Stradler's Game

By Carter Seagrove

In Stradler’s Game, Adam has left for Spain, leaving Alfred, together with new recruit, Guy Thillot, to infiltrate the security of a German bank and plant a listening device. But it quickly transpires that trust and loyalty are tradeable commodities and suddenly Alfred is fighting for his life and having to flee adversaries coming at him, left, right and centre. Stradler is perhaps the only person whom Alfred can trust; but even Stradler has a few surprises in store for him.

The Inspector Fenchurch Mysteries series follows the cases, exploits, lives and fortunes of crime fighting duo, Inspector Alfred Fenchurch and PC Adam Cowley; two young men from the island of Jersey who also happen to be madly in love with each other. The series is set in the 1930s. Some of the stories are classic 'whodunnit' style case files and others are more the international spy thriller.

Stradler’s Game is the third Inspector Fenchurch Mystery and it follows immediately on from the second story, Black Veil. The first story in the series is titled The Blakely Affair.

We hope that you thoroughly enjoy the story and feedback is always welcome. Please visit our website to find out what we’re working on next.

Thank you!
Carter Seagrove

• Language: English
• Publisher: XinXii
• Release date: May 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9783959262972

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Author’s Note

Stradler’s Game is the third story in the series, The Inspector Fenchurch Mysteries. It follows immediately on from the second story, Black Veil. The first story in the series is titled The Blakely Affair.

Carter Seagrove is the pseudonym of authors Alp Mortal and Chambers Mars. The Inspector Fenchurch Mysteries is the first output of the union and there will be others. The Inspector Fenchurch Mysteries series follows the cases, exploits, lives and fortunes of crime fighting duo, Inspector Alfred Fenchurch and PC Adam Cowley; two young men from the island of Jersey who also happen to be madly in love with each other. The series is set in the 1930s. Some of the stories are classic 'whodunnit' style case files and others are more the international spy thriller.

In Stradler’s Game, Adam has left for Spain, leaving Alfred, together with new recruit, Guy Thillot, to infiltrate the security of a German bank and plant a listening device. But it quickly transpires that trust and loyalty are tradeable commodities and suddenly Alfred is fighting for his life and having to flee adversaries coming at him, left, right and centre. Stradler is perhaps the only person whom Alfred can trust; but even Stradler has a few surprises in store for him.

We hope that you thoroughly enjoy the story and feedback is always welcome. Please email us or visit the websites to find out what we’re working on next.

Thank you!

Carter Seagrove

Contact Information

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Chapter One – House of Cards

I dress quickly, wishing to get my orders from Yves as soon as possible, hoping activity will take my mind off of Adam. It isn’t very likely but I have to try and concentrate, thus avoiding getting myself killed because I became distracted.

Fetching my cigarette case and lighter from the table on the balcony, I notice a smart little car arrive and pootle up the driveway to stop just behind the Bugatti. A young man emerges from what I can now see is a Citroen Traction Avant.

I hasten my descent.

This villa is an architectural masterpiece. It is set into the hillside, arranged on five levels and resembles a house of cards. The entire front elevation is constructed from glass. The architect was Leon Shires. I know this because one of his business cards was lying on the balcony table under the ashtray which resembles a highly stylised turtle; press down gently on the turtle’s head and the shell opens to reveal the ashtray within. It is made from a finely-grained pale green marble. I have a simple, black Bakelite ashtray which I stole from Picardie’s because it has a picture of a sailor emblazoned on it who looks like Adam.

On my way down, I wonder if the driver of the car is Borelli. If it is, he’ll be mightily pleased to get his Bugatti in one piece; not so happy about his lawn I imagine.

I find the man and Yves in the library, minus the teleprinter which I expect has been packed up for the relocation of Yves’s operation centre.

Alfred! Come in and meet Guy Thillot …

"Good morning, Yves … Monsieur Thillot."

The man extends his hand towards me and I shake it firmly, receiving a firmer one in return.

Inspector Fenchurch …

Just Fenchurch will do.

The accent is not French and my guess is Dutch, maybe Belgian. Thillot is six feet tall and whereas I say six feet, Adam would convert it to metres and centimetres. Don’t think about him!

He has short brown hair and is clean-shaven; his nails are clipped and buffed. He is sporting a tan and looks to be uncommonly relaxed. He is dressed like some playboy who has just stepped off of his yacht.

Guy will be joining you on your little … excursion.

I raise an eyebrow at Yves to elicit something more than that.

Orders have changed, Alfred … I hope you’ve packed some thermal underwear.

Yves chortles to himself and Thillot smiles in a way which indicates to me that he already knows where we are going.

Siberia is it, Yves?

Oh, not so tetchy, Alfred! Freiburg … sit down and I’ll give you the brief … coffee?

Tea, please.

oOo

Yves has left me and Thillot alone together in the library whilst he supervises the loading of several packing crates into the back of one of the trucks. Despite giving the appearance of knowing what is going on, Thillot doesn’t have any more clue than I prior to the briefing. The fact that he wants me to think that he has – and that he wishes to convey the impression of knowing Yves better than he actually does – casts him in a different light and I find that I don’t much care for the confidence which is ill-timed and misplaced.

Then I have the chilling thought that Adam is not coming back and that Thillot is his replacement. I rarely panic but find myself fighting to quell all sorts of feelings, chiefly, paralysing fear.

Do you speak German? I ask, trying to appear in control.

"Swabian … it’s the dialect used in the Black Forest. You speak French like a native."

I was born on Jersey and studied in Paris. I have a house in Le Havre where I go to as often as I can … What do you think of the plan?

Sounds simple enough-

Rarely the case-

No, agreed … I don’t know Stradler at all.

No-one really does; he’s one of life’s true gypsies … but I feel more confident, knowing that he will be involved.

Crossing the border between Chalampé and Neuenberg am Rhein is becoming more difficult; your suggestion to cross from Liechtenstein is a good one.

"Slower and more difficult … but safer. If the plan is now to rendezvous with Stradler in Riva Del Garda in three days’ time then we should get going pretty soon. Having driven from Paris with Adam, I don’t much feel like it but the train is much less flexible and despite what Mussolini says, they do not arrive on time! The Lambda would have made for better cover but the Citroen will do the job just as well …"

Who is Adam?

"A colleague … If the bank in Freiburg is, as suspected, a listening post, then I think our cover as engineers working on the telegraph system is sound until the point of entry. Borelli can provide credentials but seeing as our task is