The Malthus Pandemic

by Terry Morgan

CHAPTER 66

  Jimmy had left the Sankara Hotel to follow Sam Marshall. Meanwhile, I sat to wait for O'Brian to re-emerge. And it wasn't long before the lift door opened and O'Brian walked out with a mobile phone clamped to his ear and a small overnight case in his other hand. He had changed, not into a suit but into casual black trousers and a bright, check shirt. He went straight to reception, put his phone in his back pocket and checked out. Meantime, I walked outside, ordered a taxi and told the driver to wait on the road outside until the Mercedes came past.

  Forty five minutes later, I was at the airport. I had watched as O'Brian returned his Mercedes to the car rental and then followed him as he checked-in for a Vietnamese Airline flight out. But it was his destination that now bothered me. O'Brian was heading to Bangkok.

  I suddenly felt exhausted. If this had been the start or even the middle of a typical investigation for an aggrieved client then I would probably now be on the phone to Colin in London asking if he had someone in place in Bangkok who could perhaps pick up O'Brian on arrival and track him somehow. Then I'd probably have bought myself an air ticket and followed. But this was no longer a typical investigation and there seemed no point in carrying on with what was becoming an international goose chase. I had not even spoken to Colin, let alone Anna, for three days. What I needed now, above all else, was a chat with Anna and then a complete review of where each of us - Larry, Kevin and Colin - now were. I slumped onto a seat and closed my eyes. But then my phone rang.

  "I'm at the airport," Jimmy said.

  "That's odd, so am I," I said. "I've followed GOB as far as I can go at the moment."

  "I'm outside a freight-forwarder's warehouse," Jimmy said. "Marshall took a taxi to the Oakwood Hotel - Dominique Lunneau was there - but they hardly spoke. I don't think they had met before. Lunneau approached Marshall. Marshall gave Lunneau some paperwork. Then Marshall left. I stayed to watch Lunneau. He made some phone calls and then he also left. I followed him here - Ace Logistics Africa. Lunneau is inside and.............no, wait, he's coming out."

  "I suspect he's organising a Shah Medicals shipment to somewhere, Jimmy. See what you can find out."

  The phone went dead but I continued to sit. Then I sent a short text to Colin, "Coming home. Tell Anna. Will call later." I went for a coffee, ate a ham sandwich and then had another coffee. Then Jimmy rang again.

  "There are two containers here, Daniel. They are being shipped by sea to Jordan. But there are also three big boxes marked "Livingstone Pharmaceuticals - Pharmaceutical Supplies." The paperwork accompanying them says and I need to spell this, Daniel -"SALBUTAMOL Inhalers." They are being sent by airfreight to Shah Medicals, Singapore."

  So, I thought, as Jimmy continued, the distribution network was getting organised. Shah Medicals, Singapore and David Chua - the man I had already met and who Caroline had described as a wiry little chap - was involved either wittingly or, to grant him at least some justice - unwittingly. And what else had Caroline said about him? 'Chua, has history - his family were criminals - Chinese mafia - before the clampdowns.' And he had once been arrested for being involved in a far right wing group - Singapore 2100. And it was Kevin Parker who had confirmed that Singapore 2100 was an action group committed to a reduction in the population of Singapore. So could it be that it wasn't just the crowded, underdeveloped, trouble spots like northern Nigeria that were at risk but highly civilised and ordered places like Singapore?

  "How did you find all of that out in the space of 30 minutes, Jimmy?" I asked him.

  "Easy, Daniel. I said that I was from Shah Medicals and Dominique Lunneau had sent me to check on the paperwork."

  "Are you sure that was safe, Jimmy?"

  "Yes, anyway, the man in the office is the cousin of Lucky's brother in law."

  "That should be OK then, Jimmy," I said, smiling to myself. Then I went on. "Can you get over here to departures, right now? I'm thinking I need to get back to UK to meet up with Colin and others and decide where we go next."

  I booked a flight back to London for that afternoon and then, with more than half an hour gone and still no sign of Jimmy, I phoned him but got no reply. I waited another twenty minutes and phoned again but the phone had been switched off. Unsure what to do but needing to return to my hotel to collect my bag and laptop and check-out I decided to take a taxi. But I didn't like the fact that Jimmy's phone was off. It was unusual. Concerned but confident that Jimmy would be in touch very soon I left and was back in the hotel in thirty minutes. I went to my room, packed my few things in the case and, with several more failed attempts to phone Jimmy, checked out and took a taxi back to the airport.

  It was now after midday and my direct flight to London was in two hours. I checked in but instead of going through immigration, stayed outside and tried, once more, to phone Jimmy. Again, his phone seemed to be switched off so I sent a text message.

  Then I phoned Colin in London.

  "I'm booked on a flight due into London at 10.30 tonight," I said. "Please tell Anna. And we need an urgent review on this job. I've got so much to report. Is there anything from Larry and Kevin? Can you get them to meet us again? If Larry can't make it, a conference call or something. But, unless they have already succeeded, then we need to engage some real big hitters now - politicians first, then any international law enforcement bodies that could cope - that'll probably mean Interpol. But how quickly can they get themselves organised?

  "And there's another problem, Colin," I continued. "I'm worried about Jimmy. I think he might have overdone his adventurous streak this morning. Now I can't get him on his phone. He was supposed to meet me here more than two hours ago and he was only a few minutes away from the airport. I fear something has happened. We witnessed three murders last night, Colin, and your friend GOB is in the thick of it. GOB's gone to Bangkok this morning but Dominique Lunneau is still on the loose here in Nairobi. And neither of them is on any wanted list - and that includes Interpol's - I know because I checked."

  "Christ!" Colin said. "I'll phone Jimmy's office right now, see if they know anything. You might be worrying unnecessarily. Perhaps it's as simple as a dead battery."

  "But he could still come here, phone or no phone. I'll feel very responsible if something's gone wrong."

  "There's not much more you can do anyway by the sound if it, Dan. And I agree, we're running desperately short of time. Just get back here."

  With Colin continuing to persuade me to leave immediately as there was nothing I could do about Jimmy and with my flight having been called, I went through passport control and headed for London.