BAMAKO by Aribert Raphael (smart books to read txt) đ
- Author: Aribert Raphael
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âWe appreciate your frankness, Ashen, and we thank you for your kindness toward the lady,â Johan said. âWe will make sure that you and your people are not bothered by the authorities when these people are found.â
âAllah be praised for bringing you both here,â Ashen said, raising his cane at his side ready to get to his feet, âand now, shall we go and talk to Monsieur Rasheed?â
Johan lifted a hand. âAshan, weâd 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.â
âAs you wish then, Monsieur Johan. Malick, Saliou, you go and get Monsieur Rasheed.â
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 Ashanâs 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.
âMonsieur Rasheed, you may not know this, but Iâm the oldest man in this village and perhaps the oldest person alive in the region. So, Iâm permitted to speak my mind at all times. Iâve been told that you mayâve 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 weâve learned tonight, that your driver mayâve 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?â
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 manâs 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. âMonsieur Rasheed, your conduct is an aberration. However, weâre not assembled here to listen to your grumblings. We want answers and one answer in particular: where are they, Rasheed?â he shouted at the âaccusedâ facing him.
Johan patted his arm. âCalm down, my friend.â
Samir shuddered and shot a resentful glance at Johan.
Rasheed groused under his breath, âI didnât make the call.â Then louder, âI swear to you ... I did not make this call.â The words resounded and echoed throughout the room now filled with an oppressing silence that was only shattered by a babyâs cry in the distance.
âIf it wasnât you, Rasheed, who do you suppose made the call?â Johan questioned impatiently. âWho besides you has the power to give orders around here? Tell us that, Rasheed?â
The latter had stopped moaning. He was sitting cross-legged, looking at the men in the circle with defiance. âI donât know,â he replied steadfastly.
âI donât believe you,â Johan said. âYouâre the only person who could have used the transmitterâŠâ
âNo,â Samir cut-in, ânot a transmitter, Johan, a phone. Thatâs 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 driveâŠâ
âSorry,â Johan interrupted, âbut the driver would not have made the drive in a dayâor he may have called yesterdayâŠ.â
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.
âLetâs leave it until morning,â Samir suggested. âLa nuit porte conseilâŠ.â
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 Hjamalâs account?
Rasheed âremovesâ them and takes them to Sabodala, why?
Whatâs Rasheedâs 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 fromâif there is trafficking involved?
Was that the reason for Richard being murderedâdrugs?
Why so much nitro? What was Hjamalâs 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 didnât 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 Johanâbut how would they reach me? The only transmitter was in Hjamalâs office. Would he have received a call? Would he call me if he did?
These questionsâwithout answersâwere beginning to get unnerving.
As Talya was about to step into the shower, the phone in the bathroom rang. âWhat theâŠâ 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. âSir Gillian! Iââ For goodness sakesâŠTalya moaned, grabbing a towel from the rack beside her and flinging it over her shoulders. Talking to an ambassador in oneâs birthday suitâeven if only on the phoneâcould be quite intimidating.
âMs. Kartz! At least you are all right. What happened?â He sounded relieved. âObviously, there has been a change of plan. Why didnât you call and advise me of your intentions? It wasnât safe. When I heard you came with the Minorex plane, I was worried the worst had happened.â
âIâm terribly sorry to have thrown spanners in the works, Sir, but I couldnât 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.â
âYes, and although you didnât elaborate on their disappearance when we last spoke, I got the details from Mr. Flaubert.â James had talked. Itâs just as well. âAnd, of course, I concluded that they too had been taken to Sabodala. But my point was, and still is, you shouldnât have gone off on your own without someone escorting you, at least from the airport.â
âAgain, Iâm sorry but I wanted to give Mr. Hjamal the opportunity to show his hand. And indeed we succeeded inââ
âWhat do you mean we? Whoâs we?â
âMr. Fade and Maitre Sangor are both with me here.â
âIâm very relieved to hear that. At least you have some protection. But Iâm sorry; did you say you succeeded, in what doing, Ms Kartz?â
âYesâŠ. 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. Iâm sure Mr. Fade will be better able to discuss these matters with you if you permit him to meet with you tomorrow?â
âYes 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. Gillmanâs death, or do you know?â
âNo he isnât, not directly anyway.â
âYou sound very definite on that point. What makes you so sure of your answer?â
âSimply this; the reasons Richard Gillman was killed are related only partly to Mr. Hjamalâs enterprises.â
âCould you be a bit more specific, perhaps?â
âI canât right now. I donât have all the answers myself yet.â
âWell, then weâll leave it at that. And will you tell Mr. Fade, Iâll expect him in my office at ten tomorrow morning.â
âIâll be sure to do that. I wish you a pleasant night, Sir.â
âTo you as well, Ms Kartz ... and thank you.â
When Talya was about to turn off the shower taps, the phone rang again.
âFor Heavenâs sake⊠Give me a break ⊠you people,â Talya shouted, shutting off the water, wrapping a towel around her, and sitting down on the toilet once again!
âTalya?â
âYes, Hassan!â
âWhat happened? You sound annoyed. Did anyone call?â
âYes, someone called alrightâthe ambassador.â
âOh, I see, and what did he have to say?â
âNothing much, he just asked a lot of questions, thatâs all.â
âAnd you didnât have all the answers, did you?â
âNo, I didnât, but I will, donât worry. Maybe when they come backâŠ.â
âAre you ready to go out for dinner?â
âAlmost. If people would leave me alone to get in and out of the shower in peace, I would!â
âTalya!â
âOh, I am sorry. I donât know what Iâm saying anymore. Iâve got too many questions and no answers ⊠I canâtââ
âWill you stop worrying? As you said, weâll know better when they come back.â
âOkay. Iâll be down by the Terrarium in a half-an-hour. Where are we going?â
âMohammed thought we might try a restaurant by the Artisansâ Market. We could even do some shopping beforehand, if you like.â
âThatâs sounds great. I need some clothesââ
âI thought you might.â
âOkay, Iâll see you soon.â
When Talya hung up, she got up and looked
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