20 - The Corfu Affair Read Free

wanted to know, of course; but remember what I said, Corfu is not easy to cover. That is almost certainly why the Countess chose it. In a place like that, one behaves like a tourist, or one sticks out like a sore thumb. I did not hope for quick and easy answers. But I did send a very good man to investigate."
    "Anybody we know?"
    "I think so, Mr. Kuryakin. You'd know him. Frank Stanton."
    "They don't come any better," Solo said. "Frank gave me most of my basic training."
    "And me," Kuryakin declared. "But surely he's a bit long in the tooth by now, sir. Due to come off the active list?"
    Waverly sighed. "I sent Mr. Stanton to Corfu seven months ago, gentlemen. I heard from him just once, to let me know he had arrived safely. Since then—nothing!"
    The room went silent as the two agents digested this fact. Then Solo stirred restlessly. "Frank could have made a slip," he suggested. "It's possible. A man has his off days. I don't see that we have enough evidence, just on that, to move the Countess up into the genius class. I'm sorry about Frank, but we all know the score when we go into a job…"
    "It not that simple, Mr. Solo." Waverly moved the switch a hut off the Medusa face. "I had written off Mr. Stanton, with deep regret and the determination not to expose any other men to such a dangerous spot. I decided it was better to wait and see what devilish kind of brew the woman was hatching before trying again. But... well, look at these." He moved the switch again and now the screen held a picture showing a gun, a bullet, and several clear finger-and-palm prints.
    "When General Hagen came to me for help he offered his fullest cooperation. This is part of it. His security people are very thorough. They lifted prints from the scene of the break-in. When the soldiers chased that getaway car they fired at it. They hit one man, causing him to drop a pistol. That man was subsequently burned beyond recognition in the car. The prints on the gun match those at the scene of the crime. The bullet which hit the sergeant was fired from that gun. Hagen admitted that he has not the facilities to trace either prints or gun. Nor has any agency he can call in. He gave them to us, to be of assistance. And they are. I've had them processed, because I thought I recognized the gun in any case. And I was right. That gun, and those prints, beyond any doubt, belong to Mr. Frank Stanton!"
    Both men had seen this coming, but it was still a shock. Then Kuryakin spoke.
    "Does the army know this?"
    "No!" Waverly spoke quietly, but in his own way was more angry than either man had ever seen him before. "No one knows, except the three of us and the file-clerk who processed the prints, and even she doesn't know the background. I may be wrong, but I am of the opinion that the information would not help the army at all. What is left of Mr. Stanton is in that burned-out car, and that's the end of it, so far as they are concerned. For us it is a different matter. That is why I wish to confine it to us three, at the moment. If I'm to wash dirty linen, I prefer as small an audience as possible."
    "You think Frank Stanton turned renegade?"
    "It's a possibility we have to bear in mind. If he did, then he took a lot of very valuable information with him. If, on the other hand, that woman managed to bend him in some way, then we have to know how, and deal with it. Either way, this is an extremely delicate business."
    "That's one assignment I want to volunteer for, sir. Frank taught me a lot." Solo said this very quietly. Kuryakin was just as quiet, and equally emphatic.
    "Tell us what you have in mind," he said. "She won't bend us!"
    "I expected nothing less," Waverly said. "But this is one case in which valor must give way to prudence. Never lose sight of this one fact. That woman is dangerous!"
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
    Now that the bitter truth was out in the open Waverly seemed more like his usual pedantic self. Sitting back in h chair he surveyed his two men.
    "Let me