Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) (69 page)

Doug took them
with a grin. ‘Thanks.’

‘Oh you’re not
going to shoot birds,’ Gem protested.

‘Aww honey,
they’re delicious.’ Doug walked off the veranda and slid two shells
into the breach.

She sat
unmoving and frowned at him. ‘Douglas, you are not going to shoot
birds.’

‘Ok I won’t,’
he agreed unconvincingly, ‘are you coming?’

‘I’m warning
you,’ she said as she hurried after him.

Firdus watched
them happily from the veranda - as the two of them walked hand in
hand out of sight, still arguing gently. A small moment of regret -
his wife was not there to share this lovely moment with him.

That night
seated around the dinner table, a roaring fire in the grate, they
tucked into the sand grouse, even Gem, who was still a little cross
with Doug. He had selected a few of the prettier feathers and she
now wore them in her hair done up in a bun. After dinner they sat
round the fire, Firdus and Doug had a brandy with their coffee, Gem
yawned sleepily. ‘I can hardly stay awake I am so relaxed,’ she
smiled happily.

‘Don’t stand on
ceremony, you can pick up a hot water bottle as you go through the
kitchen, it can get a little chilly here later on in the
night.’

Gem put her
hand on Doug’s shoulder. ‘Thank you but this is my hot water
bottle.’

Doug took a sip
of his brandy. ‘I’ll be along soon sweetheart, you go on
ahead.’

‘Ok, good
night,’ she walked off.

The men sat in
a companionable silence, only the crackling of the fire and the
cicadas outside adding to the sweet somnolence.

Firdus broke
the silence. ‘I went down to the police station today to renew my
gun license and you won’t believe who I bumped into. Detective
Katana, do you remember him?’

‘Yes,’ Doug
said, ‘of course I do.’

‘Put on a
little weight, but otherwise he looks fine. He is now the regional
boss for Voi. Anyway, I spent about an hour there and he had a few
things to say.’

‘Do tell, I
have always wondered what happened to Brian.’

‘He ended up in
jail in England.’

Doug raised his
eyebrows. ‘I never figured Brian for a thief, just goes to show you
never can tell, what happened to the money?

‘The recovered
money was sent to Omollo’s personal bank account in Geneva.’ Firdus
relayed the details.

‘Wow he is a
really crafty one,’ Doug took a sip of brandy, ‘and what happened
to the other guy, Patel?’ Firdus was barely able to contain his
mirth as he told of Patel’s capture.

Doug laughed.
‘The big shit brought down by a big shit eh?’

‘Yes! Can you
imagine his surprise?’He had Katana after a red herring all the way
to Durban in the form of an identical landcruiser that he’d
arranged to have stolen the minute it got there, it was almost a
water tight escape plan.

‘And what
happened to Patel’s money?’

‘The Minister
pulled the same tractor trick again.’

‘Is he really
that powerful?’

Firdus nodded.
‘Minister of National Security.’

‘This story is
unbelievable,’ said Doug, ‘and that bank manager Evans. What became
of him?’

Firdus lit a
cigar, ‘he’s still working for the same bank somewhere up country.
Despite all the evidence of his collusion, he was needed as a
witness in the court case.’

‘How about Lucy
did Katana ever find her?’

‘No, as I had
suspected Omollo had another team in place - they picked her up and
she led them to the apartment and the computer, while Katana was in
Durban.

‘I can hardly
believe this,’ Doug said.

‘Anyhow, Patel
spent some time in jail, while the British government waited for an
extradition order to Kenya - which of course never happened because
Omollo would have to give up his ill gotten gains. In the meantime,
Patel claimed that he was a political refugee. After much
wrangling, the brits decided to charge him with currency smuggling,
for which he is currently doing time in an English jail. When he
comes out it is likely - because his family is in England and
because of his political status - he will eventually be given
British residency.’

‘The jammy
bugger.’

Firdus drained
the last of his brandy and put his cigar out. ‘The thing is
Douglas, Omollo, on top of all the money he stole has also seized
all those title deeds. I expect by the time it comes up to the next
election in two years time, he will have transferred those deeds to
his own name, only to retire gracefully and take up farming as my
neighbour.’

‘That’s
outrageous, how can he get away with that?’

‘He’s got
enough money to pay off the judge, certainly to keep the litigation
in limbo for years and the bank can do nothing about it.’

‘So why is
Detective Katana back in a lowly post in Voi?’

Firdus was
quiet for a moment, staring at the fire. ‘He said it was impossible
to do his job and he got sick of all the lies. Eventually he could
see that if he continued he would end up getting as corrupted as
Rubia.’

Doug was silent
for a moment. ‘Is there nothing that can be done about Omollo?’

Firdus sighed.
‘No there’s nothing we can do about it, but rest assured the
Minister will never be able to relax, just like Rubia found out,
there will always be someone after his money, younger, greedier and
more ruthless.’