“All right,” he said. “Let’s go.”
André backed the car from the alley; he swung the wheel and headed them for the river avenue and the road north to Mataró and eventually the border.
“All right,” he said. “What was that all about?”
Kek was laughing. “Bless that encyclopedia! And bless Anita’s snoring—”
“I do not snore!”
“—and bless Schneller’s use of steel balls in his soundproof lock...” Kek saw the questioning look on the other two faces and relented. “‘Electromagnetism,’” he said softly. “Not too far from ‘Elephants.’ A bit of wire wound around — preferably soft iron, but a steel bar like a screwdriver will also work — hooked to a battery, and you have a magnet. With a lot of power. More than enough to scramble Herr Schneller’s little steel balls in their little sockets...”
Anita stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
André understood. “You mean the suitcase can never be opened?”
“Not without blowing up.” Kek grinned. “Think of the beauty of that as a lesson to Señor Sanchez! To have millions of dollars in cocaine in his hands and not be able to get to it!”
“He’ll get hold of Schneller—”
“Good! They can sit there together, trying the numbers, and listening to that beautiful bell ring. And Schneller will explain that something must have gone wrong, but nothing could have gone wrong, and they’ll be sure Schneller removed the cocaine and changed the combination, and he’ll be hard put to explain, and they’ll all just sit there and try and try again and again—” His face sobered. “Eventually, of course, the batteries for the bell will wear out, and then—”
André glanced at him. “In Schneller’s words: Blooey?”
“No,” Kek said. “They’re not that insane. I think they’ll just sit and stare at it and visualize the contents...”
“You’re nasty,” André said and grinned.
“Yes,” Kek said and dropped the subject. He pulled Anita to him and kissed her tenderly. He touched her cheek softly with a finger, tracing it along the firm line of her jaw, looking up at André. “I know I said I’d take over the driving after Barcelona, but right now I’m occupied...”
“Be my guest,” André said politely.
“Thank you.”
“When we stop for anything,” Anita said, “we really should get in the back seat.” She grinned at Kek. “I never did get to practice those wiles on you.”
“I think the car needs water,” André said gallantly and pulled from the highway...