The White Witch of the South Seas gs-11

by Dennis Wheatley

  `If you are sure of that, she might prove a big help to us, remarked Gregory thoughtfully. `That is, if they do return here or we can somehow get hold of them. No man likes to be shamed in front of his wife; and if he has told her some story about buying you out, there is a chance that we might persuade him to cut you in on the deal, as was originally intended. Anyhow, as I am dining with General Ribaud, you might go to the Chateau Royal this evening and see what you can find out.'

  At seven thirty one of the Governor's cars called for Gregory and took him to the Residence. Ribaud was a widower; so they dined alone, and over the meal swapped stories of the desperate times when Paris had been occupied by the Nazis. Later in the evening the conversation inevitably turned to de Gaulle.

  `One cannot help admiring him,' Gregory remarked, `although he is no friend to Britain.'

  The General shrugged. `What can you expect after the way your people treated him while he was in London? Churchill even refused to let him know the date fixed for the return to France. How would you have felt if, after all those years in exile as the leader of the Free British in Paris, the Prime Minister had invited you to breakfast and told you that at that very moment French troops were already on the Sussex beaches without a single British soldier to represent your Empire?'

  `I'd have felt as mad as a hatter,' Gregory smiled. `But there was a very good reason for that. You know as well as I do that, while the majority of your countrymen who came to England and joined the Free French were animated solely by patriotic motives, there were many bad eggs among them: crooks and adventurers who had nothing to gain and everything to lose if Britain succeeded in defeating Germany. Quite a number of them were completely unscrupulous and were selling to the enemy all the information they could get and that goes for certain of the officers who held high positions on de Gaulle's staff.

  `Our people knew that and could have pulled them in, but I don't have to tell you that in the counter espionage game the devil you know is less dangerous than the devil you don't know. Had we arrested them, it is possible that they would have been replaced by others equally treacherous; so the only alternative was to deny de Gaulle and his staff access to all the really important information about our plans.'

  `Are you really sure that this was so?'

  `Certain of it. When I was not on missions abroad I held a cover appointment as a Wing Commander on the Staff of the War Cabinet, and to do my job I had to be in on many secrets. The pity of it is that even after the war, when we were able to tell de Gaulle the facts, he refused to believe us and has remained anti British ever since:

  `You must admit, though, that apart from withholding information from him your people treated him very badly. Time and again they refused him permission to go to North Africa and to France, and when he did get back they did their utmost to prevent him from relieving Paris.'

  `There I agree, but for that you must blame General Eisenhower. And, strategically, he was right in his wish to bypass Paris; then, once he had the Boche on the run, use all the resources he could muster to throw them right back to the Siegfried Line. De Gaulle's premature dash to Paris wrecked the plan because; once the capital was liberated, its great population had to be fed by the Allies, and the offensive had to be broken off owing to the cost in petrol.'

  Ribaud shrugged. `Had de Gaulle not acted as he did, Paris would have been seized by the Communists and before long they would have had control of the whole of France? So the matter is arguable. But, if it is any consolation to you, the General's policy has been even more anti American than anti British.'

  `I know, and mote's the pity. Above all, his withdrawal from NATO. If ever there was a dangerous card to play it was that one. Mind you, for many years past it has been my view that China is the great danger and that we have little to fear from Russia. But one never knows.'

  `I think you are right, and for that reason de Gaulle has shown great statesmanship in his rapprochement with the Soviet Union.'

  Gregory nodded, `He also showed it in his conception of combining Europe into a third Great Power block. Federated Europe would have a greater population and more resources than either America or Russia, and would have become independent of the dollar. But he muffed it by keeping Britain out of the Common Market. And, in view of the real menace that China is becoming, could Europe really afford to do without the United States? As I see it, unless a major war is fought to stop them, within another decade the Chinese will have overrun the whole of East Asia and India. Then we will definitely have to fight to defend Australia and New Zealand. For us to have any chance of winning against the Asiatic hordes, equipped with those ghastly modern weapons, there is only one thing for it a Triple Alliance of the United States, Europe and Russia.'

