I shrugged. Say, rather, it is unworthy of her. She started all this and those are the facts.
The Contessa put her hand on Moreses shoulder and he subsided. Coertze barked a short laugh. Magtig, but you have taken her measure. He nodded. Youll have to watch her, she a slim meisie.
I turned to him. Now its up to you. What will you need to get the gold?
Coertze leaned forward. When I was here last year nothing had changed or been disturbed. The place is in the hills where no one goes. There is a rough road so we can take a lorry right up to the place. The nearest village is four miles away.
Can we work at night? I asked.
Coertze thought about that. The fall of rocks looks worse than it is, he said. I know how to blast and I made sure of that. Two men with picks and shovels will be able to get through in four hours longer at night, perhaps I would say six hours at night.
So we will be there at least one whole night and probably longer.
Ja, he said. If we work at night only, it will take two nights.
The Contessa said, Italians do not walk the hills at night. It will be safe to have lights if they cannot be seen from the village.
Coertze said, No lights can be seen from the village.
All the same, we must have a cover, I said. If we have to hang around in the vicinity for at least one day then we must have a sound reason. Has anyone got any ideas?
There was a silence and suddenly Walker spoke for the first time. What about a car and a caravan? The English are noted for that kind of thing camping and so on. The Italians dont even have a word for it, they use the English word. If we camp out for a couple of nights well be only another English crowd as far as the peasants are concerned.
We all thought about that and it seemed a good idea. The Contessa said, I can arrange for the car and the caravan and a tent.
I started to tick off all the things we would need. We want lights.
We use the headlights of the car, said Coertze.
Thats for outside, I said. Well need lights for inside. Well need torches say a dozen and lots of torch cells. I nodded to Morese. You get those. We need picks and shovels, say four of each. Well need lorries. How many to do the job in one haul?
Two three-tonners, said Coertze with certainty. The Germans had four, but they were carrying a lot of stuff we wont want.
Well have to have those standing by with the drivers, I said. Then well need a lot of timber to make crates. The gold will need re-boxing.
Why do that when its already in boxes? objected Coertze. Its just a lot of extra work.
Think back, I said patiently. Think back to the first time you saw those boxes in the German truck. You recognized them as bullion boxes. We dont want any snooper doing the same on the way back.
Walker said, You dont have to take the gold out, and it wouldnt need much timber. Just nail thin pieces of wood on the outside of the bullion boxes to change their shape and make them look different.
Walker was a real idea machine when he wasnt on the drink. He said, There must be plenty of timber down there we can use.
No, I said. We use new wood. I dont want anything that looks or even smells as though its come from a hole in the ground. Besides, there might be a mark on the wood we could miss which would give the game away.
You dont take any chances, do you? observed the Contessa.
Im not a gambler, I said shortly. The timber can go up in the trucks, I looked at Morese.
I will get it, he said.
Dont forget hammers and nails, I said. I was trying to think of everything. If we slipped up on this job it would be because of some insignificant item which nobody had thought important.
There was a low, repeated whistle from the dockside. Morese looked at the Contessa and she nodded almost imperceptibly. He got up and went on deck.
I said to Coertze, Is there anything else we ought to know anything youve forgotten or left out?
No, he said. Thats all.
Morese came back and said to the Contessa, He wants to talk to you.
She rose and left the cabin and Morese followed her on deck. Through the open port I could hear a low-voiced conversation.
I dont trust them, said Coertze violently. I dont trust that bitch and I dont trust Morese. Hes a bad bastard; he was a bad bastard in the war. He didnt take any prisoners according to him they were all shot while escaping.
So were yours, I said, when you took the gold.
He bridled. That was different; they were escaping.
Very conveniently, I said acidly. It galled me that this man, whom I had good reason to suspect of murdering at least four others, should be so mealy-mouthed.
He brooded a little, then said, Whats to stop them taking it all from us when weve got it out? Whats to stop them shooting us and leaving us in the tunnel when they seal it up again?
Nothing that youd understand, I said. Just the feeling of a girl for her father and her family. I didnt elaborate on that; I wasnt certain myself that it was a valid argument.
The Contessa and Morese came back. She said, Two of Torlonis men are in Rapallo. They were asking the Port Captain about you not ten minutes ago.
I said, Dont tell me that the Port Captain is one of your friends.
No, but the Chief Customs Officer is. He recognized them immediately. One of them he had put in jail three years ago for smuggling heroin; the other he has been trying to catch for a long time. Both of them work for Torloni, he says.
Well, we couldnt hope to hide from them indefinitely, I said. But they mustnt connect you with us not yet, anyway so youll have to wait until its dark before you leave.
She said, I am having them watched.
Thats fine, but its not enough, I said. I want to do to Metcalfe what hes been doing to us. I want Torloni watched in Genoa; I want the docks watched all along this coast for Metcalfes boat. I want to know when he comes to Italy. I gave her a detailed description of Metcalfe, of Krupke and the Fairmile. Can you do all that?
Of course. You will know all about this Metcalfe as soon as he sets foot in Italy.
Good, he said. Then what about a drink? I looked at Coertze. It seems you didnt scare Metcalfe off, after all. He looked back at me with an expressionless face, and I laughed. Dont look so glum. Get out the bottle and cheer up.
V
We didnt see the Contessa or Morese after that. They stayed out of sight, but next morning I found a note in the cockpit telling me to go to the Three Fishes and say that I wanted a watchman for Sanford.
I went, of course, and Giuseppi was more friendly than when I had last seen him. He served me personally and, as he put down the plate, I said, You ought to know what goes on on the waterfront. Can you recommend a watchman for my boat? He must be honest.
Ah, yes, signor, he said. I have the very man old Luigi there. Its a pity; he was wounded during the war and since then he has been able to undertake only light work. At present he is unemployed.
