13
“So what are we going to do about the money?” said Stewart.
In the back room of number four Bolingbroke Mews a committee of three was in session. Lisa and Stewart had the two chairs. Peter was perched on a stool. The first item on their agenda, a bank draft for five million francs, lay on the table in front of them.
With an interest which was gently malicious Lisa had taken note of the difference between the two boys.
Peter had given them a confident, minute-by-minute, account of his experiences down to the climactic moment when he had hobbled up two flights of stairs to recover the bank draft from his aunt – (‘What have you been up to, Peter? And what’s wrong with your feet? Gout? You wouldn’t have gout at your age if you took more healthy exercise.’)
Stewart, on the other hand, had been oddly reticent about his experiences. Zaman, he said, had been unco-operative. He had been held prisoner until after midday on the Friday when Zaman had appeared and told him he might go. What he had not reported, among many other things, was Zaman’s cold dismissal. “We have recovered the money due to us. Some credit goes to you for the successful outcome of this matter, but do not trade on it. You will, of course, say nothing to anybody about your experiences. If you open your mouth, this immunity will not continue.”
“Well,” said Peter, “I think he might have shown a bit of gratitude. You saw the reports in the papers. They attributed the attack on Meyer at the airport to robbery, on the grounds that when they found him he had no money on him.”
“And when you think,” said Lisa, “that the sale proceeds of that lovely house and whatever he had by way of private fortune must have meant that he was carrying a draft for at least ten million francs. Probably twice as much.”
“No doubt,” said Stewart. “But it doesn’t answer my question. What are we going to do about this money?” He was staring, fascinated, at the bank draft. “After all, when you think about it, there aren’t a lot of claimants left, are there? Zaman thinks he’s got it. Far be it from us to disillusion him. Your uncle’s got his picture back, so he’s got what he paid for and he’s happy. And as for those two Iranian thugs—”
Peter said, “I had a word with Lisa’s uncle on the telephone yesterday. Naturally, the Gobards haven’t said anything, but Bernard’s boat was found, when the tide brought it back still bottom up. The local theory is that the current – it really was exceptionally strong on account of the storm inland – had taken it out to sea where it capsized. Bernard and anyone who might have been with him, is assumed to be under the rocks at the Pointe des Oiseaux. No one seems keen to go down and look.”
“Then I think we can regard the account as closed,” said Stewart. The words rang a distant bell. Had he said it, or had someone said it to him?
Lisa said, “So what’s your idea about it?”
“Well,” said Stewart, “since the money doesn’t seem to belong to anyone and possession being, as they say, nine points of the law, I wondered whether we—”
“Certainly not,” said Lisa. “It belongs to my uncle.”
“We can’t keep it,” said Peter. “It’s a pity, but really we can’t. As I told you, he trusted me enough to pay me before I’d got his picture back for him.”
“That makes it two to one,” said Stewart sadly. “I suppose it’ll have to go back.”
Lisa said, “I’ve had an idea about that. Mummy says that once I’m gone she doesn’t fancy the idea of living alone in that St. John’s Wood barracks and she’s seriously thinking of moving to France. As a first step, she’s planning to pay a rather longer visit to Lambrécie. Why don’t we get her to take the draft back? She can simply tell my uncle that Peter succeeded, somehow, in recovering it. And she can suggest that, in the circumstances, a handsome wedding present wouldn’t be out of place. She knows how to handle Uncle Joseph.”
“An excellent idea,” said Peter. “So that disposes of that. What’s next on the agenda?”
Lisa, who seemed to be acting as secretary, said, “Marketing.”
“I’ve been in touch with Henry Bear,” said Stewart. “I had to write and apologise for not turning up at his hotel. His firm definitely wants us. There’s another Old Chelburian on the board already. Chap with big ears called Taylor-Walker. Do you remember him? No. Well, our money’s one of the main attractions. Henry got in, on the ground floor, for a mere £1,000. Since they trebled their profits last year, it’ll certainly cost us a lot more in our case.”
“Have you seen any actual figures?”
“He’s sent me copies of their accounts for the last three years. I sent them on to our own accountants. What do you think?”
This deference to Peter’s views was something new. Lisa wondered more and more what had happened to Stewart in Paris. Whatever it was, she approved of the change.
“If your accountant O.K.’s it,” said Peter, “I’m all for it. Our experience in astrology should take us right to the top in marketing.” He paused, “Wasn’t there something else on the agenda?”
“There was,” said Lisa coldly.
“Of course. Wedding arrangements.”
“Not as important, I realise, as money.”
“Much more important. How are the arrangements going?”
“Well, we’re a bit short of bridesmaids. I’ve got Peggy Ashford, one of my friends at Chelborough. Very nice girl. She was sacked soon after I got there.”
“Sounds most suitable,” said Peter. “And if we’re looking back to our Chelborough days, what about Miss Troop as a matron of honour?”
“Don’t joke about sacred subjects. Mummy and I have put together a reasonable guest list, mostly her rich friends who can be counted on for a decent present. We didn’t get much help from you two there.”
“Alas, no,” said Stewart. “Most of my friends are impoverished bachelors.”
