Whiff of Money

by James Hadley Chase

  There was an uproar and a great deal of heated talk from the chef and his staff when they were told that they were to go out into the forest to look for two missing guests. The chef, an enormously fat Frenchman, declared he was not going.

  He was about to prepare a complicated sauce and he had no intention of going out all day into the forest. It was only when Sandeuer threatened to call the count that the chef was finally convinced that for once his culinary expertise had to take second place. Red faced and furious, he tore off his white uniform and put on his green livery. Half an hour later the exodus from the Schloss began. From every quarter, men left and headed across the vast expanse of lawn towards the distant acres of the forest.

  Later, five women, chattering and excited, left by car, heading towards Garmisch.

  Sandeuer, sweating but triumphant, came up to the first floor to report that his master’s orders had been obeyed.

  Von Goltz told him to wait in the corridor. He shut the door and regarded Silk who was lighting yet another cigarette.

  ‘Then I leave you?’ he said.

  ‘Yes. I have the place to myself?’

  ‘All the staff has gone. You are quite sure you don’t want me to stay with you?’ von Goltz asked reluctantly.

  Silk smiled mirthlessly.

  ‘Do you want to?’

  ‘I want this operation to be a success.’

  ‘ I didn’t ask you that.’ Silk lowered his voice and stared at von Goltz with his hard, single eye. ‘Do you want to be an accessory to murder?’

  Von Goltz lost colour. His mind went back into the past and the terror he had known until Radnitz had saved him. He turned and walked out of the room and joined Sandeuer.

  ‘Let us see what the men are doing,’ he snapped and strode down the stairs to the terrace.

  Silk got silently to his feet. He went swiftly to his room. From his suitcase he took a 7.65 mm Luger automatic. He checked the magazine, then holding it in his hand, he went silently down the corridor, down the stairs and into the main living-room. He opened the double door leading into the hall and to the foot of the staircase.

  Silently, he moved a chair so that he could just see the stairs when he sat in the chair without being seen himself. He guessed he would have a long wait, but he was used to waiting.

  Sooner or later, Girland would come down the stairs and then he would have him.

  * * *

  Girland had heard the door of the banqueting hall ease open. It had opened so gently, Gilly didn’t hear it. Girland put his hand on her arm and his left hand touched her lips in a signal to keep silent. He felt her stiffen against him.

  He could see nothing in the darkness. His hand closed around the butt of his pistol. He heard the door ease shut.

  There was a long pause, then a voice whispered out of the darkness:

  ‘Girland… this is Malik.’

  For a brief moment Girland was so startled, he remained motionless. Malik! Here? He had immediately recognised the guttural voice.

  He pressed Gilly behind him. Then he thumbed back the safety-catch on his gun. The little snick of the catch made a loud noise in the vast silence of the room.

  ‘Don’t move,’ Girland said. I have a gun in my hand.’

  ‘Don’t you recognise my voice, Girland?’ Malik asked. ‘You don’t need the gun.’

  Girland snapped on his flashlight. The small, powerful beam hit the double doors, shifted to the right and centred on Malik who was standing against the wail, his hands raised.

  Gilly caught her breath at the sight of this giant of a man and she retreated.

  Girland lowered the beam of his flashlight so it didn’t dazzle Malik.

  ‘You’re the last person I expected to see, Comrade,’ he said. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘It seemed to me,’ Malik said, ‘that you needed help.’

  Girland laughed.

  ‘ An understatement.’ He paused and looked thoughtfully at Malik. ‘Since when have you wanted to help me?’

  ‘I owe you something.’

  Girland’s puzzled expression cleared.

  ‘I get it… last time we parted you promised to buy me a drink. Is this your idea of a drink?’

  ‘Call it that if you like. I’m here to help.’

  Girland walked down the vast room, keeping his flashlight’s beam on Malik’s legs until he reached him. He put his gun back in his hip pocket and offered his hand.

  ‘It’s quite a time… I’ve missed you.’

  The two men shook hands.

  ‘I think I have also missed you,’ Malik said. ‘At least when we were fighting against each other, it was amusing. Since last time we met, life hasn’t been amusing.’

