‘A D.S.O.,’ I said.
‘Well, there you are. Like I told you, no sex, no drink, no politics, a dedicated malcontent and maybe the best underwater man in Europe.’
‘The best now, maybe,’ I said, ‘but until there was a fatal accident out on the ocean floor not too long ago, he was number two.’
H.K.’s face tightened like a clenched fist. He said, ‘Fernie would never do that. I don’t like the guy but he would never kill in cold blood, believe me.’
‘All right,’ I said, ‘we’ll leave that for a minute. Tell me how da Cunha fits into the picture. And before you start: I’m not a cop; my directions don’t include bringing you in. I’m here for information: set up the facts and then you can fade as far as I’m concerned.’
Charly rose to her feet.
‘Fade?’ said Charly. ‘Do you know what sort of filthy business this man is in?’ She moved in on the equipment like a Luddite and swept some of it to the floor with a crash of disintegrating glass and dented tin.
I said nothing. H.K. said, ‘Sure he does, sweetheart, he’s just too smart to mention it before he has all the info. he can get.’
Charly froze. She said to me, ‘I’m sorry,’ and sat down.
‘I’m not kidding, Harry,’ I said, ‘I’ll break you up as far as staying in Europe is concerned but I’ll give you a chance to get clear.’
‘I’ll sing,’ said H.K., ‘what do you want to know?’
‘Who is da Cunha?’ I asked.
‘Boy, you’re really skipping the easy ones,’ he said. ‘Da Cunha; they think a lot of him hereabouts. He says he’s the V.N.V. agent for the district. He says that when the revolution comes he will be the Governor of the district.’
‘But you don’t believe him.’
‘One Fascist bastard is much like another as far as I’m concerned.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning that I have paid him a sum of three hundred dollars per month via a New York bank in exchange for a promise that the new government won’t snoop too close around here.’
‘Insurance?’
‘Yes, that’s it. I could afford to throw him a little dough on the off-chance — a load of good it did me, eh?’
‘Don’t be bitter, Harry,’ I said. He kneaded his brown face with a hairy hand, and as his eyes and nose emerged from the open fingers he smiled a humourless smile.
‘And Fernie,’ I said, ‘how did he get along with da Cunha?’
‘O.K. Nothing special. Just O.K. is all.’
‘Did you ever go into a room and hear a snatch of conversation between them that you weren’t supposed to hear? Any scientific talk, for instance?’
‘Loads of times, but it was never anything special.’
‘That’s all,’ I said, ‘we’ll play it your way. You think you’re the blue paper in my potato crisps, but I can work you over my way and still have enough left to shovel up for the Lagos cops.’
‘F’r instance,’ said H.K., but his voice was a little hoarse.
‘Well, I’ll tell you, Harry, if we can’t have a gentlemanly chat I’ll warm up a nice big dessert-spoonful of warm water and lactose and give you a generous ten per cent dose of the stuff in that pulverizer over there …’
‘Just try,’ said H.K.
‘You’ve got me mixed up with those weedy accents that play policemen on English TV, Harry,’ I said. ‘I
There was a short sharp silence.
‘I’m not a hop-head,’ said H.K. His tan had disappeared now. ‘A ten per cent dose will kill me.’ He folded his arms tightly.
‘You may swell a little but you’ll survive for the second dose and the others until I hand you over to the cops. Then you can rest until I call back for you in a week’s time. You’ll talk, Harry, believe me. Just look upon it as sales research — it’s probably tax-deductible.’
Harry’s head sank forward and he rocked gently in his seat as he tried to wake up in a morning in which I did not exist.
When he continued to speak it was in an impersonal monotone, like an announcer with a weather report which he didn’t believe. ‘Fernie worked for da Cunha. Fernie had a great respect for him. Even after we had enough money not to worry, Fernie would continue to say “sir” to him. Fernie had contacts all over the world, and they all liked him. Maybe you find that hard to believe, but it’s true. Fernie had only to whisper about something he wanted done and, bingo, it was done. Fernie arranged the supplies of the morphine base, I processed and arranged sales.’
‘How did the morphine base arrive?’ I asked.
‘By ship once a month. The ships didn’t stop. Only an expert frogman could do it. We went out in the boat and then Fernie used his frogman gear and a powered undersea sled to get under the hull of the moving ship and remove the container that was held on the bilge keel by magnetic clamps. We processed the stuff here and sealed it into sardine-cans. Then Fernie fixed the consignment to a ship heading Stateside. I notified my contacts in New York. They gave the ship time to clear customs, then had a frogman go under it while it was at the quayside and prise the horse loose. Easy. How am I doing?’
‘You are doing O.K.,’ I said. ‘Your boat; did Fernie ever use that?’
‘Sure, he was a mile better sailor than I’ll ever be. He borrowed it whenever he wanted to. It was da Cunha borrowing it that made me sore. I’d never trust the old guy alone, I don’t care if he was an
‘Did they always use a similar amount of fuel?’
‘Yeah,’ said H.K., ‘I checked on that out of curiosity. They went up the coast about twelve miles, give a little, take a little.’
‘Tell me more about da Cunha,’ I said.
‘Da Cunha rides around the town in that old 1935 Ford like it was a Thunderbird. Thinks he owns the town. He closes his eyes; it’s night. When he sends Tomas along to borrow the boat it’s like he’s doing me a favour. Da Cunha; wise guy. One day I get here; he’s loading himself a crate of sardines. “I’ve gotcha red-handed,” I say, smiling like I might be joking. “Better the red face than the black heart, Mister Kondit,” he says — an old Portuguese saying it is, he says. “So who cares?” I say. “I do,” he says, “and I’m the only one,” and off he drives with the sardines.
‘He’s in deep with the local church, and last week there was a gang of business tycoons down from Madrid. Whatever he intends to do for Portugal it certainly won’t include moving the average wage up from four dollars a week.’ H.K. raised his head and said, ‘You’re not kidding me about letting me scram, are you? Because if I’m shooting my mouth off for nothing …’
‘No,’ I said, ‘you can talk your way out as far as I’m concerned.’
‘Boat and all?’ asked H.K.
‘Boat and all,’ I said.
‘I bet that da Cunha’s V.N.V. is a local branch office of the Young Europe machine. You know what I’m talking about?’
‘Talk on,’ I said.
‘It’s a network of Fascists throughout Europe, Rabat to Narvik. The O.A.S. in France, the Belgian M.A.C. As far as these boys are concerned the present regime here in Portugal is Socialist.’
‘What can you offer as proof?’
‘Not a thing, pal. I wish I had something, it’s been my big dream to iron him out.’
‘Looks like you’re too late now,’ I said.
‘The Fascists will tumble; historically it’s all part of the class struggle.’
‘Class struggle,’ I said, ‘that’s hilarious, coming from you. You are the spokesman for the Hopheads and General Narcotic Dealers’ Union?’
