He started on a long explanation, but I saw the papers sticking in his pocket and I pulled them out. He made a grab at his gun, and I punched his face – I felt really mean at doing so, but it’s the conduct they expect from an angry officer and it brought him to reason – that and seeing three British soldiers approaching his headlights. I said, ‘These papers look to me quite in order, but I’ll investigate them and send a report of the result to your colonel. He can, of course, ask for the extradition of this lady at any time. All we want is proof of her criminal activities. I’m afraid we don’t regard Hungarian as Russian nationality.’ He goggled at me (my Russian was probably half incomprehensible) and I said to Anna, ‘Get out of the car.’ She couldn’t get by the Russian, so I had to pull him out first. Then I put a packet of cigarettes in his hand, said ‘Have a good smoke’, waved my hand to the others, gave a sigh of relief, and that incident was closed.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

WHILE MARTINS TOLD me how he went back to Anna’s and found her gone, I did some hard thinking. I wasn’t satisfied with the ghost story or the idea that the man with Harry Lime’s features had been a drunken illusion. I took out two maps of Vienna and compared them. I rang up my assistant and, keeping Martins silent with a glass of whisky, asked him if he had located Harbin yet. He said no; he understood he’d left Klagenfurt a week ago to visit his family in the adjoining zone. One always wants to do everything oneself; one has to guard against blaming one’s juniors. I am convinced that I would never have let Harbin out of our clutches, but then I would probably have made all kinds of mistakes that my junior would have avoided. ‘All right,’ I said. ‘Go on trying to get hold of him.’

‘I’m sorry, sir.’

‘Forget it. It’s just one of those things.’

His young enthusiastic voice – if only one could still feel that enthusiasm for a routine job; how many opportunities, flashes of insight one misses simply because a job has become just a job – tingled up the wire. ‘You know, sir, I can’t help feeling that we ruled out the possibility of murder too easily. There are one or two points –’

‘Put them on paper, Carter.’

‘Yes, sir. I think, sir, if you don’t mind my saying so,’ (Carter is a very young man) ‘we ought to have him dug up. There’s no real evidence that he died just when the others said.’

‘I agree, Carter. Get on to the authorities.’