Microbes of Power (Wallace of the Secret Service Series) Page 24

  Her question gave him an idea.

  ‘It might be a good notion,’ he replied slowly, ‘to go where he would be likely to attack me. The danger of Baltazzi might then be removed.’

  She eyed him anxiously for a few moments; then gradually a smile replaced the trouble in her face.

  ‘I do not think he could succeed in doing you harm,’ she decided, ‘but be careful, my friend, men of his kind do not fight with fairness. They are full of much treachery.’

  ‘I know, but I shall have one advantage, Thalia. He will not think I am aware he is trailing me.’ ‘He picked up his hat and stick. Now don’t leave this room until you are perfectly certain the way is clear.’

  She promised and, with a smiling word of farewell, he went out, closing the door firmly behind him. The man, thin, olive-skinned, and dark-eyed, was still in the corridor, this time only a few yards away. He turned sharply as Shannon approached; pretended to be looking for a room. The Englishman passed him by without apparently taking any notice of him, descended in an elevator and, crossing the lounge, left the hotel. He walked along until he came to a shop, the window of which, containing material of a dark hue, caused the glass to make an excellent mirror. At first he saw nothing of Baltazzi, but presently, to his satisfaction, he caught sight of the man standing a few feet away, and with him was now another. The newcomer was a stranger, and Shannon came to the conclusion that he must be Padakis. Two of them! That rather suggested they had orders to attack him, if the opportunity presented itself. Excellent, thought Shannon; he would provide them with the opportunity. He continued on his way, occasionally stopping to glance in the glass of a shop window to make sure they were following.

  He reached the Piazza del Popolo and, turning into the Via Fernando di Savoia, came to the Ponte Margherita over the Tiber. Here he remained for some time leaning on the parapet, and gazing down into the river below. From the corner of his eye, he saw Baltazzi and his companion, a man of about the same height but stouter. They had stopped some distance away and, like himself, were apparently engaged in studying the water. There was an unusually chilly wind blowing in from the sea, and the hint of a storm – a sudden change after the extremely hot weather Rome had been experiencing. The bridge was almost deserted, and Shannon reflected that here was a splendid opportunity for the two men to attack him. A sudden stab in the back, as they passed their unsuspecting victim, and their chances of being observed, that is, if they chose the moment well, would be practically nil. A car travelling in the direction of the Via Cola di Rienzi sped swiftly by, a farm cart going in the opposite direction rattled noisily past; then, as far as Shannon was able to observe, the bridge was empty, except for himself and his two trailers.

  They left their post, and walked quickly in his direction. Immediately he prepared himself, the stick slipping as though unheeded to the ground. Baltazzi, who was walking slightly ahead of his companion, drew closer. The distance between him and the Englishman rapidly diminished; four or five yards separated them, two, one! Then Shannon swung round at the identical moment that Baltazzi sprang forward, a gleaming stiletto upraised viciously in his hand. The Secret Service man neatly sidestepped, and crashed his right fist full into the other’s face with all the power of his mighty body. There was a sickening crunch, a half-stifled cry, and his assailant went down as though he had been poleaxed. At the same time, and with a cry of rage, the second man sprang forward. Shannon went down promptly on one knee and, catching the fellow by the waist, sent him flying over his head and the parapet down to the river below. He was up in time to see him strike the water with a tremendous splash. Presently he rose to the surface, and struck out awkwardly for the bank. It was evident that he was not an expert swimmer, but there were boats about. He would undoubtedly be picked up, which, reflected Shannon, was, on the whole, rather a pity. He turned, and contemplated Baltazzi for a moment. The fellow lay stretched on his back quite unconscious, his face in a deplorable state. The bridge was still deserted and, picking up his stick, the Englishman set off rapidly along the way he had come. He had no desire to be involved in an investigation, and was relieved when he reached the Via Cola di Rienzi without meeting a soul. There he took a taxi, and was driven back to his hotel. He packed at once, paid his bill, announcing that he had been called away, and drove to the railway station. From there he took another car, the driver of which he instructed carefully. He was conveyed across Rome, coming at length to the Ponte Garibaldi, thence to Trastevere. Not far from the Porta Portese, in the vicinity of the church of St Maria dell’ Orto, was the house of an English widow, whom he knew well. There he obtained rooms.

