This United state

The officer waved them through. He even saluted them. Then they were on the wide autobahn. It had two lanes in both directions, separated by a metal crash barrier and hedges. They drove on through the night and there was no other traffic as Newman held back from the convoy ahead. He drove so he could always see the red lights of the rear-most vehicle. Paula was shielding a pocket torch as she examined an ADAC map she had purchased of the Schwarzwald area.

'We turn off at junction 63 to get to Freiburg,' she called out. 'It's quite a distance yet.'

'We'll get there.'

In Ronstadt's car Leo Madison, the man who had murdered Juliette Leroy in St Ursanne, sat beside Ronstadt. He kept looking back down the autobahn behind them. He was trying to decide if it was wise to speak. He decided it was.

'Every time we go round a big curve I see two white cars behind us.'

'So?'

'When you speed up, they speed up. When you go slower, they do.'

'So?'

'Reckon it could be Tweed and his mob. I've heard German drivers love overtaking.'

'That worries you, Moonhead?'

'The name is Leo Madison. They may tail us to where we're goin' and that could be a problem.'

'Moonhead, I expected Tweed to follow us. What do you think that crap at the checkpoint was about? Holdin' us up so Tweed could get there. A little idea of that nutter Police Chief Beck. I'm happy if that is Tweed behind us. Wait our opportunity and wipe out Tweed and his boys off the face of the earth. Any more comments floating round in that thing you call a brain?'

'Nothin' I can think of, Chief.'

'Well, we're comin' up to junction 66. That's where Vernon peels off up the slip road, collects the weapons, brings them back to us. We wait.'

A few minutes later he slowed, lowered his window, reached out an arm and made a circling gesture. He continued to slow down and then parked at the side of the autobahn, which was illegal.

Tweed had taken from his pocket a pair of night glasses. He was focusing them on the lead car of the convoy of black Audis as they swept round a curve. He grunted.

'They're slowing down a lot. More than they have previously.'

'They're testing,' Newman suggested. 'To see if we do the same thing, which we have to. Maybe Ronstadt suspects we're following him.'

'I'm sure he does,' Tweed replied. 'At least I hope so. I want to keep up the pressure on him. Keith, you saw him when you went into the Zurcher Kredit Bank. What was your impression of him?'

'Very confident, quite dynamic, impatient and with a short fuse.'

'Which is the picture I got of him when he came over to see Paula and me when we were dining at Santorini's. That short fuse may blow – when it does he's liable to make a mistake. And now the whole convoy has stopped.'

'So I'll park here until we see what they're up to,' Newman remarked. 'Except it's totally illegal and we'll be caught if a patrol car comes along.'

'If it does,' Tweed assured him, 'I'll ask them to use their radio transmitter to put me through to Otto Kuhlmann in Wiesbaden. That will stop them searching Marler's car…'

'Marler wouldn't like that,' said Marler at the open windows 'I pulled up and came along to see what's happening.'

'No idea. It's possible they may be picking up some weapons. They wouldn't risk carrying them through the checkpoint.'

'Then now is the time to take them,' Marler urged.

'It is not. We shoot down unarmed men – with diplomatic passports – and we haven't a leg to stand on. Even Kuhlmann would have to arrest us.' Tweed had pressed his night glasses to his eyes after removing his spectacles as he spoke. 'The second car is moving off by itself. What's up there?'

'From my map,' said Paula, 'I'm pretty sure they're stopped just before junction 66.'

'I think you're right. The second car has disappeared up a slip road. Yes, that must be it, they're collecting a load of weapons. We'll just sit it out here until they make their next move.'

'Meantime,' Marler said, 'I'll hand you back your ironmongery.'

He gave Newman his Smith amp; Wesson, his holster and ammo. Then he returned to Paula her Browning and ammo. Diving his hand inside the canvas holdall slung over his shoulder, he produced two stun grenades, passed them to Newman. Taking out another grenade, he extended it to Paula.

''I don't think I need that.'

'Take it. They're not Pekinese waiting a bit further up the autobahn. They're the most cold-blooded and professional killers we have met so far. That's better.'

He looked at Keith Kent. The money tracer was sitting relaxed as though half asleep.

'I think, Keith, you should have a Walther automatic.' 'Thank you. It's a little while since I used one of these.'

'We'd better keep you locked up safely in a cupboard somewhere, then,' Marley commented before returning to his car.

'While we're waiting,' Tweed said, 'you may be interested to hear that Sharon checked out of the hotel an hour before we left. She drove off in a Mercedes.'

'She must have made up her mind quickly to go on to Freiburg,' Paula remarked.

'She must indeed. I found that out at the last moment when I paid the bill at the Three Kings. I also heard from the receptionist that Ed Osborne also had checked out and taken off in his own car.'

'Again to Freiburg, I imagine,' said Paula. 'That town is going to be rather crowded. I meant to ask you earlier: any word from Monica about the identity of Charlie?'

'Monica did call me. Very 'discreetly. In words no one except me would understand she did inform me that so far she has found no trace of anyone called Charlie. She's still digging.'

Five minutes later Tweed was again gazing through his night glasses. Paula had closed the window to stop any more of the night air freezing them. Newman had kept the engine on, so the heating was beginning to warm up the interior again. Tweed lowered his glasses.

"That second car which drove off up the slip road has appeared again. All four men got out carrying suitcases. They deposited two cases in the first car and then one in each of the last two cars. They must have an armoury now.'

`So Marler was right to hand out grenades,' Newman said. 'And they're on the move again.'

He waited a short time, then drove on with Marler following behind him. Paula started checking her map again. Ahead of them the autobahn stretched away into the distance. A moon had risen, casting a milky glow over the empty countryside on either side. They had passed junction 65 when Newman reduced speed. Paula looked up, saw a faint covering of snow on the autobahn. The convoy in front of them slowed seconds later.

'Here and there are patches of ice under this snow,' Newman explained.

'I wouldn't want to skid at the speed you were going,' Paula remarked.

'It would be all right if there was ice all the way,' Newman told her. 'Then I'd know how to handle it. But they are random patches. You hit them without warning. Ronstadt has obviously come to the same conclusion. I will give him one thing – he's an expert driver.'

'He probably started out his career driving getaway cars in the States,' interjected Keith for the first time.

'Just the type,' Newman agreed. 'Then worked his way up over a pile of bodies.'

They drove on and on through the night. The black Audi convoy had slowed down. Newman guessed Ronstadt was no keener on racing across ice patches than he ' was. The moon was now illuminating the light covering of snow on the fields stretching away. In the rear of the car Paula was once more studying her map.

'We're just about to pass junction 65. Then it's a longish run to junction 64. When we eventually reach 63 we can drive straight into Freiburg.'

'Can I look at that map?' Tweed asked her.

Using the torch, he examined the map. carefully. He was relying partly on his memory, but the Germans might well have changed the road layout since his previous visit. Holding on to the map, he called out to Newman.