As he leaned hack in his armchair, he asked, “The American gave you these stones?”
“Yes.”
“Where did he get them from?”
“From Hong Kong. He bought them for a girl, but changed his mind.”
“How much did you say he told you they were worth?”
Blackie frowned.
“A thousand U.S. dollars.”
“It would surprise you if I told you they are worth three thousand dollars?” Charlie said.
Blackie’s eyes went dull. He slumped down in his chair while he stared at his brother.
“The American didn’t buy these diamonds in Hong Kong,” Charlie went on. “He was lying to you.”
“I don’t understand,” Blackie said. “Why did he give them to me if they are worth so much?”
“Because he doesn’t know the value of them, and that means he didn’t buy them.”
“I don’t understand,” Blackie said. “If he didn’t buy them how did he get them?”
“He stole them,” Charlie said. “This is a very strange coincidence.” He pointed to the diamonds. “Six years ago, I cut those diamonds. Myself. My mark is on them.”
“This is extraordinary,” Blackie said. “You are quite sure?”
“Of course. I can tell you who the owner was of these diamonds. Do you remember General Nguyen Van Tho?”
Blackie nodded.
“He ordered a hundred and twenty diamonds from the firm I worked for and he paid cash for them. It was a secret deal, but I learned he had gone to another dealer and bought fifty much bigger and better stones. In all he bought two million American dollars worth of diamonds. He used the Army funds to buy the stones. He planned to leave the country but he left it too late. He was killed by a bomb, and the diamonds were never found. I think the American has found them!”
The two men looked at each other. Blackie felt a trickle of sweat run down his face. Two million American dollars!
“Of course!” he said. “Jaffe lived in the villa belonging to the General’s woman! The General must have hidden the stones there and Jaffe found them. That’s why he murdered his houseboy! The boy must have known Jaffe had found the diamonds!”
Charlie continued to puff at his cigar, but his mind was active. Here at last, he was thinking, is the chance I have waited for. Two million dollars! The big money! At last!
“Of course we don’t know he has the other diamonds,” Blackie said doubtfully. “He may have found only these two.”
“And killed the boy for two diamonds?” Charlie shook his head. “No: he’s found them - all of them. You can be sure of that.”
“I know where he is hiding,” Blackie said, lowering his voice. “It would be a simple matter to surprise him. I have several men who would take care of him.”
Charlie lifted his head to stare at his brother.
“Suppose you got the diamonds?” he said. “What would you do with them here?”
“We would take them to Hong Kong,” Blackie said impatiently.
“The last time I left Saigon, I was searched,” Charlie said gently. “They would search you too. Both of us are suspect. If we were caught with the diamonds, we would disappear. You realize that, don’t you?”
“Then what are we going to do?” Blackie said.
“We are going to do what the American wants. We are going to get him out of the country. Naturally, he’ll take the diamonds with him. He will take all the risks. We will be in Hong Kong waiting for him. It is then when he arrives in Hong Kong that we take the diamonds from him. Do you agree?”
“But you said just now you wouldn’t consider the matter,” Blackie reminded him.
Charlie smiled.
“For two million American dollars, there is nothing I would not consider. You can tell him we will get him out of the country.”
“But how?”
Charlie closed his eyes.
“That is something I must think about. I am not as young as I used to be. A little sleep now would be beneficial. Will you see I am not disturbed?”
Blackie got up and went to the door. He paused. There was a worried expression in his eyes.
“The American won’t part with the diamonds easily,” he said. “He is a powerfully-built man.”
Charlie settled himself comfortably in the chair.
“We can’t expect to gain two million dollars without trouble,” he said. “Thank you for reminding me. I will take it into consideration.”
A few minutes after Blackie had left the office, Charlie began to snore softly.
Chapter Ten
1
THE reward of 20,000 piastres for any information concerning Jaffe’s last movements before he had been kidnapped led to chaotic scenes outside Security Headquarters.
Inspector Ngoc-Linh had expected this to happen. He knew every shiftless coolie, pousse-pousse boy, street-vendor and the like would come rushing forward with their stories, determined to earn the reward.
He knew he and his men would have to sift through hundreds of stories in the hope of gaining one little fact that might prove Jaffe was in hiding and not in the hands of the Viet Minh. The Inspector hoped too to get a lead on the girl Jaffe associated with. He gave instructions that no one was to be turned away. Everyone coming forward with information was to be interviewed.
A man who could have told him where Jaffe was hiding knew nothing about the offer of the reward for Yo-Yo had never learned to read and consequently never looked at a newspaper.
While the Inspector was probing and sifting the answers to his questions, Yo-Yo squatted outside the Paradise Club, his dirty, vicious face puckered in a perplexed frown.
He saw Charlie arrive. He had seen Charlie before and knew he lived in Hong Kong. He guessed Charlie had been sent for. He knew then for certain that something of great importance was going on. But how was he to find out what this something could be? He wondered if he should go to the taxi-dancer’s home and talk to her. He might persuade her to tell him why she had visited the American, but on second thought he saw that if he failed to frighten her into talking he would be in serious trouble with Blackie. The risk was too great.
So he sat in the shade, fidgeting with his yo-yo and waited. Not ten yards from him the food vendor was reading of the reward and wondering craftily what story he could tell the police that would convince them he was the man to receive the reward. He knew Jaffe. He had seen him often going in and out of the club, but he couldn’t remember if he had seen him on Sunday night. He vaguely remembered Jaffe had sat in his car outside the club but whether that was on Saturday or Sunday, the vendor couldn’t make up his mind.
He decided he might as well tell the police it was Sunday. They would be more impressed if he told them it was Sunday because, according to the newspaper, that was the day when Jaffe disappeared. As soon as the lunch-hour rush was over, he would go to the police and tell them about seeing Jaffe sitting in his car. Even if he didn’t get all the reward, surely they would give him something?
In the American Embassy, Lieutenant Hambley sat in his office, digging holes in his blotter with a paper-knife, a thoughtful, worried expression on his face.
He was waiting for Sam Wade to come in. He had telephoned for him as soon as he had got back to his office. Wade had said he would be along in a few minutes.
When he did come in, Hambley waved him to a chair.
“I’ve got myself snarled up in this Jaffe affair,” he said. You knew him pretty well, didn’t you?”
“I guess, but not all that well. We played golf together. He was a hell of a fine golfer. I never saw anyone hit a longer ball off the peg.”
“What sort of guy was he?”
“A regular fella. I liked him.”
Hambley dug more holes in his blotter.
“He wasn’t a queer, was he?”
Wade’s eyes opened wide.