continued.
The savagery of the attack.' Kearns paused. 'He was slashed to pieces. Just like Ionides all those years ago.' He turned his attention to Robson. 'You examined the body inside the Land Rover. Surely I have a point?'
'Somebody had really done a job on the poor chap. A broad-bladed knife would be my guess. Mind you, it was a brief examination.' Robson's tone suddenly sounded sober, professional. 'Fail to see the connection with Ionides.' He drank more of his large cognac. 'Thought we were assembled here to enjoy ourselves.' He chuckled. 'But you Army types never slough off your skin.'
The fact remains,' Barrymore intervened irritably, 'we now have possible enemies on two fronts. The Greeks and this Special Branch lot. I just hope to God it isn't the Greek Key.'
'After all these years?' Robson scoffed and grinned. 'Come off it. Not like you to suffer an attack of nerves, Barrymore.'
'I never suffer an attack of nerves, as you put it,' the colonel replied coolly. 'I'm just saying we should look to our defences. Just in case.'
Tut up more barbed wire,' Robson joked. 'Lay a minefield round Quarme Manor.' He hiccuped. 'Call out the guard!'
'I'm serious,' Barrymore said coldly.
'I fear you are. As for me, business as usual. Carry on with my local practice. Did you know the local paper is doing an article on me? The Only Doctor in the Country who Rides to See Patients will be the headline. Rather good.'
'Jill has gone up to London,' Kearns said suddenly.
'Why?' Barrymore demanded.
'To pick up a few things from the shops she said.'
'You should have stopped her.' Barrymore sounded angry.
'Well, sir, that isn't the easiest thing in the world…'
'You made the mistake of marrying a younger woman,' the colonel told him brutally. 'Wives should be kept under heel. In the Army they knew their place…'
At his table Pete Nield finished his coffee, glanced round the dining room. A couple was just leaving. Which left only the trio at the end of the room and his table occupied. He leaned close to Butler.
Time to go, wouldn't you say? We're going to look conspicuous.'
'Agreed. Let's move the feet now.'
Nield waited until they were in the deserted hall and suggested a breath of fresh air. They wandered out under the ancient portal into a deserted High Street. Opposite the entrance the old Yarn Market with its many-sided roof was shrouded in shadow. A moon cast a pale glow over the silence. Barrymore's Daimler was parked across the road.
'How's the recording?' Butler enquired, thrusting his hands into his trouser pockets.
'Let's check. Inside the Yarn Market would be a good place.,.'
Taking the recorder out of his pocket, Nield turned the volume to low' as they stood under the roof. He pressed the button which reversed the tape. Then he switched on the sound and together they listened.
Another large Scotch… Of course, sir. Coming right sway,.. Pushing She boat out a bit, aren't we,.,
Nield switched off. He gazed through one of the arched openings to the far end of the town. The eerie silhouette of the brooding castle loomed above the buildings. The sudden silence of night was uncanny.
'Perfect,' Butler commented. 'The voice tone is good. You can tell who is talking.'
'I think I ought to drive up to London tonight,' Nield suggested. 'Then Tweed can hear the tape in the morning. I can drive back here tomorrow if that's OK.'
'Do it,' Butler agreed. 'While you're away I think I'll keep an eye on the colonel.'
'Why choose him?'
'Sixth sense. As Tweed would say,..'
24
Three people were seated round Tweed's desk as he listened to the tape for the third time. Monica sat crouched forward, her head turned to one side, her forehead crinkled with concentration.
Paula sat upright, notebook in her lap as she made notes. On the third replay she ignored the notebook, staring out of the window as she visualized the faces of the three men whose conversation was reeling out as they had talked over dinner at The Luttrell Arms.
Tweed was the most relaxed. He sat back in the swivel chair, his hands resting on the desk-top, no particular expression on his face. He glanced at Pete Nield, seated behind Paula's desk, who was smoking a cigarette while he watched the others. The recording ended, Tweed switched off the machine.
'Very interesting, most revealing. What they said. And the relationship between those three men.'
The reference to the Greek Key?' Paula suggested.
'That possibly, but something else. Pete, describe to me how they were seated. You came in with Harry to find them starting dinner?'
'No. We carefully did it the other way round – to avoid calling attention to ourselves. Harry asked one of the staff when they normally arrived for their weekly dinner. So we were at our table when they came in. Other tables were occupied with guests so we merged with the background.'
'And how were they seated in relationship to the two of you?' Tweed repeated.
Paula looked puzzled. She couldn't fathom the reason behind the question.
They came into the dining room about ten minutes later,' explained Nield. They walked past us. We had our backs towards them as they entered. You know the corner table where they sit?' Tweed nodded and Nield went on. 'Barrymore and Robson faced us. Kearns had his back to us the whole time. Which is why his voice comes across quieter.'
'I thought it was like that. Something said in their conversation could be very significant. I may have the lead I've been waiting for.'
'And you wouldn't care to tell us what that is?' Paula enquired.
'Not for the moment. In case I'm wrong.' Tweed smiled. 'Listen to the tape on your own a few times. You might get it.'
Paula glanced down at her notes, then clenched her fists with a gesture of frustration. 'You'll drive me crazy with your hints one of these days.'
Monica nodded sympathetically. 'I know just what you mean. He's been doing it with me for years.'
'If you agree,' Nield said. 'I plan to drive straight back to join Butler again on Exmoor, Have there been any developments at this end?'
'Bob Newman called from Athens…'Tweed gave him a concise account of their conversation, picking out the main elements of the data Newman had passed on. 'Does anyone spot something odd about what he told me? Bearing in mind the clear description he gave of the topography of where Andreas Gavalas was killed?'
Three blank faces stared back at him. Paula pursed her full lips and sighed. 'Here we go again – more mysterious hints. I give up.'
'I have two questions I'd dearly love answers to,' Tweed told them as he perched his elbows on the desk. 'The raid on Siros. The three-man commando team – with Andreas – land on a hostile coast. They make their way up a twisting gulch. That gulch is overlooked by a monastery perched on Mount Ida like the nest of an eagle. The Germans have established a permanently manned lookout post on top of that monastery looking straight down the gulch. Why, then, in heaven's name, did the raiding party choose that point to climb up the island? There must have been scores of other places safer for them to choose.'
'Does sound very strange,' Paula agreed. 'Plus the fact that the body went missing.'
'My second question,' Tweed went on, 'is what happened to the cache of diamonds Andreas was carrying to hand over to Greek Resistance fighters on Siros? In those days they were worth about one hundred thousand pounds – so Brigadier Willie Davies at the MOD told me.'
'Stolen by the man who murdered Andreas,' Paula said promptly. 'Maybe we're dealing with a case of simple
