Anne felt herself being picked up and then set down again inside the van. She heard the door close than felt the vehicle move. She tried to get a sense of what was happening and where she was going, but it seemed the driver was taking a circuitous route. All the while, she wondered what had gone wrong with. Was this Le Beau character the one Colbert was worried about, or did he not trust the two sleuths? All she was certain was the fact nothing would happen until she stopped.
In due course, the van stopped, the door opened and Anne was lifted from the van and onto her feet. She was led into a building and up a flight of stairs, where she was instructed by a male voice with an Australian accent. "One more step, luv, and you're through, " it assured her.
After a short walk, she was left in a room for several moments until she hears a door close and the blindfolds were removed. Until now Anne was unsure that she and Drea were still together, but to her relief, they were. They stood facing a desk, where a man nodded, at which, their gags were removed and their wrists freed.
"Sorry for the ropes and gags," the man said, "but they appeal to my sense of the melodramatic."
"You're Le Beau?" Anne asked.
"Quite so."
"Let's get to business." Drea said, in an unusually sharp tone.
Le Beau stood and walked around to the front of his desk. To the surprise of the two sleuths, he was not a tall man, shorter than either one.
"You want me to tell you how to smuggle a person, is that correct?" he said.
"That is the general idea." Anne put in.
"It is strange that people think it is so difficult to move a person form one place to another."
"I don't follow."
"You seek one Glenda Chaffe?"
"Yes." Drea said.
"Do you suppose she could have returned under a false name?" Le Beau asked. "Or perhaps flew to one of the other islands, the took an inter-island flight to Tahiti. I suppose you two could come up with some ways if you thought long enough."
"Such as landing in rubber raft at night on a deserted beach." Anne put in.
"Exactly."
"What about threat to Hieata?" Drea asked.
"I have no need to extort a ransom from Colbert." "Le Beau said. "I leave such matters to what you would call two bit hoodlums."
"Your terminology is a bit out of date." Drea said.
"I have said all I am about to say in the matter. You will leave the same way you arrived."
"Blindfolds only?"
"Sorry."
Drea and Anne made the return journey bound at the wrists, gagged, and blindfolded as before, the difference being they were untied on arrival. They walked into the office, where the were surprised to see Hieata with her wrists tied to the arms of a chair and white handkerchief wedged between her teeth and tied behind her head. "We didn't have enough people too keep constant watch on her." One man said by way of explanation.
Anne removed Hieata's gag and asked the inevitable question about her well-being.
"I'm quite well, thank you," the young Tahitian replied. "I am thirsty, though."
Drea drew some water from a nearby cooler, which Hieata gulped down quite rapidly.
"Did you learn anything helpful?" Hieata asked as they left.
"I'm afraid not." Drea replied.
"Looks like we'll have to some searching of the island." Anne commented.
"Within the context of our cover."
"Either way, it might help for you to meet some of my friends." Hieata explained.
Hieata led her two friends to her car and drove to another establishment, practically on the other side of Papeete. The Debernard twins were there, along with a familiar face from Drea and Anne's flight. Turia was the flight attendant who had doted them during the flight. She was pleased to get to know the two on a personal basis. Vitea was also present, but with a blonde woman of about Anne's height, who was introduced as Erika de Veirs. She was in her mid to late twenties and like her companion, was wrapped in a pareau. "I am working on a photo book about French Polynesia," she said in an accent of her native Holland. "How do you know Hieata?"
"We're friends of hers from her time in Hawaii." Drea explained.
"Vitea told us about what happened to your pearls, Hieata." Monique said.
"Terrible, how terrible." Madeleine added.
"Perhaps Drea and Anne here could help out." Erika said.
"What do you mean by that?" Anne asked.
"I talked with the girls who were bound." Vitea said. "They said you spoke with Inspector Mathis."
"Would you, by any chance, work for the Hawaiian police?" Erika asked.
"I assure you, neither of us works for any police agency in Hawaii." Drea said cautiously.
"Don't be so rude, Erika." Madeleine said. "I'm sure Drea and Anne don't want to hear any strange questions."
The rest of the conversation turned to talk of local activities and things to see. Erika wanted to not only photograph the people of the islands, but the plants, animals and geographic features as well. During the course of the conversation, they discovered an interesting coincidence: not only had Erika studied in the States, she attended the University of Los Angeles, as had Drea and Anne. Vitea had also studied at ULA, but left after two years, as she found the place to be dull.
