Silhouette in Scarlet - Elizabeth Peters [40]
John appeared to be a trifle put out, but he had not lost his grasp on essentials. He snatched up a heavy brass candlestick and headed for Leif, who was grunting and gasping and trying to get his wind back I scrambled to my feet and wrapped myself around John in time to stop the blow.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he gasped, trying to free his arm. ‘I want to – ’
‘I know what you want.’ He got his left hand free. Leif struggled to his knees, shaking his head dizzily. John curled his fingers into his palm and hit me under the ear. I sat down again. Leif sat up. John weighed the new developments and opted for flight He was halfway to the door when a fresh complication appeared.
The man was pretty big, but not as big as Leif. In this case, however, size did not matter. He’d have been just as effective if he had been four feet tall. He pointed the gun at John and said, ‘Halt.’
John halted. The man with the gun advanced into the room. John retreated, tactfully avoiding Leif and the body which was making uncouth noises and jerking its limbs. A second man followed, also carrying a gun.
‘Mais quel contretempts,’ he remarked, surveying the chaos. ‘Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé ?’
‘Die Kerle haben sich geschlagen,’ his companion explained. ‘Was sollen wir mit ihnen anfangen?’
‘Je demanderai.’
He went out.
The body rolled over. It was the man John had described. He looked deathly ill, his cheekbones jutting sharply, his skin sallow. When he opened his eyes the nature of his complaint was evident. They were red-rimmed and bloodshot. From his sagging mouth a trickle of saliva ran down into his matted beard.
I made a little noise of pity and revulsion. Leif lifted the limp body so that it was supported against his shoulder.
‘Behold the work of your friend, whom you were so careful to protect,’ he said bitterly. ‘A pretty sight, nicht?’
John’s stare held no pity, only disgust. With a shrug he turned to the guard and said calmly, ‘I’d like to put on my dressing gown, Hansel. Watch that trigger finger, eh?’
The Frenchman returned. ‘Là-bas, tout de suite,’ he said briskly.
I demanded my robe and was allowed to get it, with the Frenchman as an escort. They were quite an international crowd. I suppose I should have been scared, but everything had happened so fast, I couldn’t take it in. All those people turning up out of nowhere . . . There was only one character missing.
He was waiting for us in Gus’s study, leaning back in the desk chair as if he were the owner of the house. He wore the thick grey wig, but he had replaced his sweater with an expensive-looking three-piece-suit As we were ushered into the room, he rose politely.
‘A pleasure to see you again, Dr Bliss. Will you join me for breakfast? The good housekeeper of Mr Jonsson was kind enough to prepare it before she left, and I promise you it will be excellent.’
The food was set out on a table by the window, doilies and all. Dazedly I sank into the chair the grey-haired man held for me.
‘Perhaps I may impose on you to pour,’ he went on. ‘Gentlemen, don’t be shy – take your places.’
John was the first to obey. He kept a wary eye on Leif, but the latter was occupied with the man whose twitching, muttering body he supported.
‘Where is Mr Jonsson?’ I asked.
The grey man smiled approvingly. ‘I am happy to see you accept the situation sensibly, Dr Bliss. Mr Jonsson is in our hands. He will be released unharmed as soon as we finish our work here – unless one of you does something foolish. At my request, he has given his staff a little holiday. He was easily persuaded to do so when I pointed out that their safety might depend on their ignorance of the situation. They are accustomed to his eccentricities, and unquestioningly accepted his statement that we will be engaged in certain experiments that require privacy and solitude.’
‘You seem to have thought of everything, Mr. . . . I don’t know your name.’
‘Please call me Max. It is not my real name, of course, but that is the rule in this group; you are the only one of us who has not been travelling