'I appreciate your interest,' I said, 'but you don't have to worry. This was a panic call. We didn't have much time. My wife took all she wanted for a few days.'
He stroked his nose while he continued to look at me.
'Why isn't your pupil shooting?'
The sudden shift of ground had me fazed.
'Pupil?'
'The rich guy you are teaching who is taking up all your time.'
'Oh . . . him.' My mind worked quickly. 'He quit yesterday.'
'Is that right? What was his trouble? Another sick friend?'
'No trouble. He just got bored.'
'Is that Weston & Lees rifle in the gun rack his?'
'Yes.' I was beginning to sweat and this annoyed me. 'I'm sending it back to him.'
'Why didn't he take it with him?'
I had to stop this.
'Do you care, Mr. Lepski?'
He grinned.
'I guess not.' The grin went away. 'This six hundred milimetre sight and silencer . . . Who is the planning to assassinate? The President?'
I had left the sight and silencer in the box. He must have been hunting around in earnest to have found them.
Somehow I forced a laugh.
'He's gadget-minded. You know these guys with more money than sense. Every gun gadget he sees he has to have.'
'Yeah.' Lepski nodded. 'So now you have free time? No pupil . . . no wife. I've got free time tomorrow. How about me coming out here for a lesson?'
That was the last thing I wanted.
'Sorry, but I plan to join my wife. I'm shutting the school for a few days.'
'I don't seem to have any luck. Okay, we have a date on the 29th. Right?'
'That's it. I haven't forgotten.'
He thought for a moment, then said, 'That's a nice gun . . . the best. I'd like to own a gun like that.'
'Me too.'
His expression turned blank as he thought. I watched him, sure when he looked like that he was dangerous.
'You mean he gave up taking lessons even when he had the telescopic sight?'
'He got bored.'
Lepski scratched the side of his face.
'Isn't money a wonderful thing? I'd liked to be bored.' He took off his straw hat and fanned himself with it. 'It's goddam hot, isn't it?' Before I could agree that it was hot, he went on, 'So you're joining your wife. Where is she?' This was shot at me, quick and hard like a boxer's jab.
By now, I was very alert.
'Not all that far. Well, Mr. Lepski, I have things to do. See you on the 29th.'
'Sure. You have things to do.' He hesitated, then he turned on his cop stare. 'Keep your house locked in the future. We're not looking for unnecessary work.'
'I'll remember.'
'Well, so long, Mr. Benson. See you later.'
We shook hands, then he walked off to his car. I stood in the sun, watching until he had driven out of sight. I went back to the bungalow and cleared up. I packed a bag with enough things to last me a week. Then I found a sheet of paper and in block letters I wrote:
THE SCHOOL OF SHOOTING IS CLOSED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 28th.
I put my bag in the car, went over to the shooting gallery, locked my guns away and collected the Weston & Lees rifle, the sight and the silencer.
I drove down to the double gates, closed them and fixed the notice on the wooden upright, then I drove back to the little white house where I had a rendezvous in five days time with Diaz Savanto.
* * *
'I want to talk to Savanto,' I said.
We had just finished a scratch meal. Carlo's cooking was pretty had and none of us had eaten much. The moon was on the rise and the night was hot. It was very quiet and peaceful with the moon, the sea and the swaying palms, but I wasn't at peace.
