A Hidden Heart of Fire

by Edna Dawes

  “But this Jamieson man is already rich.”

  “They’re the worst of the lot. It becomes their god!”

  Something about the way he spoke made her take a closer look at him, and she jumped up immediately. “You ought to be in bed!”

  “Don’t I know it.” He stood up gingerly. “Rod, fill her in on anything more, will you? This place is suddenly rocking far more than a boathouse should!”

  He refused assistance, on the grounds that anyone seeing him being helped would start asking questions, but Nancy thought Alec and Charlie would be supremely unobservant if they failed to notice that their companion was pale, heavy-eyed with pain, and swaying on his feet. She and Rod stood watching him disappear into the shadowed moonlight.

  “Will he be all right?” asked the girl anxiously. “It wasn’t through me that he was hurt, was it?”

  Rod’s gaze came slowly back, as if he had to drag his mind away from some thought.

  “Eh? No, no. If it hadn’t been for the storm last night, we should not have been diving in full daylight.”

  “But why did you risk going there this afternoon?” she asked.

  “Time is running short and we couldn’t afford to delay our efforts. I told you the aircraft is lodged nose-down in a crevice, which makes it very difficult to tackle. After nearly a week we haven’t been able to get to the cockpit. You see, as it is so awkwardly placed, the only way we can get to the front part of the plane is by clambering over the fuselage, and any over-balance could send the whole thing plunging down well beyond the range of our diving equipment.”

  Nancy frowned. “If the number and galah motif on the tail positively identify the plane, why is there any need for all this?”

  “David has to satisfy himself that the remains of the elder Jamieson are in the aircraft—that he really is dead. Apart from that, there are the opals—which David presumes are still in there. The evidence of another diver investigating the wreckage seems to bear out that supposition.”

  While Rod went across the beach towards the men’s quarters to check on David, Nancy leant against the doorway and stared at the wide white path of moonlight striping the sea. David had hit the nail on the head when he said she had been treating the whole affair as a sophisticated party game. Putting the two men on the spot and trying to out-manoeuvre them had been a way of filling her time on Wonara . . . but she had, in fact, been a thorn in the side of investigators in a life-and-death game.

  What a shallow fool she had been . . . but, oh, it was such joyous relief to know that Rod was none of the things he had appeared to be! She watched his tall figure emerge from the shadows and make its way back to the jetty. Ben was right . . . Rod was as straight as they came. It seemed ridiculous that she could have ever thought otherwise.

  Rod seemed to have been thinking along the same lines, because his first words to her were: “And now I’ll have an apology for your suggestion that I deliberately tried to drown Ben and Matt. I can’t think where you got the idea, but you plainly believed it.”

  “I didn’t want to believe it, but when I heard David say that now there were two out of the way it would be easy to deal with the other three, I couldn’t help imagining the accidents had been planned—and in both cases you were alone under the water with the victim.”

  “And your suspicious little mind put two and two together and made the wrong answer? A fine impression you have of my character!”

  That stung her. “You have hardly gone out of your way to impress me favourably.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I thought you were very taken with me on the beach the other night.”

  Her hand itched to slap him. “That was a very cowardly way out of a tight corner. You took advantage of the moonlight—and all that—to stop me asking questions.”

  “And you, my dear girl, used all your considerable charms to aid your detecting. Now, don’t deny it! Those big, inviting eyes were designed to weaken my resistance and numb my senses.”

  Getting herself very hastily off dangerous ground, Nancy asked: “But what did David mean?”

  He put one hand on the wall beside her ear and leant on his arm as he talked. “With Ben and Matt incapacitated, it would mean that our mystery diver would have to be one of the remaining three—if the activities continued. We had proof this afternoon.”

  “Which three?”

  “Sheila, Alec and Charlie. Meg is ruled out, because of her age and health.”

  “And me?”

  He smiled. “You were David’s main suspect for a while, because your visit happens to coincide with all this.”

  “What made him change his mind?”

  “My conviction that you were pretentious but not criminal.”

  Oh, he was really getting at her tonight! “Have you no idea which of the three it could be?”

  He shook his head. “Naturally I don’t want to believe it is any of them. David put Sheila through the mill at the party, but she didn’t give any indication that she knew what her husband had discovered just before he died.” Now Nancy had the reason why David kept at the blonde girl’s side most of that evening! “He has had ample opportunity to watch Alec and Charlie, but there has been nothing suspicious so far.”

  “I have seen something—if not suspicious, at least rather significant.”

  “Oh, what’s that?”

  Surely he would not regard it as telling tales? “Alec lingers round Sheila’s bungalow late at night. I have seen him on two occasions.”

  “Do you mean that he visits her?” asked Rod sharply.

  “I don’t know. I have only seen him walking away. The first time was on the night I arrived; then he was there when you played your big love-scene. I watched you walk across the compound, and as soon as you went inside he moved down the beach from the shadows surrounding Sheila’s place.”

  “Umm. In itself it suggests nothing more than a rather unwelcome situation developing.” He frowned at her. “You are sure?” She nodded. “Poor Sheila. I hope he hasn’t been making a nuisance of himself.”