  With a rueful grin Ribaud said, `Your reasoning is sound enough, but what a terrible picture you conjure up. So many of old Nostradamus' prophecies have come true, perhaps the one he made about Paris being destroyed in the year 2000 by a flock of giant, man made birds coming from the East will too.'

  It was one o'clock before Gregory got back to his hotel, so it was not until the following morning that he learned the result of James' visit to the Chateau Royal. The de Carvalhos were expected back there on Thursday the 16th, which was in three days' time.

  Earnestly they debated their strategy. Loath as they now were to have de Carvalho as a partner, they could not possibly ignore that fact that he had secured the licence; and Ribaud had made it unmistakably clear that an attempt by anyone else to salvage the treasure would be a criminal act, equivalent to piracy, and so liable to heavy penalties. Therefore, the best they could hope for was to shame the Brazilian into the kind of arrangement that he had tentatively agreed with James in Rio before Gregory had come on the scene. Obviously the nature of the threat would render it futile if it was made in Olinda ’s presence, so somehow they must get him on his own, unknown to her.

  James, being himself of a very upright nature, found it difficult to believe that any man of de Carvalho's standing would allow himself to be denounced to his wife as a crook, so considered their chances good. The cynical. Gregory was by no means so optimistic, but it was he who had first suggested that use might be made of Orinda’s reactions to what had taken place, and he agreed that the idea would, at least, be worth trying.

  The first move was obviously to find out what they could about the way in which the de Carvalho’s spent their time while in Noumea, with a view to catching Valentim when Olinda was not with him. James said that the Chateau Royal was mainly staffed by New Caledonian natives. The latter were of the same Melanesian stock as his own people and, he felt sure, would talk freely to him. So it was decided that later in the day, while Gregory had a stroll round the town, James should pump some of the servants at the hotel.

  The Chateau Royal was only a quarter of a mile further along the road out of town than the Nouvata. Soon after lunch, James set off in the broiling heat, to walk there, in order to catch one or two of the chambermaids and valets while they were off duty. Gregory, meanwhile, enjoyed a siesta, then a swim. When he went to the desk to ask for a taxi to be summoned, a young, brown skinned New Caledonian was standing there. On hearing Gregory's request, he turned to him and said

  `Monsieur, I am from the Tourist Office, and I am about to return to the city. Allow me to offer you a lift.'

  Gregory gladly accepted. As they went out to the young man's car, he introduced himself as Henry Maniquant and asked, `Have you been up the height just behind here? If not, I will drive you up before we go downtown. It is well worth a visit.'

  Maniquant proved right. Ten minutes' drive up a broad, steep, curving road brought them to the Naval Radio Station, several hundred feet above the sea. From there the panorama was magnificent. On one side lay the great sweep of Ansa Vata Bay, on the other the Baie de St. Marie. Between them, behind the town, in the low lying neck of the peninsula, the Stadium, a large, open air, drive in cinema and Magenta Airport could be clearly seen. Islands, large and small
, were scattered round the coast in all directions, and inland to the north rose range after range of mountains. Gregory had to admit that although New Caledonia lacked the colour of Fiji, it certainly had some magnificent scenery.

  On the way to the town young Maniquant proved a mine of information and extraordinarily enthusiastic about his job. Before they parted, he pressed on Gregory half a dozen pamphlets with useful information. Among them was one that Gregory thought must be unique in tourist attraction literature. It listed over two hundred and fifty French and New Caledonian dishes, giving against each particulars in English of the ingredients.

  Gregory had not previously realised that Noumea was by far the largest town in the South Pacific, with a population of thirty five thousand. Even so, as he strolled in the still strong, late afternoon sunshine, through streets named after famous French statesmen and Generals, he was surprised to find that the blocks contained many large stores, as well as scores of good shops, restaurants and travel agencies. As in Suva, the majority of the people were coloured; but here there were few Indians, a higher proportion of Chinese and many Indonesians.

