"Brian Lumley - E-Branch 1 - Defilers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lumley Brian)

recognized of old. And:
"If that was your idea of a compliment," she told him, "I don't think much of it. The kid sister
bit's okay-I think-but I can do without all those wrinkles you just gave me!"
Trask tut-tutted. "Oh, my! Here's Millie Cleary spying on the boss's thoughts."
She shook her head. "Not spying, just worrying about you. And incidentally, Ben, / neither look
nor feel as old as I am, but you really do. And you're looking older day by day. That's why I
worry about you-big brother!"
And in fact she didn't look as old as her years, which in any case were a good deal shorter than
his. Millie would be in her late forties but looked five years younger. A very attractive blonde,
her hair was cut in a fringe low over her forehead, flowed down onto her shoulders, and framed her
oval face while partly concealing her small, delicate ears. Her eyes were blue under pencil-slim,
golden eyebrows, and her nose was small and straight. Millie's teeth were very white, just a
little uneven in a slightly crooked, frequently pensive mouth.

Five feet and six inches tall, amply curved and slim-waisted, she had always made Trask feel big
and strong, and sometimes clumsy. He liked her a lot- indeed, a great deal-and as far as he was
concerned she was one of the few who could get away with murder.
But conscious of her talent, and channelling his thoughts anew-and wondering why he felt the need
to-Trask got down to business. "So what's up?" "I think 1 may have something," she told him. "You
remember when you got back from Australia, you asked me to find out what I could about Jethro
Manchester's financial affairs? Knowing that Malinari had coerced Manchester into some kind of,
er, partnership, you were hoping that maybe cash transfers and other transactions might help track
Malinari down? Well, as it turns out- and while Manchester may have been a big-time philanthropist-
he wasn't entirely the big softy people think he was. And he certainly wasn't softheaded." She
paused to order her thoughts, and continued:
"So being, as you have often called me, 'a devious female creature,' it had crossed my mind that
such might be the case. Let's face it, one doesn't get to be a billionaire without one has just a
few extra cards up one's sleeve, right? So, just an hour or so ago, I had John Grieve call
Manchester's accountant in Brisbane. That's Andrew Heyt, of Haggard, Haggard and Heyt, and-"
"You had him call who at what time?" Trask cut in, frowning as he did a quick mental calculation.
"At six in the morning-Heyt's time, that is?"


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"Deliberately, yes," Millie told him. "People are usually off guard at that time in the morning,-
that's why police carry out their raids in the early hours." "And you were carrying out a raid on
Manchester's accountant?" "Exactly. Working on a hunch, so to speak. Anyway, without identifying
himself, John asked Heyt a few leading questions-like: what would be happening now, to
Manchester's 'hidden' deposits in Switzerland and other countries? And before Heyt could blink the
sleep out of his eyes, get his mercenary little brain in gear, and slam the phone down-" "John had
done his thing," Trask nodded.
"Namely," she continued, "he read in Heyt's mind the facts of the matter, that apart from Jethro
Manchester's regular accounts and holdings-stocks and shares and the like in various businesses in
Australia, UK, and the USA-he also has several numbered accounts in Zurich." "John got the
numbers?"
Millie looked at Trask in that wide-eyed way of hers, innocent and shrewd at the same time, and
said, "John's good, but not that good! I mean, what do you want, miracles?"
"Yes," he answered drily. "I'll accept nothing less. Okay, go on. I'm hooked." "No, he didn't get