As is the custom throughout Latin America, dinner did not
' start until nine o'clock, so when they went into the restaurant numerous other guests were still lingering over the meal. While they were ordering, two men got up from a nearby table and left. One was a very tall and bulky man with fair hair and a flowing fair moustache, below which was a row of slightly protruding teeth: He looked about forty five. The other was younger, much shorter; broad shouldered, dark haired and with a swarthy complexion. As they passed, James remarked, `I'm sure I've seen that tall, fair haired man somewhere before, but I can't think where.'
Tired after their long day, as soon as they had finished dinner they went to their respective rooms. As the hotel was nearly full, to Gregory's annoyance, they had had to accept rooms in separate blocks; but he did not anticipate much difficulty in finding Manon's in the dark should he wish to do so.
Having undressed, he went to bed, read for a quarter of an hour, then put out the light. Some time later, he awoke. Long years of living in acute danger had enabled him to train himself to become instantly alert when suddenly awakened. No sound came from near the door, but he felt certain that someone had entered the room stealthily and was standing there.
6 ?The Ambush
Many people habitually lock the doors of their rooms at night, particularly when in hotels. But Gregory had been told when young that it was better not to do so as, in case of fire, one might half suffocate while still asleep and wake already befuddled by fumes. A locked door would then make any attempt at rescue much more difficult. It would, therefore, have been easy for anyone to get into his room almost noiselessly.
During his secret missions he had always slept with a small automatic beneath his pillow and, as a precaution against sneak thieves in hotels, he had resumed the habit during his travels.
Now he slid his hand beneath his pillow, withdrew the gun, pointed it towards the door, then suddenly sat up and switched on his bedside light.
At once he recognised the uninvited visitor as the tall, fair man whom James, at dinner, thought he had seen somewhere before.
The intruder had one hand on the light switch beside the door. With the other he swept up his long, fair moustache, smiled disarmingly and said in French, `You forestalled me, Monsieur. Pray pardon this visit. I intend you no harm at least for the moment.'
`Do you presume to threaten me?' Gregory snapped. `Try it, and I'll put a bullet through your leg; then say I woke and found you here and took you to be a hotel thief.'
The man gave a low laugh. `If you did that, my friend Jules Corbin would call in the police, and you would find yourself under arrest. But your hostile attitude is uncalled for. I have come here only because it is necessary for us to hold a short private conversation.'
For a moment Gregory considered telling him to go to hell but, on second thoughts, decided to hear what he had to say. `Very well,' he snapped. `But be brief. I have a rooted objection to being disturbed in the middle of the night.'
Ignoring his remark, the other replied, `Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Pierre Lacost. I and several friends of mine are interested in the sunken ship off the coast of Tujoa. It came to our knowledge that Ratu James Omboloku was about to approach the Brazilian financier Valentim Maui de Carvalho with a view to his financing a company that would attempt to salvage the gold believed to be down in the wreck. We sent an associate of ours to Rio to warn de Carvalho that if he agreed it would be the worse for him. Very wisely, he accepted the warning and declined to play. We then learned that you have now become interested in this project. I am here to give you the same warning. If you value your safety you will forget this matter, Monsieur. Go where you will when you leave here, provided it is not to the South Seas. Your presence there would bring you into grave danger.'
Lowering the barrel of his automatic a little so that it pointed at Lacost's left knee, Gregory said quietly, `And I warned you what would happen to you if you threatened me. Now get out.'
The big man shrugged. `I am told, Monsieur Sallust, that you are very far from being a fool, but you would be one if you carried out your threat. In the first place, prisons in countries such as this are not pleasant places. I am unarmed and have robbed you of nothing. If you shot me you would undoubtedly be held, perhaps for months, while a full inquiry was made into your having used a firearm on another hotel guest who only walked into your room in mistake for his own. In the second place, I should so strongly resent a serious injury to my leg that soon after you left prison I should arrange for you to become the victim of a fatal accident.'
Gregory had never had any intention of using his weapon unless he was attacked, and he felt that, in the circumstances, it would be wise to find out all he could about Monsieur Pierre Lacost; so, to encourage him to talk, he replied in a much milder tone
`There is certainly something in what you say about the unpleasantness of being held in a Guatemalan prison while an investigation is being carried out; and to be set upon and perhaps seriously injured by one of the thugs you appear to control strikes me as a high price to pay for a trip to the South Seas. But you will permit me to point out that if there is treasure in this ship the only person who has a legal right to it is Ratu James, as the hereditary ruler of the Nakapoa: Group; so should you attempt to deprive him of it you will be committing a felony.'
Again Lacost gave a low laugh. `Might is right, Monsieur. I and my friends have suffered much. We need money and we mean to get it.'
`Do you mean that you have suffered at the Ratu's hands and are taking this way of avenging yourselves upon him?
'No, no! From all I have heard, he is a pleasant young man and we have no quarrel with him. I have no objection to telling you my own story, and those of my friends are very similar. In fact, by doing so I may persuade you to retire gracefully from this business. That would save me some trouble and you considerable pain. You must know of the unrest that beset Algeria from the fifties on. I was the owner of a big estate there, but that sale type, de Gaulle, let us Colons down. After Algeria was given independence the Arab Government dispossessed me of my property. Like countless others, from a comparatively wealthy man I was reduced to near poverty, and had to leave my country for France. To escape the trouble that our bitterness would have caused us to make, de Gaulle shipped several thousands of us off to Tahiti, with promises of a bright new future there. But again that unscrupulous traitor let us down. Next to nothing has been done for us. We were left to rot in poverty and idleness. Now do you understand why we feel entitled to mend our fortunes in any way we can, even if it entails taking strong measures against people like yourself who would thwart us?
'I do,' Gregory agreed. `And I sympathise with you. But there is another side to the matter. Are you aware how the Ratu intends to use this gold, should he secure it? 'I neither know nor care.'
`All the same, I will tell you. The natives of the Nakapoa Group are rapidly becoming dominated by Indian immigrants. Unless something can be done for them they will soon be reduced to poverty and semi slavery. The Ratu plans to establish industries in the island that will save his people from being exploited and provide them with a means to make a decent living.'
Lacost shrugged. `The natives of the South Seas are a lazy, shiftless lot. It is their own fault if they allow the Indians to buy their land, then turn them off it. Anyhow, they will be little worse off in the long run. In fact, they are far luckier than most races. They have an abundance of fruit and fish to live on. Even if they were offered work in industries they wouldn't take it. To use the money as the Ratu plans would be only to waste it.'