The King is Dead Read Online Free Page A

thunder, and Ellery had even made a note of the take-off time, but these were mechanical observations in a hopeless cause. ‘How secret can you keep an island?’
    â€˜There probably aren’t five men in the United States who know where it is.’
    â€˜How do you know?’
    â€˜I heard an earful from one of the brass who’d been head of liaison at Bendigo Midwestern headquarters, in Illinois, till about two years after the war. He was feeling brotherly after six Martinis — I’d got his son out of a bad jam in New York.’
    â€˜I don’t get the point of it all,’ said Ellery, staring at the blinded windows.
    â€˜Seems this King Bendigo’s always been a secretive gent,’ said the Inspector reflectively. ‘Some men never grow up. Play the same games, on a bigger scale. He probably had a dark cellar as a kid, a secret hideout, and buried treasure you got to with a map drawn in blood.
    â€˜Take this island of his. There’s no earthly reason the General could see why Bendigo would need an island home office. Or why, if he had to have an island, he’d make a mystery of its whereabouts. During the war he operated from the mainland, like anybody else.’
    â€˜Then Bendigo Island is a post-war development?’
    â€˜Yes and no. The way I heard it, the island was owned by one of our allies. England or France, maybe, but I’m guessing. It was one of those islands that never got onto a map, like so many in the Pacific, only this one is supposed to be in the Atlantic.’
    â€˜I don’t believe it. I mean that it’s not on the map.’
    â€˜I’m not asking you to believe it,’ said his father. ‘I’m telling you what I heard. The likeliest explanation is that it’s on the map, all right, but as an uninhabited island. Maybe surrounded by dangerous reefs and off the regular sea and air lanes.
    â€˜Well, during the war,’ continued the Inspector, ‘the government that owned the island decided to prepare it for an emergency hideout. It may have been during the Battle of Britain, if it was England. If it was France, it was probably after the fall of Paris but before De Gaulle fell foul of F.D.R.
    â€˜Anyway, the British, or the French Resistance, or what-have-you, began secret construction on the island. It was then known as Location XXX, and only a few of the top brass in Washington knew anything about it. It was done with the consent of the United States government, of course — for all I know, with us supplying most of the materials.
    â€˜According to the General’s story, they built for keeps — a tremendous administration building, a lot of it under ground, shelters, barracks, arsenals, factories, a couple of airfields — the works; they even dredged out an artificial harbour. The idea was that if the government of the country that owned the island had to leave home base in a hurry, this was where they’d evacuate to. The whole shoreline was camouflaged and the waters around the island mined. The development of radar made it possible to anticipate the approach of aircraft, too.’
    Ellery said darkly, ‘I’ve never heard a syllable of this.’
    â€˜You weren’t supposed to. It was one of the best-kept secrets of the war. As it turned out, the island was never used. The installations were finished just about when the European phase of the war ended. And after Hiroshima, atomic developments made the whole project seem kind of silly.’
    â€˜And Bendigo bought it?’
    â€˜Leased it on a ninety-nine-year lease. Complete, just the way they’d built it, right down to the radar. The lease was cleared with Washington, but even if Washington didn’t like the idea they couldn’t do much about it. Bendigo had been too important during the war. And he’s still at it.’
    The Inspector stopped. One of the uniformed stewards was approaching.
    â€˜Would you