  By the cocktail hour he arrived back at the Nouvata, where James met him, grinning with satisfaction. He had located the quarters occupied by the de Carvalho’s, and had talked to both the floor waiter and the chambermaid who had looked after them. The Brazilian couple had spent most of the days together. During the mornings Valentim sunbathed in the garden while Olinda swam in the sea, then in the late afternoons they went shopping or for a drive in a car. After dinner they always went up to their suite together, but, apparently, Olinda liked to have a last swim before going to bed; so, leaving him there, at about ten o'clock she went down again in a wrap and spent twenty minutes or so in the pool.

  `That provides us with the opportunity, then,' Gregory smiled. `The next thing is to devise a way of catching him in his suite without warning, or any of the hotel people questioning us as strangers when we go upstairs.'

  Having thought for a few moments, he went on:

  `I have it. Tomorrow I will move out to the Chateau Royal and take a room as near their suite as possible, anyhow in the same wing. Then on Thursday, when they are due to return, so that I don't run into them I'll pretend that I have a tummy upset and remain in my room all day. You will telephone in the evening to make certain they have arrived, then go out to the hotel about ten o'clock and post yourself in the garden under cover. As soon as you see Olinda come down for her swim, go into the hotel and ask for me. I'll say you are to be sent up, then the two of us will go along to the suite and catch Master de Carvalho napping.'

  After dinner that evening Gregory walked along to the Chateau Royal and said that he did not like the Nouvata, so wished to move. Then, having rejected two rooms that he was shown, he settled on one which was only two doors from the suite the de Carvalho’s had occupied and reserved for their return.

  Next morning he made his move and, in daylight, was able to appreciate fully how preferable was the Chateau Royal to the Nouvata, for those who could afford it. The Chateau Royal was the only hotel on the sea side of the highway; so the guests had immediate access to the beach. In the main block the spacious lounge and restaurant were glass walled, so that one could look out to seaward on a tree surrounded swimming pool and, beyond it to the left, a separate beach bar where people could enjoy snack lunches while still in bathing things. To the right there was another two storey block consisting only of bedrooms. It was there, on the upper floor, that Gregory had his room. The walls were panelled with toae de jouy, the furnishings were elegant, and it had a wide balcony where he could breakfast looking out on the sea.

  Having unpacked, he changed into bathing things and went down to the beach. The best part of a hundred people were sun bathing, drinking at tables under gay umbrellas, or in the sea. There were pedallos and canoes, a speed boat behind which a pretty girl was waterskiing expertly; a big raft anchored a quarter of a mile out, and several small yachts in the distance.

  On the debit side, the water was neither so clear nor so blue as in the Fijis, and by no means so warm. But Gregory enjoyed his swim and, having changed back into casual clothes, he went down to the restaurant for lunch. The meal he chose proved a revelation. Only in Paris could it have been equalled, and it hallmarked the Chateau Royal as the finest hotel in the South Seas. Dinner that night confirmed his opinion.

  General Ribaud had told him that if he wished to make some motor trips he had only to ring up and a car would be placed at his disposal. So on the Wednesday he availed himself of the Governor's kind offer. After a swim, having had two picnic lunches prepared, he picked up James and they set off to see something of the interior.

  The island was more than twice the length of Viti Levu, but not so large, as in no place along its two hundred and fifty miles was it much more than thirty miles wide. A long range of mountains, some rearing up to five thousand feet, divided it into two very different types of country. To the west lay great areas of flat, cultivated land; to the east deep valleys and rocky heights running right down to the coast. The roads crossing the Chaine Centrale were most picturesque, as they passed through forests with, here and there, lovely vistas of waterfalls, reed covered hills and rugged mountains.

  Their French speaking driver spoke proudly of the immense wealth in minerals that the mountains contained nickel iron, cobalt, chromium and manganese but sadly of the many rich crops that used to be grown in the lowlands owing to the exceptionally favourable semi tropical climate, until the repatriation of the Vietnamese settlers who had farmed them.

