Rhinoceros (56 page)

There was a tap on the door. Tweed had his Walther by his side when he unlocked and opened the door a fraction,
then opened it wide. Newman came in with Marler. Both
men looked very serious.

'We have bad news,' Tweed told them. 'We've just seen
Oskar Vernon coming out of the Hotel Tonderhus.'

'We have our own . . .'

Newman broke off. He had just noticed Paula had lost some of her normal high colour. Paula looked up at him,
smiled.

'Do go on with what you were saying.'

'All right. We have our own bad news. We spotted Barton and Panko drinking in a bar. They didn't see us.'

'What might be called the last straw,' Paula commented.
'On the other hand, isn't it fortunate we know they're
in town?'

'So what do we do now?' Newman enquired.

'I'll tell you what you three do now,' Tweed said cheerfully. 'You all go to bed, get some sleep, then you get up
in the morning and we'll have a big breakfast. . .'

Newman and Marler had left and Paula was just about to go to her room when the phone rang. It was the receptionist
Tweed found himself speaking to.

'Who did you say is here and wishes to see me?' he
asked.

Paula, intrigued, paused before opening the door to
leave. Tweed was now asking the receptionist to send the
visitor up, that he would meet her at the top of the stairs.
He put the phone down, looked at Paula.

'You can stay while I see this lady, if you feel you can
hold up.'

'I can hold up all night long if necessary. Who is it?'

'Mrs Gina France, the Zurcher Kredit accountant who
came to see us at the Four Seasons. The lady you received
that big bunch of hydrangeas from when we were leaving
Rondel's mansion on the way to Blankenese. I'm won
dering if the representative I said might contact us has arrived.'

'Could be a representative of the enemy,' Paula warned.

CHAPTER 33

Paula stared in disbelief as Tweed ushered their visitor
into the room. She had been expecting a woman waving her arms about, amiable and fuddled. Instead she saw a
hardly recognizable Mrs France.

Wearing flying kit, including flying boots, clad in a helmet,
tufts of blue rinse hair protruding, and her huge glasses, she strode briskly into the room, very erect and purposeful. She
greeted Paula, accepted Tweed's offer of coffee from a pot
just delivered, perched herself on the arm of a chair.

'I had the devil of a job finding you. I tried the Tonderhus
Hotel first

'You didn't ask for us by name?' Tweed queried.

'Heavens, no. I just checked the vehicles in the car park,
looking for a blue stretch Mercedes. I found it here.'

'Do you mind if I ask how you knew we were travelling
in that car?' Tweed enquired gently as he handed her a
cup of coffee.

'I don't mind at all. Right from the moment you left
the Four Seasons in Hamburg we knew you had switched
from your cream model to the blue one.'

'You said "we" - may I ask who "we" is?'

'Oh, that.' She smiled ruefully, swinging one leather-
clad leg. 'I was once married, then had to divorce him
when I found I was one of a trio. So I often use "we" -going back to the old days.'

'And how on earth did you find us in Tender?'

'We'd picked you up again in Flensburg and I tried to
follow you from there - Flensburg also has an airfield. I lost you, saw you again heading for Denmark, then you
gave me the slip again. So I've been flying all over Jutland until I spotted you heading for Tonder.' She grinned. 'You
do move about. This coffee is a life-saver.'

'So what can we do for you?'

'Before I come to that I'd better warn you there are
some grim-looking villains in Tonder. I saw two in a bar.
Certainly not Danes. I saw them in Hamburg late in the
evening after I'd left you to buy something at a department store. If they were there and now they're here - just as you
are - I don't think you want to go wandering round late
at night.'

'Thanks for the warning.'

'And you should know that all hell is about to break
loose - all over the West. I think you might be the only
man who can help to stop it.'

'Why,' interjected Paula, 'do you think Tweed is the
man?'

'Because we have a vast network of contacts and we
have some idea of Herr Tweed's track record. How did
we build up this network?' She leaned back and smiled. 'Money talks - but payment of money to the right people
gets them talking. If I may say so, we also know that Herr
Tweed is a man of complete integrity. Not a lot of that about these days.'

Paula was reeling. She was amazed at Mrs France's
command of English - so different from the halting way she
had spoken back in Hamburg, but with a foreign accent.

'What would you advise us to do?' she asked.

