An Affair For the Baron Read online

  Mannering thought with growing excitement: It’s come off. He’s going to do it. My God, he’s going to do it! A surge of relief, of humble triumph, touched him.

  He was rejoicing, his heart lighter than he had known it for a long, long time, when there came a sharp buzz of sound. It went through him like an electric shock. O’Leary leaned forward and flicked down a switch.

  “What is it? What!” He turned to the others excitedly. “The police are at the front door! What do we do – keep them out or let them in?”

  Mannering thought with awful disappointment: They’re early, they’re too early.

  Ballas said: “So they are outside.” He pressed a button, and the door release clicked and buzzed, as he said to Mannering: “You had to lie. You had to say they were coming at—”

  Before he finished, before Mannering could begin to think, O’Leary swung round, revolver in hand, rage in his eyes, malevolence on his bruised face. He levelled the gun at Mannering, and said: “You aren’t going to live to see them.”

  And he fired.

  Mannering flung himself to one side.

  He was aware of the awful danger, of looking into the face of death. He felt the sickening impact of the bullet in his left arm, level with his heart. He went staggering sideways, off his balance, fear greater than pain. He heard the sound of more shooting, but felt no further impact. He came up against a stool and went sprawling, the room going round and round, the only sound now the blur of voices. Then a girl’s face hovered above his and he felt hands touching him gently.

  “Are you all right? Please, please, are you all right?”

  Someone said: “He’s dead.”

  “No,” said Mannering, “I’m not dead.”

  The girl said: “It’s his arm. I think it’s only his arm.”

  “I—am—not—dead.”

  Another face appeared, familiar, but no longer smiling. Cyrus Lake’s.

  “O’Leary is dead,” he said. “You’re okay.” He turned round. “He’s okay, Mario. It’s just his arm.”

  The arm was aching only a little, the main sensation was of numbness. Now, questions crowded into Mannering’s mind, one of them of overwhelming importance.

  “What about the police?”

  Ethel was saying: “Scissors, we want some scissors, to cut the sleeve off. Oh, and water and towels.”

  “No cops,” Cyrus said.

  “But O’Leary—”

  “O’Leary lied,” Cyrus said. “He wanted an excuse to get even with you for beating him up. Even more important, he wanted to convince Mario that it really was you, and not he, who had killed Enrico – and thought it would be easier to do this if you weren’t around to defend yourself. Mario soon discovered that it was O’Leary who had done the killing – but like he said, it suited his books to pretend he thought you’d done it. As soon as O’Leary realised that Mario didn’t believe it was you who murdered his nephew, he was afraid suspicion might fall on him and knew he had to act quickly.”

  “But how—”

  “One of the guards got on the house phone to ask if he and another couple of guards should relieve that trio.” Cyrus nodded towards the three men who had been brought in to watch Mannering and who were still standing there, impassive as ever. “O’Leary took the call and then told us the man had rung through to warn us that the police had arrived. There are no cops here yet – not outside the front door, anyway. There are plenty out in the mesa, pretending to hide. Do you think you can go and talk to them before they come?”

  “Yes,” Mannering said.

  Ethel was cutting away the sleeve of his jacket.

  “That is if Mario—” Mannering began.

  Cyrus said: “Mario, he wants to hear you say it.”

  Mario Ballas came slowly across the room. He was smiling, tight-lipped. He carried a sealed packet, a big yellow envelope, in his hand. He sat on a stool which one of the others pushed into position, and looked down at Mannering.

  “I will do what you want,” he said, and held out the packet. “Here is my copy of the microfilm, concealed in the Fentham jewels.” He put it into Mannering’s free hand, and for a moment each of them held it; then Ballas let go. “You had better be right,” he added, almost bitterly. “You had better be right.”

  “Why don’t you come to the HemisFair, and hear for yourself?” asked Mannering.

  Arm strapped to his side, Mannering stepped out of the house and walked across the courtyard. As he did so, Captain Pollitzer and a Mexican police officer walked from the corner, solid, unafraid. Mannering raised the envelope, and Pollitzer raised his left hand. Ethel came down the steps hesitantly. Mannering waited for her.