“I’ve asked the Chaytors, but I doubt if they’ll come. They seem to be scared stiff at the thought of coming to London. But the real snag is that mummy doesn’t get on with the local vicar. He’s a terrible little man with a beard and Marxist leanings. But we can hardly use his church and not him.”
Peter said, “Isn’t it possible, sometimes, to superimpose a really senior clergyman – an old friend – something like that?”
“Of course,” said Stewart. “Let’s ask Brindy to officiate.”
The others considered this, but once more the vote went against Stewart.
“It’s a lovely idea,” said Peter. “But I think not.”
“Certainly not,” said Lisa. “The sight of that unctuous old humbug would wreck the ceremony. All the same, I think that we might, for old times’ sake, send him a piece of the wedding cake. A small piece.”
Michael Gilbert Titles in order of first publication
All Series titles can be read in order, or randomly as standalone novels
Inspector Hazlerigg
Close Quarters (1947)
They Never Looked Inside (alt: He Didn’t Mind Danger) (1948)
The Doors Open (1949)
Smallbone Deceased (1950)
Death has Deep Roots (1951)
Fear To Tread (in part) (1953)
The Young Petrella (included) (short stories) (1988)
The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries (included) (short stories) (1997)
Patrick Petrella
Blood and Judgement (1959)
Amateur in Violence (included) (short stories) (1973)
Petrella at Q (short stories) (1977)
The Young Petrella (short stories) (1988)
Roller Coaster (1993)
The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries (included) (short stories) (1997)
Luke Pagan
Ring of Terror (1995)
Into Battle (1997)
Over and Out (1998)
Calder & Behrens
Game Without Rules (short stories) (1967)
Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens (short stories) (1982)
Non-Se
ries
Death in Captivity (alt: The Danger Within) (1952)
Sky High (alt: The Country House Burglar) (1955)
Be Shot for Sixpence (1956)
After the Fine Weather (1963)
The Crack in the Teacup (1966)
The Dust and the Heat (alt: Overdrive) (1967)
The Etruscan Net (alt: The Family Tomb) (1969)
Stay of Execution and Other Stories (short stories) (1971)
The Body of a Girl (1972)
The Ninety-Second Tiger (1973)
Flash Point (1974)
The Night of the Twelfth (1976)
The Empty House (1979)
The Killing of Katie Steelstock (alt: Death of a Favourite Girl) (1980)
The Final Throw (alt: End Game) (1982)
The Black Seraphim (1984)
The Long Journey Home (1985)
Trouble (1987)
Paint, Gold, and Blood (1989)
Anything for a Quiet Life (short stories) (1990)
The Queen against Karl Mullen (1992)
Synopses (Both Series & ‘Stand-alone’ Titles)
Published by House of Stratus
After The Fine Weather
When Laura Hart travels to Austria to visit her brother, vice-consul of Lienz in the Tyrol, she briefly meets an American who warns her of the mounting political tension. Neo-Nazis are stirring trouble in the province, and xenophobia is rife between the Austrians who control the area and the Italian locals. Then Laura experiences the troubles first-hand, a shocking incident that suggests Hofrat Humbold, leader of the Lienz government is using some heavy-handed tactics. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he is unwilling to let one little English girl destroy his plans for the largest Nazi move since the war, and Laura makes a dangerous enemy.
Anything For A Quiet Life
Jonas Pickett, lawyer and commissioner of oaths is nearing retirement, but still has lots of energy. However, he leaves the pressure of a London practice behind to set up a new modest office in a quiet seaside resort. He soon finds that he is overwhelmed with clients and some of them involve him in very odd and sometimes dangerous cases. This collection of inter-linked stories tells how these are brought to a conclusion; ranging from an incredible courtroom drama involving a gipsy queen to terrorist thugs who make their demands at gunpoint.
Be Shot For Sixpence
A gripping spy thriller with a deserved reputation. Philip sees an announcement in The Times from an old school friend who has instructed the newspaper to publish only if they don’t hear from him. This sets a trail running through Europe, with much of the action taking place on the Austro-Hungarian border. The Kremlin, defectors, agitators and the People’s Court set the background to a very realistic story that could well have happened …
The Black Seraphim
James Scotland, a young pathologist, decides on a quiet holiday in Melchester, but amid the cathedral town’s quiet medieval atmosphere, he finds a hornet’s nest of church politics, town and country rivalries, and murder. He is called upon to investigate and finds that some very curious alliances between the church, state and business exist. With modern forensic pathology he unravels the unvarnished truth about Melchester, but not before a spot of unexpected romance intervenes.
Blood & Judgement
When the wife of a recently escaped prisoner is found murdered and partially buried near a reservoir, Patrick Petrella, a Metropolitan Police Inspector, is called in. Suspicion falls on the escaped convict, but what could have been his motive? Petrella meets resistance from top detectives at the Yard who would prefer to keep the inspector out of the limelight, but he is determined to solve the mystery with or without their approval.
