The Queen v. Karl Mullen Read Free

taught me” – this was to Mkeba, who smiled encouragingly – “I can catch a few words. Fortunately, Yule sometimes likes to air his English. He is really very fluent. When his legal man’s there he always speaks in English.”
    Her father said, “From the anteroom where you sit, how much can you actually hear?”
    “If the door is open, everything. If it is shut, very little.”
    “And if anything of importance is being discussed,” said Mkeba, “then, of course, the door will be shut. These are not the sort of people who shout their secrets from the housetops.”
    The two men looked at each other. It was clear that they had some project in mind, something they had discussed before, something which they were hesitating to put into words. To encourage them Rosemary said, “I suppose it might be possible to use some sort of device—”
    Mkeba opened one of the desk drawers and got out a small box, about the size of a pack of playing cards. He said, “This is one of the latest transmitters. It is very sensitive. It operates to this pick-up.” He laid on the desk beside it a tiny golden plug. “You wear it in your ear, like a deaf-aid. It will be quite invisible, particularly if you comb your hair forward a little. Would you like to try it?”
    Rosemary slipped it into her ear. It fitted very comfortably and was easy enough to put in and take out.
    “It’s very odd,” she said, “I can hear myself breathing.”
    “Everyone who uses a deaf-aid finds that to start with. I am assured that it is something you soon get used to. Now, I suggest you go out into the passage and up the stairs.”
    He opened the door for her, shut it behind her and listened to her footsteps as she climbed the stairs. When he judged that she was far enough away he returned to the box and placed it on top of one of the filing cabinets behind a pile of books.
    Then he came back, sat down and said in conversational tones, “Three blind mice. See how they run.”
    “They all ran after the farmer’s wife,” said Hartshorn. “She cut off their tails with a carving knife, or so I’ve been told.”
    “Did ever you see such a thing in your life,” shouted Rosemary from the stairhead. She came clattering down, clearly intrigued and excited. “It was all beautifully clear. I could even hear you pushing those books aside on the cabinet.”
    “ If we’re going to use it,” said her father, who sounded less enthusiastic than Mkeba, “you’ll have to think of some place to put it.”
    “That’s not too difficult. We all go in and out collecting papers and so on. Just a matter of waiting for the right moment.”
    “You’ll have to hide it. That might take time.”
    “I’ll think of something.”
    “Don’t take any chances. It’s not a game. These men are dangerous.”
    “Don’t fuss, Daddy. Suppose they did happen to find the box, how are they going to know who put it there? It might have been any of us three girls, or his secretary, Mrs. Portland, or one of the cleaning women, or the commissionaire, or the girl who comes to disinfect the telephones, or a man who turned up unexpectedly last week to clean the windows. He’d be a very likely candidate.”
    “All right,” growled her father. “All I’m saying is, watch your step.”
    “Certainly. And my next steps are going to be up to bed.”
    When she had gone, the two men sat for some time without speaking. It was the Captain who broke the silence. He said, “I suppose it is all right, Andrew?”
    “I don’t believe that eavesdropping is criminal,” said Mkeba. “Even if assisted by mechanical devices.”
    “It might be some form of trespass.”
    “Possibly. But not something that would be likely to be taken to court, would you say?”
    “I shouldn’t think so. And as she said, unless she’s caught actually planting the receiver, no one would know that it was her. She might be suspected, of course. But one has to set against that the fact that by using it she