Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) (47 page)

The only one
working was occupied by a large woman, and she was shouting for all
her worth into the mouthpiece in a language that Firdus did not
recognise. Must be long distance he mused and as he waited he tore
off the cellophane wrapping on the card. The woman was bellowing
hello! Hello - she had not noticed the other party had disconnected
some time back. She dropped the phone in disgust, leaving it
dangling on its cord and exited the booth, giving Firdus a wild
look.

Firdus gained
access to the booth and after wiping down the mouthpiece and
lifting the handset to his ear, was relieved to hear a dial tone.
He punched in the eight digit code from the card and loaded his
credit. He took out the comp slip from the hotel with Doug’s
message on it, checked his watch and dialled the number. It rang a
few times until he heard his nephew’s familiar voice.

‘Hello Doug how
are you?’

‘I’m good,
what’s up?’

‘I have good
news, Rubia has been arrested.’

‘That’s
fantastic how did you manage that?’

‘It’s a long
story, but in a nutshell I have the minister of security’s ear.
Tell me how are you getting on?’

Doug told him
about the apartment, the computer and Evans the bank manager.

‘Excellent, the
more evidence the better. Can you trust Evans?’

‘No, but he is
playing along. Brian has hit a snag with a password and says they
are moving massive amounts of money. He thinks they are getting
ready to do a runner.’

‘Hmmm,’
muttered Firdus, ‘we can’t do much about that now. The minister
only knows Brian is safe somewhere and I would like to keep it that
way. You are not entirely out of danger. Rubia had a contact with
the local OCS, an Inspector Fimbo, so we should try to get you and
Brian back here as soon as possible.

‘Oh how?’ asked
Doug eagerly.

‘I think I can
arrange for Brian’s car to be delivered to Malindi and you could
drive back.’

‘What about my
bike? Surely I don’t have to wait any longer, it’s Brian you
want.’

‘We can arrange
your bike later, it’s important that Brian doesn’t fall into the
wrong hands.’

Doug hissed
under his breath. ‘I’m tired of this, and I’m very grateful for
your help but I would rather get my life back on track. Can I tell
Gem the good news?’

‘No, not yet,
I’m sorry, I understand your frustration, but you need Brian in
order to clear yourself of Lodas shooting.’

Doug said. ‘He
is not alone. He is with a Somali tart, who is threatening to go to
the police if Brian doesn’t play ball.’

‘What? The
man’s a fool, can’t he pay her off?’

‘She has him
fully hooked. I can’t talk to him without her.’

‘You might have
to bring her with you,’ Firdus suggested.

Doug groaned.
‘Oh no, there must be another way.’

‘You see if you
can find one. I will let you know when you can expect the car. Get
Brian to print out as much evidence as he can, the minister is very
keen to catch Patel. Tell Brian the good news, but warn him that we
are not out of the woods yet, so no phone calls to his sister etc,
ok?’

‘Ok thanks,’
Doug said resignedly and hung up.

Firdus walked
around the shopping centre, he wasn’t ready to go back to the
conference room; he window shopped and thought about his next move.
He didn’t want to get involved in the pursuit of Patel; further
involvement could be dangerous for him and his family, even if he
could trust Omollo, which he couldn’t. His thoughts were
interrupted by a flower seller thrusting a bunch of red roses at
him.

‘For your wife
sir, cheap, only three hundred shillings.’

Firdus looked
at the roses; they were a beautiful deep vibrant red. He smiled;
they reminded him of his wife. ‘Ok,’ he said on impulse and fished
the money out of his wallet.

‘She will be
very happy with you,’ the seller assured him.

Firdus took the
roses and smelled them, filling his nostrils with their delicate
odour. ‘Yes,’ he smiled at the vendor, ‘she would have loved
these,’ a wistful look in his eye. He held the flowers enjoying
their beauty. ‘Take time to stop and smell the roses,’ he said to
himself, ‘you cynical old fool.’

Back at the
hotel he asked the receptionist for a vase and went up to his room.
Firdus arranged the flowers enjoying their colour. He went back to
the conference room.

Katana was busy
on the phone talking to Rubia’s secretary. ‘Yes,’ he said holding
out the list, ‘I need to interview all of them, today. They are to
come to the Good View Hotel. It’s very urgent - if they want to
keep their jobs. Thank you.’ He put the phone down.

‘The minister
called when you were out,’ he told Firdus.

