The King is Dead Read Online Free PDF Page A

a drowsy grin. ‘Queen Karla … well, almost. The General said Karla’s of real royal blood. From Europe. A princess, or grand duchess, or something.’
    â€˜Now tell me she’s a raving beauty, and I’ll take on Blue Shirt with one hand behind my back!’
    â€˜A knockout, the General said. He had to visit the island several times.’
    Ellery muttered, ‘And the Court Jester? Of course, there’s a Court Jester.’
    â€˜Max is his name,’ nodded the Inspector. ‘An ex-wrestler, big as a house. Follows King around, works him out, bodyguards him, keeps him laughing. Everything but the cap and bells. Shut up, will you? I’m an old man.’
    And the Inspector shut the other eye, decisively.
    Abel Bendigo joined them at lunch. He seemed less preoccupied. The two middle-aged secretaries did not appear.
    The stewards had set the table for only two, and Ellery remarked that in an organization as perfectly oiled as this it seemed a mighty slip — or was one of them to be starved?
    â€˜I never eat lunch,’ said the Prime Minister with a smile. ‘Interferes with my afternoon work. A glass of buttermilk sometimes, or yoghurt. But don’t let that stop you gentlemen. The chef was detached from my brother’s Residence staff especially for the occasion.’
    The lunch was superb, and the Inspector tackled it with gusto. Ellery ate absently.
    â€˜Are your brothers as Spartan as you are, Mr. Bendigo?’ asked the Inspector. ‘My, this is delicious.’
    â€˜Very nearly. King has simple tastes in food, as I have, and Judah —’ Abel Bendigo stopped smiling — ‘Judah hardly eats at all.’
    â€˜Judah?’ said Ellery, looking up.
    â€˜Another brother, Mr. Queen. Will you have some brandy? I’m told this is exceptional, though I don’t drink myself.’
    â€˜Judah,’ said Ellery. ‘And Abel. The “King” doesn’t seem to follow, Mr. Bendigo. Or was he a king in Israel from the womb?’
    â€˜I think,’ said Bendigo, ‘he was.’ And he looked up. The Queens looked up, too. Blue Shirt and Brown Shirt loomed there.
    â€˜What now?’ asked the Inspector humorously. ‘The execution?’ Nevertheless he quickly swallowed the last of his brandy.
    Bendigo said slowly, ‘We’ve come about halfway, gentlemen. From here until we land these two men will remain with you. I’m sure you’ll understand, if not appreciate, the necessity to stick to rules. I regret it, but I must ask you to make no attempt to get your bearings. These men are under the strictest orders to prevent it.’ He got up suddenly. ‘You’ll see me on the island.’ Before either could open his mouth the Prime Minister had retired to his compartment again.
    The twins did not move.
    â€˜Halfway,’ muttered the Inspector. ‘That means about eight hours out. At, say, three hundred m.p.h., the island’s around twenty-four hundred miles from New York. Or is it?’
    â€˜Or is it?’ said Ellery, looking up at Brown Shirt.
    Brown Shirt said nothing.
    â€˜Because, of course, we can be flying around in circles … Funny way Bendigo put that parting crack of his, Dad. Why you’ll see me on the island instead of the more natural I’ll see you on the island?’
    Hours later, in the middle of a nap, Ellery was answered.
    He awoke at a touch to find himself in total darkness, and when he heard his father’s outraged exclamation he knew that they had both been blindfolded.

3
    When the dark cloths were removed, the son and the father found themselves standing with Brown Shirt and Blue Shirt beside the big ship, on a great airfield.
    The mid-afternoon sun rode an intense sky, and they blinked in the backwash of glare.
    Abel Bendigo was close by, talking to an undersized man. Behind the undersized man stood a squad of tall soldiers, at attention. The undersized