Catch the Saint Read Free Page B

Majesty. For eign powers, in other words.”
    “How could he do
that?” Julie asked cautiously. It suddenly occurred
to her for the first time that if the police or whoever they were could mistakenly accuse her brother of crimes,
they might suspect her too. “I really don’t
understand,” she added, to emphasise her innocence.
    “By transmitting
information,” Fawkes said, touching his palms
together lightly. “That’s just one possibility. A man can act as a courier without actually doing any spying in the sense of
stealing or compiling information. He may have very little knowl edge of what he’s doing, or why, for that matter.”
    Julie studied the man’s
face for some chink in the carefully controlled
professional fa ç ade. She found none.
    “But you must know
what he was supposed to be doing,” she said.
    “I know more than
I’m permitted to tell you. That’s the whole point of this conversation,
actually. We didn’t count on you, you see. Since your brother was under
surveillance, we knew you were coming, but you’ll recall that you were a little
uncertain until the last minute about
exactly when you would arrive in London, and it happened that our own plans for
your brother’s detention were
delayed for about a week by circumstances. Otherwise the whole thing might have been over with before you got here.”
    Julie felt momentarily
hopeful.
    “You mean Adrian
might just be held for a few days and then let
go?”
    “That’s a
possibility,” Fawkes replied. “Remember, his guilt hasn’t been
proved in a court of law or anything like that. But what I was really getting
at is the fact that a number of people are
involved in this business, and we have only some of them under arrest. The investigation is continuing. No
doubt more members of the ring will
be rounded up over the next few days. Meanwhile we have to keep the whole situation
completely quiet. We need a
smoke-screen of silence. I’m talking to you not only to explain the situation. My primary purpose is to
make absolutely certain that you
don’t mention anything about this to anyone.”
    “Well, yes, but with
people being arrested, won’t the other …” She
paused to grope for a word. “Won’t the other spies
realise what’s happening anyway?”
    “To some extent, of
course. But if I explained the whole situa tion
to you in detail I’d be violating my own orders. Just believe me: You mustn’t say anything.”
    “What should I do,
if somebody asks me about him?”
    “In the first place,
don’t mention to anyone that your brother is gone.
In the second place, if someone questions you as to his whereabouts, be vague about it and pretend there’s nothing
ab normal about the fact that you don’t know where he
can be reached at the moment. Artists are eccentric
fellows, after all. Perhaps he’s gone off to Cornwall to
practice yoga.”
    Julie did not smile,
though Fawkes did, slightly.
    “How long do I have
to keep this up?” she asked him.
    He looked completely
serious again, and thought before speak ing.
    “Possibly for several
weeks. We’ll let you know.”
    “Several weeks?”
It was the first time Julie had raised her voice.
“That’s a long time.”
    “All you have to do is say nothing,”
Fawkes insisted. “You may feel it’s
best to go back home. I think I’d agree with you on that. It might spare you problems here.”
    “What would I tell my
mother?”
    “You can easily
explain to her that your brother has gone on a trip.”
    “But where is he
really? Adrian? What’s happened to him?”
    “I can’t divulge that
information. But you can be sure he’s be ing
treated well. When the undercover aspect of this affair is completed, he’ll be given every facility for his defence.”
    “Couldn’t I see him,
or at least speak to him on the tele phone?” Julie
pleaded.
    “I’m afraid that’s
quite impossible.”
    As if he had suddenly
been made aware of the time, by a si lent signal, Fawkes
stood up.