Windfall

Roche could probably take it, too, but her parents were something else. A sedentary wine merchant who looked as though he liked to sample his own product freely and his elderly wife were going to have a hell of a tough time. He said, 'This is a funny one, Chip. These border raids: has anyone been killed previously?'

Chip shook his head. 'Just robbery. No deaths and not even a rape. They took three Nissans full of Germans about a year ago but they all came back safely.'

'Then why this time?' asked Stafford. 'That was nearly a deliberate murder. It looked almost like a bloody execution.'

'I don't know,' Chip said. 'It beats me.'

'That charming scene in the clearing when Gunnarsson wanted his shoes. Did you notice anything about Hendrix?"

'Yes, he was separated from the others.'

'And under guard. Now, why should Tanzanians want to cut Hendrix from the herd to kill him? If you could give me the answer to that I'd be very happy because I think it would give us an answer to this whole mess.'

'I don't have an answer,' Chip said frankly.

'Neither do I,' said Stafford, and brooded for a while.

'Well; you've got Hendrix now,' said Chip. 'If you want to question him now's the time to do it before he joins the others.'

'Whoever wanted Hendrix out of the way wanted it to be bloody permanent,' Stafford said ruminatively. 'And it wasn't a matter of secrecy, either. Chip, supposing you were in that tour group and you saw Hendrix marched away. A little later you hear shots, and then the Tanzanians who took Hendrix away return wearing broad grins. What would you think?'

'I'd think Hendrix had been shot, probably trying to escape.'

'So would I,' said Stafford. 'And that's probably what the rest of the group think right now, except that Hendrix's guards didn't return. But they'll have heard the shots. Does that sound reasonable?'

'It could be.'

Nair gave a peculiar warbling whistle and beckoned. They went back to the crest of the ridge and Nair pointed to the belt of trees by the Losemai. 'They're coming out.'

Minute figures were emerging on to the open plain. Chip, his binoculars to his eyes, counted them.'… four… five… six.'

'No more.'

'No more. Just the group minus Hendrix. The Tanzanians have sent them home.' He looked at the setting sun. 'Trier won't make good time, not without shoes. They'll be spending a night in the bush.'

'Dangerous?'

He shook his head. 'Not if they're careful; just scary. But Adam will look after them if they have the sense to let him. We'll wait for them up here.'

Stafford said, 'Let's have a chat.'

Hendrix stirred at Nair's side. 'Say, who are you guys?'

'Lifesavers,' said Stafford. 'Your life. Now shut up.' He looked at Nair. 'Keep him quiet. If he doesn't want to be quiet then quieten him.' He did not want Hendrix to get any wrong ideas about his rescuers. He wanted him softened up and it was best that Hendrix should think he'd jumped out of a moderately warm frying pan into a bloody hot fire.

Stafford jerked his head at Chip and they walked away again. He said, 'I don't know the motives for the attempted murder of Hendrix but, so far, only four people know he's not dead. You, me, Nair and Hendrix himself. And he would have been very dead if you hadn't let go with the Uzi when you did. It was a matter of a split second.'

'What are you getting at?'

'Supposing he doesn't join the others? Supposing he stays dead? That's going to confuse the hell out of somebody.'

'Which somebody?'

'How the devil would I know? But six Tanzanians don't deliberately try to murder the inheritor of three million pounds just for kicks. The average Tanzanian wouldn't even know Hendrix existed. Somebody, somewhere, must have given the orders. Now, that somebody will think Hendrix is dead as per orders. He might be mystified about the disappearance of two Tanzanians, but Hendrix will have disappeared, too. The survivors of the group will tell their tale and it will all add up to Hendrix's death because, if he isn't dead why doesn't he show up? But I'll have him. He's not a trump card but a joker to be played at the correct time.'

Chip stared at Stafford for a long time in silence. Eventually he said, 'You don't want much, do you?' He ticked off points on his fingers. 'One, we kidnap Hendrix; two, we have to smuggle him out of the Mara because he can't go through any of the gates; three, we have to keep him alive with food and water while all this is going on; four, we have to find a place to put him when we get him out of the Mara; five, that means guards to be supplied; six…' He stopped. 'You know; a man could run out of fingers this way.'

'In the past you've always proved to be a resourceful chap,' Stafford said engagingly.

Chip gave him a thin smile. 'All hell is going to break loose,' he said. 'This is going to make headlines in the world press. An American multi-millionaire kidnapped and killed -a first-rate front page story full of diplomatic dynamite. The Kenyan government will be forced to protest to Tanzania and the American government will probably join in. So what happens when we finally turn him loose? Then our heads are on the chopping block.'

'Not at all,' Stafford said. 'He won't say a damned thing. He can't say a thing. You're forgetting that he isn't really Hendrix.'

'I'm forgetting nothing,' said Chip coldly. 'All I know is what you've told me. You haven't proved anything yet."

Stafford turned his head and looked at Hendrix. 'Let's ask him his name,' he proposed.

'Yes, but not here. Let's get out of Tanzania.'

Stafford hesitated because he was worried about the tour group, particularly the Roches. 'The others,' he said. 'Will they be all right?"

'I told you; Adam will take care of them,' said Chip impatiently. 'They'll be all right. Look, Max; we'll be able to make better time on our own. We can get back to Keekorok and have cars sent to pick them up on the border. And on the way you can have your talk with Hendrix.'

Put that way it was a good solution. 'All right,' Stafford said at length. 'Let's get going.'

'But I promise nothing until you prove your point about Hendrix,' said Chip. 'You have to do that.'

Chapter 15

So they went back into Kenya but not the same way they had come out. They changed direction and headed north-west, in the direction of Mara New Bridge. Chip said, 'Whatever happens we'll have to come up with a story for the police, and it will have to be a story with no guns in it. Dr Robert Ouko isn't going to take kindly to civilians who make armed incursions into Tanzania.'

'Who's he?'

'Minister for Foreign Affairs. He'll be sending a strong diplomatic note to Dar-es-Salaam and he won't want it weakened by talk of guns.'

'How are you going to keep Hendrix's mouth shut?'

'Don't think it isn't on my mind.', On the way they concocted a story. After sending Curtis back to Keekorok to raise the alarm they had courageously and somewhat foolishly chased after the Tanzanians. On realizing they were about to infringe Tanzanian territory they stopped and turned back, only to lose their way. After several hours of wandering in the dark they had finally found the road near Mara New Bridge and were now reporting like good citizens to the Police Post.

A thin story and not to be carefully examined. It also presupposed the total absence of Hendrix which cheered Stafford because it seemed that Chip was tacitly accepting his proposal to keep Hendrix under wraps. But he suspected that Chip was busy in the construction of another yarn should he have to write Hendrix back into the script.

Meanwhile they marched steadily through the bush until nightfall, with Hendrix protesting at intervals about the speed, and wanting to know who the hell they were, and various other items that came to his mind. He was silenced by Nair who produced a knife; it was the kirpan, the ceremonial knife carried by all Sikhs, but by no means purely ornamental, and the sight of it silenced Hendrix as effectively as if Nair had cut out his tongue with it.