Scene 10

Why should it be Dakar? Couldn't the kidnappers have found another place in which to hide Koslow? Weren't there cellars in Paris, where Maille could have enjoyed a platter of «Fruits of the Sea» at Rue Paul Bert – or in Vienna, where the restaurant «On», located on a little street called Wehrgasse, offered the best tripe salad on earth. Dakar meant malaria tablets, sticky street vendors and niggling feelings of «guilt» – because, after all, it could not be ruled out that Maille was a descendant of one of the plantation owners who had climbed to prosperity on the bloodstained backs of slaves from Africa. Perhaps it was a mistake to be paying a visit to the Maison des Esclaves in Gorée this morning – because the explanation of the guide, who was revelling in bringing tourists up to speed about the gory details about the place, affected him in quite the same manner that badly cooked lentils affect the tummy. Perhaps they could guess that his forefather had probably been a planter?

Fortunately, he had a task, a good reason, that had brought him here: even if the good reason had no desire to show up at the moment. At 20.00 hours the man must have been here – it was now 22.30 and the pretty landlady was yawning ostentatiously, indicating that she wanted to close the kitchen. He activated his mobile phone to read once more the text message that the «department» had sent him: «20h ‹Keur Souadou› – meeting with Roff.» At the next table, two American couples were animatedly discussing the bizarre rituals of a skipper they had befriended. And in a corner of the dingy pub sat a Kora player, strumming melancholy tunes on his peculiar harp. No trace of Roff. Maille ordered a dish called «Tiebou Viande» that turned out to be a greasy and carelessly prepared tomato sauce with beef cubes and carrots – a punishment by any standard. Then he paid the bill and got up to leave. As he pressed a couple of coins into the Kora player's hand, the man winked at him. Confused, Maille stepped out into the poorly lit street.

continue