A Spider in the Cup Page 4

  “You should see the tiger, sir. I still have his hide on my wall …”

  The two men exchanged manly blather concerning game rifles and the habits of the tiger and the mountain cat. An easy conversation.

  Kingstone then listened to Joe’s summary of his professional life: the young Fusilier, the London policeman, the secondment to India and the swift rise through the ranks back home in the ’20s. A sparse account which Joe salted with just enough scandalous or amusing stories to keep Kingstone entertained. He refrained from asking reciprocal questions of the senator. Kingstone must be aware that if Joe had done his job he would know everything there was to know from records about the man and his career. A senator’s curriculum vitae was common knowledge; that of a London policeman with overall charge of the Special Branch was not.

  Joe waded dutifully through the mass of information he’d been handed, his interest piqued by the difference in position between the man’s poverty-stricken beginnings and the influential place he now occupied in the government of the world’s most powerful nation. A story worthy of Mark Twain. Born in a log cabin in a remote county of Tennessee, the talented young man, with the support of an ambitious father, had gone to law school and become a Democratic party chairman at a very young age. He’d served in the United States House of Representatives but, upon the death of his father, he’d deviated from a political career and taken over Kingstone senior’s affairs, using his contacts and know-how to make millions by skilfully riding a bad economic moment. It was rumoured that, although his family was known to be republican, he had been generous in his support of the democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt who, short months ago, had been elected president.

  Was Joe exchanging jokes with the éminence grise behind the American Eagle? Men wiser than himself had declared it entirely possible.

  He looked back with approval at the eyes gleaming with humour and intelligence, the mouth firm but ready to twitch into a smile, and Joe hoped it was entirely probable. The man presented a more reassuring image of Uncle Sam than the gaunt and unlovable caricature they were treated to in Punch magazine. For a blinding moment, Joe had a vision of these features hewn into the side of Mount Rushmore and he smiled at the thought that the sculptors would have rather less chiselling to do than with the usual run of presidents. This man’s profile was ready-chiselled.

  “Well, thank you for that, Sandilands. I’m starting to get you. Anything I can tell you about me?”

  A difficult overture to respond to. He could ask a thousand things—or none. Joe opted for a single harmless but genuine enquiry. “Why the building business, sir? I’m always curious to know what gets people started. Not the sort of thing that fascinates the backroom boys who put the files together. They can tell me exactly how many dollars you paid the Internal Revenue last year, but I’m left guessing as to how you put a foot on the road to riches.”

  Cornelius Kingstone relaxed, anticipating a conversation he could enjoy. “Ancestral trade. My folks come from the east of England originally. Know it? Full of oak trees. I reckon my forebears were Vikings. Saxons? Whoever—they knew how to build boats. And what do you get if you turn a boat keel up? A house. With a vaulted roof. My grandfather was a carpenter. From Suffolk. Knew all about beams and joists and kingposts. My family’s not exactly off the Mayflower—we missed that boat by a couple of centuries—but they were proud enough of their ancestry to keep a line on their pedigree.

  “My grandfather emigrated as a young man when work dried up back home. He settled in an American county—small and remote—but one full of timber. Started to do what he did best and built himself a house. He began to build for others and soon he had a business going.” There was pride and affection in his voice as he added, “My father took over and I helped him as soon as I was old enough to swing an adze. I still tap on beams and run a critical eye over ceiling joists. Wouldn’t try it here, though, in all this art deco glamour.”

  “Know what you mean! I keep expecting the waiter to take off and tap dance between tables,” Joe agreed. “Looks like a Hollywood set, I always think.”

  “And both have their origins elsewhere. In Paris. We’re all living in the outfall of that avalanche of style … You know Paris?”

  Joe nodded. “I do. I was there in nineteen twenty-five for the exhibition of Les Arts Décoratifs. ‘Not Art and certainly not decorative’ was the sniffy view of most of my compatriots. But I loved it! And here I am, nearly ten years on and still enjoying the style wherever it’s on offer.”

  “How about … Milan? Vienna? Prague? Berlin?” The glorious names came at him across the table like bullets.

