ویلایی نزدیک تولدو

CHAPTER TWO

A villa near Toledo

Two days later in the Harmans’ Madrid flat, Clare turned on the radio while she was making breakfast. ‘Hurry up!’ she shouted to Nick in the bedroom. ‘We’re going to be late.’

‘OK, OK, I know… but I can’t find my shoes,’ replied Nick’s voice.

Clare smiled. ‘There’s always something,’ she thought.

Just then the radio news began. At first Clare didn’t listen very carefully, but suddenly…

‘Last night two of Spain’s most famous and expensive diamonds disappeared from the Prado Museum. The diamonds - the Eyes of Montezuma - were in a special glass case on the museum’s second floor. Police have begun…’

Nick walked into the kitchen with a pair of shoes in one hand. ‘I’ve found them,’ he said. Then he saw Clare’s face and stopped. She was pointing at the radio. ‘What is it?’ he asked.

‘Someone’s stolen the Eyes of Montezuma,’ Clare replied quietly. ‘Listen.’

‘… only ten days ago,’ the voice on the radio continued. ‘Before that they were in the Montalban family for two hundred years. And now the sports news…’

Clare got up and turned off the radio. ‘When did it happen?’ asked Nick. He sat down and put on his shoes.

‘Last night,’ Clare answered. ‘Strange, isn’t it? We were talking about them only two days ago on the ship. Now…’

Nick looked at his watch. ‘Oh no, we really are going to be late. Come on, you can tell me the story in the car.’

The Countess of Montalban’s eighteen-year-old grandson, Jose Duero, was one of Nick’s students that morning. After the lesson Nick said, ‘I heard about your grandmother’s diamonds, Jose. It’s terrible. Have you had any news?’

Jose looked at his hands sadly. ‘No, not a word, Mr Harman,’ he said. ‘They’ve gone, and we’re never going to see them again… I’m sure of it.’ He lifted his face and looked at Nick. ‘You know,’ he continued, ‘my grandmother really loved the Eyes of Montezuma. Only a month ago she told me, “One day I want to give them to the people of Spain”.’ He stopped for a second and looked down again. ‘That was the last time I saw her alive.’

Later that afternoon Nick had to give a lesson outside Madrid. On the way back he stopped because he needed some petrol. While he was waiting to pay, a man came out of the supermarket across the street. He was tall, fat and had dark hair. ‘Where have I seen him before?’ thought Nick. ‘A student? No. Did he work at the hospital with Clare? No.’ At that moment the man looked up at the sky, then put on a pair of sunglasses. Suddenly Nick remembered. ‘You were the one behind the wheel of Shelley Marn’s car!’ he thought. Yes, he was sure of it. Quickly he paid and walked outside.

Just then a blue Renault stopped a few metres in front of the dark-haired stranger. The door opened and a woman’s voice called, in English, ‘Don’t just stand there, you fool. Let’s go.’ The car began to move, and then Nick saw something. On the back seat there was a bag with the letters U.C.L.A. on the side. The University of California in Los Angeles… Shelley’s university.

‘I don’t like this,’ thought Nick. ‘I don’t like this at all.’ He began to walk towards a telephone box, but stopped. No, there wasn’t time to call the police. He turned, ran back to his car and started the engine. There was only one answer. He had to follow the blue Renault.

Nick’s journey ended one hour later on a quiet country road near Toledo. The blue Renault stopped in front of a pair of heavy metal gates. There was a high wall on both sides of them, and a sign on the gates said ‘KEEP OUT’. Quickly Nick stopped, too, and turned off his engine. He was two hundred metres behind the other car, but he could see everything. After a few seconds the gates slowly opened, the Renault drove inside, then the gates closed again. Nick looked at the ‘KEEP OUT’ sign. Now what? Back to Madrid? Call the police? ‘No,’ he said softly. ‘Not yet.’

He got out of the car and walked towards the metal gates.

Through them, in the gold evening light, he could see an old, dark villa. It looked empty. Then he noticed a small building made of wood in the villa’s garden. It had a big lock on the door and several broken windows. He could see something through one of them. Was it a small square of yellow? Yes, it was.

Carefully he climbed the wall and jumped into the garden. Inside he stopped, looked left and right, then ran quickly towards the small building. There he stopped again. The only sound he could hear was the wind in the trees. Then, very slowly, he lifted his head and looked through one of the broken windows. Inside he saw the yellow Fiat and, on the ground next to it, Shelley Marn. There were ropes round her hands, feet and mouth.

Quickly Nick found a heavy rock and broke the lock on the door. Then he went inside and, with some glass from one of the broken windows, began to cut the American girl free.

‘Oh, I am very happy to see you,’ she said a minute later. ‘But how…?’

‘That’s not important,’ said Nick. He began to cut the last rope round her feet. ‘Tell me quickly. What happened on the ship?’

‘Well,’ said Shelley. ‘I was getting my bag from the car when I heard voices… English voices. They were talking about a museum. Then one of them said something about stealing “the eyes”.’

‘The Eyes!’ repeated Nick, and put down the piece of glass for a second. ‘Now I understand.’

‘That’s when they noticed me,’ Shelley continued. ‘Then everything happened really quickly. A big man in sunglasses suddenly appeared. He had a gun and pointed it at me and said, “She’s heard too much. We can’t let her go.” After that someone hit me from behind and everything went black. Then I woke up here.’ She closed her eyes. ‘It’s all like a bad dream.’

‘Well, don’t worry. It’s nearly over,’ said Nick, and cut the last rope. ‘There. Can you stand up? OK, we’re going to…’

‘You’re not going to do anything,’ said a man’s voice. Nick and Shelley turned. In the open door there was a tall, dark shadow against the evening sky. It was the driver of the Renault and he had a gun in his hand.