I’ve never seen myself as a man who smiled or laughed a lot but lurking behind the mask is a sense of humour. My own thoughts often make me chuckle but it rarely shows.
Life, it seems to me, is like running a business. You need to see the pitfalls and hurdles that lie ahead and have a plan ready in place.
Sometimes the pitfalls don’t materialise, but it’s better to be prepared.
I took an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Nairobi and spent most of the time staring out of the window and thinking whilst watching the ground and clouds far below move slowly backwards. I don’t think I smiled at all. Lone travellers don’t smile unless they’re thinking about something that amuses them.
Flying on your own is a good time to get your life into perspective.
It’s an even better time to analyse the state of your business and decide if you’re on the right track.
I felt I’d already done enough to invoice Charles Brady. Could finding Jan De Jonge and getting him to admit he’d stolen not one thing but two, a drug and a virus, be worth doubling his fee? That’s what made me smile.
The man should, of course, be locked up, but so should Charles Brady for his security lapses for what’d I’d also uncovered was a scandal affecting the lives of millions, if not billions of people. Half of us could be dead in a year’s time. And why? Because of insufficient security by one organisation and the lack of international rules and controls on certain types of scientific research.
On first sight, monitoring and policing of research seems sensible but it seemed to me that there was no policing. In fact the sort of research being done by Virex and Biox and others could be carried out secretly in someone’s kitchen.
Meanwhile, I was about to meet Jimmy for the first time for a few years, and Jimmy was the only one of us who was not aware of the enormity of what we were up against. It was something I intended to put right as soon as I could persuade Jimmy to sit down and listen for a while.
Sitting a few seats from me was a small team of Kenyan athletes: tall slim black-skinned men in smart blazers who smiled politely and signed autographs. It was the athletes who got me thinking about pitfalls and hurdles and, of course, I thought about Anna. Had I failed to see this pitfall and fallen into it?
Kenya has always been my favourite African country. For all its many differences to Thailand, I knew Anna would also like it.
Kenya, like most other African countries, has problems with corruption, poverty, and the usual economic ones associated with overpopulation. The number of cars on its roads is an indication of economic growth. Like Thailand, it relies heavily on its tourism industry, and the Kenyans, just like the Thais, are good at it.
Compare then Kenya to Nigeria where, until just a few days before, I thought I might need to go to join up with Larry Brown. I remembered what Kevin had said during our conference call. Because of something Larry said, he’d had a passionate outburst about Nigeria.
“Fucking mess, man. You ask my Nigerian friend Tunji up in Barnet.
He knows and he’s Nigerian. Why do so many live here? Yes, it’s part of the old British Empire, but the reason they’re here is because there’s so many here already. Do you think if their lives were better back home, they’d come? It’s the same with all economic migration.
It’s overpopulation.”
We’d then got a stream of statistics on the population of Nigeria, and I remember seeing Colin, the so-called chairman, trying to get a word in edgeways. It was impossible, so the three of us just sat back until Kevin exhausted himself. But it made sense. Kevin, for all his mannerisms, could make a good argument.
“It’s totally unsustainable,” he said. “But is anyone standing on a bloody soap box and shouting about it? Course not. No one’s got the balls. And look at the unemployment figures. We don’t need vast numbers of people to sustain an economy any longer. Yes, we’ve got mass consumption, but it’s overconsumption. People don’t need half the crap they buy. Chrissake, look at the bloody shopping carts and trolleys coming out of supermarkets. They pack the stuff into the boots of their oversized cars, unpack it in their oversized homes, eat half of it, and then throw the garbage and packaging away. Mass production is done by computerised machines unless local labour is still cheap. And, as for all the hard physical work like construction, building of roads and canals that was once done by hundreds of labourers, it’s now done by machines.”
He’d then pointed his finger towards my small quarter of the screen.
“Just look at Thailand, Mark. How many farmers use buffalos and hand-plant rice and then harvest it? They don’t. They sit and watch a man with a tractor. And because the population is still growing, they need more and more space and start encroaching on the jungle.
“Malthus saw this happening two hundred years ago. No one was unemployed once because you needed to do something just to stay
alive. But the millions of unemployed or underemployed able-bodied people should not need be kept alive by state handouts. It does nothing for their self-esteem or the quality of their lives. It merely keeps them alive. Quality of life comes from being a contributor. If an economy was working properly, there would be jobs for everyone.
Everyone would contribute, and contribution is the bedrock of human contentment. We have the ability to control birth rates, maintain populations at sensible, viable levels, and provide enough jobs to share around. So why not use it? But can you name one single politician who states the bloody obvious?”
He was right, of course. We all agreed. We also agreed with the other side of Kevin’s argument - that decisions about what to do could not be made by individuals like David Solomon and Mohamed Kader supported by criminals like Greg O’Brian. But, as Kevin rightly concluded once more, this is exactly what happens if politicians do not provide leadership.
Kevin had taken up ten minutes of our conference call, and Colin was still trying to stop him when he finally stopped. But it had been worth listening to.
The plane landed at Jomo Kenyatta Airport on schedule, and I was in a queue for immigration ready to hand over a passport that said John Edward Franklin on the inside page.
Jimmy was waiting for me in the arrival’s hall.