  “Some things we keep to ourselves,” he murmured.

  “Am I glad to see you two,” Pollitzer said loudly, advancing. “What’s happened to your arm?”

  “Ballas had to repress a revolt,” Mannering answered. “But it’s all right, it’s all over. Could I go into details later? This damned arm—”

  His arm did not prevent him from talking as a police pilot flew them back to San Antonio.

  Within an hour he was in hospital, by morning he was ready to go out again, rested, bandaged, more contented than he had been for a long time. Ethel was on her way to Chicago; Fentham and Professor Alundo had been told of the recovery of both copies of the microfilm. Mannering, not sure whether to go back to England or whether to sun himself in Texas, heard a forthright voice – Steven Marshall’s – just outside his door.

  The door opened.

  “Good morning, John,” Marshall said briskly. “I want you to know I’m proud to know you.”

  “Oh, nonsense,” disseminated Mannering.

  “It’s not nonsense,” Marshall declared. “My wife and I hope you’ll stay with us from now through the opening day and Professor Alundo’s lecture. That lecture is a sell-out already.” He stood squarely in front of Mannering. “And Patsy and I hope you will call your wife in London and ask her to come and visit us, also. You surely will be welcome.”

  “You’ll love them,” Mannering said to Loma. “And they really mean it when they say they’ll be happy to see you.”

  “We most certainly will,” said Patsy Marshall, who was sitting opposite him in the house in San Antonio – a house modelled almost on La Racienda. She was small, dark, alert, eager.

  Lorna’s voice sounded faint, but clear, at the other end of the line.

  “If you’re sure,” she said, “I’d love to come over.” Mannering nodded.

  “Why, that’s wonderful!” Patsy exclaimed.

  Mannering, Lorna, the Marshalls, and the thousands who had laboured to get the HemisFair ready on time, paid homage at last to the great opening day of parades and speeches of welcome, beneath the unfurled flags of all fifty States and nearly as many nations.

  They sat in the enormous Convention Centre with Mario Ballas and Cyrus Lake.

  There was not a seat to spare in the vast auditorium, but everywhere there was a hum of conversation. It slackened, stopped, then turned into a roar of applause as Steven Marshall walked briskly on to the stage.

  He introduced Professor Alundo in thirty-three seconds flat, and led the applause when Alundo appeared. The Professor stood, small, grey, and lonely, on the great stage; but as he began to speak, a confidence, a sincerity, even a grave nobility, radiated from him. The microphones carried his voice clearly, each word articulated with great care as he dealt with the problems of finding world peace, of calming anxious, frightened peoples.

  Then, he held up the two microfilms.

  He told the breathless audience what they were; and in front of their eyes, he burned them. And while the flames leapt up from a silver plate, his words drifted, sure and unforgettable, to the hearts of the anxious watchers.

  “… and the time will come when swords must be turned into ploughshares and when the lion shall lie down with the lamb …”

  Suddenly, those in front of him were cheering. The white and the black
and the yellow, men of great nations and men of small, all rose to their feet, and cheered and cheered and cheered again.

  Mannering saw the tears in Ethel’s eyes.

  He saw a strange peace in Mario Ballas’s face as the old man looked away from the excited throng, smiled very faintly at Mannering, and held out his hand. On one side of him was Fentham, on the other Cyrus Lake; both noticed this gesture and were glad.

  Three days later, the Mannerings arrived at London Airport, and as they passed through Customs, newspapermen and television men descended on them …

  “John,” Lorna said afterwards, “I’ve never been so proud of you.”

  “I’ve never felt so good,” Mannering said.

  Her glance lightly touched his arm.

  “Not really bad,” answered Mannering, smiling at her. “Everything considered, we got off very lightly.” He was thinking of how close to death he had been and how badly Ricardi had been hurt, yet how well they had all come out of the situation.

  Ricardi was recovering; Ethel was at the hospital each day, he was told.

  In Chicago, Ballas’s attorneys were drawing up the Deed of Foundation.

  In Los Angeles Professor Alundo was addressing audiences which gave him a tumultuous welcome, while the television companies were clamouring for interviews.

