Besides, this was before Joris' pal went there, wasn't it? Well, if he'd gone there expecting to find Christine, and she'd disappeared, would he have calmly gone off on a shopping tour like the one I followed him on ?'
'That is what he did according to your story,' Graner reminded him.
'And according to Aliston's story I'm a liar again. You know, I'm taking quite a shine to this outfit of yours, Reuben. It's such a relief to know you're among friends.'
Graner nodded.
'I said I would tell you exactly what Aliston told me.'
'And I suppose he'd got another bright theory that I snatched Joris and his pal and parked them with Palermo's slut.'
'Oh no. Aliston did not deny that he and Palermo had taken them. He was very perturbed when he heard that they had been permitted to escape.'
'I'll bet he was,' said the Saint grimly. 'And how did he make that sound all right-about double-crossing the rest of us?' Graner paused to trim the ash on his cigar; and again his hard, pebbly gaze rested on the Saint with the same unaccountable calculativeness that had been puzzling Simon ever since he sat down.
'I will go on telling you what he told me. He said that it was because he and Palermo were suspicious of you. They were afraid to argue with me because they were too familiar with my objection to having my orders questioned, but they were convinced that for once I was making a mistake. They did not like the way I had accepted you and accepted your terms this morning. They were certain that it would be dangerous to take Joris and the other man back to the house while you were there. They decided to make sure of their ground before they tried to dispute the wisdom of my instructions; meanwhile they felt that Joris and the other man would be quite safe where they had taken them. Then they captured you to see if they could force you to give them any more information. Aliston pointed out that it was absurd to think that they were trying to double-cross me, when he had brought Christine straight to the house as soon as he found her. He said that once he had her in his hands, believing that Joris and the other man and yourself were safely held at the same time, he saw no further need for secrecy, and went to the house at once to tell me the whole story, bringing Christine as evidence of his good faith.'
'What about Palermo?'
'He more or less corroborated the story-as much of it as he knew.'
'And why didn't he tell it you in the first place?'
'He said that he lost his nerve, that he was dazed by the beating you had given him and did not quite know what he was doing.'
The Saint blew a smoke ring and annihilated it with his next gesture.
'I won't bother to point out that that's the story anybody else would probably have told if they were in the same spot,' he said. 'So it wouldn't be such a fluke if Palermo hit on it as well. I expect you've thought all that out for yourself, and you know what you're going to believe.'
'Nevertheless, I should like your opinion.'
Simon had to restrain the impulse to stare at him. What the devil could Graner be driving at? Simon had been watching him every instant for the first sign of hostility, racking his brain to try and predict what form it would take so that he could be prepared to forestall it; and he had been baffled from beginning to end. The feeling of unreality came back to him so strongly that the whole interview seemed like a nightmare. Any of the things he had been expecting would have been less disturbing than that precarious fencing in the dark. But he had to make the best of the situation as it stood.
'If you're really asking me,' he said slowly, 'I should say that Lauber was the first double-crosser. The others seemed to think he had the ticket last night, didn't they? Well, he might have had it. My first guess would be that for some reason or other he was trying to strike some bargain with Manoel to get him in with him, and Manoel turned him down and threatened to tell you, so Lauber shot him to keep his mouth shut.'
'And Aliston's story?'
'That's even easier. It's so wet that it takes my breath away. I think that Aliston found Christine all right, and was taking her back to Maria's. Meanwhile you'd got there, and he saw your car outside. That was enough to tell him that something had sprung a leak somewhere. He drove right past without stopping, and I'll bet he had about half an hour's continuous heart failure before he made up his mind what to do. He was on the spot. He had to think of some way to wriggle out, and wriggle out quick, before the rest of us caught up with him. Being rather a weak- kneed bloke, and scared stiff at that, the only thing he could think of was to wriggle backwards-to scuttle back into the fold and try to pretend it was all a joke. I think his story is the feeblest cock-and-bull yarn I ever heard in my life; and if you'd swallow that I guess you'd swallow anything. But that's your funeral. I can't help it if your brain's softening.'
'My brain is not softening,' Graner said suavely. 'I had already reached the same conclusion.'
Simon Templar didn't know whether to believe his ears. The ground seemed to be rocking under his feet.
'You mean,' he said carefully, 'that it's beginning to dawn on you that this precious gang of yours is just about the finest collection of double-crossing rats that was ever gathered together under one roof?'
Graner nodded.
'That is what I mean. And that is why I hope you will help me to deal with them.'
2 Something began to bubble deep down in the Saint's inside, so that he had to clench his teeth to keep it down. The leaden weight in his stomach suddenly turned into an airy balloon which swelled up until it almost choked him. His ribs ached with the strain of suppressing that ferment of Homeric laughter. The tears started to his eyes.
It was stupendous, sublime, epoch-making, phenomenal, colossal-no thesaurus ever compiled held enough words for it. It was superb, prodigious, transcendental, gosh-gorgeous and gloatworthy. It was the last perfect touch that was needed to turn that hilarious thieves' picnic into the most climactic comedy in the history of the universe.
And yet after all-why not? Everybody else had done it. Lauber had done it. Aliston and Palermo had done it. He himself had been doing it all the time. Everybody in the cast had been scooting backwards and forwards through a tangle of intrigue and temporary alliances and propositions and cross-double-crossing that made European
