‘Oh. I see.’ There was a pause, then he said, ‘I would like you to come out to my place right away. It’s rather urgent.’
In spite of the domineering tone, I had a sudden impression that he was frightened. There was a peculiar shake in his voice, and he seemed very breathless.
‘Can you give me some idea what you want, Mr. Dedrick?’ I asked, ignoring Kerman’s frantic signals to hang up.
There was a moment’s silence. I waited and listened to the uneven, hurried breathing.
‘A few minutes ago some man rang me up and warned me an attempt would be made tonight to kidnap me. Probably a practical joker, but I thought it wise to take precautions. I happen to be alone here, except for my chauffeur; he is a Filipino, and would be quite useless in an emergency.’
This sounded screwy to me.
‘Have you any idea why anyone should want to kidnap you?’
Again there was that pause. Again I listened to the hurried breathing. It was an eerie sound, and conveyed his fear to me as plainly as if I could seethe fear on his face.
‘I happen to be Serena Marshland’s husband,’ he said curtly. ‘I’d be glad if you wouldn’t waste time asking pointless questions. There’ll be time enough to satisfy your curiosity when we meet.’
I didn’t like his tone, but I knew he was scared. I didn’t want to go out on this job. I had been working all day, and would much rather have spent the rest of the evening swopping drinks with Kerman, But that wasn’t the way to build up a successful business. Besides, Serena Marshland was the fourth richest woman in the world.