1、Chapter 1The man behind the desk moved a heavy glass paper weight four inches to the right. His face was not so much thoughtful or abstracted as expressionless. He had the pale complexion that comes from living most of the day in artificial light. This man, you felt, was an indoor man. A man of desk
2、s and files. The fact that to reach his office you had to walk through long twisting underground corridors was somehow strangely appropriate. It would have been difficult to guess his age. He looked neither old nor young. His face was smooth and unwrinkled, and in his eyes was a great tiredness. The
3、 other man in the room was older. He was dark with a small military moustache. There was about him an alert nervous energy. Even now, unable to sit still, he was pacing up and down, from time to time throwing off a remark in a jerky manner. Reports! he said explosively. Reports, reports and more rep
4、orts, and none of them any damn good! The man at the desk looked down at the papers in front of him. On top was an official card headed, Betterton, Thomas Charles. After the name was an interrogation mark. The man at the desk nodded thoughtfully. He said, Youve followed up these reports and none of
5、them any good? The other shrugged his shoulders. How can one tell? he asked. The man behind the desk sighed. Yes, he said, there is that. One cant tell really. The older man went on with a kind of machine gun volley abruptness. Reports from Rome; reports from Touraine; seen on the Riviera; noticed i
6、n Antwerp; definitely identified in Oslo; positively seen in Biarritz; observed behaving suspiciously in Strasburg; seen on the beach at Ostend with a glamorous blonde; noticed walking in the streets in Brussels with a greyhound! Hasnt been seen yet in the Zoo with his arm round a zebra, but I dares
7、ay that will come! Youve no particular fancy yourself, Wharton? Personally I had hopes of the Antwerp report, but it hasnt led to anything. Of course by now. the young man stopped speaking and seemed to go into a coma. Presently he came out of it again and said cryptically, Yes, probably. and yet -
8、I wonder? Colonel Wharton sat down abruptly on the arm of a chair. But weve got to find out, he said insistently. Weve got to break the back of all this how and why and where? You cant lose a tame scientist every month or so and have no idea how they go or why they go or where! Is it where we think
9、- or isnt it? Weve always taken it for granted that it is, but now Im not so sure. Youve read all the last dope on Betterton from America? The man behind the desk nodded. Usual Left Wing tendencies at the period when everyone had them. Nothing of a lasting or permanent nature as far as can be found
10、out. Did sound work before the war though nothing spectacular. When Mannheim escaped from Germany Betterton was assigned as Assistant to him, and ended by marrying Mannheims daughter. After Mannheims death he carried on, on his own, and did brilliant work. He leaped into fame with the startling disc
11、overy of ZE Fission. ZE Fission was a brilliant and absolutely revolutionary discovery. It put Betterton absolutely tops. He was all set for a brilliant career over there, but his wife had died soon after their marriage and he was all broken up over it. He came to England. He has been at Harwell for
12、 the last eighteen months. Just six months ago he married again. Anything there? asked Wharton sharply. The other shook his head. Not that we can find out. Shes the daughter of a local solicitor. Worked in an insurance office before her marriage. No violent political affinities so far as weve been a
13、ble to discover. ZE Fission, said Colonel Wharton gloomily, with distaste. What they mean by all these terms beats me. Im old fashioned. I never really even visualised a molecule, but here they are nowadays splitting up the universe! Atom bombs, Nuclear fission, ZE fission, and all the rest of it. A
14、nd Betterton was one of the splitters in chief! What do they say of him at Harwell? Quite a pleasant personality. As to his work, nothing outstanding or spectacular. Just variations on the practical applications of ZEF. Both men were silent for a moment. Their conversation had been desultory, almost
15、 automatic. The security reports lay in a pile on the desk and the security reports had had nothing of value to tell. He was thoroughly screened on arrival here, of course, said Wharton. Yes, everything was quite satisfactory. Eighteen months ago, said Wharton thoughtfully. It gets em down, you know
16、. Security precautions. The feeling of being perpetually under the microscope, the cloistered life. They get nervy, queer. Ive seen it often enough. They begin to dream of an ideal world. Freedom and brotherhood, and pool-all-secrets and work for the good of humanity! Thats exactly the moment when s
