Alistair MacLean - Bear Island

"You, you, you'," Smithy said. "You're always talking about me. How about you going instead?" He grinned. "Of course, I could always set off for there, search around till I found some convenient cave or shelter, hole up there for the night, and return the next day announcing mission impossible."

"We'll see how the cards fall." I finished my drink and picked up screwdriver and screws. "Let's go and see how Miss Hayries is."

Miss Hayries seemed to be in reasonable health. No fever, normal pulse, breathing deeply and evenly: how she would feel when she woke was another matter altogether. I screwed up her window until nobody could have entered her room from the outside without smashing their way in and breaking through two sheets of plate glass would cause enough racket to wake up half the occupants of the cabin. Then we went into the living area of the cabin.

It was surprisingly empty. At least ten people I would have expected to be there were absent, but a quick mental count of the missing heads convinced me that there was no likely cause for alarm in this. Otto, the Count, Heissman, and Goin, conspicuously absent, were probably in secret conclave in one of their cubicles discussing weighty matters which they didn't wish their underlings to hear. Lonnie had almost certainly betaken himself again in his quest for fresh air and I hoped that he hadn't managed to lose himself between the cabin and the provisions hut. Allen, almost certainly, had gone to lie down again and I presumed that Mary Darling, who appeared to have overcome a great number of her earlier inhibitions, had returned to her dutiful handholding. I couldn't imagine where the Three Apostles had got to nor was I particularly worried: I was sure that there was nothing to fear from them other than permanent damage to the eardrums.

I crossed to where Conrad was presiding over a three-burner oil cooker mounted on top of a stove. He had two large pans and a large pot all bubbling away at once, stew, beans and coffee, and he seemed to be enjoying his role of chef not least, I guessed, because he had Mary Stuart as his assistant. In another man I would have looked for a less than altruistic motive in this cheerful willingness, the hail-fellow-well-met leading man playing the democrat to an admiring gallery, but I knew enough of Conrad now to realise that this formed no part of his nature at all: he was just a naturally helpful character who never thought to place himself above his fellow actors. Conrad, I thought, must be a very rare avis indeed in the cinema world.

"What's all this, then?" I said. `You qualified for this sort of thing. I thought Otto had appointed the Three Apostles as alternate chefs?"

"The Three Apostles had it in mind to start improving their musical technique in this very spot," Conrad said. I did a self-defence trade with them. They're practising across in the equipment hut-you know, where the generator is."

I tried to imagine the total degree of cacophony produced by their tatonal voices, their amplified instruments and the diesel engine in a confined space of eight by eight, but my imagination wasn't up to it. I said: "You deserve a medal. You too, Mary dear."

"Me?" She smiled. "Why?"

"Remember what I said about the goodies pairing off with the baddies?

Delighted to see you keeping a close eye on our suspect here. Haven't seen his hand hovering suspiciously long over one of the pots, have you?"

She stopped smiling. I don't think that's funny, Dr. Marlowe."

I don't think it is either. A clumsy attempt to lighten the atmosphere."

I looked at Conrad. "Can I have a word with the chef?"

Conrad looked at me briefly, speculatively, nodded and turned away. Mary Stuart said: "That's nice. For me, I mean. Why can't you have a word with him here?"

"I'm going to tell him some funny stories. You don't seem to care much for my humour." I walked away a few paces with Conrad and said: "Had a chance of a word with Lonnie yet?"

"No. I mean, I haven't had an opportunity yet. Is it that urgent?"

"I'm beginning to think it may be. Look, I haven't seen him there but I'm certain as can be that Lonnie is across in the provisions hut."

"Where Otto keeps all those elixirs of life?"

"You wouldn't expect to find Lonnie in the fuel shed. Diesel and petrol aren't his tipples. I wonder if you could go across there, seeking liquid solace from this harsh and weary world, from Bear Island, from Olympus Productions, from whatever you like, and engage him in crafty conversation. Touch upon the theme of how you're missing your family. Anything just get him to tell you about his."

He hesitated. I like Lonnie. I don't like this job."

"I'm past caring now about people's feelings. I'm just concerned with people's lives-that they should keep on living, I mean."

"Right." He nodded and looked at me soberly. "Taking a bit of a chance, aren't you? Enlisting the aid of one of your suspects, I mean."

"You're not on my list of suspects," I said. "You never were."

He looked at me for some moments then said: "Tell that to Mary dear, will you?" He turned and made for the outer door. I returned to the oil cooker. Mary Stuart looked at me with her usual grave and remote lack of expression.

I said: "Conrad tells me to tell you that I've just told him-you're following me?-that he's not on my list of suspects and never was."

"That's nice." She gave me a little smile but there was a touch of winter in it.

"Mary," I said, "you are displeased with me."

"Well."

"Well what?"

"Are you a friend of mine?"

"Of course."

"Of course, of course." She mimicked my tone very creditably. "Dr. Marlowe is a friend of all mankind."

"Dr. Marlowe doesn't hold all mankind in his arms all night long."

Another smile. This time there was a touch of spring in it. She said:

"And Charles Conrad?"

I like him. I don't know what he thinks about me."

"And I like him and I know he likes me and so we're all friends together." I thought better of saying "of course" again and just nodded. "So why don't we all share secrets together?"

"Women are the most curious creatures," I said. "In every sense of the word "curious."

"Please don't be clever with me."

"Do you always share secrets?" She frowned a little, as if perplexed, and I went on: "Let's play kiddies" games, shall we? You tell me a secret and I'll tell you one."

"What on earth do you mean?"

"This secret assignation you had yesterday morning. In the snow and on the upper deck. When you were being so very affectionate with Heissman.

I'd expected some very positive reaction from this and was correspondingly disappointed when there was none. She looked at me, silently thoughtful, then said: "So you were spying on us."

I just happened to chance by."

"I didn't see you chancing by." She bit her lip, but not in any particularly discernible anguish. I wish you hadn't seen that."

"Why?" It had been briefly in my mind to be heavily ironic but I could hear a little warning bell tinkling in the distance.

"Because I don't want people to know."

"That's obvious," I said patiently. "Why?"

"Because I'm not very proud of it. I have to make a living, Dr. Marlowe.

I came to this country only two years ago and I haven't got any qualifications for anything. I haven't even got any qualifications for what I'm doing now. I'm a hopeless actress. I know I am. I've just got no talent at all.

The last two films I was in-well, they were just awful. Are you surprised that people give me the cold shoulder, why they're wondering out loud why I'm making my third film with Olympus Productions? Well, you can guess now: Johann Heissman is the why." She smiled, just a very small smile. "You are surprised, Dr. Marlowe? Shocked, perhaps?"

"No."