“Good flight, Mr Franklin? Did you see our Olympic athletes? Not raining today. Sunny. Booked you at the Best Western, where you stayed last time. Not that you’ll sleep much, because we’re going out tonight. But where to now, Mr Franklin? Shall we check out Shah Pharmaceuticals in the daylight?”
Jimmy’s energy and enthusiasm had not diminished since the last time we’d met, but my priority was a serious face to face with him to explain more about the investigation.
I checked in at the Best Western, and in my hotel room, I wasted no time in telling Jimmy I wanted a serious talk.
I sat on a chair, and Jimmy crouched on the bed with his knees at head level. He looked at me like a student waiting for the teacher to start the lesson. Faced with such devotion can be quite difficult and Jimmy doesn’t do negativity
I did my best by filling gaps and explaining what a danger out of control scientists were. I ended with an outpouring of problems.
“We need a course of action,” I said. “But can you imagine countries coming together and agreeing unanimously on something with this degree of urgency? Politics will raise its ugly head. National security matters would need to be put aside, and there would be the usual pushing and shoving for the right to lead. I can’t see it happening quickly. Neither can Colin or Kevin and neither can Larry who’s currently in Washington, trying to get someone to sit up and take notice.
“We’re faced with a human problem that never gets discussed, a type of medical research that is not monitored or controlled, a brilliant scientist so frustrated by politicians that he has decided to take action himself, and a group of businesses wanting to make a lot of money.”
I then threw in another thought that had occurred to me on the plane.
“I don’t know for certain, but from what you found in the Shah Medicals factory, I’m wondering if they mean to launch this virus in Kenya.”
Jimmy unfolded his long legs and walked around the room holding his chin in a way that reminded me of Barack Obama deep in thought.
“Why Kenya?” he asked.
“I might be wrong,” I said. “I’ve also wondered if they might launch it in Nigeria or Thailand but Nairobi would be a great place to start.
It’s a big and sophisticated city with a huge population. It has good communications, plenty of traffic going through, tourists, individuals, businesspeople, and good links to the rest of Africa. It is not as secure as somewhere like London or New York, so I’d say that whoever deciding to launch in Nairobi would be very astute.”
I had just quelled all the enthusiasm Jimmy had started the day with, and he now looked more serious than I’d ever thought possible. “Shall we talk to the government?” he suggested. “The Minister for Trade?”
Perhaps Jimmy was right, and we should have gone straight to the Kenyan government, but instead, I went for “nothing ventured, nothing gained” in the belief that the more evidence we had, the stronger our case would be with whoever we spoke to.
Hindsight is a useless tool. All it does is remind you of past errors of judgement, but I have to live with that mistake.
I joined Jimmy, who was standing by the window looking down into the road below and east towards the Kenyatta Hospital, where Philippe Fournier had worked.
“My name’s not really John Franklin,” I said. “It’s Mark Dobson.”
Jimmy looked at me. “Mungu wangu,” he said, which I think is Swahili for ‘oh my god.’
I smiled. “It’s the sort of work I do, Jimmy. Aliases help preserve my independence and don’t leave a trail. Colin keeps track of me, but I sometimes think I need to settle down.”
I pointed at my black bag propped in the corner. “I’ve lived out of that darned bag for too long and need to cut down on all this travelling, but I want to see this one through first.”
“Mungu wangu. I’ve been sending invoices to Colin for work for Mr John Franklin.”
“It’s not a problem,” I said. “In fact, you need to increase your rate or add in a separate charge for risk.”
“You sure that’s OK, Mr Franklin? Mr Dobson?”
“No question about it,” I said. “You’re the best private crime investigator in the whole of Africa.”
Looking back and knowing what happened to Jimmy I’m glad I said that. Jimmy beamed and shook my hand.
“Let’s try one of your night-time safaris, shall we?” I said, “I need to see the Shah Medicals stuff with my own eyes.”
I could sense that Jimmy wanted to say something. He held his chin and opened his mouth to speak, but then my phone rang. It was Colin.
“I’m with Jimmy,” I said. “We’re going on a night safari tonight.”
“There are things you should know,” he said. “Kevin’s Nigerian friend Tunji Fayinka had a phone call. It was from a man who Tunji said sounded Arab but it wasn’t Mohamed El Badry. He said his name was Ramses…”
I interrupted. “Ramses El Khoury from the Cairo Shah Medical Centre.”
“Exactly what I thought,” Colin went on. He wants Tunji to meet him in London tomorrow night. The Nigerian project was ready to launch, he said. People were in place. Would Tunji help coordinate the Nigerian end? A fee of five thousand dollars plus flight paid to Lagos was on offer.”
“Is he going?” I asked.
“Tunji called Kevin to ask what he should do. Kevin spoke to me. I suggested he go along to check it out.”
“We’re running out of time,” I said.
“I know but what more can we do? I’ve told Larry. He’s in Washington. Meanwhile, we’ve been trying to find this girlfriend of Solomon at the university in Bangkok.”
“Pim,” I reminded him. “And?”
“Pimprapa Chaichua stood out. She’s written papers on viruses and DNA and other things which sounded relevant.”
“What next?”
“I thought you might like to ask Anna to talk to her. You know the sort of thing. Invent a story. Woman-to-woman matter.”
It sounded a good idea, but “She’s not answering her phone right now,” I admitted.
“Has she dumped you, Jinx?”
“No, of course not. It’s just that…”
“Leave it with me. I’ll ask Ching to try to find her.”