The Body Of A Girl
Detective Chief Inspector Mercer is called to the scene when a skeleton of a girl is found on Westlaugh Island in the upper reaches of the River Thames. What appears to be a straightforward and routine investigation, however, leads to unexpected events and a string of unlikely characters, including a lawyer and a one armed garage proprietor. Nothing seems to fit together and it seems the sleepy town holds many secrets. The finale involves two nights of dramatic violence and it isn’t until this stage is reached that the twisted truth finally emerges.
Close Quarters
It has been more than a year since Cannon Whyte fell 103 feet from the cathedral gallery, yet unease still casts a shadow over the peaceful lives of the Close’s inhabitants. In an apparently separate incident, head verger Appledown is being persecuted: a spate of anonymous letters and random acts of vandalism imply that he is inefficient and immoral. But then the notes turn threatening, and when Appledown is found dead, Inspector Hazlerigg is called in. Investigations suggest that someone directly connected to the cathedral is responsible, and it is up to Hazlerigg to get to the heart of the corruption.
The Crack In The Teacup
Barhaven is on the south coast within commuting distance from London. It is, however, a fairly sleepy place and it seems incredulous that it could be the kind of town where the local councillors could manage to line their own pockets. However, there is something odd about the borough engineers behaviour, and it seems strange that the owner of the local amusement park is unknown, and the Town Clerk himself is acting peculiarly. Enter a young lawyer, who finds himself at the centre of a major campaign against racketeering. The public and the press become involved and it ends with a twist that is totally unexpected.
Death Has Deep Roots
This is a detective and trial story with a complicated plot that will grip the reader. Victoria Lamartine is on trial for the murder of her supposed lover, whom she is accused of having stabbed. There are only five suspects including Lamartine. But evidence that doesn’t fit the police theory of the crime has been ignored, whilst all of the damming evidence is presented in isolation. Intriguingly, whilst the murder was committed in England, all of the suspects somehow have a past connection with France and its wartime underground. However, there now appears to be links to gold smuggling and it is not immediately clear how all of the different pieces of evidence fit together. As always, Gilbert neatly takes the reader to a satisfying final twist and conclusion.
Death In Captivity
A suspected informer is found dead in a collapsed section of an escape tunnel being dug in a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy. So as to protect the tunnel the prisoners decide to move the body to another that has already been abandoned. But then the fascist captors declare the death to be murder and determine to investigate and execute the officer they suspect was responsible. It therefore becomes a race against time to find the true culprit and Captain Henry "Cuckoo" Goyles, a former headmaster, master tunneller and sometime amateur detective takes on the case.
The Doors Open
One night on a commuter train, Paddy Yeatman-Carter sees a man attempting suicide. Intervening, he prevents the man from going through with it. However, the very next day the same man is found dead, and Paddy believes the circumstances to be extremely suspicious. Roping in his friend and lawyer, Nap Rumbold, he determines to discover the truth. They become increasingly suspicious of the dead man’s employers: the Stalagmite Insurance Company, who appear to hire some very dangerous staff.
The Dust And The Heat
Oliver Nugent is a young Armoured Corps officer in the year 1945. Taking on a near derelict pharmaceutical firm, he determines to rebuild it and make it a success. He encounters some ruthless opposition, and counteracts with some fairly unscrupulous methods of his own. It seems no one is above blackmail and all is deemed fair in big business battles. Then a threat: apparently from German sources it alludes to a time when Oliver was in charge of an SS camp, jeopardizing his company and all that he has worked for.
The Empty House
Dr. Alexander Wolfe, a top genetic scientist – a key figure in British Biological Warfare Research - seemingly plunges over a cliff in his car. His body is never recovered and it emerges his life was recently insured for a considerable sum. Accordingly, P
eter Manciple, an insurance loss adjuster from a fairly cautious firm, is sent to investigate. There is romance, possible gang involvement in arson, and a potential job offer in store as Peter sets out to find out if Wolfe is really dead in a most dangerous and complicated mission.
The End Game
The London Regional Crime Squad, is trying to nail a financial empire involved with organised crime and drug smuggling. David Morgan goes undercover and is hired by a travel company to act as a tour guide around Europe, but is in fact being used as a drug mule. Eventually, he also finds himself posing as a homeless vagrant in order to track down a former employee of the financial empire who knows of the whereabouts of incriminating documents. This is a ‘Snakes and Ladders’ operation with twists and which ranges from London to Florence.
The Etruscan Net
Robert Broke runs a small gallery on the Via de Benci and is an authority on Etruscan terracotta. A man who keeps himself to himself, he is the last person to become mixed up in anything risky. But when two men arrive in Florence, Broke’s world turns upside down as he becomes involved in a ring of spies, the mafiosi and fraud involving Etruscan antiques. When he finds himself in prison on a charge of manslaughter, the net appears to be closing in rapidly, and Broke must fight for his innocence and his life.
Fear To Tread
The story of how Mr. Weatherall, the headmaster of a school, but otherwise an ordinary man, was introduced to a huge nationwide black market operation. It seems that anything goes so as to ensure profits and the continuance of the fraud in what amounts to crime on a vast and organised scale. Moreover, was the victim run over by a train before, or after, he died? And can Mr. Weatherall succeed in getting to the heart of the matter in a one man battle against such odds?
Flashpoint
Paint Gold and Blood Page 27
