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Authors: Simon Conway
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off.’
‘You’re saying he wasn’t expecting this?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Noman said. He squatted down beside the body and loosened the belt, revealing the dark lesion on the neck. The blood vessels in Omar’s eyes had burst and were bright red. ‘Using a belt doesn’t suggest premeditation. I think Tariq reacted to the situation. In my opinion he woke up and as soon as he realised what was happening he recognised that his cover was blown. Or at least it soon would be. He knew we’d be digging around trying to understand this thing for years to come. No cover would withstand that. And he must have realised that he had to stop Omar reporting events if he was to have a chance of escape. So he killed him and fled.’
Khan was frowning. ‘And the Americans took him with them when they left?’
Noman shook his head. ‘We don’t think so. A witness claims to have seen someone fitting Tariq’s description leaving this house and approaching the Pashto speaker at the gate of bin Laden’s house. There was a heated exchange. The man we think was Tariq was shouting,
“Zamaa num bulbul dai
.”’
I am
Nightingale
.
‘He went on shouting until one of the Americans hit him with a rifle.’
‘You’re sure about this?’ Khan asked.
‘The police arrested Tariq’s wife and parents this morning in Lahore,’ Raja Mahfouz said. ‘The wife is denying all knowledge. She’s insisting he was loyal.The parents are singing, though. They were promised relocation to England and an annual stipend for the rest of their lives.’
‘The boy was a British spy,’ Noman said, accusingly. ‘He must have been recruited when he was stationed in England. All the time he was working for you he was working for them.’
‘The Americans didn’t wait,’ Khan said, ignoring him. There was a hint of grudging admiration in his voice. ‘They didn’t tell anyone, not even their allies. They went and did it and to hell with the consequences.’ He glanced at Noman. ‘Have you apprehended Tariq?’
‘He’s still missing,’ Raja Mahfouz said.
‘We’re hunting high and low,’ Noman growled. ‘Airports, train stations and bus terminals are all on high alert. There are checkpoints the length of the Grand Trunk Road. We’ve closed the border crossing at Torkham Gate and we’ve mobilised helicopter patrols in Mohmand and Bajaur.’
Khan pursed his lips and stared down at the dead monkey at his feet.
‘Did you suspect him?’ Noman demanded. ‘Did you know Tariq was a spy?’
Khan looked at him. After a pause he led him across the room and out of earshot of Raja Mahfouz. ‘Who knows you came up here?’ he asked in a low voice.
Noman stiffened. ‘What?’
‘Who knows you came up here the day before yesterday?’ Khan repeated.
‘What are you suggesting?’
‘If Tariq is arrested he will be questioned and undoubtedly he will reveal that you were here two days ago.’
‘And what if he does? I told you I didn’t trust either of them.’
‘Keep your voice down,’ Khan told him. ‘I’m trying to protect you. Who else, apart from Tariq, knows that you came here?’
10. Waiting for Nightingale
The Americans called it the Valley at the Edge of the Known World. The soldiers joked that they were so close to it they might fall off at any moment.
They lived in narrow crawl spaces behind battle-scarred ramparts of sandbags and cedar logs, staring out at an implacably hostile and alien world through fire-ports as narrow as the arrow slits in Crusader castles. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in Afghanistan and in some quarters one of the most dangerous places on earth. It had a reputation for messing with your head. More than forty American servicemen had died defending the Forward Operating Base and several times it had come close to being completely overrun. It was a haunted battleground built on the remnants of a long-abandoned Soviet hilltop fortification that had claimed as many Russian
‘You’re saying he wasn’t expecting this?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Noman said. He squatted down beside the body and loosened the belt, revealing the dark lesion on the neck. The blood vessels in Omar’s eyes had burst and were bright red. ‘Using a belt doesn’t suggest premeditation. I think Tariq reacted to the situation. In my opinion he woke up and as soon as he realised what was happening he recognised that his cover was blown. Or at least it soon would be. He knew we’d be digging around trying to understand this thing for years to come. No cover would withstand that. And he must have realised that he had to stop Omar reporting events if he was to have a chance of escape. So he killed him and fled.’
Khan was frowning. ‘And the Americans took him with them when they left?’
Noman shook his head. ‘We don’t think so. A witness claims to have seen someone fitting Tariq’s description leaving this house and approaching the Pashto speaker at the gate of bin Laden’s house. There was a heated exchange. The man we think was Tariq was shouting,
“Zamaa num bulbul dai
.”’
I am
Nightingale
.
‘He went on shouting until one of the Americans hit him with a rifle.’
‘You’re sure about this?’ Khan asked.
‘The police arrested Tariq’s wife and parents this morning in Lahore,’ Raja Mahfouz said. ‘The wife is denying all knowledge. She’s insisting he was loyal.The parents are singing, though. They were promised relocation to England and an annual stipend for the rest of their lives.’
‘The boy was a British spy,’ Noman said, accusingly. ‘He must have been recruited when he was stationed in England. All the time he was working for you he was working for them.’
‘The Americans didn’t wait,’ Khan said, ignoring him. There was a hint of grudging admiration in his voice. ‘They didn’t tell anyone, not even their allies. They went and did it and to hell with the consequences.’ He glanced at Noman. ‘Have you apprehended Tariq?’
‘He’s still missing,’ Raja Mahfouz said.
‘We’re hunting high and low,’ Noman growled. ‘Airports, train stations and bus terminals are all on high alert. There are checkpoints the length of the Grand Trunk Road. We’ve closed the border crossing at Torkham Gate and we’ve mobilised helicopter patrols in Mohmand and Bajaur.’
Khan pursed his lips and stared down at the dead monkey at his feet.
‘Did you suspect him?’ Noman demanded. ‘Did you know Tariq was a spy?’
Khan looked at him. After a pause he led him across the room and out of earshot of Raja Mahfouz. ‘Who knows you came up here?’ he asked in a low voice.
Noman stiffened. ‘What?’
‘Who knows you came up here the day before yesterday?’ Khan repeated.
‘What are you suggesting?’
‘If Tariq is arrested he will be questioned and undoubtedly he will reveal that you were here two days ago.’
‘And what if he does? I told you I didn’t trust either of them.’
‘Keep your voice down,’ Khan told him. ‘I’m trying to protect you. Who else, apart from Tariq, knows that you came here?’
10. Waiting for Nightingale
The Americans called it the Valley at the Edge of the Known World. The soldiers joked that they were so close to it they might fall off at any moment.
They lived in narrow crawl spaces behind battle-scarred ramparts of sandbags and cedar logs, staring out at an implacably hostile and alien world through fire-ports as narrow as the arrow slits in Crusader castles. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in Afghanistan and in some quarters one of the most dangerous places on earth. It had a reputation for messing with your head. More than forty American servicemen had died defending the Forward Operating Base and several times it had come close to being completely overrun. It was a haunted battleground built on the remnants of a long-abandoned Soviet hilltop fortification that had claimed as many Russian
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