‘Did you know that David Yassine was back in town?’
Watson looked suddenly sheepish. ‘We had a row before I left the Canal Zone. We haven’t spoken since.’
You didn’t need to, I thought. You got Pat Tobin to do it for you. Now he’s gone, you’re up the creek.
‘I’ll need a car . . .’
‘Thought of going down to Akrotiri for a spot of R & R myself. You can have my Humber . . . Ask Fiona.’
‘And some spending money.’
He waved his hand as if flapping an imaginary fly away. ‘Ask Fiona.’
Then it dawned on me. Watson’s well-honed corporate survival instincts were telling him that something decidedly dodgy was in the air, and he was making himself scarce. I’d been here before. He stood up on cue, and picked up his battered blue cap and nasty little swagger stick. When he glanced at Thirdlow she tugged her skirt over her knees. That was interesting.
He said, ‘I’ll slope off then. Thanks for the help. Volunteer’s better than ten pressed men, and all that . . .’ Then he left. Just like that. De Whitt half rose from his chair as he passed, but Watson ignored him. Thirdlow leaned towards me, and lifting one earphone from her head said, ‘He gives me the creeps.’
‘I think he gives everyone the creeps. That’s why I’m glad he’s on my side.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
She was right, of course. Watson was only ever on Watson’s side . . . but once you worked that out, you were usually OK with him.
‘Are you staying down here tonight? I could buy you a drink in the mess later.’
She shook her head.
‘No. I’m going back to the Keep when I’ve finished, but thanks for the offer. I’ll take you up on it one day.’ I know I’ve said it before, but that was interesting. She was still there four hours later when I signed out.
I hung around outside for five minutes, waiting for Pat’s stand-in, Bud Abbott, to come and get me. If things were quietened down that much, why were we still driving everywhere? I could easily have walked the half-mile to the RAF camp, but everyone gave me a very funny look when I suggested it. No one else came from or went into the radio block. If we were monitoring Ibn Saud twenty-four hours a day there must have been at least another three guys working him with me, despite what de Whitt and Watson had tried to fob me off with. The odd thing was I hadn’t met one of them yet.
‘Do unmarried men think about girls all of the time?’ Fiona asked me.
‘A lot of the time. Will that do?’
‘What about married men?’
‘We hardly ever think about married men at all.’
‘You know what I mean.’
‘I don’t know, because I’ve never been married. When I am, I’ll give you a call and tell you. What about unmarried women? Do you think about men all of the time?’
‘No. It sort of comes and goes. I thought a lot about romantic men when I was a teenager, but I think girls grow out of it.’
‘Are you coming or going at the moment?’
I sat on the edge of her desk, and shared her glass of mineral water. The bubbles clung to the inside of the glass. After the first sip I realized that it wasn’t water, it was a gin and tonic. Watson had gone. When the cat’s away . . .
‘I’m definitely going. If I was coming you would have known about it by now.’
‘I like you very much,’ I told her.
‘I like you too, Charlie. You’re not as complicated as people make you out to be.’
‘So now you can tell me where Pat’s gone? The boss is worried about him.’
‘So am I. A couple of civvy police came round asking for him yesterday. I don’t know where he is. I thought Mr Watson was going to ask you.’
‘He did. I don’t know either, so I agreed to try to find him. Apparently you’re going to give me the keys to his Humber, and a pocketful of money to bribe people with.’
A set of car keys sat on a bulky envelope between us. She said, ‘You’ll have to account for the money, and don’t scratch the car – it’s his pride and joy.’
‘Cypriot money or sterling?’
‘Some of each. A hundred and twenty quid in all.’
‘That’s not much.’
‘It’s enough, Charlie. It’s wiped out the petty cash until the end of the month, so I’d appreciate it if you brought some back. And bring Pat back too – this place feels not quite under control when he’s away. All sorts of odd characters turn up asking for him, but never tell you what they want him for.’
‘Give me an example.’
‘That American girl who dances at Tony’s. She came in the day after he left – and looked pretty glum when she found he wasn’t here. Pat really has a way with the ladies.’
‘You should know.’
‘Don’t get catty with me, Charlie. I didn’t make him any promises.’ She made me smile, and gave me a get-out. If I had thought too hard about what business Steve could have with Pat it would probably have wiped the smile from my face too. I scooped up the keys and the envelope – I’d already seen the car parked under a tarpaulin in the side alley outside.
‘I’ll let you know how I get on. OK?’
Fiona OK’d me back. She was a little distant. Maybe she really was worried.
When I opened the envelope later, and counted the cash, I found I only had a hundred quid’s worth. I suppose every bugger was at it.
Watson’s Humber Hawk was a curious deserty sandy-pink colour, and wore Cyprus civvy plates. I wasn’t that struck on the column gear change, but it went like shit off a shovel.
