The White Witch of the South Seas

by Dennis Wheatley

  James’ chances depended, he felt, on the line the prosecution took. If it was known that they were partners and had conspired to catch de Carvalho on his own to call him to account for cheating them, matters might go very badly. It would be argued that, having failed to get satisfaction from the Brazilian, with or without Gregory’s approval, James had avenged himself by attacking de Carvalho with intent to murder him.

  On the other hand, should the truth be accepted—that James was in love with de Carvalho’s wife and, on seeing her husband strike her, had temporarily gone berserk—then it could be hoped that the well-known leniency of French courts in cases of le crime passionel would be exercised. But to prove that would require Olinda’s presence as a witness. And where was she? Whether de Carvalho was dead or alive, having no reason to believe that James would return to Noumea, it seemed very unlikely that she would have remained there for over two months. Even if she could be produced as a witness at the trial, James would be found guilty of murderous assault, so the least he could expect was a sentence of several years.

  At length, after nearly three hours of agonising suspense, the prisoners’ cells were unlocked and they were conducted to the office of a Police Inspector. They then realised the reason for the delay in charging them. In the office, as well as the Sergeant and the gendarme, was the waiter from the Château Royal whom James had knocked down and whose trolley of food Gregory had looted. Evidently the police had been searching for him to support the gendarme’s identification. Delighted at now having the chance to get his own back, the grinning waiter eagerly said his piece.

  The prisoners were then charged—James with having assaulted de Carvalho with intent to murder, and with assaulting the waiter; Gregory with having been an accessary before the fact and having stolen food from the Hotel Château Royal; and both of them jointly with having stolen the launch of one Mathieu Serieu.

  With intent to murder was, for both James and Gregory, the salient point in the indictment. Evidently de Carvalho was not dead. With a gasp of relief James exclaimed, ‘Monsieur de Carvalho! He is alive! How seriously was he injured? Where is he now?’

  ‘He was in hospital for some time, then he rejoined his wife at the Château Royal and spent a month or more there, convalescing,’ replied the Inspector. ‘Where he is now I have no idea. He and his wife left Noumea in their yacht about ten days ago.’

  That Olinda could not be called to give evidence was a pity, but that was far outweighed by the fact that de Carvalho had survived. With a smile Gregory asked the Inspector if they might have legal aid for their defence.

  ‘Certainly, Monsieur,’ the Inspector nodded. ‘Do you know of a good avocat here in Noumea, or would you like me to recommend one?’

  ‘I would prefer it,’ said Gregory quietly, ‘if you would be good enough to provide me with pen and paper, so that I can write a line to General Ribaud and ask his advice. It so happens that he is a very old friend of mine.’

  Gregory had long since learned that, while name-dropping without cause is regarded as a social gaffe, there are times when it can achieve most valuable results. Such was the present. Perceptibly, a new note of respect crept into the Inspector’s voice. Of course he would oblige with writing materials, and if there were any other requests Monsieur Sallust cared to make they would receive due consideration. He even smiled and added that, the beds in the cells not being so comfortable as those in the Château Royal, extra pillows might be acceptable, and that if the prisoners cared to pay, no objection would be made to their sending out for wine to drink with their evening meal.

  Back in his cell, Gregory felt very much happier about the situation. De Carvalho, praise be to the gods, was still alive and now clearly in no danger of dying as a result of his injuries. But James was still facing a charge of attempted murder. The mention of Ribaud had nullified any possibility of police hostility; but meant no more than that, while in prison, he and James would enjoy certain small comforts that they might otherwise have been denied. The real nub of the matter was, could Ribaud in some way be manoeuvred into secretly influencing the court in James’ favour?

  That a Governor General was in a position to do so the cynical Gregory had no doubt at all. There were, of course, limits to which any high official of a non-totalitarian State could go; and in a democracy no upright judge would have acceded to a request to set free a man proved guilty of murder. But if he could be convinced that political expediency required that he should turn a blind eye to some lesser crime he might feel that it was his patriotic duty to do so.

