The Cauldron Read Online Free PDF Page B

a smuggler of contraband across the North Sea ...'
    'Hold it there. Was he ever convicted?'
    'No, too slippery. But Customs and Excise are convinced he ran a big ring. He goes from girl friend to girl friend once he's got what he's after. Rather like changing his clothes. He once nearly killed a man in the Hamburg Reeperbahn.'
    'Sounds more and more unsavoury. A womanizer and a thug.'
    'A good description of Mr Brand. Again he got off scot-free. The German police couldn't even charge him with attempted murder - witnesses were intimidated and refused to testify. Supposed to be thirty-eight years old, but being Armenian that's impossible to check.'
    'Why would someone like Moloch employ such a man? I gather outwardly VB is sophisticated and refined.'
    'From what I can gather from people who have known him Mr Brand is a kind of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I've described the Hyde. On other occasions he can be charming and good company - especially with women. But with men, too, if he wants to. He's attended receptions here and in the States on Moloch's behalf. VB keeps in the background. I'm still getting more data coming in on Brand.'
    'What about the all-powerful Moloch? What's his nationality?'
    'All-powerful is the key to Moloch. He knows some of the richest men in the world - as you know they form a kind of club. Moloch is the richest. His original nationality is a mystery. I think he arrived in this country as a youth supposedly from what was Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic. He came here as a student, qualified as an accountant, then pushed off to America. There he built up an electronics company in California. Other outfits combined, eliminated him as a competitor, wiped him out.'
    'He must love America.' Tweed commented.
    "The word is he hates it after what happened to him. But he keeps his real feelings to himself. He then set about building up AMBECO into the biggest conglomerate in the world. Borrowed money from a bank, immediately paid back the loan when he was successful to keep his independence. He works like a Trojan, needs very little sleep.'
    'Personality?'
    'I'm told he can be a real charmer - far more so than Brand. I can't find a photograph of him anywhere but I'm persisting. He objects to having his picture taken. He has plants all over the States, here in the North, in Germany and France and Holland. He has one in Saudi Arabia.'
    'The Arab connection.'
    'Exactly. He's fluent in Arabic, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and English, of course. My informant on that score told me he was self-taught. He has a first-rate brain...'
    'Married?'
    'Never. At least so far I haven't traced a wife. VB has a succession of girl friends - all of them so-called upper-class types. There have been seven of them so far. They have all disappeared.'
    'Disappeared? What on earth do you mean?'
    'What I said. They vanish without trace. They are supposed to have gone off travelling with money VB supplied them with but they've never been seen since. I spoke to Cord Dillon, your American opposite number at the CIA in Langley. The wealthy father of one of the girls, Julia Sanchez, called Cord from Philadelphia. Cord, as a favour, checked out her movements. The records show a return ticket to London, and a girl who looked like Julia did board the flight, then she vanished. A flight from San Francisco.'
    'Were these girl friends VB's confidantes, I wonder?'
    'I gather they may have been. Cord is equally worried about the amount of power Moloch has accumulated. He has certain key senators in his pocket. Money roars.'
    'It certainly does.' Tweed looked thoughtful. 'Any chance of obtaining a photo of this Julia Sanchez?'
    'Yes. The father in Philadelphia supplied Cord with several. At my request Cord has sent one to you by Federal Express. Should arrive tomorrow.'
    'Does this Armenian Varouj Kerkorian - or Joel Brand as he now calls himself - jealously guard his position as Moloch's deputy?'
    Monica looked surprised at this unexpected