BAMAKO, Aribert Raphael [read out loud books .TXT] 📗

living room sofa. Talya sat in the chair opposite, closest to Hjamal. They, too, glanced at the glasses on the table, probably curious about the identity of Talya’s previous visitors. Neither man remarked on them.
Hjamal didn’t waste any time with the usual courtesies. Strictly speaking, and had Talya been a Muslim woman, she could have thrown them out for deliberately abusing the privilege of her hospitality without a grateful word.
Ahmed Hjamal began, “Madame Kartz, we are quite displeased.” We are not amused said Queen Victoria. “We had invited you in good faith. We wanted you to visit the mine site…”
“Which I did, Monsieur Hjamal, which I did.”
“Yes, you did, and in fact I was surprised to hear that you had to visit the site alone.” He brushed a meaningful glance by Rasheed’s face. The latter shook his head slowly.
“No matter now, Monsieur Hjamal, and I must admit my little tour was quite instructive.” Talya saw Rasheed’s mouth drop open. And you, my friend, are not going to find out what I saw—not yet anyway. “In any case, I don’t wish to sound ungrateful, but your invitation was for me to come to Dakar, not to visit the mine site. So, you invited me to meet with you in Dakar and this is where I am.”
Rasheed opened his mouth, “As Monsieur Hjamal said; we had other plans in mind—”
“I bet you did,” Talya snapped.
Hjamal glared at Talya and gestured to Rasheed to shut his mouth. The dog heeled.
“I’ve got no time for your plans, Monsieur Rasheed.” Talya shrugged and turned to Hjamal. “I suggest we get on with the business at hand. You, Monsieur Hjamal, have come to Vancouver asking for my company’s assistance, which was repeatedly denied…”
“Did you say ‘repeatedly denied’?” Hjamal cut-in. “I believe we met only once, and at that time Monsieur Flaubert told me that Carmine could examine the possibilities of reaching an agreement. I have no recollection of being told any different by anyone at any time.”
“Then, let me shed some light on that point,” Talya said. “When you left Vancouver, Monsieur Rasheed phoned me on numerous occasions. He pleaded with me to assist you in your mining project. As it happened, some weeks ago, I decided to go to Mali to review a business arrangement my company had made with Monsieur Savoi. While I had to stop in Dakar on my way to Bamako, I thought it appropriate at the time to come and see you. Monsieur Rasheed should be able to fill you in with the details.”
“Please pardon my ignorance, Madame Kartz, but I had no knowledge of this being the case.” Hjamal was visibly unaware of Rasheed’s invitation for Talya to meet with him in Dakar.
“Well, now you know. Perhaps you should also ask Monsieur Rasheed what he was doing in Bamako, driving Madame McLean’s car, and threatening repercussions against our Malian partners”—Hjamal’s face now betrayed total surprise—“if I were not to help you (and him) in your proposed endeavours. You must have known about that trip since you’ve said he informed you of my intended visit when you phoned me to make the arrangements for this weekend.”
“Here again, I’ll have to plead ignorance, Madame Kartz. I knew Abdul was going to Bamako but I had no idea he’d taken Madame McLean’s car, or that he proffered some sort of threat.”
The man, whom they were speaking of, took his handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his face. He was having a hard time with this whole discussion.
“It’s been obvious from the beginning, Monsieur Hjamal, that you’ve tried to force the issue, and you’ve shown no flexibility in pursuing this matter. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.”
“I must apologize, and I repeat, Madame Kartz, I didn’t know any of this was happening,” Hjamal uttered.
“I am a woman, but I’m not stupid, Monsieur Hjamal. From all that has occurred between the time Monsieur Savoi departed Bamako and the time I was informed of Mr. Gillman’s death, I could easily deduce what happened—and so could you, sir.”
Talya took a deep breath, stood up and went to the terrace door. She looked over her shoulder at the two men. Hjamal was about to open his mouth.
Talya cut him off before he even began speaking. “Now, you tell me I’m wrong. You tell me, you don’t know where Monsieur Savoi and Madame McLean are. If you say you do not know, I will do you the courtesy to taking you at your word.” She turned to face them and crossed her arms over her chest, resting her shoulders against the windowpane.
Hjamal seemed taken aback and undecided as to which question to ask first. He was staring at Rasheed but neither man made any comments.
“Perhaps the authorities would see fit to investigate some of your actions at this time, Monsieur Hjamal, because, no man, even you, can abuse of his authority against just anyone, especially not against strangers on your soil.” Talya then returned to her chair and watched for their reactions.
The silence was ominous. Both men were sitting on the edge of the sofa. Rasheed was getting grey with rage. Had he been a wolf instead of a mere dog, he would have bitten Talya’s face off.
Talya ploughed ahead. “I have a hard time believing anything you say, Monsieur Hjamal, because of the circumstantial evidence, which is piling up against you. The disappearance of my business partners, for one thing, the murder of Mr. Gillman and even my unplanned stop-over at the mine-site this morning—they all amount to my distrusting your word. However, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, since you seem genuinely ignorant of several facts.”
