within five minutes. I only put one pill in this rogue’s champagne.’
‘Thank God for that! But what do we do now? When he comes round there’ll be hell to pay. And I don’t see that having put him out for a bit is going to prevent him carrying through his Government-wrecking programme.’
‘He won’t come round for twenty-four hours at least, and by that time he will find himself a prisoner in the old nursery of this house. It’s on the third floor, looks down on the empty stables where no one ever goes these days and has barred windows.’
‘By Jove! You
are
a stout fellow.’ Sam grinned at his father-in law with sudden admiration. ‘I take it you mean to keep him a prisoner here until the trouble is over?’
‘Until then, or, if my brother is right, until the world comes to an end on June 24th.’
‘That’s all very well,’ remarked Hemmingway. ‘It’s a grand scheme as far as it goes; but there’ll be a terrific hue and cry after he’s been missing for a day or two. Ex-Cabinet Ministers aren’t given to disappearing without leaving any trace of their whereabouts.’
‘I can’t help that,’ Gervaise declared firmly. ‘This man is a danger to the State. It is our duty to protect our fellow-citizens from such people at whatever risk to ourselves. I am prepared to take the whole matter upon my own shoulders if you wish but, if you’re willing to co-operate, I shall be grateful for any help you can give me to cover his tracks.’
‘Of course,’ Sam agreed at once. ‘Somehow or other we must think up a plausible reason to account for his sudden disappearance.’
‘Could we use his wife in any way?’ Hemmingway suggested. ‘She sailed yesterday for the States. How about his going off in a private plane to overtake the ship and join her?’
‘That’s a grand idea,’ Sam nodded. ‘Then the plane disappears. His wife will radio that she knew nothing of his intentions, butwe’ll spread a story that he left for urgent private reasons. It will be assumed that something went wrong with the plane and that he was drowned at sea.’
‘We can’t keep him a prisoner for ever, though.’
‘No, and he’ll sue the lot of us for conspiracy directly we let him out. Just think what a scandal there’ll be; and the case will cost us thousands. We may even be sent to prison ourselves for kidnapping.’
‘We need not worry about that till the end of June,’ Gervaise reminded them grimly. ‘And, if the world is still in existence then, I’m prepared to face any prosecution that may result from this business.’
Hemmingway’s shrewd eyes were veiled for a moment by the lowering of his lazy eyelids. ‘There won’t be any prosecution. Fink-Drummond would never dare to bring one. We’d tell the whole story in court and show that none of us had benefited personally in any way by his disappearance. We might be fined a farthing damages but he’d be hounded out of the country. Let’s get on with the job and think of a man we can trust who’s got a plane. We ought to fake his departure this evening.’
‘Rupert Brand will do that for us, said Sam. ‘I’m sure we can rely on him and he’s got a big private plane at his place down at Cobham. He’ll have to disappear, too, for the time being and you, Hemmingway, must arrange to get the story of their sudden departure in to-morrow’s papers.’
‘That’s easy. I can fix it through the usual channels we tap for special business, without anyone being the wiser.’
Gervaise pushed a cushion under Fink-Drummond’s head, and said: ‘We’d better get back to the others now. They must be wondering what on earth has happened to us. I’ll lock this door and attend to our prisoner myself when all the guests and hired staff have gone. I can leave the rest to you two, I take it?’
Sam nodded. ‘I’ll take Rupert and he and Hemmingway can make all the other arrangements between them. If there were anything I could do that they can’t, I’d
‘Thank God for that! But what do we do now? When he comes round there’ll be hell to pay. And I don’t see that having put him out for a bit is going to prevent him carrying through his Government-wrecking programme.’
‘He won’t come round for twenty-four hours at least, and by that time he will find himself a prisoner in the old nursery of this house. It’s on the third floor, looks down on the empty stables where no one ever goes these days and has barred windows.’
‘By Jove! You
are
a stout fellow.’ Sam grinned at his father-in law with sudden admiration. ‘I take it you mean to keep him a prisoner here until the trouble is over?’
‘Until then, or, if my brother is right, until the world comes to an end on June 24th.’
‘That’s all very well,’ remarked Hemmingway. ‘It’s a grand scheme as far as it goes; but there’ll be a terrific hue and cry after he’s been missing for a day or two. Ex-Cabinet Ministers aren’t given to disappearing without leaving any trace of their whereabouts.’
‘I can’t help that,’ Gervaise declared firmly. ‘This man is a danger to the State. It is our duty to protect our fellow-citizens from such people at whatever risk to ourselves. I am prepared to take the whole matter upon my own shoulders if you wish but, if you’re willing to co-operate, I shall be grateful for any help you can give me to cover his tracks.’
‘Of course,’ Sam agreed at once. ‘Somehow or other we must think up a plausible reason to account for his sudden disappearance.’
‘Could we use his wife in any way?’ Hemmingway suggested. ‘She sailed yesterday for the States. How about his going off in a private plane to overtake the ship and join her?’
‘That’s a grand idea,’ Sam nodded. ‘Then the plane disappears. His wife will radio that she knew nothing of his intentions, butwe’ll spread a story that he left for urgent private reasons. It will be assumed that something went wrong with the plane and that he was drowned at sea.’
‘We can’t keep him a prisoner for ever, though.’
‘No, and he’ll sue the lot of us for conspiracy directly we let him out. Just think what a scandal there’ll be; and the case will cost us thousands. We may even be sent to prison ourselves for kidnapping.’
‘We need not worry about that till the end of June,’ Gervaise reminded them grimly. ‘And, if the world is still in existence then, I’m prepared to face any prosecution that may result from this business.’
Hemmingway’s shrewd eyes were veiled for a moment by the lowering of his lazy eyelids. ‘There won’t be any prosecution. Fink-Drummond would never dare to bring one. We’d tell the whole story in court and show that none of us had benefited personally in any way by his disappearance. We might be fined a farthing damages but he’d be hounded out of the country. Let’s get on with the job and think of a man we can trust who’s got a plane. We ought to fake his departure this evening.’
‘Rupert Brand will do that for us, said Sam. ‘I’m sure we can rely on him and he’s got a big private plane at his place down at Cobham. He’ll have to disappear, too, for the time being and you, Hemmingway, must arrange to get the story of their sudden departure in to-morrow’s papers.’
‘That’s easy. I can fix it through the usual channels we tap for special business, without anyone being the wiser.’
Gervaise pushed a cushion under Fink-Drummond’s head, and said: ‘We’d better get back to the others now. They must be wondering what on earth has happened to us. I’ll lock this door and attend to our prisoner myself when all the guests and hired staff have gone. I can leave the rest to you two, I take it?’
Sam nodded. ‘I’ll take Rupert and he and Hemmingway can make all the other arrangements between them. If there were anything I could do that they can’t, I’d
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