Even if I had never heard her use the phrase “indignant sheep” about me, I would have known this heavy-handed guile for what it was. I do not have a good pair of shoulders on me. I have narrow, sloping ones. Women who think they can get away with that childish sort of flattery make me sick. I was really annoyed. Unfortunately, that made me go red. She smiled. I suppose she thought I was blushing because of her bloody compliment.
“I’m not much good at this sort of game,” I said.
“The thing is to pull on the cord steadily, Arthur. Don’t jerk it. Pull steadily, and when it starts moving, keep pulling steadily hand over hand. It’s an easy fifty dollars. I know you can do it.”
I was getting really browned off with her now. “All right, you bitch,” I thought to myself; “I’ll show you!” So I did the exact opposite of what she’d said. I jerked on the cord as hard as I could.
The settee moved a few inches; but, of course, what I’d done by jerking it, was to get the feet out of the dents they’d made for themselves in the thick carpet. After that, I just kept on pulling and it slid some more. As it got nearer it became easier because I was pulling up as well as along.
Harper looked at Miller. “What about it, Leo?”
Miller felt my arms and shoulders as if he were buying a horse. “He is flabby, out of condition,” he said sourly.
“But he did the trick,” Harper reminded him.
Miller spread out his hands as if to abandon the argument.
Harper took a note from his wallet. “Here, Arthur,” he said, “fifty dollars.” He paused and then went on quietly: “How would like to earn two thousand?”
I stared at him.
“Sit down,” he said.
I sat down and was glad to do so. My legs were trembling. With two thousand dollars I could buy a Central American passport that would be good for years; and it would be a real passport, too. I know, because I have looked into such matters. As long as you don’t actually go to the country concerned, there’s no trouble at all. You just buy the passport. That’s the way their consuls abroad line their pockets. Of course, I knew it was all a pipe dream. Even if I did whatever it was they wanted, Harper wasn’t going to be in a position to pay me, because the chances were that Tufan would have him in jail by then. Still, it was a good dream.
“I’d like that very much,” I said.
They were all watching me intently now.
“Don’t you want to know what you have to do for it?” Harper asked.
I wasn’t going to let him walk all over me. I sat back. “What Mr. Fischer was going to do, I suppose,” I answered; “that is, if he hadn’t that little accident this evening.”
Miss Lipp laughed. “I told you Arthur wasn’t as simple as he looks,” she said.
“What else do you know, Arthur?” This was Harper again.
“Only what Miss Lipp told me, sir-that you are all very sensible, tolerant persons, who are very broad-minded about things that the law doesn’t always approve of, but who don’t like taking risks.”
“I told you all that, Arthur?” She pretended to be surprised.
“It was what I gathered, Miss Lipp.”
Harper smiled. “All right, Arthur,” he said; “suppose we just leave it there. We have a deal.”
“I think I’m entitled to know a little more than that.”
“And you will, Arthur. We’ll be leaving here tomorrow afternoon around three, bags packed and everything because we won’t be coming back. Before we go you’ll have a complete briefing. And don’t worry. All you have to do is just pull on a rope at the right place and time. Everything else is taken care of.”
“Is this a police matter?”
“It would be if they knew about it, but they don’t. I told you, you don’t have to worry. Believe me, you’ve taken bigger risks in Athens for a lot less than two thousand.”
“On that subject, sir, I think I am now entitled to have my letter back.”
Harper looked questioningly at Miller and Fischer. The latter began to talk in German. He spoke slowly and wearily now, and I guessed that the sedative had taken effect, but his attitude was clear enough. So was Miller’s. Harper turned to me and shook his head regretfully.
“I’m sorry, Arthur, that’ll have to wait. In fact, my friends seem to feel that you may be quite a security risk for the next twelve hours or so.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Sure you do.” He grinned. “I’ll bet the idea’s been churning around in that cute little brain of yours for the last five minutes. ‘If two hands on a rope are worth two thousand dollars to these people, what would a tip-off be worth to the police?’ ”
“I assure you…”
“Of course you do, Arthur. I was only kidding.” His tone was quite friendly. “But you see the problem. We like to feel safe. Even that letter doesn’t mean much here. Do you have the car keys?”
“Yes.”
“Let me have them.”
I handed them to him.
“You see we wouldn’t want you to have second thoughts and maybe walk out on us,” he explained.
“And we would not like him to use the telephone,” said Miller.
“That’s right.” Harper thought for a moment. “Hans is going to need help undressing,” he said; “and the doctor’s given him another antibiotic he has to take. I think it would be best if we made up an extra bed in his room and Arthur slept there.”
“So that he can kill me when I am helpless and get out by the window?” Fischer demanded thickly.
“Oh, I don’t think Arthur would do that. Would you, Arthur?”
“Of course not.”
“That’s right. But we don’t want Hans to be worrying, do we? The doctor says he really needs to sleep. And you should have a good night’s sleep, too, Arthur. You won’t get any tomorrow night. You wouldn’t mind taking a couple of good strong sleeping pills, would you? Or maybe even three?”
I hesitated.
“Oh, they won’t hurt you, Arthur.” Miss Lipp gave me a fond smile. “I’ll tell you what. If you’ll be a good boy and take your pills, I’ll take one, too. We’ll all need our sleep tomorrow.”
What could I say?
9
My head felt as if it had been stuffed with steel wool. There was even a metallic taste in my mouth. It took me some time to remember where I was. I could hear a loud buzzing noise. When, at last, I managed to open my eyes, I saw Fischer. The buzzing came from an electric shaver which he was holding, awkwardly, in his right hand.
My bed consisted of a mattress on the floor and the blankets from my old room. I rolled off the mattress and got to my feet unsteadily. Fischer gave me a disagreeable look.
“You snore like a pig,” he said.
He had a shirt and slacks on, I was glad to see; Harper or Miller must have helped him. Undressing him, the night before, had been an unpleasant task. It had meant touching him, and I hate touching anyone I dislike-another man especially.
“What’s the time?” I asked.
They had taken everything from me after they had made me swallow the sleeping pills, even my watch. All I had been allowed had been my pajama coat.
“About eleven,” he answered. “Your clothes have been put in there.” He indicated a door.
I went through and found myself in one of the partly furnished rooms I had seen the day before. My things were piled on a brown cut-velvet chaise longue. I disposed of a minor anxiety first. The cigarette packet with the message inside it was still in my hip pocket and apparently undetected. I left it where it was. With any luck, I thought, I might be able to add to it. My papers were there. The radio was in its case.
From the bedroom Fischer said: “I have finished with this bathroom. You may use it.”
“I think I will go and get some coffee first.”
“Then bring all your papers and money in here.”
There was no point in arguing. I did as he said, put some trousers on, and found my way downstairs to the kitchen.
Mrs. Hamul was there. The sight of the hired driver unshaven and wearing a pajama jacket at eleven in the morning must have seemed odd to her. She looked at me as if I were raving mad. I asked her for coffee. She gave me tea, and some of the previous day’s bread toasted. The tea wasn’t bad. My head began to clear. As I ate the toast, I wondered if I could muster enough Turkish to persuade her or her husband to take a message to the surveillance people on the road. Then Miss Lipp came in, well groomed and very chic in white and yellow stripes.