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Authors: Jack Steel
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what you’ve got is very shaky circumstantial evidence, and certainly not enough to arrest this man, or even bring him in for questioning.’
‘Two things. First, I have no intention of arresting or questioning this man. All we’re doing is watching him. Second, Curtis was killed three nights ago, so we’ve known about Voss since then. Why do you think I’m only telling you about him now?’
‘Because you spent the last two days investigating him?’
‘Precisely. And what we’ve found out so far suggests that our identification might be correct. Our people in America have established that Voss is anti-British – but that’s hardly a crime, of course – and he has something of a history of agitating for closer trade links with Germany. We also know that he has powerful connections within the Kaiser’s government through his mining interests.’
‘There must be more than that, surely?’
‘Patience! Voss made most of his money in the mining industry in America, and we know from looking at various correspondence we’ve been able to – ahem – acquire, shall we say, that he’s very keen to establish a foothold for his businesses in Africa. The problem for him is that Britain already controls many of the most important and productive areas.’
‘So what are you saying? That Voss is prepared to commit America to joining forces with Germany, to fight a war against the British that Germany will inevitably start just so that he can get his hands on some South African mining concessions?’
Mansfield Cumming wrinkled his brow and frowned. ‘I suppose when you put it like that, it does all sound a bit far-fetched, but that’s what our information tells us is going to happen. Of course, we’ll need confirmation before we take any action, and that’s where you come in.’
Tremayne nodded. ‘I’d already worked that out for myself. So what do you want me to do? Go over to Germany and follow Voss, hoping he’ll say or do something that will incriminate him?’
‘Not exactly. As soon as it was obvious that he was a person of interest, I ordered surveillance to be started on him in Germany. He was in Berlin, of course.’
‘Was he in the city when Curtis was killed?’
Cumming nodded. ‘Yes, but we don’t think he had anything to do with his death, or not directly anyway.’
There was another knock at the door, and the same woman entered the office. She glanced down at the tray on the desk, and looked with displeasure at Tremayne, on seeing that his drink had been virtually untouched. Then she glanced across at Mansfield Cumming and from somewhere in her voluminous garments produced a buff envelope which she passed over to him.
Cumming took it with a nod. ‘Thank you, Mrs McTavish,’ he said to her retreating back as she left the room carrying the tray.
‘Who is that woman?’ Tremayne asked.
Cumming fixed him with a steely glint through his monocle. ‘Mrs McTavish,’ he intoned, ‘is one of my wife’s family’s retainers. The McTavishes have been employed by her family up in Morayshire as far back as anyone can remember. May – my wife – decided that I needed somebody here in London who was completely trustworthy to act as my assistant, and Mrs McTavish fitted the bill admirably. She is very competent, superbly loyal, completely immune to bribery and flattery, and utterly devoted to me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.’
Tremayne sat back in his chair. ‘Right,’ he said, and waited while Cumming sliced open the envelope with a paper knife in the shape of a miniature Scottish broadsword. He extracted a single sheet of paper, unfolded it and read the contents.
‘This is from Berlin,’ he said finally, ‘sent from the embassy, and it’s a complete list of everywhere Herr Voss has visited over the last two days. I’ve had a couple of my people working out of the embassy for the last month, and as soon as we had a possible identification of Voss from Curtis, I sent them
‘Two things. First, I have no intention of arresting or questioning this man. All we’re doing is watching him. Second, Curtis was killed three nights ago, so we’ve known about Voss since then. Why do you think I’m only telling you about him now?’
‘Because you spent the last two days investigating him?’
‘Precisely. And what we’ve found out so far suggests that our identification might be correct. Our people in America have established that Voss is anti-British – but that’s hardly a crime, of course – and he has something of a history of agitating for closer trade links with Germany. We also know that he has powerful connections within the Kaiser’s government through his mining interests.’
‘There must be more than that, surely?’
‘Patience! Voss made most of his money in the mining industry in America, and we know from looking at various correspondence we’ve been able to – ahem – acquire, shall we say, that he’s very keen to establish a foothold for his businesses in Africa. The problem for him is that Britain already controls many of the most important and productive areas.’
‘So what are you saying? That Voss is prepared to commit America to joining forces with Germany, to fight a war against the British that Germany will inevitably start just so that he can get his hands on some South African mining concessions?’
Mansfield Cumming wrinkled his brow and frowned. ‘I suppose when you put it like that, it does all sound a bit far-fetched, but that’s what our information tells us is going to happen. Of course, we’ll need confirmation before we take any action, and that’s where you come in.’
Tremayne nodded. ‘I’d already worked that out for myself. So what do you want me to do? Go over to Germany and follow Voss, hoping he’ll say or do something that will incriminate him?’
‘Not exactly. As soon as it was obvious that he was a person of interest, I ordered surveillance to be started on him in Germany. He was in Berlin, of course.’
‘Was he in the city when Curtis was killed?’
Cumming nodded. ‘Yes, but we don’t think he had anything to do with his death, or not directly anyway.’
There was another knock at the door, and the same woman entered the office. She glanced down at the tray on the desk, and looked with displeasure at Tremayne, on seeing that his drink had been virtually untouched. Then she glanced across at Mansfield Cumming and from somewhere in her voluminous garments produced a buff envelope which she passed over to him.
Cumming took it with a nod. ‘Thank you, Mrs McTavish,’ he said to her retreating back as she left the room carrying the tray.
‘Who is that woman?’ Tremayne asked.
Cumming fixed him with a steely glint through his monocle. ‘Mrs McTavish,’ he intoned, ‘is one of my wife’s family’s retainers. The McTavishes have been employed by her family up in Morayshire as far back as anyone can remember. May – my wife – decided that I needed somebody here in London who was completely trustworthy to act as my assistant, and Mrs McTavish fitted the bill admirably. She is very competent, superbly loyal, completely immune to bribery and flattery, and utterly devoted to me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.’
Tremayne sat back in his chair. ‘Right,’ he said, and waited while Cumming sliced open the envelope with a paper knife in the shape of a miniature Scottish broadsword. He extracted a single sheet of paper, unfolded it and read the contents.
‘This is from Berlin,’ he said finally, ‘sent from the embassy, and it’s a complete list of everywhere Herr Voss has visited over the last two days. I’ve had a couple of my people working out of the embassy for the last month, and as soon as we had a possible identification of Voss from Curtis, I sent them
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