stretched out her hand and I gave her the report, then turned my attention back to the argument.
'I think you're wrong, Paul,' Fallon was saying. 'Chichen Itza was never wholly abandoned until much later. It was a religious centre even after the Spaniards arrived. What about the assassination of Ah Dzun Kiu? -- that was in 1536, no less than nine years after Vivero was captured.'
'Who the devil was he?' I asked.
'The chief of the Tutal Kiu. He organized a pilgrimage to Chichen Itza to appease the gods; all the pilgrims were massacred by Nachi Cocom. his arch-enemy. But all that is immaterial -- what matters is that we know when it happened, and that it's consistent with Vivero's claim to have been taken to Chichen Itza -- a claim which Paul disputes.'
'All right, I grant you that one,' said Halstead. 'But there's a lot more about the letter that doesn't add up.'
I left them to their argument and walked over to the window. In the distance light reflected blindingly from the water of a swimming pool. I glanced at Katherine Halstead. I'm no good at this sort of logic chopping,' I said. 'It's beyond me.'
'It's over my head, too,' she admitted. 'I'm not an archeologist: I only know what I've picked up from Paul by a sort of osmosis.'
I looked across at the swimming pool again -- it looked very inviting. 'What about a swim?' I suggested. 'I have some gear I want to test, and I'd like some company.'
She brightened. 'That's a good idea. I'll meet you out there in ten minutes.'
I went up to my room and changed into trunks, then unpacked my scuba gear and took it down to the pool. I had brought it with me because I thought there might be a chance of getting in some swimming in the Caribbean somewhere along the line and I wasn't going to pass up that chance. I had only swum in clear water once before, in the Mediterranean.
Mrs. Halstead was already at the pool, looking very fetching in a one-piece suit. I dumped the steel bottles and the harness by the side of the pool and walked over to where she was sitting. A flunkey in white coat appeared from nowhere and said something fast and staccato in Spanish, and I shrugged helplessly and appealed to her. 'What's he saying?'
She laughed. 'He wants to know if we'd like something to drink.'
That's not a bad idea. Something long and cold with alcohol in it.'
'I'll join you.' She rattled away in Spanish at the servant who went away. Then she said. 'I haven't thanked you for what you've done for Paul, Mr. Wheale. Everything has happened so quickly -- I really haven't had time to think.'
There's nothing to thank me for,' I said. 'He just got his due.' I refrained from saying that the real reason I had brought Halstead into it was to keep him close where I could watch him. I wasn't too happy about husband Paul; he was too free with his accusations and his temper was trigger-quick. Somebody had been with Niscemi when Bob had been killed and though it couldn't have been Halstead that didn't mean he had nothing to do with it. I smiled pleasantly at his wife. 'Nothing to it,' I said.
'I think it was very generous -- considering the way he behaved.' She looked at me steadily. 'Don't take any notice of him if he becomes bad-tempered again. He's had . . . had disappointments. This is his big chance and it plays on his nerves.'
'Don't worry,' I said soothingly. Privately I was certain that if Halstead became unpleasant he would get a quick bust on the moot. If I didn't sock him then Fallon would, old as he was. It would be better if I did it, being neutral, then this silly expedition would be in less danger of breaking up.
The drinks arrived -- a whitish concoction in tall frosted glasses with ice tinkling like silver bells. I don't know what it was but it tasted cool and soothing. Mrs. Halstead looked pensive. She sipped from her glass, then said tentatively, 'When do you think you will leave for Yucatan?'
'Don't ask me. It depends on the experts up there.' I jerked my head towards the house. 'We still don't know where we're going yet.'
'Do yon think the trays have a riddle -- and that we can solve it?'
'They have -- and we will,' I said economically. I didn't tell her I thought I had the solution already. There was an awful lot I wasn't telling Mrs. Halstead -- or anybody else.
She said, 'What do you think Fallon's attitude would be if I suggested going with you to Yucatan?'
I laughed. 'He'd blow his top. You wouldn't have a chance.'
She leaned forward and said seriously, 'It might be better if I went. I'm afraid for Paul.'
'Meaning what?'
She made a fluttery gesture with her hand. 'I'm not the catty kind of woman who makes derogatory statements about her own husband to other men,' she said. 'But Paul is not an ordinary man. There is a lot of violence in him which he can't control -- alone. If I'm with him I can talk to him; make him see things in a different way. I wouldn't be a drag on you -- I've been on field trips before.'
She talked as though Halstead were some kind of a lunatic needing a nurse around him all the time. I began to wonder about the relationship between these two; some marriages are awfully funny arrangements.
She said, 'Fallon would agree if you put it to him. You could make him.'
I grimaced. 'I've already twisted his arm once. I don't think I could do it again. Fallon isn't the man who likes to be pushed around.' I took another pull at the drink and felt the coolness at the back of my throat. 'I'll think about it,' I said finally.
But I knew then that I'd put the proposition to Fallon -- and make him like it. There was something about Katherine Halstead that got at me, something I hadn't felt about a woman for many years. Whatever it was, I'd better keep it bottled up, this was no time for playing around with a married woman -- especially one married to a man like Paul Halstead.
