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

practically put the first nail in Richard Gillman’s coffin. You, Monsieur Hjamal, came to Canada. You thought that, if a stupid man like Monsieur Savoi could obtain money from Carmine, you could do one better—you could get Carmine to pay for the entire mining development, and then some. You portrayed yourself to be a wealthy proprietor from Senegal needing assistance in the construction of a gold processing plant. You wanted to hire Carmine to do the job for you. The irony of this ploy was that you made the trip using some of the money Monsieur Savoi had been sending you every month—our money, Monsieur Hjamal. However, I was not to be swindled. I refused to give you any form of assistance. I had visited your mining project, earlier in the spring. I knew there was no other processing plant under construction in the whole of Senegal and I very quickly put two-and-two together. I smelled a rat, but I never conceived the relation that existed between the two of you, gentlemen.
“Within a few weeks, Monsieur Hjamal, you got wind of Monsieur Savoi being in somewhat of a precarious position. Carmine was not sending any more money to his agent. So, you devised yet another devilish plan. You asked Monsieur Savoi to remain hidden in Mali (hidden from Madame Kartz, that is) until you would send for him to come down to Dakar to sort the matter out. And you, Monsieur Savoi did as bidden, and remained at your villa, presumably out of sight, in the suburbs of Bamako until called to come to Dakar.” James brushed his gaze by everyone in turn and took another breather.
After a moment, he went on, addressing Savoi in particular. “Unfortunately, you did not count on your niece following you. And, that’s exactly what she did. When you and your niece reached Dakar, separately at first, and then got in touch with Monsieur Hjamal and Abdul Rasheed, things got out of hand. Monsieur Hjamal, you ordered that Savoi and Madame McLean be ‘removed’. The worst part of it is that Monsieur Rasheed could not resist taking people to Sabodala and torture them. It is some sort of sadistic behaviour, which is only found in psychopaths. Monsieur Hjamal had only to say ‘I want so-and-so removed from sight’, Monsieur Rasheed would obey and promptly remove these people to the mine site.” James drank some juice again—the glass was nearly empty.
“After your little junket to Vancouver, Monsieur Hjamal, you went to Richard’s place—the latter had moved to Toronto by then—and you somehow convinced him to come back with you to Senegal. We know Richard was between jobs at that time, and to maintain his unfortunate drug addiction (however mild it was), he needed money. So he accepted what must have been a very alluring proposal.” Hjamal glared at James.
“In the meantime, Monsieur Rasheed, your associate, was very busy persuading Madame Kartz to side-step my directors’ decision, to come to Senegal to help matters along. That was an enormous mistake on his part. The first time Madame Kartz came to Dakar, Monsieur Rasheed was to meet her at the airport. Unbeknownst to you, Monsieur Hjamal, you were to meet her again—after being introduced to her in Vancouver—to discuss the possibilities of reaching an agreement between our companies. No one was at the airport when she arrived. She found that very strange, but she paid no more attention to the fact until you, Monsieur Savoi, disappeared along with your niece. Madame Kartz then began to suspect a connection existed between you, Monsieur Hjamal, and you, Monsieur Savoi.
“Soon afterwards, Abdul Rasheed made another mistake. He came to Bamako driving Madame McLean’s car. He came to Madame Kartz’s hotel and told Maitre Sangor and her that Rheza McLean and Monsieur Savoi were sending ‘their best regards.’ In fact, he was offering their safe return in exchange for assistance in bailing him and Monsieur Hjamal out of trouble. Her suspicions were then confirmed—there was a link between the two of you, gentlemen.
“When Abdul Rasheed realized that Madame Kartz suspected the existence of a relation between his boss and Monsieur Savoi, and that she probably concluded that Monsieur Savoi and Madame McLean were held for ransom, something had to be done.
“Monsieur Savoi, you have defrauded my company and you should be prosecuted for that offence. Madame McLean, you were very unwise to try helping your uncle. You could also be facing criminal charges for being an accessory before the fact.” Mohammed put his arm around his niece’s shoulders in a consoling fashion and murmured something in her ear.
“As for you, Monsieur Hjamal, I regret to say that you have only one choice now. You need to strike a partnership with Carmine so that we can work toward attaining your goal and expunge some of your crimes. You deceived your government. You took possession of a valuable piece of land that did not belong to you. Furthermore, you used the worst means possible to entice people to follow in your designs. What none of us knew or even suspected however, until yesterday, and which will be your saving grace today, is that you, Monsieur Hjamal, amid all your obsessive plans, had also designed a replacement village for the inhabitants of Sabodala. It is my sincere belief that you will be able to atone for your sins once you see Sabodala resurrected on the third hill.” James looked at Hassan fixedly and smiled.
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James then returned his attention once more to the gathering, and closing the folder in front of him, he said, “The rest of Madame Kartz’s statement are only made out of notes, which will have yet to be recorded. So I will not impose further reading on you for the moment.” He turned to Talya. “I will, however, ask Madame Kartz to summarize the conclusions that she has drawn during the past few days.”
