The Headman's Secret
On the following morning Major Paulo Lacson joined the Spindrifters for breakfast at the hotel. The young officer answered questions about the region for an hour, but Rick refrained from bringing up the subject of the headman until breakfast was over. But that was deferred when Scotty asked a startling question.
"Major, what ever happened to the boat our friends came in?"
Lacson's eyebrows went up. "Boat? What boat?"
"You mean you didn't know they came by boat?" Zircon bellowed incredulously.
The major shook his head. "This is the first I have heard of a boat. I assumed they came by air. The instructions I got from Manila were simply to find two missing Americans, with their names and descriptions. Since most Americans stay at this hotel I inquired and found they had checked out. That established their presence in Davao. It didn't occur to me to be interested in where they had come from, although I knew from my instructions that it was Zamboanga. Later, I checked the airline to see if they had left by air, but there was no record."
It was incredible, but there it was. Rick knew it was the kind of slip that often happens when the background given with instructions is not complete.
"I will get on this right away," Lacson said. "You have a description of the boat?"
"I'm afraid not. It was chartered in Zamboanga. Can you get a description from there?"
"Of course. It's strange the detail of the boat never came to light. Why, I even had a full description of their Moro guide."
"Guide?" The three said it simultaneously. It was their turn to be astonished. No one had mentioned a third person in the party.
"You didn't know?" Lacson clapped a hand to his forehead in a gesture of chagrin. "The lack of communications is ridiculous! Yes, they had a guide. Apparently they picked him up in Zamboanga. A young Moro, no outstanding features, who gave his name as Azid Hajullah. We have not been able to find out any more about him."
Lacson rose, to get a message off about the boat, but Rick stopped him and quickly outlined his conclusion about the headman, and Chahda's trip to the Bagobo village.
The major scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "It is just possible you are right," he said at last. "I myself noted that the old man was not at ease, but I attributed it to the presence of strange Americans, plus my own official status. Many primitive peoples are shy in the presence of authority. However, I agree the headman may have overdone it somewhat. We will see. I will phone you when I have news of the boat, and perhaps you will let me know when you hear from this Indian friend of yours."
The morning dragged on after Lacson's departure. The three walked the streets of Davao and found it to be quite a modern city with two newspapers, a radio station, and some good stores. Both Rick and Scotty had the feeling that they were being watched, but the most careful observation failed to uncover a tail.
Nevertheless, the boys were certain their movements were known to someone. If only they could discover the invisible watcher, Rick thought, and squeeze some information out of him....
The tropical sun grew hot as the day progressed, and the three returned to the hotel and sat in the small dining room over cold limeades and chilled mango. Rick had kept the Megabuck earphone in place all morning, and as he started to order another mango, Chahda's voice sounded in his ear. "Rick, you there?"
"Here," he replied swiftly. "Go ahead."
"Got recording. I think you plenty on ball, Rick. Headman lied like champ. Meet you hotel room right away. I just driving up. What number room?"
Rick told the Hindu boy and signed off. He turned to the others. "Let's go. Chahda's got something!"
They hurried to their room, and Zircon at once placed a call to Lacson. The constabulary office replied that the major was en route to the hotel and should be there in a few minutes.
Chahda burst into their room. The Hindu boy was grinning from ear to ear. He took the tiny recorder from his pocket and handed it to Zircon. "Plenty hot, you bet. Can I have drink, please?"
Scotty picked up the telephone and ordered him a double limeade with plenty of ice.
"Much thanks, Scotty. Well, this morning at dawn we merchants go to Bagobo village. Sell plenty cloths, too. You know some Bagobos speak a little English? Not much, but enough. While I sell, I start asking questions, but I get no answer. Then, boy my age starts buying cloth for new turban. We alone, so I try bribe. I say, 'Tell me about missing Americans and I give cloth for free.' And you know, he starts!"
"Go on, confound it!" Zircon bellowed. "Don't keep us in suspense like this."
"Okay, Professor. I talk fast. This boy gets no chance to say something, because headman busts in and he shoots words at boy like machine gun. Boy no more will talk to me, but I give him cloth, anyway. Because all the time I have wire machine going!"
"Wonderful!" Rick exclaimed. "Now, if we can only get it translated!"
Scotty opened the door at a knock and admitted Major Lacson. Zircon introduced Chahda and explained quickly what had happened. He showed the officer the wire recorder.
"Good!" Lacson picked up the telephone and made a call. After a brief exchange in the local dialect he hung up. "We will take it to Davao University. Dr. Gonzalez, the professor of languages, will translate it. He speaks Bagobo expertly. Come. My car is outside."
Chahda hung back. "You go. Better I stay under cover while longer. You call me on radio when you find something."
Rick agreed, then followed the others. They piled into Lacson's command car and headed for the university.
"I have some news myself," Lacson reported. "Your friends came in a sloop called the Sampaguita, which is a local flower. They tied up at a private dock on the waterfront."
"Where is the boat now?" Scotty asked.
Lacson shrugged. "Who knows? No one saw it leave, but it was there the night your friends disappeared, and gone the following morning."
Rick pondered that bit of information while Lacson and Zircon worked with Dr. Gonzalez, a short, bald Filipino, on the translation of the wire recording. Certainly Briotti and Shannon wouldn't have walked back from the Bagobo village and taken the boat themselves. And if they had walked to Calinan and obtained a car, Lacson would have found out about it. There weren't so many people in the area that the rental, or borrowing of a car, by two Americans couldn't be discovered easily. Had they hitched a ride Lacson would surely have found that out, too. Few cars traveled the road to Calinan.
