Murder Must Wait by John Creasey

Author:John Creasey [Creasey, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Agora Books

13

Ordeal for Trale

Juan de Casila had left 18, Rue de Mallet in a state of mind bordering on panic. Only those few people who had long been associated with Hugo Cunningham—the name by which he was known, although de Casila doubted whether he had any right to it—realised to the full the effect of his icy manner, the way in which his threats were always carried out, and the particular refinements of suffering which he reserved to punish men who disobeyed or failed him.

De Casila knew him as a representative of the Ring, but that was all. The Portuguese knew no more than Craigie or Loftus of the present aims of the Ring, although he could have explained some of the past activities of that mysterious, powerful and trouble-making organisation. Had he done so, Cunningham would have had short shrift—if he had been caught.

De Casila doubted whether anyone living would catch and convict him—even if one of his confederates could be persuaded to give evidence against the Ring. Certainly the Portuguese, in whom loyalty for loyalty’s sake was not particularly pronounced, would remain faithful, because of his fear of Cunningham.

He had seen certain men after the Englishman had finished with them...

He was ruled by fear, strongly backed up by avarice. His one-time experience of poverty, or a near approach to it, had taught him the value of money, and when he had been given the opportunity of earning it, not in thousands but in tens of thousands, he had gladly taken the chance.

For through the Ring he had been able to see ahead, in many of the disputes, national and international, of the past few years. To know a month or more in advance what was going to happen, and to be able to judge its effect on the stock markets of the world, was as good as a formula for making gold out of iron ore. So with the combined urgings of both avarice and fear, de Casila did as he was told; and although there had been times when he had felt that the tasks expected of him were too difficult, he had been forced to admit that Cunningham provided him with first-rate help as he had done in the kidnapping of Saul S. Hyman.

De Casila had no idea why Hyman was wanted by the Ring: though Cunningham would, in time, give him information and he, in turn, would advise his many brokers, and his already considerable fortune would be further increased.

But there was no thought of money in the Portuguese’s mind as he hurried—not knowing that a Department Z agent was tailing him—by car through Paris along the Calais road. Three miles outside the city he turned left, finally pulling up outside a small modern villa, on a rise that commanded a wonderful view of the French capital. The glittering of a million lights made a kaleidoscope of pleasant fantasy against the surrounding darkness, but de Casila looked neither to right nor left, and rang the front door bell impatiently.

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