`I'd have felt as mad as a hatter,' Gregory smiled. `But there was a very good reason for that. You know as well as I do that, while the majority of your countrymen who came to England and joined the Free French were animated solely by patriotic motives, there were many bad eggs among them: crooks and adventurers who had nothing to gain and everything to lose if Britain succeeded in defeating Germany. Quite a number of them were completely unscrupulous and were selling to the enemy all the information they could get and that goes for certain of the officers who held high positions on de Gaulle's staff.
`Our people knew that and could have pulled them in, but I don't have to tell you that in the counter espionage game the devil you know is less dangerous than the devil you don't know. Had we arrested them, it is possible that they would have been replaced by others equally treacherous; so the only alternative was to deny de Gaulle and his staff access to all the really important information about our plans.'
`Are you really sure that this was so?'
`Certain of it. When I was not on missions abroad I held a cover appointment as a Wing Commander on the Staff of the War Cabinet, and to do my job I had to be in on many secrets. The pity of it is that even after the war, when we were able to tell de Gaulle the facts, he refused to believe us and has remained anti British ever since:
`You must admit, though, that apart from withholding information from him your people treated him very badly. Time and again they refused him permission to go to North Africa and to France, and when he did get back they did their utmost to prevent him from relieving Paris.'
`There I agree, but for that you must blame General Eisenhower. And, strategically, he was right in his wish to bypass Paris; then, once he had the Boche on the run, use all the resources he could muster to throw them right back to the Siegfried Line. De Gaulle's premature dash to Paris wrecked the plan because; once the capital was liberated, its great population had to be fed by the Allies, and the offensive had to be broken off owing to the cost in petrol.'
Ribaud shrugged. `Had de Gaulle not acted as he did, Paris would have been seized by the Communists and before long they would have had control of the whole of France? So the matter is arguable. But, if it is any consolation to you, the General's policy has been even more anti American than anti British.'
`I know, and mote's the pity. Above all, his withdrawal from NATO. If ever there was a dangerous card to play it was that one. Mind you, for many years past it has been my view that China is the great danger and that we have little to fear from Russia. But one never knows.'
`I think you are right, and for that reason de Gaulle has shown great statesmanship in his rapprochement with the Soviet Union.'
Gregory nodded, `He also showed it in his conception of combining Europe into a third Great Power block. Federated Europe would have a greater population and more resources than either America or Russia, and would have become independent of the dollar. But he muffed it by keeping Britain out of the Common Market. And, in view of the real menace that China is becoming, could Europe really afford to do without the United States? As I see it, unless a major war is fought to stop them, within another decade the Chinese will have overrun the whole of East Asia and India. Then we will definitely have to fight to defend Australia and New Zealand. For us to have any chance of winning against the Asiatic hordes, equipped with those ghastly modern weapons, there is only one thing for it a Triple Alliance of the United States, Europe and Russia.'
With a rueful grin Ribaud said, `Your reasoning is sound enough, but what a terrible picture you conjure up. So many of old Nostradamus' prophecies have come true, perhaps the one he made about Paris being destroyed in the year 2000 by a flock of giant, man made birds coming from the East will too.'
It was one o'clock before Gregory got back to his hotel, so it was not until the following morning that he learned the result of James' visit to the Chateau Royal. The de Carvalhos were expected back there on Thursday the 16th, which was in three days' time.
Earnestly they debated their strategy. Loath as they now were to have de Carvalho as a partner, they could not possibly ignore that fact that he had secured the licence; and Ribaud had made it unmistakably clear that an attempt by anyone else to salvage the treasure would be a criminal act, equivalent to piracy, and so liable to heavy penalties. Therefore, the best they could hope for was to shame the Brazilian into the kind of arrangement that he had tentatively agreed with James in Rio before Gregory had come on the scene. Obviously the nature of the threat would render it futile if it was made in Olinda ’s presence, so somehow they must get him on his own, unknown to her.
James, being himself of a very upright nature, found it difficult to believe that any man of de Carvalho's standing would allow himself to be denounced to his wife as a crook, so considered their chances good. The cynical. Gregory was by no means so optimistic, but it was he who had first suggested that use might be made of Orinda’s reactions to what had taken place, and he agreed that the idea would, at least, be worth trying.
The first move was obviously to find out what they could about the way in which the de Carvalho’s spent their time while in Noumea, with a view to catching Valentim when Olinda was not with him. James said that the Chateau Royal was mainly staffed by New Caledonian natives. The latter were of the same Melanesian stock as his own people and, he felt sure, would talk freely to him. So it was decided that later in the day, while Gregory had a stroll round the town, James should pump some of the servants at the hotel.
The Chateau Royal was only a quarter of a mile further along the road out of town than the Nouvata. Soon after lunch, James set off in the broiling heat, to walk there, in order to catch one or two of the chambermaids and valets while they were off duty. Gregory, meanwhile, enjoyed a siesta, then a swim. When he went to the desk to ask for a taxi to be summoned, a young, brown skinned New Caledonian was standing there. On hearing Gregory's request, he turned to him and said
`Monsieur, I am from the Tourist Office, and I am about to return to the city. Allow me to offer you a lift.'
Gregory gladly accepted. As they went out to the young man's car, he introduced himself as Henry Maniquant and asked, `Have you been up the height just behind here? If not, I will drive you up before we go downtown. It is well worth a visit.'
Maniquant proved right. Ten minutes' drive up a broad, steep, curving road brought them to the Naval Radio Station, several hundred feet above the sea. From there the panorama was magnificent. On one side lay the great sweep of Ansa Vata Bay, on the other the Baie de St. Marie. Between them, behind the town, in the low lying neck of the peninsula, the Stadium, a large, open air, drive in cinema and Magenta Airport could be clearly seen. Islands, large and small, were scattered round the coast in all directions, and inland to the north rose range after range of mountains. Gregory had to admit that although New Caledonia lacked the colour of Fiji, it certainly had some magnificent scenery.
On the way to the town young Maniquant proved a mine of information and extraordinarily enthusiastic about his job. Before they parted, he pressed on Gregory half a dozen pamphlets with useful information. Among them was one that Gregory thought must be unique in tourist attraction literature. It listed over two hundred and fifty French and New Caledonian dishes, giving against each particulars in English of the ingredients.