiations were being held here - in a rural area - and because Martin had been going to meet only two British representatives, neither of whom knew him by sight. If the talks had been arranged for London, where he'd be almost certain to run into politicians, diplomats, and journalists who knew the real Martin, he could never have attempted it.'

He turned to Richard. 'You can see now why the talks went the way they did. You thought he was just being deliberately obstructive in not giving you the information you wanted. But he couldn't: he didn't know it. He was hoping to find some documents which would help him among Martin's things. But I told him all the facts had been in Martin's head. So Batchev had to bluff. He knew he couldn't hope to keep the deception up for long. His only chance was to try to force you to give him what he wanted quickly, without offering anything in return himself. I was in a terrible quandary. I had to think of Anna's safety, but at the same time I couldn't risk letting Batchev get away from here with all that secret information. As long as you held out, it was all right. Thank heaven you didn't give way.'

Richard expelled his breath. 'If you only knew how close I came.'

'I was trying desperately all the time to work something out. He warned me not to attempt to inform our London Embassy, as a very highly-placed official there was in his pay. This may have been bluff, but I couldn't risk it.'

'Was there no way you could have got in touch with the Grand Duke direct?' Deveraux asked.

'How? A letter would have taken too long, a cable isn't private enough. I could have tried to put through a telephone call; but you can't lift the receiver and get the Duchy instantaneously: the operator calls you back. I couldn't be sure Batchev wouldn't be standing by me when it came. He stuck pretty close to me, you know. He actually warned me he'd be checking on me at intervals during the nights, so I couldn't even try to call then.'

Richard said: 'What's the position now? You've been through to the Duchy this morning?'

'Yes, I spoke to the Grand Duke himself and told him the full story. The police are going to start an immediate search for Anna. The only question is, can Batchev's death be kept secret until she's safe? If his men should hear he is dead, I'm afraid they'll carry out the threat and kill her.'

'Well, naturally,' Richard said, 'we ourselves wanted to keep the fact of - as we thought - Adler's murder quiet until all the facts were known and, if possible, the killer apprehended.'

'That's what I anticipated. May I ask who knows about it so far?'

'Apart from the people who've been in the house, only the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, Deveraux's chief, and the Chief Constable of the county. Obviously none of them will have talked.'

'Neither will any of my men,' Wilkins said decidedly, 'nor Dr. Ingleby.'

'And I made Merryweather personally responsible for keeping the servants quiet,' Richard added. 'That leaves just my relatives and the guests. I don't think there are any real dangers there. I can vouch for George, Lavinia, and Gerry. Peabody wouldn't be where he is today if he couldn't keep his own counsel, and Evans is a private secretary - one of a naturally secretive breed of beings. That leaves Mrs. Peabody and Jane. Mrs. Peabody will, I imagine, be too upset about her necklace to be very interested in anything else. Jane's a sensible girl; I'll have a word with her. It's fortunate that the person who would be the biggest security risk is still asleep. We can be fairly confident the news won't leak out.'

'I know you're bound to worry, Felman,' he continued, 'so I won't tell you not to; but I'm sure your police will find your sister very soon.'

'And,' Deveraux added, 'although Batchev was quite ruthless, in matters like this he was strictly a man of his word. He wouldn't have been so successful otherwise. Nor would he employ men who would dare disobey him. If he told you he gave orders for your sister not to be harmed, I'm quite sure she hasn't been.'

Felman bowed his head. 'Thank you.'

Richard said: 'No matter what precautions we take, with all this police activity here, the press are sure to get onto the fact that something's happened.'

'The press will be told that we are investigating a jewel robbery,' Wilkins said. 'In that respect the Wraith will have served a useful purpose.'

Deveraux said: 'Are we going to tell the others about the so-called Adler's real identity?'

Richard considered before saying: 'I think we've got to. And about the fact - if they haven't already guessed - that he and I were engaged in important negotiations. After all, we are asking for their cooperation in keeping silent, and the truth is going to come out eventually, anyway. Besides, having introduced a spy into the house, I'm more or less honour bound to tell George and Lavinia about him. Gerry will undoubtedly worm it out of her father. That would leave only the Peabodys, Evans, and Jane in the dark - which seems both mean and unnecessary.'

Wilkins gave a nod. 'I agree, sir, and you're much more likely to get people's cooperation if you take them into your confidence.'

'Very well. I'll make an announcement at lunch. Now, is there anything else you want of me? If not, I must go and ring the PM and tell him the latest revelation.'

Wilkins looked at Deveraux, Deveraux said: 'What we hoped, Minister, was that you might be able to tell us something about the dead man that would throw light on his murder. Well, Felman's done that for us - with a vengeance. It changes the whole complexion of the case. We're going to have to start looking at it from a quite different angle. Unless, therefore, you've got anything additional to this that you can give us . . .' He paused expectantly.

'No, I can't think of anything. Can you, Thornton?'

'Nothing material.' Thornton said.

Richard got to his feet. 'Then, if you'll excuse me, I must go and 'phone Chequers.'

Wilkins coughed. 'Actually, Minister, there is something else, if you could kindly oblige: the Baroness de la Roche.'

'What about her?'

'We have so little information about her. Anything you could tell me would be most useful.'

'What - now?'

'Oh no, sir. Any time. After lunch perhaps?'

'Very well. There's little I can tell you about her life in recent years, so don't expect too much.'

'Shall we say two-thirty, then, sir?'

Richard, Thornton, and Felman left together. When the door had closed behind them, Deveraux looked at Wilkins and said: 'Well?'

Wilkins scratched his nose. 'I suppose we've got to check on Felman's story - find out if the police there can confirm that Anna Felman is missing.'

Deveraux nodded. 'I think perhaps my department can handle that most effectively from London.'