Barry Maitland: Babel

Kathy read the print on the front, Lawrence of Arabia, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. She turned the pages, maps of the Middle East to begin with, then an introductory poem, the first verse of which she read out loud. I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands and wrote my will across the sky in stars To earn you Freedom, the seven-pillared worthy house, that your eyes might be shining for me When we came.

‘That’s what Max Springer seemed to want to do,’ she pondered. ‘To earn us freedom, even at the expense of truth.’

‘That’s absurd.’ Leon sounded shocked. ‘You can’t have one without the other, surely.’

‘Yes, that’s what Brock said.’

She turned the pages over and noticed a passage describing the Arabs.

‘“They were a people of spasms, of upheavals, of ideas… Their largest manufacture was of creeds…” ’

‘I think that’s what Springer meant by truth-the absolute truth of creeds, whether religious or scientific.’

‘But they’re completely different, scientific truth and religious truth.’

‘All the same, Springer saw them both as opposed to freedom. At least, according to Briony Kidd.’

Her eyes skipped down to another phrase, ‘“Dry souls ready to be set on fire.” Not exactly how I’d describe Qasim Ali, but you never know, I suppose. Let’s go back and see what he’s got for us.’

They ran back through the drizzle and found Fran Said, head covered by a black scarf, waiting for them at the table where they had previously been, drinking a cup of tea. Kathy introduced Leon and they sat down. The pale family at the central table was still there, finishing off large helpings of burgers and chips, but no new customers had been lured in by the amplified voice of Umm Kalthoum.

‘I was telling Leon about your background, Fran. I think it’s really interesting.’

Fran shrugged. ‘Not really. I’m not sure I want an interesting life, just one that I can feel certain about.’

‘Well, I think it’s interesting how you opted for an arranged marriage, for instance.’

‘It worked for me.’

‘But not for Nargis.’

‘It wasn’t the fault of the system,’ Fran said defensively. ‘Her life here and the ways of the old country were just too far apart.’

‘Yet the marriage in Kashmir was valid? So what could Nargis do, if, say, she wanted to marry someone else, like Abu?’

‘That would depend on her husband. Under Islamic law, the wife can’t initiate a divorce. If she did that through a British civil court, and her husband in Kashmir didn’t want the divorce and didn’t pronounce the talaaq, that’s the divorce formula, then in the eyes of Islamic law they would still be married. Nargis hoped… hopes that her husband will divorce her so that he can marry again, only… she doesn’t want it to be to her sister Yasmin.’ Fran’s voice had dropped to a whisper.

‘No, and she’s only fourteen, isn’t she? So Nargis is still married, and that means that she and Abu were living in adultery.. .’ Kathy saw the look of alarm flare in Fran’s eyes and added quickly, lowering her voice, ‘I’m sorry, Fran. I just need to understand the situation that Nargis and Abu were in. Islamic law is very strong on adultery, isn’t it?’

‘“Surely, it is a foul thing and an evil way.” That’s what the Qur’an says.’

‘So they were faced with the alternative of separating and Nargis remaining faithful to a husband she detested, or living together as outcasts from their faith, not to mention under threat of dire retribution from her father and his brothers. That’s about it, is it?’

‘Yes.’

‘It must have been a terrible dilemma. They must have been tempted just to disappear, and start again somewhere else. But where could they go where they could rejoin the Muslim community without being found out? What sort of resources would they need to do that? And then Abu comes home one day with thirty thousand pounds.’

Fran glared at her. ‘You think it was blood money, don’t you? You think someone paid him that money to commit a murder.’

‘What else can we think, Fran? When we spoke to Nargis a week ago she said he’d brought it home about two weeks before. Max Springer was shot exactly two weeks before.’

‘No! The only reason I agreed to talk to you is to tell you that you’re wrong. That money belongs to Nargis and her baby. You can’t take it from her.’

‘Convince me. What do you know to make you so sure?’

‘Suppose… suppose the money was a genuine gift, but it’d come from abroad, and the person who gave it didn’t want it known about, maybe for tax reasons or something, in their own country.’

‘Which country?’

‘Lebanon.’

‘Go on.’

‘When Nargis came back from Kashmir and took shelter here, her friendship with Abu began again. They loved each other, and after a little while they became lovers-they couldn’t help themselves. But Nargis was now married to someone else, and carrying that other man’s baby. They were frightened to go to the imam for advice, because they were afraid he would denounce them. They began to dream of going abroad, to the Lebanon perhaps, where Abu’s family live, or the United States where he has a cousin. But meanwhile Nargis’ father had taken out the warrant against her, and they were afraid that they would be arrested if they tried to leave the country under her own passport, or if they tried to marry here and leave under his name. And all the time the baby was growing.

‘A couple of weeks ago-and yes, it was the time of the murder of Professor Springer, but that was a coincidence- Abu came to me for advice. He had been able to obtain a sum of money from his father to assist them. Thirty thousand pounds, in sterling notes. With some of it he was hoping to buy a false passport for Nargis. But he was worried at having so much cash, and didn’t know what to do with it to avoid suspicion. He wanted the money to be in Nargis’ name, and he asked my advice. Should he open a bank account for her, or buy travellers’ cheques, or jewellery, or a bank draft? I suggested a range of things, but a few days later he was dead.’

Fran’s sincerity was plain, as was her sympathy for the tragic circumstances of her friends, yet she didn’t seem to realise how incriminating for Abu her story was. His desperation to save Nargis, and his insistence that the money should be held in her name only strengthened the case against him.

‘He said the money came from his father? Those were his words?’

Fran frowned. ‘Not exactly. Abu was adopted, you see. He said something like, the money has been given to me by the man who has been a father to me. Something like that.’

‘Is Khadra his adopted name, do you know? Will that be the name of his adopted father in Beirut?’

‘I think so.’

‘Well, we can try to check.’

Fran heard the doubt in Kathy’s voice and said dully, ‘You don’t believe me, do you?’

‘I believe you’ve told me what you believe to be the truth, Fran, but it won’t help Nargis unless we can find some documentary evidence of where the money came from. Have you any idea how it came into the country? There must be bank records somewhere.’

Fran shook her head glumly. ‘No, that’s what I meant earlier, about Abu’s father not wanting the money traced. Abu told us once that his adopted dad is a bit of a crook, a dealer in the black market. When I asked him why he’d been given the money in cash, he said he thought that was so it couldn’t be traced. I assume his dad got someone to bring it into the country by hand.’

‘So the father isn’t going to be keen to talk to us about it, even if we do track him down.’

‘I suppose not.’ She sighed. ‘I haven’t helped, have I?’