Robbie gloomily agreed with her, then began to speculate on their chances, if they could locate the Czech group in Crete, of penetrating the secret that lay behind the group's activities. But he had little hope in that direction as it seemed almost certain that a view of the site where they were working would disclose no more than had those at Pirgos and Monolithos. It was then that Stephanie remarked:
'You had your chance to get right to the bottom of things when we were in Corinth. It's a thousand pities you didn't take it.'
He gave her a puzzled look. 'I'm afraid I don't get you.'
'I mean when you had Vaclav at your mercy in that cul-de-sac. You could have screwed it out of him then, by just keeping on gently making more and more of a mess of his face until he had told you all you wanted to know.'
'But that would have been using torture on him,' Robbie said in a shocked voice.
Stephanie shrugged and finished the glass of Malvoisie wine she was drinking. 'Considering that you kept on hitting him until you spoiled his looks, isn't it rather straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel to imply that it would have been a bad thing to get something out of him while you were at it? Given the same circumstances, he would certainly have tortured you without hesitation. And, you know, seeing how much may hang on this thing, it might even be argued that if he would use torture, and you wouldn't, he's the better man as far as serving his country is concerned.'
'I suppose there is something in that,' Robbie agreed reluctantly. 'But what's the good of talking about what I might have done over three weeks ago?'
'Because I wanted to see how you felt about it. If you are too squeamish, an idea I've had would be of no use.'
He refilled her glass. 'Well, anyway, let's hear it.'
'It is that I should try to get Vaclav to come to Crete. The fact that he came after us from Pirgos shows how obsessed he is with the desire to pay you out for what you did to him. By offering to betray you to him, I believe I could lure him here. In spite of the fact that he did his best to kill me, I'm not thirsting for revenge. It is simply that I would rather that he had his ears torn off than that you should be convicted of having murdered Cepicka.'
Robbie gave her a wry smile and said: 'Horrible as this idea sounds, I give you full marks for being realistic. I certainly count my life of more value than your husband's ears, and if I felt faint-hearted when I came to tackle the job, as you've pointed out, 1 could gin myself up with the patriotic motive. But how would you set about it?'
'I could write and offer to make a bargain with him.'
'Say he accepted and came here, what could we do then? It is not enough to lure him to Heraklion. You would have to persuade him to come to some place where I could beat the daylights out of him, without anyone hearing his shouts for help. How could you possibly manage to do that?'
Stephanie lit a cigarette and pulled hard at it. 'I think the answer lies in these new arrangements we have to make. Instead of your moving to a small hotel, it should be possible for you to rent a little house or, better still, a cottage just outside the city. Then, if I could bring him there, you would be able to tackle him without anyone being the wiser.'
Robbie considered that for a good minute, then he said: 'If you write to him you'll have to tell him how he can contact you. Isn't there a big risk that, instead of coming here himself, he'll simply put the police on to you, knowing that you will lead them to me and so he'll get his revenge that way, without lifting a finger?'
She shook her head. T don't think so. I know Vaclav and the way his mind works. He thinks that justice in the capitalistic countries is just as corrupt as it is behind the Iron Curtain. By charging you with Cepicka's murder, he knows that he will be putting you in a nasty spot; but I would bet any money that he doesn't believe that, if you are caught, that will be the end of you. Given the same set-up at home the bosses would get you off, and I haven't a doubt that Vaclav thinks that here your uncle and the N.A.T.O. people have quite enough influence to secure your acquittal. That is why I feel pretty certain that he would come to Crete if I offered him the chance of quietly putting a bullet into you.'
Again Robbie gave a wry grin. 'Well, I suppose he might, unless we handle this jolly carefully.'
'Yes,' she agreed soberly. 'Vaclav is no fool and if he does come it will be with the intention of killing you. That is a very nasty risk. The question is, are you prepared to take it, for the chance of being able to blow sky-high the whole of this secret Communist operation?'
Robbie nodded. 'As far as I am concerned it's the last card in the pack, so let's play it.'
When they got back to the Astir, Stephanie sat down in the lounge to write to her husband and, after two rough drafts, she produced the following:
By now the failure of the police to find my dead body will probably have led you to guess that I am still alive. That is no fault of yours, but luckily for me my elbow caught in the fork of a tough root protruding from the steep slope just above the precipice. Grenn found me there and, at the risk of his own life, pulled me up on to the road.
I do not propose to go into my past or present relations with Grenn. It is sufficient to say that, whereas you deliberately pushed me over the precipice, he saved my life. For that, any woman would be grateful. So, when I realized that you would try to pin Cepicka's death on him, I gave him all the help I could to evade arrest.
However, now that a week has elapsed, I have had time to consider my own position. For a long time, you and I have remained together only because it has suited our individual interests. Your attempt last Saturday to murder me is proof enough that the time was very much overdue for us to part company and, even if you were prepared to take me back, I would not agree to return to you. But I must take such steps as I can to secure my future.
You will, no doubt, have reported to Janos that I betrayed the Party by enabling Grenn to escape from Pirgos, and by later endeavouring to protect him when you intercepted us on the road. That means that, once it is known that I am still alive, I shall be expelled from the Party and, perhaps, black-listed for 'special treatment'. Even should certain people not catch up with me, it would mean spending the rest of my life as an outcast. As you well know, I am a Communist born and bred. I could never reconcile myself to living among our enemies. 1 am prepared to make any sacrifice in order to be accepted again by our own people—even, if need be, to make a confession and submit to being disciplined. But only you are in a position to arrange this.
Knowing your feelings towards Grenn, I offer him to you as the price of my rehabilitation. We are here in Crete and, although we are not living together, I am in touch with him. He has gone into hiding in a place where it would be difficult for the police to find him and, from the time you receive this letter, I shall not go near him; so it would be futile for you to suggest to the police that they should try to trace him through me. But, if you will come over, I can take you to his hide-out, where you could surprise him on his own and do what you like with him. . .For obvious reasons J am not giving my address, so send a reply to this addressed to Madame Polacek, cjo G.P.O. Heraklion. If you agree to my terms and give me the date and number of your flight from Athens, I will be at the airport with a car to meet you.