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There was a pause The et was now Scaraa "But, Mister S How can this have come about? How can you possibly have let it arrive? My Zentrale is due but for the watchfulness ofthe very full report How is it that you arehim efen into the centre of The Group? The details, pliss, Mister S The full accounting My superiors will be expressing sharp criticisainst the eneainst a box He could i routine The voice, when it came, was decisive, uncowed "Mr Hendriks, I appreciate your outfit's concern about this and I congratulate them on their sources of information But you tell your Central this: I ht so at the ti about how it happened It hasn't been easy to set up this conference and I needed help I had to get two ers in a hurry froood job, right? The floor staff and all the rest I had to get froston But what I really needed was a kind of personal assistant who could be around towent smoothly Personally, I just couldn't be bothered with all the details When this guy dropped out of the blue, he looked all right to me So I picked him up But I'm not stupid I knew that when this shoas over I'd have to get rid of hi he shouldn't have Now you say he's aof this conference that I eat these people for breakfast when I have a : he'll die today instead of to to happen"

Scaraa lowered his voice Now Bond could only hear disjointed words The sweat ran down frolass "Our train triprats in the caneunfortunate accidentbefore I do itone hell of a shockdetails to a ain Now his voice was noruy by this evening Okay? I could get it over with now by just opening the door But two blown fuses in two days ossip around here And this way there'll be a heap of fun for everyone on the picnic"

Mr Hendriks' voice was flat and uninterested He had carried out his orders, and action was about to follow, definitive action There could be no co out orders He said, "Yes What you are proposing will be satisfactory I shall observe the proceedings with e My superiors are wishing to know that everything is in order"

"Yes Everything's in order at Reynolds Metal, Kaiser Bauxite, and Alumina of Jamaica But your stuffs plenty --what do they call it?--volatile Got to be replaced in the demolition chambers every five years Hey," there was a dry chuckle, "I sure snickered when I saw that the how-to-do-it labels on the drulish Ready for the big black uprising, huh? You better warn me about The Day I hold some pretty vulnerable stocks on Wall Street"

"Then you'll lose a lot of money," said Mr Hendriks flatly "I shall not be told the date I do not mind I hold no stocks You would be wise to keep your e stamps And now the next matter It is of interest to reat quantity of narcotics You have a source for the supply of ganja, oryour supplies in pound weight I a whether you can sti the weed by the hundredweight It is suggested that you then run shipe for collection froa would be s his thin cheroot He said, "Yeah, I think we could swing that But they've just put soh jail sentences, see? So the godda price today is sixteen pounds an ounce A hundredweight of the stuff could cost thousands of pounds And it's darned bulky in those quantities My fishing boat could probably only ship one hundredweight at a tiet those quantities ashore A pound or two is difficult enough"

"I a told the destinations I assume it is for Aest consuen told that this area is full of slers The money is of no importance I have instructions to make an initial outlay of a million dollars, but at keenyour usual ten percent commission Is it that you are interested?"

"I'm always interested in a hundred thousand dollars I'll have to get in touch with rowers They have their plantations in the Maroon country That's in the centre of the island This is going to take tiive you a quotation in about teeks--a hundredweight of the stuff fob the Pedro Cays Okay?"

"And a date? The Cays are very flat This is not stuff to be left lying about, isn't it?"

"Sure Sure Now then Any other business? Okay Well, I've got so up This casino lark Now, this is the picture The government is tempted They think it'll stimulate the tourist industry But the heavies-- the boys ere kicked out of Havana, the Vegas o, the whole works--didn't take the measure of these people before they put the heat on And they overplayed the slush fund approach--put toopockets Guess they should have employed a public relations outfit Jaht they could hurry through a neat little operation like the Nassau job But the opposition party got wise, and the Church, and the old wo over in Jamaica, the old Cosa Nostra and all that crap, and the boys lost out Remember ere offered an in coupla years back? That hen they saas a bust and wanted to unload their promotion expenses, coupla ainst and gave ed Different party in power, bit of a tourist slump last year, and a certain ed Independence has coot out froland Want to show that Jamaica's with it Got ooa off the pad here He told me how and it makes sense Before, I said stay out Now I say co to cost money Each of us'll have to chip in with a hundred thousand bucks to give local encourageet the franchise The deal is that they'll put us in for five percent--but off the top Get ures, and they're not loaded, our juice should have been earned in eighteen ravy Get the picture? But your, er, friends, don't seem too keen on these, er, capitalist enterprises How do you figure it? Will they ante up? I don't want for us to go outside for the green And, as fro a shareholder Cooin' to rope in as Nuame for now"

Jalass with his handkerchief It was almost unbearable He had heard his own death sentence pronounced, the involvea and the Caribbean spelled out, and such e of the bauxite industry,politics thrown in It was a ence He had the ball! Could he live to touch doith it? God, for a drink! He put his ear back to the hot base of the glass

There was silence When it came, the voice of Hendriks was cautious, indecisive He obviously wanted to say "I pass"--with the corollary, "until I've talked to my Zentrale, isn't it?"

He said, "Mister S Is difficult pizzness, yes? My superiors are not disliking the profitable involve the pizzness that has the political objective It was on these conditions that they instructed me to ally myself with your Group The money, that is not the proble casinos in Ja"

"It'll almost certainly lead to trouble The locals'll want to play--they're terrific gamblers here There'll be incidents The native's will be turned away from the doors for one reason or another Then the opposition party'll get hold of that and raise hell about colour bars and so on With all the h the roof It can all add up to a fine stink The atmosphere's too da plenty of hell That's what your people want, isn't it? Give the islands the hot foot one after another?"

There was another brief silence Mr Hendriks obviously didn't like the idea He said so, but obliquely: "What you are saying, Mister S, is very interesting But is it not that these troubles you envisage will endanger our monies? However, I will report your inquiry and inform you at once It is possible that ? Now there is this question of a new Nu anyone in ood uy to oversee our operations in British Guiana We oughta get sot further with that great sche a blind iven a suitable block ship Just the threat of it would make the oil coo on shelling by way of protection Then, if this narcotics spiel is going to be important, we can't do without Mexico How about Mr Arosio of Mexico City?"

"I areat guy Runs the Green Light Transportation Systeht yet Reliable operator Got no affiliates Your people'll know about him Why not check with the with our say-so"

"Is good And now, Mister S Have you anything to report about your own employer? On his recent visit to Moscow, I understand that he expressed satisfaction with your efforts in this area It is a ratification that there should be such close cooperation between his subversive efforts and our own Both our chiefs are expecting much in the future froerella is undoubtedly a valuable link, but it isactivated by ?"

"You've said it, Mr Hendriks In the opinion of my chief, the Mafia's first and only consideration is the Mafia It has always been so and it alill be so My Mister C is not expecting great results in the States Even the Mafia can't buck the anti-Cuban feeling there But he thinks we can achieve plenty in the Caribbean by giving them odd jobs to do They can be very effective It would certainly oil the wheels if your people would use the Mafia as a pipeline for this narcotics business They'll turn your rab the nine out of it, of course But that's not peanuts, and it'll tie theive Leroy G soets hoht Flora was a body-blow, but, largely thanks to the A on Cuba the way they do, he's kept the country together If the A and so forth, perhaps even o out of the little man I don't often see hiuess But I get all the cooperation I need froo see if the folks are ready to move It's eleven-thirty and the Belle of Bloody Bay is due to be on her way at twelve Guess it's going to be quite a fun day Pity our chiefs aren't going to be along to see the liet his chips"