  They were speaking so quietly that Gilly who was crouched against the far wall, couldn’t hear what they were saying.

  This silver-haired giant scared her. Seeing Girland walk towards him and then shake hands with him did nothing to allay her fears.

  ‘You’ d better meet Gillian Sherman,’ Girland said.

  They joined Gilly at the far end of the room. With Girland holding the flashlight so they could all see each other, he made the introductions.

  ‘Gilly, I want you to meet an old enemy of mine of the Soviet Intelligence. His name is Malik: a name that is as infamous as it is famous.’

  Gilly looked at Malik with horror. He regarded her with his flat evil green eyes with the indifference of a man regarding a hole in a wall.

  ‘Malik, this is Gillian Sherman, the daughter of the possible future President of the United States,’ Girland went on, enjoying himself. ‘Shake hands nicely and let’s be sociable.’

  Gilly backed away while Malik thrust his hands in his pockets.

  ‘I know all about her,’ Malik said in German. ‘I want to talk to you. * He paused, then went on, ‘Can she understand German?’

  ‘No… French but no German.’

  ‘Good.’ Malik took out his flashlight, turned it on and walked halfway down the room. He sat down in one of the high back leather chairs and lit a cigarette.

  ‘He wants to talk to me,’ Girland said to Gilly. ‘There’s nothing to be scared about. Sit there and wait for me.’ He led her to a chair against the far wall.

  ‘I’m frightened of that man… he’s evil.’

  ‘Just relax. I know a lot more about him than you do.’ The conversation was carried on in whispers. ‘Sit down and leave this to me.’

  ‘You’re so goddamn cocky, aren’t you?’ Gilly exploded in a furious whisper. ‘You’re so sure of yourself? I tell you he’s evil!’

  Girland felt for her face, pinched her chin in his forefinger and thumb and kissed her. For a moment she tried to avert her face, then her lips met his and parted.

  ‘Another time… another place,’ Girland said, drawing back.

  He again turned on his flashlight and made his way to a chair next to the one Malik was sitting in. He sat down beside him.

  ‘Cigarette?’ Malik asked, offering his pack.

  Girland took the Russian cigarette and both men lit up.

  There was a brief pause, then Malik said, speaking in soft German, ‘I want you to know, Girland, I’m working with you. That’s why I’m here.’

  This statement didn’t entirely surprise Girland. He had heard through his various contacts that Malik was out of favour and had been taken out of the active field. He was aware that Malik owed him his life. This man now appeared to be an odd mixture: ruthless, dangerous and clever, but now it seemed there was a sentimental s streak in him.

  ‘I remember what you said when last we met,’ Malik went on from out of the darkness, ‘that we are professionals and the little stinkers who pull the strings are the amateurs. I’ve often thought about that. We both have to earn a living, do what we are told… I much more than you, but there comes a time when it is possible to hit back at the little stinkers. You walked out on Dorey… I have my chance now to get even with Kovski.’

  ‘Comrade Kovski… h
ow is he?’ Girland asked lightly.

  ‘Better than he is going to be,’ Malik said grimly. ‘He has given me the assignment to find out why Sherman came to Paris, why Dorey gave you a movie projector and why you have come to Bavaria.’

  ‘How are you progressing?’

  ‘Well enough.’ Malik drew on his cigarette, and for a brief moment the glowing end of the cigarette lit up his square, Slavonic features. ‘This girl has made a pornographic film. With this film, she is blackmailing her father. She is a member of an anti-war organisation, run by Rosnold, a pornographic photographer who is now dead.

  Sherman went to Dorey for help. Dorey realised he couldn’t make this official so he appealed to you. You followed these two to Garmisch. Somehow Herman Radnitz heard of this. This is his Schloss. You were invited… you fell for the invitation and now you are trapped here. I followed you here. I saw Rosnold shot. I saw a man leave in Rosnold’s car.

  He is being followed. I climbed over the wall and here I am.’

  Girland grinned in the darkness.

