Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) (41 page)

‘It looks like
we will have to wait for another opportunity.’

‘Are you
getting cold feet?’

‘No, but we
seem to be out of a plan right now.’

‘Birin thisis
no good, let’s go home. I’m sleepy,’ said Lucy.

‘I have a
plan,’ Doug started the Landrover and reaching past Brian he opened
his door. ‘Out. Keep her busy and wait here.’

Brian got out.
‘What are you doing? Where are you going?’

Doug backed up
the Landrover and drove in through the gates to the night-club The
askari frantically waved him down. ‘It full.’

Doug ignored
him and drove to the end of the car park, and backed into the
Mercedes, there was the sound of breaking glass as the two vehicles
collided.

The askari ran
over. ‘Hey! Hey!’ Looking around wildly for help, anticipating the
Landrover would now flee.

Doug calmly
went to examine the damage. The left rear light of the limousine
was shattered.

The askari
waved his club at him. ‘You crazy, you drunk?’

Doug stood
looking contrite. ‘No, I’m not drunk, I didn’t see it. I don’t know
what happened.’

‘I told you the
car park was full, you didn’t see me?’

‘I was trying
to turn round, do you know the owner?’

The noise and
commotion had attracted a crowd; they pointed out the damaged
Mercedes and shook their heads at Doug.

Lucy heard the
crash and unable to resist, peered through a gap in the wall.
‘Birin,’ she said in a hoarse whisper, ‘that gowan, he crashed the
fat one’s car!’

‘What?’ Brian
joined her.

‘He crashed the
benzi,’ she giggled.

Brian stared at
Lucy. ‘What the hell is he doing?’

She smiled in
appreciation. ‘He get fat one to come out!’

The askari told
Doug. ‘This going to cost you plenty, the owner’s a bank
manager.’

One of the
onlookers commented. ‘Yes, very expensive.’ Others tittered in
glee.

Doug unfazed
asked. ‘Can you send somebody to call him?’

The askari
turned to one of the bouncers. ‘You had better go and tell Evans,
you know, the fat one.’

A few minutes
later, a distraught Evans rushed over. The crowd parted giving him
room, enjoying his distress. ‘What happened here?’

The askari told
him and pointed at Doug. Evans visibly upset said. ‘I knew it, I
knew it. I should have left the car at home.’ He addressed Doug
directly. ‘Why did you do this, are you blind?’

‘Listen I’m
sorry, it was an accident. I am sure we can settle this amicably.
Do you have insurance?’

Evans looked at
him in a daze. ‘Insurance, insurance? You crashed my new car,’ his
voice rising.

‘Yes I agree I
did, I’m just asking if you are insured.’

‘Yes of course
I am,’ replied Evans.

‘I’m also
insured, so now we have to get a police abstract.’

‘Police
abstract,’ muttered Evans fingering a piece of red plastic from his
shattered rear light. ‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s like an
eyewitness account, a statement from the police to say they have
witnessed the accident. This is required by the insurance people
before you can make a claim.’

‘I make a
claim? It’s you who crashed my car,’ Evans sputtered angrily. ‘You
pay!’

Doug held his
hands out placating. ‘Yes I will pay, but I must have a police
abstract.’

‘Okay, so we’d
better call the police.’ He stared at his Mercedes and wrung his
hands.

The two girls
had followed him out and were trying to console him. ‘It’s okay, he
agree to pay, the police, they come and then he can fix it.’

Doug said.
‘Listen, those cops could take forever and you know what they’re
like, they never have any transport. I have agreed it was my fault
so there is no dispute. We could drive round to the station, pick
up a cop and can get this over and done with as soon as possible,
what do you say?’

Evans looked at
Doug doubtfully but could see only earnest appeal on his face.
‘Yes, I suppose that could work.’

‘Good, thank
you for being so cooperative.’

Evans looking
dazed told the askari what the plan was. The onlookers all smiled
in agreement and some of them made to climb in the back of the
Landrover.

Doug told them
to get out and opened the door for Evans. He started the engine and
as they drove out of the gate, he stuck his head out of the window
and hissed into the darkness. ‘Follow me.’

A startled
Brian and Lucy watched the Landrover trundle down the road, and
hastily followed on foot.

Doug drove a
hundred yards, slowed down and stopped. ‘So, have you had the car
long?’

‘What?’

‘The car, the
Mercedes, have you had it a long time?’

