Biggles and the Missing Millionaire Read online

  CONTENTS

  SYNOPSIS

  FOREWORD

  CHAPTER 1: A TALL ORDER

  CHAPTER 2: FIRST CLUES

  CHAPTER 3: A STRANGE ENCOUNTER

  CHAPTER 4: BIGGLES MAKES PLANS

  CHAPTER 5: ON THIN ICE

  CHAPTER 6: FAST WORK

  CHAPTER 7: ISLA SANTINA

  CHAPTER 8: UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS

  CHAPTER 9: TRAPPED

  CHAPTER 10: SHOCKS FOR GINGER

  CHAPTER 11: FRANCISCO EXPLAINS

  CHAPTER 12: MURDER

  CHAPTER 13: MORE PROBLEMS

  CHAPTER 14: HARD PRESSED

  CHAPTER 15: THE SHOWDOWN

  BIGGLES AND THE MISSING MILLIONAIRE

  On board the 500-ton super-luxury diesel-engined yacht Cordelia was thought to be Otto Brandt, international financier and one time multi-millionaire. Why did he pull out of England in such a strange and intriguing way? And why was his yacht loaded with ammunition? Biggles, Algy and Ginger fly across the world to discover his store depot on an island in the Bahamas and the reason for the disappearance of this Mystery Man of Europe.

  FOREWORD

  IN these days when all ships of any size carry radio it is seldom that one disappears without trace. Still less often does a millionaire vanish from his usual haunts without giving some indication of his intention. When these two things happened together, and the millionaire turned out to be the owner of the ship, it could hardly fail to arouse curiosity and cause anxiety in certain quarters.

  Again, in these days of fast sea and air transport it may at first sight seem remarkable that an important yacht could sail out of a busy harbour to disappear as utterly as a puff of smoke on a windy day; but when we remember how much of the earth’s surface is covered by the great oceans there is less reason to be astonished, particularly if it so happened that the master of the vessel did not want to be found. After all, it is not long since a big Portuguese liner, with hundreds of passengers on board, caused a sensation by departing from its course, with the result that although its position was roughly known it took a lot of ships and aircraft to locate her.

  To demonstrate how difficult it is to find a ‘lost’ ship we need only quote the case of the 3,500 ton steamer Dunmore, which left Cardiff for America with a cargo of coal. Running into a gale she lost her propeller, and getting out of hand began to settle. The crew, expecting her to sink at any moment, took to the boats and in due course reached America, where they reported what had happened. The Dunmore was posted as lost.

  Some months later a liner spotted a ship behaving as if she had lost her rudder. Her sides were red with rust, she had lost her funnel and her deck was swarming with rats. It was the Dunmore. For months she had been drifting about the Atlantic without anyone seeing her. As she was a menace to shipping a gunboat was sent out to sink her, but failed to find her. Apparently she had gone down at last.

  A similar derelict was the Alma Cummings, which being abandoned in mid-Atlantic drifted nearly to the Bay of Biscay and then back to America before going aground and breaking up.

  We can see, therefore, that if a ship deliberately tried to hide herself it would not be very difficult, as a glance at the atlas will reveal. Apart from thousands of miles of continental coast lines there are innumerable islands, archipelagos comprising hundreds of islands, many of them uninhabited. The Pacific is sprinkled with them. There are literally thousands in the Paumotus. (The name means Cloud of Islands.) There are 650 in the Caroline group, 225 in the Fiji Islands and 200 in the Falklands. It has been estimated that in the Indian Ocean alone there are 10,000 uninhabited islands.

  Consider the vast archipelago that comes into the following pages, the great chain of islands known as the West Indies, which stretches in a curve from the United States to Venezuela in South America. So many islands are there, geographically, in the West Indies, they have been subdivided into many separate groups. In one of these, the British Bahamas, there are estimated to be 3,000 islands, large and small, the majority of them uninhabited.

