I called out, 'Grazhdaninu Ashton-ostanovites!' as though I wanted him to stop. It just made him go faster.' I smiled slightly. I doubt if Ashton relished being called 'citiz en' in Russian, especially when coupled with his English name. 'The ball is now in Ashton's court, but I doubt he'll move before nightfall. Larry, go and do an ostentatious patrol before Ashton's flat. Be a bit haphazard-reappear at irregular intervals.' I had a last word with Henty, and then did the rounds, checking that every man was in his place and the Russians were covered. After that I reported by telephone to Ogilvie. Larry caught up with me in about an hour. 'One of those bloody Russians tackled me,' he said. 'He asked me what the hell I thought I was doing.' 'In Russian?' 'Yes. I asked him for his authority and he referred me to a Comrade Latiev in the Russian Embassy. So I got a bit shirty and told him that Latiev's authority had been superseded, and if Latiev didn't know that himself he was even more stupid than Moscow thought. Then I said I didn't have time to waste and did a quick disappearing act.'
'Not bad,' I said. 'It ought to hold Comrade Latiev for a while. Any reaction from the flat?' 'A curtain did twitch a bit.' 'Okay. Now, if Ashton makes his break I don't want him to see you-we don't want to panic him more than necessary. Take over Gregory's car, ask him what the score is, and send him to me.' It was a long wait and a cold wait.
The snow came down steadily and, as darkness fell, a raw mist swept over Gamla Stan from the Riddarfjarden, haloing the street lights and cutting down visibility. I spent the time running over and over in my mind the avenues of escape open to Ashton and wondering if my contingency planning was good enough. With Henty there were six of us, surely enough to take out the two Russians and still keep up with Ashton wherever he went. As the mist thickened I thought of the possibility of taking Ashton there and then, but thought better of it.
A quiet kidnapping in a major city is hard enough at the best of times and certainly not the subject for improvisation. Better to follow the plan and isolate Ashton. It happened at ten to nine. Gregory reported Ashton and Benson on Lilla Nygatan moving south, and both had bags.
Michaelis chipped in and said that both Russians were also on the move. I summoned up my mental map of Gamla Stan and concluded that our targets were heading for the taxi rank on the Centralbron, so I ordered the cars south ready to follow. More interestingly, on the other side of the Centralbron, in the main city, was Stockholm's Central Railway Station. Then I ordered Michaelis and Henty, our best strong-arm men, to take the Russians out of the game. They reported that, because of the mist, it was easy and that two Russians would have sore heads the following morning. After that things became a bit confused. When Ashton and Benson reached the taxi rank they took separate cabs, Benson going over the Centralbron towards the railway station, and Ashton going in the dead opposite direction towards Sodermalm. Larry followed Benson, and Brent went after Ashton. I got busy and ordered the rest of the team to assemble at the railway station which seemed the best bet under the circumstances. At the station I stayed in the car and sent in Henty to find out if Larry was around. He came back with Larry who got into the car, and said, 'Benson bought two tickets for Goteborg.' They were heading west. From my point of view that was a relief; better west than east. I said, 'When does the train leave?' Larry checked his watch. 'In a little over half an hour. I bought us four tickets-and I got a timetable.' I studied the timetable and thought out loud. 'First stop- Sodertalje; next stop-Eskilstuna. Right.' I gave a ticket each to Gregory and Henty. 'You two get on that train; spot Ashton and Benson and report back by radio. Then stick with them.' They went into the station, and Larry said, 'What do we do?' 'You and I lie as low as Br'er Rabbit,' I turned to Michaelis. 'Scout around in the station and see if you can spot Ashton. Make sure he's on that train when it leaves, then come back here.' He went away and I wondered how Brent was getting on.
Presently Gregory radioed in. 'We're on the train-spotted Redbird Two-but no Redbird One.' We'd lost Ashton. 'Stay with it.' The time ticked by. At five minutes to train-time I became uneasy, wondering what had happened to Ashton. At two minutes to train-time Brent pitched up. 'I lost him,' he said hollowly. 'Where did he go?' 'He went bloody island-hopping-Sodermalm-Langholmen-Kungsholmen; that's where I lost him. He seemed to be heading in this general direction at the time so I took a chance and came here.' 'We haven't seen him and he's not on the train so far. Benson is, though; with two tickets to Goteborg.' 'When does it leave?' I looked over his shoulder and saw Michaelis coming towards the car. He was shaking his head. I said, 'It's just left-and Ashton wasn't on it.' 'Oh, Christ! What do we do now?' 'The only thing we can do-stick with Benson and pray. And this is how we do it. Get yourself a timetable like this one, and check the stops of that train. You and Michaelis take the first stop-that's Sodertalje, you check with Gregory and Henty on the train and you team up if Benson gets off. You also report to Ogilvie. In the meantime Larry and I will be heading for the next stop at Eskilstuna-same procedure. And we leapfrog up the line until the train arrives at Goteborg or anything else happens. Got that?' 'Okay.' 'Reporting to Ogilvie is very important because he can keep us all tied in. I'm going to ring him now.' Ogilvie wasn't at all pleased but he didn't say much-not then. I told him how I was handling it and he just grunted. 'Carry on-and keep me posted.' I went back to the car, slumped into the passenger's seat, and said to Larry, 'Drive to Eskilstuna-and beat that train.'
