Michael Pearce - A dead man in Tangier

‘All of them?’

‘Well, I didn’t just use one dressmaker. I liked to use several. One mustn’t let oneself fall into a groove.’

‘Certainly not! And — and Bossu encouraged you in this?’

‘He was always very generous in that way “Don’t bother your pretty little head,” he would say. “Just give me the bills.” So I did.’

‘And he would settle them?’

‘I imagine so. I never heard any more about it.’

‘He would write a cheque, I imagine.’

‘Cheque?’

‘A little bit of paper. It’s usually got a bank’s name on it.’

Juliette wasn’t sure about that. He certainly had a lot of little bits of paper. And, yes, he used to write on them sometimes.

‘You don’t remember the name on the bit of paper, do you? The bank’s name?’

Juliette’s smooth forehead wrinkled.

‘There were a lot of names,’ she said doubtfully.

‘One in particular?’

Juliette couldn’t recall.

‘I think he used a lot of banks,’ she said. And then, helpfully: ‘Like me, dressmakers.’

‘And when he wanted cash, to give to you, say, what did he do?’

‘Do you know,’ said Juliette, ‘I’ve never asked myself that. I would just ask and he would always give me some.’

‘Where did he keep it?’

‘Keep it?’

‘Did he have a safe or something? A drawer, perhaps? in his desk?’

‘Not that I’ve found,’ said Juliette. ‘And I’ve looked.’

Her eyes widened.

‘My God!’ she said. ‘You don’t think…’

‘What?’

‘That he kept it at Monique’s! That bitch! She must have it all!’

‘No, no, no! Not necessarily. He may have kept it somewhere else. And his papers, too. Did he have an office somewhere, perhaps? Apart from the one at the committee?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’

‘You see, what I’m trying to do is track down any transactions he might have been engaged in. In case they throw any light, you know, on his death. I’ve been through his office at the committee and there didn’t seem much there. Did he bring stuff like that home?’

‘He brought some things home, certainly.’

‘Papers?’

Juliette couldn’t remember.

‘Bank statements?’

What were they?

‘Well…’

Juliette wasn’t sure. She didn’t think so.

‘I wonder, perhaps, if you would allow me to go through his things?’

‘Of course! Come round and see me,’ said Juliette, brightening. ‘Sometime.’

‘It’s just the papers,’ said Seymour hastily. ‘If I could.’

‘I will show you everything!’

‘Thank you. Yes, thank you.’

She frowned.

‘Of course…’

‘Yes?’

‘Renaud has them. He’s been helping me, you see. With all the — you know, the horrid stuff that has to be gone into when someone dies. He took everything away with him.’

‘The papers?’

‘And the bank statements,’ said Juliette. ‘I remember them now.’

The next morning Seymour went up to the committee’s offices, where he found Mr Bahnini, head down, already at work.

He took out the scraps of paper he had found in Bossu’s filing cabinet and laid them on the desk in front of him.

‘Could you tell me, Mr Bahnini, to what these refer?’

‘They are names of places. Azrou, Immauzer and Tafilalet. And, of course, Casablanca.’

‘Anything special about them?’

‘The first three are in the south. They are small towns in the interior.’

‘Anything else about them?’

Mr Bahnini shook his head.

‘I would say there is very little to distinguish them. Apart from being the only towns in miles and miles of desert.’

‘Beside them are some numbers. And dates. Azrou, for instance: 5000, 2nd April. Immauzer, 7000, 20th May. What do the numbers refer to? Could they be sums of money?’

‘They could.’

‘There wouldn’t be any reference to these sums, if they are sums, in the minutes of the committee? I was just wondering if they were authorized expenditure.’

Mr Bahnini shook his head.

‘They would not be,’ he said definitely. ‘The committee is not authorized to disburse funds. It has a few for expenses, of course. For stationery, my salary, and so on, but there are all minor and do not correspond to any of these sums.’

‘Perhaps they’re not money then.’

Mr Bahnini studied them.

‘Although what else could they be?’ he said.

‘Take a look at the dates. Do they correspond to anything in Bossu’s diary?’

‘He didn’t keep one,’ said Mr Bahnini. ‘But I did.’

He produced a desk diary and began to go through it.

‘He was certainly away from the office on those dates,’ he said.

‘So they could be dates of meetings?’

‘But why would he have been having meetings in places like that? Casablanca, I could understand. But Tafilalet! Mr Bossu had business dealings all over the place, it is true, but — Tafilalet! It’s just an oasis.’

‘No record here, then?’

‘No. Of course…’

‘Yes?’

‘He had business dealings of his own. He only worked for the committee part time. The sums might relate to them.’

‘Where would I find out about them? Did he have another office somewhere?’

‘I don’t think so, sir.’

‘His bank, perhaps, might have a record of cash transactions. Do you know which bank he used?’

‘I am afraid not, sir. His wife, perhaps…’

‘Doesn’t know a thing. And Renaud has taken all his papers away. I could ask him, I suppose.’

Mr Bahnini was hesitating. He cleared his throat deferentially.

‘I wonder, sir…’

‘Yes?’

‘I am not sure, sir, that, given the location of the places, he would have made much use of his bank. In the south they usually prefer money in physical form.’

‘Coin, you mean?’

‘Or bullion. Silver is much in use.’

‘And if Bossu was making payments there, that is what he would have used?’

‘There are no banks there, sir. The south is a very backward place. Not to say lawless.’

‘Hmm. So if he wanted money in hard form, where could he have gone to get it?’

‘I suspect the big moneylenders in the souk, sir. But a bank here would be able to advise you.’

‘Thank you. I’ll try them.’

‘There is one other thing, sir.’

‘Yes?’

‘Money in that form is heavy The first part of the journey could be done by truck, but after that he would have had to use camels. And porters. Also…’

‘Yes?’

‘Almost certainly he would have needed bodyguards. The south is, as I have said, a lawless place.’

Seymour asked if he could see the committee’s minutes. He settled himself at Bossu’s desk and Mr Bahnini brought them to him. Then he ploughed systematically through them. There was no mention of any of the places on the slips of paper, nor any reference to the dates or sums. He began to get, however, a sense of the committee’s preoccupations. Impressed by his display of clerical adhesiveness, Mr Bahnini warmed to him and dropped in from time to time to explain particular points.

Much of the most recent discussion referred to a venture at Marrakesh. Mr Bahnini said that this was to do with a project to build a railway, which, it was hoped, would open up the interior. Of course, Marrakesh was a long way inland and since it did not fall within the area of the proposed Tangier zone it was, strictly speaking, nothing to do with the committee. Tangier interests would, however, be providing the money and for that reason were interested in the legal powers that the committee would be recommending. Strongly interested, judging by the frequency of the committee’s returns to the subject.