He found Marvin watching the end of a ball game on the box.
‘Hi, Mike.’ Marvin got to his feet and turned off the set. ‘Lousy game. Had a good day?’
‘Swimming,’ Frost said. ‘I’m starved.’ He pulled up a chair and sat at the table. ‘No excitement?’
Marvin shook his head and sat opposite Frost.
‘The excitement will start on Saturday. The Big Shot arrives.’
‘So Old Creepy told me. Tell me about Grandi.’ Frost offered his pack of cigarettes. As the two men lit up, he went on, ‘How do you dig him?’
‘You and I have handled dozens of thugs in our day,’ Marvin said quietly. ‘Grandi is yet another thug, but gold plated. Watch it with him. He likes playing God. Don’t imagine because he gives you the big hello, he has taken a liking for you. I would rather deal with Old Creepy than Grandi. At least, you know Old Creepy is hostile. I’ve met Grandi twice, and twice is enough. I know because I’m an ex-cop, he hates cops. So watch it.’
At this moment, Suka came in with the dinner trays. He sat them down on the table, bowed and went away.
Frost looked at the thick pork chop with onions and french fried potatoes, and whistled.
‘We certainly don’t starve here. Tell me about Suka, Jack.’ He began to cut into the chop. ‘He never seems to stop working.’ Frost was now probing for information. ‘Does he sleep here?’
‘Suka’s special. He looks after us, Gina, Amando and the dogs. No, he doesn’t sleep in the villa. He has a cabin around the back by the lagoon. He packs up around 23.00, and he starts work at 07.30. He’s the only resident servant here. The rest of the staff leave before I release the dogs. They all live outside the estate.’
‘There’s no night staff then?’
‘For what?’ Marvin slapped mustard on his chop. ‘The girl goes to bed around 22.00. Amando goes to his room around the same time. They don’t need anything. But it’s different when Grandi arrives. The whole staff are on duty until he goes to bed which is around 02.00. They love him! To get the staff home, I have to recall the dogs.’ Marvin shrugged. ‘He doesn’t often come, and he doesn’t stay long. He’ll be off on Monday morning, and then everyone can relax.’
Frost now had some information, and knowing Marvin was an ex-cop, he decided it would be unsafe to probe further.
Then he felt a sudden cold chill run up his spine as he looked across the table at Marvin’s relaxed, friendly face. This man was going to be murdered! Then he forced himself to think of the money he was going to pick up. Five million! Why the hell should he care about Marvin?
The food had become dry in his mouth. He forced himself to eat while his mind continued to be active.
‘Have you got a girl, Jack?’ he said, chewing hard.
‘I’ve got something better than that,’ Marvin said with an expansive grin. ‘I’ve got a son.’
For the next ten minutes while they finished their dinner, Frost was subjected to a glowing eulogy of Marvin’s son. According to Marvin, there had never been such a bright, smart phenomenon as Marvin junior. And as he listened, seeing the pride and happiness on Marvin’s face, he knew now why Silk had said Marvin would co-operate.
‘Who wants a woman when I’m so goddamn lucky to have a son like that?’ Marvin concluded. ‘I spend every hour when I’m off duty with him. I’ve got him well fixed. When the kid was born, my goddamn wife wouldn’t take care of him. All she thought about was movies, farting around, having what she called a good time. So I hired an old black mamma, and she is great! She takes care of the kid. I wouldn’t want for anyone better!’
‘Yeah,’ Frost said, pushing aside his plate. ‘You’re lucky. When you have a kid like that...’
‘I know it.’ Marvin got to his feet. ‘Time I got rid of the staff and let the dogs loose.’
‘You feed them, Jack?’
‘Suka does it. He has a way with dogs. He’s feeding them now.’
‘Well, so long. Happy dreams.’
When Marvin had gone, Frost sat before the monitors. This day was Thursday. He had two more night duties. On Saturday, he would have to see Silk again. By Saturday, he would have to come up with the solution of his problems.
He heard Suka come in to collect the tray and he looked around.
‘Fine meal, Suka,’ he said.
The Japanese paused and regarded him, his face expressionless.
Frost studied him. Instinct warned him that this little man with his wooden face could be dangerous.
‘I forgot to thank you for keeping guard, Suka,’ he went on. ‘You and I must try to keep Miss Gina happy.’
Suka inclined his head, stared for a long moment at Frost, and then left the room.
Frost grimaced, then shrugged, but again told himself that Suka could be yet another problem.
Now to see if he could solve his problems.
How was he going to dope Amando? This was the sixty-four thousand dollar question. The more he thought about it, the more complex the problem became. He had no information about Amando’s habits. On the night that Gina was to be snatched, Amando might be away on a business trip: he might be at the villa: he might... God knew!
Frost rubbed his sweating jaw. A problem! He sat staring at the monitors and watched the dogs, sniffing around the trees. He thought of the moment when he would have to set off for the guardroom to neutralise the fence and he studied the dogs... all killers!
Hell! he thought, have I problems!
It wasn’t until after midnight that an idea suddenly occurred to him. He did have some information about Amando, and he had forgotten about it up to this moment! His heart beating with excitement, he snatched up the telephone receiver and dialled the Spanish Bay hotel. In a minute or so, he was connected with Marcia.
‘No talk, honey,’ he said, keeping his voice low. ‘Just say yes or no. Does Amando still come to you Saturdays?’
‘Yes.’
‘First Saturday in the month?’
‘Yes.’
‘What time?’
‘Nine evening.’
‘Does he take a drink?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay, honey,’ and Frost hung up.
The first problem solved!
Now the dogs.
He got to his feet and once again examined the control panel. He concentrated on the button that activated the silent whistle that recalled the dogs to their compound. If he could fix this, so when Marvin was doped, the whistle would get the dogs back into their compound, then the second problem would be solved. He knew nothing about electronics. He then remembered Umney had talked to the man who had fixed the alarm panel. Frost nodded to himself. Umney would have to talk to this guy again and find out how he (Frost) could fix the whistle button even if it meant twisting the guy’s arm. Maybe this would be the second problem solved.
But how was he to dope Gina?
As he thought about this, he realised that she presented a dangerous problem. When she came out of sedation after her release, she must not have any suspicion that he had engineered her kidnapping. She was an unknown quantity to him, but he had an instinctive feeling that she would throw him to the cops if she had the slightest suspicion he had been behind her kidnapping.
Don’t rush this, he told himself. I have until Saturday morning. At least, I reckon I have two of the problems fixed.