Rick took Lacson aside and questioned him while Zircon played the wire over and over again for the Filipino language expert. The major confirmed that he had checked, and was satisfied that the scientists had not obtained a ride back from Calinan from any of the local people. There were no cars to rent, either.
Rick dropped the subject abruptly as Zircon and Gonzalez finished making notes and switched off the recorder.
"Dr. Gonzalez has it," Zircon said with quiet triumph. "The language is difficult, and the headman was far from the microphone, but the sense of what is on the tape is clear."
The boys and Lacson listened closely as the language professor read.
"'Say nothing, young fool! It is forbidden to speak of the white men. One word that they were here and the wrath of'—I don't know one word here—'will fall on the whole village. Do you want to die? Do you want us all to die? I forbid you to speak on pain of death!'"
"They were there!" Scotty exclaimed. "Now maybe we can find out what happened."
"At once," Major Lacson added grimly. "Doctor, what does the missing word sound like?"
The Filipino professor shook his head. "It is a word I've never heard, Major. It doesn't sound like a Bagobo word at all. It's 'shoon' or 'shawn.' Something like that. It's not clear."
"Will you come with us to translate, Doctor? Juan speaks enough Bagobo to get by, but I'd rather have you for this trip. It may be difficult."
"I'll be glad to. May I have a few moments to change clothing?"
"Of course. I'll take these gentlemen to the hotel and they can change, too. We'll pick you up."
Rick took advantage of the few moments in their hotel room to call Chahda. The Hindu boy answered at once.
"The recording had the answer," Rick told him. "That was a good piece of work, Chahda. We're leaving for the village at once."
"Good. Something I can do?"
"Not right now. I'll call when we get back."
Rick changed swiftly into khaki trail clothes. Their tropical suit trousers had been cleaned overnight and he didn't want to ruin his again.
Outside, Lacson was waiting. Two other command cars had joined him, each one carrying six armed troopers. The three jumped in with the major and went past the university to pick up Dr. Gonzalez.
The caravan broke all speed records getting to Calinan. Juan, the local trooper, got into the last car in line and they roared off to the road's end. This time the Spindrifters were dressed for the hike, and were well sprayed with protection against insects. Each had a hat, and a head net.
The group traveled at good speed. Then, as they emerged from the jungle trail into the clearing that led to the village, a squad of four troopers, under Juan, broke off from the party and started away at a dogtrot to make a wide circle and approach the village from the opposite side.
The rest walked straight ahead, at a slow pace that would give Juan's squad time to move into position. Rick's party reached the first house in the village and Major Lacson held up his hand. From the far side of the village came Juan's whistle blast.
The major's hand dropped. Troopers with rifles charged into the Bagobo village, scattering among the houses. Lacson drew his pistol and marched straight to the headman's house.
The headman walked to meet them, and his face stiffened as he saw the pistol. He spoke rapidly.
Gonzalez translated. "He wants to know why you come with a weapon pointed at him, and why your men raid his houses."
"Tell him we come as enemies because he lied. The Americans were here. My men search for evidence."
The Filipino professor translated, and the headman made an expressive gesture with his hands. He sat down on a seat made of a split tanguile log and stared straight ahead, obviously intending to maintain a stony silence.
A trooper ran up, waving a tubular object which he handed to the major. Rick saw that it was a high-powered telescope, like one Shannon had owned. His pulse quickened as Scotty removed the protective lens caps and examined the object.
"Shannon's," Scotty stated. "His initials are stamped on the side, and on the front lens cap."
The headman seemed to wilt.
Another trooper ran up, and he carried a leather quiver that Rick recognized instantly. It also was Shannon's. He knew it well, from their field archery games. In the quiver was the bow, a takedown model, and three dozen arrows.
"Major, what are we going to do?"
For reply, the officer planted himself in front of the headman, his voice harsh. "Tell him, Professor Gonzalez, that we have evidence enough. Unless he has a good explanation, we must believe that his village murdered the Americans. For this, some of his people may pay with their lives."
Dr. Gonzalez translated into Bagobo. For long minutes the headman sat quietly, then he rose to his full height and looked the officer in the eye.
"I am caught between a knife and a spear," Dr. Gonzalez translated. "There is death either way. It is true, the Americans came. We made them welcome. For one evening they stayed. We gave them and their Moro a house to sleep in. Then, after it was dark and we slept, men came. The Americans and the Moro fought, but the men tied them up and carried them away. Then the men said that if one person in my village spoke of this, all would die. The two things we found were not taken because they were in a corner of the hut and were not seen. All else was removed."
"Ask him who the men were and why he didn't fight for the Americans," Lacson directed.
The Filipino language expert posed the question, then translated the reply. "He does not know the men, or their names. He did not fight because it was useless. His people would have died and the Americans would not have been saved."
"Ask him how he knows this."
The Bagobo's reply was terse. "He knows," Gonzalez said. "He will say no more."
Lacson made a sound of disgust. "He means it, too. Look at him."
Rick saw what Lacson meant. The stern face and glittering eyes indicated clearly that the headman would die before he said more about the attackers.
"Does he know where the Americans were taken?" Zircon asked.
"He does not know. The men took them down the trail. Of course some Bagobos followed. But at the road the men put the Americans and their guide into a car and drove away. Apparently there were two or three cars. The Bagobos could not follow."
"Then Shannon, Briotti, and their guide were probably on the boat when it left Davao," Rick said thoughtfully. "But where did the boat go?"
Major Lacson answered. "We don't know. But it is possible we may find out. I've sent out an all-points bulletin asking for information. We may get a lead to its whereabouts."
"We'd better," Scotty said grimly. "Unless someone has seen it, we have the whole Sulu Sea to search!"