Ngũgĩ Thiong - Wizard of the Crow

“So what he told you is that you should lie and say that you were still ill even though you had never felt better in your life?”

“No, not the way you are putting it. He just wanted the queues to remain in place for as long as the Global Bank mission was in the country and not disperse before the dedication of the site for Marching to Heaven.”

“Okay Let’s see. You are in this grip of a false illness. You have agreed to stay home to recover. Who was looking after your business?”

“Vinjinia, my wife, became the acting manager, with the… the… you know… the secretary as her assistant. A helper.”

“You mean Nyawlra?”

“The same.”

“And because Vinjinia was not very experienced, it was really Nyawlra who was entrusted with managing your affairs, is that not so?”

“Yes, Nyawlra had more experience, but she was definitely not in charge. She was a minion.”

“Demoted? You know how women are: they are jealous of one another. Some women are not satisfied unless they are the only woman in a male domain. The One Woman syndrome.”

“No, she was not demoted and there was no jealousy. To make her happy and ensure continued loyal service in my absence, I had given her the quite meaningless title of assistant to the acting manager. But she was nothing but a glorified receptionist.”

“Machokali… were he and Nyawlra acquainted?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“But Machokali used to call you at your office?”

“Yes.”

“And all his calls went through the receptionist.”

“Sometimes. But he also called me direct. I would say most times.”

“Did Machokali ever visit you in your office?”

“Yes, but not often. Only when passing through this side of Santa-maria. Eldares is a big city, you know. Several towns in one, if you ask me.”

“And so if Machokali and Nyawlra had made private arrangements to meet elsewhere in this city, which, as you say, contains multitudes, you would not know, would you?”

“That is right, but I somehow don’t think they ever met outside my office.”

“But if they did, you would not know?”

“That’s right.”

“When was Machokali’s last visit to Santamaria?”

Tajirika hesitated. He could not remember whether their last encounter was supposed to be a secret or not. But he decided to err on the side of truth. Besides, deep down he did not mind showing this police officer that he, Tajirika, was well connected, that Machokali was his friend.

“He came to see me just before he and the Buler left for the USA.”

“He came to the office?”

“No. We met at the Mars Cafe.”

“So he did not come to the office to say good-bye to Nyawlra?”

“I think that Nyawlra had fled by then.”

“But you have already admitted that if they had made secret plans to meet, you would not know?”

“I really and honestly don’t think they met.”

“How can you be so sure? Did you know where Nyawlra was then hiding?”

“No.”

“And you were not with the minister all the time, everywhere?”

“No.”

“No to what?”

“To the suggestion that I might have been with the minister the whole day. We met at the Mars Cafe, and after our talk he left me there.”

“So all that you can say is that you never saw them meet?”

“Yes, but that does not mean that I believe that they did,” Tajirika continued assertively, sensing a trap.

“But you cannot swear in a court of law that they never met on that or any other day?”

“That I cannot swear,” Tajirika hastened to say, alarmed at the mention of a law court.

“What was the purpose of his visit? Why did he want to meet with you?”

“He came to say good-bye. We are friends.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing.”

“Let’s go back to your illness. You say that you were taken to a witch doctor for a cure. Who took you there?”

“My wife, Vinjinia.”

“How did she come to know of the witch doctor?”

“The secretary told her about him.”

“Nyawlra?”

“Yes. Nyawlra.”

“So in everything, be it your business or personal and family matters, this Nyawlra was somewhere in the background? A chief personal and family adviser?”

“Please spare me the name. Were I, with all that I now know, to catch that Nyawlra woman, I…”

“… would wring her neck until she was dead,” Elijah Njoya finished the sentence as if echoing him in mockery. “I know exactly what you would do powered with hindsight, and I commend you for it. Now, Mr. Tajirika, let’s be serious. I want to assure you that you have been very helpful and that if you continue cooperating with us you will see a change in your circumstances. The only thing I would warn you against are lies. Remember? Only the truth shall make you free. Are you sure that you have told me everything?”

“I have told you all the truth I know.”

“There is nothing you are holding back, a little detail, anything?”

“Nothing.”

“And by the way, what is the name of the sorcerer who cured you?”

The question caught him unawares. He was about to say the name, Wizard of the Crow, when the implications of revealing it suddenly struck him. Money. The three bags of money. What if the diviner revealed the existence of the three bags of Burl notes and, worst of all, that they were “visiting cards” from those who hoped for later gains from Marching to Heaven? The last thing Tajirika wanted anybody else to know was that he had already pocketed money from a scheme involving the Ruler. The three bags of Burl notes must remain a secret buried forever in the innermost recesses of his head.

“I don’t know his name.”

“Are you sure? You don’t know the sorcerer’s name?”

“A diviner is simply known as Diviner. I am not alone in this. Many who visit these healers don’t bother to remember their names. A diviner is not exactly someone you would have over for a party or a tete-ä-tete in your office.”

Njoya laughed at this.

“You have a sense of humor, Tajirika.”

“Thank you, Mr. Officer…”

“Call me Elijah. Your friend.”

“Elijah, my friend,” said Tajirika. “Can I go now?”

“Why not? Let me see about your transportation. Good luck, Mr. Tajirika.”

At first Tajirika felt a sudden depression at being left alone. But as he reviewed the encounter, he felt relief and even triumph as he realized that not only had he deftly thwarted all attempts to link him to NyawTra, the queuing mania, and Machokali’s supposed plots, he had also avoided telling details of his illness, had gotten away with lying about the name of the Wizard of the Crow, and, most important, had not revealed anything about the three bags of money. Besides, he had won Njoya over and turned him into a friend and by tomorrow he would be lying in his own bed in Golden Heights.

But his new friend Njoya did not come back that night or the next or any other, for that matter, until Tajirika stopped trying to measure the passage of time. And then one day they came for him and blinded him as before, and when later they removed the blindfold he found himself seated in the lone chair in an otherwise empty room, amid a circle of light. All else was darkness. At the edges of the circle of light he saw what looked like traces of fresh and dried blood, confirming his worst fears. They were going to do to him what they had done to countless others, whose blood on the cement floor attested to their menace. He got up and wandered into the darkness in a daze. The spotlight followed him, and out of still more darkness came a voice.

“Who told you to get up?”