Send him over when I have finished breakfast, I said.
Thus it was that we got an honest watchman and old Luigi became the go-between between the Contessa and Sanford. Every morning he would bring a letter in which the Contessa detailed her progress.
Torloni was being watched, but nothing seemed to be happening; his men were still in Rapallo watching Sanford and being watched themselves; the trucks had been arranged for and the drivers were ready; the timber was prepared and the tools had been bought; she had been offered a German caravan but she had heard of an English caravan for sale in Milan and thought it would be better would I give her some money to buy it as she had none.
It all seemed to be working out satisfactorily.
The three of us from Sanford spent our time sightseeing, much to the disgust of Torlonis spies. I spent a lot of time in the Yacht Club and it was soon noised about that I intended to settle in the Mediterranean and was looking for a suitable boatyard to buy.
On our fifth day in Rapallo the morning letter instructed me to go to the boatyard of Silvio Palmerini and to ask for a quotation for the slipping and painting of Sanford. The price will be right, wrote the Contessa. Silvio is one of my our friends.
Palmerinis yard was some way out of Rapallo. Palmerini was a gnarled man of about sixty who ruled his yard and his three sons with soft words and a will of iron. I said, You understand, Signor Palmerini, that I am a boat-builder, too. I would like to do the job myself in your yard.
He nodded. It was only natural that a man must look after his own boat if he could; besides, it would be cheaper.
And I would want it under cover, I said. I fastened the keel in an experimental way and I may want to take it off to see if it is satisfactory.
He nodded again. Experimental ways were risky and a man should stick to the old traditional ways of doing things. It would be foolish, indeed, if milords keel dropped off in the middle of the Mediterranean.
I agreed that I should look a fool, and said, My friends and I are capable of doing the work and we shall not need extra labour. All that is required is a place where we can work undisturbed.
He nodded a third time. He had a large shed we could use and which could be locked. No one would disturb us, not even himself certainly no one outside his family he would see to that. And was milord the rich Englishman who wanted to buy a boatyard? If so, then perhaps the milord would consider the boatyard Palmerini, the paragon of the Western Mediterranean.
That brought me up with a jerk. Another piece of polite blackmail was under way and I could see that I would have to buy the yard, probably at an exorbitant price the price of silence.
I said diplomatically, Yes, I am thinking of buying a yard, but the wise man explores every avenue. Dammit, I was falling into his way of speech. I have been to Spain and France; now I am in Italy and after Italy I am going to Greece. I must look at everything.
He nodded vigorously, his crab-apple head bobbing up and down. Yes, the milord was indeed wise to look at everything, but in spite of that he was sure that the milord would unfailingly return to the boatyard Palmerini because it was certainly the best in the whole Mediterranean.
Pah, what did the Greeks know of fine building? All they knew were their clumsy caiques. The price would be reasonable for milord since it appeared that they had mutual friends, and such a price could be spread over a period provided the proper guarantees could be given.
From this I understood the old rascal to say that he would wait until the whole job was completed and I had fluid capital, if I could prove that I would keep my word.
I went back to Sanford feeling satisfied that this part of the programme was going well. Even if I had to buy Palmerinis yard, it would not be a bad thing and any lengthening of the price could be written off as expedition expenses.
On the ninth day of our stay in Rapallo the usual morning letter announced that all was now ready and we could start at any time. However, it was felt that, since the next day was Sunday, it would be more fitting to begin the expedition inland on Monday. That gave an elevating tone to the whole thing, I thought; another crazy aspect of a crazy adventure.
The Contessa wrote: Torlonis men will be discreetly taken care of, and will not connect their inability to find you with any trickery on your part. They will have no suspicions. Leave your boat in the care of Luigi and meet me at nine in the morning at the Three Fishes.
I put a match to the letter and called Luigi below. They say you are an honest man, Luigi; would you take a bribe?
He was properly horrified. Oh no, signor.
You know this boat is being watched?
Yes, signor. They are enemies of you and Madame.
Do you know what Madame and I are doing?
He shook his head. No, signor. I came because Madame said you needed my help. I did not ask any questions, he said with dignity.
I tapped on the table. My friends and I are going away for a few days soon, leaving the boat in your charge. What will you do if the men who are watching want to bribe you to let them search the boat?
He drew himself up. I would slap the money out of their hands, signor.
No, you wont, I said. You will say it is not enough and you will ask them for more money. When you get it, you will let them search the boat.
He looked at me uncomprehendingly. I said slowly, I dont mind if they search there is nothing to be found. There is no reason why you should not make some money out of Madames enemies.
He laughed suddenly and slapped his thigh. That is good, signor; that is very good. You want them to search.
Yes, I replied. But dont make it too easy for them or they will be suspicious.
I wanted, as a last resort, to try to fool Metcalfe as I had fooled him in Barcelona, or rather, as I had hoped to fool him before Coertze put his foot in it. I wrote a letter to the Contessa telling her what I was doing, and gave it to Luigi to pass on.
How long have you known Madame? I asked curiously.
Since the war, signor, when she was a little girl.
You would do anything for her, wouldnt you?
Why not? he asked in surprise. She has done more for me that I can ever repay. She paid for the doctors after the war when they straightened my leg. It is not her fault they could not get it properly straight but I would have been a cripple, otherwise.
This was a new light on Francesca. Thank you, Luigi, I said. Give the letter to Madame when you see her.
I told Coertze and Walker what was happening. There was nothing else to do now but wait for Monday morning.
FIVE: THE TUNNEL
On Monday morning I again set the stage, leaving papers where they could easily be found. On the principle of the Purloined Letter I had even worked out a costing for a refit of Sanford at Palmerinis boatyard, together with some estimates of the probable cost of buying the yard. If we were seen there later we would have good reason.