‘No,’ said
Evans in exasperation, ‘it’s new. Now what’s happening, why are we
stopping?’

‘Some friends
of mine want to talk to you.’ Doug said slipping the gun out of its
holster and pointing it at him. Evans looked at it in astonishment
his eyes bulging.

Brian walked up
and leaned in the car window. ‘Hello Evans.’

The Manager
gasped and visibly leapt with fright. To his credit he recovered
enough to say. ‘Sir we all thought you were dead. It’s a miracle;
we read you had got lost at a waterfalls.’

‘Yes, I know
some people tried to kill me, but thanks to Doug here, I’m
alright.’

Evans looked at
Doug and then at the gun worriedly. ‘He crashed my car sir, and now
he has a gun pointing at me.’

‘Yes, we have a
lot of things to discuss and we are going to need your help.’

‘Very good sir,
you can come to the bank tomorrow, but now I have to go to the
police about my car.’

‘There is no
time for that, move over,’ Brian said and slid in the seat beside
him.

‘Where are we
going?’ Evans asked, now very alarmed.

‘Good question.
Doug?’ Asked Brian.

‘I think we
need to bring Evans up to speed, don’t you?’

‘What, here in
the car?’ asked Brian.

‘Yes, as we
discussed earlier, but I’m not sure about Miss Malindi here,’ he
waved a thumb at Lucy sitting behind them and leaning forward to
catch every word.

‘Listen
gentlemens.’ Evans interrupted in managerial role, ‘I don’t know
what it is that you want with me, but we can discuss it in my
office tomorrow morning, and I am sure that everything can be
smoothed out.’ The two men ignored him.

‘Lucy,’ Brian
began, ‘can you go back to the bar and wait for us?’

‘Why I waits? I
go to polices right now.’ She sat back in her seat confidently,
crossing her arms and staring out of the window.

Brian looked
over at Doug. ‘I think she has a point, don’t you?’

Doug muttered.
‘Come on get on with it.’

‘Okay Evans. I
am aware of the fraud going on in your bank with Golden Palm and
you are very obviously involved.’

Evans
protested. ‘Fraud, in my bank? There is nothing like that, Golden
Palm are legitimate customers.’

Brian said
sharply. ‘Don’t argue with me. You know those title deeds have been
misappropriated. You’ve been very clever about this. I strongly
suggest you co-operate with us, otherwise you could find yourself
on an attempted murder charge as well.’

‘What?
Attempted murder, what are you talking about?’

‘Yes, you and
your partners tried to have me killed.’

He looked
genuinely shocked. ‘I have no knowledge of such a thing.’

‘Ok, your
partners are probably planning to get rid of you too.’

Evans stared at
him speechless, the pennies slowly dropping. ‘Patel and Azizza,
murder me?’ He whispered.

‘Yes, nice
company you keep, eh Evans?’ Brian agreed.

‘Look sir,’
Evans explained, ‘I have nothing to do with this Golden Palm. Mr
Patel and Miss Azizza, they’re the ones that persuaded me. If
there’s a problem it is all their fault.’

Brian said.
‘The problem Evans is there is no way you could afford that
Mercedes on your salary.’

Outmanoeuvered,
Evans sat miserably between the two men. ‘My car was a gift. What,
what do you want to do with me?’

‘We need to get
into the bank. I need the software for the computers and your
master key code.’

‘And what do
you intend to do with that?’

‘I need to get
more evidence and if you co-operate, when the time comes I will
explain how helpful you have been.’

‘And what if I
refuse?’

Doug
interrupted. ‘You will be of no use to us, so we may as well shoot
you now.’

Evans looked at
him aghast. ‘But, but what have I done to you? You’ve crashed my
car.’

Doug only
smiled and held the gun up, pointing it at him.

Brian
interceded. ‘Listen Evans, whatever happens; you’re going to get
caught. It would be much better for you if you co-operate. Don’t
forget I’m still your boss.’

Evans was now
completely out of his depth. ‘My boss, but you’re dead? I mean no,
sir you’re not. Why don’t we discuss this in the morning, you can
come to my office, sir?’

The two men
looked at him, waiting. ‘You can’t do this to me, I don’t care if
you shoot me. What you are doing is against the law.’

Doug laughed.
‘How much did those
muhindi
s pay you?’

Evans
spluttered. ‘Nothing, I’m completely innocent.’

