Mayne let Carla's wrist go and she fell to the floor. She got to her feet in a single quick movement and picked up the broken tumbler. As her hands closed on the jagged remnant, she looked at Mayne. Her face was disfigured with rage. Her teeth were literally bared and her eyes smouldered. There was no doubt in our minds what she intended to do with that broken tumbler. She went slowly towards Mayne, her movements deliberate and sinuous. Mayne's jaw, where the scar showed, twitched nervously and he swallowed twice. There was nothing any of us could do. There had been something about Valdini's manner that had convinced us that he would not hesitate to shoot.
And it was at that moment that Joe came quietly in. He was looking at some negatives he had in his hand. The first he saw of the scene was the gun in Valdini's hand. 'Good God!' he said. 'You shouldn't point a gun at people like that. Might go off. Let's see if it's loaded.' And he stretched out his big hand and took the gun away from Valdini.
We did not move. We were so surprised. And the most surprised of all was Valdini. I know it sounds incredible. But that, I assure you, is exactly what happened. Joe Wesson walked in and took the gun out of Valdini's hand. And Valdini let him. The only explanation is that Joe had no fear. It never occurred to him that Valdini was prepared to shoot. And because he had no fear, Valdini lost his confidence.
Joe pulled out the magazine and then looked quite angrily at Valdini. 'Do you realise this thing is loaded?' He shook his head, muttered something about 'Damn fool thing to do,' and handed the gun and the magazine separately back to Valdini.
His complete unawareness of anything serious behind the gun in Valdini's hand acted like a douche of cold water. The tension eased. Mayne picked up his drink again. Carla relaxed. We all began to move and talk naturally again. It was as though a group of puppets had suddenly come to life. The room itself seemed to sigh with relief. 'Just in time, Joe,' Engles said. 'Valdini was showing us how a Sicilian gangster draws a gun. What are you having?' he added, ignoring the black look Valdini gave him.
'I'll have a cognac,' Joe grunted. He had a puzzled frown on his face. 'Why ever did you let that little bastard play around with that gun?' he whispered as he pushed his way between Engles and myself. 'I suppose everybody carries a gun in this damned country. But they ought to know better than to fool around with them.'
He handed Engles two rolls of film. 'A few shots I did of the slittovia and also some interior shots of this room. Take a look at them." They're not bad.' A third roll he passed across to me. 'Want to see yourself in a state of collapse? It wants more light. But it's a good action shot. It grips, even though you do play it down a bit.' He drank his cognac. When he had set his glass down he said, 'Well, may as well go and develop some of the other rolls. Can't do anything else in this weather. Wish I'd a camera with me when I came in just now. I'd like to have got a shot of little Valdini with that gun. Somehow, it all looked so real. Might let me know what you think of those shots, old man.'
'I will,' Engles said. And Joe heaved himself out of the room.
I glanced round the room. It all looked quite peaceful now. Mayne had gone over to the piano and was quietly drifting through a piece I did not recognise. Carla was talking excitedly to Valdini. Keramikos was sipping an anisette at the other end of the bar. A chord crashed out from the piano and Mayne switched with a malicious sense of humour into La donna e mobile. 'The pot is boiling all right,' Engles said quietly. 'One more scene like that and there really will be some shooting. Valdini is not the only one who has a gun, I'm pretty certain about that.'
'What's all this about four million in gold?' I asked. Our conversation was masked by the sound of the piano.