The Rodriguez Affair (1970) (16 page)

“Look at me,” Cade said.

Arilla stared at him. “You?” He shook his head. “No, Roberto, do not joke on such a subject. It is not a thing to make jokes about.”

“I am not joking,” Cade said, and he took the parcel from his pocket.

Juanita was staring at him too. He got up and crossed the room to Arilla’s desk, a big mahogany table with a typewriter on it, some books and a pile of folders. There was a paper-knife too. Cade picked up the paper-knife and slit open the parcel. He unfastened the chamois leather bag and poured the diamonds out on to a clear space on the table. He heard Juanita gasp.

“There is your swimming-pool, Alonzo.”

Arilla stared at the diamonds. “These are genuine?”

“They were valued by a cousin of mine who is in the diamond trade. He reckoned they were worth one hundred and forty thousand pounds sterling. I’ll leave you to work that out in pesos.”

“And you are giving them to the orphanage?”

“That’s it,” Cade said.

He felt Juanita’s hand on his arm. “Roberto.” He was not sure whether she was reproving or applauding him. It could have been either.

“But why, why?” Arilla asked. He seemed unable to believe that he was not dreaming.

“In a way,” Cade said, “it’s only justice. But I won’t try to explain that now.” Perhaps he would explain it to Juanita some time. She would understand. “Just take it as so.”

He wondered what Gomara would have said. And Harry Banner. Harry would probably have laughed; he
had always had a sense of humour. And Della? Maybe she would have laughed too. Maybe.

“There’s just one thing,” Cade said. “I’d like you to call it the Isabella Martinez Pool.”

Juanita’s hand on his arm was tighter; it was squeezing him hard. This time when she breathed, “Roberto!” he knew what she meant. He knew because he could see the tears glistening in her eyes. And when he looked at Arilla there were tears in Axilla’s eyes too.

“Listen,” Cade said.

“What is it?” Arilla asked. There was only the sound of the children’s laughter.

“Nothing,” Cade said. “Nothing at all. I just thought I heard some people turning in their graves.”

THE END

Freedman

Soldier, Sail North

The Wheel of Fortune

Last in Convoy

The Mystery of the
Gregory
Kotovsky

Contact Mr Delgado

Across the Narrow Seas

Wild Justice

The Liberators

The Last Stronghold

Find the Diamonds

The Plague Makers

Whispering Death

Three Hundred Grand

Crusader’s Cross

A Real Killing

Special Delivery

Ten Million Dollar Cinch

The Deadly Shore

The Murmansk Assignment

The Sinister Stars

Watching Brief

Weed

Away With Murder

A Fortune in the Sky

Search Warrant

The Marakano Formula

Cordley’s Castle

The Haunted Sea

The Petronov Plan

Feast of the Scorpion

The Honeymoon Caper

A Walking Shadow

The No-Risk Operation

Final Run

Blind Date

Something of Value

Red Exit

The Courier Job

The Rashevski Icon

The Levantine Trade

The Spayde Conspiracy

Busman’s Holiday

The Antwerp Appointment

Stride

The Seven Sleepers

Lethal Orders

The Kavulu Lion

A Fatal Errand

The Stalking-Horse

Flight to the Sea

A Car for Mr Bradley

Precious Cargo

The Saigon Merchant

Life-Preserver

Dead of Winter

Come Home, Toby Brown

Homecoming

The Syrian Client

Poisoned Chalice

Where the Money Is

A Dream of Madness

Paradise in the Sun

Dangerous Enchantment

The Junk Run

Legatee

Killer

Dishonour Among Thieves

Operation Zenith

Dead Men Rise Up Never

The Spoilers

With Menaces

Devil Under the Skin

The Animal Gang

Steel

The Emperor Stone

Fat Man From Colombia

Bavarian Sunset

The Telephone Murders

Lady from Argentina

The Poison Traders

Squeaky Clean

Avenger of Blood

A Wind on the Heath

One-Way Ticket

The Time of Your Life

Death of a Go-Between

Some Job

The Wild One

Skeleton Island

A Passage of Arms

On Desperate Seas

Old Pals Act

Crane

The Silent Voyage

The Angry Island

Obituary for Howard Gray

The Golden Reef

Bullion

Sea Fury

The Spanish Hawk

Ocean Prize