  These brief facts should give the reader an idea of the enormity of the task confronting Biggles when he was ordered to find the luxury yacht Cordelia, somewhere on the high seas, but no one knew where.

  W. E. J.

  CHAPTER 1

  A TALL ORDER

  AIR COMMODORE RAYMOND, of the Special Air Service at Scotland Yard, looked up from his desk as his senior operational pilot entered the room. ‘With air and sea plus radio communications as they are, you wouldn’t think it very difficult to locate a ship, would you?’ he greeted him sadly.

  That could depend on the size of the ship and whether she’s on top of the water or under it,’ returned Biggles. ‘Why? Have you lost one?’

  ‘It begins to look as if one’s pulled off a smart disappearing trick.’

  ‘Even today ships have been known to founder.’

  ‘Rarely without sending out a distress signal, without leaving a trace of wreckage or a single survivor.’

  ‘Did no one pick up an S.O.S. from this one?’

  ‘Not a peep. It just sailed away, and may have gone into orbit round the moon for anything that has been seen of it since.’

  ‘How long ago was this?’

  ‘Nearly two months.’

  ‘What sort of ship?’

  ‘A five hundred ton super-luxury, twin diesel-engined private yacht, A.l at Lloyds and insured for a quarter of a million.’

  Biggles pursed his lips. ‘Who’s claimed the insurance?’

  ‘No one.’

  ‘Who did it belong to?’

  ‘Otto Brandt.’

  ‘The international financier and oil millionaire?’

  ‘That’s the man.’

  ‘I’ve seen a picture of that yacht. Named Cordelia, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Quite right.’

  ‘What has Brandt to say about it?’

  ‘He hasn’t said anything. He was on it when it sailed.’

  ‘Where for?’

  ‘Nobody knows.’

  ‘That was a bit peculiar, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Very.’

  ‘Sounds like Brandt’s bad luck.’

  ‘Certain people are beginning to suspect that luck had nothing to do with it.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Sit down and I’ll tell you about it.’

  Biggles took the chair and lit a cigarette.

  The Air Commodore resumed. ‘You’d think a man like Brandt would be above suspicion of anything crooked, wouldn’t you?’

  ‘It’s hard to see why a man with all his millions should go anything but dead straight.’

  ‘True, if the millions were real, and not just bits of paper.’

  ‘Like that, eh?’

  ‘It now turns out that Brandt hadn’t as many millions as was generally supposed. He hadn’t one million, or anything like it. He was certainly a multi-millionaire at one time, but even millionaires can make mistakes. New ventures and investments can go wrong. When such men gamble it’s for high stakes, and when they lose they lose big money. Naturally, they’re not interested in chicken feed.’

  ‘Are you telling me that Brandt has lost his dough?’

  ‘Most of it. Lost it or spent it. That wouldn’t matter so much if it was all his own money. It now appears that a lot of money is missing that didn’t belong to him. From information revealed by enquiries since the Cordelia disappeared, it now looks as if he may have saved his own skin regardless of the people who had put their savings into his many companies. Anyway, Lloyds and other people in the City are suspicious. They’d feel happier if the yacht could be located.’

  ‘Don’t say they’ve asked you to find it!’

  ‘They’ve asked everybody, all over the world, who might help.’

  ‘And nobody knows anything?’

  ‘That’s the position. Brandt bought the Cordelia when he had so much money he didn’t know what to do with it. He kept her at moorings at Falmouth, going down for odd week-ends and occasionally taking a holiday on her. For six months prior to the yacht’s disappearance these visits became more and more frequent. Curiously enough, or significantly as it now appears, over that same period he was buying objects of considerable value, gold, silver and jewels, in fact anything of a non-perishable nature.’

  Biggles nodded. ‘I get the drift. People are beginning to wonder if those things were being put aboard the yacht.’

  ‘They’re pretty sure of it. They can’t be found. Where else could they have gone?’

  ‘Was he known to be a collector of works of art?’

  ‘No. Had he been interested in that sort of thing the Press would have got hold of it. Men like Brandt are always news for the newspapers.’

