Kathmandu

by Luke Richardson

  “Three weeks after she was supposed to be back, they got this message from her.” He pulled a piece of paper from the folder. ‘“I’m going to be away for the next few months here. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.’” Leo passed it across to Tau. “Then all went quiet for almost a year. They were obviously very concerned about her. Just over a month ago she contacted her sister, Lucy, to ask her to arrange the transfer of thirty thousand pounds from a trust fund to an account she had set up here.”

  Leo paused to judge Tau’s reaction at the amount of money. There was none.

  “Lucy said she would, but needed to know where she was so that they could all stop worrying. They had a long phone conversation one evening, and Allissa said she was really happy.”

  “Did you speak to Lucy?” Tau asked.

  “No, Stockwell told me this. He doesn’t want anyone from the family to know he’s sent me to look for her.”

  “That’s a bit suspicious,” Tau said. “How do we know she’s in Kathmandu at all?”

  “Stockwell got the account number that the money had been sent to. He’s a well-connected guy and managed to trace it to a bank here. I went there yesterday and pretended to be her brother. They told me she had been there, it was obvious when I showed them a picture, but they wouldn’t tell me the address she’d given. Even for fifty dollars.”

  Tau smiled and then his eyebrows twisted in concern. Through the window a bulging lorry pushed past, almost scraping the front of the buildings.

  “I don’t think she would have withdrawn that money and left the city,” Leo said. “I think she had a plan to spend it on something local. We work out what that is, we find her.”

  “Yes, we will,” Tau said with emphasis, focusing his stare on Leo. “You’re definitely going to need my help on this, yes,” he said, dropping the concern of a moment ago.

  Leo nodded in agreement.

  “Well this rich guy is obviously paying you for it, so I’ll need a hundred dollars a day, plus you pay any expenses.”

  Leo wasn’t going to argue. Finding Tau was a stroke of luck, not one he was going to give up.

  “Fine,” he said, reaching across the table, now strewn with papers and photos to shake Tau’s hand.

  “We need to go back to the bank,” Tau said, his face opening into a smile. “If it’s the sort of place I think it is, then I have an idea about how to get her address.”

  Chapter 45

  When Marcus Green got focused on a story, he thought of little else. People had compared his style of resilience and focus to that of a dog with a bone. When he was investigating something, he would continue until he found what he needed, regardless of what his investigation brought up. And since his meeting with the editor of The Telegraph two days ago, Blake Stockwell was very much in the grip of his teeth.

  The investigation, which had started as one into the expense claims of many British members of parliament, had taken an interesting turn when Green started to dig into Stockwell. A career politician, he’d been in government for longer than most and as such commanded a respect that frequently prevented criticism. But to Green, this impenetrability just made him all the more appealing. Stockwell had secrets, and the more Green dug in to them, the more he got the feeling that they weren’t just embarrassing, but criminal.

  His interest in Stockwell had intensified when he’d developed a suspicion that he was somehow mixed up in the robbery of a bank a few months ago. Of course, Green wasn’t suggesting the ageing politician pulled on a balaclava and went in there himself, and maybe he wasn’t even that closely involved. But he was involved somehow.

  What Green had wanted to do for a while was to talk to someone who knew Stockwell. Someone who could shed some light on what his life was like. Green needed a new angle for the enquiry, and he hoped the conversation he was about to have would provide it.

  Pulling up outside Richmond House, a twenty-storey concrete tower block in West London, Green got out and, observing a group of hooded boys sitting on a wall across the street, double-checked he’d locked the BMW’s door.

  Ann Bailey had worked with the Stockwells for twenty years. Speaking with Green on the phone the previous day, she said she knew many things that may interest him, and may be convinced to talk, if the price was right.

  Ignoring the entry system, which Ann had said was broken, Green pulled open the door. It would be an interesting conversation, he thought, as his footsteps echoed up the concrete stairs. He looked forward to getting to know the real Blake Stockwell.

  * * *

  When Allissa emerged from her room in the morning, Fuli and Chimini were already behind the reception desk talking in a bright excitement.

  “Hello, welcome to the Teku Guesthouse,” Chimini said.

  “Hello, welcome Teku Guessouse,” Fuli repeated back, to which Chimini nodded and offered improvements in Nepalese. They’d kept the name the previous occupants had called the guesthouse. Although they had considered changing it, they weren’t sure what to, and there was already a sign outside advertising it by that name.

  Seeing Allissa cross the reception area, the pair smiled up at her.

  “You will never guess what has happened,” Chimini said.

  “Welcome, Teku, Guessouse,” Fuli repeated under her breath.

  “We have our first guest,” Chimini said in excitement, unable to wait for Allissa, who had yet to fully wake up, to answer. “She checked in about an hour ago.”

  “Wow, that’s brilliant,” Allissa said. “All checked in okay?”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Chimini said, looking down at the large log book now with one of the rows completed. “Paid upfront for three nights, double room.”

  Allissa smiled at her excitement. The thing they’d wanted for months had come together, it was there, it had happened. Turning towards the kitchen, away from the women at the reception desk, she let the smile drain from her face.

