Operation Manhunt

by Christopher Nicole

  “Where did the yacht come from?” Jonathan asked. “And Malthus? Is he one of your shareholders?”

  “Rather more than that, unfortunately, Mr. Anders. James has been in command of our Latin American operations for some time. I mentioned Eastern Europe and Africa, but you must know that here in the Western Hemisphere there are a large number of countries in which the political climate is conducive to sudden departures. In such an atmosphere, James and his ship were invaluable.”

  “So what went wrong?”

  Brian O’Connor sighed. “Believe me, Mr. Anders, that thought is taxing me also. But I think we should ask James the selfsame question.”

  “You mean he didn’t really collapse?”

  “Of course not, Mr. Anders. Had he been on his feet when Courtney left, I imagine he would have preferred to accompany the police rather than remain here. But he was very thirsty when we reached the house, and so I was able to signal Stanley, without James’ being aware of it, that I wished him to sleep soundly for an hour or two. There is the captain’s knock. Stanley, would you admit them, please?”

  Stanley unlocked the door. Malthus entered first, wearing a dressing gown, his eyes still clouded. Strohm stood at his shoulder.

  Malthus blinked at the table, ran his tongue around his lips. “What’s happening?” he muttered. “It’s dark outside. What happened to me? And where’s that policeman gone?”

  “Home to bed,” O’Connor said. “While you were sleeping. I’m afraid the hectic events of the past twenty-four hours proved too much for you, James.”

  Malthus glanced at Jonathan, and then at Benny, and then at Stanley and the captain, standing like ebony statues behind him. “Oh, no,” he said, and tried to back away, only to stumble into Strohm. “You wouldn’t dare lay a finger on me, O’Connor. Not now. Not when that copper knows I’m here. He’ll be back.”

  “Indeed he will. And I do agree, he would hardly be pleased to discover you with a broken neck. But I don’t think the captain will have to go quite that far to persuade you not to do anything foolish. As for a broken arm, well, you should always remember that Superintendent Courtney has no reason to consider me anything more than a wealthy American gentleman, good for a considerable contribution to every charitable organization in the island. So sit down, James. We want to talk with you.”

  Malthus hesitated, glanced around the room once again, sat down. He looked more like an ancient piece of paper than ever, but now he was a crumpled piece of paper.

  “I’m sure Mr. Malthus would appreciate something to drink, Captain,” O’Connor said.

  Strohm poured a glass of brandy. Malthus sipped, sighed. “You’ve been lucky, O’Connor. By heaven, you’ve been lucky.”

  “My dear James, I wouldn’t dispute that for one moment. I want you to tell me how lucky.”

  Malthus drank some more brandy, gazed at his empty glass.

  “Give Mr. Malthus the decanter, Strohm,” Brian O’Connor suggested.

  Strohm placed a crystal decanter in front of Malthus, and the little man refilled his glass.

  “Where are Byrne and Harman?” he asked.

  “Having supper, I should imagine,” Brian O’Connor said. “But they happen to be working for me, now, James. You have lost out all around.” He leaned back in his chair.

  “Oh, you’re smart, O’Connor,” Malthus said. “So I tried and failed. Let me have some clothes and I’ll push off.” He grinned. “You can have Phyllis in exchange. Phyllis and the dog.”

  “Not until you tell me what motivated you on board the ship. Tell me that, and I’ll be quite happy to be rid of you.”

  Malthus licked his lips, drank some more brandy. “We held a board meeting, the other day, the four of us, and we decided we could run this organization just as efficiently, or maybe even more efficiently, without you. We got to thinking that, after all, we provide the actual escape routes and the men who man them. We take all the risks. All you do, all you have ever done, is make the initial contacts with our clients. We know enough about the business now to take over that end of it ourselves.”

  “You, James?” Brian O’Connor asked softly.

  “Oh, I’m sticking to my side of the world. But Charlie Bladen will control the executive side of the business for the European end. He’s been east a dozen times in the past year. You invited him to, O’Connor, didn’t you? I’d say you goofed. And from now on it’ll be share and share alike, the four of us.”

