Secret Mission
The leaves were budding and the fruit trees were in flower. Squirrels chased one another amongst the branches, tails trailing behind them. Spring was in the air but it still felt cold. Humphrey plodded along behind Kirstin and tried to keep up with her. His mother was twenty years older than him but looked younger than her sixty-seven years. Humphrey looked older than his forty-seven. People sometimes took them for husband and wife. That was deeply humiliating.
He tried to tell himself that it was a matter of genes. People have different metabolisms. Some can stay fit and healthy on a meagre diet. Others suffer severe deprivation if they restrict their food intake to starvation rations. They need quantity and variety to get the body’s essential life-sustaining mechanisms working properly.
Kirstin had insisted that they take an early-morning walk in the park. Humphrey preferred an early-morning breakfast in the Café Noir. Kirstin said the place wasn’t safe. The tables were too close together and it was too easy to hear what people were saying. She remained deeply suspicious of a woman who spoke French with a strong Spanish accent and wore clothes cut in the South American style.
They had just received another text message from David. This one reported a highly suspicious accident that had wiped out most of what remained of the de Villiers family. A South American connection seemed likely.
‘Mario suspects that his mother was behind the latest fatalities,’ Kirstin said. ‘She comes from Columbia and speaks with a strong Spanish accent.’
‘She could hardly be the same woman, Mother.’
‘What same woman?’
‘The one in the Café Noir. If Mario is correct, his mother would have been in Cape Town at the time, driving behind Henry de Villiers’ car with Olaf. He would have been sitting beside her with a handset, trying to kill Uncle Henry.’
‘I’m not suggesting she was Mario’s mother,’ Kirstin pulled a face. ‘I’m just saying that she was listening to what we were saying and we should have been more careful about what we were saying. We were discussing the case in a public place and we were speaking English, which is an almost universally understood language. Next time, speak in Danish or, better still, Chinese.’
‘We are speaking English now, Mother.’
‘Yes. But this is not a public place.’
It looked public to Humphrey. There were no notices to say it was private. He was tempted to suggest that the squirrels might be wired up and spying on them but rejected the idea. Kirstin was showing enough irritation already. He decided to get the discussion back on track.
‘Do you think Mario guessed right?’
‘That his mother used Olaf to kill what remained of Petra’s relatives … is that what you are saying?’
‘Yes, Mother. There is a high probability. Mario thinks she did it because a death sentence had been passed on Uncle Henry and his family by the Cabal. That could be correct. Olaf is their hitman and Mario’s mum is in charge of him. However, there could be a second reason.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Mario’s mum has been trying to bring Mario and Petra together. With the rest of the de Villiers family dead, Petra would be the sole surviving heir to her grandfather’s vast mining empire. The combination of the de Villiers and Mendez-Klein fortunes would put them right at the top. No other mining family would equal them.’
‘They think in terms of dynasty.’
‘They do, Mother. That’s what drives them on. They believe they can achieve immortality by founding bigger empires than those that went before. The early Chinese emperors had the same idea. They built big tombs and filled them with terracotta warriors. It didn’t work. The masses invaded the tombs, took the weapons from the warriors and used them to rebel against their rulers.’
‘And it won’t work in this case either,’ Kirstin smiled. ‘The Mendez-Kleins want to mate their son with Richard de Villiers’ only surviving child. From what David says, we may assume that the two young people are repulsed by the idea of empire and personal gain. Petra is dedicated to human rights and Mario wants to save the planet.’
‘David thinks they’re wet behind the ears.’
‘David thinks all university students are wet behind the ears, Humphrey. That’s not the point. Mario and Petra are opposed to the Cabal and Mario knows a lot about them. We need to talk to that young man. In particular, we must find out what he knows about Olaf Magnusson.’
‘How are you going with Kate Bromley?’
‘Kate has found a suitable plane and mapped out a route down to South Africa. She has picked a Cessna. I’ve said you will finance it.’
Humphrey drew in a deep breath.
‘You’ve said what?’
‘I said you would finance the hire of the plane. You made a fortune out of that Ming vase. It’s the least you can do. David is at risk. We are obliged to rescue him.’
Kate signed her letter of resignation and wondered if it was the right thing to do. Being Lady of the Manor had advantages as well as disadvantages. She might not own Bromley Abbey but she had access to free-board-and-lodging so long as she went along with the trustees and played their silly games. They needed her. She was a Bromley. No one else could fill her ancestral role. No one else had such good publicity value.
She screwed up the letter and wrote another saying she was going on a secret mission. That would get them excited. Secret missions were the sort of thing the television people loved. The public lapped them up and that was good publicity for Bromley Abbey and the safari park. A suitable video camera and other equipment would, of course, be required to obtain footage of the necessary quality. An advance of five thousand pounds would be in order. They could pay it into her bank account and continue to pay her regular wage while she was away.
They needed to know that she couldn’t be taken for granted. She was worth a fortune in advertising. They would have to pay through the nose if they hired a PR-company.
She returned her attention to her maps. Past experience had told her that it is best to mount clandestine operations from places where the authorities are not over strict about regulations. Her contacts in Madagascar had assured her that they could find places in that vast country where suitable people could be found.
Kirstin said Humphrey would put up the money for the hire of a Cessna and fund other expenses. Her mission was to rescue David from somewhere in South Africa and take him and three others to safety somewhere in Europe. The details would be worked out as the operation progressed.