  Again, Joe nodded, wondering why he was being taken on a tour, in memory, of Europe’s most splendid cities. And wondering what was their destination.

  “I wouldn’t want to see them come to more harm than they’re in already. But you know, Sandilands, left to itself, this troublesome continent of yours could thrash itself to bits. You damn nearly managed it twenty years ago. Might go all the way next time.”

  Joe stiffened. The senator had touched on a delicate subject. “Is this the moment you remind me that we would have been trampled into the mud had it not been for the intervention of the armed forces of the United States?” Joe asked, his voice taking on a light frost.

  “Don’t give me any of that, Sandilands!” came the bluff response. “You’ve read my file. I was there. Argonne Forest. And for the short time we were in France, any of us who knew which way was north knew we’d been deployed in a relatively safe sector of the front. And our ‘cushy little number,’ as your field-marshal called it, came with the offer of guidance from the most battle-hardened French and British officers. Not that General Pershing took kindly to guidance from anyone.”

  The words were unexpected, placatory, the eyes watchful. The intent—Joe was quite sure—was to lure him into delivering a jingoistic indiscretion. He was being invited to fly higher so that he might fall harder when shot down. Joe couldn’t be doing with word traps unless he was setting them himself. He replied with quiet honesty, “There was no such thing as a safe sector in that hellhole, sir. The Argonne Forest was a bloodbath. From the start of your war to the finish, you lost a hundred and seventeen thousand men. That’s some sacrifice from lads who weren’t sure where they were or who they were fighting for. And never—never!—think we weren’t grateful.”

  Had he spoken too warmly? Probably. The senator gave him a sideways look. “You take it upon yourself to speak for your country, Sandilands?”

  “Yes! I do! That’s something you’ll find with the British. We all have our views and we think we have a God-given right to air them.”

  “Must make this a darned difficult country to run.”

  “It always has been. Full of revolting peasants, rebellious barons, mad monarchs, and even stroppy coppers at times. But we know a common enemy when we see one. And we recognise a friend. It was the bloody assault on our ally, plucky little Belgium, that really got us started in the last lot.”

  Kingstone fixed him with a cynical eye. “And you instantly sent in the traditional gunboat.”

  “No, sir. We sent in the whole nation.”

  Kingstone laughed. “Tell me—am I talking to Winston’s mouthpiece?”

  “Far from it. I admire and would emulate—if that were possible—Churchill’s eloquence but I don’t always share his views. I’ve taken issue with him, politically speaking, on … three occasions.” He grinned. “It’s all right. He didn’t listen to me on any of them.”

  “Those of us Americans who fought over there, Sandilands, may have been a little unclear as to the political imperatives, but the boys knew what they were fighting against. And perhaps that’s enough. Against militarism. Against despotism. They were fighting the men who invaded another man’s country without a by-your-leave and snatched his freedom and his land. And I hope that would always be a clear cause and a good cause.”

  “There are many who’d say: ‘Those Europeans again! Se
rves ’em right’ and ‘They want to fight amongst themselves—let them get on with it.’ ”

  “And some would even cheer,” Kingstone agreed. “Just so’s we’re clear on this—I’m not one of them.”

  “Is the president aware of your views?” Joe asked, taken aback by the sudden smacking down of cards on the table. He’d expected to take a day or two getting close to Kingstone’s political stance. And here it was, out in the open, in the time it took to eat a croissant.

  “He is. I can’t say he shares them. Roosevelt’s not an unqualified admirer of things European. He knows Europe too well for that. Though after our last three presidents …” Kingstone rolled his eyes and sighed. “Perhaps we should all be grateful. None of those guys could have found London, England, with a map, compass and the services of a Thames lighterman. You should, however, be aware that the president’s enthusiasm cools in measure as the British navy hots up. You exceed your tonnage or increase the diameter of your naval cannon by so much as an inch and you’ll have got yourselves a world-class enemy.” He stabbed at Joe with a mock-threatening forefinger. “Ships, sailing, the navy—it’s a passion with Roosevelt. He’s busy turning the oval study into the command room of a battle cruiser. And he’s got his eye on you.”