‘Bullshit.
Listen to me Evans, your boss doesn’t know how things work in this
country, so let me put it to you straight. If you help us, we will
double the money the others are giving you,’ he held his hand up to
stop Brian protesting, ‘and when this all comes out in the wash,
you will be a hero for having caught your former partners in this
massive bank fraud. How does that fit with you?’

Evans searched
Doug’s face for trickery. ‘Double is not enough.’

‘It’s better
than nothing,’ he waved the gun in his face.

Evans
swallowed, he got the message. ‘Okay.’

Lucy broke the
tension, clapping her hands in glee and bouncing up and down on the
back seat. ‘Yaye, I’m going to be rich.’

Brian chuckled.
‘Evans, do you have the keys on you?’

The manager
nodded and told Doug to drive past the bank and park down the road.
‘The guards will become curious if they see me in this car.’

When they got
there, Doug gave the gun to Brian. ‘Just in case.’

Brian and Evans
got out and walked back to the bank. Lucy putting on lipstick,
called out. ‘Waits me, I’m coming.’ Doug seized her arm as she
tried to get out, the lipstick missing her lip and smearing her
chin. ‘Eya gowan,’ she snarled, ‘let go,’

Doug tightened
his grip and yanked her roughly back into the car. ‘You stay here,’
he commanded, and then in Kiswahili, ‘
nitakuchapa
!’ He
warned her.

Lucy glared
daggers at him and dug her sharp nails into the back of his hand,
drawing blood.

Doug cuffed her
hard across the head with his other hand. ‘
Nyamasa
! Be
quiet,’ he cursed her.

She spat at
him. ‘You fuck shit!’

Doug, his hand
bleeding, reached down and took a short length of rope from under
the Landrover’s seat. Expertly he looped this round her wrist and
then round her neck. He pulled the free end down between the front
seats. The rope tightened and Lucy had no choice but to follow, her
head ending up compressed against the back of the front seat.

‘If you scream
I will knock you out, you little bitch,’ he hissed menacingly in
her ear. ‘Behave yourself or I will make sure you end up with
nothing, do you understand?’

Lucy struggled
to breath and then nodded in affirmation, her other hand pulling on
the rope.

Doug loosened
the rope. ‘Not a sound,’ he warned her.

She lay back on
the seat coughing. ‘You shit,’ she hissed between coughs, ‘go back
to gowan.’

‘Yeah, and you
go back to Somalia.’

‘I’m with
Birin,’ she told him, ‘not you.’

‘I don’t want
to fight with you, but if you start fucking me around, I will get
rid of you, Brian or no Brian.’

Lucy looked at
him in disgust. ‘You’re a bad man,’ she concluded, trying to untie
the rope from her wrist.

‘Don’t do
that,’ he warned, raising his hand.

‘You think me
goat to tie up.’

‘Shut up, I
have already told you once,’ Doug said mildly.

The two men
went inside the bank. Evans locking the door from the inside,
confident in familiar surroundings, flicked on lights. ‘Sir we
thought you had been eaten by crocodiles.’

‘It’s lucky for
you that I wasn’t. These people seem ruthless -what made you think
you could get away with this?’

Evans unlocked
the door to his office and switched on the air conditioner. ‘It’s
not me who owns the title deeds, the bank does, I am just doing my
job, sir.’

‘Hmmm, what
percentage are Golden Palm giving you?’

‘Twenty
percent,’ Evans lied.

‘Of what?
Surely not the entire loan?’

‘No Sir, only
on the interest,’ booting up his computer.

‘That’s no
small change Evans. So you admit you’re involved?’

‘I’m just doing
my job Sir, the title deeds are genuine.’

‘Evans, you’re
being paid to look the other way.’

‘Yes, but now
you will give me forty percent, won’t you?’

‘Let’s see,’
Brian said thwarted by the manager’s denial, ‘hand me the
software.’

Evans held
back. ‘But your friend, the man, he said...’

‘Yes, I know
what he said, but unless I can trace Golden Palm’s account, there
won’t be any money. Give me your access code.’

Evans sat down
in a chair next to Brian and said earnestly. ‘Mr Nicholls sir, you
are asking me to do something illegal, I could lose my job over
this.’

Brian shut his
eyes and said slowly. ‘Evans what is it that you don’t understand
about the situation you’re in?As things stand right now you’re
going to end up in jail. I have enough evidence as it is of your
complicity, don’t you understand?’