Десмонд Бэгли - Landslide

‘That was Howard’s baby,’ said Donner. ‘I’m just the accountant. I didn’t see the report and I wouldn’t have understood it if I had.’

He was already weaselling out from under the chopper; he could see trouble coming and was disclaiming responsibility. Probably, on the balance of things, he really hadn’t seen the report. Anyway, that didn’t matter — what mattered was getting every construction man off the site as soon as possible.

I pointed up at the escarpment. ‘That hillside is in danger of caving in, Donner. It can go any time. You’ve got to get your men out of here.’

He looked at me incredulously. ‘Are you crazy? We’ve lost enough time already because that dumb bastard Howard pulled men away to look for you. Every day’s delay is costing us thousands of dollars. We’ve lost enough time because of this mud, anyway.’

‘Donner, get it through your skull that you’re in trouble. I really mean what I say. That bloody hillside is going to come down on you.’

He swung his head and stared across at the solid slope of the escarpment, then gave me an odd look. ‘What the hell are you talking about? How can a hill cave in?’

‘You should have read that report,’ I said. ‘I found quick clay deposits in the valley. For God’s sake, didn’t you do a geological survey of the foundations of the dam?’

‘That was Howard’s business — he looked after the technical side. What’s this quick clay?’

‘An apparently solid substance that turns liquid if given a sudden shock — and it doesn’t need much of a shock. As near as I can check there’s a bed of it running right under that dam.’ I grinned at him humourlessly. ‘Let’s look on the bright side. If it goes, then a couple of million tons of topsoil is going to cover your powerhouse — the clay will liquefy and carry the topsoil with it. That’s the best that can happen.’

Clare touched my elbow. ‘And the worst?’

I nodded towards the dam. ‘It might jerk the foundations from under that hunk of concrete. If that happens, then all the water behind the dam will flow right over where we’re standing now. How much water is backed up behind there, Donner?’

He didn’t answer my question. Instead, he smiled thinly. ‘You tell a good story, Boyd. I like it very much, but I don’t go for it. You have a good imagination — an earthquake laid on to order shows real creative thought.’ He scratched his chin. ‘The only thing I can’t figure is what you reckon to gain by stopping construction now. I just can’t figure your angle.’

I gaped at him. McDougall had been right — this man figured every motive in dollars and cents. I drew a deep breath, and said, ‘You stupid, ignorant oaf!’ I turned from him in disgust. ‘Where’s the police captain who’s supposed to be here?’

‘Here he comes now,’ said Donner. ‘Coming out of the valley.’

I looked up to the road that clung to the hillside above the dam. A car was coming down, trailing a dust plume behind it. ‘Captain Crupper hasn’t the power to close down operations,’ said Donner. ‘I wish I knew what you were figuring, Boyd. Why don’t you tell me what you’re getting at?’

Clare said hotly, ‘Something you wouldn’t understand, Donner. He just wants to save your life, although I’m damned if I know why. He also wants to save the lives of all those men, even though they were after his blood not long ago.’

Donner smiled and shrugged. ‘Save those speeches for suckers, Miss Trinavant.’

I said, ‘Donner, you’re in trouble already — but not in real bad trouble because the worst that can happen to you is jail. But I’ll tell you something: if anyone gets killed here because you’ve ignored a warning you’ll have a lynch-mob after you and you’ll be damned lucky not to be strung up to the nearest tree.’

The police car rolled to a stop quite close and Captain Crupper got out and came over. ‘Mr Donner, I asked you to meet me here, but apparently it is now unnecessary.’

Donner said, ‘Captain Crupper, this is Mr Boyd and Miss Trinavant.’

Crupper switched hard eyes to me. ‘Hm — you stirred up something here, Boyd. I’m sorry it had to happen to you — and to you, Miss Trinavant.’ He looked at Donner. ‘It appears an investigation of the Matterson Corporation would be in order; running a private manhunt doesn’t come under normal business procedures.’

‘That was Howard Matterson’s affair,’ said Donner hastily. ‘I knew nothing about it.’

‘You won’t have to worry about him any more,’ said Crupper curtly. ‘We’ve got him.’

‘You got on to him fast,’ I said. ‘I’d have guessed it would take longer.’

With grim humour Crupper said, ‘He’s not as good in the woods as you, apparently.’ His lips tightened. ‘It cost us a good man.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

He slapped his gloves against his thigh. ‘Gibbons was shot in the knee. His leg was amputated this morning.’

So Gibbons had to go and do the heroic bit after all. I said, ‘I warned him not to monkey around with Howard. Bull Matterson warned him, too.’

‘I know,’ said Crupper tiredly. ‘But we always try the pacific way first. We can’t shoot on sight just on someone’s say-so. There are laws in this country, Boyd.’

I hadn’t noticed the law around the Kinoxi Valley during the last couple of weeks, but I said nothing about that. ‘There’s going to be a lot more good men lost if this idiot Donner doesn’t pull them off this site.’

Crupper reacted fast. He jerked his head round to look at the powerhouse, then speared me with a cold glance. ‘What do you mean by that?’

Donner said silkily, ‘Mr Boyd has laid on an instant earthquake. He’s been trying to make me believe that hillside is going to collapse.’

‘I’m a geologist,’ I said deliberately. ‘Tell me, Captain: what is the road like up in the Kinoxi? Wet or dry?’

He looked at me as though I had gone mad. ‘Pretty dry.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘You were kicking up quite a cloud of dust coming down the hill. Now tell me, Captain: where the hell do you think all this mud is coming from?’ I pointed to the greasy waste around the powerhouse.

Crupper stared at the mud, then looked at me thoughtfully. ‘All right. You tell me.’

So I went into it again and finally said, ‘Clare, tell the Captain of the demonstration I showed you with the quick clay cores. Don’t embroider it — just tell it straight.’

She hesitated. ‘Well, Bob had some samples of earth — he’d taken them from up here before Howard ran him off. He took a piece and showed how it could bear a big weight. Then he took another piece and stirred it in a jug. It turned to thin mud. That’s about all.’

‘Sounds like a conjuring trick,’ said the Captain. He sighed. ‘Now I have a thing like this dumped on me. Mr Donner, what about pulling your men off pending an expert investigation of the site?’

‘Now look here, Crupper,’ Donner expostulated. ‘We’ve had enough delay. I’m not going to waste thousands of dollars just on Boyd’s word. He’s been trying to stop this project all along and I’m not going to let him get away with any more.’

Crupper was troubled. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do, Mr Boyd. If I stop work on the dam and nothing is wrong my neck will be on the block.’

‘You’re damn’ right,’ said Donner viciously.

Crupper looked at him with dislike. ‘However,’ he said firmly, ‘if I thought it in the public interest I’d stop construction right here and now.’

I said, ‘You don’t have to take my word for it. Ring the geology faculty at any university. Try to get hold of a soil mechanics specialist if you can, but any competent geologist will be able to confirm it.’