While in the train, they had pretended to know no Greek and had spoken German to one another. Now, carrying their light suitcases, they went into the station buffet, talking loudly in French. Robbie, pretending to know only a few words of Greek, then ordered drinks for them and, in halting sentences, asked the woman behind the counter if she could give them the name of a small hotel that was both cheap and clean. The woman consulted her colleague, who called a waiter who spoke some French. A heated argument between the three ensued then, with many smiles, the Hotel Theodori in Paleologou Street was recommended, and the waiter gave Robbie the number of a bus that would take them there.
They found the hotel drab but adequate, and registered there as Monsieur Jules Colbert and Mademoiselle Louise Hachette. Until half past seven they rested in their rooms, then met again downstairs and went out for a meal at a nearby tavern. Over the meal they held another conference.
Now that Robbie was in Athens his Letter of Credit was redundant, as he had only to walk along to his own bank to draw money. But to do so would mean that the police would soon know that he either had been or still was in Athens. Stephanie suggested that he should make out a cheque, bearing a date a week old, which she should take to his bank and cash for him. He still had on him about fifty pounds in Greek money; but he felt that he ought to obtain at least another two hundred while he had the chance as, apart from the few items he had bought in Tripolis, they had only the things they stood up in. The question was, would the bank cash such a large cheque, made out simply to 'bearer', without requiring evidence of the identity of the young woman who presented it?
For Stephanie to produce such evidence would, in due course, lead to the police learning that she had not been burnt up in the Ford, but was still alive. She was greatly averse to that because, as long as they believed her to be dead, they would be hunting for Robbie as a man on his own, not one accompanied by a woman.
In this connection he said to her: 'It's a pity that we can't pose as brother and sister, but we are so unlike that we would never get away with that. It would only make people more suspicious of us.'
After a moment, she said thoughtfully: 'The best cover of all for you would be for us to travel as husband and wife. But we would have to share a room then. Of course, that need mean no more than when a man and a girl share a bathing tent and take it in turns to change in it. You could get up an hour earlier than me in the mornings, have your bath and go downstairs, and at night I would go up to bed half an hour before you. I'm not standing for any repetition of that business by the pool, though; and the question is, can I trust you?'
'You can,' Robbie gave a solemn nod. 'It's terribly good of you, Stephanie, to go that far to give me a better chance of keeping out of the hands of the police until I can pin something on Barak. If I let you down in this I'd never again be able to look at my own face in a mirror.'
She smiled. 'I believe you, Robbie. We'll do that, then. The next question is: when we get to Rhodes, are we going to stay poor or live medium rich?'
'Normally, I'd be all for staying at the Hotel des Roses. I've heard that it's one of the best in Greece. But won't it be in that sort of place that the police will look for me?'
'I don't think so. By playing poor in Argos and here in Athens, we should have put them off your track and, naturally, they will assume that you have gone to earth in some cheap hotel somewhere in the Peloponnesus. The last place they are likely to look for you would be sunning yourself on the beach of the Hotel des Roses with—if I may say so—a rather pretty wife.'
'Oh, come on!' he exclaimed spontaneously. 'Don't be so modest. You know jolly well that you are lovely.'
Her eyebrows went up and she gave a sudden laugh. 'D'you know that's the first compliment you have ever paid me? It's nice that you should think so. Still, I hope you are not going to let that give you ideas, otherwise I'll have to call off our sharing a bedroom.'
He had gone red at finding that, without thinking, he had said the sort of thing he had wanted to say to her for a long time past. But he quickly shook his head. 'Don't worry. I've given you my word.'
Stubbing out her cigarette, she said: 'There are several advantages to staying in a bi£* hotel. It is not so likely to be noticed if we never go up to bed at the same time, or come down together in the morning; and if we want to hire a car, there will be no nosey landlady to wonder how we can afford such an extravagance.'
'Right, then. The des Roses it shall be, providing we can get hold of enough money.'
That question was solved by an idea that came to Robbie while he was still lying in bed the following morning. Luke Beecham could get a cheque cashed for him without any questions being asked, and Stephanie could collect the money without having to give away her identity. As soon as he got downstairs, he wrote a note to Luke on a plain sheet of paper. Not wishing to embroil his friend, he made no reference to the events which had led to his present situation. The note ran:
I am still on the war path, and am certain now that the people I am interested in are up to something pretty nasty. But, for the time being, it is essential that 1 keep under cover, and I need money. Would you be good enough to cash the enclosed cheque right away through your bank and hand the proceeds to the bearer of this, who wishes to remain anonymous but is entirely reliable?
As soon as Stephanie came downstairs, they went out and had an early coffee. Over the table he gave her the note and the cheque, telling her the address of Luke Beecham's office. It was then agreed that if Luke were there and she got the money, she should go to the Olympus Airways office and try to get two seats on the next morning's plane to Rhodes. Then she was to buy herself a better suitcase and some clothes which would pass muster for a stay at the Hotel des Roses.
At her suggestion it was agreed that he should go meanwhile to a barber and have a crew-cut, and also buy himself a pair of dark glasses. When she had set off, with considerable reluctance he had the back and sides of his head shaved, so that he felt he looked like a convict; then, with some of the money he had on him, he bought himself two shirts, another pair of shoes, some socks and four ties.
When they met again for lunch, he learned to his relief that Stephanie's mission had been successful. Luke had asked no questions; she had the money and a note from him, which said:
I was getting quite worried at hearing nothing from you. Things are looking far from good, so anything you can get hold of in the immediate future may prove of exceptional value. 1 take it the 'bearer' is the 'chauffeuse-secretary' you told me about. No wonder you refused to take my advice, and preferred to risk blackmail or having to cough up alimony. What a dark horse you've turned out to be. Anyhow lots of luck to you, and let's hope that we are still all alive this time next week.
Robbie and Stephanie had been so completely absorbed in their own affairs for the past three days that they had not given a thought to the international crisis. Now he got hold of a paper. The headline read: 'Soviet Threat. Unless U.S. accepts terms, Russia will consider issuing Ultimatum.'