  “You don’t think they are in league?”

  “No. You forget she is a woman in mourning still.”

  She marvelled at his old-fashioned expression. “You have a high opinion of her, haven’t you?”

  “Yes. Her knowledge and skill are considerable, and I am forced to admire her control over her emotions. If Alec has been harassing her, I’ll wring his neck!”

  “So, speaking personally, you would discount Sheila as the villain?”

  “Definitely.”

  “How do you rate Alec and Charlie?”

  He smoothed the back of his head with his hand and sighed. “It has to be one of them, I suppose, but I have got to know them so well during the months out here that it will take indisputable proof before I will believe ill of either of them.”

  “There is one point I am still not clear about,” said Nancy. “If the villain is still after the opals now, how does Jim Maitland fit into the story?”

  “That is one of the things David wants to find out. Jim could have known about the aircraft from the moment it went beneath the sea, or he could have come across the activities of someone else by chance.”

  “If it were the latter?”

  “It is almost certain that his death was caused by one of the staff here.”

  “Oh!” It was more a long sigh than an exclamation, and in it were reflected shock, puzzlement and sadness.

  Rod put his hand beside her ear and trapped her against the wooden wall, while he looked at her troubled expression, rendered more desolate by the white moonlight.

  “You are not half as sophisticated and superficial as you make out. All the time the mystery remained unsolved, you enjoyed the distraction of imagining whatever you wished it to be.”

  “Yes. I didn’t believe ordinary people like those on Wonara would go as far as—” She broke off as her voice thickened.

  “Murderers aren’t a special breed, you know, unless they a
re insane. If you delve into their histories you’ll find they were all ordinary people.”

  “I should have taken Ben’s advice and left you to sort out your own affairs.” Her eyes met his. “I’m sorry I suggested you had planned those accidents. I can’t think what came over me.”

  “It’s understandable. You don’t really know me very well, do you?” He took her shoulders. “But this is the worst of my vices.”

  The challenge and spark which had been between them from the moment they had first faced each other were in his embrace. Nancy was swept into a wild awareness that she wanted to be dominated like this. After years of making decisions, holding her own in a competitive world and avoiding serious emotional attachments, it was heavenly to cast it all aside in the bliss of this man’s kisses.

  At last, Rod slid his hands slowly down her arms and gripped her hands, shaking them gently from side to side. “How I wish you had never come here!” His face was a dark oval against the sky, robbing her of any glimpse of his expression, but the husky tone of his voice told her he meant what he said.

  “A lot of people have put money into this project and are relying on me. The discovery of the Jamieson aircraft has already severely delayed the work I was doing, but I have no choice where that matter is concerned. You are different. How can I possibly pretend you are not here for the next two weeks?”

  She moved across to him. “Why should you want to?”

  “Surely it’s obvious! When you and I get together, it’s not a question of interesting chats. You are a hot-blooded, emotional girl—and you make a man feel the same way. It’s no fun being isolated in the middle of the ocean, but I have to live out another year on Wonara after you leave. You are an unsettling and disturbing influence!”

  “It just shows how little I appreciate the life of a marine scientist,” she said eventually, trying to put a lightness she didn’t feel into her voice. “I’m sorry, Rod. From now on, I’ll keep out of your way as much as possible.”

  “That’s the trouble,” he said angrily, “you can’t! David’s injuries will prevent him from diving for at least a week, so it means you will have to take his place. Ben and Matt are out of action, and we can’t trust the other three. It’s dangerous, tiring, and I don’t like allowing it, but I have no choice. If I dive around that wreck I must have a companion diver to keep a look-out and fetch help if anything goes wrong.”

  He took her hands again in a punishing grip. “That’s why I wish you had never come here, because for the next week we are going to be forced to live and work side by side—an explosive situation, to say the least!”

  *

  Next morning, there was a constraint between them throughout the journey round Disaster Point, but once the cove had vanished from their view and Nancy looked up at the thickly wooded heights where she had stood yesterday, uneasiness drove away every other emotion.

  Looking down into the sea, she felt a reluctance to enter it.

  “Nancy!” He held up the breathing set to help her slip her arms through the harness. “You all right?” It was professional concern, she realized.

  “Yes, go ahead and tell me my instructions.”

  He pointed downwards and waved his hand in a half-circle. “We’ll go straight down for about thirty feet, then make our way along to the edge of the shelf. Once we get there, keep close to me, because the poor light makes it very easy to lose sight of each other. There are also greater quantities of fish along the sides of the drop, so it is possible to be surrounded by a passing shoal and become separated within a few minutes.”

  He shrugged his white cylinder on to his back and adjusted the straps. “When we get to the aircraft, all I want you to do is stand by while I try to reach the cockpit. David and I have spent these last days shoring up the plane with rocks where we could, but undue pressure on the wing-tip will be fatal, so keep well clear. There is only a narrow space between the cockpit and the rocky wall, so it’ll take me a while to try to edge myself through. Before I go, I’ll attach a line to my belt. If you have any cause for alarm, if anything happens to make you nervous, pull on it with short, sharp tugs and I’ll get back to you as fast as I can.” He pulled his mask down. “Oh, one other thing. If I indicate that you should surface, do so immediately—and don’t look back at what I’m doing, this time. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, but suppose—”

  “No buts.” He inserted his mouthpiece and fell back over the side of the boat, where he became a quivering black shadow topped by a small stream of bubbles breaking the surface.