  Gregory had no illusions that out of friendship for him Ribaud would agree to procure a verdict in James’ favour. In some way pressure had to be brought to bear upon him. The question arose: how could that be done?

  For the moment he contented himself with writing a letter to Ribaud, simply saying that the General had perhaps been informed that he and the Ratu James Omboloku had returned to Noumea, been arrested and were now in prison; but during their absence they had obtained some information which might prove of considerable value. He then requested a private interview with the General so that he might discuss the matter with him.

  The following day, late in the afternoon, Gregory was taken to the Residence. Ribaud received him in his office, told his escort to wait outside, invited Gregory to sit down, then offered him a cigarette and said:

  ‘Mon ami, I was much distressed to learn of the situation in which you find yourself.’

  Gregory smiled. ‘Mon Général, I thank you for your concern for me. But I am not particularly worried about myself. I had intended to return Monsieur Serieu’s launch to him with a handsome sum as compensation for having borrowed her. As she was wrecked that is now impossible, but I am in a position to offer him so large a sum for her loss that I feel confident he will agree not to prosecute.’

  Making a little grimace, Ribaud remarked, ‘I would that I were rich enough to think nothing of parting with a year’s pay, for that is about what such a transaction would cost me.’

  Into Gregory’s mind there flashed the thought that this might be an indication that his friend was open to the offer of a heavy bribe. Knowing that the French Government was by no means lavish in the payment of their officials, the idea had already occurred to him; but, believing Ribaud to be a man of integrity, he had dismissed it, on the grounds that if such an offer was taken as an insult, the results could prove disastrous. Meanwhile the General was continuing:

  ‘One can hardly suppose that Serieu will be such a fool as not to accept. But stealing a launch is only a minor matter and, no doubt, with a few hundred francs you can also pay off the waiter whom the Ratu assaulted. There still remains the more serious charge of being an accessary before the fact to attempted murder.’

  ‘True. But that I can refute by proving that I am not guilty.’

  ‘When de Carvalho was sufficiently recovered he made a statement to the effect that he had got the better of you and the Ratu in a business deal, and that the two of you surprised him in his room, with the deliberate intention of revenging yourselves upon him.’

  ‘That is only partially true. We went there to remonstrate with him, but with no thought at all of doing him an injury. By the by, I have not yet heard what injuries he did sustain.’

  ‘You were very lucky, for his neck might well have been broken. As it was his fall was slightly checked by his crashing through the branches of an oleander bush before he hit the ground. He broke an arm and two ribs, and hit his head on a stone, which rendered him unconscious. After a fortnight in hospital he was over the worst, then he stayed on here convalescing until about ten days ago.’

  ‘I see. And did his wife, the Senhora Olinda, make any statement?’

  ‘No. Had you and the Ratu been caught, she would naturally have been called as a witness at your trial. But as you had both escaped, there seemed no point in bringing her into the matter.

  ‘Well, she is the key to the whole business. Having reproached de Carvalho for
double-crossing us, we disclosed to her that her husband was a crook. She took our part and abused him, then he lost his temper and smacked her face. It so happens that young James is desperately in love with her. As you can well imagine, he saw red. Before I had a chance to stop him he had picked up de Carvalho and chucked him over the balcony.’

  ‘Do you swear to the truth of this?’

  ‘Yes, and the Ratu will, of course, take full blame for his act.’

  ‘In view of the grudge you both held against de Carvalho, the court may not believe you. They may also take the view that the Ratu, knowing that he will be found guilty in any case, stands to lose nothing by protecting you and taking the whole blame upon himself.’

  ‘Mon cher Général,’ Gregory spread out his hands, ‘I pray you, consider the matter in the light of your knowledge of me. Had I decided to beat up someone against whom I had a grudge, let alone murder him, am I the sort of man who would go about it in such a fashion? Having, by the exercise of extreme caution, come through innumerable dangerous situations during six years of war, is it likely that I should revenge myself on an enemy in such a way that I could not possibly escape having the crime laid at the feet of myself and my friend?’

