by Ray Saunders
She was the first to speak. “I appreciate what you’re doing, Matt, and I know that you’ll help me get what I want but I’m desperate to resume my research as soon as possible.”
“I understand that,” I said. “But it’s best not to rush your decision and do something that you’ll regret later.”
“I know you’re right but it’s getting so complicated with everyone after my research results.”
I grinned. “Just hang in there, and I’m sure you’ll find what you want at the end of the rainbow.”
She laughed and seemed to relax.
“Let me get two more drinks,” I said.
I walked over to the bar and ordered two more of the same and stood looking at the dinner menus while I waited. Going back to our table there were two men standing there.
I put the drinks down and looked at Zola.
Looking at the older man, she said, “This is Professor Chinn.”
I nodded.
“And this is his associate, Mr Lind.”
I nodded towards him, and they both bowed towards me.
“This is Mr Sands,” she told them.
I looked at her. “What are they doing here?” I asked her.
“The professor has told me that he is returning to China and must have my decision by tomorrow.”
I looked at them, then back to her.
“Don’t let them rush you into anything, and now’s not the time for them to be approaching you. We’re going to dinner,” I said angrily.
She gave me a glare, then spoke to them. “Please excuse my companion, he tends to speak rather bluntly,” she said.
They smiled briefly but said nothing.
I motioned for her to get up and took her arm. “Come on,” I said, “I’m hungry, let’s have dinner.”
“Don’t hurry me, Matt!” she said harshly.
“That’s precisely what they’re trying to do,” I told her.
She turned to the two men. “Please accept my apologies for this behaviour but I think it best we leave. I’ll contact you tomorrow,” she said.
The older one bowed again. “You have my card, and I humbly suggest that you think it over carefully, as our offer will be of great benefit to you.”
Like a pig’s arse, I thought, and escorted her towards the dining room.
The two men just stood there, and the younger one gave me a look that suggested he would like to kill me.
Seated at a corner table in the restaurant, Zola turned to me. “That was very unpleasant of you, Matt, and it embarrassed me.”
“Well, I was never noted for my diplomacy, and those two got up my nose. They were impertinent to approach you like that and are trying to rush you into a decision that favours them.”
“I’m not stupid, don’t you think I know that?” she said. “But there’s no need to be rude.”
“If you think that was rude, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” I said, laughing. “Let’s forget about it and enjoy our dinner.”
I didn’t tell her that I thought the younger man was the one I’d seen earlier, in the car that I’d thought was following me.
***
We had finished the meal and were having coffee when the waiter approached our table and spoke to me.
“There’s a telephone call for you, Mr Sands.”
“Did they say who it is?”
“The man said to tell you that it’s Steve.”
“Where’s the phone?” I asked him.
“At reception, sir.”.
“Okay I’ll take it.”
I turned to Zola. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back. Don’t go away.”
With that I left and went to the phone.
“Hello, Steve, what’s up?”
“Two things. First, Linstead has agreed to go to the States, and continue his work there. They’re making arrangements for his daughter to get a visa, so that she can continue her education at a suitable school there.”
“What’s the second?”
“Our scientist will be flying here to Geneva tomorrow.”
“What do you want me to do then?” I asked.
“He’ll be here on the early flight, and we’ll meet at the chalet Monique again. You bring Zola Peterson and meet us there at eleven.”
“Okay, we’ll be there.”
I hung up.
Back with Zola, I told her about the arrangement.
She looked pleased. “It will be nice to get my future established,” she said.
“You haven’t heard what’s on offer yet,” I said. “Don’t get your hopes too high.”
“Well, if it’s what I think, then it should mean a place at a leading university, with adequate funding for me to complete my work.”
I hoped for her sake that she was right.
“Well, tomorrow we’ll find out,” I said.
***
The next day dawned bright and sunny but with storm clouds gathering from the west. I collected the limo, and there was plenty of time to get to our appointment by eleven, so I decided to drive to Vevey first, to see how Christine was doing.
It began raining as I reached her hotel and parking the car I ran across the road to the entrance.
I went to the desk to collect the key to my room key, then took the stairs up.
Christine was in her room and came through to me when she heard me enter. “You’re all wet!” she exclaimed, as she kissed me. “Hang on, I’ll get you a towel.”
I took off my coat. “Thanks,” I said, “how are you?”
She handed me the towel. “I’m pretty fed up hanging around here. When can you fix up something, Matt?”
I dried my hair. “There may be a chance to get it sorted shortly,” I told her.
“How?”
“I’m taking Zola Peterson to meet up with one of our scientists later this morning, and if it goes well, I have a plan.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Well, if she agrees to continue her work in England, our lot will be pleased, and that will soften their stance on you.”
She looked interested. “How will that work?”