  Brian O’Connor sighed. “It would appear to be the oldest story in the world, Mr. Anders. When one operates outside the law, one becomes fair game for every ambitious pirate who thinks he can outwit him. I’m afraid the fact that so many of our operations have arisen in this half of the world over the past year has given you an over-enlarged sense of your own importance, James. You should remember that these things always go in cycles. But James has always had a reputation for ruthlessness in business, Mr. Anders. In his early days he was associated with some distinctly unsavory characters in the Midwest, and was fortunate not to go to prison.”

  “They never had anything on me,” Malthus declared.

  “As you say, James, up to last night, no one ever had anything on you. But it may interest you to know that I had suspected that something in the nature of what you have just described was in the wind.”

  “Yeah?” Malthus sneered. “And you still came on the Sidewinder?”

  “I considered it necessary to continue using your ship for the time being, because it was the only truly private rehabilitation center that we possessed, as I did not wish to involve this retreat of mine in our activities. Besides, it provided such a perfect cover for Vladimir, as the only talent, or indeed, interest, that he retained from his previous life was the mixing of drinks. I realized I was taking a certain risk, of course, but I will confess that I never anticipated anything so dramatic as an attempted murder. Now tell us the truth, James, did you plan anything quite so drastic?”

  Malthus drank some more brandy. “I guess not,” he admitted. “But when that fire started, well, and especially after the appearance of this Limey agent.…”

  “You saw a golden opportunity to solve all your problems, and you seized it with both hands. For which you must be given credit, James. But you made the fatal mistake of alienating Strohm. Which just goes to show that one cannot afford to be too careful when in the business of cheating one’s partners. I hope James has told you everything you wish to know, Mr. Anders?”

  “James has,” Jonathan said. “But what about Gerry? Is she part of your organization, too?”

  “That would distress you, wouldn’t it? To think that a pretty girl has been deceiving you all this while? Well, you can relax. Gerry believed the tale we told you, that James was a Central Intelligence Agent, with whom I was cooperating. Although, judging by her remarkable behavior, both in Barbados and in St. Vincent, I would say she did not altogether swallow your attempts to act the Government man, James. As for me, my true avocation has hitherto been known only to my late business associates. Even my clients have always supposed I was acting for some international organization. You thought that, didn’t you, Vladimir?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Benny said.

  “But if Gerry is not involved,” Jonathan said, “then what was she doing on the ship at all?”

  “Because I needed her, Mr. Anders. You see, Vladimir had a daughter very like Gerry. The poor child died, three years ago, of a chest complaint, an event which affected Vladimir very badly. So it occurred to me that the constant presence of Gerry might have a useful effect upon the general’s memory. But of course, you remember Catherine, Vladimir?”

  “I remember nothing,” Benny said stubbornly.

  “And you used your own daughter, without her knowledge, in a business like this?” Jonathan demanded.

  “Aren’t all people meant to be used?” Brian O’Connor asked. “Isn’t your government using you? Didn’t your own parents use you, as a boy, to satis
fy various egotistical dreams of their own, ambitions which perhaps they never fulfilled themselves and intended you to accomplish for their vicarious enjoyment? Oh, yes, Mr. Anders, no matter how hypocritical the mass of mankind may be in these matters, man’s daily business is putting his fellows to the best use he can conceive. The more successful one is at this most basic of human skills, the more successful a human being one is oneself. And I must repeat, it never occurred to me that Geraldine was going to find herself in any physical danger.”

  “I don’t believe that,” Jonathan said. “If you really did suspect Malthus all along, I think the real reason for her presence, and for Mrs. Malthus as well, was your belief that their being on board would deter Malthus from making any move against you.”

