Angel's Ransom (10 page)

George stiffened. ‘What kind of questions?’

‘I have a report that a man answering your description was observed at the port this morning in a fiacre with Freddy
Farr and his guests, shortly before the
Angel
sailed. And we
always know what is going on at the casino. You have passed
the last several nights there in Farr
’s
company, although you
do not yourself gamble. Why is that?’

‘I don’t gamble because I don’t like to gamble. As for spending time with Freddy, I have to. I’m writing an article
about him.’

‘For whom?’

‘No one in particular. Anybody who will buy it.’

‘Is that not unusual, in your profession? I had understood that such articles are ordinarily commissioned.’

‘Ordinarily they are. I don’t happen to have a commission. I think I can sell it after it
’s
written.’

‘And that is your only interest in Freddy Farr?’

‘S
top beating around the bush,’ George said, bristling. ‘What are you getting at?’

Neyrolle answered carefully. ‘Most people who show an interest in Freddy Farr are after his money. It is an
unfortunate
truth that he has few other attractions. But while he is a
guest of the Principality it is my duty to protect him - and
his money - and the steward of his yacht has made
allegations
which, however nonsensical they may appear at first
glance, cannot be dismissed without police investigation. I
am naturally interested in anyone who has shown unusual
interest in him during the past few days. You are one of
those.’

‘I’ve told you the reason for my interest.’

‘
S
o you have. So you have.’ The
sous-chef
nodded agree-ably. ‘Perhaps you can tel
l me something more. In your re
search into Farr
’s
affairs did you learn anything that might throw light on the peculiar matter of the
Angel
’s
departure,
assuming that neither the steward
’s
melodramatic
interpretation
nor the engineer
’s
dark accusation is wholly correct?’

‘I’m as confused by it as you are.’ George
’s
neck was still red. He did not choose his words as carefully as he might
have. ‘I was talking to his captain after Freddy and his
guests went aboard this morning. He had the crew standing
by to cast off. I got the impression that the yacht was ready
to leave within minutes, everything in order.’

‘That is the one feature which leads me to put some small credence in the steward
’s
story. The crew was, in fact,
tricked ashore when the yach
t was on the very verge of sail
ing. A seizure and immediate flight would have been
impossible otherwise.’

‘It needn’t have been a trick. A simple mistake, perhaps -a waterfront
rumor
.’

‘No, no, my friend.’ Neyrolle shook his head. ‘That I will not accept. The engineer and the steward agree only in
respect to a few facts; the crew was sent ashore for the false
permis
, the yacht was headed s
eaward within minutes after
wards, and the two men who were on the jetty when the
crew left it were not there when they returned. I believe,
with the steward and the engineer alike, that those two men
took the crew
’s
place. Whether they were invited aboard or
forced their way is something we have yet to learn, but I
decline to believe it was merely coincidence that they also
persuaded the captain of the need for the fake
permis
. There
is a
connection
.’

‘You see
connection
s where they don’t exist,’ George said flatly. ‘Have you tried raising the yacht by radiophone?’

‘Not yet. We do not have direct ship-to-shore
communication
in Monaco. It is possible to send a message through Radio Grasse, but if the
Angel
does not happen to have her
ears open
–’
Neyrolle shrugged eloquently. ‘Well, I shall
try it all the same, and end in frustration because I am
skeptical
of coincidences and do not believe in the steward
’s
gangsters. How much will you be paid for your article on
Freddy Farr, if you sell it?’

Angry
color
flooded George
’s
face. He said furiously, ‘I don’t have to take this kind of thing! Come out in the open
and say what you mean to say!’

‘Monsieur, please!’ Neyrolle put up his hand in protest. ‘I have said exactly what I me
an to say. I am trying to deter
mine if a crime has been committed, and I shall question
everything, everybody,
tactless
though it may be, until I
have the answer. Do you refuse to answer my questions? It
is your privilege.’

George was silent for a long moment, his mouth tight. He said finally, grudgingly, ‘A thousand dollars, probably.
Twenty-five hundred if the right editor takes it.’

‘And if you fail to sell it, nothing at all?’

‘That
’s
right.’

‘How long have you been working at it?’

‘Off and on, for about six weeks.’

‘All to earn a possible thousand or twenty-five hundred dollars?’

‘I began reading back copies of the
Herald-Tribune
six weeks ago, in Paris, for material on Fr
eddy Farr. He hasn’t
occupied an
y time since. I came to Monte Carlo only last
week, to talk to him personally.’

‘I am aware of the length of your stay in the Principality. You have assembled enough information to write the article?’
‘I have assembled enough information to write a book
about Freddy Farr, if I choose to. Right now I have in mind
an article.’

‘But your information does not include anything that might lead to an explanation of the puzzle of the
Angel
’s
departure this morning?’