  Thursday Gregory spent in his room reading in bed, reluctantly supporting the fiction that he was unwell by denying himself the Chef's superb Terrine Maison. At six o'clock James telephoned him to say that `their friends' had arrived, and he got through the evening with such patience as he could muster. Soon after ten, the office rang him. The Rata James Omboloku was in the halt asking if he might come up. A few minutes later James reported that Olinda was taking her nightly dip. Together they walked the few yards to de Carvalho's suite and, without knocking, went in.

  Valentim, in a silk dressing gown, was seated at a table studying some papers. At the sound of the door opening, he turned his head. Amazement and consternation showed on his dark features. Coming to his feet, he exclaimed angrily:

  `What the devil are you doing here? How dare you enter my room uninvited!'

  `It is for your own peace of mind,' Gregory replied quietly. `That is if you wish to retain your wife's respect. There is no need to go into details. But you have double crossed James here, with the intention of getting the Maria Amalia's treasure all to yourself. Can you deny it?'

  De Carvalho shrugged. `Why should I? Business is business. I am simply one move ahead of you that is all.' `What story did you tell your wife?'

  `That is no concern of yours, but I led her to believe that the Ratu had decided to leave the whole matter in my hands.'

  `We will not quarrel with that, or disillusion her provided you are willing to sign an agreement, as originally proposed, that the Ratu should receive sixty per cent of the value of all treasure salvaged.'

  `Why should I?' Valentim scowled. `I hold the licence, so I alone have the right to salvage the treasure, and the authorities in Revika will protect that right for me until I am ready to exercise it. But I am in no hurry to do that. You may recall that while I was in Rio I was threatened, and I do not mean, by going to Tujoa just yet, to run my head into a hornet's nest. These people, whoever they are, will learn in a week or two that I have outsmarted them, then leave me a clear field. And that already goes for you.'

  `You do not care, then, if we let your wife know that you are a crook?'

  De Carvalho shrugged again. `She is aware, from other operations that my friends and I have carried through, that in business there are times when one must act somewhat unethically, unless one wishes to lose money. It has been apparent to me that she has rather a soft spot for Ratu James; so I have
no doubt that in this instance she will be annoyed with me. But what more can she do than sulk for a few days?'

  Matters had turned out as Gregory had half expected. De Carvalho's admission that he had been involved in other shady deals, and that Olinda knew about some of them, obviously robbed of any potency the threat to expose him. He preferred to have a scene with her rather than forgo a share of the treasure. Their little plot to force his hand had failed. There seemed no more to be said.

  Suddenly the door opened and Olinda came into the room. She was wearing a white swim suit that set off her dark beauty to perfection. In a casual voice she got as far as saying, `I left my cigarettes behind…: Then she caught sight of James, smiled and exclaimed. `This is a pleasant surprise! What are you and Mr. Sallust doing here?'

  James bowed. 'Senhora, this is not a social visit. We have come… we have come…

  While Gregory had done all the talking, James had contained his rage, but now he suddenly gave full vent to it.

  `We have come to unmask your husband for the filthy crook he is. Like an innocent I placed myself in his hands, believing him to be a friend. And now, now, see what he has done! In Rio he lied to us, he said there was no evidence that the Maria Amalia carried treasure; yet he had already been up to Antigua and seen the records showing that she had a great sum in gold on board. He pretended that he was no longer interested. But what does he do? He comes to Noumea like a thief in the night and secures a licence to salvage from the wreck. That means the authorities will stop anyone else from attempting to do so. Behind my back he means to take all. He cannot deny it. He is a swindler! A cheat, a dirty cheat!'

  As he flung out these accusations, James' long arm stretched out, indignantly pointing at de Carvalho. His dark eyes had gone black with rage and his great quiff of hair quivered as his head jerked backwards and forwards.