Part 13 (2/2)

aWhere in Dalat?a the Colonel asked, scowling.

aIn a house.a aWho owns the house?a aAn American.a aWhere is the house?a aIt is the third house by the railway station: a house with a red roof and a yellow gate,a Nhan said, keeping her eyes closed, terrified he would know she was lying.

The Colonel drew in a deep breath.

aHe is there now?a aYes.a The Colonel leaned closer, his little eyes gleaming. He whispered so no one but Nhan could hear him. aHe has the diamonds with him?a aYes.a The Colonel straightened.

aCome,a he said to Lam-Than. aIave wasted enough time already. Iam going to Dalat immediately.a Lam-Than was looking at Nhan.

aShe may be lying to gain time,a he said.

The Colonelas face darkened.

aShe wouldnat dare! If she lied to me I would cut her to pieces!a He caught hold of Nhanas arm and shook her.

aListen to me!a the Colonel snarled. aAre you lying? Youad better tell the truth. If I find you are lying, you will regret it.a Nhan shook her head weakly.

She forced herself to say in a quavering voice, aIt is the truth. He is in Dalat.a The Colonel pushed the little man away.

aShe isnat lying,a he said. aShe has had enough. She has been a fool to have resisted so long.a He started towards the door, then paused to look at the two little men. aGive her water and let her rest. Turn off the light. I will return in about ten hours. Iall decide then what is to be done with her.a Nhan began to sob convulsively. Ten hours! With ten hours rest and only another sixteen hours to endure: surely she could hang on?

Back in his office, the Colonel told Lam-Than to call Inspector NgocLinh. He and I will go to Dalat,a the Colonel said. aWhen we have killed the American and I have the diamonds, I will get rid of the Inspector. The American will have shot him, and in trying to protect the Inspector, I will have been forced to kill the American.a aYou may not find the American there,a Lam-Than said. aI still think she could be lying.a aHe will be there,a the Colonel snarled. aYour pessimism bores me. She was not lying.a Lam-Than bowed. He wasnat convinced. He went away to fetch the Inspector.

chapter fourteen.

I.

It took five hours of difficult driving to reach Dalat. The road wasnat good, and although the Colonel kept urging the Inspector to drive faster, the Inspector was handicapped by the darkness, and the surface of the road.

They arrived at the Dalat railway station at two oaclock a.m. It took the Colonel a little over half an hour to convince himself there was no house near the station with a red roof and a yellow gate.

The violence of his fury when he realized that Nhan had lied to him made the Inspector recoil from him. It was fortunate for Nhan that his maniacal rage made rational thought impossible. His only desire was to get back to Saigon as fast as he could and get his hands on this woman who had dared to have sent him on a wild goose chase. If he had paused to think, he would have gone to the police post and telephoned Lam-Than telling him to recommence torturing Nhan immediately, but he was past thinking.

He got back into the car and screamed at the Inspector to return to Saigon. The Inspector drove as fast as he dared, but it wasnat fast enough. The Colonel suddenly yelled at him to stop and get out of the driving seat. He got under the wheel himself, and for the next twenty miles the Inspector sat stiff with fear as the car roared madly down the winding road at a speed that invited disaster.

It wasnat long before the accident happened. Coming out of a sharp bend at an impossible speed, the car suddenly skidded, the off-side tyre burst and the car slammed into the face of the mountain.

Although both men were severely shaken, neither of them were injured. It took them some minutes to recover. On inspection, the car was found to be wrecked beyond repair.

The accident had happened on a lonely stretch of the road. The Inspector knew there was no chance of any car pa.s.sing at this time in the morning. The nearest police post was thirty miles away. There was nothing to do but to sit by the side of the road and wait for the first car to come from Dalat.

The two men waited seven hours before an old, dilapidated Citroen, driven by a Chinese peasant, came panting up the mountain road. The time now was ten oaclock and the heat of the sun had made the long wait unpleasant.

The Colonel hadnat spoken a word to the Inspector during the wait. He had sat on a rock, smoking cigarette after cigarette, his cruel yellow face set in an expression that chilled the Inspectoras blood.

It took them another two hours to crawl to the police post in the panting Citroen. The Inspector telephoned for a fast car to be sent immediately.

The Colonel sent no message to Lam-Than. He wished now to deal with Nhan personally. Nothing else could satisfy the vicious fury that boiled inside him.

He arrived at Security Police Headquarters at half past one. He dismissed the Inspector, and then went to his private quarters where he took a shower, and changed his uniform. He had lunch. The atmosphere from his pent-up rage and the expression on his face terrified his servants.

Lam-Than, hearing that his master had returned, came into his room while the Colonel was eating his lunch.

The Colonel looked up. With his mouth crammed with food, he snarled, aGet out!a Startled by the mad gleam in the small bloodshot eyes, Lam-Than hurriedly backed out of the room.

At twenty minutes past two, the Colonel finished his meal. He got to his feet. With thick, unsteady fingers, he undid the glittering b.u.t.tons of his tunic which he took off and tossed on a chair. Then he went to the door, opened it and walked with a heavy measured tread down the pa.s.sage, down the stairs to the room where Nhan still lay strapped to the steel table.

The two executioners were squatting patiently either side of the door. They stood up when they saw the Colonel. aYou will wait here,a he said, auntil I call you.a He opened the door and went into the room, closing the door behind him. His hand groped for the lightswitch and turned it on.

Nhan was blinded for some seconds when the violent cruel light beat down on her. Then she saw the Colonel standing looking down at her. The expression on his face turned her sick.

Steve! Steve! she thought wildly. Come and save me! Please; come and save me!

But she knew Steve wasnat coming. This was the moment she had waited for when she had lain in the dark, knowing it would come. This was the moment she had gained time for, to gain strength to keep silent.

She stiffened her will.

He wonat make me talk, she said to herself. Whatever he does to me, I will keep silent. I want Steve to get away. I want him to be happy with his money. Oh, Steve, Steve, Steve, donat forget me. Think of me sometimes. Please, please donat forget me.

Then as the Colonel bent over her and put his hands on her, she began to scream.

Outside the room, the two executioners had squatted down again. It was cool and restful in the pa.s.sage. There was nothing to disturb them for the room into which the Colonel had entered was soundproof.

At half past two, the Dakota from Phnom-Penh arrived at the Saigon airport.

Blackie Lee sat in his car waiting for his brother to pa.s.s the Customs and Immigration barriers. He had to make a conscious effort not to look across the car park where the black Citroen was parked. The car had followed him from the club. He had now identified the two detectives in the car. He knew they were from Security Police Headquarters.

He wasnat unduly alarmed although he found it a little unnerving to be followed wherever he went. If they had a case against him, he argued to himself, they wouldnat be wasting time following him. They would arrest him. Since he had survived so far, he didnat intend to be stampeded into flight. He had, at first, thought that he would go with Charlie and Jaffe in the helicopter, but it would mean not only leaving his club, but also Yu-lan. There was too much money tied up in the dub to run away at the first sign of danger.

Charlie Lee came out of the airport. He walked with a springy step of a successful man as he crossed over to Blackieas car.

aAll right?a Blackie asked as he opened the off-side door.

aVery satisfactory,a Charlie said. aNothing to worry about at all.a Blackie drove the car out onto the main road. He glanced into the driving mirror. The black Citroen was moving slowly behind him.

He drove carefully back to Saigon. He didnat tell Charlie about the following car. There would be time for that when they got back to the club. He listened to Charlieas recital of his arrangement with Lee Watkins.

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