The Kiwi Target

time?”
    Kincaid revived a little. “It’ll be Lloyd. It will have to be someone high up, and the New Zealand project was his idea. He’ll be fed to the wolves in Congress.”
    The man was still not himself; his smooth, sometimes arrogant manner had entirely deserted him. Carefully he gathered his thoughts together. “You implied that there is a connection between Pricane and the Hong Kong people,” he said.
    Winston nodded. “Yes, that’s true. It’s a marriage of convenience to give the Hong Kong people a foothold in the United States and Pricane a base for operations in the Far East. That’s all I know at the moment.”
    Peter mercifully changed the topic. “What about the man thrown onto my car?”
    “Most tragic,” Winston said. “As I told you, he was an undercover officer. We tried to set him up as a New Zealand member of the Australian gang, presumably to help them with local knowledge and contacts. It’s obvious they weren’t fooled. My guess would be that they convinced him they were going to ambush your car and then lured him up above the road where they dealt with him.”
    “Why me?”
    “You were sent here to do a certain job, and they took advantage of it. We’re trying to trace their sources of information, but they knew who you were and that you worked for Swarthmore and Stone.”
    “Our survey team made some arrangements when it was here,” Kincaid said. “That may give you a clue.”
    It was Winston’s turn to be surprised. “Very kind of you to tell us that,” he said.
    “Self-protection, Superintendent. I don’t want to be accused of being an accessory to murder.”
    Winston nodded. “Very astute of you,” he conceded. “I’m sure the evidence, as we gather it, will bear you out. Peter, by throwing the constable’s body onto your car, the villains were able to concentrate a great deal of police attention on you and divert it from their own activities. They also showed us how they would treat any other informers. It cost a good man his life. For that they’re going to pay dearly.”
    “And the attack on my station?”
    “To get you out of the way in a spectacular manner. Unfortunately for them, there was a lady present who is very handy with a rifle. You see, Peter, by demonstrating their supposed power to do things and get away with it, they could impress potential members of their drug network—an old Mafia technique, I believe. In this instance they overlooked both the lady and the talents of an American footballer, to their very great cost.”
    “You buy the drug idea, then,” Peter said.
    “Oh, yes indeed. As it happens, Peter, you have a strong supporter for your theory. Constable Pettibone came to the same conclusions that you did and passed them on to me a day or two ago.”
    “Is something going to happen?”
    Winston stopped to look carefully at Kincaid and then at Peter.
    “You can count on that,” he said.

CHAPTER 32

    At an even, smooth five knots, the ocean-going yacht slid slowly through the water toward her mooring at the Bay of Islands. Even to those who had no interest in boats, she was beautiful; her trim, pointed bow sliced the water with hardly a ripple of bow wave, a tribute to the perfection of her design. In an easy, gentle turn she coasted up to her mooring and stopped beside it as though it were hers by some imperial right. Her crew made her fast and went through the routine of shutting her down and securing her, while owners and operators of lesser craft realized that her dignity and grace were beyond their resources.
    Four men came off her with an assortment of luggage. They loaded it onto a dolly they had brought with them and set off for the Duke of Marlborough, a little tired but relaxed after their time at sea.
    At the end of the pier one of the four, who was quite young, took two heavy suitcases off the dolly, unlocked a parked car, and put them in the rear seat area; they were too large to fit in the trunk of the small vehicle. Just in case anyone was watching— and in Russell that was close to a certainty—he shook hands with the others, stretched his body for a moment, and then climbed in behind the wheel. As the other three continued on toward the hotel, he started the engine easily and drove with proper care through the small town toward the road south.
    He was very much at ease. Everything had gone perfectly; even such possible contingencies as a failure of the car to start had been avoided. Now the success of the