I handed the towel back to her. “If I tell them that you’ve come back, they’ll get the Alpine back, and my mission will have been more or less successful. That means there will be no reason for them to take any action against you.”
“Suppose they do? And what about the diamonds.”
“I’ll use them as my bargaining weapon. I’ll say that you brought them back, and I’ll hand them over provided they agree to drop any charges they might have against you.”
“Do you think it will work, Matt?”
“I’m pretty confident I can swing it. After all, the diamonds will be a bonus for them, as they don’t belong to them anyway. As far as your involvement goes, they won’t be keen to have that made public.”
She threw her arms around me. “That’s brilliant, Matt, you’re wonderful.”
“Don’t get too excited, kid. We shouldn’t be counting our chickens before they’re hatched.”
She kissed me again. “Let me repay you now,” she said.
I pulled myself away from her. “Let’s not go into that again,” I said.
“Well, I really appreciate what you’re doing for me, and I’d like to repay you.”
“I think that you’re all mixed up, kid,” I said. “You’re a very attractive young woman, and I’m sure that you could change your life and start over.”
She stood back. “I’d like to start a new life with you,” she said.
“You’d soon find that too boring. It wouldn’t work out,” I replied.
She stood there and remained silent.
“Look, I’ll do what I can, and I’ll let you know how it works out,” I told her.
Then I left before I weakened.
***
It had stopped raining, and I collected the limo and drove back to Lausanne.
Zola was in her room when I arrived back at the hotel. She looked quite flushe
d when she greeted me.
“I’m glad you’re here, Matt,” she said. “Professor Chinn and another man, have been to see me again.”
“Who was the other man?”
“I don’t know, they didn’t say.”
“What did they want this time?”
“He told me that if I didn’t accept his offer, I would regret it.”
I didn’t like it. “How?” I asked.
“He didn’t say, but I felt threatened, and it frightened me. I wished you’d been here, Matt.”
“Yes, I’m sorry about that but I had some other business to attend to.”
It seemed obvious that they were watching my movements and had chosen my departure to gain access to Zola when she was alone.
“What did you tell them?” I asked.
“I said that I would let them know shortly.”
“Okay, it’s time we were leaving. Get your things, and we’ll go and meet our scientist,” I said.
***
The traffic was rather heavy when we left, so I could not see if we were being followed.
I reached Morges and made the turn towards Bière. We had not gone far when I realised there was a Mercedes trailing us. The mountain road did not lend itself to fast driving, so I couldn’t pull away from it. Whoever was behind, seemed intent on knowing where we were going. As we approached each bend it closed in close to us, and then attempted to draw alongside. There was not room for overtaking so I held my speed and tried to put some distance between us.
“What’s happening, Matt, what’s this car trying to do?”
“I don’t know. Hang on tight, this could get scary.”
The Mercs’ superior speed soon had it closing again, and this time at the next bend it shunted us from behind. Zola screamed, as the limo began weaving. I tried to control the impact from behind, but the limo that I was driving was not built for rallying.
“Matt, stop the car or they’ll kill us!” she screamed.
I ignored her and continued to push on.
As we came to Bière, I swung left on the road to the chalet, and the other car veered off onto another minor road to the right.
Reaching the chalet, I pulled up and comforted Zola.
“Who do you think they were?” she asked.
“I’m not sure but it could be the Chinese, trying to scare you off making a deal with us.”
Steve came out and walked around the car to greet Zola.
“Jesus Christ, Matt, what have you done to this car!?”
“We’ve just had a run in with someone trying to scare us off,” I told him.
“Who would want to do that?” he asked, still looking the car over.
“Could be the Chinese,” I said, “but whoever the bastard was, I’d like to meet up with him.”
“What shall I tell London about the damage to our limo? Your expenses are over limits now without this.”
“Tell them it’s all in the line of duty,” I said,”
He was still complaining when we entered the chalet.
Our scientist introduced himself to Zola, and I left them to their discussions. I went to the kitchen, made a cup of coffee, and sat down.
It was half an hour before they finished, and Steve told me to take Zola back to the hotel, and he would contact me later.
Driving back there was no sign of the Merc, and the time passed without incident.
Back in our rooms I began questioning Zola about the interview.
“He questioned me about my work and was very well informed about the whole procedure. He’s in charge of a team engaged in similar research, and I could tell they are getting close to resolving some of the problems.”
“That must be good news for you,” I said. “Did he make you an offer?”
“Not exactly, but he is keen to have me join his team in Cambridge, and work with them for the solution.”
“Will you?”
“After what happened today, I think that I might be safer in England. If they come back with a satisfactory proposal, I’ll probably accept.”
“Well, we should know before long, and now you should get some rest,” I told her.
With that she left and went through to her room.
