Modestly, Halfhyde inclined his head, hiding the smile that was forming. He said gravely, “Thank you for your trust, Señor Trucco. I shall not betray it if you have something to tell me.”
Trucco said, “There is a person, such as you enquire about. I cannot say if he is the very one, but I have heard that he wishes to take passage to Sydney. If this is the one, I would advise Captain McRafferty to refuse him passage.”
“His name?”
“Cantlow”
“British?”
“Yes. A sergeant of dragoons, a deserter from your British Army.”
“A strange place to find such a man, señor?”
Trucco shook his head. “Not so. Men come to Iquique from many parts. This one is said to have deserted from his regiment at Cape Town, and to have sailed to Valparaiso by signing aboard a steamer that left the Cape after the, what do you say, huing and crying had died down—”
“And his reason for desertion? Is this known?”
“Not to me, señor. But I can put two and two together. When drunk here in Iquique, this man talked of having been in the vicinity of the Kimberley diamond mines, and it is said that he showed a small bag and that this bag contained diamonds.”
“So you’re suggesting he’s concerned with diamond smuggling?”
“Yes, this is likely, I think. And he is in a hurry for a passage since showing the bag.”
Halfhyde laughed. “That I can understand! His life’s in danger from thieves without a doubt. Do you know where he’s to be found, Señor Trucco?”
“No. His tracks he will have covered very well. But I would suggest that for you to look for him is unnecessary. You will warn Captain McRafferty, and he will refuse passage to this man. The rest of it need not concern you. You are not the law, señor.”
“True enough. But there are reasons why it would be better for me to find this man and establish whether or not he is the one due to come aboard the Aysgarth Falls. If he’s not, then I’d not wish to deprive Captain McRafferty of a paying passenger. If he is…well, then, perhaps I can persuade him to look for another ship, for I believe that if he were to present himself for embarkation, Mr Bullock would see to it that he was not turned away.”
“But Captain McRafferty—”
“Would suffer in the end—yes, I know, and I would wish to preserve him intact, as would any loyal officer.” Halfhyde leaned forward. “Señor Trucco, as a good friend of Captain McRafferty, I ask you for any further help you can give.”
THE CHILEAN had not been able to offer much; he genuinely did not know the current whereabouts of Sergeant Cantlow. All he could do was to give Halfhyde an address in the town where he might, just might, be able to pick up further information. The information, he said, would for a certainty be there, but the acquiring of it would not only be virtually impossible but also a task of the most extreme danger: the given address was that of a clearing house for persons wanting to get out of the country by sea and no questions asked. It was well enough known through the criminal grapevine and was also, Trucco said, known to the police; but no arrest had ever been made there. For one thing, it was too dangerous to police life, for another palm had been well greased. The clearing house was left severely alone, and if things went wrong for him, Halfhyde would find no help from the police—even if he was given time to get away before the knife went into his back. When he had seen that Halfhyde was determined to find Sergeant Cantlow, Trucco had, with obvious reluctance, passed him the means whereby he might gain admittance: he was to say he came from Red Danny’s. Red Danny was an Englishman who ran an exit agency in Valparaiso under cover of a boarding house, the sort whence unwary men were shanghaied to sea aboard the outward bounders short of a crew. It would be up to Halfhyde himself to invent a story to account for his movements as far as Red Danny’s together with a reason for wanting a passage. He would be entirely on his own; and he would need to move fast before a check was put on him with Red Danny in Valparaiso.
Halfhyde went deeper into Iquique, still watchful for Bullock, still pushing aside the pimps and prostitutes and the younger element, the small boys with sisters to sell as a form of early private enterprise. The sisters’ charms, vividly described, fell on deaf ears as Halfhyde strode along. Pulling out his watch, he found the time to be ten-thirty-five; there was no hurry. The Aysgarth Falls was not due to sail for Australia until nine o’clock that evening, after being brought alongside to load her part cargo of nitrates. It was possible the passenger intended to board disguised as a stevedore—Halfhyde had been given no information on this point by McRafferty, who very likely didn’t know himself. Bullock, who would presumably know, wasn’t giving anything away.
Meanwhile, Halfhyde was thirsty, and authenticity was all. It would do no harm to have the smell of whisky on his breath when he reached the clearing house. He entered the next drinking establishment he came to and approached the bar through thick smoke from pipes and cigars, pushing his way through a crowd of Chileans and a sprinkling of seamen, obvious as such from their clothing, nearly all of them three parts
