فصل 07

Chapter seven

Next morning, at half past four, Anna Harland stood in a quiet road in front of a hotel. She waited, and then she heard a car behind the hotel. The car doors opened and closed.

She waited quietly, and then looked down the road. A man walked into the road and stood next to a shop. He did not look at Anna. But Anna looked at him, and smiled. Then she walked into the hotel.

She went upstairs and knocked on the door of a bedroom. A man answered.

‘Who is it?’

‘It’s me, Stephen,’ she said. ‘Anna Harland. Open the door, please. I want to talk to you.’

The door opened, and Stephen looked out slowly. ‘Anna? What are you doing here at this time? It’s.’

Anna walked quickly into the room. ‘Yes. It’s half past four. Sarah is in court again at ten o’clock. I need your help, young man. Please get up.’

‘But. what can I do?’

Anna looked at him. ‘You went to see a man last night. What happened? Can he help Sarah?’

Stephen answered slowly. He did not look at Anna. ‘No. I’m sorry. He can’t.’

Anna was cold and angry. ‘I see,’ she said. ‘Well, can you and I help her then? Tell me, Stephen, what do you know about Hassan?’

‘Hassan?’ Stephen said angrily. ‘Well, we met him in Australia, and Sarah went away with him. She doesn’t understand him, but I do - he’s a rich young man with a beautiful body. He likes playing with girls, but he doesn’t love her!’

‘And do you love her, Stephen?’

Stephen did not answer at once. For two or three seconds Anna waited. ‘He doesn’t know,’ she thought. ‘He can’t answer the question.’

‘Yes, Mrs Harland. Of course I love her.’

‘But he’s not looking at me,’ Anna thought. ‘He’s looking out of the window. He’s not thinking about Sarah.’

‘Stephen,’ Anna asked quietly, ‘did you go to see Sarah and Hassan in Australia, the night before they came to this country?’

Stephen looked up at her. ‘Er. yes, I went to their hotel,’ he said. ‘I asked Sarah to leave Hassan and come back to me. But how did you know that?’

‘Sarah told me, of course. Was Hassan there?’

‘No. He.’ Stephen stopped. Then he said, ‘Why do you ask?’

Anna opened her handbag. ‘Look at this,’ she said. ‘What is it? Do you know?’

He looked at it, and then at Anna. ‘A tube of toothpaste. Why?’

‘That’s right. A policeman gave it to me. And he took it from a man. You met that man last night, Stephen. You gave him ten tubes of toothpaste. What was in those tubes of toothpaste, Stephen?’

Stephen said nothing. He looked at the toothpaste, and stood up. But Anna was between him and the door. She gave the toothpaste to him.

‘Would you like to clean your teeth, Stephen?’

He began to move to the door, but Anna took his arm. ‘You don’t love Sarah, do you, Stephen? You hate her, because she left you! You put three of these tubes in Sarah’s bag, and then you phoned the police.

You told them about the tubes in my daughter’s bag. You want Sarah to die!’

‘No!’ Stephen said. ‘No, no. not Sarah. Hassan! I put them in Hassan’s bag, not Sarah’s. I wanted Hassan to die!’

He opened the door quickly, and then stopped. A man stood there - Inspector Aziz. He put his hand on Stephen’s arm.

‘It’s an old story, young man,’ he said. ‘It happens every day. My first girlfriend left me for a new man. I was very angry too. I hated him. But I didn’t want to kill him. Come on. Let’s go. You can tell your story to the judge.’