Raymond sat back, eyes half-closed, smoking his cigar. "Maybe you do have a point, John," he purred. "Perhaps I've been a bit stubborn; I have a hard head, you know." He laughed briefly. "And a quick temper." Raymond sat forward. "John, if I've insulted you—and I have—I humbly apologize. Quick temper, quick tongue."
"His bark is worse than his bite," Langston said lamely.
"John," said Raymond, smiling, "you've presented some excellent arguments, and I propose, right here and now while we still have time, that we put those arguments on the table and discuss them—a full, forthright discussion. All of us—pro and con. That includes you, too, Tito. I want you to feel free to..."
29. Circus Catch
THE SCANNING TRUCK came to a stop.
Waverly, Bankhead, and Solo alighted.
Bankhead pointed. "He's in that house."
"I'm going in for a look," said Solo.
"Careful," said Waverly.
"Sure," said Solo.
"And I mean careful." The Old Man smiled wearily. "We almost lost you once today."
Solo winked, then strolled into the lobby of the apartment house. There he looked at the name plates. CRAIG was printed in blue ink on a white slip-in cardboard. The apartment was 1-A.
Solo tried the lobby door. It was not locked. Silently he entered into a hallway. Apartment 1-A was on the ground floor, in the rear. He paused at the door of 1-A and listened. He heard the sound of voices, but did not tarry long enough to distinguish them. One of them sounded like Raymond's boom, but Solo was not certain.
He returned to the street to report to Waverly. "Craig has an apartment in there. One-A. Ground floor, rear. The lobby door's not locked. I sneaked in for a listen at One-A. Voices. One of them sounded like Felix Raymond's, but I didn't stay long enough to make sure."
Bankhead said, "Illya Kuryakin is in that apartment house."
"Then he figures to be in One-A," said Solo.
The Old Man nodded. They went back to the truck.
Waverly gave instructions. "We're going to have to go in en masse—all of us, in a great group. We're going to have to rush them. Whoever is in there— and Solo suspects Felix Raymond is one of them—they're probably armed. We've got to go in so fast that they won't have a chance to go for their guns. Where's Colin Walker?"
"Here," said Walker.
"The lobby door's open, but the apartment door figures to be locked. Can you open it without making noise?"
Walker grinned broadly. "A simple lock? An apartment door? You've got to be kidding."
The Old Man lost himself. For a moment, in a fatherly gesture, he hugged the young man. Then, embarrassed, he released him.
"Good luck," he said dryly.
"We'll need it," breathed Solo.
Fifteen men followed Colin Walker into the building. Fascinated, they watched as he inserted the slender, steel picklock.
Inside, the life-and-death debate still raged. Raymond was for the immediate disposal of the three in the bedroom. Parley and Tito were for keeping them alive. Langston was not convinced either way—he wavered between the opposing factions—and it was toward him that the arguments were directed. Raymond said, "Make up your mind, Otis. I don't want to carry the brunt of this all alone. If you vote with me, we do it. If you vote with them, we don't do it. It's up to you. Your decision."
But the decision was never made. The door burst open and they were overwhelmed by U.N.C.L.E. agents.
Dr. Blaine went to work on the three in the bedroom.
Illya came out first, then Kenneth Craig, followed by Candy, yawning deliciously. She stared in amazement at Parley, Raymond, Langston, and Tito—all handcuffed.
Solo rushed at Illya and they embraced. "Brother, you sure had me worried," said Solo.
"I had you worried!" Illya cried. "You seem to have things reversed, Napoleon."
"Napoleon!" exclaimed Kenneth at Solo. "Is your name Napoleon?"
"My first name."
Illya introduced them.
"Napoleon Solo, meet Kenneth Craig."
"Napoleon!" Craig laughed, pointed at Illya. "I thought this guy had lost his marbles; I really did. I thought he'd gone mad. There he was, talking into thin air—to Napoleon Bonaparte!"
"I wasn't talking into thin air," said Illya. He took the palate-plate out of his mouth. "I was talking into this."
"What is it?" asked the astonished Craig.
Waverly took him aside and quickly brought him up to date on current events. "I doubted you, Kenneth. I admit it. But in all the circumstances, can you blame me?"
"Not at all, sir. I understand. Of course I do. I'd have reacted in exactly the same manner."
"Good of you to say that, Kenneth."
"I mean it with all my heart, Mr. Waverly."
"Thank you. And now back to business. You're going to have to get those ingots out of there."
"No problem, sir. I'll need a couple of your men and—a conveyance."
"We've got a truck outside."
"Perfect."
Just then the phone rang. Craig answered it. He listened, frowning. Then he said, "Hold every thing, Brian," and he hung up.
And once again he and Waverly were in private conference.
"The circus is shipping out tonight."
"Well, it'll have to ship without John Parley," said Waverly.
"Good enough. Brian Powell and I can handle it."
"What you can say about Parley—a form of truth without telling too much about it—is simply that he was arrested in the United States. Now, what about the gold ingots, Kenneth?"
"Without an outside cage for the lions, it's going to be more difficult. But leave it to us."
"Us?"
"Candy and I."
"Candy?"
"My daughter."
"Fine." Waverly turned and pointed. "You, you, you, you," he said, pointing separately and individually. "You will go with Mr. Craig. And take the truck."
"Come on, Candy," Craig called.
"Where, Dad?"
"We've got a job on our hands."
Candy smiled brightly. "Whatever you say." She joined her father and they went out in the company of four men from U.N.C.L.E.
And so the Parley Circus departed that night, minus John Parley, and minus Felix Raymond and Otis Langston and Tito Zagoro, and minus six million dollars in gold bullion.
Table of Contents
1. Welcoming Committee
2. Lone Wolf
3. An Extraordinary Discover
4. Interrogation
5. Thunderbolts
6. More Thunderbolts
7. Agent or Double Agent?
8. Tools of the Trade
9. Solo Delivers the Goods
10. First Report
11. An Evening Chore
12. Invitation Declined
13. Second Report
14. Illya in the Lions' Den
15. Invitation Accepted
16. Sight-Seeing
17. Guessing Games
18. Name-Dropping
19. Unmasked!
20. More Guessing Games
21. "Kitten on the Keys"
22. Say "UNCLE"
23. Change in Course
24. Ten Long Minutes
25. The Old Man Takes Charge
26. Candy Lulls the Lions
27. Zeroing In
28. Parley Makes His Point
29. Circus Catch