BAMAKO - Aribert Raphael (red queen ebook TXT) 📗

to stay at my daughter’s place for the night. We did not know he was a criminal.” He looked around searching for support amongst his people. No one moved. “He’s put a woman’s life in danger,” Ashan went on. “She’s a mother, I’ve been told, and I know some of the women in the village have brought food to her and tried to make her feel more comfortable. We don’t know why they were brought here. I had been told they were thieves and they’d been caught red-handed by Monsieur Hjamal. I really don’t know anymore than that.” He shook and bent his head down again.
“We appreciate your frankness, Ashen, and we thank you for your kindness toward the lady,” Johan said. “We will make sure that you and your people are not bothered by the authorities when these people are found.”
“Allah be praised for bringing you both here,” Ashen said, raising his cane at his side ready to get to his feet, “and now, shall we go and talk to Monsieur Rasheed?”
Johan lifted a hand. “Ashan, we’d prefer it, as you suggested in the first place, if some of your young men here would go and bring him back to face everyone.”
“As you wish then, Monsieur Johan. Malick, Saliou, you go and get Monsieur Rasheed.”
The Elder had designated two mountains, two mastodons to do the fetching. The man was wise.
A few minutes later Rasheed appeared, practically lifted off his feet by his two captors and carried over by the old man. Reluctantly, he sat down and glared at the assembled men. By the looks of him, he had had time to bathe and put on a clean shirt and trousers. He probably paid Ashan’s daughter for being allowed to use the water and get the fresh clothes.
Without preamble, Ashan began what promised to be a very interesting presentation, Samir thought.
“Monsieur Rasheed, you may not know this, but I’m the oldest man in this village and perhaps the oldest person alive in the region. So, I’m permitted to speak my mind at all times. I’ve been told that you may’ve had deplorable intentions toward the two people that were detained here for the past two or three weeks. One of my people has been instructed to release them in the care of a driver this afternoon. This thing we did in good faith. But we’ve learned tonight, that your driver may’ve been told not to take them to Dakar but to some other place. Now, I ask you, where did you instruct your driver to take them?”
Head bent almost between his knees, Rasheed did not move, did not speak. Saliou, who was standing behind him, kicked him in the kidneys so hard that the man’s forehead hit the ground. Thus humiliated once again, Rasheed raised himself a little, supporting his back with his hands at his side. He started groaning from pain and frustrated anger.
My God, thought Johan, the man is a total loss.
Samir was incensed. “Monsieur Rasheed, your conduct is an aberration. However, we’re not assembled here to listen to your grumblings. We want answers and one answer in particular: where are they, Rasheed?” he shouted at the ‘accused’ facing him.
Johan patted his arm. “Calm down, my friend.”
Samir shuddered and shot a resentful glance at Johan.
Rasheed groused under his breath, “I didn’t make the call.” Then louder, “I swear to you ... I did not make this call.” The words resounded and echoed throughout the room now filled with an oppressing silence that was only shattered by a baby’s cry in the distance.
“If it wasn’t you, Rasheed, who do you suppose made the call?” Johan questioned impatiently. “Who besides you has the power to give orders around here? Tell us that, Rasheed?”
The latter had stopped moaning. He was sitting cross-legged, looking at the men in the circle with defiance. “I don’t know,” he replied steadfastly.
“I don’t believe you,” Johan said. “You’re the only person who could have used the transmitter…”
“No,” Samir cut-in, “not a transmitter, Johan, a phone. That’s what Mamadou told us at the gate. The driver was not from this camp. He came to fetch them from outside so Rasheed could have called anyone in town to drive…”
“Sorry,” Johan interrupted, “but the driver would not have made the drive in a day—or he may have called yesterday….”
Samir pondered while the old man took his chaplet from around his neck and started graining it, looking troubled. Rasheed made snivelling noises, and in that familiar gesture, took his handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his glasses.
“Let’s leave it until morning,” Samir suggested. “La nuit porte conseil….”
Nodding silently, the old man stood up, giving the signal the meeting was over. Johan bid good night to the Elder and retreated quietly. Samir followed. Both men walked to their hut in silence. Once they arrived, they filled the water jugs, made their beds with the linen that had been left untouched, undressed and lay down.


83
When Talya finally closed the door on Hassan, she sighed, shook her head and went to the bedroom to retrieve her journal. She had to put her thoughts in order. Writing them down was the only way she could make sense of this convoluted chain of events. She returned to the terrace, sat down and wrote:
Savoi leaves Bamako and comes to Dakar.
He meets with Hjamal, presumably to discuss his investments in the mining venture.
Rheza leaves Bamako to join Savoi in Dakar. Did she know her estate was slowly channelled into Hjamal’s account?
Rasheed ‘removes’ them and takes them to Sabodala, why?
What’s Rasheed’s goal in all of this? Why does he want to eliminate them?
What about the drugs? Richard was a drug addict. Was he a trafficker as well?
Where do the drugs come from—if there is trafficking involved?
Was that the reason for Richard being murdered—drugs?
Why so much nitro? What was Hjamal’s intention when he approved such a large order of explosive? Is Rasheed trafficking in explosives?
Why did Richard come back?
Why is Johan lying? What is he hiding? Why didn’t he tell me about Richard being a drug addict?