  ‘Has it been suggested he bought this valuable stuff because it represented capital — something that could be sold where and when it suited him?’

  ‘That’s the view taken in certain quarters. The stuff could be sold for any currency he needed, probably United States dollars.’

  ‘What about foul play?’

  ‘That’s been ruled out.’

  ‘Hm. Queer business. How much is known about Brandt’s background?’

  ‘Very little. He avoided publicity.’

  ‘I remember seeing a picture of him in some newspaper. A man getting on a bit in years. Has a small beard and wears glasses.’

  ‘That’s right. Practically nothing is known for certain about his early life. He seems to have k
ept that covered up very well. In recent years the newspapers have taken to calling him the Mystery Man of Europe. It’s generally reckoned he was born in Central Europe; some say Germany, others Austria. While he was still a young man he went to South America, where he seems to have laid the foundations of his fortune. It’s said he put through a big coffee deal in Brazil. There’s also a whisper that he was mixed up in a revolution there. The fact is, we don’t know. All we know for certain is that he returned to Europe, bringing his money with him, and settled in Germany. When he saw the war coming he got out and came here. Later he applied for naturalization.’

  ‘As a British subject?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Was it granted?’

  ‘Eventually.’

  ‘Which means he has a British passport.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Is there a warrant out for him?’

  ‘No. But there would be if it was learned he had absconded with other people’s money, which is what some finance houses in the City are beginning to suspect. So far it’s only suspicion. We’d like a word with him; but before we can do that it looks as if we shall have to find the Cordelia.’

  ‘Where is she registered?’

  ‘One of the so-called Free Ports. Panama.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound too good.’

  ‘To fly a Flag of Convenience, as it’s known, is perfectly legal.’

  ‘I know. But why does a man like Brandt have to do that? It seems he was glad enough to accept British nationality. Why not register his yacht in the United Kingdom?’

  The Air Commodore shrugged.

  ‘Where did he make his home in England?’

  ‘In Hertfordshire. A country house called Warleigh Towers. The place doesn’t belong to him. He has it on lease. There’s nothing of value there. That was where the first investigations started. I should tell you that, over the same period that Brandt was buying valuables, he was also drawing large sums of money, in notes of small denominations, from his banks. His accounts are now practically empty.’

  Biggles tapped the ash off his cigarette. ‘It certainly looks as if he was feathering his nest with the sort of bits and pieces that might come in useful.’

  ‘I can tell you another interesting thing. Brandt, who was not married, by the way, had in his employ a private secretary, a man named David Vaucher, who was also reckoned to be something of a financial genius. Normally he took charge while Brandt was away; but when the Cordelia pulled out Vaucher was on board, which was most unusual — I mean, the two of them being away from the office together. Why?’

  ‘If you’re asking me, I’d say Vaucher had to go because he knew Brandt’s financial position and knew he was making plans to skip. Anything else?’

  ‘Yes. There’s another curious angle, although with a man like Brandt it may not be as curious as it would be with you or me. The crew of the yacht, some of whom also worked at the house in Hertfordshire when the yacht was laid up, were all foreigners. There wasn’t a British subject among them. The cook was Chinese. The captain and chief engineer were Germans. The stewards were a mixed lot. The engine room and deck-hands were mostly Lascars. They all went with the yacht. The only people left at the house in Hertfordshire were a gardener with his wife, acting as caretaker. They’re both locals. They’re still there. They’ve only been in Brandt’s employ for a few months. They know nothing. Even now they don’t know what we suspect. All they know is their wages are long overdue.’

  ‘I see. Then to put the whole thing in a thimble the assumption is that Brandt, having got into difficulties, rather than face a financial crash, decided to pull out, taking with him anything left in the kitty.’

  ‘That’s about what it boils down to. Everything adds up to a carefully thought out plot. Or, if Vaucher is in it, a conspiracy.’

  “If that’s agreed, and if it can be proved, would Brandt be liable to prosecution?’