He used
Omollo’s private line. ‘Sir, you wanted to speak to me?’

‘Yes, Fernandez
now do you have any more questions for Rubia?’

‘No I don’t
think so sir. We are about to interview all his people, to
cross-reference his answers.’

‘Good,’ said
the minister and he hung up.

Firdus turned
to Katana. ‘Let me have Rubia’s answers.’

The detective
handed the list to Firdus.

‘Hmm there’s no
reference to Fimbo here. Call up the people at Pathway House and
ask them about Fimbo.’

Katana called,
his face going ashen as he listened to the interrogator. He put the
phone down. ‘Rubia’s dead,’ he said woodenly.

Firdus
grimaced, not in the least surprised.

‘Yes, the
interrogator said he had a heart attack and died. It’s
unbelievable,’ Katana looked off into space, ‘we were with him only
this morning.’

‘Awful people,’
agreed Firdus, moving on. ‘Ok, you had better get hold of Fimbo
don’t you think?’

Katana picked
up the phone frowning. ‘Yes hello. I need to speak to Inspector
Fimbo. My name is Katana, I’m calling on behalf of the Minister of
national security Rupert Omollo.’

He waited; he
could hear shouting in the background and a rooster crowing.
Presently the receiver was picked up.

‘Yessy, this is
Fimbo O.C.S. Malindi Station. Sah!’

Katana
explained who he was and what he wanted.

‘But I sent
Patel, the
muhindi
up to Rubia, two days ago. We arrested
him and he was taken to Nairobi by Rubia’s people.’

‘I see,’ said
Katana, ‘Patel has already been arrested?’

Firdus hearing
this raised his eyebrows.

‘Yeesy sah, a
terrorist I say, a very dangerous man,’ Fimbo informed him, ‘but
us, we are on fully alart, here in Malindi.’

‘Ok, can you
remember the names of the escort?’

‘Yeesy sah, one
was called Cyrus.’

Katana glanced
at his list. ‘Ok thank you. If I need any more information I will
call you.’

‘Thank you too,
Sah, nice time,’ Fimbo hung up.

‘Rubia had
Patel arrested?’ Firdus asked.

‘Two days ago
apparently, I have the name of the escort - Cyrus. I can confirm it
when I interview him,’ Katana said eagerly. ‘Patel must be here in
Nairobi.’

‘Hmmm, I
wonder. Let’s see what Cyrus has to say.’

‘I still can’t
believe Rubia has died.’ Katana snapped his fingers.

Firdus
grimaced. ‘I want you to do something for me. Do you have a driver
who can take the range rover to Malindi?’

‘Yes, I can
arrange that, but why do you want to do that. Why don’t you just
get Nicholls to fly back here?’

‘I don’t want
him appearing on any flight manifesto, and risk him getting picked
up by anyone else.’

Katana started.
‘Like who sir?’

‘Rubia’s
tentacles ran deep. We can’t be sure he was acting alone. Now get
that car organised as discreetly as you can. When you interview the
rest of the late Rubia’s team, you must explain to them that we are
not out to prosecute, we are merely conducting an investigation. If
they co-operate they will be reassigned, their government jobs and
pensions intact. I’m sure they will, once they hear Rubia is dead.
I’m going up to my room to rest for a while. Are you going to be
ok, do you think you can handle this?’

Katana nodded.
‘Yes sir, thank you sir.’

*

After his nap
Firdus went back to the conference centre. There were three people,
one of them a woman, sitting on chairs outside the centre looking
glum. Firdus nodded a hello to them as he entered the room.

Katana was
sitting at the head of the table, a tape recorder in front of him,
as well as files and papers. ‘Evening sir. This is Cyrus,’ pointing
his pen at a man sitting at the table.

‘Hello Cyrus,’
Firdus said kindly, as he picked up one of the files on the table
and started leafing through it.

‘Ok detective,
carry on. I will just be an observer for now.’

Katana was
skilful; his questions short and to the point.

Cyrus began to
look less ill at ease, after it had been explained to him that he
wasn’t going to be prosecuted.

‘Now going back
to the carjacking, there were two people on that first team,
correct?

‘Yes,’ Cyrus
said, ‘Loda and Titus.’

‘One we found
shot in the bush as you know and the other one dead in the Sabaki
River.’

Cyrus looked
genuinely shocked. ‘In the river?’