‘No.’

‘That is all, then. Thank you for coming.’

George left without the customary exchange of courtesies, his mouth still tight. When he had gone, Neyrolle called a
clerk.

‘Assemble a
dossier
on Saunders, George,’ he said. ‘The usual material, with particular reference to his
connections
with Farr, Frederick.’

The clerk made a note, then turned to leave. Neyrolle added thoughtfully, ‘And check with Paris to see what they
can give you on him. I wonder that a man who resists even
roulette can gambl
e
so strongly on an uncertain return for so
much of his time and
labor
.’

‘There
’s
your course until I give you another,’ Jules said. ‘One hundred and ninety degrees magnetic. Hold it at ten
knots, and don’t leave the wheel until you’re relieved.’

‘When will that be?’ Blake asked.

‘When I get around to it. Don’t ask too many questions, either.’

‘S
omebody has got to oil and check the pumps and clean fuel strainers. A ship like this doesn’t run itself.’

‘I took a look below an hour ago. Everything is turning over as smooth as silk.’ Jules grinned, exposing a mouthful of
strong yellow teeth. ‘We know a ship like this doesn’t run
itself, Captain. That
’s
why you’re still with us.’

They were six hours out of Monaco, pushing steadily southward through the early dark. Blake had spent most of
the time locked in his cabin, increasingly concerned over the
unattended diesels. His preoccupation with the cruiser
’s
motors was not irrelevant t
o the predicament of its passen
gers. If the diesels broke down beyond repair, Holtz and
Jules still had the launch, but it was improbable that they
would take much with them in the way of excess baggage.
Freddy, perhaps. The rest of them had little hope of being
left behind with a chance to talk, even on a crippled and
voiceless ship. In a very direct sense, the safety of the
Angel
’s
passengers depended on the continued functioning of
her motors.

Jules had made a bundle of all the
signaling
devices in the pilot-house; rockets, smoke-candles, the Very-pistol, flags,
everything that could be used for sending a message. Having
put the radiophone out of commission and destroyed the
bridge telephone contact, he had also blinded the searchlight
on the roof of the pilot-house by ripping out a section of the
wires
that
fed it power. The
Angel
’s
controls remained un-touched, her instruments of navigation in working order. All
that her wheelsman could not do was communicate. He was
as isolated as a man in a glass cage.

Blake said, ‘Where are we bound?’

‘I told you. One hundred and ninety magnetic until I tell you something else - and d
on’t waste time loading the com
pass so it will read crooked. I carry my own in my pocket.
Any time I find you wandering off course, I’ll be up to give
you another lesson in
steersmanship
.’

‘There
’s
a check compass on the afterdeck. Before you decide to slug me, take a look at that one, too. It
’s
probably
more accurate than yours.’

‘Don’t worry. You’ll get slugged only if you ask for it.’

Jules picked up his bundle, tucked it under one arm, and put a big hand on Blake
’s
shoulder. It was not a friendly
gesture, but to let Blake feel the grip of his strong fingers.

‘Take a hint, Captain. You’re going to have a lot of time to be figuring ways and means to get around us. Don’t try it.
This job has been figured right down to the last hair. Do
what you’re told, steer the course you’re told to steer, and
nobody will get hurt.’

‘I’d feel more confident about that if a couple of people hadn’t already been hurt.’

‘You’re still alive, aren’t you?’ Jules reached to turn off the light above the chart table, leaving the pilot-house in
darkness except for the binnacle lamp and the shaded glow
of the instrument panel behind the w
heel. From the door
way he said, quite seriously,
‘
S
tay that way, Captain.’

The door closed behind him.

If he gives you any trouble, kill him
, Holtz had said, and sounded just as serious.

With the readings of the instrument panel under his eyes for assurance that the motors were running smoothly, Blake
had time to think about the temper of the
Angel
’s
passengers.
Freddy, thoroughly cowed, could be counted on to cause no
further trouble. But Bruno
might be reckless enough to re
new his challenge of Holtz
’s
authority, and Laura di Lucca
’s
fears would only egg him on. Valentina was an unknown
quantity, Marian accepted challenges as a matter of
principle.

He hoped that Hol
tz would keep them locked up in
definitely. They wouldn’t starve in seventy-two hours. Sixty-five, now. He had already begun to mark time by the hours that had to elapse before the rendezvous with Roche. He
closed his mind to everything but the need to get through
that period without further trouble.

The count was down to sixty-two when he picked up the lights of a steamer bound, by its course, for Ajaccio. Watching it while he calculated the
Angel
’s
approximate position in
his head, he let the cruiser swing a point or two off course,
and was prepared, when he heard someone on the ladder
outside, for Jules
’s
return with a warning, or punishment, or
both. He was surprised when the door opened and Marian
’s
subdued voice spoke in the dark.