Free The Fig Tree Murder by Michael Pearce Page B
Authors: Michael Pearce
cheap labour, was no problem. The only difficulty, if there was one, was in matching development to cash-income flow.
‘Any building project is a long-term one,’ said Raoul. ‘The trouble is, if it’s too long-term, the people financing it start getting bothered. So what you try to do is get something going quite early on that yields a cash flow.’
‘Like a gambling house?’ said Owen.
Raoul laughed.
‘It would help. But the hotel’s the main thing. Once you start attracting people in, they’ll start spending money.’
‘Building houses and selling them isn’t enough?’
‘It’s all right. In the long run. But in the short run we want more spend. That’s why the racetrack is important. If it’s attractive enough, people will come here even if they don’t live here.’
‘Provided they can get here.’
‘Yes,’ said Raoul, ‘that’s the key. Roads, rail, even trams. We intend to get the tramway system extended out to here.’
‘Out to here?’ said Owen incredulously. ‘That’ll be the day!’
‘You see space,’ said Raoul. ‘We see buildings.’
‘What a horrifying thought!’
‘It’s the future,’ said Raoul.
Down below, Amina came to the end of her perambulating and set off in the direction of home, accompanied by her father, and Malik.
‘And meanwhile,’ said Owen, ‘until the houses get built and the tramway system is extended, how are you getting on with the new railway?’
‘It’s coming along,’ said Raoul. He frowned. ‘But too slowly.’
‘You need it for the cash flow?’
‘We need it for the cash flow. Now that the racecourse has been built, we can’t afford not to have it coming. We were thinking,’ he said, looking at Owen, ‘of getting the men to work on Fridays.’
‘Fridays! But that’s the Muslim Sabbath!’
‘We work on Sundays already, you know.’
‘Yes, but that’s different. This is a Muslim country.’
‘How religious is Egypt?’
‘When it comes to working on the Sabbath, you’ll find it’s pretty religious,’ said Owen.
‘Blasphemy! Sacrilege! Desecration!’ shouted Sheikh Isa.
There was a larger crowd around the tabernacle than usual, including this time a number of younger men, some of whom Owen thought he remembered from the railway.
‘Ordinarily I wouldn’t agree with him,’ said Ja’affar, ‘but this time I think he’s got a point.’
‘It’s all right for you, Ja’affar,’ said one of the men whom Owen thought he remembered from the railway—Abdul was his name? ‘It doesn’t apply to those working at the ostrich farm.’
‘Yet,’ said one of the other labourers.
Ja’affar, shocked, turned on him.
‘You don’t think old man Zaghlul—?’
‘He’s a mean old skinflint. Doesn’t miss a trick. If they get away with it on the railway, he’ll start asking why he can’t introduce it on the farm.’
‘You’re all right for the moment anyway, Ja’affar,’ said the barber. ‘You can’t work with that arm.’
They were sitting on the ground just beyond the outer ring of Sheikh Isa’s listeners, far enough away to demonstrate their independence, yet close enough to hear what was being said. The barber had temporarily moved his shop there; that is, his chair, his bowls and his implements.
And also his cronies. This was a different congregation from Sheikh Isa’s: younger, more dissident, free-thinking. It included, besides the wounded Ja’affar, several of the men who worked on the railway, among them the man who had acted as their spokesman in the confrontation over the removal of Ibrahim’s body. It also included the dead man’s brother.
‘You’re right,’ said the man who had acted as spokesman. Wahid appeared to be his name. ‘Ordinarily I wouldn’t agree with the old sheikh either. But he’s got a point. If this working-on-the-Sabbath idea goes ahead, soon they’ll have us all working on the Sabbath. You, Ja’affar, me, Ismail—not you, though,’ he said, looking at
‘Any building project is a long-term one,’ said Raoul. ‘The trouble is, if it’s too long-term, the people financing it start getting bothered. So what you try to do is get something going quite early on that yields a cash flow.’
‘Like a gambling house?’ said Owen.
Raoul laughed.
‘It would help. But the hotel’s the main thing. Once you start attracting people in, they’ll start spending money.’
‘Building houses and selling them isn’t enough?’
‘It’s all right. In the long run. But in the short run we want more spend. That’s why the racetrack is important. If it’s attractive enough, people will come here even if they don’t live here.’
‘Provided they can get here.’
‘Yes,’ said Raoul, ‘that’s the key. Roads, rail, even trams. We intend to get the tramway system extended out to here.’
‘Out to here?’ said Owen incredulously. ‘That’ll be the day!’
‘You see space,’ said Raoul. ‘We see buildings.’
‘What a horrifying thought!’
‘It’s the future,’ said Raoul.
Down below, Amina came to the end of her perambulating and set off in the direction of home, accompanied by her father, and Malik.
‘And meanwhile,’ said Owen, ‘until the houses get built and the tramway system is extended, how are you getting on with the new railway?’
‘It’s coming along,’ said Raoul. He frowned. ‘But too slowly.’
‘You need it for the cash flow?’
‘We need it for the cash flow. Now that the racecourse has been built, we can’t afford not to have it coming. We were thinking,’ he said, looking at Owen, ‘of getting the men to work on Fridays.’
‘Fridays! But that’s the Muslim Sabbath!’
‘We work on Sundays already, you know.’
‘Yes, but that’s different. This is a Muslim country.’
‘How religious is Egypt?’
‘When it comes to working on the Sabbath, you’ll find it’s pretty religious,’ said Owen.
‘Blasphemy! Sacrilege! Desecration!’ shouted Sheikh Isa.
There was a larger crowd around the tabernacle than usual, including this time a number of younger men, some of whom Owen thought he remembered from the railway.
‘Ordinarily I wouldn’t agree with him,’ said Ja’affar, ‘but this time I think he’s got a point.’
‘It’s all right for you, Ja’affar,’ said one of the men whom Owen thought he remembered from the railway—Abdul was his name? ‘It doesn’t apply to those working at the ostrich farm.’
‘Yet,’ said one of the other labourers.
Ja’affar, shocked, turned on him.
‘You don’t think old man Zaghlul—?’
‘He’s a mean old skinflint. Doesn’t miss a trick. If they get away with it on the railway, he’ll start asking why he can’t introduce it on the farm.’
‘You’re all right for the moment anyway, Ja’affar,’ said the barber. ‘You can’t work with that arm.’
They were sitting on the ground just beyond the outer ring of Sheikh Isa’s listeners, far enough away to demonstrate their independence, yet close enough to hear what was being said. The barber had temporarily moved his shop there; that is, his chair, his bowls and his implements.
And also his cronies. This was a different congregation from Sheikh Isa’s: younger, more dissident, free-thinking. It included, besides the wounded Ja’affar, several of the men who worked on the railway, among them the man who had acted as their spokesman in the confrontation over the removal of Ibrahim’s body. It also included the dead man’s brother.
‘You’re right,’ said the man who had acted as spokesman. Wahid appeared to be his name. ‘Ordinarily I wouldn’t agree with the old sheikh either. But he’s got a point. If this working-on-the-Sabbath idea goes ahead, soon they’ll have us all working on the Sabbath. You, Ja’affar, me, Ismail—not you, though,’ he said, looking at