that within an hour there’ll be a fast patrol boat leaving Nuku’alofa
and coming right after us. And we won’t get out of it as we did in
Tahiti – this time we are in the wrongWe looked at each other in
silence.
“Or maybe he won’t,”said Campbell slowly.”Not after what I told -him
back there.” He jerked his head astern.
“What was that?” I said. I saw that Campbell’s eyes suddenly held the
same glint that I’d seen in Geordie’s earlier that night.
“I said the Tahitian police were very unhappy. I said they knew about
Hadley and Kane and that they had witnesses who’d seen Ramirez with
them at Tanakabu, the first time they went there.”
“What witnesses?” He grinned at us. “That’s what Ramirez wanted to
know. I said three of the hospital patients and a couple of staff had
seen him.
He laughed at me, but it hit home.” “I don’t know anything about any
witnesses,” I said.
“Mike, sometimes you’re pretty slow on the uptake – there were no
goddam witnesses, as far as I know. But someone had to think fast to
get us out of this jam. I told Ramirez that the police were looking
for more evidence, but that they already had him fairly linked with the
events on Tanakabu, and that if he went to the cops in Tonga with any
kind of story about us pirating his ship, and if we were picked up,
then we’d make enough of a stink to get the Tahitian police down here
fast.” Geordie said, “Now that’s interesting. We know he was at
Tanakabu Schouten saw him.” “Exactly,” said Campbell. “And how does
he know that someone else didn’t see him too? He can’t take the chance
he’ll have to lie low. As long as the suspicions of the Tahiti police
remain just that – suspicions – he’ll be happy. But he won’t stir up
anything that will give the cops a line on him. At least ‘ I hope
not.
So I hope he’ll dummy up about your stupid raid I said,”He won’t go to
the police while we have Kane. Kane is our trump card. Ramirez
wouldn’t dare let Kane get into the hands of the police.” “Mike, he’s
a clever man. Clever and subtle when he has to be. I wouldn’t put it
past him to wriggle out of that one.” “And something else,” I said.
“Maybe the raid wasn’t as stupid as you think – a bit harebrained, I’ll
grant you, but worth while. What we found on that ship was as subtle
as a crack on the head with a hammer.” I gestured to Ian. Trot out
your collection of ironmongery.” Ian delved in various pockets and
brought out the bolts he had taken from the rifles. Campbell’s eyes
widened as he saw the mounting pile they made on the deck.
“He had ten rifles?” “Fifteen,” I corrected. “The others were
automatic action.
We’ve smashed them and dropped them over the side. Plus four
sub-machine guns and a lot of pistols.” Geordie dug into his pocket
and produced a hand grenade which he tossed casually. “There were a
few of these too. I hung on to a couple.” “Not much subtlety about
that, is there?” I asked.
“And he’s got twice as many men as he needs,” said Geordie. “He isn’t
paying that big crew to stand half-watches either.” Geordie, too,
wasn’t losing any opportunity to rub Campbell’s nose in it.
Campbell’s eyes flickered as he watched the grenade bounce in Geordie’s
hand. “For God’s sake stop that. You’ll blow us all up.
Let’s go down to the saloon and have a drink it’s pretty damn late.”
It was in fact getting into the small hours of the morning but I felt
wide awake, and everyone else seemed to share that feeling, even
Campbell.
Only Clare and Paula, after a brief appearance on deck, had vanished
below again.
“No,” I said to Campbell’s offer. “I want to talk to Kane now. .
And I want to be dead sober when I do it. Is he conscious, Geordie?”
“Nothing that a bucket of sea water won’t cure.” The three of us went
down to the cabin, leaving Ian on deck, to find Jim and Nick Dugan
stolidly on guard. Kane was conscious – and scared. He flinched when
we went into the cabin and huddled at the end of Geordie’s bunk as
though by making himself smaller he wouldn’t be noticed. Four of us
made a crowd in the small cabin, and Kane was, and felt, thoroughly
hemmed in.
He looked as haggard as when I’d first seen him in London, unshaven and
ill, and carried his right arm awkwardly – I remembered that Clare had
shot him. His eyes slid away when I looked at him.
“Look at me, Kane.” Slowly his eyes moved until they met mine.
His throat worked and his eyes blinked and watered.
“You’re going to talk to us, Kane, and you’re going to tell us the
truth. You might think you’re not, but you are. Because if you don’t
we’ll work on you until you do. I was at Tanakabu, Kane, and you must
know that anyone who was there won’t be squeamish in their methods.
I’m a civilized man and it may be that I’ll be sickened – but don’t
count on that, Kane, because there are more than a dozen men on this
ship who aren’t nearly as squeamish as I am. Do you understand me,
Kane? Have I made myself perfectly clear?” But there was never going
to be any resistance out of him.
His tongue flickered out and he licked his lips and croaked
incoherently. He was still reacting to the blow over the head, a
physical problem to add to his mental ones.
“Answer me.” His head bobbed. “I’ll talk to you,” he whispered.
“Give him a whisky, Geordie,” I said. He drank some of it and a little
colour came into his face, and he sat up straighter, but with no less
fear in his face.
“All right,” I said deliberately. “We’ll start right at the
beginning.
You went to London to find Helen Trevelyan and then me.
Why?” “Jim boobed,” he said. “He let that suitcase get away. There
were the books and the stones in it. We had to get them back.” “You
and Ramirez and some of his cut-throats, right?” “Yair, that’s
right.”
“But you didn’t get them all back, did you? Did Ramirez know that?”
“He said you must have something else. Didn’t know what.” “So he laid
you alongside me to spy and find out what I had?” “Yes. And to pass
word where you went, anytime I could.” Now he was volunteering
information, and it was getting easier. Campbell and Geordie were
silent and watchful, leaving the going to me. I was eager to find out
about Mark but decided to lead up to that by taking other directions
first, which would also serve to confuse Kane.
“You smashed our radio, didn’t you?” “Yair. I was told to.” “And led
Hadley in the Pearl around on our track?” We already knew this but I
let him confirm it.
“Why did you tell the Papeete police that we’d burnt the e could
disprove hospital? Surely even you could see that w that pretty
easily.” He looked, for a moment, almost exasperated. “That was
Jim.
Bloody hell, I told him it wouldn’t wash. You can’t tell him
anything.” I nodded and veered off on another tack. “That time you
saw Miss Campbell’s drawings on deck, did they mean anything to you?”
“Eh?”
He was taken aback and had to readjust his thinking.
“No, why should they?” “You identified one as a “scraggy falcon”.
Why did you say that?” He stared blearily at us. “I dunno – did it
have something to do with Falcon Island, maybe?” We exchanged glances,
and I carried on evenly.
“Go on. Why should it have?” “I – I suppose it just slipped out.
It looked like a falcon, and maybe it was on my mind, see.” “What
about
Falcon Island?” Kane hesitated and I snapped, “Come on out with it!”
“I dunno much about it. Ramirez, he talked a bit about Falcon Island,
somewhere in Tonga it is. He said once that’s where we were going
after we’d got rid of you lot.”
“Got rid of’? How was he going to do that? And why?” “I dunno that
either, Mr Trevelyan. Something about those stones you’ve been pulling
out of the sea – those nodules, you call ’em. He had to ditch you
before he could go to Falcon Island, ‘cos that’s where they were. My
word, Mr Trevelyan, I don’t know what it’s all about!” Behind me I
heard Campbell let out his breath. “Do you know exactly where they
are?” “No, they’d never let me in on anything like that, none of us
except except the top-brass.” I could believe that. Kane was much too