  ‘Pretty sound work, Malik,’ he said. ‘You’re right on the beam. The man using Rosnold’s car has gone to get the films…there are three of them. When they have them, they will knock the girl on the head and that will conclude the operation.’

  ‘Knock you on the head too?’

  ‘Certain to.’

  ‘Why wait? We can leave now,’ Malik said. ‘We can get down by the rope. I came up by it. There are three men guarding the lodge at the gates. That is where the switch is operating the current to the walls. You and I could take them easily and we are away. My gun is silenced.’

  ‘The girl couldn’t get down the rope’

  ‘Does she matter? Why not leave her?’

  ‘No… besides, there is a slight complication.’ Girland grinned in the darkness. Tm not leaving until I get those three films. The girl and I remain here until the messenger returns. He won’t be back before 18.00 hrs. tomorrow.’

  ‘I see. Sherman is paying you of course.’

  ‘Why else do you imagine I’m sticking my neck out?’

  Malik dropped the butt of his cigarette on the floor and put his foot on it.

  ‘You have always been obsessed by money.’

  ‘Aren’t you?’

  ‘No… because in my country you don’t have much money… you don’t get the chance to put a value on it. So you will stay here until the films arrive… then what do you propose to do?’

  ‘ Get them and walk out.’

  ‘Then what do you propose to do?’ Malik repeated, a note of

  impatience in his voice.

  ‘What I said. I’ll stick a gun in the count’s well-fed back and make him drive us out of here.’

  Malik remained silent for a long moment.

  ‘So I have to stay here with you until 18.00 hrs. tomorrow?’

  ‘You don’t have to.’

  ‘I said I would help you. You can’t do this on your own with the girl. You need someone to guard your back. A quick shot through the back of your head and the operation fails. There is an expert gunman here. Did you see how he picked off Rosnold? A perfect shot through the head. You wouldn’t stand a chance.’

  Girland rubbed his jaw.

  ‘I’m going to get those films. They are worth ten thousand dollars to me. I’m going to wait for them to arrive.’

  Malik flashed on his flashlight and looked at his cheap Czech watch. The time was 02.00 hrs.

  ‘Then we have sixteen hours to wait,’ he said.

  That’s about right.’

  ‘Without food?’

  I’ll get some from downstairs later.’

  ‘Don’t under-rate that gunman. He is a first-class shot.’

  Girland stood up.

  ‘So you are sticking with me?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I can use you… thanks. Let’s get some sleep. There’s abed in the room next to this one. Sleep lightly.’

  ‘I don’t need sleep,’ Malik said curtly. ‘You take the bed. I’ll keep watch.’

  Girland wasn’t going to argue about this. He liked his sleep.

  He went down the room to where Gilly was waiting.

  ‘Come on… we’re going back to the four-poster. Malik will keep watch,’ he said to her.

  She followed him silently past Malik. They paused in tjie doorway, saw the guard was still sleeping at the head of the stairs and slipped silently into the room they had previously occupied. They stretched out on the bed.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Gilly said as she lay beside Girland. ‘Is that man really a Russian agent?

  ‘He’s probably the best of all their agents.’

  ‘Then what is he doing here?’

  ‘Russia wouldn’t welcome your father as President. Don’t bother your brains about it. I’m going to sleep.’ Gilly half sat up.

  ‘But how could the Russians get to know about me?’

  ‘The Russians always make capital out of reckless and stupid acts,’ Girland said. ‘You’ve handed them something on a plate, but don’t bother your brains about it. I’m going to sleep.’

  He was asleep long before Gilly finally drifted off into an uneasy doze. The hours ticked away. At six-thirty, the first light of the dawn came through the slots in the wooden shutters and Girland came awake.

  He yawned, stretched and slid off the bed.

  Gilly started up.

  ‘Wait here,’ he said and moved silently to the door. He eased it open and looked down the long corridor. The guard was gone. He looked towards the double doors of the banqueting room. Malik was sitting in the half-open doorway, smoking.

  ‘The guard left half an hour ago,’ Malik said softly. ‘There’s a bathroom right opposite. I’ve been doing a little exploring.’

  He got to his feet and joined Girland.

  ‘Nothing happened?’

