‘We’ve got a crybaby on our hands.’
‘Shut up, Andy!’ said Warren savagely.
‘What’s the matter, Javid?’ asked Follet. ‘Couldn’t you stand the racket? Couldn’t you afford the fifty thousand?’
Raqi seemed to be staring at an inward scene of horror. His olive complexion had turned a dirty green and he was trembling uncontrollably. He moistened his lips, and whispered, ‘It wasn’t mine.’
‘Oh, that’s bad,’ said Follet commiseratingly. ‘But remember what I told you – you should always play with your own money. I did tell you that, you know – and so did Nick.’
‘I’ll lose my job,’ said Raqi. His voice was filled with desperation. ‘What will my wife say? What will she say?’ His voice rose and cracked. Suddenly he was babbling in Persian and none of them could understand what he was saying.
Follet’s hand came out sharply and cracked Raqi across the cheek, shocking him into silence. ‘Sorry about that, Javid; but you were becoming hysterical. Now, calm down and talk sense. Where did you get the dough?’
‘From the place I work,’ said Raqi, swallowing hard. ‘The chief clerk has a safe – and I have a key. He keeps money for out-of-hand expenses. I went back to the office and … and …’
‘Stole the money,’ said Tozier flatly.
Raqi nodded dejectedly. ‘He’ll know as soon as he opens the safe on Monday. He’ll know it’s …’
‘Take it easy, kid,’ said Follet. ‘You’re not in jail yet.’
That was an aspect that had not hit Raqi, and he stared at Follet with renewed horror. Follet said, ‘Maybe we can help you.’
‘Count me out,’ said Tozier uncompromisingly. ‘I’m not going to subsidise a freeloading kid who’s still wet behind the ears. If he can’t stand the heat, let him get out of the kitchen. He should never have come into this game, anyway. I told you that in the first place.’
Warren looked at Follet who just shrugged, and said, ‘I guess that’s so. You’ve gotta learn by your mistakes, kid. If we bail you out now, you’ll do it again some time else.’
‘Oh, no; I promise – I promise.’ Raqi spread his arms wide on the table, grovelling before Follet. ‘Help me – please help me – I promise …’
‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, stand up and be a man!’ barked Tozier. He stood up. ‘I can’t stand scenes like this. I’m getting out.’
‘Wait a minute,’ said Follet. ‘I think I’ve got something.’ He pointed his finger at Tozier. ‘Weren’t you telling me about a guy who wanted to get something from the company this kid works for? Something about some chemicals?’
Tozier thought for a moment, then nodded. ‘What about it?’
‘How much would he pay?’
‘How the hell do I know?’ said Tozier in a pained voice. ‘This chap was working an angle in which I wasn’t interested.’
‘You could always ask him. There’s a telephone there.’
‘Why should I? There’s nothing in it for me.’
‘For Pete’s sake, can’t you be human for once in your goddam life?’ asked Follet in an exasperated voice.
Warren’s voice was quiet but it cut through the room with authority. ‘Use the phone, Andy.’
‘Oh, all right.’ Tozier picked up his jacket. ‘I think I have the number here somewhere.’
Follet patted Raqi on the shoulder. ‘Bear up, Javid; we’ll get you out of this jam somehow.’ He sat next to him and began to talk to him quietly.
Tozier mumbled to someone on the telephone. At last he put it down and crossed the room with a paper in his hand. ‘This man wants to know who’s been ordering these chemicals – especially in quantity. He wants to know where they were despatched to. He also wants to know of any transactions concerning a man called …’ He peered at the paper. ‘… Speering. That’s it.’ He rubbed the side of his jaw. ‘I screwed him up to forty thousand but he wouldn’t go higher for the information.’
‘Why does he want it?’ asked Warren.
‘I reckon he’s in industrial espionage.’
Follet took the sheet of paper. ‘Who cares why he wants it so long as Javid can deliver?’ He gave the paper to Raqi. ‘Can you get that stuff?’
Raqi wiped his eyes and looked carefully. He nodded, and whispered, ‘I think so. All this is in the stock ledgers.’
‘But the guy will only go to forty thousand, damn him,’ said Follet. ‘For crying out loud, I’m game to help make up the difference.’
‘Count me out on that,’ said Tozier grimly. ‘I’ve done my bit.’
‘Nick?’
‘All right, Johnny; we’ll split it between us.’ Warren sorted out five thousand rials from the money on the table and passed it to Follet.
‘There, you see, Javid; we’ve got ten thousand here. All you have to do to get the other forty thousand is to go back to the office. You have the key?’
Raqi nodded, and allowed Follet to help him to his feet. ‘It will take time,’ he said.
‘Half an hour. That’s all it took to loot the safe this afternoon,’ said Tozier brutally.
Follet saw Raqi to the door and closed it gently. He turned, and said, ‘We’re nearly there. There’s just one thing more to be done.’
Warren sighed. ‘It can’t be any dirtier than what we’ve done already. What is it?’
‘You’re not concerned in it, so rest easy,’ said Follet. ‘Now, all we have to do is wait. I’m going to see Ben – I’ll be back in ten minutes.’
It seemed, to Warren, an eternity before Raqi returned. The minutes ticked by and he contemplated the sort of man he was becoming under the stress of this crazy adventure. Not only was he guilty of blackmailing Follet, but he had assisted in the corruption of a young man who had hitherto been blameless. It was all right for Follet to preach that you can’t cheat an honest man; the men who offer the thirty pieces of silver are just as guilty as he who accepts them.
Again there was the expected knock at the door and Follet went to open it. Raqi had pulled himself together a little and did not seem so woebegone; there was more colour in his cheeks and he did not droop as he had when he left.
Follet said, ‘Well, kid; did you get it?’
Raqi nodded. ‘I took it from the ledgers in English – I thought that would help.’
‘It surely would,’ said Follet, who had forgotten that problem. ‘Let me have it,’
