Chapter 5

Bertie takes charge.

 

After Bertie had finished his phone call to Biggles, he quickly prepared some food. When he had finished eating he sat in the large living room and looked out over the harbour of St Peterport, thinking.

All his efforts to find more information in the local authority archives had proved fruitless. All he could find was a report on the capture of Dietrich back in 1945 and a brief interrogation report made by a military intelligence officer which confirmed that the man had been handed over to the Russians because of suspected war crimes.

Bertie felt it did not make any sense for him to continue with his investigation at the local authorities because Biggles and Ginger were already well ahead of him with their own investigations at Alderney.

While he was considering all this, the doorbell rang shrilly.  He walked down the corridor and opened the front door to find Adjutant Boyer on the doorstep. He invited the policeman inside, took his hat and coat and hung them in the hall.

Bertie offered the Adjutant a seat in the living room and after serving him a cold lemon squash he politely inquired what had brought him there.

“Well Mr Lissie," he said inaccurately but from ignorance as Bertie no longer used his title, "I have been told confidentially by the higher authorities that Mr Bigglesworth is taking care of the Dietrich case personally and my governor asked me to come over and offer my help in this case.”

Bertie told the policeman what he knew and that he was going over to Alderney to meet Biggles as soon as possible because strange things had been happening over there.  He added that he also hoped to receive a message from Algy and von Stalhein soon.

Bertie asked the policeman to make some inquiries about any Russian and Israeli visitors over the last few weeks and requested he also keep an eye on any new visitors from those countries.  If there were any new events or arrivals, which might have something to do with the case, Bertie asked to be kept informed.

“Well that shouldn't be too difficult,” said the policeman. “Every foreigner has to fill out a form before they can enter the Channel Islands and that's handed over to HM Customs & Excise." 

The main business of his visit concluded, the policeman left again, after a little casual small talk, promising Bertie he would keep a close eye on the case.

Bertie went back into the living room and thoughtfully poured himself a large Scotch and soda.

Later that night, Algy rang him just before he was about to turn in and told him that Major Ferguson's office had not been able to advance the case any further, but that von Stalhein had met with one of his former colleagues who had informed him about the Russian activity that was unfolding, with the Israelis furtively following these developments closely.

This was because of the so-called “Fritsch” conspiracy of 1945. This plot was suspected of having been set up by former Nazis who were fleeing to South America with large sums of money. Investigations back in 1945 could not prove anything and the case was left in abeyance. Von Stalhein had now become convinced that such a conspiracy must have existed and that Dietrich was a key figure in the plot either then or now.

Bertie in turn told Algy about Biggles' and Ginger's experiences on Alderney and asked him to come back immediately so they could all go to Alderney together.

Algy promised to return to Guernsey as early as possible the next morning and told Bertie to inform the air traffic control tower of the Islander's ETA so they could fly straight off to Alderney and avoid wasting any time.

Bertie replaced the receiver, poured himself another Scotch and soda and after he had drunk it slowly, musing on what Algy had told him, he went to bed.

The next morning Bertie called the tower and was told that the Islander, with Algy and von Stalhein, was due to arrive around 11 o'clock that morning.

After a full English breakfast Bertie made a pot of fresh coffee, which he put into a thermos flask, left the house and drove towards St Peterport to buy some fresh sandwiches assuming Algy and von Stalhein would be hungry when they got to Guernsey and knowing how bad tempered Algy became when he was hungry.

At five to eleven the Islander had landed and Bertie, with permission from the airport authorities, boarded the Islander immediately through the cabin door, which von Stalhein opened for him.  Algy took off again as soon as von Stalhein had closed the door after Bertie.

“Can’t you leave an old hungry man in peace?” complained von Stalhein.   "We haven't even had time for a bite to eat."

“Look what I have here, Erich old boy,” said Bertie with a smile. “Coffee and sandwiches.” Bertie put the flask and pack of sandwiches into von Stalhein's hands and left him looking astonished as he joined Algy in the cockpit.

"What ho, old boy!" he greeted him.

Algy had just received permission to take off, so he merely nodded to Bertie, concentrating on what he was doing. When the Islander had levelled off and been pointed in the direction of Alderney, Bertie took over the Islander, leaving Algy to join von Stalhein in the cabin behind, drinking the hot coffee and eating the sandwiches.

“Any news, Lissie?” asked von Stalhein. “Did you speak to Bigglesworth?”

“No, there's no news," replied Bertie, "and Biggles did not phone again this morning.  The last I heard, he and Ginger were going to go early this morning and have a look at the rock face where the Israeli boy disappeared at low tide.”

“When we arrive at Alderney, we had better go straight to that guest house where Biggles and Ginger are staying and try to contact them.  If they're not there, we can go straight to that pub you mentioned,” said Algy decisively.

Alderney came into sight and Bertie received permission for an immediate landing.

He parked the Islander on the apron next to the Grumman Goose and they all jumped out of the plane.  They reported to the harbour master and then left for St Anne in a taxi.