  As soon as he could do so, he went out again, and telephoned Hill. Speaking German, he announced himself as a friend from Vienna, giving a name which he and Hill had agreed he should use in case of emergency. An arrangement was made to dine together in a restaurant near the university, one simple little word from Shannon warning his colleague to take special precautions not to be followed. Hill found him standing by a taxi in which he was at once invited to enter. They were driven rapidly to the Via Garibaldi, from where they walked to Shannon’s new abode. To all of Hill’s interested questions he turned a deaf ear, until they were sitting together in the seclusion of his sitting room.

  ‘If I have been traced now,’ he declared with a smile; ‘then Plasiras and the rest must have supernatural powers. We are dining here, Tubby, and I can promise you a meal which will make you think you are back in London. But the greatest advantage is that we can talk without restraint. Mrs Herbertson is the widow of a man who was in the Diplomatic Service, and died of enteric here. Perhaps that’s why she settled down in Rome. She is absolutely reliable, knows quite a lot about my wicked ways, and will ensure that once we have dined, nobody will come anywhere near us. I’m rather sorry now that I didn’t come here in the first place.’

  ‘But why all this sudden secrecy?’ demanded Hill.

  Shannon ignored the question for the moment.

  ‘I’m sorry I haven’t the doings for your particular brand of cocktail, Tubby,’ he apologised, ‘but I can give you a gin and It, pink gin, mixed vermouth, or a gin and french. What is it to be?’

  Hill chose a mixed vermouth, while Shannon prepared a gin and Angostura for himself. Then he sat down, and narrated all that had happened, from the time he had received Thalia’s telephone call until they had met near the Pantheon. Hill showed a good deal of concern at the information that Baltazzi and Padakis were in Rome, had discovered Shannon’s presence there, and traced him to the Hotel Splendide. He laughed with sheer delight, however, at the description of the chastisement that had been meted out to them on the Ponte Margharita. Over dinner they discussed the situation intermittently, continuing it afterwards more intensely and gravely, when there was no longer any possibility of their being interrupted. Hill was, of course, full of admiration and acclamations for Thalia. He contended that, after the service she had performed for Shannon, the latter could not possibly harbour any doubts concerning her. Hugh told him, at once, that his suspicions had long since been dispersed. He spoke, in fact, as enthusiastically of her as his companion, much to that young man’s gratification.

  ‘Tomorrow morning,’ he declared, ‘I shall ask to speak to the chief himself when I ring through. I shall tell him, of course, what has happened, laying stress on the part she has played, and ask if, under the circumstances, we can take her altogether into our confidence. If he agrees, as I think he will, you will be able to tell her who you really are.’

  ‘What a relief that will be!’ commented Hill with feeling. ‘I have never hated anything in my life as much as I have hated this necessity of keeping up the pretence to her of being what I am not.’

  ‘By the way,’ remarked Shannon drily, ‘en passant, Tubby, let me tell you that I am tired of acting as a benevolent matchmaker. When are you going to ask her to be your wife?’

  ‘God knows,’ groaned Hill. ‘I don’t seem to have the nerve. Several times I have
been on the point of attempting it, only to back out. Hang it all, Hugh! It seems such a colossal cheek to propose to a girl I have known little more than a week.’

  ‘Rot! You’re chicken-hearted,’ jeered the other. ‘She loves you – you love her. Why, dash it! I’ll do it for you, if you don’t get a move on.’

  ‘I almost wish you would.’

  Shannon stared hard at him; then laughed.

  ‘I’m inclined to believe you mean it. But there’s nothing doing, old son. That’s a job a man ought to do for himself, especially if he wishes to retain the respect of the girl. Go for it – you’ve nothing to fear. I guarantee that. Now back to our discussion. We’ve got to act at once now that the blighters know there is someone here on their trail. My treatment of the two spies will put the wind up them more than ever. I suppose you haven’t noticed any signs or portents suggestive of the fact that they are about to go elsewhere?’

