Prepare for Action

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  1

  A Cousin Has Charm

  There was little doubt that Sir Edmund Quayle was frightened; his plump face and little blue eyes betrayed it, although he tried hard to hide the fact from Mr. Gregory Hanton, who liked to be known as Hanton of Heath Place.

  ‘My dear Hanton, I can’t be satisfied with that, it’s preposterous,’ declared Quayle. ‘If Brent did know that we worked together, if he even so much as suspected it and put his suspicions on paper, think of what would happen to me! And I am positive that I am being watched. I no longer feel safe. You must be aware of the tremendous risk I take every time I send information along to you.’

  As he drained a whisky-and-soda he peered anxiously at the short, bald-headed figure of Hanton of Heath Place. That gentleman, who was wealthy enough to want more money, and had long since sold his soul in its pursuit, pursed his full lips and regarded Quayle without favour.

  ‘I know, I know,’ said Hanton testily. ‘You’re on the spot and I’m sitting pretty. That’s what you think.’ He lit a cigarette and broke the match in two, eyeing Quayle all the time. ‘But you’re right one way,’ he admitted at length. ‘We’ll have to see Brent’s papers again. We may have missed something last year. Listen, Quayle, I’m going to be clever. I’ll fix it with Lannigan, he can get the dirty work done.’

  ‘I strongly suggest you don’t do that! Lannigan doesn’t know I’m in it, and he mustn’t learn! Find a man who won’t talk.’

  ‘Maybe you’re right. I’ll get it done. You watch your step, and don’t contact me any more until it’s over. Is that clear?’

  Furtively Quayle left Heath Place, near the Somerset village of Lashley, between Bath and Radstock. Hanton watched from a window; so did another man from the end of the drive; both agreed, shortly afterwards, that Sir Edmund had not been followed.

  • • • • •

  A boom of thunder rumbled, and soon afterwards the dark clouds were split in two by a jagged flash of lightning, which was too far from the bank of the stream and the two men resting near it to affect either light or shadow.

  Both men were large. Both were dressed in flannels and tweed jackets, light blue shirts and Old Carthusian ties. Moreover, both were smoking pipes of the same pattern.

  No stranger passing them could have distinguished one from the other. Friends and acquaintances knew that Mark Errol’s hair was, perhaps, a little darker and a little less tidy than Michael’s, his cousin, that Mike’s eyes were grey flecked with blue, and Mark’s flecked with green, but the difference was clear only to those who looked closely at them.

  For many years their world had considered these two men inseparable, and certainly they were fast friends, sharing a flat in London and a cottage near the stream where they were now sitting.

  Together they had ‘enlisted’ in the service of Department Z, an Intelligence Department which made great calls upon them. Perhaps the greatest was that from time to time it entailed their separation, but ten days before, when they had returned from Spain on a mission of considerable importance, Gordon Craigie, their Chief, had dispensed his blessings, told them that they looked worn out, and sent them to their cottage for a rest.

  ‘All being well,’ he had said, ‘you can have a couple of weeks, and I’ll make it longer if I can.’

  Another roll of thunder broke much nearer, and this time the flash of lightning preceding it brightened the darkening countryside ominously. The clouds were almost above their heads.

  ‘We’d better be moving,’ said Mike.

  They walked briskly towards a small copse near the stream, passing through it before reaching the cottage. It was neither particularly old nor picturesque, but the half-acre of garden surrounding it was a sight worth seeing, the front blazing with flowers set against a velvet lawn, the back heavy with crops.

  A few spots of rain were falling as the Errols reached the front door. Inside, a flurry of white told them that one of their domestic helpers was there, preparing the evening meal. They had been walking since tea, after spending much of the morning and afternoon on Old Totton’s farm.

  Once in the narrow porch, Mike said abruptly: ‘Hello, there’s some post.’

  ‘Craigie?’ Mark put a great deal of expression into the name.

  ‘It doesn’t look like it.’ Mike picked up an envelope from a table near the door, and Mark stared at it over his shoulder. ‘It can’t be anything interesting, anyhow, or it wouldn’t be addressed to both of us. I’ll put the light on.’

