But surely the wedding can go ahead? After a suitable period, of course. Your nephew was not that closely related to Osman Fingari.
It reflects on the family, you see. Its making Mr Hemdi think again.
Well, Im sorry about that, but
Its the shame, you see. Suicide! No one will want to marry into a family with suicides.
Im afraid I really dont see what I can do
Couldnt you, pleaded Ali Hazwat, just call it something else? An accident, perhaps?
He took prussic acid.
By mistake! Couldnt it be by mistake? He thought it was something else. The wrong bottle
Well, at least theres going to be no doubt about the circumstances, said Paul.
No?
CHAPTER 2
Alone? Certainly not! Mr Istaq was shocked.
I do not wish to trouble Mr Fingari, you see.
Well, no, theres been enough trouble as it is.
And hes very frail, so I thought
Well, yes, but alone! What can you be thinking of, effendi? She is a decent Muslim girl.
It was just that in the circumstances
Why do you want to see her, anyway, effendi? What can a woman know? Why not ask me? I will do what I can to help you.
Well, thank you, it is very kind of you, Mr Istaq. But then, you see, you would not be able to help me in quite the same way. After all, though a relative, you did not actually live in the house and therefore would not know
Yes, but alone! With a man! No, really, effendi
Mr Istaq, hot, bothered and worried in equal proportions, took some time to be persuaded. He was, when all was said and done, the relative who had shown Owen the body and felt that he bore some responsibility for the consequences.
But then, he was also the closest and most senior male relative and, given old Mr Fingaris frailty, it all devolved on him anyway. He was a simple journeyman tailor and all this was a bit much for him.
He knew, however, what was proper. And it was not proper to let his niece talk to strange men. Aisha was inclined to be headstrong, anyway. His brother had always given her too much scope. That was all very well, things were not, perhaps, what they used to be, but who would want to marry a woman used to having her own way? And it was likely to be him, Istaq, who would be left with the problem of marrying her off.
In the end a compromise was reached. Owen was allowed to interview her but in Mr Istaqs presence.
Owen had always known this was the most likely outcome. It was customary in Egypt for female witnesses to be interviewed through their father or husband or a near male relative. He had, however, hoped to avoid it in this case.
The girl appeared, heavily veiled and dressed from head to foot in decent, shapeless black. All that could be seen of her was her eyes, which were suitably cast down.
Miss Fingari, I am sorry to trouble you further in such sad circumstances but there are one or two things I would like to ask you.
The girl moved slightly and Mr Istaq cleared his throat.
You saw your brother every day, of course?
Mr Istaq looked at Aisha, hesitated and then reluctantly admitted that this was so.
Had you noticed a change of spirits in him lately?
No, said Mr Istaq confidently.
Had he seemed at all worried?
No.
Perhaps a little depressed occasionally?
No.
The girl had not yet spoken.
I ask, said Owen, because I am wondering what could have brought him to this sad state of mind?
He put it as a question and then waited, looking inquiringly directly at the girl.
She did not reply. Mr Istaq, not quite sure how to respond, muttered uncertainly: No sad state.
Had he ever talked to you about problems at work?
Certainly not! said Mr Istaq, shocked.
Or problems not at work. Not at home, of course, but in his private life?
No, said Mr Istaq firmly.
I wonder, said Owen, if there had been any changes lately in his way of life?
No, said Mr Istaq.
But that is not true, Miss Fingari, said Owen, still addressing himself to the girl although she had not yet spoken. Everyone knows that there had been changes in his way of life. He had had a lot done to the house, for a start.
No changes! snapped Mr Istaq, caught off balance.
But there had been! said Owen, wide-eyed. The man-darah new marble! And I think the better of him for it. So often people rise in the world and forget their family. But was Osman Fingari like that?
No, said the girl firmly.
No, echoed Mr Istaq.
Everyone says he loved his parents.
He did, said the girl.
He did, said Mr Istaq.
But they were old, Miss Fingari, and he would not have wanted to trouble them. So did he discuss his problems with you, I wonder?
No, said Mr Istaq.
The girl said nothing. Her eyes, though, were now raised and she was looking at Owen directly.
You see, when men are brought to such a desperate pass, when they are in a state so desperate that they can contemplate a thing like this, it is often because they feel themselves quite alone. Did Osman Fingari feel himself so alone, I ask myself.
The girls eyes filled with tears.
Was there no one he could turn to? No one in the whole wide world?
Why do you ask these things, the girl suddenly burst out. What business is it of yours? What do you care about my brother?
Aisha! cried Mr Istaq, scandalized. Be quiet, girl! You have said enough, more than enough!
Things were worse even than he had feared. The girl had no idea how to behave.
You do not address your elders like that!
The girl dissolved in a flood of tears.
Both men were at a loss.
Now, now! said Mr Istaq, chiding but at bottom kind-hearted. He had overdone it. The girl wasnt used to being corrected. Its all right! I think we had better stop, he said to Owen.
Of course! Owen could have kicked himself. I am sorry, Miss Fingari. I have no wish to distress you. I have to ask these things. You see, sometimes it is something inside a person that makes them do a thing like this and sometimes it is something outside
I think we had better stop, said Mr Istaq.
Owen, dissatisfied with himself, stopped for a coffee round the corner. He was sitting at a table sipping it when a small boy touched him on the arm. Automatically he felt in his pocket.
No, no, effendi! protested the small boy. Not that! At least, not just that. Perhaps afterwards when you have heard my message.
You have a message for me?
Yes, effendi, though I must say, Im a bit surprised at it, because shes not been that way before.