  “Good Lord!” Joe said and his surprise was entirely unforced. “I had no idea. Is the president’s finger also on the firing pin?”

  “You bet! Over here you have a Minister for War to deal with the grubby side of things. We have a hands-on president for that.”

  “A man whom we should address with care, then. Thank goodness he at least speaks our language.”

  The senator snorted. “That’s just the kind of complacent old-fashioned notion that will get you British into trouble. Confraternity? Huh! Where’s the guarantee in that? Some of the worst quarrels happen in families. I didn’t think I’d need to remind a Scotland Yarder of that. Someone dies—you go out and look for the nearest and dearest first. Right?” Kingstone’s expression hardened. “I’m trying to say, diplomatically, that you British are not universally loved. But—what the heck! Time’s short. Your Empire is feared. Even after that last battering, it’s armed and on the make. But it’s envied and loathed in equal measure. And, just in case you’re about to drag out all that oderint, dum metuant stuff, I’ll tell you something that will make your hair stand on end, Sandilands.”

  A glance at Joe’s receptive features reassured him his audience was all ears and he continued. “Couple of years back, I was on the saluting platform watching a parade of the whole of the US navy in harbour. Staged for the benefit of a visiting bunch of British top navy brass. We were out to impress them and we sure did that. I was standing behind one of your admirals. He was complimentary about the display. He turned to his American opposite number standing at his side and said, ‘By Jove! What a fearsome crew! I do wonder who will be their next target, admiral.’ And the US guy replied—straight off—‘The British, of course.’ ”

  Kingstone’s eyes were bleak as he delivered his message. “Sandilands, the man wasn’t joking.”

  Joe could almost feel the floor lurch under him. He grasped the table with both hands and breathed deeply for a moment. He looked back at the decisive man busily laying out his cards with a flourish and was lost for words.

  “So—better keep me alive, Sandilands. You need all the friends you can muster,” Kingstone advised. “Think of me as the poor guy who’s straddling the fulcrum. From where I am, struggling to keep a balance, I get a clear view of things and can adjust my weight to one side or the other before anyone knows what’s happening. There’s a drawback—being up there makes me visible. I can get shot at from all sides.” For a moment, the spark of good humour in his eyes was quenched and he stared, preoccupied by his thoughts, at the coffee pot. He took himself in hand and continued in a level tone: “But I take no chances. I want you to meet someone—the other man I’ve picked to watch my back while I’m over here. I’m hoping you can work together. He tells me you’ve met before.”

  Joe kicked himself for missing the signal that must have passed between them. Suddenly the large American-suited, gun-toting, black pudding-eater he’d noticed earlier was standing at his elbow.

  “This is William Armiger. FBI officer. Armiger is the best we have.”

  “Oh, any skill I have, I learned from men at the Yard like Sandilands,” drawled a voice that, to Joe’s ear, seemed to have the same slight country inflections that the senator’s had. Tennessee, he remembered. “Good to see you again, Captain.”

  Joe mastered his astonishment and reached with difficulty for a cheerful, welcoming tone. “Bill? Bill! Well, well! It must have been six … no, seven years since we waved you goodbye on the Mauretania. You should have stayed in touch! Glad to see you’re busy and happy doing what you do best … skulking about with a gun and taking people by surprise.” He grinned easily and added, “Though you return not a moment too soon. I do notice you’re ready for a field-craft refresher! If you’re determined to be taken for an American, you should resist the black pudding, feel free to hold your fork in your right hand and take care not to sit with your back to the door, especially when you’ve elected to wear your gun in such a visible position.”

  “No need for all that malarky! I’ve done with blending in, Captain. And I don’t aim to be ‘taken for an American’—I am one. I became a US citizen six years ago. I have diplomatic immunity, a job to do and a country I can truly honour. Glad, though, to know we’re working toward the same end. Wouldn’t like to think we were at each other’s throats … bearing grudges …”

  “Certainly not!” Joe said, picking up the message. “Both on the same side. Of course. For the duration of the conference at least. But don’t try to leave without saying goodbye this time, Bill,” he finished with a deceptively charming smile as he folded his napkin and rose to take his leave.

