I nodded grimly. 'Then what happened?'
'The police were asking questions and they came to Mark. He said he knew nothing about it, but it didn't seem to worry him.'
I took a deep breath. 'Paula, do you think that Mark killed Sven?'
She hesitated, then shook her head violently. 'No, it couldn't have been Mark. I know he could get very angry -even violent – but he couldn't have killed Sven. They were partners.'
I had experienced some of Mark's violence, in my younger days.
'Paula, did he ever hit you?'
She looked down at the table, nodding. 'Sometimes – but I'm hell to live with. I'm untidy and sloppy about housework. I'm' She laughed, but the laugh broke off on a sob and tears rolled down her cheeks. I was appalled.
'What happened then?'
'Mark ran away. He ran from the police. I don't mean literally, not the day they spoke to him, but that night he disappeared from Tahiti. And then we heard that he was dead – I've already told you exactly how that was.'
'Who brought the news of his death – in that schooner?'
'It was a man called Hadley – he brought the news. He said that he and his partner had found Mark dying out in the islands.' She had the look of nervousness back, and I thought that it may have been caused by her mention of Hadley.
But I had more important things to think about. This was the break – this was the evidence that showed Kane to be a downright liar. There could have been an honest mistake about the death certificate, but not about this. Kane had told me that he and Hadley had left things to the doctor. This was the crack in his story.
I said, 'Hadley's partner – was it a man called Kane?'
'I don't know, I never met him. I knew Hadley, though; he came to visit Mark often.'
The devil he did!' I ejaculated. This was a new development.
'Oh sure. Mark and Sven used to hire Hadley's boat and go off for weeks at a time with him.'
'You've no idea where they went, I suppose?' I said casually.
'Mark never talked to me about what he did,' she said.
'There's just one more thing, but it's very important. You said you thought Mark had been murdered. What led you to think that?'
'It was Hadley,' she said. 'He came to my place and said he wanted Mark's things. The way he talked about Mark – he was so triumphant. I didn't see any reason why he should have Mark's stuff so I gave him the air. He was mad about it but he couldn't do anything then because I had friends with me. But he scared me – he's a bad bastard. I looked at Mark's case and there wasn't anything there that would do me any good, so I sent it home to his wife. Mark talked about her to me.' There was pain in her voice. 'He talked about you too – he wasn't very nice about you.'
'I can imagine. Did Hadley try again?'
'Yes. He came and beat the living daylights out of me and searched my place but of course there wasn't anything there.'
'You mean – he beat you up?'
'Oh brother, you ought to have seen the shiner I had.' She looked at me gravely. 'You don't know much about men like Hadley, do you?'
'Not yet,' I said grimly. 'But I soon will. I'm going to catch up with that bastard.'
She laughed scornfully. 'He'd tear you in half, Mike. Be careful of him – don't come at him from the front, club him down from behind. He'd do the same to you. He's an uncivilized savage.'
I looked at this girl who talked of brawls and beatings so matter-of-factly. No wonder she had that permanently shrinking air – or perhaps it was her manner which attracted violence in the first place. 'I'll remember that.'
She sighed. 'Well, then I got real scared because I said too much. You know what I said? I said I had proof that he was lying – that Mark hadn't died the way he said. He looked at me in a real funny way and said he'd be back – with friends. So I packed a few things and got out. I stayed with someone else the rest of the night and next morning there was a trading schooner leaving for Panama at five o'clock and I was aboard by four. I kept below deck until Papeete was out of sight.'
'What was your proof, Paula?'
She said what I guessed she was going to say. 'Mark already had his appendix out. I saw the scar. He couldn't have died that way.'
'I knew about that too. Mark had his appendix out years ago.'
Paula looked at her watch and jumped to her feet. She still looked ravaged but she seemed a little calmer now. 'I have to get back.'
Thanks, Paula. You've helped me a lot. Do you think that Hadley killed Mark and Sven Norgaard?'
'I do,' she said intensely.
'Have you any idea why he should?'
She shrugged. 'No idea-but I'm sure he did it.'
'Paula, before I leave here – will you write down what you know for me?'
'I – I guess so, Mike. I – have to be careful.'
She wouldn't come into the hotel lounge with me so I went in alone ahead of her and found Geordie sitting talking to Clare. 'Pop's gone to bed,' she said. 'It's late and he gets tired.'
'I hope Geordie's been entertaining you all right.'
'Oh yes, he's been telling me more about Mark – and you.'
I said lightly, 'I thought I felt my ears burning.'
I saw Paula join the trio. In the dim lounge lighting one could not see any trace of disarray and she began to sing in the same pleasant, husky voice. 'Nice voice she's got,' said Clare casually. v I saw they were both looking at her.
'How was your assignation?' asked Geordie.
'Interesting.'
A mischievous smile played briefly on Clare's mouth. 'We saw you escorting her out of the foyer.'
'Her name is P. Nelson,' I said. Geordie choked over his coffee.
I put Clare in the picture regarding the name, then said, 'She's had a lot to tell me, all fascinating. She thinks that Mark was murdered, and his partner Norgaard too – oh yes, he's dead. And she thinks they were both killed by Hadley, this mystery partner of Kane's. But the concensus of opinion in Tahiti seems to be that Mark killed Norgaard – that's the official police view – and that Mark died by accident while on the run. It's a hell of a mess.'
'Good God,' said Geordie. 'What's she doing here?'
'Ran away from Hadley. I'll fill you all in in the morning. I'm tired.'
It seemed an age since we had come sailing into Panama, only that morning.
Clare looked over towards Paula, who was still singing.
'How well did she know Mark?'
'Pretty well,' I said unthinkingly. 'She was another of Mark's popsies.'
And could have bitten my tongue out the moment I spoke.* 5*
Next morning at breakfast Campbell came down with a cable. He frowned as he read it. 'Suarez-Navarro have started to move,' he said. 'Their ship has left Darwin, bound for New Guinea.'
Geordie said, 'The Bismarck Archipelago is up that way too.'
'What's that got to do with it?'
'We forgot to tell you,' I said. 'Kane sent a cable yesterday, to Rabaul, which is in the Archipelago.'
'Kane – maybe to Ramirez, telling him where you are. Would your nodule deposit be anywhere up near Rabaul?' asked Campbell.
'There's nothing against it and a few things for it,' I said. 'Though personally I think Mark wouldn't have been so far away from where it is. But from what I could gather from the notebooks Mark was linking nodule formation with vulcan-ism, and there's a hell of a lot of volcanoes in that part of the world.'
'Not here?'
'Oh yes, all over the Pacific. I'm going to explain that to you when my own ideas are clearer.'
'Do you think he was right in that theory?' said Campbell.
'I don't know,' I admitted. 'It's all very theoretical. There's nothing against it in principle.'
Campbell muttered, 'When I get an unqualified answer from a scientist I suppose the world will be coming to an end. Now, what's all this about the girl last night? Clare's told me a little.'