  ‘Certainly. He’s made off with other people’s money.’

  ‘Which means you’d like to get hold of him?’

  ‘Of course. It might be possible to recover some of the money and hand it back to the shareholders, who will otherwise be faced with a dead loss. If we could find the yacht, and seize it, apart from what might be in it, that alone would represent a lot of money.’

  ‘So if it’s the yacht you’re after, the first question that arises is, where would it be most likely to go?’

  ‘By this time it might be anywhere in the world.’

  ‘Even so, it couldn’t sail about the high seas indefinitely. Sooner or later it would have to call somewhere for stores and oil, in which case it would be spotted.’

  ‘As I’ve told you, it hasn’t been seen. Apparently Brandt has taken good care of that. He can’t have sold it. There can be only a few people in the world who could afford to pay anything like what the yacht is worth. That’s aside from the question of running it, which couldn’t be done under a hundred pounds a day. Even if a buyer did come along he’d want to see that the yacht’s papers were in order, and, if he had any sense, have her examined by a surveyor for dry rot, and so on.’

  ‘So you haven’t a clue as to where the Cordelia might have gone?’

  ‘Not a sausage. But there is one point to bear in mind. Brandt will expect us to look for him. Therefore if he has gone ashore it will most likely be a country with whom we have no extradition agreement, and for that reason we’d be unable to touch him. No doubt he’d have all that worked out. He knew exactly what he was going to do. The way he set off is sufficient indication of that. The Cordelia slipped off her buoy some time during the night without paying her harbour dues, which is proof she had no intention of coming back. It looks as if she must have gone without showing any lights, too, or the coastguard station must have seen her go. In the morning she just wasn’t in her usual place.’

  ‘Who was the last person to see her?’

  ‘The watch on a P. and O. boat homeward bound. She was then off Ushant, heading south-west, so she might have been making for South America.’

  ‘She could have altered course in any direction after passing the P. and O. boat.’

  ‘She certainly didn’t stay long on any regular shipping lane, or someone would have seen her. She must have deliberately taken a course to avoid being seen.’

  ‘If Brandt was running away one would expect that. How far could Cordelia travel without refuelling?’

  ‘Over two thousand miles if she started with her tanks full, as we can imagine she did.’

  ‘Then she could have crossed the Atlantic.’

  ‘Oh yes.’

  Biggles shook his head. ‘I don’t think we can count on her endurance range to tell us anything. Following the argument that Brandt had his scheme all cut and dried, he might easily have dumped a supply of oil somewhere to be picked up later. Then again, if he was prepared to go to all that trouble, he might just as easily have taken with him materials to alter the superficial appearance of the ship; in other words, disguise her. Paint her a different colour. Put up a dummy funnel. That sort of thing. That’s been done before today. I’m assuming, of course, that the Cordelia’s crew knew what was going on.’

  ‘That might be the answer as to why she hasn’t been seen — or rather, recognized.’

  ‘Well, what are you going to do about it?’

  ‘It’s hard to see how we can do anything,’ admitted the Air Commodore. ‘You might like to think it over. If you get one of your bright ideas as to where the Cordelia could have gone you might fly out and check up.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Anywhere.’

  ‘Are you seriously suggesting that we might start a world-wide search for the Cordelia?’

  ‘I’m willing for you to go anywhere within reason.’

  ‘It’s a tall order. I wouldn’t hold out any hopes.’

  ‘There’s a lot of money involved. The law is said to have a long arm.’ ‘It’ll need to have a heck of a long one to reach as far as Brandt will have got by this time.’

  ‘Well, go and think about it. If the Cordelia hasn’t gone to the bottom with all hands she must be somewhere; and if she’s still afloat it must be possible to find her.’

  ‘You’re quite sure there isn’t a clue of any sort in this house in Hertfordshire?’

  ‘Nothing. Special investigators have been through it with a fine comb. Practically no papers were found. Brandt must have had a bonfire.’