‘He’ll tell you.’
Frost lit another cigarette while he stared at the distant sea. Five million dollars! What had he to lose to talk to Silk? If Silk couldn’t convince him, then he would opt out.
‘Okay, so I’ll listen, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be his inside man,’ he said.
Marcia drew in a deep breath of relief.
‘No time like the present,’ she said. ‘Let’s go. He’s at the restaurant now.’
‘Let him sweat,’ Frost said, then pointing at her bikini, he went on, ‘Why are you wearing that?’
Men! Marcia thought as she unstrapped the clips. God! What animals they are!
They sat around the big table in the room above the swimming pool. Silk was flanked either side by Umney and Goble. Frost sat at the far end of the table on which stood drinks, two bottles of Scotch and a tray of canapés. Goble was the only one to eat. Every so often his fingers closed on one of the elaborate tidbits which he conveyed to his mouth.
‘I’ve been working on this idea for some time,’ Silk was saying, staring at Frost. ‘There’s a twenty million rake off, but there’s no way to get at the girl without an inside man. I’m offering you the job for a five million cut.’
Frost turned his tumbler of Scotch around in his fingers.
‘I was talking to 1st Grade Detective Lepski,’ he said. ‘I’m told he is a very smart cop. Let me quote what he said. These were his words: “We don’t want Gina Grandi snatched. Grandi looks after us, so we look after him. Right now, we know she has total protection. There is no way to get at her unless there is an inside man, and if an inside man appears, she could get snatched.”’ Frost paused and stared at Silk. ‘Those were his words. So I opt to be the inside man, she gets snatched, and the heat drops on me. That’s not my idea of picking up five million.’
Silk smiled.
‘It wouldn’t be mine either, but the heat won’t drop on you, Mike. It’ll drop on Jack Marvin.’
Frost stiffened.
‘Marvin? That’s crazy talk! Now listen to me...’
Silk raised his hand.
‘Relax. I’ve thought this thing out I’ve lived in this city for fifteen years, and I know all about the cops here. They know their business. I guess they are about the best. From the start of my thinking, I knew that when the girl’s snatched, they would know there had to be an inside man. I knew they would look hard at the man who replaced Joe Davis. Now listen carefully, Mike, I protect my organisation. You ask Ross and Mitch. I’ve never let them down.’ He looked to right and left. ‘Right?’
‘You can say that again,’ Goble said, stuffing a sardine on toast into his mouth.
Umney nodded.
‘So okay,’ Silk went on. ‘The cops have two likely suspects for the inside man: you and Marvin. I’m going to fix it they turn the heat on Marvin.’
Frost was leaning forward, his eyes intent.
‘Keep talking. How do you turn the heat on Marvin? Let me tell you something first. Lepski and Marvin are buddies. Marvin has a gold-plated reputation for being a dedicated, straight ex-cop. Your thinking’s cockeyed.’
Again Silk smiled.
‘When the take is twenty million, who is ever straight and dedicated?’
‘Five million,’ Frost said.
‘No, twenty million. Marvin will seem to handle the snatch on his own. Here’s how the cops will see it. One night, Marvin decides to snatch the girl. The twenty million take has been too much of a temptation. It’s all in his favour. He will have no trouble handling the dogs. No problem there. He will be on night duty. You will be sleeping in your cabin. You don’t present a problem. He goes to the girl’s room, knocks her on the head, carries her down to the harbour, puts her in the motorboat and away he goes. The following morning you go to relieve him: no Marvin. You raise the alarm: no Gina. Amando will alert Grandi. You stand by for orders. Grandi reads the kidnap note: pay up, no cops or your daughter gets knocked off. Grandi won’t call in the cops. He waits. Then Marvin telephones. He gives instructions how the ransom is to be paid and he says you are the one he will deal with. Grandi delivers, and you give me the ransom, then you return, still the white headed boy.’ He paused. ‘How do you like it so far?’
‘It stinks,’ Frost said, but his heart was thumping. ‘You say Marvin telephones. Amando will take the call. Marvin’s voice is very special. You can’t mistake it, and don’t tell me Marvin would cooperate. You would have to fake it, and that’s out.’
Again Silk smiled.
‘Marvin will co-operate. When I make a plan, it’s organised. For three months, Ross has been studying Marvin. Here’s something you don’t know. Marvin’s marriage didn’t work, but he has a son, aged three. We can get that kid. No problem there. Marvin will cooperate.’
Frost shifted in his chair, his mind very alert.
‘So, okay, the heat’s off me, and on Marvin,’ he said. ‘Grandi gives me the ransom, and I deliver it to you. This is fine, so far, for you, but how about me? You three could take off, and I’m the sucker.’
Silk poured a little more Scotch into his glass and added charge water.
‘You’re not using your head,’ he said. ‘Never mind! I’ll show you your share will be guaranteed. I’ll deal with that later. Now I’ll tell you what really happens: not what the cops think has happened, but what does happen.’
‘I’m listening,’ Frost said.
‘There are some details that have to be ironed out, but here is the general idea. You take night duty for a week, then change with Marvin? Right?’
Frost nodded.
‘Okay, so you are on day duty, and Marvin on night duty when we snatch the girl. What time do you finish your day duty?’
‘Twenty hours. Then we have dinner together, and I am free.’
‘What’s the girl doing? Does she eat alone?’
‘Maybe. I don’t know. She could eat with Amando, but I doubt it.’
‘That’s something I want you to find out. I’ll give you knock out pills. They are speciaclass="underline" delayed action. Your job is to put a pill in Marvin’s drink, Amando’s drink and the girl’s drink. How you do this is up to you.’ Silk gave a wry grin. ‘You must expect to earn five million dollars, but let’s leave that for the moment. If you can’t dope their drinks, the operation won’t work, but knowing you are smart, I am sure you will fix it. Okay, the pills take six hours to work, and when they work, it’s a complete knockout. So the girl, Amando and Marvin are knocked out. Suppose you fix the drinks at eight o’clock, then at two o’clock, you go to the guardroom where Marvin is snoring his head off, and you neutralise the fence and get the dogs back into their compound. It just means pressing the right buttons... right?’
Frost gaped at him.
‘How the hell do you know that?’
Silk waved his hand to Umney who was grinning.
‘Ross gathers information. He chatted up the guy who fixed the electronics. Ross can get information out of a deaf mute. We know more about the electronic setup than you do. You get the dogs back in their compound and the fence neutralised. Then we three arrive by boat. No problem there. The snatch will take place at three-thirty in the morning. There’ll be no one around. We take the girl and Marvin, both knocked out, to Grandi’s motorboat, and away we go. Ross takes care of our boat.’ Silk paused, then leaning forward, he went on, ‘I’ll spell it out. Your job is to dope the drinks, neutralise the dogs and the fence, and when you have done that you go back to bed. Not such a sweat for five million, is it?’
Frost thought about this, then he said, ‘Very smart, but it still stinks to me. As I see it, you could get the girl, but what happens when the ransom is paid?’ He pointed a finger at Silk. ‘Once the ransom is paid and Grandi gets the girl back, he’s going to call the cops. Once the cops take over, the fun begins. As soon as you release Marvin, he’ll talk. He has an unshakeable reputation. When he says he was doped, the cops will believe him, so the heat comes back to me. Thought of that?’