Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Nicholls raising questions on how you
could afford an eight million shilling motor, do you get me?’
    Evans nodded,
looking glum. The car was his pride and joy. Patel reached into his
pocket and handed him the envelope from the office. ‘Put that in
your pocket,’ he advised.
    Evans an expert
in currency weights took the packet and smiled. Must be half a
million shillings. ‘Thanks,’ he muttered, brightening.
    Patel smiled.
‘That should keep you happy for a while. Now I need you to find out
where Nicholls is staying in Nairobi. Does NNB have company
houses?’
    ‘Yes, we have a
block of apartments used by senior personnel.’
    ‘Ok, find out
which apartment he is staying in.’
    Evans frowned;
saw the look in Patel’s eye and nodded. ‘Ok, I can find that out,’
he agreed.
    Patel went on.
‘I also need you to find out Nicholl’s flight number -if he is
coming by air next Monday - where would someone like him stay here
in Malindi, in a hotel?’
    Evans nodded.
‘We have an arrangement with the White Marlin Hotel, they have
serviced apartments we use.’
    ‘Aha,’ said
Patel, ‘that could be useful. You must keep me informed if there
are any changes to his itinerary. Any enquiries you make must be
discreet, do you understand?’
    ‘Yes, yes, I
can do that,’ repeated Evans.
    ‘Good,’ said
Patel satisfied, reaching for the newspaper. He pointed out the
advert for the London home, tapping on it with his index finger.
‘Can you imagine for such a small house! We still have lots of work
to do,’ he giggled. ‘Now do you have any questions?’
    Evans took the
paper from him, looked at the advert. ‘No, but what happens, if
despite our precautions, Nicholls finds something, what do we do
then?’
    Patel answered,
getting testy. ‘Listen Evans, I have just explained it to you,
there is nothing to find. You are doing your job as a bank manager
- a very good job as far as the bank is concerned.’ He held his
hands up in the air. ‘The only thing that can go wrong is if you
decide to tell Nicholls or anyone else of your involvement in this
project. Then I guess you will go to jail for fraud. Stop
worrying.’
    ‘Ok,’ but went
on doggedly, ‘and how will we split the money?’
    ‘As we agreed,
everything is on course. This is no time to start having doubts,’
said Patel with finality.
    Evans looked
desperate. ‘What if the plot owners ask questions?’
    ‘What plot
owners?’ Patel looked at the ceiling, ‘we own the plots. Who will
they ask, you? They cannot miss something they never had,’ he
laughed, ‘come on Evans enough of this crap, get a grip on your
fears!’
    Patel got up to
leave. ‘Here are the car keys to the Toyota, do you have any
personal stuff in the Mercedes?’
    They exchanged
keys in the car park. Patel drove off; Evans looked on with longing
as his pride and joy disappeared down the driveway in a cloud of
dust.
     
     

 
     
    TWO
     
     
    From his second
story balcony that evening, Patel watched the moonrise over the
ocean. Its golden light glinted off waves rolling into the crescent
shaped bay of Malindi. He sighed, making a decision; today’s events
had highlighted a looming difficulty he had ignored. It had become
clear, that in order to pull off the Golden Palm project, there
would have to be changes.
    Leaving Malindi
was never part of the plan; he had inherited the plastics factory
from his father. Starting out as a wood working shop, his father
had made a living manufacturing furniture; the smell of wood
shavings were etched in Patel’s childhood memories, along with
sharper acid-like smells as the factory adapted to making plastic
utilities for the domestic market. One of the first to use this new
technology, his father had made a good profit securing a large
market share.
    The only way
for the factory to survive now, was to cut the profit levels, as
cheap imports from china threatened to drive it under completely.
Patel had always been looking for a way to upgrade