Hidden In Plain Sight.
Chapter Nine.
As Freddy, Raif, Harry and Dempsey were beginning to trawl through the SOE files, there came a knock at the study door.
"Come in." said Freddy, slightly annoyed that they were being interrupted so soon after he'd left instructions not to be disturbed.
Abbott entered the room.
"I'm sorry your Lordship." he said. "But there's a call from Detective Inspector Jarvis. He'd needs to speak to either Mr Dempsey or Miss Harriet."
"Ok I got it." said Dempsey, inwardly amused that Abbott still referred to Harry as if she were still single. Old habits die hard. "Lead on Abbott."
He followed him out into the main hall and grabbed the telephone.
"Hey Chas, whats up?"
"We've just had a call from Josh." said Chas. "A DC Campbell from the Met rocked up at the Steele mansion wanting to see Georgina Steele."
"Yeah? Why?"
"Apparently a chap called Lewis, Paul Lewis, is in hospital recovering from being badly messed up by some goons." reported Chas. "It appears he's been having an affair with Mrs Steele and reckons someone in the Steele family found out."
"So the heavies were sent in to warn him off, huh?"
"It looks that way, Dempsey." confirmed Chas. "They also trashed a load of expensive motors in his garage showroom."
"Where is he now?" asked Dempsey.
"The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead." replied Chas. "They put him through it by all accounts. Pulled out the fingernails on four fingers, then broke them before setting about him with baseball bats for good measure."
"Jeez! That's some goddamn warning!" exclaimed Dempsey. "Okay Chas, we'll get over there an' see the guy. Presumably, there's still no word about Hilda?"
"No, not a peep."
"Hmmm, it's comin' up forty-eight hours since she was grabbed." he remarked. "I thought there'd have been contact by now. Somethin' ain't right bout' this. Okay Chas, be in touch."
He replaced the receiver and returned to the study, Harry glancing up at him as he entered.
"What did Chas want?" she asked. Dempsey repeated what he'd been told.
"I wonder if that's what she was so upset about the other day." she mused, recalling Georgina's distressed state. "We need to talk to her as well as this Paul Lewis, Dempsey."
"Yeah we do." he agreed. "But let's get the lowdown from him first. Freddy, do you mind if we peel off and follow this one up?"
"Not at all, James." smiled Freddy. "We'll let you know if we find anything here. Will you be back?"
"Dunno." replied Dempsey. "I gotta feelin' we'll be payin' Georgina Steele a visit after seein' her lover, then it'll be time to pick Alex up."
"Alright. If we do uncover something, you can always bring Alex here for her tea." said Freddy, breaking into a smile "Mrs Thomas will be delighted, she's already under her spell."
"Who is Alex?" asked Raif, looking up from the desk.
"Our daughter." replied Harry. "She's nearly four going on twenty-four!"
"And no doubt utterly stunning." smiled Raif. "I hope to meet her."
"Well look, why don't you stay for dinner, Raif." suggested Freddy. "It's pretty likely we'll be busy all day and probably well into the evening. We can put you up for the night too, if necessary."
"And we'll come straight back after collecting Alex. We may as well stay over too." said Harry.
"Splendid, that's settled then." beamed Freddy. "I'll ask Mrs Thomas to get your rooms ready. Now, come on Raif, we've a lot of work to do."
As Dempsey had predicted, their next stop after interviewing Paul was the Steele mansion. Josh let them in.
"Is she alone?" asked Harry.
"No, her mother-in-law is with her. She hasn't left her side for two days." replied Josh. "The husband's at work."
"And her father-in-law?"
"Oh him. He's not here - hasn't been since yesterday." said Josh, clearly not a fan of Christopher Steele. "He's a piece of work! Impossible to read. I mean, if my granddaughter were kidnapped, I'd be in one hell of a state. Him? Well, I'm sure he must feel something, but you wouldn't know it. Cold as ice."
"Where are the women?" asked Dempsey.
"In the conservatory." replied Josh. "Go through the lounge and you'll see them."
"Ok thanks." said Dempsey.
Georgina saw them approaching and visibly stiffened, her eyes widening and her jaw set hard. She muttered something to the elderly, attractive lady opposite her, who immediately stood up in welcome.
"Hello." she said. "I'm Madeleine Steele, Georgina's mother-in-law. I presume you have some news."
"Not exactly." replied Harry. "We would like to speak to Georgina in private though. Would you excuse us?"
"Why yes, of course." said Madeleine, staring straight at her and not moving an inch. "Nothing serious, I hope?"
"Perhaps not." said Harry, her blue eyes holding Madeleine's gaze, giving nothing away in the silence that followed. Madeleine glanced at Dempsey for any clue, but he remained impassive, his brown eyes leveled at her, unblinking.
"I see." said Madeleine, then turning to Georgina. "I'll be in the kitchen darling, should you need me."