‘Yes the ID
said he was Titus Nyagha.’

‘Titus? Titus
is dead?’ Cyrus asked looking very upset. ‘Rubia told me he had
been re-assigned!’ He exclaimed.

‘You were
friends?’

‘Yes he was
going to marry my sister. How did it happen?’

‘We don’t know
yet, but when we find out I will tell you. I’m sorry about your
friend.’

Cyrus his head
in his hands. ‘This is terrible,’ he said.

‘Do you have
any questions Sir? Katana asked Firdus.

Firdus studied
the bereft Cyrus. ‘We are putting together a team to go after this
Patel. Would you like to be part of that team or be re-assigned
elsewhere?’

Cyrus shrugged.
‘I don’t mind sir.’

‘Indifference I
can find anywhere, or have I misunderstood your answer?’ Firdus
looked at Katana.

Katana nodded
at Cyrus. ‘Ok you may go thank you, I might call you back
tomorrow.’

Cyrus got up
looking nervous. ‘So will I be on the new team?’ He asked
Firdus.

Katana
answered. ‘We will let you know.’

After Cyrus had
left, Katana explained to Firdus what he had found out. ‘It seems
that Fimbo is playing both sides of the game, in league with Rubia
and Patel and I’m pretty sure now, that he was involved with the
body in the river. Is he also immune from prosecution?

Firdus smiled.
‘Are you after his job, detective?’

‘No sir, I just
want that body off my books.’

‘All in good
time, now I need you to prepare a mini report for the minister, to
keep him off our backs. Do not reveal our plans to bring Brian back
to Nairobi. Imply that we are following up hot leads as regards
Patel, which should keep him happy.’

‘Ok sir,’
Katana looked tired.

‘We can write
the report together detective,’ Firdus assured him. ‘Now what about
the car for my nephew, did you organise it?’

‘Yes sir it
should be delivered tomorrow.’

‘Good,’ Firdus
tapped the immigration file. ‘It looks as though Kamau might have
issued Patel with a new passport, as a Mr. N.J. Shah. The receipt
has been wrongly filed alongside Nicholl’s work permit
allocation.’

TWENTY-FIVE

Doug left the
phone booth trying to get his anger and frustration under control
at the news he was still tied to Lucy and Brian. When he drove back
to the apartment, he found the two cavorting in the pool; high
peals of laughter from her.

Doug stood
hands on hips and stated. ‘We have to talk.’

‘Oh, hello to
you too.’ Brian sent a playful splash in his direction.

‘Yesssey
Mr.Gowan,’ Lucy joined in.

‘I’m serious,
we need to talk now, alone.’ He waved his hand at Lucy in a shooing
motion. She went to the pool stairs, taking her time and
scowling.

‘You needn’t
have been rude to her,’ admonished Brian as his eyes played over
her retreating figure.

Doug snorted.
‘Remember that when you’re at the clinic.’

‘What?’

‘Never mind,
this is no picnic. I have spoken to my uncle. He has managed to
have Rubia arrested.’

‘That’s
amazing, how did he do it?’

‘Yes it is, I
don’t know the details, but we have to be careful of the head of
the police here, an Inspector Fimbo.’

‘Oh that shit.
I met him, on my first trip to Malindi.’

‘My uncle wants
us in Nairobi and is arranging to have your range rover delivered
to us so we can drive back.’

‘Wow he can
pull some strings - when do we get the car?’

‘I don’t know
yet, but in the meantime, you are to gather as much evidence as you
can from Evans and the computer. My other concern is how you intend
to extract yourself from her?’Doug jerked his thumb at the
apartment. ‘She’s a liability, so stop thinking with your prick for
a moment.’

Brian blanched.
‘Watch your language, I don’t like your increasing racial
innuendo’s, without Lucy I would be in real shit now. I don’t see
why she can’t come with us to Nairobi.’

Doug rolled his
eyes up. ‘Racial? Oh for God’s sake, she’s is a tart in any colour.
She’s only after the money; you think she threatened to go to the
police, because she likes you?’

‘I think your
colonial prejudice is getting the better of you, it’s plain that
you don’t like her.’

‘Colonial?’
Doug spluttered. ‘A typical ignorant
mzungu
answer. Yes it’s
true I don’t like her, Somali’s are as treacherous as they come,
and this one has turned you into a blithering idiot. Mind you,
maybe you’re an idiot all along, and I just didn’t see it.’