A Piece Of Cake

Captain Jack Sinclair stepped out onto the broad cement aquare in front of his office, and surveyed the military camp’s surroundings, in which he served some nine months already. There was nothing much he could do there, except breath some fresh air whenever he could. The time was four twenty eight pm, about half an hour before the daily briefing session with the local officeres under his command. It was the third advanced infantry training course under his instruction, or for accuracy’s sake the first course under his solitary instruction; since the sudden death of major Donald Harvey his late supperior and commanding officer, and that tragic event took place a short time after the end of the second course. While he was watching absent mindedly the camp’s surroundings all, the local army regulars that lived there with their families, the goats, the fowls that belonged to those regulars; which kept picking the ground and filling the air with their noisy clucking – a group of three senior officers popped up suddenly before his amazed eyes, a full colonel and two lieutenant colonels on both his sides. They were not locals but genuine representatives of his own army. As soon as they stepped upon the cement square, Sinclair froze into a salute, a feat he performed perfectly for the locals’ sake, who kept watching every movement he did. After a short ceremony of handshakes, greetings and a few words about their visit’s aim, the excited Sinclair invited them to his office, showed them to their seats; while he himself with a certain feeling of embarrassment and amusement at the same time, sat at the head of the table. His guests did not seem to mind the somewhat strange situation, and the senior among them had no intention to waste their time. ‘We’ve come to have a look at the positive work that is being done here, and to invetigate the circumstances of major’s Harvey death – your commanding officer.’ ‘I see sir, Sinclair replied clearing his throat and coughing slightly. ‘I’ll do my best to assist you sir.’ Sinclair added obediently, trying to overcome his slight uneasiness. ‘Right now we’ll do with short review of what’s being done here.’ The colonel went on. ‘You’ve a briefing session in half an hour I understand.’ ‘In about twenty minutes…’ Sinclair smiled to him relieved, and turned his eyes to his two escorts with a quick curious look. The atmosphere turned gradually into a pleasant one. They tried their best to weigh him up no doubt, and watched his reactions – but their impression as much as Sinclair could perceive was positive. The tragic incident in which his commanding officer died, had no influence what’s so ever on the training’s continuence; and that essential fact the three of them have must have learned from the delegation’s head in the capital much earlier, before they reached that forlorn camp. After a short and concise review that dealt with the major issues without any unnecessary deviations, Sinclair ended up his short monologue and waited for his guests’ comments. ‘Fine, that will do for the time being.’ The colonel remarked, summing up the professional issue. ‘Well then, you’ll have to assist us with your testimony rather soon. We stay at the Continental…’ He added with a wry smile, which he could not refrain from. The other two expressed their feelings concerning that certain hotel, with a short laugh. ‘Okay, we’ll meet you tomorrow at ten am at the hotel’s lobby.’ Sinclair accompanied them to the square outside his office, and repeated the formal salute ceremony, in front of a little mixed audience of locals, including their wives and children. The daily briefing with the local officers, dealt almost entirely with the suprising visit, Sinclair had with his three senior colleagues. Some two hours later, after having toured the company three platoons at their night training; incognito almost, without adding a word or intervening as he was instructed and supposed to; Sinclair returned on foot to the base, entered his car and crossed the forty miles back to Aagadam, to his apartment and his waiting wife. While driving through the mountainous road with its many windings, which took the life of his cammander – thoughts about the coming meeting with his three senior