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO From Stockholm to Eskilstuna is about 100 kilometres. The first 40 kilometres are of motorway standard and we were able to make good time, but after that it became more of an ordinary road with opposing traffic and our average speed dropped. It was very dark-a moonless night-but even if there had been a moon it wouldn't have helped because there was a thick layer of cloud from which descended a heavy and continuous fall of snow. Like all modern Swedish cars ours was well equipped for this kind of weather. The tyres had tungsten-steel studs for traction and the headlights had wipers to clear the encrusting snow, but that didn't mean fast driving and I suppose we didn't average more than 70 KPH and that was a shade fast for the conditions. Neither Larry nor I could be classed as rally drivers, and I was very much afraid the train would be faster.
Fortunately, I saw by the map that it had further to go, the track sweeping round in a loop. Also it would stop at Sodertalje. After an hour I told Larry to pull into a filling station where he refuelled while I phoned Ogilvie. When I got back to the car I was smiling, and Larry said, 'Good news?' 'The best. I'll drive.' As we pulled away I said, 'Ashton tried to pull a fast one. When Brent lost him he wasn't on his way to the railway station in Stockholm; he took a taxi ride to the Sodertalje station and got on the train there. We've got them both now.' Thus it was that I was quite happy when we pulled up outside the railway station at Eskilstuna to find the train standing on the platform. I switched on my transmitter, and said, 'Any Bluebirds there? Come in, Bluebirds.' A voice in my ear. 'Redbird and friend jumped train.' 'What the hell?' Henty said, 'What do you want me to do?' 'Get off that bloody train and come here. We're parked outside the station.' Even as I spoke the train clanked and began to move slowly. I was beginning to wonder if Henty had made it when I saw him running towards the car. I wound down the side window. 'Get in and tell me what, for Christ's sake, happened.' Henty got into the back seat. 'The train pulled up at some bloody whistle-stop called Akers-styckebruk, and don't ask me why. Nothing happened until it began to move out, then Ashton and Benson jumped for it Gregory went after them but it was too late for me-and the way he went he was like to break a leg.' I got out the road map and studied it.
'Akers-styckebruk! The place isn't even on the map. Have you reported to Ogilvie?' 'No. I was just going to when you called me.' 'Then I suppose I have to.' I went into the station and rang Stockholm, and Ogilvie said testily, 'What the devil's going on? I've just had a call from Gregory in some Godforsaken place. He's either broken or sprained his ankle and he's lost Ashton. He thinks they've gone to somewhere called Strangnas.' Strangnas was back along the road; we'd skirted around the edges. I said, 'We'll be there in an hour.' 'An hour may be too late,' he snapped. 'But get on with it.' I ran back to the car.
'Get weaving, Larry-back where we came from.' He moved over into the driving seat and I hadn't closed the door before he took off. I twisted around and said to Henty, 'What can you tell me about Strangnas? Anything there we ought to know about?' He snapped his fingers. 'Of course! There's a spur-line going into Strangnas from Akers- styckebruk-no passenger trains, just the occasional raslbuss.'
'What's that?' 'A single coach on the railway-diesel driven.' 'You say it's a spur-line. You mean the rail stops at Strangnas?' 'It has to, or it would run into Lake Malaren.' I contemplated that. 'So it's a dead end.' 'For the railway, but not for cars. There's a road which goes by way of the islands to the north shore of Malaren. But it's late; I wouldn't bet they'll be able to hire a car at this time of night.' 'True,' I said. 'But step on it, Larry.' I watched the road unwinding out of the darkness against the hypnotic beat of the wipers as they cleared snow from the windscreen. The headlights brightened as Larry operated the light wipers. 'Anything else about Strangnas?'
'It's not much of a place,' said H enty. 'Population about twelve thousand; a bit of light industry- Pharmaceuticals, penicillin, X-ray film-stuff like that. It's also a garrison town for a training regiment, and it's HQ, East Military Command.' His interest sharpened.
'Is Ashton connected with the soldier boys?' 'No,' I said. Henty persisted. 'You'd tell me if he is? That's my line of country, and I've helped you enough.' 'Definitely not,' I said. 'His interests aren't military, and neither are mine.
