Scene 18

Maille put some mustard seeds into a mortar. What, he wondered as he pulverised the mustard seeds with the pestle, was the meaning of his picture floating around in the swamps of Hann? That the President of Senegal floated around in the form of paper boats in the reeds was not really astonishing. A placard of the Dakar Biennial might have also got there for the most banal of reasons – why not? But what the hell was his portrait, the picture of a Lemusian secret agent doing in those reeds – and, above all, what did it signify in combination with the others? «Iya odo on ommo re ko ni ijy,» began Souadou, before switching in French. «In our jargon that means: the mortar and pestle had nothing against each other; it was the chef who provoked them to fight.» She laughed, moistened the tips of her little fingers, picked up a mustard seed from the table and flicked it into Maille's face. Aha, the penny dropped: that was the explanation – it required a third person to play «agent provocateur». The few guests who were at the «Keur Souadou» that memorable evening were treated not only to an uncommon beef preparation (recipe), they were also – for possibly the first time in their life – waited on by a secret agent in the best of moods. And when Maille finally left «Keur Souadou» at midnight, the lady owner was, quite understandably, sorry that the gentleman would not be back in her kitchen the following evening. Oh, yes, an observant guest had noticed a moist glitter in her tamarind eyes that night. 

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