Twenty-one
“Oh, I feel as if I’d woken up out of a nightmare,” sighed Hilary.
She stretched her arms wide above her head. They were sitting on theterrace of a hotel in Tangier. They had arrived there that morning byplane. Hilary went on:
“Did it all happen? It can’t have!”
“It happened all right,” said Tom Betterton, “but I agree with you, Olive,it was a nightmare. Ah well, I’m out of it now.”
Jessop came along the terrace and sat down beside them.
“Where’s Andy Peters?” asked Hilary.
“He’ll be here presently,” said Jessop. “He has a bit of business to attendto.”
“So Peters was one of your people,” said Hilary, “and he did things withphosphorus and a lead cigarette case that squirted radioactive material. Inever knew a thing about that.”
“No,” said Jessop, “you were both very discreet¹ with each other. Strictlyspeaking, though, he isn’t one of my people. He represents the U.S.A.”
“That’s what you meant by saying that if I actually reached Tom here,you hoped I should have protection? You meant Andy Peters.”
Jessop nodded.
“I hope you’re not blaming me,” said Jessop in his most owl-like manner,“for not providing you with the desired end to your experience.”
Hilary looked puzzled. “What end?”
“A more sporting form of suicide,” he said.
“Oh, that!” She shook her head incredulously. “That seems just as unrealas anything else. I’ve been Olive Betterton so long now that I’m feelingquite confused to be Hilary Craven again.”
“Ah,” said Jessop, “there is my friend, Leblanc. I must go and speak tohim.”
He left them and walked along the terrace. Tom Betterton said quickly:
“Do one more thing for me, will you, Olive? I call you Olive still—I’ve gotused to it.”
“Yes, of course. What is it?”
“Walk along the terrace with me, then come back here and say that I’vegone up to my room to lie down.”
She looked at him questioningly.
“Why? What are you—?”
“I’m off, my dear, while the going’s good.”
“Off, where?”
“Anywhere.”
“But why?”
“Use your head, my dear girl. I don’t know what the status is here.
Tangier is an odd sort of place not under the jurisdiction² of any particularcountry. But I know what’ll happen if I come with the rest of you to Gibral-tar. The first thing that’ll happen when I get there, I shall be arrested.”

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