Destination Unknown - Agatha Christie [76]
Under the leadership of the genial Dr Van Heidem the guests moved enthusiastically into the dining-room. They had had two hours’ flight followed by an hour’s drive by car and they were all sharp set. The food was delicious and was commented on with special approval by the Minister.
‘We enjoy our modest comforts,’ said Van Heidem. ‘Fresh fruit and vegetables are flown to us twice a week, arrangements are made for meat and chicken and we have, of course, substantial deep freezing units. The body must claim its due from the resources of science.’
The meal was accompanied by choice vintages. After it Turkish coffee was served. The party was then asked to start on its tour of inspection. The tour took two hours and was most comprehensive. The Minister, for one, was glad when it finished. He was quite dazed by the gleaming laboratories, the endless white, shining corridors, and still more dazed by the mass of scientific detail handed out to him.
Though the Minister’s interest was perfunctory, some of the others were more searching in their inquiries. Some curiosity was displayed as to the living conditions of the personnel and various other details. Dr Van Heidem showed himself only too willing to show the guests all there was to see. Leblanc and Jessop, the former in attendance on the Minister and the latter accompanying the British Consul, fell a little behind the others as they all returned to the lounge. Jessop took out an old-fashioned, loudly ticking watch and noted the time.
‘There is no trace here, nothing,’ murmured Leblanc in an agitated manner.
‘Not a sign.’
‘Mon cher, if we have, as your saying is, barked up the wrong tree, what a catastrophe! After the weeks it has taken to arrange all this! As for me–it will finish my career.’
‘We’re not licked yet,’ said Jessop. ‘Our friends are here, I’m sure of it.’
‘There is no trace of them.’
‘Of course there is no trace. They could not afford to have a trace of them. For these official visits everything is prepared and arranged.’
‘Then how are we to get our evidence? I tell you, without evidence no one will move in the matter. They are sceptical, all of them. The Minister, the American Ambassador, the British Consul–they say all of them, that a man like Aristides is above suspicion.’
‘Keep calm, Leblanc, keep calm. I tell you we’re not licked yet.’
Leblanc shrugged his shoulders. ‘You have the optimism, my friend,’ he said. He turned for a moment to speak to one of the immaculately arrayed, moon-faced young men who formed part of the entourage, then turned back to Jessop and asked suspiciously: ‘Why are you smiling?’
‘At the resources of science–the latest modification of the Geiger Counter, to be exact.’
‘I am not a scientist.’
‘No more am I, but this very sensitive detector of radio-activity tells me our friends are here. This building has been purposely built in a confusing manner. All the corridors and the rooms so resemble each other that it is difficult to know where one is or what the plan of the building can be. There is a part of this place that we have not seen. It has not been shown to us.’
‘But you deduce that it is there because of some radio-active indication?’
‘Exactly.’
‘In fact, it is the pearls of Madame all over again?’
‘Yes. We’re still playing Hansel and Gretel, as you might say. But the signs left here cannot be so apparent or so crude as the beads of a pearl necklace, or a hand of phosphoric paint. They cannot be seen, but they can be sensed…by our radio-active detector–’
‘But, mon Dieu, Jessop, is that enough?’
‘It would be,’ said Jessop. ‘What one is afraid of…’ He broke off.
Leblanc finished the sentence for him.
‘What you mean is that these people will not want to believe. They have been unwilling from the start. Oh yes, that is so. Even your British Consul is a man of caution. Your government at home is indebted