33. Suspect

As we walked over a lawn to the next courthouse building, I told Manesh about the conversation that I had overheard on the coach, in which I had understood Captain Hasiki to be concerned not to raise sympathy for the attackers. What I had seen of the treatment given to the prisoners made me worry that the investigation might do just that.

“We need to show these people we won’t take any nonsense.” He responded. “Perhaps the Captain is so far from the real world that he doesn’t know what works and what doesn’t. But there are other people who know how to react. Don’t say anything to anyone yet, but trust me, our boys will be authorised to get to the bottom of this and winkle out every last one of these savages.”

I was about to reply when we arrived at the next holding room where a very similar scene greeted us, with many of those who had already been questioned looking, if anything, even more the worse for wear than in the room we had just left. We waited to see the return of those who were out being interrogated and, to substantiate my cover story, Manesh asked the Guardians in charge if they knew where my father was.

As we passed from room to room, the situation was much the same. Sometimes the suspects had been treated worse, sometimes better (but never very much better) and it was clear that a worrying pattern had developed. I began to hope that I would locate the burglar, on the basis that this might at least focus attention away from the rest of the men caught up in the net of arrests.

I looked at the prisoners in each room as we passed but did not recognise anyone.
Several times, I saw a face that I thought might be his but on closer inspection found that it was not. Or, at least, I thought not at that moment. As we continued our search, however, I began to wonder whether, perhaps, I had actually made a mistake and he was in one of the rooms we had already passed. Once I even went back to confirm my judgement.

After a while, I began to wonder whether I would even recognise my intruder if I did see him. The more I tried to picture what he looked like, the less certain I was and the faces that I saw seemed to blur into one another, giving me a sense of uncertainty about the whole task. To me, the routine of entering a room, asking if anyone knew where my father was working, examining the faces and moving on became unreal, as if I was watching someone else doing it.

I can’t even tell how long this took although I registered that it had started to rain and then that it was growing dark. Then suddenly, I saw him. I might not even have recognised him if he had not seen me first as he had already been questioned and his face was badly swollen. There was, however, no mistaking the look of recognition in his eyes and the fact that he flinched away from me.

I tried to give no sign that I had noticed anything and moved out of the room in the normal way. For a moment, I wondered whether I should even tell Manesh about him. He had already been beaten quite badly, and I would be condemning him to much worse, but in the end, I had no choice.

“Sergeant,” I said, “if I did identify the burglar, is there any way that we could get him down to Captain Hasiki for questioning without letting anyone else know?”
“The whole force is hoping that they will get to take a pop at him.” He answered. “Just tell me if you see him and we’ll do the rest.”
I hesitated.

“I think,” I said, “I think that he may have been in the last room that we visited.”
“Describe him. Where was he sitting?”
“I’m not absolutely sure it was him.” I replied weakly, as if my uncertainty might soften the consequences, “but I think he was at the end of the second row from the corner. Wearing a torn shirt with blood from his nose down the front.”
Manesh looked through the door.
“I see him.” He said. “Very good. You can leave things to us now. I’ll get one of the men to walk home with you.”

“What will happen to him?” I asked. “He’s only a kid.”
“Yes. He may think that he’s a grown up, but he’s about to discover what playing with the big boys means.”
“Would it be better for me just to talk to him? He’s already been questioned and he can’t have given anything away.”

“He doesn’t know what really being questioned is like at all.” Manesh grinned. “That boy is just at the start and by tomorrow morning he’ll be telling us every thought in his head and some he doesn’t even know about yet. You’d better get off now. This is going to be a long night.”
He called one of the young Guardians and, ignoring my protests, sent us off into the evening.

I found Bahla waiting for me when I arrived back at my father’s house.
“I’d heard you were here.” He greeted me. “How are you bearing up?”
“Just numb.” I replied. “I found these drawings of Rega’s in the ashes, and the photo she was working from. I keep thinking that I’ll look up and see her.”

“Yes. Everyone is still in shock, I think. The whole island is. It feels as if things will never be the same again.”
“I think you’re right.” I agreed, “The end of an era.”