Georgina said nothing, just nodded. When they were alone, she said.
"This is about Paul isn't it."
Harry nodded. "Yes Georgina, it is." she said. "You know he's been attacked don't you."
Georgina couldn't help herself, she burst into tears.
"Y..Yes." she sobbed.
"And you know why." said Harry. "You also know who's behind it, don't you."
"Y..Yes."
"Your husband?" asked Dempsey.
Georgina stared into the garden beyond as she reached into her pocket and took out a tissue. Wiping her eyes, she cleared her throat and looked back at Dempsey and Harry.
"N...No, not Arthur." she said. "His father."
Harry and Dempsey exchanged glances.
"What do you know about your father-in-law?" asked Harry.
"He's pure evil!" hissed Georgina, her eyes full of hate and loathing. "He paid me a visit and told me he knew all about my affair with Paul. Then her proceeded to tell me he was now in hospital and all his cars had been wrecked. He...he.."
She broke down again, this time Harry going to her side and putting a comforting arm around her shoulder.
"Go on Georgina, we know how hard this is, but we need to know everything there is to know."
Georgina fished out some more tissue from her pocket, dabbed her eyes, cleared her throat again and took a deep breath.
"He threatened me!" she said. "He told me that if I didn't obey him and behave like a proper wife to his precious son, he'd kill me! You see, my marriage hasn't been a happy one for several years and my feelings towards Arthur aren't the same anymore. And, of course, that manifests itself in our physical relationship. Hence my affair with Paul."
"And your father-in-law actually threatened to kill you?" asked Harry.
"Yes, in fact he said it was a promise! But what can you do? It's his word against mine. And I expect he's been clever enough not to be linked to Paul's attack or the break-in at his garage."
"Yes, I'm afraid you're probably right, Georgina." said Harry. "And it could make matters a lot worse if we confronted him with it. For the time being, you're going to have to live with it."
"For the time being?" queried Georgina. "What do you mean by that? It suggests there could be an end to this nightmare I call my life and marriage."
A look of alarm spread across Dempsey's face - Harry was playing a dangerous game here, as she was about to go further than he thought prudent. She knew instinctively what he was thinking and gave him a look that said 'trust me, I know what I'm doing here'.
"You'll just have to trust us." said Harry. "We have our suspicions about certain things to do with your father-in-law, but we simply can't divulge them right now as we don't have any conclusive proof. Georgina, you must keep that information to yourself. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have said so much, but you're under enough pressure with Hilda being missing, let alone having this vicious threat hanging over you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes, I think so." she replied. "But what things about Christopher?"
"Georgina, I can't tell you, not yet anyway." said Harry. "Don't make me regret taking you into my confidence. Just take comfort from the fact that your nightmare life might end sooner than you think."
"Alright Harry, thank you." said Georgina. "I promise to keep this to myself. I'll trust you."
"Good." said Harry.
"How is Paul?" asked Georgina suddenly.
"He's in good spirits, considering." replied Harry. "He'd love to hear from you and he's getting better."
"I daren't make contact, Harry." she replied. "But, tell him he's in my thoughts constantly if you see him again."
"I will." agreed Harry, standing up to go, Dempsey too. "We'll see ourselves out."
Georgina stood up and hugged her. "Thank you Harry, I feel better, stronger already. All I need now is Hilda home safe and sound. I'm going out of my mind with worry."
Harry's heart went out to her, Dempsey too was moved. Being parents now, they were acutely aware of the pain Georgina must be suffering.
"We're on it exclusively." said Dempsey. "Any cases we were investigating prior to Hilda's disappearance have been handed to our colleagues."
"Try not to worry too much." said Harry. "I know that sounds ridiculous in the circumstances, but we're doing all in our power to find her. This isn't the first case of its kind we've handled and when it becomes clear just what is required, we'll be on familiar ground. Stay strong."
"I'll try." replied Georgina. "By the way, how is Alex?"
"She's missing Hilda." said Harry. "We dropped by the headmistress's office this morning, incidentally. She's telling everyone Hilda's off sick, so if a parent does contact you at all, that's the cover story."
"Thanks. Mrs Hargreaves-Wilson did call earlier actually, but no-one else has so far."
"Okay Georgina, we'll be in touch." said Harry as she and Dempsey left the room, then made their way back out to the car.
"You were playing with fire back there, honey." said Dempsey as he accelerated away from the mansion. "I jus' hope she don' spill the beans in a weak moment. We don' want that creep Steele or his bozo son gettin' wind of what we may or may not know right now."
"I know." said Harry. "But somehow, I don't think we've much to worry about where Arthur Steele's concerned. He hasn't the faintest idea Georgina was having an affair. And the last thing Georgina's going to do is let her father-in-law know what we discussed."
"Yeah, but her mother-in-law's gonna tell him we paid Georgina a visit."
"Georgina won't say anything." said Harry.
