The Swiss Spy Read Online Free

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money would not be in the deposit account, it would be with you in Switzerland.
Apparently, he – you – may well have got away with it had not the matron at the
home overheard some conversation about it between yourself and Mr Hart, and
contacted the police.’
    ‘It would all have been paid back, I promise you. Once
I deposited it in Switzerland, I would have transferred what I owed back. It
seemed easier to send the money back from Switzerland rather than wait for
probate then have it transferred from London.’
    ‘Really? All we need to do now is find the money, eh
Hunter? Do you want me to hazard a guess as to where it could be?’
    Henry sat very still and stared across the airport
as Edgar stood up and walked around the desk. Once in front of Henry he bent
down to pick up the two leather briefcases and placed them both on the desk.
    ‘Keys?’
    Without saying anything or diverting his gaze from
the runway, Henry reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and produced a
set of keys, which he handed to Edgar.
    It took Edgar a full 20 minutes to remove all the
bundles of banknotes from the two briefcases, assembling the different
denominations in separate piles. Not a word was exchanged during this process,
which Henry watched with some interest, as if he had never seen so much money before.
By the time Edgar had finished, there were four piles: one comprised the
bundles of ten shilling notes, another the one pound notes, then five pound
notes and ten pound notes. The pile of the large, white fives was by far the
largest.
    Edgar stepped back from the desk and stood beside Henry.
The entire surface of the desk was covered in money.
    ‘I’ve only of course been able to do an approximate
count, but I’d say that there’s seven thousand pounds there. Would that be
correct, Mr Hunter?’
    ‘More or less. I think you’ll find it’s more like
six thousand, eight hundred pounds. Mr Hart claimed rather late in the day he
needed another two hundred pounds – for expenses, apparently.’
    ‘Two hundred pounds doesn’t seem to me to be very
much considering the impact this is likely to have on his professional career.’
    ‘It’s all been rather rushed, Edgar. As it was such
a large sum of cash we had to withdraw it from a main branch of the Midland
Bank in the city. We were only able to get hold of it this morning.’
    ‘Yes, I’m aware of all that Mr Hunter.’ Edgar was
still standing next to Henry, with a hand on his shoulder. ‘In a moment some
colleagues of mine are going to come and take you away. I shall look after the
money and all your possessions. We shall meet again in a few days.’
     
    ***
     
    A
few minutes later, Henry Hunter had been escorted from the airport in handcuffs
by three uniformed police officers. In the office overlooking the runway, Edgar
removed his tie, lit another cigarette and dialled a London number from the
telephone nestling between the bundles of banknotes on the desk.
    ‘It’s Edgar.’
    ‘I thought it might be you. How did it go?’
    ‘Very much according to plan.’
    ‘Good. We’re on then?’
    ‘Yes. Indeed. We’re on, as you put it Porter.’
    ‘And what’s he like?’
    ‘Rather as we were expecting. Not altogether the
most agreeable of types, but then that’s hardly a disqualification in our line
of work, is it?’
    ‘Too true… and, um, any hint at all of… you know?’
    ‘No, none whatsoever. He was rather impressive in
that respect, I must say. Had one not been aware, one would really have had no
idea at all.’
    ‘Splendid. What now?’
    ‘I think he needs a few days on his own. It ought to
be easy enough after that.’
     
    ***

Chapter 2: London, August 1939
     
    It
was early on a blazing hot Monday afternoon – one of the first truly hot days
that August – when Edgar stepped out into Whitehall and paused for a good
minute or two on the pavement to enjoy the sun. There was an uncharacteristic
bounce in his step as he strolled up Whitehall