The Mystery of Yamashita's Map

Chapter Nineteen

After a few days’ rest Joe was up and about ready for the trek homeward. He emerged from the hut where he had been sleeping under the watchful eye of Lisa only to be greeted by Fraser wearing the typical garb of the villagers. Joe could barely contain his amusement. ‘You’re not taking that back with you, are you?’ he asked.

‘No,’ Fraser replied.

‘That’s a relief. I would not want to go walking through the streets of Hong Kong with you dressed like that.’

‘I’m not coming back,’ Fraser said. ‘I’m tired of Hong Kong, of London, of New York. Those places are nothing to me anymore. I belong here, here in the jungle with my wives and Winthrope.’

‘But Winthrope’s not to be trusted. There are things about him that you don’t know.’

Joe longed to tell Fraser about his experience of a few nights before but thought better of it. ‘Just be careful is all I am saying. Jesus!’

Joe suddenly ducked behind Fraser. He had caught sight of Kono striding through the village looking for all the world like a giant. He strode up to Fraser and shook his hand.

‘The plane’s already packed with the bars and the Buddha.’

Joe came out from his hiding place. ‘The plane?’

‘Yes,’ Fraser explained. ‘The plane Kono and Tanaka came in on; it’s over the other side of the island. They’ve been waiting for you to get well enough to be able to fly it back. You have Kono to thank that you’re still here at all. If it wasn’t for him you’d be dead out in the jungle.’

Kono extended his hand but Joe, wary, recoiled. Fraser grabbed Joe’s arm and forced his hand into Kono’s, whereupon they both shook.

‘I guess I should say thanks.’

Kono seemed a little embarrassed at this. ‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘Let’s just say it was all part of the service.’

After packing what little things they had, the group prepared to say farewell to the village. Lisa hugged Fraser as they were about to leave.

‘Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?’ she asked, to which Fraser shrugged his shoulders.

‘Who knows?’ he said, and smiled.

The corporal led the way through the jungle to where the plane was moored just off the beach. Joe climbed in and began to check the instruments. He noticed there was a thin sheen of blood on some of them.

‘Tanaka’s doing,’ Kono explained.

‘He was some guy, that boss of yours,’ Joe said.

It was a squeeze getting the professor, Lisa, Kono and the gold into the plane but they managed it and the corporal shut the door, happy with the group’s promise to send another in a few days to pick him up and take him back to Japan. Joe started the engine and it started first time. They taxied along the water for a few metres and then began to pick up speed.

‘I have no idea if this tub is going to take off with all this weight,’ he said,

‘You’d better hold your breath.’

The plane coasted faster and faster until, with one mighty push it was launched into the air and flew up off into the early morning sky.

The trip out was, as is often the case, easier than the trip to the island. Kono kept everyone fascinated with tales of Tanaka and they laughed when they heard how they had all been tailed for weeks in a blue Nissan before they had set off. As they landed at the small harbour waterfront at the old Kai Tak airport they breathed a collective sigh of relief; their trip was finally over and they were looking forward to getting back to what they thought of as their nice simple lives.

Once they had taxied to the embarking area near the hangar where less than two weeks before had been the scene of their daring escape, they alighted and began to unload the plane. Kono disappeared and returned a minute later in the car that had once belonged to Tanaka and they busied themselves filling it with gold from the boxes and then gently placing the golden Buddha into the boot.

‘We should get that to the University first,’ the professor said. ‘Where we can conduct some research on it to find out exactly where it came from.’

Joe looked concerned.

‘We’ll get it home, Joe. Don’t worry, we’ll get it home.’

They all clambered into the back of the car and moved off into the airfield and then into the streets of Hong Kong. Kono drove at a steady pace, the first time he had done so in twenty years, and looked at the sights and the sounds of the city. He thought to himself how busy it seemed but also, somehow, how peaceful. The people here were just getting on with their own business, not harming anyone and — for the first time in many years — he had no desire to either. He glanced around, at the shops and the people, revelling in the sights and sounds of ordinary life. His thoughts were interrupted by a huge crash that made him instinctively look into his rear-view mirror. In it he saw a black Mercedes car with three men inside toting guns and grinning like devils. Every now and then they would ram them making them swerve and weave in the road.

Joe looked round and sighed. ‘Oh, they’re with me. You’d better lose them,’ he said and he felt the full force of acceleration take him, once again, into the streets of Hong Kong.