"I sure hope ya right, tiger." replied Dempsey, glancing at his watch. "No time to get to Freddy's an' then back for Alex. Wanna late lunch?"
Later, having collected Alex from school, they arrived at Freddy's just after 4pm and introduced her to Raif.
"How do you do Alex." he said, taking her hand and gently shaking it. "I'm very pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you too." she replied, full of confidence, then turning to Freddy. "Where's Blondie and Gunner?"
"I can see I've made an impression - not." chuckled Raif, as Alex scampered out of the room in search of her beloved labradors. "She is just beautiful. My God, James, you're going to have your work cut out when the boys start taking an interest. She's going to break many a heart."
"Yeah, I guess." replied Dempsey, grinning, then, changing the subject asked. "Any developments?"
"Some." said Freddy. "Simon's been in touch. He's tracked down Madeleine Steele's history, which wasn't too difficult as there are records of her time in Sao Paulo after the war. She was a dancer and was in Brazil legitimately with a dance troupe. But, here's the thing. She's a Jewess. Her parents were gassed at Treblinka."
"What!? So he, an SS Gestapo officer, married a Jew!?" exclaimed Harry. "He's either a raging hypocrite or knows nothing of her heritage."
"I'd wager it's the latter." said Freddy. "But it also begs the question as to whether she knows his true history."
"So has any of this thrown a light on his time in Brazil?" asked Dempsey.
"Well, Simon is working on that." said Freddy. "Now he's found a possible link, he's working to expose more of it. But it does bring us closer to the fact that Christopher Steele and Kurt Scheel are one of the same. If we can come up with the marriage certificate it may confirm his original identity."
"That all depends on whether he was Christopher Steele or Kurt Scheel when he got married, won't it?" asked Harry. "If it's the former, we still haven't got proof he was originally the latter."
"Hells teeth!" exclaimed Dempsey, suddenly full of anger and menace. "I'm almost at the point of gettin' this creep across the table an' grillin' the ass off him. But, he's more'n likely to be a slippery sonofabitch an' I'll get nowhere!"
Harry slipped her right arm through his and with her left hand, gently turned his face towards her. She looked into his eyes, her own soft and blue and kissed his lips.
"Take it easy, cowboy." she whispered, softly. "Your turn will come."
Dempsey grinned and kissed her back, instantly calm.
Raif was mesmerised. Rarely had he seen two people so in tune with each other and such love emanating from every pore.
He glanced at Freddy, who understood what he was thinking and nodded at him.
"At least if we get to see a copy of the marriage certificate, we get a date." said Raif. "From there we may be able to track further back. But his past is so very murky, we'll probably hit a wall again."
"The thing is that ODESSA wasn't the only organisation helping escaped Nazis." said Freddy. "In fact there are those who believe it never did exist and has only slipped into folklore, if you like, through Freddy Forsythe's book."
"Yes that's partly true." said Raif. "After the war, there were countless organizations that assisted escaping Nazis, and some of these groups had names, such as 'Konsul', 'Scharnhorst', 'Sechsgestirn', 'Leibwache' and 'Lustige Brüder'. However, the records do show that there was something called 'Odessa'. Far from being the globalized tentacled monster of popular imagination, it appeared to start as little more than a watchword, and would become a term loosely ascribed to the group that took fugitives from Germany and Austria down to Southern France, and from there to South America."
"So are you sayin' Wiesenthal is a barkin' up the wrong tree?" asked Dempsey.
"No, not exactly James." replied Raif. "But it might do us to see if we can find alternative lines of enquiry."
"Well I still think there's a clue or two in those files of yours Freddy." said Dempsey.
"Yes I agree." said Freddy. "I think we should exhaust that investigation before we start digging elsewhere. But look, we've been at it all day. I think a break and a drink is called for right now, don't you?"
Over at the Steele Property Development Company, Christopher Steele had completed his ransom note, put it into his briefcase and left for home. At six o'clock, the cleaners entered the now empty office suites and began clearing up the rubbish and contents of the waste-paper bins.
As Dolly Jenkins busied herself with the vacuum cleaner, followed by a tin of Pledge and a duster, she hummed away as she went about her work. Pulling the bin liner out of Steele's waste paper basket, she accidently spilled some of the contents on the floor.
Cursing out loud, she groaned as she bent down to pick it all up, but stopped with a piece of torn paper in her hand.
On it was written 'CRIMINAL'. Upon looking closer she realised it was a word cut from a newspaper. She rummaged around in the bin liner some more and brought out further snippets, the words 'NAZI', 'WAR', 'HILDA' and 'DIE' staring her in the face. Looking around to see if anyone was watching, she decided to grab all the pieces and stuffed them into her handbag.
She quickly completed her shift, then caught the number eleven bus and hurried home.
She was intrigued to discover what message these curious bits of paper would read once she'd pieced them all together.