A COFFIN FROM HONG KONG

There came a gentle tap on the door.

“That’s the waiter,” I said. “Get into the bathroom and stay quiet.”

As soon as she was in the bathroom and had shut the door, I went across the room to let the waiter in.

Just outside ‘the door, smiling, was Harry Enright. He had a .38 automatic in his hand which he pointed at me.

“Don’t start anything smart, pal,” he said. “Just back in and keep your hands still.”

I backed in, keeping my hands still.

“Don’t look so hopeful,” Enright said, closing the door and leaning against it. “I told the waiter you had changed your mind . . . he’s gone away.”

“Okay for me to sit down?” I said. “The excitement is getting too much for me.”

I sat down, keeping my hands on my knees and I studied him. The smile was fixed. There was a cold, vicious expression in his eyes that warned me to be careful. The gun was steady in his hand and the sight was centred on a spot just between my eyes.

“You’re smart,” Enright said. “You don’t know how goddam smart you are. You did something I haven’t been able to do for the past three weeks.”

“What would that be?” I asked.

“You found Jefferson. I’ve been hunting for that son-of-a-bitch until I thought I’d go crazy. To think I nearly had you killed ! Then you go out and find him . . . just like that.”

“I’m not following you,” I said. “Do you have to point that gun at me? I’ve had a heavy day and that gun looks lethal.”

Still keeping me covered, he moved farther into the room. He sat on the same chair arm on which Stella had sat not ten minutes ago.

“Don’t worry about the gun,” he said. “Just so long as you don’t start anything smart, you won’t get a bullet in your head. What did you tell the cops?”

“What makes you imagine I told the cops anything?”

“I’ve had a man on your tail from the moment you started showing interest in the villa. I spotted you in the pedallo. From that moment we haven’t taken our eyes off you.”

“We? You mean this drug traffic organisation?”

“That’s it, pal. It’s a big thing . . . too big for you. It makes me sweat to think those two might have killed you. That was my mistake. I should have left you alone. I had no idea you were after Jefferson.” “I wasn’t ... I thought he was dead.”

“We thought he was too. He nearly had us fooled. We were hunting for Belling. Then you come along and you led us right to Jefferson.”

“So you found him,” I said, wondering what Stella was doing, shut in the bathroom.

“Yes, we found him.” His smile was vicious. “We found Wong too.”

“Who is Wong?”

“He was one of our group, but he made the mistake of throwing in with Jefferson. Right at this moment they are getting the treatment, then what’s left of them will be dumped in the sea.”

“What did they do to you then?”

“That’s the wav we treat hijackers,” Enright said. “It’s the only way. What did you tell the cops?”

“Nothing they didn’t know already,” I said mildly.

He stared at me for a long moment, then he stood up.

“You and me are going for a little walk and then a little drive. There are four of my men outside. You make one move out of turn and it’ll be your last move. My boys carry knives. They can kill a guy from forty feet. By the time anyone knows you’re dead, they’ll be miles away: so watch it. Come on, let’s go.”

“What happens after the walk and the drive?” I asked.

He grinned at me.

“You’ll find out. Up on your feet, pal, and watch it.”

I stood up as he backed to the door. He opened it and stood aside.

“The night boy won’t help you. He works for me, so don t act foolish,” Enright said. “We’ll walk down the stairs. There’s another of my boys in the lobby. Just keep moving if you want to keep alive.”

We went out into the passage. Enright had put the gun in his pocket, his hand gripping the gun. The night boy grinned at me as we walked to the head of the stairs.

“Go on down,” Enright said. “I’m right behind you.”

I plodded down four flights of stairs and into the big lobby.

It was strangely deserted. Only two men sat in lounging chairs. One of them was Sergeant Hamish. The other had cop written all over him. I hadn’t seen him before. I took one look at them and then flung myself face down on the plush carpet a split second before a gun roared behind me. I lay there, my heart hammering as more gunfire crashed above me.

After a while, a shoe prodded me.

“You can get up,” Hamish said.

I rolled over and looked up at him, then I got slowly to my feet. Enright was lying on his back, blood running from a wound in his face His jacket was smoking. A second look at him told me he was dead.

“Did you have to kill him?” I asked.

“If I hadn’t he would have killed you,” Hamish said indifferently. “Maybe he would even have killed me.”

“There are others and the night boy on the fourth floor is one of them.”

The other cop started for the elevator as Hamish said, “We’ve bagged the others. Who was the woman who telephoned us?”

I looked blankly at him.

“Was there a woman?”

“How the hell should we be here if she hadn’t told us what was going on?” Hamish said irritably. “A woman telephoned. Who was she?”