How Conrad builds a plot

But today's standards, Conrad moves his plots along at a crawl - but by any standard he is a master at constructing a plot and holding our interest and attention over long, often languid spans of narrative. In Victory, 300+ pages in and nearing the end, he slowly, meticulously builds the tension as the gang of 3 approaches the nearly deserted island with plans of robbing Heyst of his accumulated wealth. They imagine a hidden treasure but we know that he's got only a small amount of cash hidden away in a secret drawer in a desk. He has no suspicion that the three men who land at his wharf have arrived their with the intent of robbing him; his servant, Wang, seems suspicious but we have no idea (nor does he) as to whether Wang would be loyal in a pinch or if he would betray his "master." The most interesting and important player in all this is the woman that Heyst brought to the island, Lean (as he calls her). The car-sharp, knife-bearing Ricardo pretty much attacks Lena as she's alone in her bungalow combing her hair. To our surprise, she's a tough one and nearly strangles Ricardo to death in her defense. She lets him go, and he's learned not to mess with her - but he tries to bring her around to his side and against Heyst (he doesn't realize that she's fallen in love w/ Heyst): tell us where the money is and we'll cut you in. She's really smart and realizes that if she tells them there's no hidden treasure they'll kill her and Heyst - so she agrees to play along. But I suspect, despite the seemingly positive tone of the novel's title, that this will not go well, that Heyst will see what she's doing and misinterpret, suspect she's playing him, and some harm will come to her - there's a loaded gun and a lot of knives around. Six people on the island - who will survive?