  Fentham, his jewels recovered, was returning to England by sea.

  The Mexican police were investigating the death of Tiger O’Leary and the newspapers were crying:

  CHICAGO GANGSTER SLAIN

  Mannering felt tired; pleasantly and cheerfully tired. It was good to be home, good to have his wife by his side, good to see in the English papers a mood of great optimism in world affairs. There would be setbacks, of course, and new problems; but he had a feeling that nothing would seem quite so bad again.

  Series Information

  Published or to be published by

  House of Stratus

  Dates given are those of first publication

  Alternative titles in brackets

  ‘The Baron’ (47 titles) (writing as Anthony Morton)

  ‘Department ‘Z’’ (28 titles)

  ‘Dr. Palfrey Novels’ (34 titles)

  ‘Gideon of Scotland Yard’ (22 titles)

  ‘Inspector West’ (43 titles)

  ‘Sexton Blake’ (5 titles)

  ‘The Toff’ (59 titles)

  along with:

  The Masters of Bow Street

  This epic novel embraces the story of the Bow Street Runners and the Marine Police, forerunners of the modern police force, who were founded by novelist Henry Fielding in 1748. They were the earliest detective force operating from the courts to enforce the decisions of magistrates. John Creasey’s account also gives a fascinating insight into family life of the time and the struggle between crime and justice, and ends with the establishment of the Metropolitan Police after the passing of Peel’s Act in 1829.

  ‘The Baron’ Series

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  Meet the Baron (The Man in the Blue Mask) (1937)

  The Baron Returns (The Return of the Blue Mask) (1937)

  The Baron Again (Salute Blue Mask) (1938)

  The Baron at Bay (Blue Mask at Bay) (1938)

  Alias the Baron (Alias Blue Mask) (1939)

  The Baron at Large (Challenge Blue Mask!) (1939)

  Versus the Baron (Blue Mask Strikes Again) (1940)

  Call for the Baron (Blue Mask Victorious) (1940)

  The Baron Comes Back (1943)

  A Case for the Baron (1945)

  Reward for the Baron (1945)

  Career for the Baron (1946)

  Blood Diamond (The Baron and the Beggar) (1947)

  Blame the Baron (1948)

  A Rope for the Baron (1948)

  Books for the Baron (1949)

  Cry for the Baron (1950)

  Trap the Baron (1950)

  Attack the Baron (1951)

  Shadow the Baron (1951)

  Warn the Baron (1952)

  The Baron Goes East (1953)

  The Baron in France (1953)

  Danger for the Baron (1953)

  The Baron Goes Fast (1954)

  Nest-Egg for the Baron (Deaf, Dumb and Blonde) (1954)

  Help from the Baron (1955)

  Hide the Baron (1956)

  The Double Frame (Frame the Baron) (1957)

  Blood Red (Red Eye for the Baron) (1958)

  If Anything Happens to Hester (Black for the Baron) (1959)

  Salute for the Baron (1960)

  The Baron Branches Out (A Branch for the Baron) (1961)

  The Baron and the Stolen Legacy (Bad for the Baron) (1962)

  A Sword for the Baron (The Baron and the Mogul Swords) (1963)

  The Baron on Board (The Mask of Sumi) (1964)

  The Baron and the Chinese Puzzle (1964)

  Sport for the Baron (1966)

  Affair for the Baron (1967)

  The Baron and the Missing Old Masters (1968)

  The Baron and the Unfinished Portrait (1969)

  Last Laugh for the Baron (1970)

  The Baron Goes A-Buying (1971)

  The Baron and the Arrogant Artist (1972)

  Burgle the Baron (1973)

  The Baron - King Maker (1975)

  Love for the Baron (1979)

  Doctor Palfrey Novels

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  Traitor’s Doom (1942)

  The Legion of the Lost (1943)

  The Valley of Fear (The Perilous Country) (1943)

  Dangerous Quest (1944)

  Death in the Rising Sun (1945)

  The Hounds of Vengeance (1945)

  Shadow of Doom (1946)

  The House of the Bears (1946)

  Dark Harvest (1947)

  The Wings of Peace (1948)

  The Sons of Satan (1948)