With some visible efforts, Talya began, “Madame McLean and gentlemen, we do not believe that Monsieur Rasheed killed Richard Gillman.”
At this announcement, there was a stir amongst the people around the table. Talya waited until the rustle abated and continued, “Monsieur Rasheed is guilty of ‘having murder in mind’ and should be found guilty of two attempted murders—”
“Two? Two attempted murders,” Hjamal interrupted, an astounded look on his face. “Madame Kartz, we, at least I don’t understand.”
“Yes, Monsieur Hjamal,” James answered, “your devoted associate has come back last night to haunt us. He wanted to rape and kill Madame Kartz.” Upon hearing these words, Talya saw Rheza put a hand to her mouth looking horrified. She was reliving her nightmare.
“Where is he? I’ll kill him myself,” Hjamal exploded, rising from his seat.
“Calm yourself, Monsieur Hjamal, and please, sit down,” James said, looking in Chief Mubarek’s direction.
When Hjamal lowered himself in the seat, Talya raised her head and saw Samir’s gaze focused on her. She went on, “As I was saying, Monsieur Rasheed wanted Richard dead, of course, but he did not perpetrate the crime.
“Richard was at the mine at the time. He had been working again for you, Monsieur Hjamal, for a few weeks. Although Richard should have arrived in Sabodala in December, he never completed his journey from Nouakchott to Dakar until weeks later.
“As James said, Richard was an occasional drug user but he was a trafficker first and foremost. When I read his letter, I told Maitre Sangor that I felt a sense of unreal. Not because it was written in the third person, but because it had been written by someone under the influence of some powerful drugs. Later on, I concluded that, when Richard was first in Senegal, he wanted to pursue his trafficking activities and he succeeded to some degree. He went from Sabodala to Dakar on a regular basis and sent messages to South America, contacted other mules and made plans to use Monsieur Hjamal’s connections in West Africa to further his endeavours.
“The one person who soon realized what Richard was doing was Johan Van Burren. Johan may be many things, as James explained, but he is also from the old school and drugs are not even part of his vocabulary. Johan uncovered the scheme, a scheme, which I might add, involved Monsieur Rasheed. When he came to Bamako and told Maitre Sangor and I that he had invested in Sabodala and was looking for a way to recover his money, I became extremely suspicious. When I was told that Richard never made the last leg of his trip from Nouakchott, and when I was shown proof of Richard’s activities in Mauritania under the auspices of some drug cartel operating out of Florida, I was convinced that our Monsieur Rasheed was a drug lord, or occupied a place very near that echelon.
“It was only logical to think that Richard at first had no connections to speak of on this continent. As Johan said to me, “It was Richard’s first time in Africa.” So how could Richard establish a drug ring in West Africa when he knew no one? The answer was obvious. Monsieur Rasheed was the link. It couldn’t have been Monsieur Hjamal, otherwise, why would he have needed money? There are many money-laundering opportunities floating about this world and he could have easily found one that would have served the purpose.
“Moreover, I was also convinced that the first purpose for which Monsieur Rasheed got involved in Sabodala was to establish such a drug ring and a money laundering facility. However, with you, Monsieur Hjamal, being so suspicious of everyone, Monsieur Rasheed couldn’t activate the scheme until Richard came on the scene.
“So, when you went to Toronto, Monsieur Hjamal, and you engaged Richard again, he saw his second opportunity on the horizon. He took the ticket and flew to Nouakchott where he met Rasheed. They re-opened the ring, and drugs were ready to flow through once again.
“Except for Johan finding out about the scheme, the two collaborators had no problems. However, Johan had a problem of his own, the nitro-glycerine. Using it without permit was not something he wanted to do. He desperately wanted to find a mining partner for Monsieur Hjamal. He went in search of such a company and even went as far as Zimbabwe in quest of people who would take over the project or lend a hand to Monsieur Hjamal in his venture.
“After verifying that in fact Johan was in Senegal at the time of the murder, I drew a picture—A picture of an involuntary manslaughter.”
Johan, who had remained silent and inconspicuous to this moment, looked at Talya with pleading eyes. She went on uncompromisingly.
“On the day of Richard’s slaying, Monsieur Rasheed decided to lure him to Yoff’s beach under the pretext or other that they had to talk. He brought with him a package containing drugs and a hypodermic needle. Drug trafficking is a dangerous business and a user usually has no place in a ring, because when you’re under the influence, you might talk and say the wrong thing to the wrong people. Since Richard’s drug use became more than occasional, he had to be eliminated for good.
“When Johan heard of the proposed meeting, he came back to Dakar at the same time as Richard did. Johan had in mind to try stopping Richard on the one hand, and prevent Rasheed from pursuing him or break the ring somehow, on the