فصل 02

Chapter two

Anna Harland left the prison and went to talk to the police. She waited a long time in a small office, but after an hour a policeman came into the room. He was a big man, about fifty-five years old, with brown eyes and a nice smile. He moved very slowly and quietly.

‘Good afternoon, Mrs Harland,’ he said. ‘My name is Detective Inspector Aziz. I. arrested your daughter three days ago. I’m very sorry for you. This is a very unhappy thing for a mother.’

‘It’s a very unhappy thing for my daughter, Inspector,’ Anna said angrily. ‘Because she didn’t do it. She’s innocent, you know. She knows nothing about those drugs.’

Detective Inspector Aziz looked at her carefully for a minute. He did not know many English women. ‘She has an interesting face,’ he thought. ‘Very blue eyes, and a long nose. She is not afraid of me, and she is not crying. Perhaps she wants to know the truth. Perhaps she can help me, too.’

‘Well, Mrs Harland,’ he said slowly. ‘It’s difficult for me. Is your daughter telling the truth? Is she innocent? Because the drugs were in her bag, you know.’

‘I know,’ Anna said. ‘But she was with a young man. Hassan. She doesn’t know him very well, I think. Tell me about him, please. I want to know.’

Inspector Aziz smiled. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘But first, tell me about your daughter. Why was she on that plane? Why did she come to this country? Tell me.’

Anna Harland looked at him. ‘He’s a nice man,’ she thought. ‘He listens to people. Perhaps he wants to help. Perhaps he can understand Sarah.’

‘Do you have daughters?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ the Inspector answered. ‘Two.’

‘Then perhaps you can understand,’ Anna said. ‘Sarah is nineteen. She finished school last year, and she worked for six months in a hospital to get some money. Then she and her boyfriend, Stephen, visited a lot of countries. They went to Greece, Turkey, India, Australia - and now they’re here.

They’re young, and they want to see new countries and new towns and new people. That’s all.’

‘I see,’ the Inspector said. ‘But sometimes young people do things - bad things - because they are in a different country and they need money.’

‘Not Sarah,’ Anna said. ‘And not heroin. Sarah worked in a hospital, and she knows about heroin. She knows it can kill people. I’m a doctor, and she wants to be a doctor, too.’

‘I see,’ the Inspector said again. He looked at her, and thought, but he said nothing.

‘Now,’ Anna said. ‘Tell me about this young man, Hassan.’

‘All right,’ the Inspector said. He took some papers from the table and began to read to her. ‘But we don’t know very much about him. He’s a rich boy, from a good family. His father has two or three shops, I think.

And the police in his town know him, too. Last year his father gave him a new car - a very fast car. And. listen to this! One day he hit a police car, and the police car went into the river! What a story! His father bought a new car for the police. His father has a lot of money.’ The Inspector smiled, but Anna looked unhappy. ‘Oh dear,’ she said. ‘That’s not very good.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘It isn’t good. But this story about the heroin is worse. Much worse. I don’t like this story.’