Not For Export

Manning Coles

Description

Tommy Hambledon, a British secret agent, investigates a case that includes stolen jewels, secret airplane plans, gangsters, and international assassins!

Sujets

• Policier & Thriller
• Thriller
• Policier
• Jewish
• Jews
• JewishGen
• Police Procedurial
• Detective
• Mystery
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Rare Treasure Editions
• Date de parution: 05 novembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781774642719
• Langue: English

Extrait

Not For Export (a.k.a. All That Glitters)
by Manning Coles

First published in 1954
This edition published by Rare Treasures
Victoria, BC Canada with branch offices in the Czech Republic and Germany
[e-mail]
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except in the case of excerpts by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Not For Export

by
Manning Coles


















To
GEORGES MICHEL
of Detroit






Simonides calls painting silent poetry.
PLUTARCH
1. APPLE OF CONCORD
The room was not large but bare to austerity; there was aroll-top bureau in the middle, a substantial safe in one corner,and a draughtsman's desk, like a wide sloping shelf, along onewall; there were two or three wooden chairs and, over thewindows, heavy curtains, the residue of wartime black-out.There were four men in the room. Two of them were at thebureau which had been forced open; they were pulling outdrawers, emptying their contents upon the floor, and huntingthrough pigeonholes. A third man was staring gloomily at thesafe and the fourth was merely standing in a corner lookingunhappy. The man by the safe turned his head sharply.
"Listen! Someone coming."
In the silence which followed there came clearly the soundof loose slippers descending an uncarpeted stair.
"Put that light out."
"It's the old chap himself," said the man in the corner.
"If he comes in, Ackie, hit him with the cosh. No shooting."
When the room was dark a bright line under the doorshowed that the lights had been switched on in the halloutside. The footsteps drew near the door; it opened and showedagainst the light the figure of a man in pyjamas. He peeredinto the darkened room and set his hand upon the electric-lightswitch. At that moment Ackie struck and he fell heavily,switching on the light as he did so, and lay face downwardsacross the threshold.
"Well, thanks for turning the light on, anyway. Thesebureaux are all much alike; there's an alleged secret compartmentin most of them. Which of these little drawers is shorterthan the others?"
"You've killed him," said the man in the corner, and creptacross towards the doorway.
"Nonsense. I didn't hit him hard enough. Besides, he'sbreathing."
"This drawer. Now, there should be a spring heresomewhere—ah."
There was a sharp click and an inner compartment slidforward; it contained only a long slim key with a turretedbarrel. The finder took it out and said "Ah" again, in a satisfiedvoice, and carried it across to the safe.
"I don't like seeing him like this," said the man from thecorner, kneeling beside the unconscious body on the floor."He wasn't a bad old stick."
"You are a fool," said the man with the key. "Always wereand always will be." He pressed the key into the lock, turnedit right round and withdrew it, then turned the handle, andthe safe door swung open.

