il dottore. My hands clenched. If I could only get hold of him! I thought of Hilda Tucek then, frantic over the disappearance of her father. Had he killed him? Or was he just torturing the poor devil? ‘Where is Jan Tucek?’ I asked her.
She shook her head. ‘I do not know where is Tucek. I never hear of this man Tucek.’ She lay back on the pillows. ‘Go now, please. I think it is not safe for you to stay any longer.’
I hesitated. But I couldn’t force her to talk, and it was quite possible she knew nothing about Tucek. Sansevino wouldn’t have told her more than he had to. I went over to the window. The world outside was very still in the red, mantle of the volcano. Nothing stirred. The search must have moved to the back of the villa. If so, perhaps I could get out by the front. I went over to the door and quietly unlocked it. The walls of the corridor outside were faintly tinged with the red glow from the window and there were deep shadows. The house was very quiet.
‘Dick!’
I swung round at the sound of movement by the bed. Zina was sitting up fumbling in her handbag. ‘Do not do anything foolish. I think this place is very dangerous for you now.’
I didn’t answer, but as I turned to leave the room, she hissed, ‘Un momenta. Wait.’
She slipped out of bed and came towards me in her bare feet. She held something in her hand. ‘Take this,’ she whispered. I felt the cold touch of metal against my hand and my fingers closed over the butt of a small automatic. Her hand touched my arm. It was almost a caress. ‘You think me very bad, yes? But remember, please, we come from two different worlds. Leave the villa now and do not come back. Get a plane very quick and go back to England where life is so easy and so secure.’ Her fingers squeezed my arm. Then she turned and went back to bed.
I went out into the corridor and closed the door behind me. The villa was deathly quiet. It was so quiet that it seemed to be full of sound. And then I realised that the sound was the sound of gases escaping from the crater vent high up on the summit of Vesuvius. It was a steady hissing sound that seemed to invade the place like an air-lock in the water system.
I went to the head of the stairs and started down. The stairs were of bare tile and it was difficult for me to manoeuvre my leg so that it made no sound. Below, it was pitch-black, for the shutters were still drawn over the windows. I didn’t dare use my torch in case they had come in from their search of the grounds, but the weight of it in my hand was comforting and I kept a tight hold of the little automatic Zina had given me.
There were two courses open to me — either to wait for Sansevino or to try and escape. Leave the villa now and do not come back. That was what Zina had said and I knew that it was the sensible thing to do. My courage was ebbing away in the dark stillness. Once I had got away I could contact Maxwell and tell him the whole thing. The proof was on me, strapped to my body in the shaft of my artificial limb. I was certain of that.