We stacked the skis and the two pairs of snow-shoes in the corner by the switchboard. Then we went out into the snow again and Mayne locked the door. We fought our way back in the teeth of the wind to the belvedere. Mayne paused at the entrance to the hut. ‘We’ll start work this afternoon,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, I’d be glad if you’d stick around the bar as far as possible, so that I can keep an eye on you.’
We went in then. The big room seemed warm. We shook the snow off our clothes and it melted in pools on the floor. Joe was at the bar. ‘Where the hell have you all been?’ he asked us. ‘And what’s the matter with Aldo? He’s even more stupid than usual. He’s broken two glasses and fumbled a bottle of cognac.’ Anna was laying the table. She gave us a scared look. The colour had drained out of her face and it no longer looked bright and cheerful. Joe ordered drinks and produced several rolls of film. ‘Some skiing shots,’ he grunted as we moved over to the bar. ‘Gives you some idea of the possibilities of the place.’ He handed them to Engles.
‘Where have you been doing your developing?’ Engles asked.
‘Out at the back, in the scullery,’ he said. ‘Cold as charity. But it’s got running water.’
Apparently he had heard nothing. Engles began running through the negatives. Mayne stood apart from us. It was strange, standing there drinking with someone who had heard nothing and was completely unaware that anything out of the ordinary had happened.
Engles suddenly stopped halfway through the second roll of film. ‘What’s this shot, Joe?’ he asked.
Joe leaned over and glanced at the celluloid. ‘Oh, that’s a picture I took the night we arrived. Good moonlight shot. Went out and took it from the trees at the edge of the slittovia. Good spooky stuff, isn’t it?’
‘Ye-es — it is.’ Engles was peering at it closely. ‘What’s he doing?’ He pointed to one of the negatives with his finger.
Joe looked at it over his shoulder. ‘Dunno,’ he said. ‘Seemed to be measuring something. Gives a bit of action to it. Matter of fact, that was why I went out.
ITS Wanted to get somebody moving around the place to give it a little life.’
‘Did he know you were taking pictures?’
‘Good Lord, no! Would have spoilt it. He wouldn’t have moved naturally.’
‘Good point.’ Engles passed the film across to me. ‘Nice shot there, Neil. Might give you an idea or two. Ought to have a moonlight episode in the script. Film very effectively.’
I took the length of film from his hands. His thumb was placed on one of the shots to indicate a figure bending down. I held the celluloid up to the light. It showed the whole front of the rifugio with its high snow-crusted gables, the great pine supports and, in the centre, the concrete housing of the slittovia machinery over which the hut had been built. The moonlight reflected white in the windows of the machine-room and outlined against them, was the figure of a man. It was not difficult to recognise that small, neat figure. It was Valdini.
I ran quickly down the strip of celluloid. He had his arms stretched out and made the motions of a man measuring the outside of the concrete housing. I could even see what appeared to be a measuring tape in his hands. Then he got to his feet and went round to the side of the building. The outside edge of the door suddenly appeared in the film and Valdini disappeared.
‘Not bad, eh?’ Engles said. ‘Might run through the rest of it. There are one or two good skiing shots on that one.’ He was looking through the third roll. I took the hint and ran through the rest of the film. Then I handed it back to Joe. ‘You’ve got some nice shots there,’ I said. ‘Have you finished with the other one?’ I asked Engles.
He handed it across to me. As he did so, he caught my eye. He was clearly excited. But he masked it by turning to Joe and beginning a long technical discussion on the merits of certain lighting and angles. And I was left wondering why a film shot of Valdini measuring a concrete wall should have aroused his interest.
It was a strange, tense lunch. Mayne sat apart from us at the opposite end of the table. He had searched our rooms, including Joe’s. He knew none of us had a gun. But he took no chances. Hardly a word was spoken throughout the meal. Mayne was excited, though he tried not to show it. The rest of us were busy with our thoughts; all except Joe. He began to recall the few ski pictures that had been made. But he desisted when he found that Engles was not interested. ‘What the hell’s the matter with you all?’ he demanded. ‘And why’s Mayne sitting up there as though he’s suffering from a contagious disease?’
‘Let it rest, Joe,’ Engles said. ‘We’ve had a row, that’s all.’
‘Oh. Valdini and the Contessa involved too?’
‘Yes. They’re feeding upstairs.’
He seemed satisfied with that and got on with his food in silence. It was difficult to believe that he did not even suspect that anything frightful had happened.
