The Strange Story of Linda Lee by Dennis Wheatley

Author:Dennis Wheatley [Wheatley, Dennis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 1975-12-11T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Ordeal

Linda stood rooted to the spot. The muscles of her throat tightened, her tongue clove to the roof of her mouth, her big eyes were wide with apprehension and her hands began to tremble.

The man jerked his head in the direction of the manager’s office. ‘Mr. Philson has placed his room at our disposal. We’d best go in there to say what has to be said.’

Still tongue-tied, Linda turned and led the way into the room. They followed and the shorter, younger man, who had a face like a friendly bulldog, closed the door behind them. His senior spoke again:

‘You’ll not deny that you are Linda Lee?’

From the string of aliases he had rattled off in the hall it was obvious to Linda that they knew all about her, so she shook her head. Then she found her voice and asked, ‘How … how did you manage to trace me?’

The tall man shrugged. ‘With an organisation like Interpol it wasn’t difficult. In London you gave a cheque on your bank to Canadian Air Lines. Scotland Yard asked us to keep a look-out for you in this country and sent a list of the jewels you had stolen. The man your brother tried to flog the emerald ring to reported it; then your brother put us on to Mr. Orson. Incidentally, we have pulled your brother in for being in possession of stolen goods. We saw Mr. Orson at the Ritz-Carlton and he wasn’t any too helpful. But when it was pointed out to him that unless he talked he was liable to get involved in a nasty scandal, he told us that he’d picked you up in Vancouver and that you had then been staying at the Hotel Astley. The woman there said you had sent her a cheque on the Bank of Montreal in that city. From them we learned that you’d lodged the jewels in their safe deposit. Seeing that you would have to have funds, it seemed a good bet that you had headed back there. We checked with the railway people and learned that a woman answering to your description had taken a ticket to Vancouver but got off the train at Banff. The rest was easy. And now we are taking you into custody, pending the arrival of an extradition warrant from England.’

Linda gave an apology for a smile. ‘I see. Well, I suppose it was too much to hope that I could get away for good. I left nearly all my things in Montreal, so I’ve got only an overnight case here. It won’t take me long to pack.’

The young, bulldog-faced detective gave her an admiring glance, grinned and said, ‘Take your time, Miss. We’ll catch a drink in the bar.’

As Linda walked down the passage to her room at the back of the hotel, her thoughts were chaotic. She had reached the end of the road. For a week or so she would probably be held in Canada, then be flown back to England with a policewoman who had been sent to fetch her.

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