Just a minute, said Owen. Who sent you?
Aisha.
Miss Fingari?
Thats right. Only we call her Aisha.
Whats the message?
The little boy reflected. I ought to bargain with you
Whats the message?
The little boy reflected. I ought to bargain with you
Twenty milliemes?
Say, twenty-five.
Twenty-five it is.
Right, then. She wants to see you. Not with her uncle.
Does she say where?
She does. But, effendi, she does not know much about this sort of thing and I do not think that what she proposes is a good idea. She says she will go to the souk and you can meet her on the way. But, effendi, that is not the way to do it.
What is the way to do it?
For that, effendi, I would need the full half piastre.
A fee which fits your talents. For a suitable place no doubt I could find such a sum, exorbitant though it be.
In this world one has to strike hard bargains, said the small boy sententiously.
Yes, indeed. What do you suggest?
There is a ruined house nearby
Is it decent enough for Miss Fingari?
Places like that were used as lavatories.
No, but there is a doorway where you would not be seen. It is not very comfortable for your purpose
My purpose is only conversation.
Well, of course, its early days yet
The boy led him to the spot. It was a place where two or three tenement buildings had crumbled down together. This was not unusual in Cairo. Houses were often made of sun-dried mud brick and in the rains sometimes dissolved.
The boy picked a way through the rubble, squeezed through a gap between two crumbling walls and brought Owen to an archway set deep below ground level in what remained of the side of a building. It had, perhaps, once led into a cellar.
Wait there! he said.
A few moments later, Aishas veiled form appeared in the gap and stood before the archway uncertainly.
Miss Fingari
I shouldnt have come here like this. Ali is horrible. Go away, Ali! Mind you go right away! Its not what you think.
She came forward determinedly and stepped into the archway.
I shouldnt be doing this. But I had to see you.
It is about Osman?
Yes.
Under the archway it was dark. Instinctively, she retreated deeper into the shadow. He could not see her eyes but he could tell from the position of her body that she was looking up at him.
You hurt me, she said, a little shakily, when you said he felt alone.
I dont know that. It was just
It was true. Oh, it was true. It must have been true. I tried! But
You must not blame yourself, Miss Fingari. It is not always possible to break through.
No, she said. I should have tried harder. I became impatient. When he came home She broke off.
When he came home?
Sometimes he had been drinking. Oh, its not such a great fault, I see that now; but it was so different, so so unexpected. He had always been he had always behaved properly
He was a strict Moslem?
Not strict, but but he did what he should. Until
Recently?
Yes.
You saw a change in him?
Yes.
What sort of change, Miss Fingari?
He became not disorderly, but not so ordered. He would come home late. He never used to do that. Now he did it often. He wouldnt say where he had been
You asked him?
Yes. We were close. We had been close. He would talk to me when he wouldnt He didnt always feel he could talk to my parents.
What did he talk about, Miss Fingari?
Oh, nothing much. This goes back a long time. To when he was at school. If something had gone wrong during the day, if someone had been unkind to him, he would run home and pour it all out to me. I was his big sister and and I remained so even after he started work.
He still talked to you?
Yes. Perhaps even more so. Our parents were growing older. They did not always understand the sort of things he was doing at work
But you did?
No! She laughed. How could I? A woman? Shut up in the house all day. All I knew was the family and the souk. But I had friends, other girls, and they talked about their brothers and I I learned something, I suppose. Anyway, he felt he could talk to me.
And then he stopped talking to you? When was this?
It was not not suddenly, not like that. It just built up over time.
But when did it start? When did you first become aware that you could not talk to him as you used to?
I I dont know. Recently. The last few months.
Since he joined the Board?
No. Yes, I suppose, she said, surprised. But, effendi, he was not like that. It was not because he became proud. Oh, he was proud of being appointed to the Board, he was very proud of it and so were we all but it wasnt that wasnt the reason.
He did change, though?
Not because of that.
Why are you so sure?
Because I know him. And and because he did talk to me about that, about the people he met they were very famous people, effendi, even I had heard of them about the places he used to go to. No, it was not that, it was afterwards.
Afterwards?
About the time he started coming home later.
That was some time after he had joined the Board?
Yes.
Have you any idea, Miss Fingari, why that was? Why did he start coming home late?
He he was meeting someone. I I thought it was a woman and teased him. But it wasnt. He said it wasnt. And then
Yes?
That was when he started to come home smelling of drink. I knew then that it was not a woman, that it was someone who was bad for him. I was angry with him, I told him he must not see them, but he said he said he had to see them
Had to?
Yes. He said it was business and I said what sort of business was it if it was in the evening and he came home smelling of drink after it and he became angry and said I did not understand. And after that he would not speak with me.
She began to sob.
If I had not been so fierce, perhaps he would have spoken to me. Perhaps I would have been able to help him, save him
You must not blame yourself, Miss Fingari.
But I do blame myself! she said, sobbing. I do blame myself. You were right when you spoke of him being alone. He was alone, and he would not have been if I
You did what you could, Miss Fingari.
No, not what I could!
There was a little spasm of sobbing in the shadows. He moved towards her uncertainly, intending to comfort her, but then she stepped forward herself and seized him by the arms.
But if I am to blame, she hissed, so are they! They brought him to this! You said there was something outside himself. Someone. There was!
Miss Fingari, these may just have been friends
No. He was different after he had been with them. He began to be different all the time. There was a change, oh yes, there was a change!
You said he was more lax in his behaviour
No, not lax. Not just lax. Different. They were bad men, Owen effendi. They changed him. He had always been a good man, a good son, a good brother