The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene [61]
Scobie nodded.
Colonel Wright said, ‘Do you consider Yusef trustworthy?’
‘Of course not, sir. But one has to act on what information is available - and this information proved correct up to a point.’
‘Up to what point?’
‘The diamonds were there.’
The Colonial Secretary said, ‘Do you get much information from Yusef?’
‘This is the first time I’ve had any at all.’
He couldn’t catch what the Colonial Secretary said beyond the word ‘Yusef’.
‘I can’t hear what you say, sir.’
‘I said are you in touch with Yusef?’
‘I don’t know what you mean by that’
‘Do you see him often?’
‘I think in the last three months I have seen him three - no, four times.’
‘On business?’
‘Not necessarily. Once I gave him a lift home when his car had broken down. Once he came to see me when I had fever at Bamba. Once ...’
‘We are not cross-examining you, Scobie,’ the Commissioner said.
‘I had an idea, sir, that these gentlemen were.’
Colonel Wright uncrossed his long legs and said, ‘Let’s boil it down to one question. Tallit, Major Scobie, has made counter-accusations - against the police, against you. He says in effect that Yusef has given you money. Has he?’
‘No, sir. Yusef has given me nothing.’ He felt an odd relief that he had not yet been called upon to lie.
The Colonial Secretary said, ‘Naturally sending your wife to South Africa was well within your private means.’ Scobie sat back in his chair, saying nothing. Again he was aware of the hungry silence waiting for his words.
‘You don’t answer?’ the Colonial Secretary said impatiently.
‘I didn’t know you had asked a question. I repeat - Yusef has given me nothing.’
‘He’s a man to beware of, Scobie.’
‘Perhaps when you have been here as long as I have you’ll realize the police are meant to deal with people who are not received at the Secretariat.’
‘We don’t want our tempers to get warm, do we?’
Scobie stood up. ‘Can I go, sir? If these gentlemen have finished with me ... I have an appointment.’ The sweat stood on his forehead; his heart jumped with fury. This should be the moment of caution, when the blood runs down the flanks and the red cloth waves.
‘That’s all right, Scobie,’ the Commissioner said.
Colonel Wright said, ‘You must forgive me for bothering you. I received a report. I had to take the matter up officially. I’m quite satisfied.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ But the soothing words came too late: the damp face of the Colonial Secretary filled his field of vision. The Colonial Secretary said softly, ‘It’s just a matter of discretion, that’s all.’
‘If I’m wanted for the next half an hour, sir,’ Scobie said to the Commissioner, ‘I shall be at Yusef’s’
3
After all they had forced him to tell a kind of lie: he had no appointment with Yusef. All the same he wanted a few words with Yusef; it was just possible that he might yet clear up, for his own satisfaction, if not legally, the Tallit affair. Driving slowly through the rain - his windscreen wiper had long ceased to function - he saw Harris struggling with his umbrella outside the Bedford Hotel.
‘Can I give you a lift? I’m going your way.’
‘The most exciting things have been happening,’ Harris said. His hollow face shone with rain and enthusiasm. ‘I’ve got a house at last.’
‘Congratulations.’
‘At least it’s not a house: it’s one of the huts up your way. But it’s a home.’ Harris said. ‘I’ll have to share it, but it’s a home.’
‘Who’s sharing it with you?’
‘I’m asking Wilson, but he’s gone away - to Lagos for a week or two. The damned elusive Pimpernel. Just when I wanted him. And that brings me to the second exciting thing. Do you know I’ve discovered we were both at Downham?’
‘Downham?’
‘The school, of course. I went into his room to borrow his ink while he was away, and there on his table I saw a copy of the old Downhamian.’
‘What a coincidence,’ Scobie said.
‘And do you know - it’s really been a day of extraordinary happenings - I was looking through the magazine and there at the end