The Vivero Letter

Mrs. Halstead was already at the pool, looking very fetching in a one-piece suit. I dumped the steel bottles and the harness by the side of the pool and walked over to where she was sitting. A flunkey in white coat appeared from nowhere and said something fast and staccato in Spanish, and I shrugged helplessly and appealed to her. 'What's he saying?'

She laughed. 'He wants to know if we'd like something to drink.'

That's not a bad idea. Something long and cold with alcohol in it.'

'I'll join you.' She rattled away in Spanish at the servant who went away. Then she said. 'I haven't thanked you for what you've done for Paul, Mr. Wheale. Everything has happened so quickly -- I really haven't had time to think.'

There's nothing to thank me for,' I said. 'He just got his due.' I refrained from saying that the real reason I had brought Halstead into it was to keep him close where I could watch him. I wasn't too happy about husband Paul; he was too free with his accusations and his temper was trigger-quick. Somebody had been with Niscemi when Bob had been killed and though it couldn't have been Halstead that didn't mean he had nothing to do with it. I smiled pleasantly at his wife. 'Nothing to it,' I said.

'I think it was very generous -- considering the way he behaved.' She looked at me steadily. 'Don't take any notice of him if he becomes bad-tempered again. He's had . . . had disappointments. This is his big chance and it plays on his nerves.'

'Don't worry,' I said soothingly. Privately I was certain that if Halstead became unpleasant he would get a quick bust on the moot. If I didn't sock him then Fallon would, old as he was. It would be better if I did it, being neutral, then this silly expedition would be in less danger of breaking up.

The drinks arrived -- a whitish concoction in tall frosted glasses with ice tinkling like silver bells. I don't know what it was but it tasted cool and soothing. Mrs. Halstead looked pensive. She sipped from her glass, then said tentatively, 'When do you think you will leave for Yucatan?'

'Don't ask me. It depends on the experts up there.' I jerked my head towards the house. 'We still don't know where we're going yet.'

'Do yon think the trays have a riddle -- and that we can solve it?'

'They have -- and we will,' I said economically. I didn't tell her I thought I had the solution already. There was an awful lot I wasn't telling Mrs. Halstead -- or anybody else.

She said, 'What do you think Fallon's attitude would be if I suggested going with you to Yucatan?'

I laughed. 'He'd blow his top. You wouldn't have a chance.'

She leaned forward and said seriously, 'It might be better if I went. I'm afraid for Paul.'

'Meaning what?'

She made a fluttery gesture with her hand. 'I'm not the catty kind of woman who makes derogatory statements about her own husband to other men,' she said. 'But Paul is not an ordinary man. There is a lot of violence in him which he can't control -- alone. If I'm with him I can talk to him; make him see things in a different way. I wouldn't be a drag on you -- I've been on field trips before.'

She talked as though Halstead were some kind of a lunatic needing a nurse around him all the time. I began to wonder about the relationship between these two; some marriages are awfully funny arrangements.

She said, 'Fallon would agree if you put it to him. You could make him.'

I grimaced. 'I've already twisted his arm once. I don't think I could do it again. Fallon isn't the man who likes to be pushed around.' I took another pull at the drink and felt the coolness at the back of my throat. 'I'll think about it,' I said finally.

But I knew then that I'd put the proposition to Fallon -- and make him like it. There was something about Katherine Halstead that got at me, something I hadn't felt about a woman for many years. Whatever it was, I'd better keep it bottled up, this was no time for playing around with a married woman -- especially one married to a man like Paul Halstead.

'Let's see what the water's like,' I suggested, and got up and walked to the edge of the pool.

She followed me. 'What have you brought that for?' she asked, indicating the scuba gear.

I told her, then said, 'I haven't used it for quite some time so I thought I'd check it. Have you done any scuba diving?'

'Lots of times,' she said. 'I spent a summer in the Bahamas once, and spent nearly every day in the water. It's great fun.'

I agreed and settled down to checking the valves. I found that everything was working and put on the harness. As I was swilling the mask out with water she dived into the pool cleanly, surfaced and splashed at me. 'Come in,' she called.