Part 64 (1/2)
”Ben,” said Brandes in a low voice, which was too indistinct for Neeland to catch, ”I'll tell you something now that you don't know. I saw Quint alone; I talked with him. Do you know who is handling the big stuff in this deal?”
”Who?” asked Stull, amazed.
”The Turkish Emba.s.sy in Paris. And do you know who plays the fine Italian hand for that bunch of Turks?”
”No.”
”Minna!”
”You're crazy!”
Brandes took no notice, but went on with a sort of hushed ferocity that silenced both Stull and Curfoot:
”That's why I went in. To get Minna. And I'll get her if it costs every cent I've got or ever hope to get. That's why I'm in this deal; that's why I came; that's why I'm here telling you this. I'm in it to get Minna, not for the money, not for anything in all G.o.d's world except to get the woman who has done what Minna did to me.”
Neeland listened in vain to the murmuring voice; he could not catch a word.
Stull whispered:
”Aw, f'r G.o.d's sake, Eddie, that ain't the game. Do you want to double-cross Quint?”
”I _have_ double-crossed him.”
”What! Do you mean to sell him out?”
”I _have_ sold him out.”
”Jesus! Who to?”
”To the British Secret Service. And there's to be one hundred thousand dollars in it, Doc, for you and me to divide. And fifty thousand more when we put the French bulls on to Minna and Breslau. Now, how does one hundred and fifty thousand dollars against five thousand apiece strike you two poor, cheap guys?”
But the magnitude of Brandes' treachery and the splendour of the deal left the two gamblers stunned.
Only by their expressions could Neeland judge that they were discussing matters of vital importance to themselves and probably to him. He listened; he could not hear what they were whispering. And only at intervals he dared glance over his book in their direction.
”Well,” said Brandes under his breath, ”go on. Spit it out. What's the squeal?”
”My G.o.d!” whispered Stull. ”Quint will kill you.”
Brandes laughed unpleasantly:
”Not me, Ben. I've got that geezer where I want him on a dirty deal he pulled off with the police.”
Curfoot turned his pointed muzzle toward the window and sneered at the sunny landscape.
A few minutes later, far across the rolling plain set with villas and farms, and green with hedgerows, gardens, bouquets of trees and cultivated fields, he caught sight of a fairy structure outlined against the sky. Turning to Brandes:
”There's the Eiffel Tower,” remarked Curfoot. ”Where are we stopping, Eddie?”