of the Vosges has just reached Lac Noir. The infamous Black Lake.'
Time we stretched our legs, limbered up,' Tweed suggested. 'We're close to the chateau and want to arrive fresh.'
'Oh, my God! What a horror,' Paula burst out as she stepped out after Tweed.
Newman had switched off the engine and a terrible silence descended on them. The Espace had been stopped close to a low stone wall. Beyond it the waters of Lac Noir stretched away – waters black as pitch and still as a pit of tar, which Paula thought it resembled. Worse still, the small lake ended at the base of a black granite cliff facing them – a cliff which rose vertical and sheer in the bleak shadows. Paula looked slowly up the wall of the cliff and felt dizzy when she saw the iron-hard line of the summit, the hideous medieval-like castle which stood perched way above them on the high brink. It was the intense stillness as much as the Siberian cold which paralysed her mind as she gazed at the monstrous edifice, the fantasy brought into existence by some crazy American millionaire Heaven knew how long ago. There were lights in the chateau windows – there would have to be on this grim shadowed side.
'A bit bleak round here,' Tweed commented.
'Bloody terrifying,' replied Jennie who had climbed out after the others.
'That's a bit of an exaggeration,' Tweed said, aware the atmosphere was affecting morale. 'Bob, I want to get up to the chateau at the earliest possible moment – to see Amberg
The drive up the narrow precipitous road overhanging the southern end of the lake was a nightmare. Newman had his headlights on as he drove up and round hairpin bends with fearsome drops into the black water now far below.
'Some Grand Tour of the Vosges,' Paula said bitingly.
'At least it's a unique experience,' Jennie responded as she peered out of the window down the endless drop.
'One way of looking at it,' Paula snapped.
'One positive way of looking at it,' Jennie corrected her.
'Are you trying to pick a verbal fight with me?' Paula demanded, twisting round in her seat to glare at the other woman.
'Why should I want to do that?' Jennie flashed back, her eyes blazing. 'And I do have my uses – in case it has slipped what passes for your mind, I spotted those men on the ridge. Butler could be dead by now if I had not warned Tweed.'
'All right. You were a help, a big help. You saw something I missed and should have seen.'
Paula was startled. Jennie could be a hellcat, had looked at Paula as though she could have strangled her. Tweed wasn't prepared to be distracted by a female dispute as the moment approached when he would confront Amberg.
'If both of you would keep quiet maybe I could think. So not another word. Bob, we must be close now.'
'We'll reach the summit within five minutes,' reported Paula, who despite her altercation with Jennie had kept a close eye on the map. 'From there it appears to be no distance at all to the chateau.'
Tweed looked ahead at a moment when the snake of a road was inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees. Butler, who was still preceding them on his motorcycle, paused briefly, waved Newman on, continued the ascent on his machine.
Glancing back over his shoulder the view made Tweed feel dizzy. Inclined at this precipitous angle he was staring down direct on to the deathly stillness of Black Lake – so far below now he almost suffered an attack of vertigo.
'Don't look back,' he warned Paula and Jennie. 'That's an order.'
Behind the Espace Nield was driving the station wagon up the ascent with Cardon bringing up the rear on his motorcycle. The system of the two outriders racing back and forth past the vehicles which had been employed earlier was now impossible. Any attempt by Cardon to overtake the station wagon and then the Espace would undoubtedly have ended with his machine falling over the brink and plunging hundreds of feet into the still waters of Black Lake.
'I think we've reached the top,' Paula called out, unable to suppress the relief she felt.
Butler had again paused, twisting round in his saddle to give the 'V for victory sign. The road levelled out, Paula risked a quick glimpse back, saw only a projecting rock bluff which masked any view of the lake or the panorama beyond. She swung her head to face front.
'We're home and dry! There's the Chateau Noir. A grim-looking brute, but it's heaven to be back on the level. Home and dry,' she repeated.
'Not my idea of home,' Tweed commented. 'Just look at the place.'
Paula gazed at the high granite wall surrounding the great castle, at the huge square stone keep rising up even higher than any other part of the grim structure. Newman had stopped the Espace close under the lee of the wall, close to but out of sight of the tall wrought-iron gates which barred the en trance.
Nield parked his station wagon behind the Espace, got out to speak to Tweed, and was joined by Butler and Cardon. Tweed had jumped out of the Espace and stood stretching the stiffness out of his arms and legs. It had been a somewhat tense journey, he reflected.
'How do we handle it?' asked Newman as Paula and Jennie followed him out into the bitter air.
'Tactfully – until we get inside,' Tweed replied.
Paula gazed round, relieved also to be able to exercise her limbs which had become tense with fear and anxiety. At least on this side of the chateau they were in the full blaze of the sun shining down out of a clear blue sky. But still there was the brooding silence of the high Vosges and she stamped her boots in the iron-hard snow to stop herself shivering. Cardon pointed to a wire elevated above the top of the wall which ran out of sight.
'Electrified,' he commented. 'I hope Amberg doesn't rely on that for security -I could neutralize it inside five minutes.'
Tweed addressed Nield, Butler and Cardon after checking his watch.
'I'm going to insist that Amberg allows you inside with your transport. As soon as you're parked check the layout of the whole set-up from the outside. Look for weak points where an attack might be launched. Plan a defence of the whole castle
'You're expecting an assault?' Newman queried.
'Norton's objective right from the beginning has been to get hold of the mysterious film and tape. He'll think -as I do – that Amberg has them in his safekeeping. So yes, an assault is possible – even probable. Now let's hope Amberg is at home…'
Tweed left the others hidden behind the wall. Marching up to the closed gates, he operated the speakphone he'd seen embedded in the left-hand gate pillar, pressing the button below the metal grille. He had to press it again before a disembodied voice he recognized spoke.
'Who are you?' the voice demanded in German.
This is Tweed outside,' he said, speaking in English. 'I must talk to you urgently.'
'Someone else called here yesterday, said he was Tweed. He was an imposter, an American. How do I know you are the genuine Tweed?'
Paula, who was watching Tweed closely, saw a very strange expression cross his face. If she hadn't known him so well she'd have sworn it was bewilderment, but Tweed was never bewildered.
'All right,' Tweed continued, 'you want proof of my identity. You had an identical twin brother, Julius. He was murdered in a wholesale massacre at Tresillian Manor in Cornwall. Just before he left Switzerland on that fatal trip he was separated from his wife, Eve, who is English. I visited her at her villa on the heights above the Limmat in Zurich. I met you, Walter, a few days ago before you left Zurich for Basle. Bob Newman was with me. Look, surely that's enough, for God's sake!' he ended with deliberate exasperation.
'I am sorry, Tweed. I do hope you realize I have to take precautions. Actually, you have said more than enough for me to recognize your distinctive voice. When the buzzer sounds the gates will open…'
'One more point,' Tweed interjected. 'I have Newman and Paula Grey with me. I also have three guards - members of my organization. I want them to enter the courtyard I can see through the gates as protection.'
'I agree. Listen for the buzzer.'
Paula had again been watching Tweed closely. He had bent his ear close to the metal grille while Amberg spoke and when he straightened up he was frowning. He looked at Paula and his expression became blank. Raising
