Gregory had not previously realised that Noumea was by far the largest town in the South Pacific, with a population of thirty five thousand. Even so, as he strolled in the still strong, late afternoon sunshine, through streets named after famous French statesmen and Generals, he was surprised to find that the blocks contained many large stores, as well as scores of good shops, restaurants and travel agencies. As in Suva, the majority of the people were coloured; but here there were few Indians, a higher proportion of Chinese and many Indonesians.
By the cocktail hour he arrived back at the Nouvata, where James met him, grinning with satisfaction. He had located the quarters occupied by the de Carvalho’s, and had talked to both the floor waiter and the chambermaid who had looked after them. The Brazilian couple had spent most of the days together. During the mornings Valentim sunbathed in the garden while Olinda swam in the sea, then in the late afternoons they went shopping or for a drive in a car. After dinner they always went up to their suite together, but, apparently, Olinda liked to have a last swim before going to bed; so, leaving him there, at about ten o'clock she went down again in a wrap and spent twenty minutes or so in the pool.
`That provides us with the opportunity, then,' Gregory smiled. `The next thing is to devise a way of catching him in his suite without warning, or any of the hotel people questioning us as strangers when we go upstairs.'
Having thought for a few moments, he went on:
`I have it. Tomorrow I will move out to the Chateau Royal and take a room as near their suite as possible, anyhow in the same wing. Then on Thursday, when they are due to return, so that I don't run into them I'll pretend that I have a tummy upset and remain in my room all day. You will telephone in the evening to make certain they have arrived, then go out to the hotel about ten o'clock and post yourself in the garden under cover. As soon as you see Olinda come down for her swim, go into the hotel and ask for me. I'll say you are to be sent up, then the two of us will go along to the suite and catch Master de Carvalho napping.'
After dinner that evening Gregory walked along to the Chateau Royal and said that he did not like the Nouvata, so wished to move. Then, having rejected two rooms that he was shown, he settled on one which was only two doors from the suite the de Carvalho’s had occupied and reserved for their return.
Next morning he made his move and, in daylight, was able to appreciate fully how preferable was the Chateau Royal to the Nouvata, for those who could afford it. The Chateau Royal was the only hotel on the sea side of the highway; so the guests had immediate access to the beach. In the main block the spacious lounge and restaurant were glass walled, so that one could look out to seaward on a tree surrounded swimming pool and, beyond it to the left, a separate beach bar where people could enjoy snack lunches while still in bathing things. To the right there was another two storey block consisting only of bedrooms. It was there, on the upper floor, that Gregory had his room. The walls were panelled with toae de jouy, the furnishings were elegant, and it had a wide balcony where he could breakfast looking out on the sea.
Having unpacked, he changed into bathing things and went down to the beach. The best part of a hundred people were sun bathing, drinking at tables under gay umbrellas, or in the sea. There were pedallos and canoes, a speed boat behind which a pretty girl was waterskiing expertly; a big raft anchored a quarter of a mile out, and several small yachts in the distance.
On the debit side, the water was neither so clear nor so blue as in the Fijis, and by no means so warm. But Gregory enjoyed his swim and, having changed back into casual clothes, he went down to the restaurant for lunch. The meal he chose proved a revelation. Only in Paris could it have been equalled, and it hallmarked the Chateau Royal as the finest hotel in the South Seas. Dinner that night confirmed his opinion.
General Ribaud had told him that if he wished to make some motor trips he had only to ring up and a car would be placed at his disposal. So on the Wednesday he availed himself of the Governor's kind offer. After a swim, having had two picnic lunches prepared, he picked up James and they set off to see something of the interior.
The island was more than twice the length of Viti Levu, but not so large, as in no place along its two hundred and fifty miles was it much more than thirty miles wide. A long range of mountains, some rearing up to five thousand feet, divided it into two very different types of country. To the west lay great areas of flat, cultivated land; to the east deep valleys and rocky heights running right down to the coast. The roads crossing the Chaine Centrale were most picturesque, as they passed through forests with, here and there, lovely vistas of waterfalls, reed covered hills and rugged mountains.
Their French speaking driver spoke proudly of the immense wealth in minerals that the mountains contained nickel iron, cobalt, chromium and manganese but sadly of the many rich crops that used to be grown in the lowlands owing to the exceptionally favourable semi tropical climate, until the repatriation of the Vietnamese settlers who had farmed them.
Thursday Gregory spent in his room reading in bed, reluctantly supporting the fiction that he was unwell by denying himself the Chef's superb Terrine Maison. At six o'clock James telephoned him to say that `their friends' had arrived, and he got through the evening with such patience as he could muster. Soon after ten, the office rang him. The Rata James Omboloku was in the halt asking if he might come up. A few minutes later James reported that Olinda was taking her nightly dip. Together they walked the few yards to de Carvalho's suite and, without knocking, went in.
Valentim, in a silk dressing gown, was seated at a table studying some papers. At the sound of the door opening, he turned his head. Amazement and consternation showed on his dark features. Coming to his feet, he exclaimed angrily:
`What the devil are you doing here? How dare you enter my room uninvited!'
`It is for your own peace of mind,' Gregory replied quietly. `That is if you wish to retain your wife's respect. There is no need to go into details. But you have double crossed James here, with the intention of getting the Maria Amalia's treasure all to yourself. Can you deny it?'
De Carvalho shrugged. `Why should I? Business is business. I am simply one move ahead of you that is all.' `What story did you tell your wife?'
`That is no concern of yours, but I led her to believe that the Ratu had decided to leave the whole matter in my hands.'
`We will not quarrel with that, or disillusion her provided you are willing to sign an agreement, as originally proposed, that the Ratu should receive sixty per cent of the value of all treasure salvaged.'
`Why should I?' Valentim scowled. `I hold the licence, so I alone have the right to salvage the treasure, and the authorities in Revika will protect that right for me until I am ready to exercise it. But I am in no hurry to do that. You may recall that while I was in Rio I was threatened, and I do not mean, by going to Tujoa just yet, to run my head into a hornet's nest. These people, whoever they are, will learn in a week or two that I have outsmarted them, then leave me a clear field. And that already goes for you.'
`You do not care, then, if we let your wife know that you are a crook?'
De Carvalho shrugged again. `She is aware, from other operations that my friends and I have carried through, that in business there are times when one must act somewhat unethically, unless one wishes to lose money. It has been apparent to me that she has rather a soft spot for Ratu James; so I have no doubt that in this instance she will be annoyed with me. But what more can she do than sulk for a few days?'
Matters had turned out as Gregory had half expected. De Carvalho's admission that he had been involved in other shady deals, and that Olinda knew about some of them, obviously robbed of any potency the threat to expose him. He preferred to have a scene with her rather than forgo a share of the treasure. Their little plot to force his hand had failed. There seemed no more to be said.