17.2 In Flagrante Delicto

Marvin Edward arrived with medicine that Adaran asked for. He said that he’d be at his office and to drop it there. Marvin went to fetch it from the base and arrived while the second half of the match was coming to end. Marvin guessed her hurry was natural to hide any suspicion of the mutual relationship they secretly hold. Adaran did not mention that she carried a pistol to Flight Lieutenant Marvin Edward, surgeon at the base, not at that point.

Adaran reported to the commandant much later but first, Savari Shakir carried an invisible woman on his rear fairing seat. As he reached the narrow stretch of Hittadu on his noisy Moto Guzzi, some boys climbing from the beach glanced at him several times.

He saw a white big moon soaring in the horizon over his left shoulder. On the other side, reddish clouds of a scenic sunset painted the western sky. The sun had gone down and a descending light draped the beaches. It was a Full Moon.

Shakir passed Hankendé and closing on Maradu decorated of flags. Loud noise of his bike distracted him from noticing those visible knees of Mariam Mala.

He climbed Maradu, almost vacated at breakfast hour, but some women in Maaran glowered to notice a fully naked woman on the backseat. He felt it and asked curiously, “Are they looking at us?”

“I think so,” echoed Mala.

He saw a knee. Shakir took a quick peek and Mariam Mala was no longer invisible. She sat completely nude on the high fairing. “I can see your body! Magic has worn out!” he cried and stopped the motorbike.

“Is this the Full Moon?”

“I guess so. Here is your uniform. Put it on!”

“What time is it?”

“Six-fifty.”

“My shoes…”

Few minutes later, he dropped Mariam Mala at Askeni. “Let’s break the fast! Then I go to Koka and look for Farata. I cannot ride this bike. It makes lot of noise. They’ll follow me.”

Habib hid his bicycle in the coppice and entered the house. He gathered the pillowcase and the docs removed from the magistrate’s office. He grabbed the cameras and some film cartridges, put them in a suitcase. Shakir’s bag was packed ready.

He told Samara, “Shakir won’t be here tonight. Take his bag to Maradu to my place. Stop at Bèruthila and tell Toib Manikfan that something has gone wrong. I will try to reach him tonight or maybe in the morning.”

Samara climbed the bike with Shakir’s bag and cycled over the pathways out through the gate.

He slipped into vihali and called Saeed. “I don’t know what happened but Thirty-Two is blown. Dhekunu Mala is blown!” he passed the message.

Longbridge at the base was recording the conversation.

Sayye Saeed advised, “Get out of there! Go to Gado. You can organise some way home. From now on Malikurva will be dead. There will be no response even if you try. I can only assume you are under duress.”

“This is it. I will not be able to save a lot of things. I try my best to carry these recent picks. So long then!”

“Good luck!” And it went dead.

Footloose Habib sneaked through the bushes carrying the luggage piece and reached his bicycle. He noticed a Full Moon behind the leaves. He cycled to Maradu without obstruction. Habib hid the weapons in a bush near his place in Maaran in order to collect those two pieces later. It was nine-thirty.

Mala said, “I can’t stay here. I must go to Huludu. I need a boat.”

After the banquet at sundown, Adaran called Wing Commander John Knet, Sgt Henry Moon and Flight Lieutenant Marvin Edward to his office. Standing by the desk, looking down at the items under a Tilley lamp, he told them that Mala carried a pistol. He passed an order, “Nurse Deeni is wanted by the Secretariat of the USIR. I want her arrested.”

“Who do you suspect are helping her?” enquired the commander.

“Footloose Habib and Savari Shakir.”

“I cannot arrest those men unless they carry guns on them.”

“I will arrest them,” said Adaran, “I will call them off, cops and representatives from Malé. They mean to kill me! This vendetta has gone too far!”

“We’ve been listening to a mysterious radio signal coming from Odessele in north woods,” disclosed John Knet.

“Etherevari,” unveiled Adaran, “That is where Shakir stays.”

Lieutenant Marvin Edward asked, “How did she get in? Is anything missing?”

“I have to check,” grunted Adaran, “this place is not locked. Nobody touches anything I keep here.”

“Let’s see if she’d come to work.”

“She’ll be going to Huludu,” responded Adaran, “in fact, she will be leaving now. Her father is from Huludu and a strong supporter of the central government. He was against our cause from the beginning.”

When they left, he picked the contents and his passport, took them to his house and locked them in a safe. This safe with a number lock was built into a wall inside a cupboard. This safe was full of gold, bundles of British pounds and a box of shillings.