  Hill shook his head.

  ‘All my efforts at watching them end in dismal failure,’ he grunted. ‘I’ve been as much use in Rome as an attack of measles. It’s perfectly sickening the way Kyprianos is guarded. How on earth can we get at him, when there are always others with him?’

  ‘We’ll have to make a way now. We can’t possibly wait.’

  They sat silently turning over the problem in their minds for some time. At last Shannon turned to Hill, his eyes gleaming.

  ‘The stuff is quite ready you say?’

  ‘Yes; has been for days – all in a hypo, ready for injection.’

  ‘And the effect is general paralysis – he won’t be able to move a limb or cry out?’

  ‘No; his body will be more or less dead for a few days, though his mind will remain active enough. The sensory and motor functions of the nerves will be quite lost for at least a hundred hours. After that he will recover, but by slow degrees.’

  ‘In what part of the body must the injection be made?’

  ‘In the spine. Why all this questioning?’

  ‘Because I’m going to get into that flat tonight,’ was Shannon’s quiet reply. ‘I gather that Kyprianos occupies the room he has turned into a laboratory alone, the others I presume have each one of the bedrooms. Between two and three in the morning they all ought to be asleep, and perhaps I can do the job without disturbing Radoloff and Michalis. I’ll take the hypodermic syringe with me and, if you show me the exact spot where the needle must be stuck, I’ll—’

  ‘Here, steady on, Hugh. Where do I come in?’

  ‘You stop out. If anything goes wrong, I’ll want someone on the outside to notify headquarters. We mustn’t risk both of us being done in and spoiling the show altogether.’

  Hill protested vehemently, but he might as well have attempted an argument with a brick wall. Shannon had made up his mind, and he refused to give way, even on the smallest point. He did not mention that another reason why he had determined to act alone was because of the love between Thalia and his colleague. He had no wish to run Hill into danger, which might easily end in the loss of his life, when he was on the verge of experiencing a great happiness. There is no time as a rule for sentiment in the lives of the men of the Secret Service, but occasionally it is permitted to creep in. Shannon knew very well that, if he had hinted at his secondary reason for undertaking the venture alone, Hill would have been immensely indignant, and refused point-blank to agree to the scheme. Apart from that, Hugh honestly felt he could manage by himself, and that it was necessary to have an unsuspected assistant to inform headquarters, and carry on in the event of failure. He made Hill show him very carefully the exact spot in the spine where the needle of the syringe was to be inserted. The ex-doctor made one last effort to dissuade him from his purpose.

  ‘Is it worthwhile doing this now?’ he asked. ‘Won’t they guess that Kyprianos’ condition is not accidental or natural, since they know you are in Rome and very much on their track. You can’t expect them to imagine that they and their whereabouts are unknown to you, especially as you have shown so pointedly that you are aware of the existence of Baltazzi and Padakis.’

  ‘I don’t see why they should suspect that I have entered the flat and drugged Kyprianos. They won’t gather the point of that action, and I shall certainly leave no evidence of my presence behind. The very fact that they will be almost sure to decide on secret departure from Rome, now they realise I’m busy here, makes it urgent that something must be done, and tonight. Be ready for me at two, Ray.’

  Hill departed reluctantly, and with a great deal of misgiving concerning the outcome of the desperate venture on which Shannon had set his heart. On one point he was determined; that was, if Shannon did not reappear after a reasonable interval, he would immediately ring up Tempest who, fortunately, possessed a flat over his place of business, and go himself to the rescue. He drove to the Ludovici quarter, and was so deep in thought that he had arrived at his address before he was aware that he was anywhere near it. To his surprise and delight, he found Thalia reclining on a lounge in the great entrance hall. She was in a dark evening gown without ornament of any sort, while her face, under the artistic, subdued lighting, looked paler even than usual. She greeted him with a glad smile, her eyes brightening as though she were greatly relieved to see him. He eagerly accepted her invitation to sit by her side.

