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Authors: Eric Ambler
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train. Meanwhile, if he required any money, here were five thousand francs which he could regard as being on account of further honoraria.
Carruthers hesitated to take the money but, realizing that his own effectiveness might well be curtailed if he found himself short of funds, accepted it gracefully.
They parted company in the station yard, Groom disappearing into a taxi, Carruthers setting out to explore the city for an open store.
He found it no easy task. Except for an occasional café, Bâle was dark and silent. He soon hailed a passing taxi and consulted the driver. He was, he learnt, in the German quarter of the city. There were, however, stores open in the other quarters. Telling the driver to take him to the nearest outfitters, he sat back and watched sombre neo-Gothic façades change gradually into painted stucco.
Ten minutes later he set out with a brand-new suitcasefull of his purchases to get a camera. The salesman was helpful and produced a remarkable little instrument that was not only capable of taking high-definition photographs in very poor artificial light but had the added advantage of being small enough to be carried in an inside pocket. He bought a supply of film for it and left well satisfied. He next thought of his automatic. Apart from the seven rounds in the magazine, he had no ammunition. He tried to buy some more, but there were, as he had anticipated, “formalities” to be gone through.
He had just over an hour left before the train went and made his way to a café. Seating himself at a table set back from the pavement, he ordered
vermouth-cassis
and glanced through a Swiss newspaper that had been left on the table.
A tradesman in Dijon had murdered his wife and her lover with a hatchet. The hotel proprietors of Geneva had condemned as “unethical” a suggestion that the League of Nations might be removed to Vienna. There had been a mountaineering fatality near Grindelwald. Then a small paragraph with a London dateline caught his eye:
MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF ENGLISH SAVANT
Mystery shrouds the disappearance of an English savant who left home several days ago on vacation. Two days ago, police discovered an overturned automobile deserted on a lonely road in the province of Cornwall. No trace of the owner could be found. Investigation showed the car to be the property of the eminent …
“
Verzeihung, mein Herr
.”
Carruthers looked up. An elderly German was endeavouring to squeeze himself through the narrow space between the tables. With a murmured apology Carruthers stood up to allowhim to pass. As he did so, he happened to glance across the road.
A taxi had drawn up to discharge a passenger and was just moving off. A man walked away. As he moved out of the darkness into the light of a street lamp, Carruthers recognised him. It was Groom.
What was he doing in this part of the city? Hastily leaving some money on the table, Carruthers dropped the newspaper, caught up his suitcase and left the café. He could see Groom’s paunchy figure walking briskly along the far side of the road.
Waiting until about seventy-five yards separated them, he started to follow, keeping to his own side. Suddenly Groom turned out of sight down a narrow side street. Carruthers raced for the corner. He reached it in time to see Groom disappearing into a passage on the right of the side street. Moving quickly and as quietly as possible over the sloping cobbles, Carruthers reached the passage and peered down it cautiously. Groom was nowhere to be seen.
The place was dark and evil-smelling. A single old-fashioned lamp on a bracket at the corner of the passage served to light both the street and the passage. The latter, which was formed by the side walls of two dingy buildings, continued for about six yards before debouching into an alley which appeared to be a cul-de-sac. In a moment he had gained the sheltering blackness of the alley. Along one side of its length ran what he judged to be a warehouse;
Carruthers hesitated to take the money but, realizing that his own effectiveness might well be curtailed if he found himself short of funds, accepted it gracefully.
They parted company in the station yard, Groom disappearing into a taxi, Carruthers setting out to explore the city for an open store.
He found it no easy task. Except for an occasional café, Bâle was dark and silent. He soon hailed a passing taxi and consulted the driver. He was, he learnt, in the German quarter of the city. There were, however, stores open in the other quarters. Telling the driver to take him to the nearest outfitters, he sat back and watched sombre neo-Gothic façades change gradually into painted stucco.
Ten minutes later he set out with a brand-new suitcasefull of his purchases to get a camera. The salesman was helpful and produced a remarkable little instrument that was not only capable of taking high-definition photographs in very poor artificial light but had the added advantage of being small enough to be carried in an inside pocket. He bought a supply of film for it and left well satisfied. He next thought of his automatic. Apart from the seven rounds in the magazine, he had no ammunition. He tried to buy some more, but there were, as he had anticipated, “formalities” to be gone through.
He had just over an hour left before the train went and made his way to a café. Seating himself at a table set back from the pavement, he ordered
vermouth-cassis
and glanced through a Swiss newspaper that had been left on the table.
A tradesman in Dijon had murdered his wife and her lover with a hatchet. The hotel proprietors of Geneva had condemned as “unethical” a suggestion that the League of Nations might be removed to Vienna. There had been a mountaineering fatality near Grindelwald. Then a small paragraph with a London dateline caught his eye:
MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF ENGLISH SAVANT
Mystery shrouds the disappearance of an English savant who left home several days ago on vacation. Two days ago, police discovered an overturned automobile deserted on a lonely road in the province of Cornwall. No trace of the owner could be found. Investigation showed the car to be the property of the eminent …
“
Verzeihung, mein Herr
.”
Carruthers looked up. An elderly German was endeavouring to squeeze himself through the narrow space between the tables. With a murmured apology Carruthers stood up to allowhim to pass. As he did so, he happened to glance across the road.
A taxi had drawn up to discharge a passenger and was just moving off. A man walked away. As he moved out of the darkness into the light of a street lamp, Carruthers recognised him. It was Groom.
What was he doing in this part of the city? Hastily leaving some money on the table, Carruthers dropped the newspaper, caught up his suitcase and left the café. He could see Groom’s paunchy figure walking briskly along the far side of the road.
Waiting until about seventy-five yards separated them, he started to follow, keeping to his own side. Suddenly Groom turned out of sight down a narrow side street. Carruthers raced for the corner. He reached it in time to see Groom disappearing into a passage on the right of the side street. Moving quickly and as quietly as possible over the sloping cobbles, Carruthers reached the passage and peered down it cautiously. Groom was nowhere to be seen.
The place was dark and evil-smelling. A single old-fashioned lamp on a bracket at the corner of the passage served to light both the street and the passage. The latter, which was formed by the side walls of two dingy buildings, continued for about six yards before debouching into an alley which appeared to be a cul-de-sac. In a moment he had gained the sheltering blackness of the alley. Along one side of its length ran what he judged to be a warehouse;
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