  “Welcome…” Fuli began again, as Chimini started to explain the checking-in procedure to her.

  Allissa closed the door of the kitchen behind her. Why couldn’t she be as happy about the opening of the guesthouse as Fuli and Chimini? She wanted to be. So much. Allissa thought that getting the guesthouse together would give her a purpose, a place that she was needed and a sense of belonging. But so far it hadn’t. Although she now knew a few words, she didn’t speak the language and the few streets she knew around the city didn’t make it hers.

  Allissa filled the kettle, clicked it on, and stood looking out into the thuggish morning. They were all alike – herself, Chimini, Fuli. They had all been through things which they carried around their necks, millstones against the world. Allissa had left England in an attempt to clear her mind of the things she knew, but they had come with her, dragged through each day.

  As the kettle growled to a boil and filled the kitchen with steam, Allissa rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. One day, she knew she would have to face him. She would have to deal with the issues that she held so close, the issues which had inspired her to help some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Often though, Allissa thought, rinsing one of the cups they’d drank champagne from the previous night and spooning instant coffee into it, it was with the same strength that you ran and remembered. The harder you ran, the stronger you became, the more vivid the surging memories. Allissa knew that two years of running, covering thousands of miles, meant nothing when her millstone of memories was with her the whole time.

  * * *

  Nearly two hours later, Green let the door of Richmond House slam shut behind him. Turning up the collar of his coat against the light rain which had just started, he paced quickly back to his car. The hooded boys were now taking refuge in a bus shelter.

  Ann Bailey had talked. She knew a lot. Twenty years of watching, listening and being ignored had come tumbling out in what seemed like a few short minutes.

  Sitting in the driver’s seat, Green pulled his phone from his pocket on to which he had re
corded it all. He set it to upload to his cloud drive – this couldn’t be lost.

  Leaning back into the seat, he let his eyes lose focus. He had a lot to think about now, a lot to do. And Blake Stockwell, Green thought, would have a lot of questions to answer very soon.

  Chapter 46

  Tau explained his plan during the short taxi ride to the bank. Leo, unsure of whether it would work or not, agreed, knowing it was, so far, the best plan they had.

  The pair looked at the darkened windows of the SNC Everest Bank as the taxi ebbed back into the stream of traffic. It was as gloomy as Leo remembered from the previous day.

  Leo pulled out the cap they had stopped to buy and drew it down over his hair.

  “Give me three minutes,” Tau said, stepping towards the road, “no longer.”

  “Sure,” Leo said, glancing at the time on his phone and retreating into the shadow of a doorway.

  Tau stepped out into the traffic. Cars and bikes swerved around him, protesting with horns and voices. From the doorway, Leo watched him pull open the door of the bank, look back across the road and then disappear inside.

  * * *

  The bank was small and dark as Leo had described. Tau waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, then looked around. The lady Leo detailed was behind the desk talking loudly into a phone.

  Tau walked up to the desk, pulled out the chair opposite and sat, uninvited. The lady finished her call and looked up at him.

  “I need to withdraw from a Worldwide Union account,” Tau said in Nepalese, pulling his most charming smile.

  Rising from her seat, the lady collected a large pad from a filing cabinet behind her. It was the sort common in banks twenty years ago – pre-printed forms with carbon paper to copy in triplicate. Tau knew Kathmandu well enough not to be surprised these things still existed.

  “Number,” she said, pointing to a box on the form, “photo ID and local address. Takes twenty-four hours.” Her tone was slow and practised.

  “How much…?” she said, pointing to another box.

  “Twenty-thousand dollars,” Tau said with a smile. “I bet that’s the most you’ve had through here in a while.”

  She looked up at him, possibly on the verge of a smile too.

  “You’d be surprised,” she said.

  “Oh yeah?” Tau grinned, trying to warm her to his conversation. “What would someone be doing with more than that in this city?” he asked.

  The lady shrugged but didn’t offer an answer.

  “Fill in,” she said, pointing towards the boxes on the form with the end of the pen she dropped for Tau to use.

  “I bet it was some old man who wanted to keep it under a mattress at home,” Tau continued, “I hope he doesn’t get robbed…”

  Picking up the pen he started, slowly and purposefully, to fill in the form. He paused before inventing a ten-digit number to make it appear like he’d thought about it. The silence was awkward, an oscillating fan overhead creaking on its circuit.

  At that moment, as planned, Leo barged through the doors of the bank. He pretended not to notice them seated at the desk and looked for the ATM, the way someone who had not been there before might.

  “ID?” the lady asked, watching as Tau completed the last box and ignoring the now black-capped Leo.

  Unnoticed, Leo slipped one of the hotel’s business cards he’d been carrying into the cash machine’s slot.

  “CARD ERROR” flashed immediately on the screen.

  “What the hell?!” Leo shouted, attracting the attention of both Tau and the bank teller. “What’s it doing? You can’t do this to me!”

  Then Leo started to hit the machine, whacking it on the sides and top. He even kicked it once or twice, each time making sure the strike sounded worse than it was.

  The lady shot up. “Stop that! What doing? Break it!”

