“He is a terrible danger to Ming now. And something has got to be done about that.”

“Even if, as you suggest, Wentworth was carefully telling me exactly what he wanted me to know?”

“Yes, even so. A man as close to Ming as Wentworth seems to be—and even that is moot, isn’t it?—is in the hands of the enemy, and has been cross-examined by a man Ming knows is an enemy of some merit. Ming has to know what happened. He has to arrange for him to be rescued, if that’s the word.”

“Let’s play games. Tell me just how he’d do it?”

Bonelli said promptly: “By the oldest method of all. He’d burst in here with a dozen armed men, and he’d find Wentworth, and he’d grab him, and he’d be gone before we knew what had hit us. You said yourself that speed is the only thing that counts in a case like this. The way you got Wentworth—that’s the way Ming would get him, fast in, fast out again. Only he’d have a dozen men with guns to back him up.”

“Then I suppose you’ve already taken some sort of precautions against that possibility?”

Bonelli was not the kind of man to sit back and let the tides wash over him. On the surface, perhaps, he was; but a man doesn’t reach the degree of success that Bonelli enjoyed without a certain toughness, latent or not; not in these rackets and in this place.

He smiled slightly, as though I’d found out his little secret, and said smoothly, not bothering to apologize about it: “Of course, Mr. Cain. I have instructed Ericeira that, at the first sign of any trouble, he is to tell just where Wentworth is. If necessary, he’ll lead them right to him.”

I said mildly: “Markle Hyde spoke very highly of your friendship with him.”

He shrugged. “Yes, indeed, there’s almost nothing I wouldn’t do for him. But I’m not going to have my gaming tables raked with machine-gun fire, Mr. Cain. I have a duty to my customers as well. Of course, if I agreed entirely with what you are doing...”

“I half-assumed that you did.”

“Not completely. You are dangling a piece of bait for a mouse, but you are hoping to catch a rat, and that doesn’t really make sense, wouldn’t you agree?”

I sighed. Perhaps I’d counted too much on Bonelli. I said: “Well, at least I’m glad you told me.”

He inclined his head a trifle, over graciously, and said politely: “I could hardly do less, could I? So, whatever plans you have for Wentworth, you’d better put them into execution soon.”

I said: “I just want to hold him for a few hours, long enough for Ming to decide that he’d better play it my way.”

He frowned.

I said gently: “I told Ming where I was holding Wentworth, that I’d trade a body for a talk. I sent him a message.”

For a moment, he stared at me, horrified. “You told him?”

“Yes indeed. He’d have found out in time, but I prefer not to wait unnecessarily. I’m sorry about your nice teak door.”

“My God.” He thought for a while and burst out: “Cain, you’re impossible! I wondered how he located his man so quickly! After all, I have always regarded this building as quite...secure.”

I really was sorry he was so upset. I said: “Until I know just where Sally Hyde is, I can only regard every hour as another hour of acute danger for her. So...”

He threw up his hands with a gesture of resignation. The phone rang and he turned to look at it, worried. He waved his delicate wrist and looked at his watch and murmured: “At this hour? That’s a special line.”

“A special line?”

He nodded, reaching for it. “Nobody knows the number except...Markle Hyde...”

He hesitated, looking at me, and I said gently: “It’s Ming.”

It was, too.

Bonelli took the phone, listened for a moment, and then said: “Yes, he’s here. But first I want to speak to Markle Hyde.” I looked a question, but Bonelli paid me no attention. He listened again and said sharply: “Yes, I know you are. We were expecting to hear from you, and he’s here. But first...I want to speak with Mr. Hyde.” He waited a long time, looked at me with an expression of exasperation, and handed me the phone.

I took it and said: “I’m glad my message reached you, Ming Sin-san.”

The voice at the other end was surprisingly cultured. Somehow I’d been expecting something quite different. It said very slowly, very low, very carefully: “Am I talking to Mr. Cabot Cain?”

“You are indeed.”

“Then listen carefully, Mr. Cain. I understand that Mr. Wentworth is still alive, in spite of the recent attempt on his life. I understand you’ve been talking with him, and I want to know just what he told you. I want to know now, and at any price. So, whatever your price is, I’m prepared to pay it. If you were quoted correctly, your price is merely conversation, is that correct?”

“The answer to a few questions. Where are you?”

“Bonelli will tell you that.” He sounded amused. He said: “Come here now, and we’ll talk. I won’t ask you to come alone, because I do not really think you’d do that. Bring Wentworth with you, all right?”

I covered the mouthpiece with my hand and asked Bonelli: “He’s at your house? With Markle Hyde?”

He said urgently: “Yes, but you can’t go there.”

I said: “I’ll come without him, Ming Sin-san. Quite alone. I’ll send him to you after we’ve talked, if I think that’s a good idea.”

I could hear the chuckle at the other end. “All right, I suppose that’s fair enough. Will you come now?”

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” I put the phone down and said to Bonelli: “Will you go just a little further with me?”

He said stubbornly: “Ming doesn’t want Wentworth, Cain. He wants you. You’re not safe on the streets, so how do you think you’ll manage face to face with him in a private house?”

I must confess that the prospect was not too exhilarating, but it was a question of alternatives and there just weren’t any.

I said: “Why would he go to Markle Hyde?”

“That’s what I want to know.” He was frowning, his mind nibbling at an unpleasant problem. He said: “Markle Hyde for Wentworth? Is that what he’s up to? Or is Markle Hyde already dead? The enmity between those two is unbelievable.”

“And yet Hyde has taken no pains, apparently, to protect himself while he’s here. All I saw at your house were two guards. Against Ming he’d need an army. That can only mean that he knows he’s in no danger himself, not of that sort anyway.”

Bonelli looked at me, puzzled. I told him: “All this started because Ming wanted to get at Hyde through his daughter. Vendetta. Just killing him off wasn’t enough, you remember? He caused the death of his son and tried the same thing with the daughter. It’s essential for him that Hyde remain alive to see just what happens to Sally. And Hyde knows that. He told me so in almost as many words.”

Bonelli said thoughtfully: “Yes, perhaps, though you may be reaching for a conclusion you hope is the right one. And there’s no reason for him to favor you with the same treatment, is there?”

“No, I suppose not. It’s a nasty business.”

“Then you won’t go?”

“I must. But you didn’t answer my question.”

“A little further? Yes, I’ll go a little further. What is it you want?”

“While I’m gone, that’s the time Ming will try to get Wentworth. I suggest you get every one of Ericeira’s men together and mount a really heavy guard.”