  The Dawn of Darkness (1949)

  The League of Light (1949)

  The Man Who Shook the World (1950)

  The Prophet of Fire (1951)

  The Children of Hate (The Killers of Innocence; The Children of Despair) (1952)

  The Touch of Death (1954)

  The Mists of Fear (1955)

  The Flood (1956)

  The Plague of Silence (1958)

  Dry Spell (The Drought) (1959)

  The Terror (1962)

  The Depths (1963)

  The Sleep (1964)

  The Inferno (1965)

  The Famine (1967)

  The Blight (1968)

  The Oasis (1970)

  The Smog (1970)

  The Unbegotten (1971)

  The Insulators (1972)

  The Voiceless Ones (1973)

  The Thunder-Maker (1976)

  The Whirlwind (1979)

  Gideon Series

  (Writing as JJ Marric)

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  Gideon’s Day (Gideon of Scotland Yard) (1955)

  Seven Days to Death (Gideon’s Week) (1956)

  Gideon’s Night (1957)

  A Backwards Jump (Gideon’s Month) (1958)

  Thugs and Economies (Gideon’s Staff) (1959)

  Gideon Combats Influence (Gideon’s Risk) (1960)

  Gideon’s Fire (1961)

  A Conference for Assassins (Gideon’s March) (1962)

  Travelling Crimes (Gideon’s Ride) (1963)

  An Uncivilised Election (Gideon’s Vote) (1964)

  Criminal Imports (Gideon’s Lot) (1965)

  To Nail a Serial Killer (Gideon’s Badge) (1966)

  From Murder to a Cathedral (Gideon’s Wrath) (1967)

  Gideon’s River (1968)

  Darkness and Confusion (Gideon’s Power) (1969)

  Sport, Heat & Scotland Yard (Gideon’s Sport) (1970)

  Gideon’s Art (1971)

  No Relaxation at Scotland Yard (Gideon’s Men) (1972)

  Impartialit
y Against the Mob (Gideon’s Press) (1973)

  Not Hidden by the Fog (Gideon’s Fog) (1975)

  Good and Justice (Gideon’s Drive) (1976)

  Vigilantes & Biscuits (Gideon’s Force) (1978)

  Inspector West Series

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  Inspector West Takes Charge (1942)

  Go Away to Murder (Inspector West Leaves Town) (1943)

  An Apostle of Gloom (Inspector West At Home) (1944)

  Inspector West Regrets (1945)

  Holiday for Inspector West (1946)

  Battle for Inspector West (1948)

  The Case Against Paul Raeburn (Triumph for Inspector West) (1948)

  Inspector West Kicks Off (Sport for Inspector West) (1949)

  Inspector West Alone (1950)

  Inspector West Cries Wolf (The Creepers) (1950)

  The Figure in the Dusk (A Case for Inspector West) (1951)

  The Dissemblers (Puzzle for Inspector West) (1951)

  The Case of the Acid Throwers (The Blind Spot; Inspector West at Bay) (1952)

  Give a Man a Gun (A Gun for Inspector West) (1953)

  Send Inspector West (1953)

  So Young, So Cold, So Fair (A Beauty for Inspector West; The Beauty Queen Killer) (1954)

  Murder Makes Haste (Inspector West Makes Haste; The Gelignite Gang; Night of the Watchman) (1955)

  Murder: One, Two, Three (Two for Inspector West) (1955)

  Death of a Postman (Parcels for Inspector West) (1956)

  Death of an Assassin (A Prince for Inspector West) (1956)

  Hit and Run (Accident for Inspector West) (1957)

  The Trouble at Saxby’s (Find Inspector West; Doorway to Death) (1957)

  Murder, London - New York (1958)

  Strike for Death (The Killing Strike) (1958)

  Death of a Racehorse (1959)

  The Case of the Innocent Victims (1959)

  Murder on the Line (1960)

  Death in Cold Print (1961)

  The Scene of the Crime (1961)

  Policeman’s Dread (1962)

  Hang the Little Man (1963)

  Look Three Ways at Murder (1964)

  Murder, London - Australia (1965)

  Murder, London - South Africa (1966)