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."The note," he had said.Simon, with no greater display of warmth, had given it to him.Now Drew, after the second reading, turned from the lamp and placed the paperon a table.He gave it a final glance and looked at the Saint, who had madehimself comfortable in an armchair."You believe this note was left by the detectives I hired to find mydaughter?" Drew asked."I'm reasonably sure of it.But it doesn't really mat-ter, does it? Theproblem is the same, whoever the kid-napper is."Drew paused, made a grunting sound of assent, and paced toward the window.Page 28ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"I'm paying Brine and Mullins the detectives a sal-ary much higher than theywould normally be paid, and I promised them a large bonus if they weresuccessful.Why should they risk everything, including their free-dom, for."He stopped, shook his head, clasped his hands be-hind him, and paced again."Maybe they don't have so much to risk," Simon said."A private detective'spay wouldn't make a truck driver very envious.Maybe once you gave them awhiff of higher things they just couldn't resist the temptation to try for thejackpot.I assume your bonus didn't approach a hundred thousand pounds.""Of course not," Drew snapped."After all, she's just a silly little childrunning off to try to ruin her life with some long-haired nincompoop of anactor.There was no reason why I should offer a queen's ransom to anybody justfor tracing her.I offered more than I might have because when Brine andMullins came to me and said they had a clue as to her whereabouts.""The detectives came to you?" Simon interrupted."Yes.When Mildred disappeared I began putting out quiet feelers immediately.Brine and Mullins got wind of what was happening and came and told me thatthey believed they could return my daughter within forty-eight hours andwithout publicity.They asked a stiff price, but it seemed worth it.""Well," said the Saint, "if they were honest in the first place, it would seemthey got carried away by the heat of the hunt and decided to go crooked.I'llhave to ad-mit we were leading them a merry chase there for a while.""And that's something else, Mr.Templar," Drew said, glaring at him."Yoursummary of events on the tele-phone failed to explain just what you were doingwith my daughter in the first place.""If you had been listening closely, you'd recall I said she insinuated herselfinto my good graces by telling lies.To be specific that she was Hitler'sdaughter and that your detectives were SS men."Drew all but spat on the floor."That's preposterous!""Don't blame me for weak points in Mildred's upbring-ing.And just keep inmind that even though I was clever enough to surmise that she wasn't reallyHitler's daugh-ter, I had no way of knowing whose daughter she really was.Bythe time she confessed, we were a long way from Dublin.""Why didn't you call me immediately, as soon as you knew who she was?"Drew's imperious tone irritated Simon, who sat quietly for a moment, thesapphire points of his eyes fixed pene-tratingly and coldly on the other man'sface."Remember, Mr.Drew, I'm not one of your hired lackeys, Your daughter probablyaccurately made you sound like a selfish ogre.I saw no reason to stop herdoing anything she pleased."Drew glowered for a moment longer, then turned an-grily away.The Saint got tohis feet."Now," he said, "are you going to pay up, or lose one of your tax deductionsthe hard way?"Drew's face was now more apprehensive than angry."You don't think they'd.actually kill her?""I'm afraid unsuccessful kidnappers are more danger-ous than successful ones.""What guarantee do I have they'll return her even if I do pay the money?"Simon shrugged."None.That's one reason why I consider kidnapping one of the more nauseatingcrimes in the human reper-toire.But if you don't pay, the odds are somethinglike fifty to one in favor of their killing Mildred.If you do, then naturallyBrine and Mullins would rather look for-ward to enjoying their fifty thousandpounds apiece without a murder rap hanging over their heads.I'd ad-vise youto pay.""Naturally," Drew said, hardening his tone again."Naturally you would.Thenote conveniently specifies that you and only you may bring the money.Let'sassume that you are not a part of this plot.That assump-tion may beerroneous, but for the sake of argument."Page 29ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlSimon held up his hand and gave Drew a look of cold contempt."I was afraid you might make such nasty insinuations," he said levelly."So,to demonstrate my sincerity, I'll simply remove myself from the wholesituation and let you worry about it."He stepped toward the door.Drew moved after him quickly, his face showingsudden panic."No.Wait.I.I apologise."The Saint turned back, his expression only slightly softer, making it plainthat he was not quite sure that the apology was adequate."What were you saying then?"Drew opened his mouth, paused, and closed it again."Ah.I'm not sure," he said."I think I can read your mind," said the Saint."You were going to ask whatwould prevent me from setting off for the crossroads with your money and goingstraight on to Brazil without even slowing down.""It's a natural thought," Drew said, with a conspicuous lack of the truculencehis voice had carried a few mo-ments before [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]