'Stay here for the night. Then in the morning start
driving to Travemiinde.' She looked at Tweed. 'Any idea
where that is?'

'On the Baltic coast, just east of Liibeck. I have been to
both places.'

'It's a bit of a drive from here, but the way you moved from Flensburg I know you'll make it. Just watch out for
attacks the whole of the way. I have no doubt Herr Tweed
and his team - including your good self - can cope with
any trouble.'

'When do you want us to arrive there?' Paula asked.

'Oh, the late afternoon, I would suggest.' She smiled
again. 'In any case, considering the distance, it
will
prob
ably be late afternoon when you do reach the waterfront.'

'Why do we go to the waterfront?' Tweed asked.

'I was just coming to that. There is a section of the
promenade called Vorderreihe alongside the river Trave.
It is only a short walk towards the Ostsee from the police
station. Just behind it is a big restaurant with a large
open area with tables outside under a canopy. When
you get there you sit at a table under the canopy near
the promenade. Someone will meet you.'

'Who?' Tweed for the first time became aggressive.
'We are not going all that way without knowing who to
expect. You?'

'No. It will be Herr Rondel - whom you have already
met.'

'And,' Tweed continued in the same manner, 'what is
all this about? What is going on? I need to know what
you know.'

'Oh. They said you were tough.' She sat in the chair.
'There is the most dangerous conspiracy since the Sec
ond World War being planned - by powerful politicians,
including one from your country. At this moment they
are meeting secretly on the island of Sylt. They have to be stopped, to be killed. Before it is too late. Please do not tell the partners I have revealed this to you.'

'I knew it already.'

'I should gave guessed.'

'You
are
Milo's chief accountant? I see. I had to be sure.
That is your main role in life?'

'Not quite.' She drank from the fresh cup of coffee
Tweed had poured for her. 'I am a flier, as you now
know. But also I am an expert on the Internet. That is
important.'

'So,' Tweed said with a smile, 'you are aware that
terrorists are using the Internet to send coded messages
to trained terrorists all over the world - instructing them
where and when to be ready to launch a terrible series
of riots?'

'Oh.' Mrs France looked surprised. 'So you know about
that.'

'I know a lot more than you probably think I do, Mrs
France.'

'Please call me Gina.'

'Well, Gina, is Danzer reliable, trustworthy?'

'Danzer?'

'Oh, come off it, Gina. We're both coming out into the open with each other,' Tweed snapped. 'Now, is Danzer
reliable?'

'Totally, Mr Tweed. Milo trusts him completely to
succeed in any mission he is sent on.'

'And he's on a mission now. Does he speak English?'

'Perfectly. He spent several years in London training to
take his engineering degree.'

'It's your own fault I have to ask you,' he said with a smile. 'When you came to see us at the Four Seasons in
Hamburg you went out of your way to tell us a lot about
Danzer. I couldn't be sure whether you were warning us against him, or passing on information.'

'It was the latter. At that stage I was nervous about
saying too much to you. I will tell him when I get back
about our conversation - but only with your permis
sion.'

'Tell him.'

She stood up, after looking at her watch, gave Paula a
great big smile.

'I have enjoyed being with you both. I must go now to the airfield and fly back.'

'You can't take off in the dark from that airfield,'
protested Tweed who had also stood up.

'Yes, I can. It has lights which can be switched on
from inside the hut. Lights which illuminate the land
ing strip.'

'You're not going to the airfield by yourself at night.
Give me a minute . . .'

He went to the phone, called Newman's room, asked if
he was still dressed, then told him to come over. He
turned round.

'Newman is coming. He will escort you to the airfield,
drive you there. He is armed. You will be safe.'

'Oh, you are so kind, so thoughtful
...
But I
insist
on
going by myself.
I
am an independent person.'

She ran to him, kissed him on both cheeks. There were tears in her yellowish eyes. She took out a handkerchief,
dabbed under her monstrous glasses.

'Do excuse me. Sometimes I get so emotional.'

'We all do,' said Paula with a smile.

Newman arrived and Tweed explained the position, that as Mrs France had been so determined to leave by herself,
he had felt it best to accede to her request.

Oskar walked into the bar in Tender where Barton and Panko sat drinking. As he sat down he knocked over
Barton's glass of beer. An ugly look came over Barton's
face.