Talya reclined against the back of the lounge chair and read the list aloud, trying to find an answer to each of the questions. She chewed on the tip of her pen musingly, looking at the ocean stretching before her eyes. The afternoon was pleasant, and the evening promised to be quite cool in fact.
She closed the journal, went to the bedroom, replaced it in her bag and climbed on top of the covers of her bed. She curled up and within minutes, she was asleep.
She woke up a while later, nagging thoughts instantly returning at the forefront of her mind. She looked at the bedside clock: 5:00PM. They had heard nothing from Samir or Johan—but how would they reach me? The only transmitter was in Hjamal’s office. Would he have received a call? Would he call me if he did?
These questions—without answers—were beginning to get unnerving.
As Talya was about to step into the shower, the phone in the bathroom rang. “What the…” She picked up the receiver in a fluster and sat on the toilet.
The ambassador was on the line. Talya rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Sir Gillian! I—” For goodness sakes…Talya moaned, grabbing a towel from the rack beside her and flinging it over her shoulders. Talking to an ambassador in one’s birthday suit—even if only on the phone—could be quite intimidating.
“Ms. Kartz! At least you are all right. What happened?” He sounded relieved. “Obviously, there has been a change of plan. Why didn’t you call and advise me of your intentions? It wasn’t safe. When I heard you came with the Minorex plane, I was worried the worst had happened.”
“I’m terribly sorry to have thrown spanners in the works, Sir, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to meet face to face with Mr. Hjamal and Mr. Rasheed. As it is, I found out that Mr. Savoi and Mrs. McLean were in fact detained at the mine site as I suspected, and they should be on their way back to Dakar tomorrow.”
“Yes, and although you didn’t elaborate on their disappearance when we last spoke, I got the details from Mr. Flaubert.” James had talked. It’s just as well. “And, of course, I concluded that they too had been taken to Sabodala. But my point was, and still is, you shouldn’t have gone off on your own without someone escorting you, at least from the airport.”
“Again, I’m sorry but I wanted to give Mr. Hjamal the opportunity to show his hand. And indeed we succeeded in—”
“What do you mean we? Who’s we?”
“Mr. Fade and Maitre Sangor are both with me here.”
“I’m very relieved to hear that. At least you have some protection. But I’m sorry; did you say you succeeded, in what doing, Ms Kartz?”
“Yes…. After meeting with Mr. Hjamal this morning, Maitre Sangor went to his office, and uncovered some details regarding the ownership of Sabodala and the embezzlement of some funds from various sources. I’m sure Mr. Fade will be better able to discuss these matters with you if you permit him to meet with you tomorrow?”
“Yes of course, but what concerns me the most, are the answers you must have obtained during your meeting with Mr. Hjamal. Is he responsible for Mr. Gillman’s death, or do you know?”
“No he isn’t, not directly anyway.”
“You sound very definite on that point. What makes you so sure of your answer?”
“Simply this; the reasons Richard Gillman was killed are related only partly to Mr. Hjamal’s enterprises.”
“Could you be a bit more specific, perhaps?”
“I can’t right now. I don’t have all the answers myself yet.”
“Well, then we’ll leave it at that. And will you tell Mr. Fade, I’ll expect him in my office at ten tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. I wish you a pleasant night, Sir.”
“To you as well, Ms Kartz ... and thank you.”

When Talya was about to turn off the shower taps, the phone rang again.
“For Heaven’s sake… Give me a break … you people,” Talya shouted, shutting off the water, wrapping a towel around her, and sitting down on the toilet once again!
“Talya?”
“Yes, Hassan!”
“What happened? You sound annoyed. Did anyone call?”
“Yes, someone called alright—the ambassador.”
“Oh, I see, and what did he have to say?”
“Nothing much, he just asked a lot of questions, that’s all.”
“And you didn’t have all the answers, did you?”
“No, I didn’t, but I will, don’t worry. Maybe when they come back….”
“Are you ready to go out for dinner?”
“Almost. If people would leave me alone to get in and out of the shower in peace, I would!”
“Talya!”
“Oh, I am sorry. I don’t know what I’m saying anymore. I’ve got too many questions and no answers … I can’t—”
“Will you stop worrying? As you said, we’ll know better when they come back.”
“Okay. I’ll be down by the Terrarium in a half-an-hour. Where are we going?”
“Mohammed thought we might try a restaurant by the Artisans’ Market. We could even do some shopping beforehand, if you like.”
“That’s sounds great. I need some clothes—”
“I thought you might.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.”
When Talya hung up, she got up and looked