“The Guardians are just waiting for the order. They want to get out there and show who’s boss.”
“Hasiki will keep them in check, I hope.” I felt that I was grasping at straws. “In the coach coming down, he was very clear that he wanted to keep things calm.”

“The problem isn’t Hasiki. It’s whether he can keep control. The Gardeners are the ones we have to worry about. They want to declare a holy war. They may live in luxury but, in their way, they are exactly like Hama Batu and his men. They think that as long as they are defending Our Granny, they can justify anything.”
“But Hama Batu’s men are savages. The Gardeners have access to the knowledge from the books and they can see how the Tractor provides order and civilisation for the island.”

“I’m not so sure.” Bahla looked down at his feet. “The Tractor supplies them with their food, but they have no idea of how it works or what it takes to keep it going. And they think of the books as being just an offshoot of Our Granny’s wisdom. If they thought there was something in the books that contradicted Our Granny – or, more precisely, their interpretation of Our Granny – they would have them on a bonfire before you could blink.”
“And how would they propose to keep the Tractor going and the rest of the things that depend on the books?”
“Our Granny would provide.”

“And you think that the Shadows are any better?”
“Not at all. The Shadows are even worse, if anything. The Gardeners see the books and the Tractor as being a part of Our Granny’s will. They would destroy them if that were not the case but, as things stand, they don’t. Hama Batu and the Shadows would destroy them anyway because they are against Our Granny’s will.”

“So we’re on the side of the Gardeners? I’ve just turned in one of Hama Batu’s men to the Guardians and it was a very uncomfortable feeling.” I looked questioningly at Bahla.
“We’re caught in the middle. It’s an uncomfortable place. But we have to believe that the Gardeners are the lesser of the two evils. At least they’re not trying to take us back to the jungle.”

My father entered the room in time to hear the last interchange.
“You don’t want to go back to the jungle. I can promise you that.” He said. I can remember when I was a child, before the Americans came here. You never knew where your next meal was coming from, and if you lived to be thirty you were an old man. Look at me. I’m over sixty and I still have my teeth.
Hama Batu can talk about the jungle but the only reason he can live there is because his people can trade with the Village. He pretends not to be a part of it but he gets food that has been produced here and metal tools and weapons.” He turned to me.

“I gather that you found your burglar.” He said.
“That was supposed to be confidential. How did you know?”
“All the Guardians are talking about it. They say that he had already been questioned and he would have been released if you hadn’t spotted him.”
“Oh.” I was quite taken aback. “So Hama Batu’s men are likely to find out that I was the one who identified him?”
“Oh yes. They almost certainly know already.”

“Do you think they’ll come after me?” what I had done was beginning to sink in. “They won’t want people to think that they can betray the Shadows and get away with it.”
“You can’t say for certain.” My father thought for a while. “The Shadows will have a lot else on their plate at the moment. At the same time, it would probably be no bad thing if you were to drop out of sight for a bit.”
“Easier said than done, I would have thought.”

“I don’t know.” My father smiled. “With all the panic going on, there will be a lot of Guardians moving around. Perhaps we can ask Hasiki to find a place where they don’t know you.”
“Well it can’t be up in the plantations. Everyone up there knows who I am. And the same goes for the Hangar. And the reading room. I never thought about it but I’m just a bit too recognisable for comfort.”

“How many times have you been up to Our Granny’s house?” My father asked.
“Just once. And I’ve been to the Court Houses up there three times. Counting today.”
“Well that may well be the safest for you. By and large, the Gardeners don’t know you and you’ve been out of circulation for a while, so a lot of the newer Guardians won’t recognise you either.”

“What about books?” I asked. “Will I be able to get books up there?”
“Listen to that, Bahla,” my father laughed, “I find a way to save his skin and all he’s worried about is what he’ll be able to read.”
“Don’t worry, Tommu,” Bahla winked at my father, “I’ll find a way to get some reading material up to you for as long as you’re there.”