  “What you believe, and what you disbelieve, Mr. Anders, is no longer of any importance. Only your presence here is important. You see, I’m afraid that much of what James told you in the cabin on board the Sidewinder—my word, was it only yesterday?—was merely repeating what I had previously outlined to him. Whether or not Vladimir can maintain this farcical play-acting is irrelevant to me. The mere fact that he undertook to play such a role in the first place makes it clear that he lacks the funds to pay his fee. Thus, one must presume, his plan has been to act the steward until the Sidewinder, as he supposed it eventually must, returned to the United States to land Gerry and me, and there jump ship and sink into a safe obscurity. So I was left with the problem of how to realize the fullest, or indeed, how to realize any value, out of him. Unfortunately, you see, I could not consider entering into financial negotiations with my own government without revealing my true status in this affair, and as you can imagine, it has been necessary for the organization to break quite a few laws during the past three years. So the only alternative I had left was to approach the Russians.”

  “But you didn’t do that?” Benny cried.

  “Alas, Vladimir, I am, above all other things, a businessman. And no doubt it will surprise you to know, James, that, as I had already begun to suspect the machinations of you and your colleagues, I had come to the conclusion that the time had come for me to wind up this enterprise.”

  “You lousy swine,” Malthus shouted. “You were going to double-cross us?”

  “Scarcely a term you should use, James. But I think our organization has served its purpose. Do you know, Mr. Anders, in three and a half years it has earned one and a half million dollars? Half a million of that has gone on our very considerable expenses, but I, as founder and principal shareholder, have received fifty percent of the profits, so you’ll appreciate that I have cleared half a million for myself. One imagines it is this large sum of money which has been upsetting James and his friends. So now, I have but to collect what is outstanding on your account, Vladimir, and I can really retire, this time to another island I have in mind, Mr. Anders, a considerable distance away from the West Indies, beautiful as they are, and spend my declining years in quiet and luxury.”

  “You mean you have no intention of paying your associates anything from whatever sum you eventually receive for Benny?” Jonathan asked.

  “I would say that James’ behavior and confession have absolved me from any further responsibility in that direction. And incidentally, as I know the Russians are desperately anxious to regain possession of General Pobrenski, my asking fee was forty thousand dollars. My decision to approach the Russians was strengthened by that unfortunate contretemps with Geraldine’s photograph in Barbados. Do you know, Mr. Anders, I actually saw her taking that snapshot, and it never occurred to me that she would be so stupid as to hand it to that man Crater? It just goes to show that we all have our blind spots, at least where our own family is concerned. So I got in touch with my agent for Eastern Europe, using the ship’s radio, and asked him to reply to me care of the Bridgetown post office. Naturally, I had already left Bridgetown, having requested the Barbadians to forward the reply, when it came—we use our own code, of course—to me care of the Kingstown post office. I don’t trust the Russians any more than the next man. So you’ll see that floating log of wood was rather convenient. Of course it did not damage the schooner’s propellers sufficiently to keep us in St. Vincent, but it was convenient for us to have a reason for remaining at anchor there, as my agent had promised to let me know in a month. And sure enough,” he took a scrap of paper from his pocket, “a telegram arrived for me, telling me that the Soviets appear willing to meet my requirements, and wish only to reach agreement on a suitable place for handing the general over.”

  “You never told me you’d received a reply,” Malthus said.

  “I didn’t, did I, James? How forgetful of me.”

  “Well, in the circumstances, Doctor, I think I’ll be leaving,” Benny said, getting up. “I’ll walk into town.”

  “Sit down, Vladimir.” O’Connor’s voice was brittle. Benny hesitated, looked over his shoulder to where Stanley waited by the door, his hand suddenly holding an automatic pistol, fitted with a silencer.

  Benny sat down.

  “Besides,” Brian O’Connor said. “All may not yet be lost for you. Perhaps Mr. Anders would be prepared to make an offer in excess of forty thousand dollars? Forty-one will do, Mr. Anders. I like to deal in round figures.”

  Jonathan’s brain tumbled. But he could only play for time, and hope. “There’s just one thing that you seem to have overlooked. Now you’ve approached the Russians to sell someone back to them, you’re exposing the existence of your organization. And knowing them, they’ll destroy you, no matter how long it takes them.”

