"Wait a minute, baby. Sit down. Relax. Now start from the beginning.
What ranch?"
"Oh, I thought you knew. I went to Gamburdo's brother's ranch with
Ansaldo and Marina. Doctor was ripping mad. There was entirely too much
interference in the Tabio case, he said, and he'd called for a showdown.
He said he was going to stay on the ranch for a few days, or at least
until the politicians who were interfering with him would come to their
senses. He said we'd all just take a holiday until we could go back to
work."
"Who else was at the ranch?"
"Gamburdo's brother, two men I've never seen before, and our hostess."
"Were you introduced to the two men?"
"No, that's just it. They were not there when we arrived. They came on
horseback after we'd been there for some hours. Senora Gamburdo said
they were merely neighbors who wanted to talk over a cattle deal with
her husband."
"And what makes you think she was lying?"
"I can't say, exactly, Matt. I didn't like the way she explained them to
me--it was as if she felt that I insisted upon an explanation. That was
when I decided to tell Ansaldo that I wanted to come back to town this
morning. I told him there was some shopping I'd neglected. He didn't
seem to object at the time."
"When did Androtten arrive?"
"I don't know. I told you--I didn't see him. I just heard his voice. It
was about five in the afternoon, I'd say. I was taking a dip in the
pool--alone. There was a puppy playing around the pool. He found one of
my red beach shoes and started to chew on it. Then he took the shoe in
his mouth and carried it over to the side of the house and left it near
a hedge.
"It was when I went for the shoe that I heard Androtten. Some sort of a
conference was going on in the room above the spot where the pooch had
dropped my shoe. I recognized the voices of Ansaldo and Marina and the
two others. But most of the talking was being done by a new voice. I
thought I recognized it. Then he stopped speaking Spanish and switched
to German. I'm sure it was German."
"What was he saying?"
"I couldn't make it out. But he was very angry."
"And it was Androtten?"
"Definitely."
"Could you see into the room?"
"No. I didn't try, anyway. I was afraid. I just picked up my shoe and
beat it."
Hall hesitated. He gave Jerry a fresh cigarette, lit it for her. "Could
they have seen you?" he asked.
She shook her head. "But that's not the end of it," she said. "After
dinner, Ansaldo took me for a walk in the garden. He made a lot of small
talk about different cases. Then he asked me why I insisted upon
returning to town. I told him again that I wanted to buy some things to
take home for friends. He was very pleasant about it. He asked me,
half-seriously, if the real reason I wanted to go back was because I had
a date with you. He was acting the part of a jealous lover when he said
it."
"Acting?"
"I'm sure he was only acting. Because when he said that I just laughed
and said, 'Good heavens, no, doctor! The last time I saw Hall he said he
was going to make a small fortune writing the story of that little
Dutchman's experience with the Japs, and my guess is that he'll be
spending the next few days locked up in his room with the Dutchman.'
"Ansaldo stopped dead in his tracks when I said that, Matt. He asked me
which Dutchman I mean--but only after he had caught his breath."
"What did he say when you told him you meant Androtten?"
"Nothing much. He made a joke--a bad one--about Flying Dutchmen. And
then he continued talking about medical cases."
"And that was the last you saw of him?"
"Just about. My train left at five-thirty this morning. He was asleep
when I left."
"Who drove you to the station?"
"Marina and a ranch hand. Marina was glad to see me go. He hates to see
me around Ansaldo."
"Why? Is Ansaldo also a fairy?"
"God, no!" Jerry laughed. "He's anything but."
"You're exhausted. Let me get you some breakfast," he said. "And then,
when you catch your second wind, maybe you'll remember some other
details."
"I'm sure I've told you everything, Matt."
He picked up the phone, asked for Vicente. "Ham and eggs?" he asked
Jerry.
"No. Just coffee and toast."
Hall gave Vicente the order. "And one other thing," he told the waiter.
"The woman is in trouble. Some one will have to keep an eye on her
today. And let me know when the fat little foreigner on this floor
returns to town. He is a dangerous enemy."
"All those words for coffee and toast?" Jerry asked. "I've learned a few
words, Matt. I know that _mujer_ is woman."
"Good for you. I was asking him about his wife. She's been ill."
"Oh." Jerry relaxed in her chair. "Tell me, Matt. What was it all about
at the ranch? There was something wrong there. I know. Why should
Ansaldo have wanted me around? And who is Androtten?"
"That's a big order, baby. There's only one thing I definitely know
about it. I know that Ansaldo is a hot shot in the Falange. I know that
two Falange agents arrived in San Hermano on board a Spanish ship the
other day, and that they were traced to the ranch. But I can only guess
that the two neighboring _estancieros_ you saw were these two visiting
Falange agents."
"And Androtten?"
"Again I'm guessing. I know that a Nazi general named Wilhelm von Faupel
is the man who actually runs the Falange. I know something about the way
the Nazis work. O.K. So I assume that Androtten--if it really was
Androtten whose voice you heard--is a Gestapo agent. That would make
sense. Hitler orders Tabio's death; the job is handed to Hitler's
Falange, and a Gestapo officer tags along to run the show in San Hermano
as his comrades run it in Spain. It would all make sense if we could
prove that the two visiting _estancieros_ were the Falange agents off
the _Marques de Avillar_, and that Androtten was the man you heard."
"Then why should they have wanted me around?" Jerry asked.
There was a gentle rap on the door. "Time out for coffee," Hall smiled.
"_Entrada!_"
The door was unlocked. The handle turned, and Wilhelm Androtten entered.
He took off his small Panama hat, fanned his red, puffy face with it.
