Free Wallace at Bay by Alexander Wilson Page B

to Beust at all unless the trail leads to Vienna. A lot will depend on Carter.’
    That young man, as cheerful as ever, entered the room presently. Wallace waved him to a chair.
    ‘Does the name Modjeska convey anything to you, Carter?’ he asked.
    ‘Yes, sir,’ replied the other promptly. ‘It was one of the names shouted by Casaroli just before Haeckel shot him.’
    ‘It was. Well, the individual in question is in London, staying at the Canute Hotel. He was there ten days ago, but has returned.It seems fairly obvious that it was he whom Pestalozzi visited the night before his death. Major Brien suggested that an emissary of the anarchist organisation would be likely to come to London in order to discover if any information concerning them had fallen into the hands of the authorities. He also suggested that the Canute Hotel, having been used once, might be used again. As a result Maddison made enquiries. Modjeska arrived yesterday.’
    Carter was leaning forward in his chair, his face alight with eagerness. At that moment he looked barely twenty-five, though he was in his thirty-second year.
    ‘Is he there under his own name, sir?’ he asked.
    Sir Leonard nodded.
    ‘Now listen, Carter. I am determined to root out the whole gang of anarchists. It presents, I firmly believe, a terrible menace to all people of royal blood. At the moment we know little about the organisation, except that it has agents or sympathisers in twelve capitals of Europe, and that two important members of it are Modjeska and a man named Dimitrinhov. Fortunately Modjeska is in London, and our trail will commence with him. You are to go to the Canute Hotel, and take a room there. I want you to alter your appearance sufficiently to make yourself look like a man to whom the world has not been too kind. Appear resentful, sullen, and a trifle reckless, as though your woes have driven you to it. In short, I want you to appear the type of young fellow who would be likely to appeal to a man of Modjeska’s kidney. He is certain to be rather at a loss for help in acquiring the information he has, come to obtain. It would be a great step in our favour if he chose you. Don’t force yourself on his attention, mind – in fact avoid him, but air your grievances to the other guests pretty forcibly, taking care that he hears youoccasionally, especially when resentment at your hard lot causes you to utter revolutionary sentiments. You get the idea?’
    ‘Perfectly, sir,’ grinned Carter.
    ‘For heaven’s sake don’t go there looking as cheerful as that,’ commented Brien.
    ‘Not on your life, sir,’ returned Carter, and grinned more cheerfully than ever.
    ‘You must do your utmost to find out as much as you can about Modjeska,’ went on Sir Leonard. ‘I don’t want you to follow him when he goes out – we’ll see that he is well looked after in that way – of course, if you become so intimate with him that he invites you to go out with him, all the better. If you can search his belongings when he is out, however, you will probably be doing us far more service. Once you take a room in the Canute Hotel don’t visit any of your usual haunts – avoid this district entirely. Take care that there is nothing in your luggage to suggest that you are anything but what you appear to be, and let it be as meagre as possible. I will give instructions for either Shannon, Hill, or whoever happens to be available, to call in the buffet opposite platform number seven at Waterloo at nine every night. If you have anything to report, meet him there and deliver your message over a drink. You’d better not know each other, but you can stand by his side and whisper it or pass a written report to him. No doubt such precautions are not really necessary, but we must take no chances in this business, Carter. If anything happens which you wish to report at once, telephone, but use a public call box. Now are there any questions you want to ask?’
    ‘Only this, sir. Shall