The Light of the Day - Eric Ambler [66]
Shaved, he looked more bleary-eyed than he had with the three-day growth, but his mood was one of jovial aggression. Fischer’s complaints about the shish kebab, it seemed, had been loud and insolent. But the reprisal had already been planned—the spies’ dinner that night would be boiled mutton in yoghurt à la Turque. Fischer would learn to his cost who was master in the kitchen; and if he didn’t like the knowledge, well then, the spies could go on eating pig swill or find themselves another chef.
I had breakfast, got the car out, and drove to the garage for petrol.
Tufan answered promptly. I made my report about the overheard conversation first, editing only slightly. “If I took over. He was Leo’s idea, let Leo take care of him. After tomorrow he doesn’t matter too much anyway. Grenades … mass surrender.”
He made me repeat it slowly. When he started to complain that there wasn’t more of it, I told him about the map. I had guessed that this would excite his interest, and it did.
“You say it looked like a map of an island?”
“I thought so. The shape was roughly triangular.”
“Was it a colored map?”
“No, black and white.”
“Then it could have been a marine chart?”
“I suppose so.”
He said thoughtfully: “A boat, the chart of an island, grenades, respirators, guns, surrender …”
“And something that Fischer is to do today,” I reminded him.
He ignored the interruption. “You are sure this island had a triangular shape?”
“I thought so, but the map wasn’t absolutely flat. It was hard to see. It could have been a design for a swimming pool.”
He ignored the frivolity. “Could it have been kidney-shaped?”
“Perhaps. Would that mean something?”
“That is the shape of the island of Yassiada, where certain political prisoners are held awaiting trial. It is only fifteen kilometers from Pendik. Have you heard the name Yassiada mentioned?”
“No.”
“Or Imrali?”
“No. Is that an island, too?”
“It is a town on an island sixty kilometers from Pendik. It is also the place where Menderes was hanged.”
“How is that island shaped?”
“Like the head of a dog. I must have another report from you this evening without fail, even if it is only negative.”
“I will do what I can.”
“Above all, you must search for this chart.”
“How can I?”
“You can search at night. In any case you must obtain a closer look at it.”
“I don’t see how I can do that. Even if they bring it out again, I won’t be able to get any closer.”
“With binoculars you could.”
“I have no binoculars.”
“On the way back to the villa, stop on the road. The Opel is on surveillance duty today. An agent from the car will give you binoculars.”
“Supposing Harper sees them. How do I explain them?”
“Do not let him see them. I expect a report tonight. If necessary you will make direct contact with the surveillance personnel. Is that clear?” He hung up.
I drove back towards the villa. Just outside Sariyer on the coast road I pulled up. The Opel stopped a hundred yards behind me. After a minute or two, a man got out of it and walked towards the Lincoln. He was carrying a leather binocular case. He handed it to me without a word and went back to the Opel.
I put the binoculars on the seat and drove on. They were too big to put in my pocket. I would either have to smuggle them up to my room somehow, or hide them in the garage. I was annoyed with myself. I should have known better. Any sort of map is catnip to intelligence people. I should have kept quiet about it.
Even without the binoculars, though, I would have been irritated, and I did have sense enough to realize that. The binoculars were only a nusiance. It was really the conclusion he had come to that bothered me.
What he’d wanted to see all along, and,