The Doomsday Affair - Whittington Harry (библиотека книг бесплатно без регистрации TXT) 📗

He ordered a Cutty Sark Scotch and ice at the bar and then turned with it in his hand toward the place where the largest crowd was knotted. He would have been more than mildly astonished to see that this was a goldfish pool if Heather McNab had not briefed him so thoroughly at U.N.C.L.E. headquarters less than nine hours ago…

“There she is, swimming down there. Looks like one of the goldfish, doesn’t she?”

“Except the goldfish are up here and she’s in a tank in the basement.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

“You don’t really think she’s swimming around naked in there with those goldfish, do you?”

“So what’s with being naked? She’s no bigger than one of the goldfish,” a woman said.

“Honey, she looks better like that than a lot of us do!”

“How do they do that? Make it look like she’s swimming around with the goldfish?”

“Honey, it’s all done with mirrors.”

“You know that’s what’s wrong with life? Everything. Everything is done with mirrors.”

“Barbry Coast. That’s what she calls herself. Look at her! I wonder what her real name is?”

Solo turned away from the fish pond, wondering if there would be any glamor left if they knew as he did that the nude swimmer’s real name was Esther Kappmyer.

“Esther Kappmyer? Sure, that’s my name, but what does that prove?” She stared at Solo from the fluffy concealment of a terry-cloth robe.

“It proves you’re the one I’ve been looking for,” Solo said, leaning back in the only chair in her closet-sized dressing room in the building basement.

“What do you want with me?” She scrubbed at her dark, wave-rich hair with a bright red towel. He knew from his mirrored view of her that she was a thoughtfully designed young woman, and he saw that nothing improved her looks as much as being near her. And he saw something else. She was a frightened young female. Her dark violet eyes were haunted with something she never talked about, probably tried never to think about—the kind of fear that one never escaped, no matter how fast she ran or how often she changed her name.

“I never date customers, mister,” she said.

Solo gave her a smile that he hoped might reassure her. “I’m afraid my business with you is more serious than the pleasant prospect of a date with you. Do you know a girl named Ursula Baynes?”

Her eyes widened and her body tensed beneath the robe. She swallowed hard, tilted her chin. “What about her?”

“Ursula Baynes and Candy Kane. A dance act employing a silver whip. It played a lot of the larger clubs, and before it broke up it seemed to concentrate on the areas near sensitive military or missile centers.”

“We used to have an act together; what about it? And we used to use silver whips. It’s not what we want, mister, it’s what the public will buy.”

“I’m not here to censure you. I thought maybe you might be willing to talk to me about Ursula.”

She batted at her head with the heel of her hand, saying, “I’m water-logged.” She appeared to be busy getting her body dried and warm. But Solo had seen these signs before—she was attempting to cover up how upset she was, how nervous she had become since he’d mentioned Ursula.

He said, “She’s dead. You know that, don’t you?”

She nodded. “What do you want me to tell you, Mister—what’s your name? Solo? That’s about as believable as mine—Barbry Coast. That has a certain nothing, don’t you think?”

“How well did you know her?”

Barbry Coast tossed her head. “Look. I don’t want to talk about her. She’s dead. What can it help to talk about her now?”

“You’re not afraid that what happened to her—might happen to you?”

He saw her wince. He saw the way she shivered beneath that robe, but she forced a laugh. “Why should it?”

“I don’t know. Why should it have happened to her?”

“I told you I don’t want to talk about it. Maybe Ursula got mixed up in something that was bad news. In her way she was a kook. I don’t know what it is you want to hear from me. I don’t even want to know, because what happened to Ursula could happen to me.”

“Is that what you’re afraid of, Barbry?”

She tried to laugh. “Who’s afraid? I always shake like this. That water’s cold.”

“If you’ll trust me—if you’ll answer some questions the best you know, I’ll protect you.”

She shivered, her violet eyes fixed on his. Her chin tilted slightly. “You know what? Those are probably the exact words you said to Ursula.”

Solo didn’t speak. After a moment, Barbry said, “I’ll tell you this much. If the man who ordered Ursula’s death decided to kill me, no one could protect me.”

Solo stood up. He crossed the narrow space to where the girl stood, looking small and helpless wrapped in the thick robe.

“You do know the man, don’t you?”

“I don’t know anything.”

“Is that why you’re scared to breathe?”

“It’s nothing to you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Barbry. This is a serious business. Deadly. We don’t even know yet how bad it is, only that the plot is urgent enough to have involved a personal adviser to the president of this country.”

“What’s that got to do with me? I’m just trying to make a buck—and stay alive.”

“A lot of other people want to stay alive, too, Barbry. Their lives may depend on what you can tell me—if you will.”

“Why do you think I know anything at all?” Her voice rose and she shook her head wildly. He saw the shadows of hysteria swirling in the depths of her violet eyes. “You know the man who killed Ursula—who ordered her death.”

“No! I don’t!”

“You know him. And you know why he wanted Ursula killed. And you’ve lived in terror since the moment you heard she was dead—”

“Let me alone!” Her voice lifted, shaking.

Solo caught her arms, gripping her gently and yet firmly. Her lips quivering, the hysteria building in her, she tried to break free. She could not.

She burst into tears, crying suddenly in hurting sobs. “Oh, please let me alone.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that. And I don’t believe you want me to.”

“You’re crazy!” She screamed it at him. I never saw you before you walked in here. I never heard of you. That’s the way I want it.”

“No. You don’t know me. But you know—inside—that I’m trying to fight whoever it was who killed Ursula. And you know that whatever chance you have of staying alive depends on your working with me, helping me. Maybe the odds against you are bad. I tried to help Ursula. I couldn’t do it. But I’ll try to help you—and you know that your chances are better with me than without me.”

She shook her head, her mouth trembling, her body shaking. “No. I’m afraid. I only want to stay alive, that’s all I want. I haven’t seen Ursula not for years. That’s the truth. What could I know? Don’t drag me into it. Please don’t.”

“Am I dragging you into it, Barbry? You knew Ursula was frightened—and I believe you know why. Ursula’s death was decided a long time before she arranged to meet me in Hawaii.”

The girl sobbed openly now, almost lost in mindless hysteria. She repeated over and over, “I’m so afraid. I’m so afraid.”

“Why, Barbry, why?”

“No. I don’t know. Let me alone.”

Solo sighed and dropped his hands to his side. “What if I do let you alone, Barbry, what then?”

“I’ll be all right.” But she pressed her trembling hands over her face.

“No. When you walked in here and saw me in that chair, you almost fainted. Why? Because you were afraid I had come—from whom, Barbry? From the man who had killed Ursula?”

“No. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You know something else, too, Barbry. If you even suspect the identity of the man who sentenced Ursula to death, you must realize that you, too, are in the same danger that she was. You’ve got to have help to stay alive. I can walk out—or I can stay. That’s up to you. Either way, you’ve got to face it. Alone. Or with whatever help I’m able to give you. There’s a big organization behind me, Barbry, and I can offer you whatever power they possess to help you.”