Quiller Solitaire

'Not all that good,' Matthews said. 'He shut down on us.'

The trap must have closed, and I felt a chill along the nerves.

'Mr Croder's looking after things?'

'Yes.'

In a moment I said, 'All right, that's all from here. Just -'

'Control,' someone said, and I recognised Shatner's voice. 'Look, I was listening to your signal, and what I'm going to do is get the RAF to fly your director into the German Airforce base at Werneuchen as soon as I can get the right people out of bed, because no one can go into Tempelhof until morning, because of night-flying regulations. Then we'll ask them to send him into Tempelhof by helicopter, and with any luck hell be on the ground by something like 04:00 hours, which is going to be much sooner than if we waited to use an airline. Will that suit your purposes?'

'Very well.'

'There shouldn't be any problem because well do it through Bonn at Foreign Secretary level. I haven't heard the whole tape but it sounds rather encouraging: you've got access, I believe.'

'Yes.'

'Well done. Anything else I can do for you?'

I told him there was nothing else and he gave the mike back to Matthews and we wound up the signal and I pressed the contact and dialled the first number on the list of local support people they'd given me this morning before I left. There were five on the night shift, ten on the day. The name of this one was Home.

There were only two rings, and I liked that.

'Wer spricht, bitte?'

'Solitaire.'

'Blackjack.'

'Executive,' I said. 'I need a car. What have you got?'

'I've got an Audi GT, couple of Mercs. You need something fast?'

'No.' By fast he meant a Lamborghini. 'Black, low profile.'

'Need a phone?'

'Yes.'

'You'd better take the Audi, then.'

'All right.' I had one of the maps on the bed, and the wallet I'd taken from the man in the Cafe Brahms. 'Make it 04:00 today, at the T-section of Einstein-ufer and Abbe-strasse, by the canal. Can you do that?'

'Oh yes.'

'I'll be in a taxi. Have you seen me before?'

'No, sir.'

'One glove on, one off.'

'Got it. But why don't I bring the car to you, if -'

'Because I don't want you to.' He wasn't too seasoned, and it worried me. If I'd wanted him to bring the car here I would have asked him, and he should have known that. 'What's the number of the Audi?' He gave it to me and I said, 'You can take over the taxi, all right? Now listen, who's your senior man?'

'Kleiber.'

'Is he there?'

'I'll get him. I just meant – you know – that if you wanted the car there, I would have -'

'I appreciate it.'

Sat on the bed while I waited. It was going to be good to get some sleep: I'd only had three hours in the last forty. After that I'd need food, find an all-night hamburger stand. There might be-

'Kleiber.'

I switched to German. 'You know the city?'

'I was born here.'

'There's a man named Willi Hartman. Here's his address.'

'Got that.'

'There'll be some surveillance on the building, possibly more than one man. Hartman will phone your number at 10:00 today. I want you to take care of the surveillance while Hartman goes into his apartment and fetches some things. Tell him he's got thirty minutes. How many people can you use for this?'

'Six, seven.'

'It shouldn't take more than three. When Hartman leaves the building I want him tracked, to make sure he gets absolutely clear. I also want to know where he goes and what he does: put him under surveillance for the next twenty-four hours. I've guaranteed him total protection, so make sure no one slips up.'

'I understand.'

Her scent was on me, Helen's; I kept catching a hint of it when I moved. 'I want you to keep a complete record of anyone he meets – get their names. Watch especially for a woman named Inge, described as very attractive.'

'I understand.'

'Report to the DIF if you feel it's important. I'm taking the Audi and you know the phone number. As soon as I know which room the DIF will be in at the Hotel Steglitz I'll call you. He should arrive in Berlin early this morning. Questions?'

'You want me to report to you too?'

'No. Only the DIF.' He'd screen information for me; that was what he was for; I didn't want to use the phone in the Audi more than I had to: there could be some tricky driving to do. 'Anything else?'

'Nothing.'

'Use discreet force if you have to, but I don't want any drama.'

'I understand.'

It was 12:32 by the TV clock when I rang off, and while I got ready for bed I went over the whole set-up and couldn't find anything else that needed doing, but it was a little while before I could sleep. The Stingray thing was on my mind, even though it was someone else's mission and nothing to do with me, but then it's like that: no man is an island, so forth, and when the bell tolls for some poor bastard out there with his karma running hot it tolls for all of us. Other thoughts drifted into my head, some things she'd said, Helen, because her scent was still on my coat, things she'd said in the taxi, Those girls, in the club… do you think they were attractive? Touch anorexic, I think I'd said. And Matthews, at the board for Solitaire, it'd been two or three seconds before he'd switched the tape on, was he always going to be slow?

Do you think I'm attractive? I suppose that's the very last thing a woman should ask a man, isn't it… As a matter of fact, I used to be anorexic, once, like those girls in the club, but I got over it.

That man Home, and the thing about bringing the car here… if the shadow executive makes a precise rendezvous ten kilometres away it surely means he does not want to be met at his hotel… I'd better report it to the DIF, because I wanted totally seasoned people in the field for this one, there were lives in hazard, too many lives…

'I expect you think I'm just fishing for compliments, but then I am, I suppose… it's this awful self-image I'm saddled with… it's why I let George do the things he did with me…

How's Stingray?

Not all that good… He shut down on us…

For whom the bell… the bell tolling as the dark came down and her scent followed me through the delta waves.

04:00 and the streets still wet, with fog drifting from the canal and the diesel knocking as the taxi pulled up and I gave the driver twice the fare and told him to wait.