"Ah," he sighed, "they told me at the desk that I would find you here,
Mr. Hall. Hot as hell, isn't it?" He put a large coffee canister on the
arm of a chair. "May I sit down?" he asked.
"Of course." Hall glanced at Jerry, whose fingers were clenched tightly
on a large amber comb. "What can I do for you?"
Androtten put the canister on his lap. "Oh, my dear Mr. Hall," he
sighed, his pudgy right hand resting on the lid of his tin. "I just
wanted to tell you that I am leaving for Rio on an extended buying trip
tomorrow. If you still are interested in my damn story, perhaps you
could spare me some time this afternoon, eh?"
"I think it could be managed," Hall smiled. "Did you buy all the damn
Monte Azul bean you wanted, sir?"
"Oh, yes. Oh, yes indeed, Mr. Hall. Fine, rich, full-bodied bean,
fragrant as hell. Please, I'll show you." Androtten opened the canister.
There was no coffee under the lid. Instead, there was a small automatic
pistol, equipped with a gleaming silencer.
"Please," Androtten sighed, "no noise, please. I should hate to be
forced to shoot you both."
Jerry stifled a muted cry. "You wouldn't dare," Hall said.
"You are a fool, Hall. I hope you have already noticed that my gun is
equipped with the only silencer in this jungle of Indians and
blackamoors."
"The Gestapo--you Nazis think of everything, don't you?" Hall said in a
rising voice.
"I must remind you again not to shout, Hall. Please, lock your hands on
top of your head."
Hall obeyed the order.
"If the nurse co-operates, she will be spared."
"For God's sake, Jerry, do anything the Nazi orders," Hall cried. "He
has a gun!"
The little man with the gun angrily raised a finger to his lips. "Not
one word out of you," he whispered. He got out of the chair, started
backing toward the door. "Now," he said, "listen carefully, both of you.
For your information, Hall, I am not Gestapo. I am from the
Ibero-American Institute in Berlin. And that, I am afraid, is the last
information you will ever receive about anything, Hall."
The comb in Jerry's hand snapped with a dry little crack. The sudden
noise startled Androtten. He raised the gun and fired just as Hall dove
for his feet. Three times the cough of a silenced gun sounded in the
room. The shots seemed to come all together. A split second after the
third shot was fired Hall had kicked the gun from the limp hand of the
Nazi and was sitting astride his chest with his hands locked on
Androtten's throat. He was oblivious to the noise at the balcony, to
Jerry, to everything but the man dying under him.
A gentle hand tugged at Hall's shoulder. "Enough, Mateo. The _cabron_ is
dead."
Emilio Vicente had climbed into the room from the balcony. He had a
pistol in his hand. "The woman," he said. "She has fainted."
Jerry was lying in a heap on the floor near her chair. "Christ, she was
hit!" Hall rushed to her side, examined her for bullet wounds.
"No, Mateo. His bullet sailed over my head. My bullets both hit him. I
aimed for the heart. See, you are covered with his blood, no?"
"Water." Hall was sitting on the floor, Jerry's head in his lap, a hand
clasped firmly over her mouth. He dipped a handkerchief into the glass
Vicente gave him, ran it over her face. "Jerry," he whispered, "promise
me you won't yell if I take my hand away? Everything is all right. His
shot missed us both, and now he's under control."
She nodded. "I'm sorry I passed out," she said.
"You're O.K. now."
Vicente, standing over them, grinned at the girl. "_Si_, you
_magnifica_," he said. "You make boom noise of comb. She"--he pointed to
Androtten, who lay under a blanket Vicente had found while Hall was
reviving Jerry--"she have much scare of boom, she shoot much badly. Me,
Emilio, shoot much good. She no good no more."
"Is he dead? _Muerto?_"
"Much dead." Vicente showed them his pistol. He pointed to his own
silencer. "I heard the son of a whore mother," he said to Hall, a
sardonic smile on his grim face. "When he gets to hell he will learn
that there were other silencers in this jungle."
"You heard everything?"
"But naturally, _companero_. I followed him to the door and listened.
When you shouted to the woman that the Nazi had a gun, I knew you were
shouting for me. I have a gun, too. And a pass key. So I rushed into the
next room and climbed over to the balcony. It was not difficult."
"You were very good. You saved our lives."
"It is nothing."
"I can get up, Matt," Jerry said. "I'd rather sit in the chair."
Hall helped her to the chair, told her what Vicente had done. Vicente
laughed at Hall's account of his heroism. "It was nothing," he repeated.
"The Nazi was too fat to miss."
"He's very messy," Hall said, looking at the blanket.
"What are you going to do with the body?" Hall asked Vicente.
"Feed it to the sharks."
"Better fingerprint him and make photos of the face, first," Hall
advised. "And let Segador know immediately."
"Be tranquil, _companero_. All in good time. When you and the woman
leave, Pepe and I shall put the remains of this dog in a laundry basket
and get it out of here." Vicente looked at Jerry. "And I think you had
better get her out of this room. She is going to get sick if she stays
here."
"You're right." Hall gave Jerry his hand. "Come on, nurse," he smiled.
"We're going to my room. This is no place for a lady." He helped her to
her feet.
She held her hand out to Vicente. "You are very sweet," she said.
"_Usted mucho dulce._ Understand?"
"Understand," he laughed. He kissed her hand.
Hall had a bottle of brandy in his room. He poured two stiff drinks for
Jerry and himself. "Feel any better?" he asked.
"It was awful for a few minutes. I was afraid he would kill you."
"So was I, baby. I was afraid he'd kill me before I ever got around to
telling you how I felt. About you, I mean."
"How do you feel about me?"