“No? You surprise me. You’re a man of very cool temperament, I must say, and I’m beginning to understand why Hebel thought you might be the right chap for the job.”

“I’ll be all right,” I said. “I have a friend coming with me to make sure everything goes smoothly.” And then, just to scare him a little, I flipped open the glove box and let him see the Sig that was in there.

“Christ, is that thing loaded?”

“Of course it’s loaded. Without bullets guns are only good as paperweights.”

“What I mean is, you wouldn’t use that unless you had to, would you?” he said. “Unless your own life was in danger.”

I grinned and lit a cigarette. “The other night you were in favor of me killing him, Mr. Maugham.”

“I was. Still am. But not in cold blood. I suggested a car accident. I certainly didn’t want you to kill him immediately after coming here to the villa. How would that look to the police? Besides, you said yourself he may have taken the precaution of lodging some kind of letter with a local lawyer that incriminates me, and perhaps even you.”

“The gun’s just an edge that he’s not expecting,” I said. “You see, it’s his gun. I searched his room at the Grand Hôtel just before I came here and found it in his drawer. Which answers your question about how trustworthy he is. The man is a criminal.” I glanced at my wristwatch and then back at Robin and Alan in the doorway. “You’d best make up your mind, sir. Do you want one of them to come or not?”

“Would it make a difference?”

“Not if I really was planning to take off with the money, no. Best they both stay here out of harm’s way. Believe me, I know a lot about harm’s way. It turns sharp left off the road to Shitsville when you’re least expecting it.”