Chapter 28 Chapter Twenty Seven

He listened intently as I recounted to him the events recounted in the preceding chapters.To his great bewilderment and shock, the diamond had always been in my hands—or should I say in Suzanne's hands.This is something he never thought about.Of course, after hearing his story, I understood Caton's arrangement—or Nadina's, for I thought it was definitely her idea.After that arrangement, even if the diamond is found by the police, it will not be suspected of being on her or her husband.Only she knew the secret, and the 'Colonel' could never have dreamed that she would trust a ship's steward with the diamond for his safekeeping.

Harry appears to be innocent of the theft.But another, more serious charge prevented us from taking action because, after the murder, he couldn't come forward to prove his innocence under the circumstances. What we keep repeating is who the "Colonel" was.Is he, or is he not Pagett? "I think there's only one thing in which he's the 'Colonel,'" said Harry, "that seems quite certain that it was Pagett who killed Anida Gerber at Marlow—and that of course Deduce that he is in fact the 'Colonel' because there's no way Anida's story could be talked to his men. No - the only thing that doesn't fit with that is the night you got here, he tried to push you off the hill. You saw Pagett stay in Cape Town with your own eyes - there's no way he'll be here before next Wednesday. He can't have secret men here and all his plans are to get you in Cape Town Of course, he might have telegraphed his men in Johannesburg with instructions, and his men could reboard the train to Rhodesia at Maffei, but his instructions would have to be very detailed and translatable into telegrams. shot."

We sat there in silence, and Harry continued slowly: "You said Mrs Blair was sleeping when you left the hotel, and that you heard Sir Eustace dictating to Miss Pettigrew? What about Colonel Race?" "I can't find him anywhere." "Has he had any reason to think that--between you and me there might be any friendly relations?" "Maybe," I mused, recalling our conversation on the way back to the hotel from Matopos, "he had a strong personality," I went on, "but nothing like the 'Colonel,' and, anyway, the idea is ridiculous. He works for a government secret service."

"How do you know? The easiest thing in the world is to insinuate people like this. No one will check it out, and spread it to ten and ten until everyone believes it like the gospel. This is the best way to cover up any wrongdoing." Good way. Annie, do you like Rhys?" "I like—and don't like. He fascinates and oppresses me; but one thing I know very well is that I've always been a little scared of him." "You know, he was in South Africa when the Kimberley robbery happened," Harry said slowly. "But he was the one who told Suzanne all about the 'Colonel,' and how he went to Paris trying to expose him and bring him to justice."

"A evasion—a very clever evasion." "But where did Pagett get involved? Was he employed by Race?" "Maybe," Harry said slowly, "he didn't get involved at all." "what?" "Recall, Anne, did you hear Pagett tell about his own night on the Gillmorden Castle?" "Yes—through Sir Eustace." I repeated it to him and he listened carefully. "He saw a man coming from Sir Eustace's cabin, and he followed him to the deck. Did he say so? And whose cabin is opposite Sir Eustace's?" Colonel Race. Suppose Colonel Race sneaked up on deck, attacked you, ran back just as Pagett came to the door of the dining room, knocked him out, jumped in, and closed the door. We ran after him and found him Kit laying there. How about that?"

"You forget that he affirms that you knocked him out." "Okay, what if he just woke up and saw my disappearing back? Wouldn't he think I was the one who attacked him?" Especially since he always thought that the person he was following was me? " "Yes, quite possibly," I said slowly, "but it changes all our minds, and there are other facts." "Most of the rest can be explained. The guy following you in Cape Town talks to Pagett, who looks at his watch. The guy probably just asked him the time." "You mean it's just a coincidence?"

"Not exactly. That's just an opinion. There's also an opinion that Pagett had something to do with it. Why was 'The Mill' chosen as the site of the murder? Was it because the Pagetts were in the Kimberly? Was he chosen as a scapegoat, if I hadn't been so unlucky to happen to?" "Then you think he might be perfectly innocent?" "It seems so, but if so. We've got to find out what he's doing in Marlowe. If he has an explanation, then we're on the right track." He stood up. "It's midnight. Come in, Anne, and get some sleep. I'll take you on board as soon as day breaks. You must catch the Livingston train. I have a friend there who will hide you till the train leaves. You arrive Lava, and catch a train to Bella. I can ask my friend in Livingston what is going on at the hotel and where your friend is now."

"Bella," I said thoughtfully. "Yes, Anne, you go to Bella. This is a man's business, leave it to me, don't worry about it." We got rid of that emotion for a while when we were discussing those situations, but now it's back.We don't even look at each other. "Very well," I said, and went into the cabin. I was lying on the bed with the hides, but not sleeping, and I could hear Harry Raeburn walking up and down outside for a long time.Finally he called me: "Get up, Anne, it's time to go." I obediently got up and walked out. It was still dark, but I knew that dawn was not far away.

"We'll be in a canoe, not a steamboat—" said Harry, stopping suddenly, and holding up his hand. "Shut up! What's that?" I listened attentively, but heard nothing.His hearing is better than mine, but that is because he has lived in the wild for a long time.I heard it now too--the faint splash of water coming from the right bank of the river, and approaching our little dock very quickly. We opened our eyes in the dark and could see a black spot on the water.It was a small boat.Then there was a brief flare, and someone struck a match.By the light of the fire I recognized one of them; it was the red-bearded Dutchman from the Muzenburg villa.All others are natives.