17、omeone whos more or less the dregs of humanity, sees his chance and takes it! He rubbed his nose. Nobodys so gullible as the scientist, he said. All the phony mediums say so. Cant quite see why. The other smiled, a very tired smile. Oh, yes, he said, it would be so. They think they know, you see. Th
18、ats always dangerous. Now, our kind are different. Were humble minded men. We dont expect to save the world, only pick up one or two broken pieces and remove a monkey wrench or two when its jamming up the works. He tapped thoughtfully on the table with his finger. If I only knew a little more about
19、Betterton, he said. Not his life and actions, but the revealing, everyday things. What sort of jokes he laughed at. What made him swear. Who were the people he admired and who made him mad. Wharton looked at him curiously. What about the wife - youve tried her? Several times. Cant she help? The othe
20、r shrugged his shoulders. She hasnt so far. You think she knows something? She doesnt admit, of course, that she knows anything. All the established reactions: worry, grief, desperate anxiety, no cue or suspicion beforehand, husbands life perfectly normal, no stress of any kind - and so on and so on
21、. Her own theory is that hes been kidnapped. And you dont believe her? Im handicapped, said the man behind the desk bitterly. I never believe anybody. Well, said Wharton slowly, I suppose one has to keep an open mind. Whats she like? Ordinary sort of woman youd meet any day playing bridge. Wharton n
22、odded comprehendingly. That makes it more difficult, he said. Shes here to see me now. We shall go over all the same ground again. Its the only way, said Wharton. I couldnt do it, though. Havent got the patience. He got up. Well, I wont keep you. Weve not got much further, have we. Unfortunately, no
23、. You might do a special check up on that Oslo report. Its a likely spot. Wharton nodded and went out. The other man raised the receiver by his elbow and said: Ill see Mrs. Betterton now. Send her in. He sat staring into space until there was a tap on the door and Mrs. Betterton was shown in. She wa
24、s a tall woman, about twenty-seven years of age. The most noticeable thing about her was a most magnificent head of auburn red hair. Beneath the splendour of this, her face seemed almost insignificant. She had the blue eyes and light eyelashes that so often go with red hair. She was wearing no make-
25、up, he noticed. He considered the significance of that while he was greeting her, settling her comfortably in a chair near the desk. It inclined him very slightly to the belief that Mrs. Betterton knew more than she had said she knew. In his experience, women suffering from violent grief and anxiety
26、 did not neglect their make-up. Aware of the ravages grief made in their appearance, they did their best to repair those ravages. He wondered if Mrs. Betterton calculatingly abstained from make-up, the better to sustain the part of the distracted wife. She said now, rather breathlessly, Oh, Mr. Jess
27、op, I do hope - is there any news? He shook his head and said gently, Im so sorry to ask you to come up like this, Mrs. Betterton. Im afraid we havent got any definite news for you. Olive Betterton said quickly, I know. You said so in your letter. But I wondered if - since then - oh! I was glad to c
28、ome up. Just sitting at home wondering and brooding - thats the worst of it all. Because theres nothing one can do! The man called Jessop said soothingly: You mustnt mind, Mrs. Betterton, if I go over the same ground again and again, ask you the same questions, stress the same points. You see its al
29、ways possible that some small point might arise. Something that you hadnt thought of before, or perhaps hadnt thought worth mentioning. Yes. Yes, I understand. Ask me all over again about everything. The last time you saw your husband was on the 23rd of August? Yes. That was when he left England to
30、go to Paris to a Conference there. Yes. Jessop went on rapidly, He attended the first two days of the Conference. The third day he did not turn up. Apparently he had mentioned to one of his colleagues that he was going instead for a trip on a bateau mouche that day. A bateau mouche? Whats a bateau m
31、ouche? Jessop smiled. One of those small boats that go along the Seine. He looked at her sharply. Does that strike you as unlike your husband? She said doubtfully, It does, rather. I should have thought hed be so keen on what was going on at the Conference. Possibly. Still the subject for discussion
32、 on this particular day was not one in which he had any special interest, so he might reasonably have given himself a day off. But it doesnt strike you as being quite like your husband? She shook her head. He did not return that evening to his hotel, went on Jessop. As far as can be ascertained he d
