Тимоти Уилльямз - Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 126, No. 3 & 4. Whole No. 769 & 770, September/October 2005

“Yeah, she always does that. We go on these trips and she pretends to be a twit, and she really knows more than the rest of us do. She holds a very high-powered job in a huge insurance corporation,” Katharine told him. “So does Lon, that’s how they met. But when she says that all she really wants to do on vacation is veg in the sun, she means it.”

“Does she ever get to do that?”

“Does she ever get her way, you mean? Not very often.”

“Which is why she does this to annoy him,” Manuel observed.

“Exactly.”

He turned to her. “And what do you and your husband do when you’re not traveling to mystical places?” He smiled at her, which dragged a smile out of her, too. “I’ve got to say the two of you don’t exactly strike me as corporate types, but maybe that’s only because you’re on vacation.”

“No,” she said. “We’re not like that. Michael’s an artist. I’m a freelance writer.”

Manuel looked as if he was about to follow up that piece of information with a question, but then he closed his mouth again, as if he had decided that whatever he was going to ask might be tactless.

She said it for him: “How can we afford this, you’re wondering? Since artists and writers usually don’t make much money?” A little grimly, Katharine patted the straw purse that hung over her shoulder, the purse where the unopened bills still lay. “Funny thing, but I’ve been asking myself the same question lately.”

“Then why—?”

“Do we keep coming? Because Michael and Lon have been friends since they were in college. They’ve always egged each other on.” Her expression turned a little bitter. “And now, even though the price of eggs has gotten way too high, we just keep buying them.” She broke off and laughed, sounding embarrassed. “I’m sorry. That was even dumber than Nadia makes herself sound. I’d better go look at those ‘ugly old statues’ that I keep hearing so much about.”

She started to move away from him, but he stopped her by asking, “Was it really the skulls that made you sick this morning?”

Katharine turned to look up at him. “No.” She looked distressed again. “The men were being ugly to each other. Lon was bragging about how well he’s doing, and Michael was giving him a hard time. I hate it. It upsets me.”

She turned away, and hurried off to see the statues that many people considered to be one of the wonders of the world.

Off in a corner of the quarry, Nadia pulled Katharine aside and said, “I asked Manuel what he did for a living in Chile, before he came here, but he wouldn’t tell me.”

“Wouldn’t tell you? What do you mean?”

“I mean he fudged. He said, ‘Oh, this and that, one thing and another.’ ” Nadia had the suspicious look in her eyes again. “So I said, what does that mean, and he said, ‘It was a long time ago.’ ”

“Well, he doesn’t have to tell us anything.”

“No, but I like to know who I’m hiring.”

Katharine grinned. “Next time we hire a guide, we’ll make him submit a resume to your personnel department.”

Nadia laughed at that. “Damn right. But really, Katy, we should watch him. He could be a crook, he could steal us blind. Hang on to your purse, girl.”

“He already had a chance at my purse,” Katharine reminded her, and then couldn’t help but tease. “You’re the one who’d better be careful with her purse. It would be much better pickings.”

Unfortunately, it came out sounding harsh and bitter, which she hadn’t intended.

When Katharine saw her friend’s eyes widen in surprise and what looked like hurt, she rushed to say, “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, truly.”

Before Nadia could respond, their husbands came hurrying up to them. Lon threw an arm around Nadia’s shoulders and then pointed to the top of the crater with his free hand. “I want to hike around the rim of this volcano tomorrow. Who’s coming with me?”

Under his arm, his wife shuddered. “Not me, not heights.”

“How high is it?” Michael inquired of Manuel.

“On the other side, there’s a four-hundred-foot sheer drop to the ocean. It’s spectacular, but it’s not recommended for anybody except the most experienced climbers.”

Michael looked disappointed. “That lets me out.”

“Oh, come on,” Lon scoffed at him. “You never know, you might have one of your mystical epiphanies up there.”

“I’ve already had my epiphany for this trip,” Michael said in a tight voice.

“Oh yeah, and what was it?”

“I had a revelation that you’re a jerk, Lon.”

Nadia laughed, relieving some of the tension. “Well, that’s not news!”

“I don’t care if nobody goes with me,” Lon said aggressively. “I’ll hike it by myself.”

But their guide stared across at him with a serious expression. “I wish you wouldn’t, Senyor Reynolds. It’s the most dangerous hike on the island. If you do it, you should definitely have a partner.”

Lon looked at his three mates, and when none of them volunteered, he shrugged.

“No problem,” he said, with a definite bite to his words, “I’ll just do it the next time we come to Easter Island.” It was clear to all of them that what he really meant was, We’ll never be back here again. Thanks a lot for spoiling my fun.

It seemed that Lon still hadn’t gotten over it by the time the friends went to dinner that night. The restaurant they chose, at Manuel’s suggestion, was basically just tables and chairs set on top of a concrete slab painted green, with a thatched roof overhead. Even the kitchen was open-air, so they could watch the chef broiling their shrimp and boiling the pasta.

Lon’s words grew more snappish with every refill of his glass of wine.

Over salad, he seemed merely baffled and annoyed, saying, “I don’t know what’s the matter with you pansies. It doesn’t look like such a difficult hike to me. Hell, we’ve walked all over England together—”

“Yeah, over grass and gentle hills,” Michael reminded him.

“We’ve walked in the desert—”

“Which is, you may recall, flat,” Nadia said, which made the others laugh.

Her husband’s face flushed. He took a swig from his wineglass, and did not join their laughter. “I just think it would be a highlight of our lives to be up there on that ridge as the sun comes up tomorrow. We could leave the residencia while it’s still dark, and be on top in time for the sunrise—”

“Oh, even smarter,” his wife said. “You want to hike up there in the dark.”

“Don’t make such a big deal out of everything, Nadia.” Lon’s eyes were hot with anger. “The only reason Manuel warned us away was to keep from getting sued if one of us did fall, which is not going to happen.”

“Ha! And why would I sue him, if you act like a fool and break your neck?”

Lon’s face flushed an even deeper red. “Hell, we’ve only got tomorrow, and then we’re gone, and we’ll never be back again. I’m telling you, you’ll regret it if you don’t go with me.”

Katharine looked alarmed. “You’re still going, Lon?”

“I might,” he said aggressively.

“I can’t believe you!” Nadia picked up her napkin from her lap and threw it at him.

He glared at her. “It’s my neck.”

“And a shame there’s no brain on top of it!”

By the time they finished the appetizers, he had come back to the subject, only by then he’d had more wine and his tongue was even looser. “Maybe I’ll hire Manuel to go with me.” He nodded his head in the direction of a long bar where their guide sat on a stool, in conversation with the Polynesian bartender. Lon glared at Michael across the table. “Just because you can’t afford him, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t get to go.”