'I was going to do that anyway. Strictly between us, I have installed a new plain-clothes officer from Berne as a guest at the Euler. He'll inform me the moment he sees signs the Americans are leaving.'
'I'd like to thank you for your very thorough cooperation,' Tweed said. 'If there's what I think there is in the Black Forest you will have played a key role.'
'Nonsense.' Beck paused. 'I hope you approve, but I took it on myself to phone your old friend, Otto Kuhlmann, chief of the Kriminalpolizei in Wiesbaden. He promised me he wouldn't get in your way, but he might just come in useful.'
'Ronstadt is not the only man who can close in a net. Thank you again. I'd better get back to the hotel. I have to brief my people.'
Ronstadt sat in the bar at the Euler with Vernon. They were the only two people in the place, except for the barman, who was a long distance from their table. Ronstadt was wearing his favourite outfit, a heavy brown leather jacket with leather trousers of the same colour, and rubber-soled shoes which made not a sound when he was moving.
'You and Brad dump all the weapons, the rest_ of the explosives?' Ronstadt asked.
'Sure, Chief.'
'Had to be in daylight, I guess,' Ronstadt said casually.
'No. After dark. We drove up the river. Got well out of Basel, found a quiet place. No houses. No people. Nothin' at all. Backed the car up to the river's edge. Brad handed me the stuff, I dumped it in the river.'
'You know somethin'? Go on like this and you'll make deputy.'
'Thought I was that now.'
'Temporary deputy – until I see how you make out. Say, Vernon, you see a big snake. Whaddya do?'
'Run like hell.
'So, mebbe, Vernon, you won't make it. You cut off its head.
'I don't get where you're comin' from.'
'Tweed. He's the head of the snake's causin' me trouble. So I made arrangements. Can't risk him messing with us where we's goin' any time now.'
'That's smart, Chief. Very smart.'
'I thought it was.' Ronstadt chuckled, an unpleasant sound. 'I thought it was…'
Tweed and Marler left Spiegelhof, police headquarters, for the short walk down Spiegelgasse to the Three Kings. A tram, empty except for the driver, trundled along the street they had to cross. As the rumble of its wheels disappeared the cold silence they had come to associate with Basel descended.
Marler was looking up, staring at the tops of the buildings they passed as they reached the other side. They were close now to the main entrance to the hotel. Tweed was deep in thought, his feet moving mechanically, his mind on what Buchanan had told him. He arrived at the revolving door. Suddenly Marler grabbed hold of him, shoved him forcefully into a compartment of the door which caused him to slam into it and be pushed inside. At the same moment a bullet hit the stone floor where he had been standing a millisecond before. The bullet ricocheted into space.
Glancing up at the building opposite, Marler followed him into the lobby. Tweed was waiting for him. He spoke calmly.
'What was that?'
'A bullet with your name on it.' Marler kept his voice down as the receptionist was coming towards them from behind the counter. 'I'd go after him but he's like a cat burglar. I'd say he's long gone already.'
'The Phantom?'
'No, doubt about it.'
'Don't mention it to the others.'
The receptionist reached them. She was holding an addressed package. She was holding it out towards Tweed when Marler took it.
'This arrived by courier for Mr Tweed. He said the plane was late. Something about ice on the runway.' 'Thank you,' said Tweed.
'I'll take this to my room, check it carefully before I open it,' Marler said when they were inside the lift.
'Come straight to my room as soon as you can. I'll have everyone else there when you arrive. I want to ask some questions first. You're ready to leave at the drop of a hat?'
'Before the hat hits the floor.'
Tweed gave Paula some instructions when she arrived in his room first. As he was speaking she listened, then stared in disbelief.
'I want you to do the same thing with the Hotel Colombi in Freiburg that you did with the Schwarzwalder Hof. Book rooms at the Colombi for all of us. Give them my credit card number and tell them we'll pay for any unoccupied rooms. Not sure when we'll get there.'
'What on earth for?' she wanted to know. 'Sharon is staying there.'
'I know. That's not the reason. This way we have two different bases in Freiburg. We may find it useful to flit from one to the other.'
'I'll call now…'
Tweed waited until everyone was settled in the room. When Paula completed her call, he used the phone to contact Keith Kent.
'Keith, like you to be here in my room to hear what's going on.'
'First of all,' he said, seated on a hard-backed chair, 'Paula, I would be interested in your impression of Sharon. You did sit facing her during our leisurely dinner.'
'She's enigmatic.'
'That doesn't tell me anything. Be more specific.'
'She's very experienced in the company of a lot of people, I'd say. But she doesn't hold the stage. I can't quite penetrate what's under that deep calm. On the other hand she can be very buoyant and great fun. I think she's tugged this way and that as to whether to stay in America or move to Britain for good. I sense she's leaning towards the latter. Sensibly, she's moving to different locations to get a perspective on her life.'
'What do you think, Bob?'
'I don't believe one word she says.'
There was a hush. Paula looked quite taken aback at his reaction. So much so, she began smoking one of her rare cigarettes.
'What do you base that on, Bob?' Tweed asked. 'I was joking. I think she's great.'
'What is it about her that makes her so attractive to men?' Tweed enquired.
'I can tell you that,' Paula replied. 'Personality. She's a mix of the cool and the exciting. This intrigues men. They're not sure where they are with her. Outcome? They want to know her better.'
'That's pretty shrewd,' Newman agreed.
'I've got grim news for you,' Tweed said suddenly. 'It came to Marler and me via Beck and Roy Buchanan…'
He told them about the horror which had taken place in London. They listened in complete silence. Butler bunched a fist as though he wanted one of the opposition present to slam it into. Nield closed his eyes, then opened them, his expression one of fury.
'We've got to bust these bastards,' Butler exclaimed. 'I agree with you one hundred per cent,' Tweed assured him. 'I want you all now to watch a tape of Roy Buchanan broadcasting on TV this afternoon. Marler, could you oblige?'
'Right now,' Marler said.
He inserted it into the video recorder. Picking up the remote control, he backed away, perched on the arm of Paula's chair. The red light was already glowing on the set. He pressed the button and a BBC news bulletin was showing. Scenes of carnage far worse than those seen earlier of the bombed store in Oxford Street were preceded by an unusual warning from the newsreader.
'Before we show the following pictures we would advise anyone who is squeamish not to watch. We especially suggest children should not see what follows.'
Paula gasped, wanted to close her eyes. She forced herself to go on viewing. They reminded her of scenes of the war in Vietnam. The pictures were a tangle of horribly injured victims, of stretcher after stretcher being brought