  ‘No; you have something there. Of course such an idea is absurd.’

  ‘Besides, if need be I shall demand to be let out on bail until the Senhora Olinda can be found and brought back here, or a sworn statement taken from her. As a key witness for the defence, the court could not refuse to secure her testimony, and I have no doubt at all that she will exonerate me.’

  Ribaud nodded. ‘You are right. But it may not be necessary. If I go into court myself and give evidence that, in view of my personal knowledge of your past, it is inconceivable to me that you would have committed such a clumsy crime, I don’t doubt that it will be accepted.’

  Gregory gave a little bow. ‘That is most kind and I should be deeply grateful to you.’

  ‘Not at all. I think, then, we may regard you as good as cleared. But there remains the Ratu. After what you have told me I am sorry for the young man, but even your ingenuity will, I fear, prove insufficient to save him from a heavy prison sentence.’

  For a moment Gregory was silent, then he said, ‘Mon Général, you will recall that in the note I sent you I mentioned that, during our absence from Noumea, James and I had chanced upon certain information of value that I wished to discuss with you.’

  Ribaud’s arched eyebrows lifted, wrinkling his forehead. ‘I took that only as a pretext to secure this private conversation with me.’

  ‘By no means. I have not yet disclosed to anyone the name of the island on which the launch was wrecked—it was Yuloga.’

  In the silence that followed one could have heard a pin drop. The General remained poker-faced, but a hard note had crept into his voice when, at length, he said, ‘I see. Well, what of it?’

  ‘Only that previously I had been under the impression that it belonged to France.’

  ‘It does. It is a dependency of New Caledonia, and comes under my jurisdiction.’

  ‘How strange, then, that it should now be garrisoned by Russian troops.’

  The General frowned. ‘In that you are mistaken. There are, of course, a number of Russians there—technicians who, under an agreement made by General de Gaulle in Moscow, are assisting us with the development of our nuclear weapons.’

  Gregory shook his head. ‘Mon cher Général, it is clear to me that you have been misinformed. Ratu James and myself spent two months illegally detained as prisoners on the island. The story of how we, with two Australians and two Melanesian natives, succeeded in escaping is quite an entertaining one. I must tell it to you some time, over a good dinner. But preparing our escape took many nights. During that time we explored a good part of the island. We discovered that the native population had been evacuated—no doubt for security reasons—that there were at the least a thousand Russian troops stationed there and—er—I did see one French Captain. Most interesting of all, one night I looked down into a valley where several I.C.B.M.s had already been set up, ready for launching—and they were guarded by Russian sentries.’

  Ribaud’s frown had become a threatening scowl as he demanded, ‘What are you trying to tell me?’

  ‘Only that I have formed the impression that, in exchange for valuable information about the construction of nuclear weapons, General de Gaulle has, in effect, made over the island of Yuloga to the Russians, so the Soviet Union now has a base of incalculable value in the South Pacific.’

  ‘That is not so,’ the General declared stoutly. ‘You can have seen only a part of the island. I have ample troops there and it is still under French control. General de Gaulle would never surrender French territory to a foreign Power, and the warheads to those rockets are in French hands.’

  Matters were not going quite as Gregory had hoped. His private belief was that Ribaud was lying, but he replied suavely, ‘Naturally, mon ami, I accept your word for that, but you must forgive me if I incline to doubt whether others would do so.’

  ‘You intend to inform others, then, of what you saw while on Yuloga?’

  ‘I admit to having considered doing so.’

  ‘Such a disclosure, if wrongly interpreted, could prove highly embarrassing to France. I may feel it my duty to take certain steps.’

  ‘I appreciate that. But however high you rate the security of this tie-up with the Russians, I hardly think you would go to the length of having me shot.’

