Towards the end of the meal, Andrew passed a half empty bottle of wine to Percy, who had been studying the walls of the cave and checking them off against his memories of his grandfather's travel footage, that he had seen when he was six years old.

"Pour yourself a drink. It's still quite fresh."

"Fresh enough to spike," returned the Sneaky Spy.

"I haven't spiked it," said Andrew, as Percy picked up the bottle with his hand closing over its open neck.

"Then let's see you drink some first," said Percy, and poured some of the wine into the other man's glass.

"Alright then, if I have to prove it to you I will, but you'll need all the drink you can get to stay fit and healthy."

Andrew Sterling drank the contents of his glass, and returned to his ham.

"Alright, I'll have some," said Percy, "but I want to finish the ham first. The tastes don't mix too well for my palate, Andrew .... err, Andrew."

Andrew had closed his eyes, and was definitely asleep in his chair. 

Percy turned to Donna and smiled.

"You know, my darling, it's not that I didn't trust Andrew. I just don't like drinking alcohol."

"But Percy, why would he spike his own wine and then drink it himself?"

"I spiked his wine. I brought a tiny sealed capsule with a powerful sleeping drug in it, and carried it inside my wetsuit along with my usual portable items of weaponery such as my knives, which they had already found and confiscated. I saw that half-empty bottle on the table when I woke up, and I just now managed to get the capsule out and break the seal without Sterling noticing. I had the capsule hidden in my hand when I picked up the bottle by the neck. The rest was easy. Now quickly, help me position the table over near that small crack in the cave wall."

They turned the table on its side, and dragged it over to Percy's designated spot. Then they stood behind it, and Percy put his right hand behind his back and felt about for the crack in the wall. He heard Andrew's criminal quartet approaching, as he slid his hand into the crack.

"They're coming to investigate the noise, Donna. Stay down behind the table until the fun's over."

Percy looked up as high as he could, and stared into the darkness at the top of the cave, and then lowered his gaze as Dark Hair and the other three entered the cave.

"What did you do to Andrew?"

Percy ignored the man's gun, and decided to answer the question in a manner which was suitable for four naughty ones.

"Well I told him that I did not like the taste of his wine. I think it sort of hurt his feelings. So he decided to sleep it off."

"Get rid of that table, or we'll move in and shoot around it."

Within the crack in the cave wall, Percy's hand had been wriggling around, until it found what it had been seeking. The hand then gave the item a tug, and Percy demonstrated an astounding degree of self discipline, by resisting the temptation to stare up at the nets which fell down onto the four men. 

He rapidly removed his hand and picked up the table with both hands, using it as a shield against any bullets which might yet emerge from the guns held by the four men in the nets.

"Stay behind the table, Donna, and I'll walk us around out of here."

He led the girl over to the lower lip, which led out to an easy climb down the mountain. Percy chose to remain. Ingrid still had to be found. He located a spare gun in another  cave, and issued an ultimatum.

"The last man with a gun still in his hand is a dead man."

They dropped their guns, and Donna collected them all, and then the two held the others at gunpoint.

"Okay Dark Hair, it was you who turned the flashlight on us last night. So I shall give you the first opportunity of answering my questions. Where is Ingrid Castlecove?"

"The joke's on you, Mister, because she's not here. Andrew ain't stupid. Do you reckon we'd make a ransom demand and then keep all our eggs in the one basket? No way. She's on another island due two nautical miles south east, and just as small and unnoticeable as this one."

"How much fuel's in that helicopter? No lies, or we can take it out just far enough to drop you lot in the ocean blue."

"It's fully loaded. We fill it up with spare fuel which we store on the island."

With that piece of knowledge in his possession, Percy had only one option. He found some rope and tied all of them up, including Andrew Sterling. He and Donna were soon in the helicopter flying in a south eastern direction, still in search of Ingrid Castlecove.

"How did you know about those nets?"

"The natives rigged up a clever mechanism decades ago, and my grandfather was very friendly when he met them in his travels. There aren't any natives on Smiling Island now, but they shared their secret with my grandfather, and said that it was always there if they needed to surprise any 'very bad men.'  The island has rarely been visited or explored. A documentary once mentioned its name, but it hasn't been charted on a map yet. The place where we were standing had no net above it. Island natives aren't even half as stupid and primitive as some people think they are."

"And the nets were so high up, and the lever so well hidden, that you would have to know about them, to be able to use them."

"That's the beauty of it. The naughty quintet have been using that island cave for a while now, and they never knew about it, because the nets were concealed up in the darker part of the cave. It was knowing about that special trap that convinced me we could pull this one off without any police involvement. The only thing is that we have been looking on the wrong island."

* * * *

Percy and Donna soon found the other island, and landed the helicopter in order to make a thorough search.

Which yielded nothing.

No Ingrid.

"I don't think we're going to find Ingrid here," said Percy at last, "I don't think she ever was here, or any of them. Dark Hair was just stalling for time."