  The room was in shadow, darkened by the gathering storm. Its low ceiling, crossed in places with oak beams, forced Mike to duck low as he stepped to the light switches, put by some ingenious country electrician as far away from the front door as was inconveniently possible. A clatter of crockery came from the kitchen, but neither the clatter nor another flash of lightning followed by a torrent of rain and a blare of thunder distracted Mike’s attention from the letter.

  Neither cousin had looked towards the far corner of the lounge-dining-room, nor seen anyone sitting there. But as Mark slit open the envelope someone stirred. Both men were unaware of it, and Mike said, ‘It couldn’t be from Aunt Bess, could it?’

  ‘In fifteen seconds I’ll tell you,’ said Mark, unfolding the letter.

  ‘I can tell you sooner than that, that it isn’t,’ said a girl from the corner. ‘It’s from me.’

  Both men started, and turned swiftly about.

  The electric light revealed the girl. She was tall, and dressed in tweeds, her hat pulled down a little over one eye, Tyrolean fashion, and with a feather sticking from it.

  ‘Good evening,’ said Mark, recovering himself quickly.

  ‘How do you do,’ said Mike, not to be outdone.

  ‘I’m very well, thank you,’ said the girl. She was smiling a little, and they liked her voice.

  ‘You might have addressed it to me,’ said Mike reproachfully.

  ‘If you’ll be quiet a minute,’ said Mark testily, ‘I’ll read the letter. That’ll save a lot of talk and explanation.’

  Mike scanned it over Mark’s shoulder, conscious of the steady and rather amused gaze from the girl.

  The letter began, rather unexpectedly, Dear Mark and Michael. It went on:

  Coming out of the blue like this, you’ll be surprised to hear from me. It is a long time since we saw one another, and you may not even remember ‘Gina’ with a ‘G’ as in ‘George’—or does it strike a chord?

  Whether or no, I shall be in Guildford on Thursday, and Aunt Bess tells me that you’re not far away from there, so I am going to call for an hour or two on Thursday evening.

  If you haven’t remembered ‘Gina’ yet, think of the story of the two goldfish we couldn’t divide into three! Oh, yes, three cousins.

  Yours,

  Regina Brent.

  ‘Gina!’ exclaimed Mike, swinging round with outstretched arms. ‘Gina, you in the flesh!’ He gripped her hands. ‘Three shares of two goldfish—oh, my hat, how many years does that take us back?’

  ‘Idiot, where’s your tact?’ demanded Mark. ‘Not many.’ He too approached, and when Mike freed her hands calmly took her right one, drew her nearer, and kissed her right cheek. ‘Cousinly salutations, Gina,’ he said gravely. ‘Mike isn’t himself, you’ve gathered that, or he wouldn’t have forgotten that cousins can kiss.’

  He smiled as he stared into her laughing eyes.

  A flash of lightning and another clap of thunder made him start, but not look away from her. Nor did Mike shift his gaze, but allo
wed Mark’s provocative sally to go unchallenged.

  ‘How long can you stay?’ he demanded quickly. ‘An hour or two just isn’t good enough. We’re on holiday, you’ll have to see that out.’

  ‘We’ll get a week’s extension,’ declared Mark. ‘I——’

  He stopped abruptly, and his expression altered. So did Mike’s.

  It was not surprising, for the laughter had gone from the girl’s eyes. The change was remarkable; a few seconds before she had been bubbling over with good spirits, but something had happened, something which saddened her. Both cousins realised it, both sought for an explanation; and Mark saw a possibility.

  ‘Gina,’ he said quietly. ‘The family’s all right?’

  Regina stepped back, and sat on the edge of a chair. The room was very still, except for the beating of the rain against the windows. The next roll of thunder was farther away, but it produced a heavy, sonorous background to her quiet:

  ‘No. Mum and Dad are dead.’

  ‘Good lord!’ said Mike, and crushed out his cigarette. ‘I wish—I mean——’

  Regina said quickly: ‘Look here, we’re starting off on the wrong foot. They’ve been dead over twelve months now, and—well, I’m over the shock and it’s surprising how often I don’t think of them.’ She paused, and then went on: ‘I suppose it was remembering you two, and the old house, and everything that went with it, but I shouldn’t have introduced the subject that way. A year is a long time,’ she added quietly.

