Rhinoceros

a large table.

'We've had a mysterious invitation to visit Flensburg tomorrow,' he explained. 'It is a trap. We will walk into their trap. Marler, you will be in charge of the operation to destroy our attackers once and for all. To use a certain phrase, we take no prisoners.'

Paula was startled. She had never heard Tweed issue such an order before. She looked at him as he stood, crouched over the map, arms wide spread. His mood was one of deadly and controlled determination.

'We drive up,' Tweed continued, 'in the cream Mercedes which the enemy has now become accustomed to seeing us use. All except you, Harry. You will leave half an hour later, after we have gone, driving after us up the A7. In the blue Mercedes. You will carry one of the advanced mobile phones – so you can contact Marler if you see something he should know about. You are our distant rearguard.'

'We drive up this direct route, then?' Marler queried. His finger traced the autobahn from the northern outskirts of Hamburg all the way to Flensburg in the far north.

'That's the route.'

'So the distance from here to Flensburg is…'

'One hundred and eighty kilometres,' Tweed replied. 'Driving at normal speed, not like a bat out of hell, it takes about two hours to reach Flensburg.'

'Traffic. How much of it?' Marler wanted to know.

'Hardly any – even at this time of year – once we've left Hamburg and its suburbs behind. It's lonely and pretty much deserted.'

'We'll hope they follow us in some kind of convoy. They'll then overtake Harry in his blue Merc and he can warn us they're coming. But they may not do that. They may instead set up an ambush ahead of us.'

I'll be driving,' Newman remarked.

'If you run into an ambush,' Marler ordered, 'you reverse like mad. If there's a wood close by you back into that. We all then abandon the car toute-de-suite.'

'Weapons?' queried Newman.

'Everyone will carry grenades, the more deadly type, tear-gas canisters, automatic rifles, handguns and then there are the three Uzis. One for you, Newman, another for Nield and I'll take the third.'

'I'd like an Uzi,' Harry piped up. 'I'll be coming up behind you, may get there in time to take them in the rear.'

'Agreed. You can have mine. Now, tactics…'

It was almost dark when everyone had left the room except for Tweed and Paula. Butler and Nield were going to fetch the rest of the armament to conceal it in the blue Mercedes. Paula checked her watch.

'Doesn't look as though Mrs France is coming. She was due hours ago.'

'She may have been delayed – or not be coming at all. If she does turn up I've warned Keith about her. I shall bring her in at a certain stage – to make sure she isn't fooling us.'

'It struck me Marler has a good grasp of strategy. When he wanted to know the geography of the land on the way to Flensburg and you said flat as a billiard table. He seemed to be happy about that.'

'Because he realizes we shall be fighting a peasant army – even though well-trained. But trained in the mountains of the Balkans or the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. They are accustomed to having rocks to shoot from behind, very rough country. Exposed out in the open, their training may well be useless.' He paused. 'How do you feel about it?'

'Excited. Now don't worry. I'll be as cold as ice when it really starts. We could have done with Mark Wendover,' she added sorrowfully.

'I talked to Cord Dillon in America when I was alone. He was appalled. But the grim arrangements have to be made. I've also spoken to Kuhlmann. Now the autopsy has taken place, Kuhlmann is arranging for the body to be flown back to the States. Dillon will meet the flight at Dulles Airport.'

The phone rang. Paula answered, then called out to Tweed.

'It's Mrs France. She's downstairs in the lobby. So I've asked her to come up. I'll go and fetch her…'

Mrs France entered in her usual fuddle, grasping a folder under her arm. She was waving her hands about and wore a floral dress.

'Oh, Mr Tweed! How can I apologize enough? I am so very sorry to be so late. Quite dreadful behaviour. But I had no choice. Rondel gave me some work which he insisted I should deal with at once. I told him I was going shopping but he said I could go to a late-opening store. Will you ever forgive me?'

Tweed waited until his plump visitor had run out of breath. Then he seated her on a couch and she placed the folder on a coffee table in front of her. He suggested she might like a drink.

'A brandy and soda?'

'That would be lovely. Really lovely. And so kind of you. The moment I saw you I knew you were a kind man. Such a very kind man.'

Paula poured her a drink. Her hand slipped and she poured more brandy into the glass than she had intended. She smiled as she handed it to her visitor.

'It may be too strong. I made a mistake. I can pour a milder one. ..'

She stopped speaking. Mrs France had swallowed half the glass at one go. Her eyes, behind the atrocious spectacles, sparkled with pleasure.

'Oh, I feel so much better. I had to rush to get here in my VW. But I had to be careful I was not followed.'

'Who would follow you?' Tweed enquired, sitting opposite her.

'The chauffeur. Danzer! He creeps about the house, appears at my side like a ghost. A peculiar man. Not the sort I'd expect to be a chauffeur. A hard man but intelligent.'

'You have something to tell me, to show me?'

'Yes. Something is wrong at the Zurcher Kredit.' She was opening her folder, producing a sheaf of bank statements. 'There is no one in Germany I dare talk to about this.'

'Mrs France.' Tweed stood up. 'I have a close friend over here for twenty-four hours. Would you mind if he joined us?'

'Of course not. If he is a close friend of yours then he can be trusted. That is so important. Trust…'

Tweed called Keith Kent, asked him to come along. When he came in, Tweed introduced him.

'This is Mrs France, chief accountant at the Zurcher Kredit. Mrs France, this is Peter, financial director of a company in London.'

'I am pleased to meet you,' Kent said, sitting beside her. 'I may say that anything you tell us will be treated in the strictest confidence.'

'You are a friend of Tweed's, so of course I trust you. Now, I am taking too long.' She spread the statements, a number of which had on them circles in pen. 'These are photocopies you may keep. A huge sum of money has been extracted from important clients' accounts. Then, if you can follow me, the money was wired electronically to a bank in the Bahamas. The strange thing is the money was immediately returned – again wired electronically -back to the Zurcher Kredit in Hamburg. The original wire carried this symbol. That means the transfer was a mistake and must be returned immediately. Which it was. Do you understand?'

'Yes,' Kent said after studying the documents, 'I think I do.'

'Is that technically possible?' Tweed asked.

'Yes, it is,' Kent assured him. 'Not everyone knows how to do it. But I can see that's what happened here.'

'Why on earth would someone take all that trouble?' Tweed wondered.

'It's very mysterious,' Kent agreed. He pondered. 'It is possible that the vital 'return immediately' symbol was inserted at the very last moment. Just before transmission.'

'By someone else?' Tweed pressed. 'Rather than by whoever started the movement of the money originally?'

'That is possible. It would require a swift and secret action – to insert the symbol at the last moment.'

'Who at the bank would know about the system, Mrs France?'

'The two partners.' She tapped the rim of her half-full glass against her teeth. 'Of course, Danzer has a large account at the bank.'

'Why mention Danzer?' Tweed enquired.