Kerman grinned. He slid the money into his hip pocket.
“I make a living. Girland doesn’t and don’t make the mistake, sir, of thinking Girland isn’t a good man. In my reckoning, he’s the best you’ve got.”
Dorey pulled a wry face.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s good. The trouble with him is he always thinks of himself first.”
“As far as he is concerned, it’s a good philosophy.”
Dorey laughed.
“Get going, Jack. Let’s have some action.”
Ten minutes later, as Dorey was locking up his files, preparing to go home the door jerked open and O’Halloran came in. His red, fleshy face was dark with suppressed rage.
“Hello, Tim,” Dorey said mildly, recognising the danger signals. “What brings you here?”
“This punk Girland has put one of my best men in hospital!” O’Halloran grated, coming to rest before the big executive desk. “Now, look, sir...”
“All right, all right, calm down. What is all this?”
O’Halloran drew in a deep breath, took off his peak cap and sat down.
“One of my best men... he’s now in hospital with a broken collar bone and four fractured ribs.”
“Who’s that?”
“Mike O’Brien.”
Dorey looked startled.
“O’Brien? You surprise me. I thought he was your toughest boy. What do you mean? In hospital?”
“Girland threw him down a flight of stairs,” O’Halloran said, his face darkening.
“What in God’s name made him do that?”
“Well, I guess O’Brien and Bruckman acted a little rough. After all, Girland isn’t much, is he? My boys didn’t have to treat him like a V.I.P.”
Dorey smiled.
“Doesn’t sound as if Girland treated O’Brien as a V.I.P. either.”
“But O’Brien will be out of action for a couple of months!” O’Halloran exploded. “I want you to do something about this, sir! I’m not having one of my men treated this way!”
“I know O’Brien,” Dorey said quietly. “He is a fighting Mick. I must admit, Tim, this is good news to me. I was worrying that with Girland’s layoff, he had turned soft, but if he can take a toughie like O’Brien and put him in hospital, I think it is more than obvious I have picked the right man.”
O’Halloran cleared his throat, then suddenly grinned.
“Well, he certainly took the starch out of that Irish bastard,” he said, “but I must put it on record, sir, that I am objecting.”
“I’ll make a note of it,” Dorey said gravely: “Girland is quite a character. Of course he needs watching, and I think he is thoroughly untrustworthy, but in certain circumstances, he is the best man we have. I have put Kerman on his tail. Kerman may need help. I have told him to call on you if he does. Was there anything else?”
O’Halloran rubbed his jaw, then shrugged. He had made his complaint. There was no point in taking it further. He said, “We have been checking on this woman. We have a report from Pekin that Kung’s mistress has been missing since June 23rd. A lone woman, matching Erica Olsen’s description, travelled by train from Pekin to the Hong Kong border. Two days later, she took a plane to Istanbul and stayed two days at the Hilton Hotel. She travelled under the name of Naomi Hill. She arrived in Paris eight days ago. One of the clerks at Orly has seen her photograph and confirms it is the woman. We lost her at Orly and picked her up two days later when she was found unconscious. I’m trying to find out where she stayed in Paris during these two days, but so far I’ve had no luck. When she was found she had no luggage nor a handbag. Hong Kong says when she arrived from Pekin, she had two heavy suitcases with her. So they must be somewhere. I can’t get a lead from Orly about her luggage. I’m having all the left luggage lockers checked. We could still come up with her suitcases, and this could be important.”
Dorey nodded. His thin face was puzzled.
“She might have stayed with a friend. Seems odd no hotel has reported her missing or finding her luggage.”
“Yeah. Well, I’ll keep at it.” O’Halloran got to his feet. “You are moving her from the hospital?”
“She’s being moved right at this moment. I am expecting a call from Kerman to tell me she is safely on her way.”
When Dorey finally got the call from Kerman, the call came as a considerable shock.
As Jo-Jo reached the bend in the stairway leading to the fourth floor, he heard voices. He paused abruptly and peered around the bend. He saw a soldier, his back turned to him, an automatic rifle in his hand. The sight of the armed man made Jo-Jo stiffen, and then his lips moved off his uneven yellow teeth in a grin. Well, at least he had found the right floor, he thought, but he wasn’t going to tangle with a man with an automatic rifle. He would have to go back to the fifth floor, get out onto the ledge and climb down to the fourth floor. By edging along the lower ledge and by looking into the various windows, he must, sooner or later, find this woman.
Then he heard a man say, “Get the elevator open!”
Again he leaned forward cautiously, and was in time to see a wheeled stretcher on which lay a blonde woman. The stretcher was being pushed by a tall, lean man wearing a shabby suit. He was followed by a man wearing the uniform of an American Colonel, a .45 automatic in his hand. Behind him came a white-faced nurse. The scared expression on her young face alerted Jo-Jo too late that something was wrong.
While he was hesitating, the elevator doors swished open and the stretcher was pushed into the cage. In a few seconds, the other members of the party had entered and the door swished shut.
As the elevator sank between the floors, Smernoff said to Girland, “Don’t start anything when we get to the lobby. If we have to, we’ll start shooting. There could be a massacre down there if you fool around. Just remember that.”
Girland shrugged.
“I’m not starting anything... why should I? You have got her: okay, you keep her.”
Smernoff sneered at him.
“Dorey must be a fool to use a weakling like you.”
“Why, sure,” Girland said. “Who said Dorey was anything but a fool? Just don’t get rough. Take her away and leave me alone. Why should I care what happens to her? Dorey isn’t paying me that much.”
Ginny gasped and stared at Girland who made a face at her.
“And you, baby, you behave too,” he said. “This woman isn’t your responsibility. Don’t risk getting hurt. No one is worth getting hurt for.”
The elevator doors opened and the party with the stretcher moved out into the lobby.
The fat reception clerk blinked at them. Kordak had moved close to Ginny who remained by the stretcher. Smernoff said quietly to Girland, “Sign her out. You’ll be the first to get it in the back if you start something.”
Girland walked across to the reception desk.
“I’m taking my wife home. Do you want me to sign anything?” he said to the clerk.