I didn’t disturb her and went back down to the restaurant. I did not feel like a meal, so settled for a schinken roll and a glass of wine.
It was not long before Steve rang me.
“That was quick,” I said, “have you got the offer already?”
“No. Our chap is on his way back to London, and we won’t know anything for some time.”
“Why are you calling me then?”
“Linstead has told the Yanks that he’ll go to the States but wants them to get Peterson to go there with him,” he said.
“That’s going to complicate things,” I said. “What do you expect me to do about it?”
“Well, you know her better than anyone. I’m counting on you to talk her into not going to the States with him.”
I quickly realised that this could work to my advantage.
“That might call for something beyond the line of duty,” I said. “If I can do that, you’ll owe me one.”
He laughed. “If you can do that, I’ll buy you a new car.”
“That won’t be necessary, but I’ll think of something I’ll want,” I told him.
Chapter 9
I’ had left Zola in her room resting, and I decided to leave her undisturbed until dinner.
I thought I would kill the time by seeing if I could get anything done about the damage to the limo. I asked the guy at the desk if there was anywhere nearby that could help.
“Ask the attendant in our garage, he may know of somewhere,” he said.
“Thanks.”
When I reached the garage, the attendant was sitting in his office. He greeted me and asked if he could help.
“I wondered if you knew where I might get some repairs done on my car?” I asked him.
“I noticed that you had damaged it, sir,” he said. “There is a repair depot that we use, they might be able to do something.”
I didn’t tell him that it wasn’t me that had damaged it, but I didn’t want to go into detail.
“Is it far?” I asked.
“No, it’s here in Lausanne but quite difficult to find. I could take you there if you like,” he offered.
“That would be great,” I said. “Could you do it now?”
He nodded. “I’ll be free shortly when I go off duty. If you like I could take you then.”
“Thanks,” I said.
I would never have found the place if he had not been with me to give me the directions.
They also knew him and saw me straight away. It was not long before they had it up on the hoist and were carrying out checks.
“You’re lucky, sir,” the mechanic said. “It hasn’t damaged the exhaust but one of the rear lamps is cracked and needs replacing. The rest requires a bodywork repair, but it doesn’t prevent it being driven.”
“Can you do anything about it?”
“Not the bodywork. That will require specialist treatment, and a respray. What I can do is replace the rear lamp if we have one in stock.” He hurried away and a few minutes later he returned carrying a package. “You’re in luck,” he told me. “This should be the right one.”
Half an hour later I was driving back to the hotel with my helper. I dropped him off and decided to drive back to Vevey and tell Christine about the meeting that had been arranged for Zola Peterson. I thought that it would cheer her up if I told her that Zola Peterson was thinking of going to England to complete her research there.
I pulled up at the Le Vieux Peche and collected my key.
Entering my room, I crossed to the connecting door, and knocked. There was no response, so I called her name. Still nothing from Christine, so I opened the door and went through.
Her room was empty, so she must have gone out. She had probably gone for a walk to relieve the boredom, I thought
.
Back in my room I began to feel uneasy, so I went through to her room again. All her things were still there, and everything seemed normal. On the bedside table, by the lamp, I recognised the keys to the Alpine, so she could not have gone far. Then I noticed that the key to the outside door, was still in the lock on the inside. She would not have gone out without locking her door, and my pulse quickened as I realised that something was wrong.
I went down to the desk and asked the girl there if she had seen her.
“No, sir,” she said, “but I’m not usually here. Perhaps the regular receptionist might know something.”
“Where is she?” I asked.
“She’s taking a break. I expect she’s in her room.”
“How do I find her?”
“It’s on the top floor. Number three.”
I ran up the stairs and finding it, I knocked.
A young girl came to the door. She looked surprised to see me, and I could see that she felt nervous.
“I’m sorry to trouble you like this,” I said, “but I think that you might be able to help me.” She hesitated, so I went on. “When you were on duty, I wonder if you saw Miss Turner leave the hotel?”
She relaxed. “I can’t be sure,” she said, “but I think it was her that left with two men.”
“How long ago?”
She thought for a second. “About an hour.”
“What did they look like?”
“I didn’t take much notice, sir, but one was tall.”
“Did either of them look Chinese?”
“I really couldn’t say, I only caught a glimpse of them,” she replied.
“Okay. Well, thanks anyway. I’m sorry to have troubled you.”
I left her and returned to my room. Going through to Christine’s room, I collected the Alpine’s keys, and went back out to find it.
It was still parked in the long-stay underground car park, and I checked it to see if the Luger was still hidden in it. It was, so I left it and walked back to the limo, then drove back to Lausanne.
It was mid-afternoon when I arrived at the Palace Hotel, and when I got to my room, I could hear voices from the adjoining room. One was that of Zola, and the other was a man’s voice, with an American accent. I knocked and entered.
