"When I appeared at your door wearing the oak leaves of a major, you immediately figured I was one of Zacynthus' agents, whom he slipped into the act without Darius' knowledge. Unwittingly I added fuel to your suspicions by damn near coming out and accusing you of enginering the raid on Brady Field. I was getting warm, too warm to suit you, von Till. Your solution was to play Houdini and make me disappear. The risk of exposure was small, the chances were that my body, or what was left of it, would never be found in the labyrinth. By this time the girl caught on to the fact that she had made a terrible mistake. I really was an innocent bystander who really happened to be swimming on that particular beach at four in the morning. It was too late, the damage was done. She could do nothing but stand by helplessly and keep her mouth shut while you disposed of me."

Von Till looked thoughtful. "I think I see, I see indeed. You still assumed the girl was my niece, and you kidnapped her out of revenge."

"You're half right," Pitt came back. "Information was my other motive. When someone tries to kill me, I like to know why. Except for you, my only source for the answer was the girl. But Colonel Zeno appeared outside the labyrinth and put a crimp in my plan before I had a chance to question her. Even so, as matters turned out, I did Inspector Zacynthus a big favor."

"I fail to understand," Darius said icily.

"For Zacynthus the abduction was made to order; the girl's usefulness was over, and her life wasn't worth two cents. Somehow, he had to discreetly slip her away from the villa and off the island. As it turned out, I played into his hands and laid her at his feet on a silver platter. However, Zacynthus wasn't out of the woods yet. A new and totally unexpected pair of problems faced him: Giordino and myself. He knew we were out to get your scalp, and, as much as he liked the idea, he still had to stop us. Legally, he had no jurisdiction and couldn't detain us by force. So he did the next best thing and asked us to cooperate with INTERPOL. That way he could watch us like a hawk."

"You are quite correct, Major." Von Till ran a hand over his hairless pate, wiping the moisture from the gleaming skin. "I had every intention of killing the girl."

Pitt nodded. "I wondered why Zacynthus was so insistent that I keep Teri on board the First Attempt. She'd be safe from you, and could keep an eye on Giordino and me. It didn't dawn on me until this morning what game the girl was playing and whose side she was on."

Darius stared at Pitt in bleak puzzlement. "What goes on here, Major Pitt? You could not possibly have known all this."