This United state

'But you could hear Sir Guy's voice?'

'Definitely. His is so distinctive. I thought I heard him shout, "Don't you damned well talk to me like that." But again I'm not sure. When I turned the corner he was just disappearing round a corner in the distance. Ed Osborne was standing outside his room.'

'How long do you think he'd been there?'

`No idea. It looked as though he'd just come out of his room. His cigar had been trimmed and was alight.'

'I don't like it.' Tweed stirred in the arm chair he had sat in. 'Something very weird is going on, as I said a few minutes ago.'

Paula, sitting in an armchair opposite him, the one Guy had occupied, reached out and felt the coffee pot on the table. She reached for a clean cup and saucer.

'This coffee feels fresh. Drink some. It will help you to get the brain racing.'

She watched while he drank slowly. He was staring at nothing, as though his mind was miles away. He put the cup down and spoke slowly.

'Guy was with me before he left this room. He's offered to join us as a reinforcement. He knows roughly what they're up to and thinks they should be stopped. Incidentally, regarding what happened in the corridor you used the word "vicious". Were you referring to Guy?'

'No, to whoever he was arguing with. I've just had a thought. Osborne was in the corridor. Could he have been the person Guy was having a verbal battle with?' 'Wouldn't you have recognized his voice?'

'Not necessarily. I've never heard Osborne in a towering rage.'

'Voices do change according to the mood a person is in.'

'You said Guy was going to join us. Is that a good idea?'

'I came to the conclusion he would be an asset. But if he does come he'll have to travel in Marler's Audi. There's space for a fourth person there. I must phone Marler, put the idea to him. If he doesn't agree, Guy doesn't come.'

Tweed took the mobile out of his pocket. He called the other hotel, explained the position to Marler vaguely, not using Guy's name. Then he put the phone on the table.

'Marler's phoning me back from an outside phone. We'll have to wait.'

They waited ten minutes. During that time they didn't speak a word to each other. Paula deliberately kept silent. Tweed was frowning, had a look of intense concentration. When the phone rang he explained the idea in detail, emphasizing it was up to Marler whether he agreed. When he broke the connection he smiled at Paula.

'Marler agrees we take Guy. It was Guy's reference to his being treated as a foot soldier which convinced him. And Guy knows something about war. Which is what I foresee we'll be engaged in during our trip to the Black Forest. All-out war.'

'Any chance of a quick lunch downstairs?' Paula suggested. 'I had a good breakfast but I'm hungry again. Must be the cold.'

'We'll go down now.'

It was when they arrived in the lobby, bustling with staff, all moving about in a chaotic state and apparently to no purpose, that they received a dreadful shock. The chief receptionist ran up to Tweed. His hands were trembling.

'Mr Tweed, Sir Guy Strangeways has been shot. He's dead. He went out for a walk and left his gloves on the counter. I ran out and saw him fall. I heard the shot.'

37

Paula stood very still, hardly able to take in the news. Tweed also froze, his expression blank, But not for long. He spoke quietly to the receptionist to calm him down.

'Did you see anyone, or anything, else while you were outside?'

'No one. I thought I saw the rear of a brown Opel disappearing round a corner. But I can't be sure about that.'

'Where is the body?'

'With the help of some of the staff I put it in that room over there. The one with the closed door.' 'Thank you,' Tweed said as Newman appeared.

He heard Paula telling Newman what had happened as he walked towards the closed door. He had his hand on the handle when Rupert arrived, grabbing his arm. 'You can't go in there,' Rupert growled.

'Don't ever take hold of me again!'

Tweed heaved his shoulder against Rupert. The impact sent Rupert staggering back. He recovered and was advancing again on Tweed when Newman grasped hold of Rupert from behind, twisting up his arm.

'You're hurting me,' Rupert snarled.

'Make any more wrong moves and I'll break your bloody arm.'

Tweed had opened the door and walked into a sitting room. Over a couch a sheet had been drawn. He lifted it, looked down at the body laid on its back. Guy, eyes closed, looked very peaceful, except for one blemish. In the centre of his forehead was a ragged hole with congealed blood where the bullet had gone in. He replaced the sheet, left the room, closed the door, walked over to the receptionist.

'How long ago did this happen?'

'I suppose it must have been at least half an hour ago, sir.'

Tweed turned to Paula. He guided her away from the staff milling round in the lobby. He spoke to her in a quiet corner.

'Could it really have been half an hour?'

'Easily – or longer. After we heard Sir Guy arguing with someone in the corridor you took a while drinking coffee and thinking. Then you called Marler,' she went on, keeping her voice low, 'and we had to wait for him to call us back. Afterwards, when he did call back, you spent quite a bit of time explaining things to him about Sir Guy's offer to come with us. Time can pass more quickly than we realize. Now I come to reckon it up, it could have been well over half an hour before we came down to get some lunch.'

'What's happening now?'

Paula turned round and saw men in white coats and trousers come in carrying a stretcher. Rupert guided them to the room where his father lay. Tweed strode forward with Paula at his heels until he reached Rupert.

'What's going on?' Tweed demanded.

'I called them after consulting the receptionist. They're taking him to the airport just outside Freiburg, if you must know.'

'The airport? Why, in Heaven's name?'

'Because -' Rupert's manner became sarcastic – 'at airports they have planes. I've hired a private aircraft to. fly him straight home. I know that's what he would have wanted.'

'You must be mad. Your father was murdered. There'll have to be an autopsy here.'

'I'm not having foreign doctors cutting up my father's body. In case you haven't grasped it, I'm his next of kin. It's nothing to do with you.'

'It has a lot to do with the German police.'

'Oh, I fixed that. I phoned Chief Inspector Kuhlmann at Wiesbaden. I told him you agreed the body should be flown straight back to Britain.'

'You told him what?' Tweed was in one of his rare rages. 'How dare you use my name without my permission? And what exactly did Kuhlmann say?'

'Something about in view of the present situation he'd make an exception and waive the normal formalities. Reluctantly, I believe he said – providing he received a full report from London.'

'And where is this private aircraft flying your father to?'

'Heathrow. Kuhlmann also agreed that under the circumstances he'd phone the airport controller here to authorize the flight. Some such bull.' Rupert adopted a sneering tone. 'Don't know why you're fussing like an old woman. You were supposed to be a friend of my father's.'

'You're flying home with the body?'

'Glory, no. Think I want to put myself through that? Because I don't – and won't.'

Newman made a move to grab hold of Rupert. Paula grasped his sleeve, held him back, whispered something. While all this was going on the stretcher-bearers were carrying the body outside to a van waiting at the kerb.

'I've a good mind to call Kuhlmann, tell him the truth, and make him reverse his decision,' Tweed rasped. 'Let's get just one thing clear. If you ever use my name again without coming to me first I'll have you arrested and charged with deception of the authorities.'