Silhouette in Scarlet - Elizabeth Peters [50]
The crooks dug. Max clung stubbornly to his metal detector; whenever he located something the gang flew into action. By late afternoon they had dug up a horseshoe, a rusty axe blade, and seven tin cans. John was asleep, his lute across his knees; Leif was still brooding; and I was bored to screaming point.
‘I’m halfway tempted to help dig,’ I said to Leif.
‘What? ‘ He turned drowsy eyes towards me. ‘Wake up, dammit. We’ve got to do something; we can’t just sit here.’
‘What?’ It was a different kind of ‘what.’ At least he was paying attention.
‘Well . . . plan. Have you had any new ideas?’
‘The old man is not in the house,’ Leif said. ‘There was a shortwave radio. It is smashed.’
‘I think I know where Gus is being held. Look over there.’
Leif caught my hand as I raised it to point. ‘He will hear you,’ he muttered, nodding at John.
‘He’s asleep.’
‘He is not.’
John opened one eye. ‘If either of you has a useful idea, I wish you’d let me in on it. No one can possibly be more interested than I in finding a way out of this.’
‘Cheer up,’ I said heartlessly. ‘Max and the boys will be too tired to torture you tonight.’
‘They are torturing him now,’ Leif said, in a tone as flat and hard as the rock against which he leaned. ‘Waiting for the inevitable is the most painful torment of all. Never knowing at what moment the executioner’s sword will descend . . .’ He made a graphic, shocking gesture, drawing his hand across his throat and opening his mouth in a silent scream.
Seeing my expression, he smiled apologetically. ‘I ask your pardon. I do not care for this man. If I were not civilized, I would help Max to kill him.’
‘But you are civilized,’ I pointed out. ‘We may as well join forces, since we’re all in the same boat. Keeping in mind,’ and I turned a critical eye towards John, ‘that we can’t trust the dirty dog an inch unless his self-interest is involved.’
‘My self-interest is deeply involved in my own survival,’ John said sincerely. ‘And my best hope of survival is with you. I’d gladly cooperate with Max, but he won’t let me.’
‘What have you to contribute to the general welfare?’
‘The first thing, as our Leif has so brilliantly suggested, is to find Gus. That hut in the trees is a definite possibility. Someone ought to check it out.’
‘Someone?’ I said.
‘You’ve the best chance of moving about unobserved. Max likes you. Whatever did you do to win his heart?’
‘Mom always told me that good manners and consideration for the feelings of others paid off in the end,’ I said.
‘That’s always been my motto as well; but it doesn’t seem to be working at present. No matter; Max has a soft spot for you. And he has the typical middle-aged European male tendency to underestimate women.’
‘You can eliminate two of those adjectives,’ I said.
‘I don’t underestimate you,’ John assured me, with a flash of blue eyes. ‘However, I’ll volunteer for the job. Any distraction you could provide would be gratefully received.’
‘What sort of distraction did you have in mind?’
‘Improvise, love, improvise. We can’t make plans until we know what security measures Max has in mind for tonight.’
‘Hmph.’ I turned to Leif, who had withdrawn into his private thoughts, and jabbed his elbow. ‘What do you think, Leif?’
‘I am wondering,’ Leif said, ‘how much longer it will be before Max decides the project is hopeless.’
Chapter Seven
I HAD BEEN WONDERING the same thing. Both men relapsed into moody silence. Leif’s unblinking stare settled on John, and the latter began to show signs of strain. His face remained studiedly bland, but when he picked up the guitar he produced a series of chords so consistently off key that I suspected his fingers were none too steady.