  ‘No; no! God forbid! But as you have obtained knowledge of a military secret of the first importance, I could treat you as a spy and have you clapped into a fortress.’

  ‘You could,’ Gregory smiled, ‘but for how long could you keep me there? You know well that I make no idle boast when I say that I have escaped from captivity a dozen times. If you did put me to such inconvenience you may be certain that I would blow the gaff immediately I got out. Whereas.…’

  ‘Whereas what?’

  ‘Well, I have given much thought to the situation. Were I in the employ of the British Government it would obviously be my duty to report what I know. But, as a private citizen, it is a matter between myself and my conscience. Having weighed the pros and cons, I have come to the conclusion that the Russians possessing a base in the South Pacific—or perhaps I should say being established in one—with intercontinental ballistic missiles, is no danger to Britain. If they wished they could menace Britain from much nearer home. Of course, it brings them within easy range of Australia and New Zealand; but Australia has her own rocket range, so could give as good or probably better than she got. However, the salient point is that there is little likelihood of the Soviet Union and the British Commonwealth going to war in the foreseeable future.’

  ‘I concur in that,’ said the General, looking slightly less antagonistic. ‘And, that being the case, the information you have obtained would not cause great resentment in London.’

  ‘No, probably not. But it would in Washington. The Americans still regard Russia as very much a potential enemy. At the idea of France’s having given the Russians a rocket base—I am sorry, I meant receiving visiting troops—in the South Pacific, the roof would blow straight off the White House. And the United States being Britain’s ally, I have to consider whether I can really justify keeping this information to myself.’

  Ribaud glared, then grunted. ‘What’s your price?’

  ‘Cher ami!’ Gregory raised his eyebrows in pretended surprise. ‘I fail to understand you. We are simply discussing the dictates of my conscience. As I was about to say, when I had the pleasure of dining with you some nine weeks ago I expressed the opinion that the Power really to be dreaded by the Western world was China, and that our only hope of definitely containing this huge and dangerous Asiatic people lay in an alliance between the United States, Europe and the Soviet Union.

  ‘Should this come about and a war with China be forced on the Western Allies, what could be more fortunate than that the
Soviet Union should not only have rocket bases in Manchuria, to the north of China, but also to the south—in the Southern Pacific. In the past the State Department in Washington has not distinguished itself by its foresight. Clinging to the doctrines of the French Revolution, which were so acceptable in the United States when they were born, they are still obsessed by the idea that every people is entitled to self-rule. So blind are they that men like Foster Dulles did their utmost to undermine the power of their most reliable ally, the British Empire. During the years following the war Britain, financially, stood naked in the breeze. Without the support of the almighty dollar we could not have carried on. Dulles, and others of his kind, used that to force us to give independence to many of our subject peoples who were totally incapable of governing themselves. Only now, when it is too late, are they regretting their stupidity. Since the Americans were incapable of foreseeing that their policy would lead to the loss of a million lives in India alone, and to anarchy, or the setting up of police States, in Africa, I cannot believe that they will appreciate the possible long-term value of the Russians being given facilities in the South Pacific. But you and I, mon ami, come of older nations more experienced in statescraft. It is on these grounds that I have decided that it would be a great mistake to let the Americans know anything about what goes on in Yuloga.’

  Ribaud mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. ‘I follow your reasoning, and it is sound, but I’m damned if I know what you are driving at.’

  ‘Surely it is obvious that, having squared matters with my conscience, my wish is to assist you in maintaining security concerning this operation?’

  ‘I appreciate that. And by agreeing not to disseminate this information you take a great load off my shoulders. I am most grateful to you.’

  ‘Ah.’ Gregory gave a sigh. ‘But, alas, the matter does not end there. I was only one of six people who were imprisoned on Yuloga and escaped from there.’

  Again anxiety showed in Ribaud’s eyes. ‘You mean those two Australian may give everything away?’