"He wouldn't have dared. He cannot escape, and you can always go back and search Smiling Island's other caves for Ingrid."
"No Donna. What an idiot I have been! Dark Hair was expecting a routine visit from a sixth member of that collection of bad boys. That certain sixth member has probably freed them by now, and they will be leaving with whatever aquatic transportation number six used to get there."

"And Ingrid."

"And Ingrid indeed. Let's go, Donna."

If it were possible to assert that there are ways to pilot a helicopter around a deserted southern sea in a maniacal way, then this author would certainly affirm that Percy flew the helicopter back to Smiling Island like a maniac.

Their search of the other island had taken over an hour, and Percy was not at all surprised to find that there was no boat anywhere near the edge of Smiling Island now.

However, there was a boat heading back in the direction of Tasmania.

"That must be them. If there's anyone left  on the island, they cannot escape without a boat. The trouble is that we cannot go after their boat in this helicopter. They would only threaten to kill Ingrid if I don't back off. However, there is another way."

"Wait for them to get well past our boat, and then land the helicopter beside it, and follow them back to Tasmania. We can take some tranquiliser dart guns from our yacht, and surprise them when they dock in Hobart."

"Right you are, Donna."

Percy flew the helicopter down to Smiling Island, so that the escaping criminals would think that he planned so search Smiling Island. 

He waited twenty minutes and then flew the helicopter over to their own boat, landed beside it and left the helicopter resting on its pontoons.

Then they boarded their own boat and went in pursuit of the boat that Percy had seen from Smiling Island.

Percy had to stay so far behind that the naughty ones could not see Percy's yacht approaching. He did not want to take chances. They would assume that Percy was heading for Hobart. 

When Percy arrived with Donna at the closest dock in Hobart, they recognised a familiar boat.

"Empty," said Donna.

"Maybe not inside, though. You know, we might not need to go after them at all. Stand on their deck while I look inside, and hang onto the tranquiliser gun. I'll go below."

He found Ingrid bound and gagged in the cabin.

"Ingrid Castlecove, I presume. You won't believe what we've been doing to attempt to find you."

"You - You're - I remember you."

"Percy Dale at your service. My girlfriend's up on deck with a special gun. So the ones who took you away won't stand much of a chance now."

Pop!

Percy recognised the sound of his own hardware being fired, and ran up to the deck to use the tranquiliser gun he had retained in his hand.

They had to fish some of the dart-stricken felons out of the water, but nobody was hurt in the end. Percy and Donna removed their belongings from their hired yacht, which included Percy's well-hidden wallet, and Percy booked the three of them on a flight back to Sydney.

* * * *

Percy learned that Ingrid Castlecove was now living in a house of her own in Pymble. She had separated from her husband after he had graduated from teenage vandal to gangster and mob boss. His criminal operations had made her wealthy, but she had lost her attraction to someone. Some of the ruthlessness in herself in her teenage years had led her to remain attracted to a bad boy turned bad man, until he had shown his full capacity for it, and the fact that he didn’t seem to love her as much as his criminal operations. Learning of his affair with a younger girl had been the last straw.

The kidnappers eventually talked under interrogation, providing both Percy and Ingrid with their biggest shock. Her husband had decided that she knew too much, that she was too much of a risk, and that she would have to die. The ransom demands had been thrown on merely to divert suspicion from the real motive and hence from the real kidnapper. Ingrid and Percy both realised that his mission had been to rescue her not from mere kidnapping, but from attempted murder. Her husband’s address and imminent prison time was the final cog in the wheels of a divorce that had already begun in the family court.

She had telephoned her parents while they were waiting for the aeroplane and advised them that she was safe and on her way home. They were understanding of the fact that she would not wish to talk about the experience in the next few days, and entrusted her to Percy and Donna.

Donna took Percy aside, as soon as they reached Sydney Airport.

“You know I never made any long-term claims,” she said.

“I guess I didn’t either,” said Percy.

“Do you love her more than me?” asked Donna, “Be as honest as you can. I think we both saw this coming, even without recent events.”

“I love her… It’s that different.”

“Does she love you?”

“I doubt it.”

“Did she before?”

“She never even liked me. I was infatuated, and it’s way too complicated to explain, and unbelievable, but she did one great thing for me, for which I’ll always be incredibly grateful. She doesn’t even know she helped me in that way.”

“It’s as good a time as any to separate. It’d also make it easier for you to sort out your opportunities, or else your closure, with Ingrid.”

“Thank you,” he said, “It’s been nice.”

“For me also,” said Donna, and walked off to order a taxi.

* * * *

Ingrid’s food had all gone stale since the kidnapping. 

“I don’t feel like going out tonight for food,” she said, “I don’t suppose you could give me something to eat.”

The irony of that request was not lost on the Sneaky Spy, though Ingrid would never know … or would she? Would he ever feel that he could tell her that he had tricked her into temporarily eating him?

* * * *

Percy went to his oven and brought out some chicken, which he served on three plates.