  She rushed over to interpose herself between Leo and the innocent machine, momentarily forgetting the customer she was dealing with at the desk.

  Tau knew he only had a few moments. Flicking back through the pad, he looked for Allissa’s name.

  He scanned the first sheet. No luck.

  The second. Still nothing.

  The lady was trying to calm Leo who continued to shout at the ATM.

  “It’s got my card! Without that I’ve got nothing!” Leo shouted and slapped the top of the machine, dust jumping from its metal surface.

  On the third sheet, Tau saw what he was looking for.

  Allissa Stockwell.

  Written in large, feminine, curvaceous writing in blue ink.

  36,588 USD.

  Local address: Teku Guesthouse, Redcross Sedak, Kathmandu.

  Closing the pad silently, Tau got up and walked out into the street. Seeing him go, Leo gave up his tirade against the ATM and grumbled outside, not giving up the act until he was across the road.

  Tau and Leo caught up with each other a minute later, each wearing a smug smile about what they had just done. Leo was the first to speak.

  “Did you get it?”

  “Did I get what?” Tau asked with a wide grin.

  “An address? Did you get anything?” Leo’s smile dropped to anxiety.

  “Of course!” Tau said after leaving a pause of silence. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 47

  Down the twisting labyrinth of passages which led to the restaurant, the brothers prepared food for the evening’s service. They had learned the trade from their father years before. He’d taught them how to do it quickly and without a struggle. The drugs were a new, and genius, addition. Many people went missing throughout the world, and their helping one or two along the way wasn’t making a difference to anyone.

  Their father opened the restaurant in the sixties after travelling to Nepal from Tamil Nadu, tracing the roots of the family. He loved the vibrancy of Kathmandu and got a job working as a chef in a fine restaurant for many years before setting up his own.

  But there was one scourge, one thing that made his blood heighten and his ears thump, the city was awash with vagrants. These western travellers used and abused the place he loved. They came to use drugs, eat the finest food and squander the precious resources that the people who carried Kathmandu on their bare shoulders should have enjoyed.

  What was worse, no one was doing anything about it. Some people even made a small profit from it, opening their houses to the tourists, or allowing them to eat in their restaurants.

  Then he was offered a job, a job which changed the course of the restaurant forever.

  The brothers talked casually as they prepared for their evening service. One mixed a carefully selected blend of spices in a large pestle and mortar, cracking and grinding as their fragrance infused into the air. The other cut an onion, the short sharp knife moving quickly through the flesh.

  Tonight, as ever, the restaurant would be busy.

  Chapter 48

  As Allissa turned to look back at the Teku Guesthouse, three streets and less than five minutes from where Leo and Tau sat in the back of a rocking taxi, she smiled to herself. However she felt personally, she was doing good. Her life was, right now, benefiting the people around her. That brought her a contentment all the money, clothes and make-up of her youth had failed to.

  The guesthouse looked appealing in the warm afternoon sun. Stopping for a moment, Allissa remembered the first time she had walked across the small square it occupied. The first time she had looked up at its brightly-painted red and yellow concrete. Their guesthouse was the brightest-looking one in the building, something Allissa hoped would bring guests to their small reception desk.

  Turning, Allissa walked in the direction of the market; she was buying food for dinner while Fuli and Chimini looked after the guesthouse. They’d already checked in two more people that afternoon.

  * * *

  “I’m going for a shower,” Chimini said in their native tongue, the temperature of the guesthouse reception becoming stifling in the afternoon heat. “Com
e and get me if you need me.”

  Fuli nodded.

  “Will you be okay?” Chimini said, looking closely at her.

  Although Fuli hadn’t run away when a young man had checked in earlier, Chimini noticed the key had been passed between shaking fingers.

  Fuli nodded again. She would be fine.

  Chimini wasn’t gone long when Fuli heard footsteps on the tiled stairs. The smile vanished as she saw two men ascend into the reception area. Bolted to the seat, Chimini’s words, not all men are bad, circled her mind.

  For a moment she was back there. The curtain, his voice, the smell of sour whiskey on his breath.

  Fuli slammed the memories away.

  The first of the men was a westerner, skinny, tall and pale. The second, Indian, his skin tone darker than hers from long days spent in the sun.

  Chimini had been teaching Fuli the English phrases she would need to work behind the reception desk, and she racked her brain for them hurriedly. She could do this.

  Not all men are bad.

  The westerner was the first to speak, a phrase she didn’t understand. A few seconds later, the Indian one’s translation surprised her.

  “I’m looking for my sister.”

  Fuli recognised the picture the man showed her on his phone immediately, although she tried not to show them. Men looking for you had to be a bad thing.

  Not all men are bad, but until she knew otherwise, she would look out for Allissa.

  “Not here,” Fuli replied in Nepalese. “Never seen her,” she added, slightly too quickly.

  The westerner, standing in front of the Indian, regarded her with a steady look. It was neither accusing her of lying or blaming her for not knowing.

  “Has she been here?” he asked, the Indian man translating.

  “Not here,” Fuli said again, looking down at the large check-in book spread open on the desk to avoid their gaze.