"That's one reason I took the job as a diver," she explained. "It's far more exciting than oh, any other work than I can think of."
That drew a laugh from her companions. "What will you be doing tomorrow?" Anne asked.
"Helping Erika with her camera equipment." Vitea replied.
After the group broke up for the evening, Hieata asked what the detective had planned for the next day. "I think we should pursue the isolated beach angle," Anne said, "someplace the tourists don't usually go."
"Very well." Hieata said. "I can make the arrangements."
"Once around the island would take most of the day." Drea observed.
"Hieata, could you arrange a picnic lunch for us?" Anne asked.
"Yes." Hieata replied.
"That settles it, then."
The trio made careful preparations before setting out the next morning. Drea and Anne glanced at a map before they gathered up their gear. Hieata once again wrapped herself in a parerau, but her two guests stuck with their shorts. Anne explained their decision by displaying her Swiss Army knife and stating she liked to have close at hand. Hieata nodded in understanding.
On arrival at the dock, Drea and Anne encountered two surprises. The first was that Colbert's boat was smaller than expected, with a galley and single cabin, suitable for day trips and short hauls. A teak diving platform was attached to the stern. The other surprise was Taureau. He stood in the cockpit in very brief Speedo swim trunks, the fabric of which seemed to be under tremendous strain. His shoulders reminded of a football lineman she had dated in college. All his muscles; thighs, abs, chest, and arms looked as if there were of chiseled marble. Anne couldn't resist a jibe at Drea: "Your tounge'll get sunburned if it stays out like that. Besides, weren't you the one who said ball huggers were for guys who aren't certain about their masculinity?"
"No, I remember Jason saying that." Drea returned. As a fire department paramedic, Jason Forrester was required to rush into burning buildings or climb cliffs, yet he somehow lacked the nerve to propose marriage to Anne.
"Taureau is very good with vehicles of all kinds." Hieata explained. "He also has a personal motive for helping us. His sister was one of the girls tied up yesterday."
"How good is he with a boat?" Anne asked.
"His father was a sailor. He settled here, bought a fishing boat and married a local girl. You could say Taureau grew up on that fishing boat."
Anne helped to cast off and Taureau fired up the engine. He certainly steered the boat with the same ease and skill as he drove a car. What was more, with Taueau at the helm, an extra pair of eyes was available to scan the shore or look for a possible hostile boat. Drea had a notebook and jotted down details of the various beaches. The first ones they encountered were close to Papeete and were clearly tourist beaches. What Drea and Anne wanted were the small isolated ones that only locals used, even sparingly.
One such beach attracted their attention. It was about half the size of a football field, with what appeared to be a cave or tunnel behind it. Also, a boat was anchored about one hundred yards off shore. "It doesn't appear to be anybody aboard," Drea observed, "but there's no "diver down" flag."
"Unfortunately, not all people use them." Hieata observed. She was already undoing the knot on her pareau.
Taureau had already shut off the motor when Hieata donned her dive mask. She stepped up onto the teak platform and stepped into the water. While Hieata poked around underwater, Anne asked Taureau about a rubber raft. One was indeed aboard, and soon had it out. Drea was still working the foot pump when Hieata came aboard and reported no divers were below.
"Let's get this raft in the water." Anne said. She and Drea climbed into the tiny craft and with the help of two paddles. To their chagrin, they discovered Hieata made better time by swimming over. The boat was much like Hieata's except it was much older and made of wood, in stark contrast to the more modern fiberglass and aluminum boats. A set of scuba gear --tank, regulator, buoyancy compensator, mask, and fins-sat in the cockpit. .
"This is getting more bizarre." Drea said.
"We need to check things out on shore." Anne said.
Soon the daring detectives were paddling ashore. They pulled the raft onto the beach so the tide would not take it. They walked into the cave and let their eyes adjust the gloom. Slowly, a figure took the shape of a woman. Her wrists and ankles were bound A blue and white bandana was wound about her eyes. A red and white bandanna held a white handkerchief in place. Considering the fact she wore a Day-Glo orange bikini with a stringy bottom and bandeau top. She's got more cloth above the neck than below it. Drea thought as Anne undid the gag.
The two sleuths' faces showed surprise when they recognized the fact. "Turia?!" they chorused in disbelief.