  ‘Ye-es,’ agreed Mike. ‘All the same, I think I know how you feel. I’d no idea.’

  ‘We should have kept in touch,’ said Mark abruptly.

  ‘My coming here is not entirely an accident, or because I was near Guildford.’ She hesitated, aware that they were puzzled by her words. The gaiety in her manner, which had been so apparent when she first appeared, had faded, and they knew that she was still thinking of her parents. They remembered, too, that Regina had been an only child, and adored by Alice and James Brent.

  Mike, at thirty-six, calculated that she must be thirty. No, twenty-eight or nine. He couldn’t be sure which, but in any case she would pass for twenty-five.

  Mike said, ‘Did you say you didn’t come altogether by accident, Gina?’

  ‘Yes,’ admitted Regina. She hesitated, and then said: ‘It’s all rather fantastic, Mike and Mark, and you’ll probably laugh at me. But something queer happened, and Aunt Bess said you two might be able to help.’

  ‘If we can——’ began Mike.

  ‘We will,’ finished Mark. ‘Let’s have the story, Gina.’

  2

  Regina’s Story

  For some seconds Regina Brent sat without speaking, marshalling her thoughts.

  ‘It starts with Father’s death,’ she said abruptly.

  That startled them, although they made no comment, and after a noticeable pause she went on:

  ‘I say that, although they were killed together in a motor accident, just over a year ago. Dad had been working extremely hard, and needed a change, and I was to join them at Looe for a few days. We’d been looking forward to it for weeks, and—well, there it was. At the time I didn’t dream that it might have been more than an accident.’ She paused again, turning to look at the cousins. The two faces, so much alike, were regarding her with close interest, and she went on hurriedly: ‘I’d been working in Westmorland with a family Dad knew, but after that I left the job and joined the A.T.S.’

  Involuntarily, Mike glanced at her clothes.

  ‘I’m on leave,’ said Regina quickly. ‘Nine more whole days! The thing is, you should know that Dad was doing a lot of work with the Ministry of Economic Warfare. Before the war, of course, he was always on the Continent.’

  The Errols knew that James Brent had been the managing director of a firm of manufacturers with a large trade.

  Regina went on: ‘I don’t know what he was doing, but there was a lot of anxious searching, after he died, for his papers—he had taken some work home with him. The papers were found near the scene of the crash, two or three days afterwards, so the excitement died down. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but since I found this diary I’ve wondered about it.’

  Mike said: ‘You’ve wondered whether the papers were taken away and returned afterwards.’

  Regina stared at him.

  ‘Does it strike you like that, too?’ She sounded incredulous. A pause, and then she continued: ‘The thing that really worries me is the diary. I didn’t know he kept one, but I was going through some papers of his last week—in an old box I’ve been meaning to turn out for a long time, but I just couldn’t bring my mind to it—and came across it.’ She hesitated for a moment before saying sharply: ‘Oh, I expect I’m dreaming, but several things in the diary suggested that he was—well, frightened of being attacked.’

  ‘Have you got it with you?’ asked Mark.

  ‘Yes,’ said Regina. She put a hand to a hip pocket in her skirt, and drew out a slim diary, about three inches by two in size. She held it tightly for a moment and said: ‘Mark—and you, Mike. If you think I’m just working myself into hysteria about it, you’ll say so, won’t you?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Mark, and stretched out his hand for the diary.

  They were both so intent on Regina and the story that they noticed nothing outside. Had they glanced out then they would have glimpsed a man who had stepped cautiously from some bushes and reached the cover of the house. As it was, Mark opened the diary, unaware of the nearness of the stranger, who, sidling along the outer wall, was drawing nearer to the window. His right hand was outstretched, his left was in his pocket, the elbow crooked as if he were ready to draw the hand out swiftly.

  A tall thin man, he was dressed in dark grey, a Homburg hat pulled well down over his eyes.