  ‘You have been dining out?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes,’ he returned. ‘I – I met a friend at the Pantheon Restaurant. Have you been out?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘The storm has passed. It is very nice in the air, and I would like to walk in the gardens. Will you escort me?’

  He rose eagerly, and they walked out together. In the gardens she took his arm, sending a great thrill through him. There was no moon, but a wonderful array of stars dotted the heavens with a myriad points of light. For some time she was silent; then she spoke in a low tone that was little above a whisper.

  ‘Raymond, I can trust you implicitly, can I not?’

  ‘Of course – absolutely,’ he responded, wondering what was coming.

  ‘I knew I could, but it was necessary to ask. What I will tell you, you must not divulge to any but one person whose name I will mention presently. You give me your word of honour?’ He gave it solemnly and earnestly. ‘Thank you, my friend.’ A little pressure on his arm rewarded him. ‘Listen! You know something of the reason for which I am with these people. I was perhaps unwise to mention it even to you, but you have not betrayed my confidence, and, in that, you have shown me my judgment was good. That is why I am putting a further burden of my secrets on you. You have given your word, and I know you will not betray me.

  ‘Captain Shannon, whom now you are getting to know very well, and who is my very good friend, is associating with me in the matter which has made me, for a little while, a lady’s companion. He is of the British Secret Service, while I am of the Greek. Today men arrived who told Plasiras and Bikelas of his presence in Rome and, without doubt, proved why he was here. These men were sent, I think, to murder him. They found that he was at the Hotel Splendide. I am glad to say that they failed – Captain Shannon nearly drowned one, the other was found by the police, and taken to hospital with a broken nose and fractured skull. It will be long before he recovers, and he will not speak – that is certain. By much good fortune I heard that tonight it was proposed to put poison into Captain Shannon with the hypodermic syringe. Someone will knock into him in a crowd, he will feel a little prick, and all will be quickly over. I tried to telephone him, but was told that he had left the hotel, departing for England. It was good that he has left the hotel, but I know he is still in Rome. He told me he would communicate with me by you. When he does, please tell him the plot that is against him, and that the man who will do it is Kyprianos. You will not forget?’

  ‘No, I will not forget,’ responded Hill quietly.

  ‘You take these matters in a manner very calm, my friend. Do they not horrify you?’

  ‘They do, but I think Captain Shannon is
well able to look after himself. It is of you I am thinking. The deadly danger that you must be in appals me. What will happen, if the people you are with discover your real identity?’

  ‘Then, Raymond, I fear I would very quickly die.’

  The thought of such a catastrophe drove all diffidence and shyness from him. In his emotion he forgot the role he was playing, forgot everything, except the fact that he loved this girl passionately, with a fervent devotion that came from his very soul.

  ‘Thalia,’ he said, ‘give up this dangerous work you are doing. Live the sheltered and happy life a girl like you should live. Give me the chance of helping you enjoy that happiness. I love you with my whole soul – I worship you. Will you – will you marry me?’

  It was out, much to his own astonishment. He stood awaiting her answer in a state of feverish anxiety. In the darkness he could just discern the pale oval of her face, but, of course, could not see the expression on it. He felt her arm tremble in his, however, and took heart. Presently came her words, slowly and softly, almost as though borne on the gentle breeze.

  ‘Is it really true,’ she asked, ‘that you love me like that, and wish to make me your wife?’

  ‘True!’ he cried hoarsely. ‘Surely you know how true it is?’

  ‘Yes; I do know, I think, and – and I am very proud, for, oh, my Raymond, I, too, love you with a great love that seems to eat me up. No; wait please,’ as, with a glad cry, he was about to take her into his arms. ‘I am the daughter of a wicked, cruel man,’ she went on tremulously, ‘who would have been executed for many murders, if it was not that God willed him to die in prison of an illness. I also have been cruel and wicked and—’

  ‘I know all about Stanislas Ictinos and his daughter,’ interrupted Hill with impatient ardour, ‘and I know that his daughter, who seemed cruel and wicked, was not then her real self. But now she is – she is just fine, noble – and wonderful.’

  ‘But how could you know about me?’ she asked in wonderment.