  The thud of a gauntlet being hurled to the floor, although silent, was unmistakable and was picked up clearly by the quiet man in earphones in a room farther along the corridor.

  CHAPTER 4

  “Bacchus!” Joe greeted his Special Branch super as he slipped into the small office, stepping his way with care over snakes of wiring to a seat at the desk. “Hell’s bells! Did you get that?”

  “Still getting it!” James Bacchus handed him a spare headset. “Oo, er! He doesn’t mince his words, your senator, does he?”

  With a shake of the head, Joe turned down the offer. “What? Listen in to them tearing into the assistant commissioner as soon as his back’s turned? No thanks. I don’t want to ruin my day. It’s started so well … Leave ’em to it—I can imagine!”

  “Clearly, you can’t.” Bacchus grinned, reluctantly taking off his own set and checking that his stenographer was working away. “You seem to have made a good impression. Those two blokes are the best of buddies and they’re doing a lot of agreeing. Kingstone’s decided you’re a good egg and his mate”—Bacchus looked at Joe in puzzlement—“seems to be telling him Sandilands walks on water. You sure he knows you?”

  The Branchman frowned suddenly. “Perhaps it’s all a bit too sweet? Look—whoever this Armiger bloke is—I think he’s twigged. I think he’s aware of your little trick. That bit of jiggery-pokery with the screwdriver. By the way—don’t bash the bloody metal base again!” Bacchus grimaced. “Now—the senator—I’d say he was taken in. Disarmed by your gesture as intended. No idea you’d disconnected the light bulb and left the microphone linked. I can always tell. When you’ve listened in to as much of this garbage—heard as many lies over the wires as I have—well, you can tell. The body guard … mmm … not so sure. Play it back and judge for yourself. While you were coming over here, Armiger started filling his boss in on the Sandilands saga. Sickening gloop about how you saved each other’s lives in the war, ran the gauntlet of German snipers, shared your last drop of rum … you know the sort of thing.” Bacchus made his judgement: “He’s aware. And, I think, passing a message. Slip
pery as a shit-house rat, if you ask me. Who the hell is William Armiger?”

  Joe sighed. “Well, for a start—he’s not Armiger. Though whoever chose the name for him seems to know the bloke well. It means ‘bearer of arms’ and I’ve never known him without one. Or to be unwilling to use it. And he never misses.”

  “Sounds like the perfect bodyguard. Are you going to tell me his real name?”

  “Armitage. Slight change but enough to evade our border procedures. He was a sergeant in my outfit in France and under my command. Very effective soldier. He doesn’t exaggerate—he did indeed save my life. He calls me ‘Captain’ because that was my rank at that critical moment. It’s a way of reminding me of what I owe him, presented as ironic deference.”

  “What an arsehole!”

  “He’s that all right. But he joined the police force and was a good officer.” Joe paused for a moment, weighing his words. “Yes, a good officer. Intelligent, active and ambitious. He was being groomed for a starring role in the force—an example to the lower classes—ability will get you to the top in the new Britain. What he didn’t tell the force was that he was doing a little cat burgling on the side. Or that he was a paid-up member of the Communist party. You should read his file, James. More entertaining than a night out at the Haymarket! Our enterprising lad got his fingers badly burned one night when, in the act of burgling, he ran up against a villain even more resourceful than himself. Blackmail and murder ensued.”

  “Murder? What the hell is he doing still on the loose?”

  “He killed a woman, James. In cold blood, as if that makes a difference. Murdered her to order. To save his skin and that of another. In all this he acquired grateful friends in very high places. Friends who had no compunction in going over my head. The powers that be were very thankful to see him sail off aboard the liner to the States and, I’d guess, they eased his path once he’d arrived. Letters of recommendation and all that. But with the threat of the gallows looming over him, they never expected him to return to our shores. I fear Armitage has not kept his side of the bargain.”