عکس

CHAPTER FOUR

The Photo

The next morning, Silvia sat in a small office in the Secret Service building.

“Put your hand in this machine,” an agent said. “I’m going to ask you some questions. The machine will check your answers.”

Tobin and Nils Lud watched through a one-way window.

“I have some information,” Lud said. “Her parents had a farm in the Mukwa Mountains. In the 1980s, the mountains were full of rebels and soldiers. Her parents were driving her younger sister home from school, and they were killed by accident, by Dr. Zuwanie’s soldiers.”

“How old was Silvia” Tobin asked.

“Twelve or thirteen,” Lud replied. “She will never forget - or forgive - Dr. Zuwanie. I think she wants the U.N to send him to the ICC.”

The agent came into the room. “Can you come with me, sir” he said to Tobin. “I’ve done the test, but the results aren’t clear. I don’t know if she’s telling the truth.”

They left the room. Lud watched Silvia through the window, and then he went quietly into the office and stood behind Silvia.

“How were the results” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Lud replied.

Silvia turned quickly. Lud smiled and held out his hand.

“I’m Nils Lud, Dr. Zuwanie’s head of security. I want to ask you some questions, too.” Silvia watched him carefully as she shook his hand. “What’s your opinion of Dr. Zuwanie, Ms. Broome” Lud asked. “Do you believe that he’s a good man?”

“I believe in peace and quiet, Mr. Lud,” Silvia said. “That’s why I’m at the U.N.”

“You are not an ambassador. You only interpret.” He stopped for a second, then continued. “You heard a whisper. So it will probably be difficult for you to recognize the speaker?”

Silvia looked at him. “Maybe,” she said slowly.

Suddenly, Lud moved closer to her. “Tell me– do you have a brother” he asked.

Silvia pulled away from him. The door opened and Tobin walked in. He looked angrily at Lud, then spoke to Silvia.

“You can go. An agent will take you back to the U.N.”

Silvia left the room quickly, and Tobin turned to Lud.

“There are no results from the test,” he said coldly. “But I believe her. And next time you want to question an American in the United States Secret Service offices, ask my permission.”

As Silvia and Lud left the building, Tobin and Dot showed some other agents the pictures of Zuwanie, Xola, and Kuman-Kuman.

“I’m from Brooklyn,” Agent Mohammad said.

“OK, Mo. You can follow Kuman-Kuman. You and -“

Another man spoke. “I was with him when he first came from Matobo.”

“OK, Agent Ostroff, you can work with Mo. Now, Xola,” Tobin continued. “The CIA has a list of his friends here in the U.S. We’ll get it soon. We’re looking at the protesters, too.”

Pettigrew came into the room. “I want to talk to you and Dot,” he said to Tobin. They moved away from the other agents.

“What’s happening” Pettigrew asked.

“She only heard a whisper,” Tobin said. “She won’t recognize the voice.”

“The killers don’t know that,” Pettigrew said.

“Wait a minute, Jay,” Tobin protested. “That puts Silvia in danger. They’ll try to stop her.”

“We’ve only got three days,” Pettigrew said angrily. He turned and walked away.

An hour later, Tobin had a call from Nils Lud.

“I’m sending you a photo. Can you print the front and back of it?”

“Yes,” Tobin replied. He looked at his computer and waited for the picture. “Listen,” he continued. “I need the names of everyone in the U.N who arrived from Africa in the last six months, and a list of everyone at the Matoban offices here.”

“Why” Lud asked.

“We want the interpreter to listen to their voices,” Tobin said.

“It was only a whisper” Lud said slowly.

“She wants to try. She thinks she can recognize the voice.”

Lud was silent for a minute, then he said, “Do you have the photo? Look at it carefully. It’s a protest against Zuwanie. The speaker is Ajene Xola. Look at the crowd. look closely.”

There was a young white woman in the crowd. The picture wasn’t clear. Was it Silvia?