33、id not pass any frontier, certainly not on his own passport. Do you think he could have had a second passport, in another name perhaps? Oh, no, why should he? He watched her. You never saw such a thing in his possession? She shook her head with vehemence. No, and I dont believe it. I dont believe it
34、 for a moment. I dont believe he went away deliberately as you all try to make out. Somethings happened to him, or else - or else perhaps hes lost his memory. His health had been quite normal? Yes. He was working rather hard and sometimes felt a little tired, nothing more than that. Hed not seemed w
35、orried in any way or depressed? He wasnt worried or depressed about anything! With shaking fingers she opened her bag and took out her handkerchief. Its all so awful. Her voice shook. I cant believe it. Hed never have gone off without a word to me. Somethings happened to him. Hes been kidnapped or h
36、es been attacked perhaps. I try not to think it but sometimes I feel that that must be the solution. He must be dead. Now please, Mrs. Betterton, please - theres no need to entertain that supposition yet. If hes dead, his body would have been discovered by now. It might not. Awful things happen. He
37、might have been drowned or pushed down a sewer. Im sure anything could happen in Paris. Paris, I can assure you, Mrs. Betterton, is a very well policed city. She took the handkerchief away from her eyes and stared at him with sharp anger. I know what you think, but it isnt so! Tom wouldnt sell secre
38、ts or betray secrets. He wasnt a communist. His whole life is an open book. What were his political beliefs, Mrs. Betterton? In America he was a Democrat, I believe. Here he voted Labour. He wasnt interested in politics. He was a scientist, first and last. She added defiantly, He was a brilliant sci
39、entist. Yes, said Jessop, he was a brilliant scientist. Thats really the crux of the whole matter. He might have been offered, you know, very considerable inducements to leave this country and go elsewhere. Its not true. Anger leapt out again. Thats what the papers try to make out. Thats what you al
40、l think when you come questioning me. Its not true. Hed never go without telling me, without giving me some idea. And he told you - nothing? Again he was watching her keenly. Nothing. I dont know where he is. I think he was kidnapped, or else, as I say, dead. But if hes dead, I must know. I must kno
41、w soon. I cant go on like this, waiting and wondering. I cant eat or sleep. Im sick and ill with worry. Cant you help me? Cant you help me at all? He got up then and moved round his desk. He murmured, Im so very sorry, Mrs. Betterton, so very sorry. Let me assure you that we are trying our very best
42、 to find out what has happened to your husband. We get reports in every day from various places. Reports from where? she asked sharply. What do they say? He shook his head. They all have to be followed up, sifted and tested. But as a rule, I am afraid, theyre vague in the extreme. I must know, she m
43、urmured brokenly again. I cant go on like this. Do you care for your husband very much, Mrs. Betterton? Of course I care for him. Why, weve only been married six months. Only six months. Yes, I know. There was - forgive me for asking - no quarrel of any kind between you? Oh, no! No trouble over - an
44、y other woman? Of course not. Ive told you. We were only married last April. Please believe that Im not suggesting such a thing is likely, but one has to take every possibility into account that might allow for his going off in this way. You say he had not been upset lately, or worried - not on edge
45、 - not nervy in any way? No, no, no! People do get nervy, you know, Mrs. Betterton, in such a job as your husband had. Living under exacting security conditions. In fact - he smiled, - its almost normal to be nervy. She did not smile back. He was just as usual, she said stolidly. Happy about his wor
46、k? Did he discuss it at all with you? No, it was all so technical. You dont think he had any qualms over its - destructive possibilities, shall I say? Scientists do feel that sometimes. He never said anything of the kind. You see, Mrs. Betterton, he leaned forward over the desk, dropping some of his
47、 impassiveness, what I am trying to do is to get a picture of your husband. The sort of man he was. And somehow youre not helping me. But what more can I say or do? Ive answered all your questions. Yes, youve answered my questions, mostly in the negative. I want something positive, something constructive. Do you see what I mean? You can look for a man so much better when you know what kind of a man he is.
