هواپیما به مقصد مراکش

CHAPTER THREE

The plane to Morocco

‘Put your hands in the air and don’t try anything clever’ shouted the man. Slowly Nick and Shelley put their hands in the air.

‘Very good,’ said the man more quietly. His eyes were moving quickly from side to side. ‘Now turn towards the wall.’ They turned.

Just then Shelley looked down. On the floor in front of her there was a rock. Nick used it a few minutes earlier when he broke the lock on the door.

‘Well, it’s now or never,’ she thought. Quickly she dropped to the floor, turned and threw the heavy rock at the man. It hit him on the side of the head.

‘You dirty little.!’ he began and pointed his gun at Shelley, but Nick was too fast for him.

In a second he turned and pushed the man’s arm as hard as he could against Shelley’s car. Something metal hit the ground.

Then Nick heard Shelley’s voice.

‘It’s OK,’ she shouted. ‘I’ve got the gun.’

Immediately the dark-haired man stopped. He looked at the gun in Shelley’s hand and said, ‘No, no, p. please don’t shoot m– me.’

‘That’s better,’ said Nick. He walked to the door, looked outside, then closed it. ‘Now,’ he continued, ‘you’re going to be a good boy and tell us about the Eyes of Montezuma. That’s right, isn’t it, Mr.?’

‘Blane– My name’s Harry B. Blane,’ said the man. ‘What do you want to know?’

Nick smiled. ‘Everything,’ he said. ‘But first, where are the diamonds?’

‘I haven’t g– got them,’ said Blane. ‘They’re in– they’re in the villa. Harris and Drake have got them.’

‘Harris and Drake’ asked Shelley.

‘Paul Harris and Janice Drake,’ Blane replied. ‘They stole the diamonds. I didn’t do anything. Really! I just drove the car. Please, don’t.’

At that moment Shelley put a hand on Nick’s arm. ‘Someone’s watching us,’ she said, and pointed towards one of the broken windows. Nick looked through it and saw a woman on the other side of the garden.

She was standing outside the villa and had a pair of binoculars in her hands.

‘You’re right,’ said Nick. ‘Come on, we can’t stay here.’

‘What are you going to do’ asked Harry Blane.

Nick turned. ‘That’s a very good question,’ he replied.

Just then there was a sudden noise. It was a car engine. Nick looked through the window again and saw the blue Renault. It was driving away. ‘They’re escaping’ he shouted.

‘What! Without me’ said Blane. ‘The dirty.!’

‘Quick, Blane,’ said Shelley. ‘Where are they going? Tell us.’ She pointed the gun at Blane’s head. ‘Now!’

Blane’s face went completely white. ‘OK, OK. They’re going to a small airport about twenty kilometres from here. They’re taking the diamonds to Morocco on a plane at nine o’clock.’

Nick looked at his watch. It was ten past eight. ‘Come on, Blane,’ he said. ‘We’re going to follow them, and you can show us the way.’

Ten minutes later Nick was driving as fast as he could along the narrow Spanish country roads.

In the back seat Shelley was still holding the gun. Blane was beside her with a rope round his hands. ‘The airport’s about two kilometres from here on the left,’ he said.

Then suddenly there was a loud noise behind them. Shelley turned. ‘Oh no,’ she said. ‘We’ve got trouble– Nick. It’s the police.’

Nick didn’t answer.

‘Well, aren’t you going to stop’ asked Shelley.

‘No,’ answered Nick. This is too important. We haven’t got the time.’

Shelley looked behind her again. Now there was a blue light on top of the police car and one of the men inside was talking on a radio. After a few seconds she said, ‘Is all this really happening?

I mean. I came to Europe for a rest and a holiday.’

Just then they turned a corner and Blane shouted, ‘There it is!’ In front of them was a big field. On one side of it there were several low, modern buildings. Next to one of them was the blue Renault and in the middle of the field was a small plane. It was already moving.

‘They’re going to escape,’ said Shelley.

‘Oh no they’re not,’ replied Nick. They were now driving across the field towards the plane. The police car was only a few metres behind them.

‘I’m going to drive in front of the plane, OK’ said Nick.

Blane looked at Shelley. His face was grey. Neither of them replied at first, then Shelley said, ‘Nick, are you sure that’s a good.?’

But it was already too late. The next moment the plane was almost on top of them. Shelley could see the pilot’s eyes. Then in a second everything changed.

The plane suddenly turned to the left, one of its wings hit the ground, and it crashed in a ball of orange fire.

At eleven o’clock the next day, Nick, Shelley, Clare and Jose Duero all arrived at the Prado Museum. Outside, several newspaper, radio and television reporters were waiting for them.

‘How do you feel, Ms Marn’ asked one of them.

‘Tired,’ replied Shelley, with a slow smile.

‘What happened after the plane crashed, Mr Harman? Can you tell us’ asked another.

‘Well,’ said Nick, ‘first, Shelley and I told the police our story. Then two fire engines arrived. A few minutes after that, one of the fire-fighters found the diamonds in the plane. That’s all, really.’

‘Harris and Drake died in the crash,’ the reporter continued, ‘but what about Blane? What’s going to happen to him?’

‘I don’t know,’ answered Nick. ‘That’s a question for the police. Now, please excuse us.’

Inside the museum Jose took Nick, Shelley and Clare to the second floor. There he showed them the Eyes of Montezuma, back in their glass case again.

For a moment nobody spoke. Then Shelley put her face next to the glass and said softly, ‘They are– beautiful!’

After that, Jose said to the Harmans and Shelley, ‘Come and have lunch with me at one of the best restaurants in Madrid.’

‘Thanks, Jose,’ said Clare. Then she turned to Shelley. ‘What time are you leaving for Zaragoza? Have you got time for lunch?’

‘Sure,’ said Shelley, and they all went out of the building through a back door.

Then she looked up at the hot, blue sky and half closed her eyes. ‘Oh, but my sunglasses are in the car,’ she said. ‘Just let me go and get them, OK?

Can you wait here a minute?’

‘Oh no,’ replied Clare. She took Shelley’s arm and laughed. ‘This time– Nick and I are coming with you.’