"It is not really clear to me," said Thomas ElphinstoneHambledon, "why they should have asked for me in the firstplace, why you should want me to go merely because theyhave, and what the plague I am supposed to do when I getthere."
"In the first place," said the spokesman for the ForeignSecretary persuasively, "they have asked for you because theywant you. Don't let's use that tiresome and indefinite 'they';the application for your services was put forward by the Bonngovernment at the instance of a Mr. Spelmann whom I believeyou know."
"Heinrich Spelmann? Oh yes, I know him. We workedtogether when I was in Cologne two years ago. He was a privatedetective in those days, though I do remember hearing thathe was later taken on by the Security people at Bonn. That wasunder the Allied administration, of course. Is he working nowfor the West German government?"
"Certainly he is, and holding quite a good position."
"Oh, really," said Hambledon. "Glad to hear it; he hadabilities and was certainly a hard worker. But I still don'tknow why he wants me there. This aircraft designer fellowwhat's-his-name——"
"Renzow. Gustav Renzow."
"Renzow, thank you—hears noises in the night, comes downin his pyjamas to find a burglar or burglars in the act ofbreaking into his safe, and gets banged on the head so effectivelythat he's been unconscious ever since. The burglars got awaywith his personal papers—passport and so on—and a set ofdrawings for an aeroplane which is alleged to be of noparticular value. And, presumably, any loose cash there may havebeen lying about. Spelmann, no doubt, was told to go and lookinto the matter because there were some aircraft designsinvolved. Well, he doesn't want me, he wants a reasonably brightspecimen of the Bonn police force, plain-clothes division. Imay be getting a bit grizzled," said Tommy, delicatelystroking his temples, "but I am not yet in my dotage. You don'tsend me galloping about Europe to do jobs which would befar better done by the local police. Come off it. What is allthis?"
"It's on the border of the French zone."
"Well?"
"And the French are not satisfied that it is all as simple asit seems."
"It has never been easy," said Tommy, "to satisfy theFrench."
"No. On the other hand, if a French detective were to besent up, it wouldn't satisfy the Germans."
Hambledon laughed.
"So you see," said his friend, "why it is that when Mr. Spelmannsuccessfully urged the Bonn government to apply foryou, the French backed the application."
"I see that far," said Hambledon, "but still not why yourcrowd granted the request."
"We are always anxious to assist the French whenever it isreasonably possible and we are particularly anxious to obligethem at the moment."
"Oh, ah."
"For reasons which I should prefer not to mention."
"Please don't trouble," said Hambledon politely. "I canread the newspapers for myself."
"Well, there you are. Hambledon, what is all this fuss about?You like Germany and you always enjoy going there. I agreethat it doesn't look as though this is your job, but why worry?Go over and show willing, drink the local wines and talk tothe local people, encourage Mr. Spelmann in his endeavours,and have a good time generally. He will be pleased, the Frenchwill be gratified, and you will be happy. When you get boredyou can come home again. Well?"
"I see. I am to be a bone of contentment and an apple ofconcord. All right, I'll play."
When Hambledon arrived at Wahn, which is the airport forCologne and district, he saw a man he knew among the groupof people who had come to meet their friends. HeinrichSpelmann had not changed in the least since Hambledon had lastseen him two years earlier; he was still a short square man whohabitually went hatless, with a mop of white hair blowinground his head like a halo whenever there was the least wind.He still wore a disreputable waterproof and his squaresunburnt face was eager as ever. Hambledon greeted him withgenuine pleasure.
"It is delightful to see you," said Spelmann, "quite delightful.I was, frankly, a little afraid that you might refuse to come.This matter, you would say, is for the police, why bother me?Let us walk this way. I have a taxi waiting outside the Customs.So it seems, this affair, a matter for the police, and if itturns out to be so at least we shall have met again and youcan sit on a terrace above the Rhine with a glass on the tablebefore you and talk to everyone you meet, can you not? It willbe a holiday."
"Yes," said Hambledon, "yes. I am delighted to have theopportunity of spending a few days with you and, to be frank,that is why I am here. What I have heard so far about this casedoes not suggest that I can be of much use to you. However,perhaps there is more in it than appears on the surface."
"I think so," said Spelmann with emphasis.
Hambledon passed the Customs and rejoined Spelmann,who said that he had taken a room at an hotel at Königswinterfor Hambledon. "We will drive straight there now, if youagree; it is only twenty-five kilometres and we shall arrive intime for dinner."
"Königswinter—I ought to remember——"
"It is just above Bonn. It is one of those little Rhine towns,on the right bank between Beuel and Bad Honnef; Mehlem,where the American Headquarters are, is just opposite."
"Oh, is it?" said Hambledon in a tone of surprise. "I thoughtthat was the French zone, across the river."
"Not just there. The zoned boundary is just upriver fromMehlem. Rolandswerth is in the French zone."
"And Königswinter?"
"British, up to the other side of Bad Honnef. Look," saidSpelmann, digging into the poacher's pocket of his raincoat,"here is a map. A large-scale map, it shows the boundaries."
Hambledon looked at the map. "I wonder why on earththese zonal boundaries had to be so irregular; they twist aboutlike a drunk snake. The French zonal boundary goes up themiddle of the Rhine for about three kilometres. Why didn'tthey just rule off straight lines on a map?"
Spelmann shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Not thatit matters as between the British, the Americans, and theFrench; there is no check, control, or hindrance of any kindupon their boundaries. It is only the Russians who aredifferent; you must be careful with the Russians."
"So I hear," said Hambledon drily. "How far off are theRussians? I see. About two hundred kilometres."
"Not nearly far enough," said Spelmann sourly.
"Oh, I agree. But far enough to prevent my strayingaccidentally into it if I walk in my sleep. Now tell me, why arewe going to Königswinter?"
"Because it is where Renzow lives."
"Oh, is it? I see. But what do you suppose I can do there?You do not suppose his assailants are townspeople, do you?"
"No," said Spelmann, "but one must start somewhere. Asfor what you can do there, it is a charming place. It is just atthe foot of the Drachenfels. It has an ancient church andnumerous ancient winehouses where you can try the localvintages and ta