  Malik shook his head.

  ‘That rope might not bluff them. They could search the whole place.’

  ‘We’ll wait until they do.’

  Having made his toilet, Girland returned to the bedroom and led Gilly to the bathroom.

  ‘The guards have gone,’ he told her. ‘Go ahead, but be quick.’

  It was while she was in the bathroom, they heard sounds of activity going on downstairs. Girland went cautiously down the corridor and peered over the banister rail. He could see the fourth and third stair heads. No one was guarding them.

  He could hear the murmur of voices from the ground floor, but couldn’t hear what was being said. He returned to Malik.

  Gilly came from the bathroom. In the dim light coming through the shutters, she looked pale and scared.

  ‘They will find the rope pretty soon,’ Girlandsaid. ‘Now the staircase isn’t guarded, we’ll go up to the next floor. They are certain to come up here.’

  Malik nodded.

  The three moved down the corridor, paused at the foot of the staircase leading to the sixth floor, listened, then Girland drawing his gun, went up silently. Edging around the bend in the staircase, he assured himself no one was up there and he signalled for Gilly and Malik to come up.

  ‘We’ll wait here and see what happens,’ he said and sat down on the carpet, his back against the wall, just out of sight of the stair head. The other two joined him. T could do with a pint of coffee with eggs and lashings of bacon,’ he went on.

  Malik eyed him, but said nothing. He disapproved of such weakness. Gilly grimaced. The thought of food, in her present state of panic, revolted her.

  It wasn’t until well after 08.00 hrs. that they heard a loud voice, speaking in German, come drifting up the well of the stairs. The man was saying: ‘I want every one of you out into the forest. Take guns! These two must be found! Everyone is to go!’

  Girland and Malik exchanged glances, then Girland got to his feet.

  ‘Watch the stairs,’ he said and moving along the corridor, he opened a door on his right and entered a small unfurnished room with a short spiral
staircase, leading to one of the turrets. He climbed the stairs and moved into the turret. The slotted windows gave him a direct view down on the lawn and on to the distant forest.

  He waited. Some five minutes later, he saw the first of von Goltz’s men coming across the lawn, heading for the forest.

  He began to count them… fifteen… twenty-three… thirty… They broke up and formed a long even line, each man ten metres apart from the other. They entered the forest. Girland continued to wait. Another five men came across the lawn, slowly followed by an enormously fat man who Girland guessed would be the chef. He plodded forward slowly, followed by another man who kept waving his arms as he talked to the fat man.

  Ten minutes later, Girland saw an estate car full of women drive down to the gates. He watched the gates open and the car move off along the main road to Garmisch. Still he waited. Then he saw von Goltz, carrying a shotgun, with his major-domo at his heels also cross the lawn and enter the forest.

  After waiting another ten minutes, Girland decided there was no one else to come and he returned to the corridor where Gilly looked expectantly at him. Malik was leaning over the banister, listening and watching. He straightened when Girland came from the room.

  ‘Well?’

  ‘Thirty-eight men and a number of women have left,’ Girland said. ‘The count with his major-domo has also gone into the forest. Did you hear anything?’

  ‘They sent three men up to the room below. They took away the curtain cord and then went down again.’

  The two men looked at each other.

  ‘This could be a trap,’ Girland said. ‘A bluff… like the rope. The gunman could have been left behind to wait for us to show.’

  Malik nodded.

  ‘Yes. Shall we go down and find him?’

  Gilly listened, her eyes growing round.

  ‘He might not be down there. We’ll play it safe just in case he is. We have plenty of time. We’ll give him an hour or so.

  He doesn’t know for certain we are up here. Let’s stretch his nerves a little.’

  Again Malik nodded.

  ‘I’ll stay here… you watch from the turret. We want to be sure they don’t give up the search in the forest and come back.’

  ‘Yes.’ Girland turned to Gilly. ‘Come with me.’ He led her into the turret-room. ‘I’m going up into the turret. You sit on the floor. You may have a long wait, but try to amuse yourself. Think of all the nice things you’ve done in your life if you can remember them… that should keep you occupied.’