Windfall

Stafford said, 'Are you sure this is just an ordinary tour group?'

'Sure,' said Chip soothingly. 'I used to do the courier bit with them. It's standard operational procedure for tourists, showing them the big five lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo.' He laughed. 'If they're lucky they see the lot; sometimes they aren't lucky.'

'What have our pair been doing?'

'Sightseeing around town. They had lunch once in the revolving restaurant on top of the Kenyatta Conference Centre. Gunnarsson's been playing the tables in the International Casino. Just the usual tourist stuff.'

'When are they going on safari?'

'Day after tomorrow.'

Stafford made up his mind. 'Can you lay me alongside Gunnarsson? I'd like to get a closer look at him.'

'You want to go to the Mara?' Chip paused. 'Sure, that can be arranged. When?'

'I'd like to be there when Gunnarsson arrives.'

'Stay where you are. We'll pick you up tomorrow morning.'

'Bring the Sergeant,' said Stafford, and hung up.

He had no idea why he wanted to see Gunnarsson but inactivity irked him, and he wanted to know why Gunnarsson was sticking around. It could not be to see animals – he doubted if Gunnarsson was a wild life enthusiast – so he was possibly waiting for something. If so, what? Anyway, this was more important than ballooning so Stafford picked up the telephone to cancel the appointment with Hunt.

Chapter 12

Chip came early next morning accompanied by Nair and Curtis. 'We won't need two trucks,' he said to Stafford. 'We'll leave yours here and pick it up on the way back.'

Stafford took Curtis on one side. 'Any problems, Sergeant?'

'No, sir.'

'I hope you've been keeping your ears open. Did Chip or Nair let anything drop to give a reason why they're being so bloody helpful?'

'Nothing I heard, sir.' Curtis paused, waiting for Stafford to continue, then he said, 'I'll pack the Colonel's case.'

Stafford had already packed so they wasted no time and were soon on the road. It was a good road, if narrow, and went straight as an arrow across the Rift Valley, and they made good time. They skirted the Mau Escarpment and eventually arrived at Narok which was nothing more than a village.

On the way Chip probed a little. 'Did you find what you wanted to know about Brice?"

'Not exactly,' said Stafford. 'He tells me he's applying for Kenyan citizenship. I would have thought a White colonial Rhodesian would be persona non grata here.'

'Normally you'd be right,' said Chip. 'But Brice's credentials are impeccable. He was anti-UDI, anti-Smith, anti-white rule. He left Zimbabwe – Rhodesia as it was then at the right time. Brice is a liberal of the liberals, isn't that so, Nair?'

'Oh, yes; he's very liberal,' said Nair.

'You seem to know a lot about him,' observed Stafford.

'Just interested,' said Chip. 'He's not a secretive man. He talks a lot and we listen. We listen to lots of people, including you. But you don't say anything.'

'I don't go much for light conversation.'

'No, you don't,' he agreed. 'But some things don't need words. That scar on your shoulder, for instance. I saw it this morning before you put your shirt on. A bullet wound, of course.'

Stafford's hand automatically went up to touch his shoulder. 'Not unusual in a soldier,' he said. Actually the bullet had been taken out three years before by Dr Fahkri in Algiers; he had not done a good job and the wound had gone bad in England and so the scarring was particularly noticeable.

'You left the army ten years ago,' said Chip. 'That scar is more recent.'

Stafford looked sideways at him. 'Then you have been investigating me.'

Chip shrugged. 'To protect our own interests. That's all.'

'I hope I came out clean.'

'As much as anyone can. What's your interest in Brice?'

'He's come into a lot of money,' said Stafford. 'Or the Foundation has.'

'We know,' said Nair. 'It's in today's Standard.' He passed the newspaper forward from the back seat.

It was on the front page. The Ol Njorowa Foundation had inherited a sum of money from the estate of Jan-Willem Hendrykxx, a mysterious millionaire. The exact amount was not yet known but was believed to be in the region of 7 million. It was a thin story which told Stafford nothing he did not know already except that someone was pulling a fast one.

Chip said, 'Yet another spelling of the name. Are they all connected?'

Stafford nodded. 'Dirk Hendriks and Henry Hendrix are both heirs under the Hendrykxx estate.'

'A South African and an American,' said Chip thoughtfully. 'Sounds improbable, doesn't it, Nair?'

'Highly improbable,' said Nair, the eternal echo.

'They're both grandsons of old Hendrykxx,' said Stafford.

'The family got scattered and the names got changed. Nothing impossible about that.'

'I didn't say impossible," said Chip, and added, 'Seven million sterling is a lot of money. I wonder what the Trustees think of it, Nair.'

Nair smiled through his beard. 'I should think they are delighted.'

Stafford said, 'I wish I could check out Brice; he seems too good to be true.'

'What would you want to know?" asked Chip.

'I'd like to know if Mr and Mrs Brice had a farm near Umtali in Zimbabwe. I'd like to know if the farm was burned and the Brices killed by guerillas. I'd like to know if their son… what's his name, anyway?'

'Charles,' said Nair. 'Charles Brice.'

'I'd like to know if their son, Charlie, left when he says he did.'

'I think we could find that out,' said Chip seriously.

'How?'

'I think our brothers in Zimbabwe would co-operate. Wouldn't you say so, Nair?'

'I think they would,' said Nair. 'I'll see to it.'

Stafford took a deep breath. 'You boys seem to have an extensive organization.'

'People are supposed to help and support each other,' said Chip, smiling. 'Isn't that what Christianity teaches? So we're helping y ou.' 'At the request of some Indian in London?' said Stafford incredulously. 'At the request of Curtis? Pull the other leg, it's got bells on it. What do you think, Sergeant?'

'It does seem rum, sir,' said Curtis.

Chip looked hurt. 'I don't think Max appreciates us, Nair.'

Nair said, 'Suspicion corrodes the soul, Max.'

'Oh, balls!' he said. 'Look, I appreciate your help but I doubt your motives. I'll be quite plain about that. I don't know who you are and I don't know what you want. The helping hand you are so kindly offering is bloody unnatural, " and Christianity hasn't got a damned thing to do with it. Nair isn't even a Christian, and I doubt if you are, Chip.'

Chip smiled.' "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations." Romans 14:1.1 was educated in a mission school, Max; I'll bet I know more of the Bible than you. Don't be weak in the faith, Max; and let's not have any doubtful disputations. Just accept.'

'Chip is right,' said Nair. 'Is there anything else you'd like us to do?'

It was obvious to Stafford that he was not going to get anything out of this pair that they did not want him to know. If they were members of a banned political organization then it was obvious they would be careful. But he wished he knew why they were being so damned helpful. He was sure it was not because they liked the colour of his eyes.

Chip had been driving but at Narok Nair took over. Chip said, 'He's the better driver.'

'Will a better driver be needed?'

'You'll see.'

After Narok they left the asphalt and encountered the most God-awful road it had been Stafford's fate to be driven over. He had been more comfortable in a tank going across country in NATO exercises in Germany. Where heavy rains had washed gullies across the road they had not been filled in and repaired, and the traffic of heavy trucks had worn deep longitudinal grooves. Several times Nair got stuck in those and Stafford heard the underside of the chassis scraping the ground.