Windfall

'You have a point,' acknowledged Hardin. 'But I don't think he'll push easy.'

'We'll see,' said Stafford.

At nine-thirty Curtis reported back. 'Chip will see the Colonel at ten as requested. He asked what the Colonel wanted. I said I wasn't in the Colonel's confidence.'

'You are now,' said Stafford, and told Curtis what he wanted him to do.

Hardin said, 'Max; are you sure about this?'

'Yes, Pasternak told me.', 'I didn't hear him.'

'He didn't say anything,' said Stafford, leaving Hardin baffled.

He spent the next half hour guarding his back.

He wrote a letter to Jack Ellis in London asking that the resources of Stafford Security Consultants be put to investigating thoroughly one Anthony Abercrombie-Smith from the time of his birth. to the present day; his schools, clubs, work, friends if any, investments and anything else that might occur to him.

As he put the sheet of notepaper into an envelope Stafford reflected on Cardinal Richelieu who had said, 'If you give me six lines written by the most honest man, I will find something in them to hang him." That surely would apply to Abercrombie-Smith should he have to be leaned on.

He had just sealed the envelope when Chip arrived. 'You want me?'

Stafford glanced at Hardin and Curtis. 'Yes. Where's Corliss?'

'He's quite safe,' assured Chip. 'No doubt. But where is he?'

Chip sat down. 'Don't worry, Max. If you want Corliss at any time he can be produced within half an hour.'

Stafford smiled gently. 'You keep telling me not to worry and that worries the hell out of me.' He apparently changed the subject. 'By the way, Abercrombie-Smith sends his regards.'

Chip paused in the act of lighting a cigarette, just a minute hesitation. He 'continued the action and blew out a plume of smoke. 'When did you see him?'

'We had lunch in the Muthaiga Club yesterday.'

'What did he want?'

'Ostensibly he wanted to know why I hadn't reported in to the High Commissioner's office after the kidnapping. He really wanted to know about you.'

Chip's eyebrows lifted. 'Did he? What did you tell him?'

'What could I tell him? I know nothing about you.'

Hardin stirred. 'True enough.'

Chip said, 'Do you know who he is?'

Stafford smiled. 'He'll be listed as a trade advisor or something like that, but really he's the MI6 man in Nairobi, serving the same function that Mike Pasternak does for the CIA.'

Chip sat on the bed. 'You've been getting around. Have you talked to him, too?'

'We had a chat over a beer. Nothing important.'

'For a stranger in the country you get to know the most interesting people.'

'I didn't go out of my way to find them,' said Stafford. 'I attracted them as wasps to a honeypot. We seem to be stirring up some interest, Chip. When can we expect the KGB?'

'It's not a matter for joking,' he said soberly. 'I don't know that I like this.'

'Oh, come on,' said Stafford. 'It's not that bad. They approached me openly enough. Hardin knew Pasternak years ago so Pasternak couldn't deny he's a CIA man. As for Abercrombie-Smith, he's a bad joke.'

'Don't be fooled by Abercrombie-Smith,' warned Chip. 'You may think all that "dear boy" stuff is funny but underneath he's as cold as ice. Max, why should you attract the attention of the foreign intelligence services of two countries?'

'I don't know that I have,' said Stafford. 'They didn't seem to be all that interested in me. I think you are attracting the attention. They both wanted to know what you are doing.'

Chip smiled sourly. 'And all I'm doing is what you tell me to do. Did you tell them that?'

'i forgot to,' said Stafford apologetically. 'It slipped my mind.'

'Very funny.'

'I'm noted for my sense of humour,' agreed Stafford. 'Here's another sample. Which branch of Kenyan Intelligence are you in, Chip?'

Chip stared at him. 'Are you joking?'

'Not two intelligence services, Chip – three. And maybe another to make four.'

Hardin said, 'You're losing me fast, Max.'

Chip said, 'He's already lost me.' He laughed.