  Nancy had no time for dread. Unless she wanted Rod to sink out of sight she had to get over the side and into the water herself. It was not long before she noticed the floor beneath her sloping away dramatically, becoming dark and pitted where the sand was replaced by rock.

  Chapter Six

  The barnacled wreck was an awesome sight. There was the number and the red galah motif on the tail, identifying it beyond doubt, but the cockpit seemed to have merged into the rocks, at first glance. It was indeed, on a precarious perch, being held in position by its nose and counter-balanced by a wing which rested against a ledge barely wider than the metal tip itself.

  Rod had stopped and was unravelling a rope which was clipped to his belt. He put the end into Nancy’s hands with an indication that he was about to leave her, and he gripped her fingers.

  Inch by inch, he edged his body between the metal and the rock, finding fingerholds to pull himself along and twisting his body to ease his progress now and then. Suddenly he came to a halt as his oxygen cylinder caught on a protruding ledge. A few minutes later he backed out equally slowly, then approached on his back, hoping to avoid the obstacle, but the cylinder scraped against the fuselage this time.

  Rod was well aware of what was happening, however, and slid away from the danger as delicately as he could. After that, he spent some time inspecting the opening to try to find the best way through. He worked methodically checking every inch of the rock, cutting away plants and barnacled growth where he could, while Nancy trod water and thought her thoughts.

  Rod came to her side, indicating that they should surface. Thankfully she wound the rope into a coil again and started her feet on the rhythmic paddling which would set her moving through the obscurity towards the boat.

  “You see the problem, Nancy,” said Rod removing his gear back to the boat. “The darn thing is so delicately poised that it shakes at the slightest movement. I thought it was going, despite our precautions.”

  “So did I.” Nancy was sitting where she had flopped on entering the boat. “Rod, you’ll never get into that fissure. Whichever way you turn, that projecting ledge will stop you. The gap narrows by a good six inches at that point.”

  He pursed his lips. “It could be done.”

  “How?” One look at his face told her he had already decided to attempt it. “Without a breathing set? It’s much too dangerous. David wouldn’t agree to your taking such a risk.”

  “David needn’t know.”

  “I don’t understand you, Rod. It’s not your responsibility to find out who or what is in that aircraft. Let the police send someone to take David’s place.”

  “And warn our villain off?”

  “Does it matter?” she said impatiently.

  “Of course it matters! You are forgetting that someone on Wonara is an accessory to the concealment of the murder of the elder Jamieson brother, and is the possible killer of Jim Maitland. He also assaulted David quite viciously yesterday.”

  Rod changed the subject abruptly by reminding her that she still had her gear on. “We’ll go back now,” he added. “I’d like you to take some rest before this afternoon’s session.” He turned to start the motor.

  However, it rained in the afternoon, and so it was not until the following morning that they were able to set off. Rod was seriously professional as he ran over the details while walking down to the jetty, and it seemed he had been on the job early, because all their ge
ar was in one of the boats, waiting for them.

  Nancy spotted a camera and queried its presence. “I thought David already had pictures of the wreckage.”

  “He has, but I want you to bring the camera along. Depending on how successful I am, I thought a couple of shots of the cockpit would strengthen David’s evidence.”

  She was thoughtful on the way round the headland.

  “Suppose someone is already down there?”

  He gave his first smile of the day. “He can’t be. Everyone was busily working when we left. I told Alec we were going round Disaster Point on our own and gave him some tests to set up in the laboratory—so our three suspects are under one roof. I checked on them, don’t worry.”

  “He could follow us.”

  “You don’t think David is sitting back nursing his ribs, do you? He’s got the situation all set up.”

  She looked thunderstruck. “If you mean what I think you mean, you and David have deliberately set a trap.”

  “No, no,” he protested. “I simply made it well-known that we were coming here. If anyone is interested enough to follow us, David will probably see him.” He threw the anchor over the side and began to don his wetsuit.

  Nancy told herself it was foolish to keep looking up at the shadow of the boat as she sank farther and farther down. Rod took her attention at that point by touching her arm and pointing to a shoal of brilliant red fish.

  Suddenly the scarlet-clad escort turned in unison and shot off with a jerk of propulsion in the way fishes do, leaving Nancy and Rod to contemplate the yawning depth at the edge of the shelf. Rod kicked up his feet and headed down without hesitation, but Nancy did so reluctantly.

  In a short time they reached the overhang and rounded it. There hung the aircraft, but even Nancy’s untrained eye could see that it had shifted since yesterday morning. It was more precariously perched, but the gap Rod had to get through had widened. The stormy conditions of the previous afternoon had done their work.

  Rod did a complicated pantomime to indicate that he intended trying to get through, whilst wearing his breathing set.