  ‘Turn to the June entries first,’ said Regina.

  Mark let the pages of the diary flutter over. Outside, a rustling breeze stirred trees and flowers, and made one of the curtains blow against the open window. The breeze turned the pages of the diary also, and Mark glanced round, a hand outstretched to push the window to. Mike did the same.

  The sound following was sharp and abrupt. Fast upon it, Mike and Mark jumped to their feet, Mark a foot ahead of his cousin.

  They could see Mrs. Gee, the housekeeper, standing on the garden path, staring towards the window. Obviously she had screamed. The shadow of the man nearby was on the path immediately beneath them. Mark saw it move, and saw the added shadow of a gun appear. He tossed the diary over his shoulder, and it landed on a chair. Then he put one foot on the window ledge and jumped out.

  There was the sharp crack of a revolver shot. Mike heard it, and also heard his cousin grunt. Mark fell with his hands in front of him. The assailant jumped backwards while Mike leapt forward, throwing himself through the air in an endeavour to crush the man downwards and prevent him from shooting.

  His right hand swept outwards, striking the other’s outstretched arm. His fist knocked the gun flying from long fingers, as he hurtled to the ground.

  The man in grey took to his heels, reached a shrubbery and dived into it, and Mike waited only long enough to retrieve the automatic before following, guided by the sound of the other’s progress.

  While crashing through the tightly interlaced boughs, he caught no glimpse of his quarry, and he remembered that beyond the shrubs there was a footpath leading to the river in one direction, and the nearest road in the other.

  He judged that the man would turn to the road.

  He swung right, hoping to cut him off, and soon reached the footpath, breathing hard but careful to keep out of sight in case the other had a second gun. Then he heard footsteps running in the opposite direction, and, venturing forward, caught a glimpse of his man racing towards the river.

  The footpath led amongst the trees, and the man was lost to sight a moment afterwards. Mike started in pursuit, but was no more than halfway to the river when he stubbed his foot against an exposed roo
t. He pitched forward, striking the ground heavily. Cursing, he picked himself up, but his ankle buckled under him, and he knew it would be useless to continue the chase.

  The running footsteps seemed a long way off.

  • • • • •

  The ambulance arrived.

  Mike sat and watched Mark being placed on a stretcher. The doctor who had come with the ambulance had glanced at the bandaging Regina had applied to his ankle and announced satisfaction with it. He told Mike that the operating theatre would be ready as soon as the patient reached the hospital, and that no time would be lost.

  Mike felt an odd sense of deflation when Mark had gone.

  The doctor told him that he would telephone the moment the operation was over, and that there was no point in going into Guildford. Mike felt that was so, for the time being at least.

  He looked at Regina.

  She was sitting in a chair opposite him, and fingering the diary which Mike had thrown over his shoulder. She glanced down at the pages, then at Mike. He saw her eyes fill with tears as she turned her face away,

  ‘Oh Mike, I’m so damned sorry I caused this!’

  Mike stared at her, amazed. ‘You caused it? What on earth gave you that idea?’

  ‘Don’t you understand, they wanted the diary!’ Regina almost shouted the words. ‘They must have followed me. I half thought I was being followed yesterday, and in London I’ve been haunted by them!’

  Five days before, on the start of fourteen days’ leave, she had gone to Aunt Bess, who lived in Somerset. The personal oddments of her father and mother, collected in two boxes, had needed sorting out for some time, and she had started on the task. Before doing so she had heard in great detail from Aunt Bess (her mother’s sister) of an attempted burglary at the Somerset house. It had been a nine days’ wonder in the village, and Gina had grown tired of hearing about it, until she had discovered that an attempt had been made to force the lock of her father’s box.

  ‘I wondered if the box had been the purpose of the robbery,’ went on Regina. ‘The suspicion didn’t really sink in, but I did wonder. Then I cleared it out, and the next evening I was glancing through the diary and read the bits that—that suggested Dad had been frightened of an attack on his life. I told Aunt Bess about it, and she suggested that I came to see you. She seems to think you’re something to do with the police. She read about you in the paper—she actually had some cuttings. Are you in the police force?’