Judas Country

I said: 'I thought naming prices was your end,' and began to fill the pipe.

'Well – start at half a million and it could go as high as one.'

Ken started to say something but it jammed in his throat like a fishbone. Finally he said huskily: 'Dollars?'

'Sure.'

You can smell a million dollars; you can taste it. But I've never been able to do more.

Eleanor went on: 'The nice thing is, it was found at Acre: that's where Richard sailed home from. Probably he presented it to somebody, you know: "I must away but let my sword stand guard in Outremer until my return".' She looked a little abashed. They did say things like that.'

Ken said: 'I bet they also said: "Sorry I can't pay the ten ducats, but keep this until I've pushed through a tax raise".'

'Yes – the Crusaders were always in money trouble. You know, hecould have found the tomb of Henry of Champagne.' She turned to Mitzi. 'Didn't he tell you anything about this?'

She shook her head quickly. 'He was good at secrets. Only he said that he had found a most valuable sword.'

Tasked: 'Who was Henry?'

'He took over from Richard. He was quite a diplomat: kept a small kingdom going there without any military back-up. But he died a couple of years before Richard. Fell out of a window while reviewing some troops.'

Ken said: 'No wonder he's remembered as Henry of Champagne.'

'They didn't invent the wine for another four hundred years. Anyway, Henry was supposed to have been buried in Sainte-Croix. So, the regulation thing would have been to leave the sword in place and whistle up other archaeologists to witness the find.'

'And give it to the Israeli government.' Ken said. 'So instead, he wrote out this description, got his assistant to sign it, and hid the description in one place and the sword somewhere else. The real value comes when those two get together again – am I right?'

Eleanor nodded. 'Something like that. The description's worth nothing by itself; the sword could be worth a few thousand -but the big museums wouldn't touch it without any documentation.'

There was a time while we just sat and thought. The bar-stools were filling up rapidly. A BEA captain I'd known in the RAF at one end, the usual bunch of journalists at the other, some Swedish officers in the middle.

Mitzi cleared her throat nervously and said: Then perhaps I should go and talk to this Herr Aziz in Beirut. Do you know how much it costs to go there?'

'Costs?' said Ken, appalled.'Costs? You're talking to two men who own an airline. You're our guests. However-' he looked at his empty glass and then Eleanor '-could you spring for another round?'

*

Kapotas raked a trembling hand through his hair. 'You want what?'

'Just the seventy-five pounds I'm owed already,' I said pleasantly. 'Only now, before the banks close. And, of course, tacit agreement to us using the aeroplane. I'm not asking for permission, you understand; only that you don't notice.'

'But you don't expect me to…' He seemed as much muddled as dazed. 'But this is absurd. What do you want to do with the plane?'

'We just want to pop across to Beirut on – what would you call it? A merchant venture, perhaps.'

'And you can participate, ' Ken joined in. 'Don't get the idea that we're limiting your contribution just to the seventy-five that you owe Roy anyway. If you want to put in some more of your own, then naturally you share, prorata, in the eventual profit.'

'Of which,' I added, 'we have every confidence.'

After a time, Kapotas said in a calm but slightly shaky voice: 'Have you been drinking?'

'A jar or two,' I admitted. 'But nothing noticeable.'

Ken said: 'Are you really trying to tell us that you're turning down this unique opportunity?'

Kapotas just looked at him.

I said: 'All right, but you'll be sorry. So just write me the cheque for seventy-five and I'll get round to the bank.'

'I keep telling you, I can do nothing until Harborne, Gough-'

'And we both know Harborne, Gough's reckoning they can screw me by waiting until I get so bored I'll fly the aeroplane home for nothing rather than pay my own fare. And we know the hotel's got money in the bank here and you must have some discretion about using it. So start.'

He just looked stubborn.

I sighed. 'Well, we'll get the girls to lend us the fare to Beirut and I'll ring my bank and they can cable through a few quid there.' I reached for my room key. 'We'll be checking out, then.'

'But wait…' Kapotas frowned at me. 'What about the plane?'

'It belongs to Castle. Harborne, Gough'll probably send another pilot down to fly it back. You can't expect me to stay on forever without pay, can you?'

'But… the boxes of champagne-'

He jerked his head in a small, significant nod at Ken.

'Don't worry,' I said cheerfully. 'You can speak openly in front of my partner; he's older than he looks. Those boxes? Do what you like with them. They're not mine.'

'But… what is in them…'

Ken said quickly: 'Does anybodyknow what's in them?'

'I don't,' I said. 'They haven't been opened.'

'The one we… I opened here…' Kapotas stuttered.

I shrugged. 'I don't know what happened to that box. But I'm sure that if there was anything, say, illegal in it, then you'd have reported it to the police.'

He glared. 'I can still report it! '

'Twenty-four hours late? And when you've had police crawling all over your hotel for half that time? Dear me.'

There was a long silence.

At last Kapotas said between his teeth: 'I call this blackmail.'

'It's certainly a fascinating moral problem,' Ken said thoughtfully. There's no doubt but that Roy is owed that seventy-five and that you've refused to pay-'

'As receiver,' Kapotas went back to his old refrain; 'I am not responsible for debts incurred before Harborne; Gough took over. Therefore, I am not strictly acting for the old Castle International board, who hired Mr Case, but for the new owners, the debenture holders."

'But strictly,' Ken said, 'we aren't blackmailingyou: it's notyour money we're after. I suppose you might say we're putting the bite on your beloved debenture holders, but only by offering to help conceal what one of their agents – that's you – did while acting on their behalf: to wit and namely, failing to disclose the illegal importation of what may be twelve boxes of unlicensed firearms by Castle International or their agent. That's you,' he said to me.

I said: 'I admire the grammar, but I lost the moral in there somewhere.'

Ttold you it was a fascinating problem. I bet they set it as a passing-out exam for Jesuits one day. And it gets better.' He looked back at Kapotas. 'You see, you don't propose yourself to have anything more to do with those boxes, do you? But in order to protect you completely, we can't be so negative. We have to act positively, possibly even commit a crime, by knowingly taking those boxes somewhere else.

'You see the difficult moral position you're putting us in?' he added.

'I'm putting YOU?' screamed Kapotas.

Ken nodded gently and said: 'And we haven't even begun considering your responsibility towards those boxes as assets of the company, which they must, primafacie, be assumed to be.'

'You're right,' I said. 'I hadn't realised how fascinating it all is.'

There was another long silence, except for Ken tapping on his front teeth and trying to make a tune by opening and closing his mouth while staring blankly at the switchboard.