‘Can’t be!’
‘The gate’s open, and the motorboat’s gone!’ Marvin said.
To gain time to think, Frost shoved by him and ran down to the harbour.
His mind worked like lightning as he ran. Had Suka overheard him telling Amando and Marvin that he (Suka) was the inside man, then seeing the open gate, had bolted? There could be no other explanation. The fact was he had escaped! Frost felt a sudden relief. He hadn’t committed murder! But Suka at liberty could be dangerous. He must alert Silk.
He reached the harbour and saw how easily anyone could slip down to the boats without touching the open door nor the fence.
He was still standing there, his mind active when Marvin joined him.
‘I’ve turned off the current,’ Marvin said and closed the gate. ‘How the hell did he open the gate without being electrocuted?’
‘My guess he must have listened to us talking,’ Frost said. ‘Like a dope, I didn’t turn on the current until you left the guardroom to change. In those few minutes, he must have scrammed. I never thought of checking on him once you had gone. I locked myself in and stayed put.’
Marvin stared at him, his expression worried.
‘Grandi will love you, Mike. You should have turned on the current when we were talking.’
‘And he’ll love you too,’ Frost snapped. ‘You should have been here instead of at the funfair with your kid.’
‘Aw, come on, Mike. You’re in charge. You told me to go.’
‘Okay, okay. Anyway what the hell does it matter? We’re both going to lose our jobs.’
‘I guess. Look, Mike, I have friends at the cop house. How’s about me asking Lepski to pick up Suka? I can say some valuables are missing and...’
‘No way,’ Frost said curtly. ‘We do nothing until Grandi arrives. Anyway, we now know for sure Suka was the inside man. I’m going to get myself something to eat. Suppose you walk around, check his cabin, see if he’s taken his clothes.’
‘Yeah.’
Leaving Marvin, Frost hurried back to the guardroom. He locked the door leading to the villa, then snatched up the telephone receiver. He dialled the number of the Ace of Spades.
Umney came on the line.
‘Suka got away in a motorboat,’ Frost said, speaking fast. ‘The boat has a big G on the stern. Find and fix him.’
‘Will do,’ Umney said, and hung up.
Frost then went up to Amando’s room, opened the door and walked in. He found Amando lying on the bed, his face ashen. Amando opened his eyes and stared glassily at Frost.
‘I am very ill,’ he mumbled. ‘My heart... get a doctor.’
Frost stared down at him. Faking? He thought not, but he couldn’t care less about Amando.
‘You’ll need more than a doctor when Grandi arrives,’ he said, and left the room.
He found some cold cuts in the kitchen refrigerator and made himself a couple of sandwiches, then he returned to the guardroom.
As he was eating the second sandwich, Marvin came in.
‘Old Creepy’s sick,’ Frost said. ‘He’s had a heart attack.’
‘To hell with him,’ Marvin said. ‘Look what I’ve found in Suka’s cabin.’ He put a small box on the desk. ‘A sophisticated bug.’
Frost opened the box and stared at the black button. This was a limpet bug that was powerful enough to record a conversation from a considerable distance. He looked at the empty socket by the bug that told him there had been a second bug.
‘That’s how he heard us talking,’ Marvin said. ‘I bet the other bug is somewhere right here.’
Frost snatched up the telephone and upended it. The second bug was attached to the base of the telephone. He whirled around on Marvin.
‘Was there a recorder in his cabin?’
‘Yeah, but no cassette. I checked.’
Frost removed the bug and put it in the box. He realised the danger of this discovery immediately.
‘More evidence for Grandi,’ he said, forcing his voice to sound casual.
‘Hey, Mike!’ Marvin was pointing to the gun rack. ‘There’s a .38 missing!’
Frost looked at the gun rack. There should have been four .38 police specials on hooks on the rack: there were only three.
‘How the hell did he take that?’
‘When you were checking the grounds and when I went up to Amando,’ Marvin said. ‘We both should have seen it was missing.’
‘Okay, okay,’ Frost said. ‘We needn’t spell it all out to Grandi. Suppose you go up and take another look at Amando. If he is really bad, call an ambulance and let’s get him to hospital before Grandi arrives. Fix it, will you?’
Leaving Marvin, he went fast to his cabin. He examined his telephone, made sure it wasn’t bugged, then called the Ace of Spades. This time he got Silk.
Quickly, he explained the situation, then went on, ‘If Suka left the tape running, he has evidence I fingered him as the inside man, and more dangerous, I told him the gate was open and to shut it. If he gets to Grandi, my cover’s blown. He’ll be at the airport waiting for Grandi to arrive. You’ve got to fix him before Grandi arrives. Watch it! He’s armed!’
‘I’ll have the airport covered in ten minutes,’ Silk said. ‘When is Grandi arriving?’
‘Around 15.00. New York arrival.’
‘Keep your cool, Mike,’ Silk said quietly. ‘It’s going along well. Don’t forget we have Grandi over a barrel.’
‘Yeah, but I want to keep my cover. How’s the girl?’
‘No problem. I gave her a reefer, and she is way out,’ and Silk hung up.
Frost wiped his sweating hands on his slacks, then returned to the guardroom where he found Marvin on the telephone, ordering an ambulance.
‘He looks as if he’s going to croak,’ Marvin said as he hung up.
‘One headache less.’ Frost picked up the telephone receiver and alerted the guard at the entrance to let the ambulance in.
‘Hell!’ the guard exploded. ‘You sure sound as if you have real trouble up there.’
‘Tell that to Mr. Grandi when he arrives. He’ll love the sound of your voice,’ Frost snarled, and hung up.
The ambulance taking Amando to the Paradise Clinic, hadn’t been gone more than ten minutes, when Frost I heard the sound of an approaching helicopter. The machine hovered over the estate, then gently settled down I on the big lawn.
‘Here he is,’ Frost said, as both he and Marvin moved fast out of the guardroom. ‘Action stations!’
As Grandi climbed from the machine, Frost hurried across the lawn to meet him.
Grandi paused to say something to the pilot, then came striding forward, his face a stone mask, his eyes glittering dangerously.
‘Where’s Amando?’ he barked as Frost paused before him.
‘He’s had a heart attack, sir. The ambulance has just taken him to the Paradise Clinic.’
Grandi stared at Frost.
‘Then he’s lucky,’ he snarled. ‘Come to my study in ten minutes,’ and moving by Frost, ignoring Marvin, he strode into the villa.
‘Stick around, Jack,’ Frost said, and breaking into a run, he went to his cabin, shut himself in and grabbing the telephone, dialled the Ace of Spades.
Silk came on the line.
‘Did you get Suka?’ Frost asked, speaking low and fast.
‘No sign of the sonofabitch,’ Silk said. ‘No sign of Grandi either.’
‘He’s here. He must have flown to Miami and taken a chopper. He arrived a minute ago.’
‘Then Suka couldn’t have contacted him. We’ll keep hunting.’
‘Find him and fix him,’ Frost said and hung up.
Bracing himself, he walked to the villa, entered, then stood in the big hall, waiting.
Five minutes later, Grandi jerked open the door of his study.
‘Okay, Frost, let’s have it,’ he said, and walked to his desk and sat down.