"Quick—go back to the house." Harry urged me to go in with him.He took several rifles and a revolver from the wall. "Can you load a rifle?" "I haven't pretended before, teach me how to pretend." I absorbed his guidance.We closed the door and Harry stood by the window overlooking the marina.The boat was just about to come in. "Who?" Harry called out with a voice like a copper bell. It was too late, but it was too late, our visitor's attention quickly turned to us, a group of bullets whizzed over and hit us, but luckily we were not hit.Harry raised his rifle and fired angrily.I heard two screams and the sound of falling into the water.

"That gave them some color," he said grimly, reaching for the second rifle. "Stay back, Anne, for God's sake, and reload faster." Another wave of bullets roared, and one of them just missed Harry's cheek.His counterattack was more violent than theirs.When he reached out, I had reloaded the rifle.He wrapped his left arm around me and kissed me hard before turning back to the window, and he cried out suddenly. "They're running—can't stand it. They're like targets on the water, and they have no way of knowing how many. They're off for a while—but they'll come back. We've got to be ready to fight." He dropped the rifle, turn to me. "Anne! You beauty! You are wonderful! You little queen! Brave as a lion. Black-haired witch!" He hugged me, kissed my hair, my eyes, my mouth. "Now get to work," he said, letting go of me abruptly. "Get those tin cans of paraffin out." I do what he says.He is busy in the house.Now I see him on the roof, crawling with something under his arms.A minute or two later, he was with me again. "Get to the boat, we have to take it to the other side." He picked up the paraffin as I left. "They're back," I said softly.I saw the black dot coming from the other side. he ran down. "Just in time. Huh—where the hell did the ship go?" Both boats had their ropes cut off and were floating on the water.Harry whistled softly. "We're trapped, honey, do you mind?" "Not with you." "Ah, but it's no fun to die together, and we're not done with it. Look—they've got two boats this time, and they're going to land in two different places. Now it's my turn to do my little trick. " As he spoke, a long flame rose from the hut.The light from the fire revealed two figures crouching together on the roof. "That's my old clothes--stuffed with blankets--but they'll last a while without rolling off. Come, Annie, we must go to hell." We ran hand in hand to the other side of the island, only a narrow waterway separated the island from the other side. "We've got to swim. Can you swim, Anne? That's all right, I can take you there. It's not good for a boat—too many rocks, but it's good for swimming, and it's the right direction for Livingston. " "I can swim a little bit--further than this channel. What's the matter, Harry?" because I saw the grim look on his face. "shark?" "No, you little goose. Sharks live in the sea. But you're smart, Anne, and the crocodile is the trouble." "Crocodile?" "Yeah, leave them alone—or pray, whatever you feel you need to feel at ease." We plunge into the water.My prayers must have worked because we landed safely and sat wet on the bank. "Go to Livingston now. It's embarrassing to go like this, and it's too hasty, but I must go." That part of the road felt like a nightmare.My wet skirt slapped my legs now and then, and my socks were soon torn by thorns.Finally I stopped exhausted.Harry came back. "Hang on, honey, I'll give you a ride." That's how I got into Livingston, with a sack of coal on his shoulders.How he carried me all the way, I don't know.The first rays of dawn were just emerging then.Harry's friend is a twenty-year-old young man who runs a souvenir shop.His name was Ned—maybe he had another name, but I'd never heard of it, and he didn't seem at all surprised to see Harry carrying a dripping wet woman through the door, all wet.Men are wonderful. While we wrapped ourselves in gaudy Manchester blankets, he brought us food and hot coffee and helped us dry our clothes.We hid in the little room at the back of the cottage while he went out to find out what had happened to Sir Eustace and his party, and whether any of them were still in the hotel. That's when I told Harry there was nothing worth going to Bella.Anyway, I didn't mean to disobey him, but all reason for the action is gone now.The whole point of that plan was that my enemies believed me to be dead, and now that they knew I was not, it would do me no good to go to Bella.It would be easy for them to follow me there and kill me quietly, and then there would be no one to protect me.The final arrangement was that I should join Suzanne, no matter where she was, and protect myself to the best of my ability, and no matter what, I couldn't mess with the "colonel." I will be quietly with her, waiting for Harry's instructions.The diamonds will be banked in Barker's name. "By the way," I said thoughtfully, "we must have some kind of code for communication. We don't want to be fooled by fake messages." "That's too simple. Any letter that is really written by me will have an 'and' running through it." "Without this registered trademark, it is not an authentic work," I said softly. "What about the telegram?" "Any telegram from me is signed 'Andy'." "The train will be coming in soon, Harry," Ned said, poking his head in, and quickly retracting it. I stood up. "Also, if I meet someone who is honest and reliable, should I marry him?" I asked pretending to be serious. Harry approached me. "God! Anne, if you married anyone but me I'd break his neck. As for you—" "How?" I said excitedly. "I'll take you away and beat you until your nose is blue and your eyes are swollen!" "I've got a good husband!" I teased him. "He's not going to change his mind overnight!"