didn’t deserve to die like that. I regret talking badly about the dead, but she should have told me who she was. I mean, imagine not telling me who her husband was.’
‘She was afraid you would fire her if you knew.’
‘Really? Well that’s just . . .’ He sank down into his chair with a thoughtful expression on his face and reached for his pipe. ‘She should have come to me about these letters.’
‘When you hired me I asked if you could think of anyone who might have an interest in seeing this company ruined. Have you had any further thoughts on the subject?’
‘Are you joking? All my rivals are sending me messages of sympathy. We all have to stand together, they say. If one of us goes down it’s only a matter of time before all of us do. Secretly, of course, they are hoping this will finish me off and they can close in and pick up my business.’ Faragalla puffed away nervously. ‘Who knows, maybe there is some way of turning this to our advantage. I’m calling a press conference this afternoon. Put a determined face on it. Let them know that we don’t scare easily. We have a tradition to defend. In my grandfather’s day there was respect for our profession.’
‘So, I take it you want me to carry on with the investigation?’
‘Why do you think I am paying you? Get to the bottom of this. And I want to be informed of any progress you make. Anything at all, you understand?’
When he came out of the office Yousef was waiting for him. He nodded for Makana to follow him out. As they walked down the stairs, Yousef paused to flick his cigarette through a window with no glass.
‘What did the old man want?’
‘He’s worried. This whole thing has shaken everybody.’
‘You turned out quite the hero,’ smiled Yousef.
‘The papers exaggerate, it’s their business.’
‘No, I heard you really did go for the gunman. That takes guts, or was it something else?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I don’t know,’ Yousef said with a sly look. ‘I saw the way you watched her.’
‘You see what you want to see.’
‘Come on, I’m joking. You were in the army, weren’t you?’
‘So what if I was?’
‘Nothing. We have to look out for one another, that’s all.’ Yousef reached into his jacket and came up with an envelope which he handed over. ‘I need you to run an errand for me.’
‘What kind of errand?’ The envelope was full of cash.
‘The kind that makes you lots of money. Go back to the place we went to the other day.’ A map sketched on the back of the envelope showed the route to the House of Birds. ‘The old man will give you a package which you bring straight back to me. Think you can manage that? Tell him there won’t be more work for a while. We need to lay low until all this fuss blows over.’
Life in the arcade was slowly returning to normal. Broken windows had been covered with flattened cardboard boxes held together with adhesive tape on which Mickey Mouse and his friends gambolled jauntily along. Two police officers stood by the street entrance and a third sat on a chair picking his nose, a scarred AK47 bridged across his knees.
Eissa was back behind the counter. His forearm was wrapped in plaster.
‘You’ve been in the wars. How’s the arm?’
‘Yeah,’ the boy grinned, holding it up. ‘It itches.’
‘How did you break it?’
‘A fight.’
‘At the gym?’
‘No.’ Eissa laughed revealing a set of remarkably dirty teeth.
‘You get into a lot of fights, do you?’
‘A few. People come looking for trouble . . .’
‘You heard about Meera?’
The boy dropped his head to stare into the sink in front of him. He busied himself with washing the dirty glasses.
‘You knew her quite well, didn’t you?’ Makana said. There was no reply. After a time he realised the boy was no longer stirring the dishes. He was just looking at them.
‘She was a good person,’ said the boy without lifting his head. ‘She didn’t deserve to die.’
‘No, she didn’t.’
After a time Eissa resumed his washing up.
‘About those cigarettes.’
Eissa sniffed and wiped his bare arm over his face. ‘You want me to get you some? How about a couple of cartons?’ He still had his back to Makana.
‘Can you get me that many? Or do you need to ask Rocky?’
‘I don’t need to ask Rocky anything.’
‘Okay, well, I’d still like to know where they come from.’