Biggles and Ginger were not at the guesthouse and the proprietor told them that they had not had their breakfast that morning either.  From the guesthouse Algy and his party walked towards the pub but there was no sign of Biggles and Ginger there either.

“They must have run into something this morning,” opined Algy. “It's not like Biggles not to keep us informed.”

“I think we had better stay here, then if Biggles and Ginger don't show up within the hour we can go up and get some information out of that Israeli chap.  If he isn't inclined to be co-operative then I'll arrest him,” stated Bertie angrily. The others agreed. They ordered coffee and waited.

Two rounds of coffee and a lunch later they were still waiting.  Finally Bertie had had enough and told the others to go into action. Although they were unarmed, they went to the bar and asked the waiter if the Israeli was in his room. The waiter told them that he had just taken lunch up to him in room 5.

Muttering something about formal business with the Israeli and side-stepping the waiter, thus avoiding having to ask his permission, they all went through the door and climbed the stairs.

Algy knocked at the door of room 5.

“Who is there?” asked a male voice with a pronounced foreign accent.

“Room service,” replied Bertie.

The door was opened and they all entered the room immediately without waiting for permission and closed the door behind them.

“I assume that your name is Levi?’ asked Bertie briskly. “We are British Police Officers," he added, stretching the truth a little, "and we want to talk to you.”

The boy sat down on the bed. “About what do you want to talk?” he asked curiously, apparently not at all nervous despite the sudden raid.

“We are looking for our two friends,” said Bertie severely. “I assume you can tell us more about them. Yesterday you were wandering around this island.  When you walked down to the beach you suddenly disappeared when the tide came in again. Only a little while later you were seen back here in St Anne but you didn't pass our friends.  Since they gave me this information my friends have vanished from Alderney. I'd like you to tell us what happened."

“I am afraid I cannot recall that I have met or even seen your two friends,” said the Israeli. “Do you have some Police identification gentlemen?”

Bertie flushed. “I am afraid not,” he said regretfully. “Actually we are retired and we only stumbled on this case by accident.”

“I am afraid that I’ll have to ask you to leave my room then,” said the Israeli in a decisive tone of voice.

“Just a moment, sir,” said Algy tenaciously. “We know that you shot a Russian KGB agent on Guernsey and that you are in the possession of a map which might lead us to our friends. I can also tell you that I have a strong feeling that we are on your side. Those Russian KGB agents are led by a man named Karkoff, Ludwig Karkoff… We ran into him a long time ago when we were working for Scotland Yard's Air Police department.”

The Israeli was now clearly in a quandary and did not know how to answer these statements.   An answer, however, came from behind them. On the threshold of the bathroom stood a beautiful girl with blond hair and glittering blue eyes. Although she was blonde, her skin had a sandy-coloured tinge. In her right hand she held a dangerous looking black pistol, which was pointed at the three friends.

“You are looking for Inspector Bigglesworth?” she enquired in English with a slight accent.

Bertie was the first to recover. “Yes. We are looking for our friends Bigglesworth and Hebblethwaite,” he told her.

 “Just a moment please,” she replied and started to talk to Levi in a language that none of the comrades understood.

“Then you must be Lacey and Lissie,” she remarked.

“Yes," replied Bertie. "I'm Lissie and this is my friend Lacey.  That is also a friend of ours," he pointed to von Stalhein without introducing him properly. Erich just bowed politely without remedying the omission. The woman put down the pistol and held out her hand to the three friends for them to shake hands.

“My name is Merav Manor," she told them. "This is my colleague, Mordechai Levi. We both work for Israeli intelligence, The Mossad. I am delighted to meet you here in person,” she added.  “I have heard a lot about your missions in the past. Unfortunately we do not know anything about Bigglesworth and the other with that difficult name, was it Hebbletewaiteh?”

“Call them Biggles and Ginger,” said Algy smiling. “That's what everybody calls them and it's a lot easier to say. Yesterday Biggles and Ginger followed Mordechai here down the rocks to the beach.  Then he suddenly disappeared and later there he was walking in St Anne again.”

Mordechai had now recovered his composure and shook hands with the three friends as well.

“Yes. You are right. I have vanished at sea level because I entered a secret bunker over there and later I left the bunker again through a special exit which is hard to find on top of the rocks.” Mordechai told them everything that had happened on Guernsey before, which more or less confirmed what the friends already knew.

All he did not know about was Biggles' and Ginger's disappearance because he was not aware that they were in Alderney.  "I regret to inform you," he concluded, "that either they have drowned or are trapped inside the bunker because they do not have the map.”

“Can we go to the bunker now?” asked Algy eagerly.

“I am afraid not. We have to wait till low tide again. I do not know how to open the secret exit on top of the rock. If you close it, it is locked again from the inside,” said Mordechai regretfully.

“We must go and have a look tonight at low tide,” said Algy decisively. “Meanwhile you can tell us all about this case and how you became involved in this.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” said Merav. “Shall I order us some tea?”  They all agreed and Mordechai left the room to order the tea at the bar of the pub.