  O’Connor shrugged. “I cannot see that that is a problem to me, Mr. Anders, as I shall be leaving the organization the moment I collect for Benny. Of course, I cannot say what my late associates, and my various agents scattered around the world, are going to do. If they have any sense they will also just fade away into the distance. But being human beings, and less provident than I, their anger as well as their cupidity will almost certainly lead them into attempting to pick up the pieces, in which case, as you say, the Russians will destroy them. Now, what about making me an offer?”

  “I’m afraid I’ll have to get in touch with my people in London,” Jonathan said. “I couldn’t possibly offer you a sum that large on my own.”

  “That is tiresome of you,” Brian O’Connor said. “But I suppose it is another example of that British dilatoriness from which the world has so often suffered. They have always had this tendency to send junior officials to do their negotiating for them, and have invariably had to work twice as hard later to retrieve the ground lost. In this case, I’m afraid I cannot allow them the opportunity. I cannot risk any further delay when the Russians, I am sure, are making every endeavor to locate my exact whereabouts. We will have to take your inability to improve on my demand as a refusal.”

  “So where does that leave me?” Jonathan asked.

  “Where indeed, Mr. Anders? From being a prospective client you have dramatically declined into the class of James here, and become a mere nuisance. Now, James, put yourself in my place, and tell me what you would do with two nuisances who were endangering the success of your operation.”

  Malthus gazed at O’Connor, his face blank, a twisted, angry piece of parchment, now. He held the brandy decanter by the neck, refilled his glass, picked it up with his left hand and sipped, threw the glass of spirits into Brian O’Connor’s face, leaped to his feet, and swung the decanter at the captain. Taken by surprise, Strohm was struck across the head; he attempted to step backward, lost his balance, and fell over a chair.

  Malthus turned toward Stanley, the broken decanter thrust forward. Stanley never moved, except to squeeze his right hand around the butt of the automatic pistol. The explosion made very little noise, but Malthus checked, dropping the decanter to clutch his left shoulder, an expression of utter surprise on his face.

  The stunned silence in the dining room was shattered by the ringing of a bell.

  Brian O’Connor was the first to reco
ver. “That’s the front door,” he snapped. “Give me the gun, Stanley, and answer it. Quickly, now.”

  Stanley handed his master the weapon, left the room. Brian O’Connor stood up, the table between himself and Jonathan and Benny, the pistol thrust forward, using a napkin to dry the brandy on his face. “You won’t do anything foolish, will you, Mr. Anders?” he asked quietly. “Nor you, I hope, Benny. Strohm, see if Malthus is hurt.”

  “Hurt?” Malthus cried. “My shoulder’s broken, I shouldn’t wonder. I’ll see you in jail, O’Connor, if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

  “Don’t tempt me, James,” the doctor said. “Yes, Stanley?”

  The butler stood in the doorway. “It is a young American gentleman, Doctor. He wishes to see Miss Geraldine. His name is Crater.”

  “Oh, well done, Thomas,” Jonathan said.

  “Show the young man into the drawing room, Stanley, and then return here. Your friend Crater is most certainly a persevering type, isn’t he, Mr. Anders? But I want you to remember something rather important to all of us; I have survived so long as leader of this organization because I have never allowed either governments or individuals to get in my way. You are going to get rid of Mr. Crater, and convincingly. Captain, you will stay here with Benny and Mr. Malthus; perhaps you could take a look at that arm, and try to stop the bleeding. James, sit down and keep still; I’ll attend to you myself as soon as possible.”

  “I’ve changed my mind, Doctor,” Benny said. “I think maybe I’ll accept Mr. Anders’ offer of a trip to London, after all.”

  Brian O’Connor smiled. “You always were a witty fellow, Vladimir. Now, Strohm, if he attempts to leave, or attempts to make a sound, you are to stop him, by whatever means you consider necessary. Remember that you’re as far into this affair as any of us.”