Rasheed was about to blurt out something when the strident ringing of the phone interrupted him. Talya literally jumped out of her seat to answer it.
“Madame Kartz speaking.”
“Talya, Hassan here. Are you ready to come down for dinner?”
“No, not quite, I have a couple of visitors with me at present. Perhaps I could join you later.”
“Who is it? Can you tell me?”
“Just business acquaintances. It won’t take long. I could be at the restaurant in ten minutes.”
“Just answer me yes or no. Is Hjamal with you?” Hassan asked.
“Yes, that’s right. I’ll be down in a little while. Just save a seat for me.”
“Do you want me to come in?”
“No, thank you, I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Talya—”
“No. Don’t bother. I’ll be down shortly,” and she hung up. Talya didn’t want Hassan intervening at this juncture. This was a delicate situation—one she wanted to handle alone.
In the meantime, Hjamal had been gaping at Talya while Rasheed had walked out to the terrace. Perhaps he was admiring the scenery. Talya was hoping he wasn’t going to jump. Her eyes went back to Ahmed Hjamal. She didn’t want to be distracted by the circus dog any longer.
“I apologize for the interruption, but I’m expected for dinner in ten minutes, as you’ve heard. So, let’s run over the main points of this meeting once more. First, you, Monsieur Hjamal, were about to tell me whether you knew the whereabouts of both Monsieur Savoi and Madame McLean, and I was going to accept your answer. Therefore, I’m asking you again: do you know where my business associates are?”
The man sitting across from Talya looked trapped. He was not taking any of this very well. He seemed all-together amazed and confused.
“I’m above all, a man of honour, Madame Kartz. I will not lie when I tell you that I only know Monsieur Savoi came to Dakar, of his own free will, I might add, and Madame McLean joined him a week or so afterward. Anything, which may have happened after that, is beyond my knowledge. As far as I am concerned, we discussed business when Monsieur Savoi called me when he arrived in Dakar and that’s all…”
They heard a knock at the front door. Talya excused herself briefly and went to open it. Without a word, Hassan waltzed in. Debonair, as Talya had never seen him before. Hjamal rose. Talya was fuming. I do not want him here!
“Oh. I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”
“Maitre Sangor! How nice of you to drop in, please, come in.” If not in the words as Talya uttered them, her sarcasm must have been audible, nevertheless. “This is Monsieur Ahmed Hjamal, and I believe you’ve met the gentleman on the balcony?”
“Maitre Hassan Sangor, Monsieur Hjamal,” Hassan said, extending a hand to the visitor. “I’m delighted to meet you at last. I’ve heard a great deal about you. I must say you have a reputation that precedes you a long way.” They shook hands.
“Maitre,” Hjamal replied, nodding his greeting but looking positively displeased at the intrusion.
Rasheed, who had come back into the room, looked at Hassan. He seemed genuinely surprised at his coming onto the scene.
“Maitre Sangor? I thought you were still in Bamako?” He extended a hand.
Ignoring the gesture, Hassan looked at the man with disdain and turned to Talya. “Madame Kartz, I think our friends are waiting for us downstairs. Perhaps we should go. We could all meet again tomorrow and deal with this matter then?”
Although Talya was angry with Hassan’s overbearing attitude—taking the lead in the now aborted meeting—she did not want to add fuel to fire. She smiled. Before Hjamal could reply, she made her excuses for the interruption. “Again, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet with you, Monsieur Hjamal, but, as you can see, my presence is required elsewhere this evening.”
“I have brought you down here at great expense, Madame Kartz…” and you are determined not to pay for it. “I expected you to do me the courtesy of spending time with me.”
“Tomorrow is another day,” Talya retorted, “and, may I remind you; you were not expecting me in Dakar until then anyway. You’ve said it yourself: I was to visit the mine site today, so, you may as well pretend I’m at the mine enjoying your imposed hospitality. Now, I’m going to dinner.”
That was a very clear indication on her part that Talya’s two guests had outstayed their welcome. Etiquette demanded that they leave without another word. They bowed slightly, as it is customary, and walked toward the door.
When in the passage, Hjamal stopped and turned to Talya. “We shall be back in the morning. And…”
“That’ll be fine, but please don’t make it too early. I like to sleep in on Sundays.” She turned her back to them as Hassan closed the door on the two men.
Coming back to the living room, Hassan blurted, “Why didn’t you ask me to stay with you since you knew they were coming?”
“Because, I did not want you here!” Talya was put out. She had not obtained all of the information she sought from Hjamal and Rasheed, because of Hassan intruding on their discussion, when she had specifically told him that his presence was not required. “Besides, I wanted them to think they had the upper hand and they were at liberty to attack me in any way they saw fit. As it is, I found out from Hjamal that Rasheed is an eel hidden under rocks.”
“What do you mean? What have you found out?”
“I’ll tell you later, when I have time to think about it.”
“I wish