comrades busied his mind. Niether his own spouse nor his late commander’s widow had any idea what happened that day, except the tragic message that was summed up in a few words – and he could not know of course how things will turn up. About five minutes to ten am on Saturday morning, Sinclair was sitting in the pityfull lobby of the only hotel in town, waiting to his senior comrades; who were supposed to clarify formally that mysterious affair. There were a few more joints in that dreary town, but these joints were off limits, and served the locals, or bizzare adventures’ seekers. The lobby was deserted of course as his comrades were he hotels’s only guests, and besides, it was rather early. A few moments passed and the hotel’s VIP guests came down to meet him. Sinclair rose to his feet, shook their hands, without a formal salute exchange. They joined his table, and the four of them sat round it – far from the reception counter ‘What can one have here?’ The colonel asked. ‘Burbon, whiskey, whatever booze one could ask for…’ ‘At that early hour?’ The colonel wondered aloud, while the two others knitted their brows, watching Sinclair with quizzical eyes. ‘Well yes, or beer,’ Sinclair answered amused. ‘Here one drinks whenever he wants to.’ Despite the short update of the locals’ drinking habits, there were no comments, and Sinclair raised his arm and summoned the lonly local behind the reception counter, to come and take their order. The beer was brought and poured and they drank together in silence, for a few moments. Having quenched their thirst, the colonel turned to Sinclair without any preliminaries: ‘What kind of working relationship you had with Harvey? Do it in a few words, just the main things.’ I was part of another crew in the northern town of Maduru; and about nine months ago I was assigned to replace Harvey’s second in command. You know his name I assume and the problems he had with Harvey.’ Sinclair made a short pause and caughed slightly. ‘Harvey wasn’t an easy type to work with…That’s what I can say in spite of my limited experience.’ Sinclair added with some apprehension, watching their faces intently, trying to perceive how his few words on this sensitive matter are accepted. ‘You didn’t have any professional disputes as it happened with your predecessor?’ ‘I didn’t like him that’s true. He was a detestful person and had a genuine talent to get on one nerves; but I’ve never disobeyed him, neither his orders nor his opinions, even if it had nothing to do with our mutual work here.’ Once again a short pause fell, but at this stage Sinclair was quite relaxed, having overcome the slight excitement that ruled him up to these few moments. He could think now and conclude with reason, that his three interrogators knew even before they have met him, that he was chosen to replacce Harvey second in command due to his exceptional forbearance. ‘Tell us about the chain of events of that day.’ The colonel asked him, putting a sudden end to the silence that started to opress the four of them. One of the leitenant colonels was writing every word uttered down in a pad, the other one was scrutinizing Sinclair’s features all along he session. He must be the headshrinker of that special inquest crew… Sinclair thought with a feeling of some unpleasantness. ‘It was at the of a prelininary discussion before the opening of the third advanced infantry training course. We were about to leave and the locals demanded their share of fuel coupons, which he received every month from the division headquarters. So he said to me you may move, I’ll settle it with them. After hardly a mile he overtook me with his landrover. That’s by the way was a habitual custom of his. He used to send me off in order to overtake me after a few moments.’ At that point like a torrent of words, or a dam that crushed down under the water pressure, Sinclair went on to explain: ‘To me it looked completely childish, I was driving an old jeep with an engine that needed an overhaul badly; and even if I had a better car, I would have let him get past me. Anyhow it was just like the end of any other day of work, I saw him up to the first series of

windings and then he disappeared...’ ‘You mean he always disappeared after he overtook you, that’s exactly what you want to say, isn’t it?’ ‘That’s right, I reached home after some forty five minutes, when his wife called and asked what had happened, telling us he didn’t get home yet. Well, I didn’t know what to tell her.’ ‘How come you passed the place where his car rolled down into the gorge, and you haven’t seen it? There was enough daylight yet on that day. You should have seen him at the bottom of the gorge.’ ‘I was close to the rock face, and even if someone would have sat beside me, he wouldn’t have seen him.’ Sinclair remarked and waited a second or two for more questions, but his three senior comrades sat watching him withour a word. ‘After some inquiries with the local police and some searches in town, his wife called the division and they turned to me – and I was asked to set out with a small group of locals to find him, the next morning. We travelled on the opposite side of the road, and thus we were able to see the car, it took us some time to find his body.’ ‘I see,’ the colonel muttered after another short pause. ‘This tragic affair is closed, we’re leaving. Thank you and keep on the good job you’re doing here.’ ‘You look exhausted,’ exclaimed Sinclair’s wife, ‘was it that hard?’ ‘I’ve got rid of that scum and from the whole matter as well!’ ‘You what? Shut up for god’s sake! Are you out of your mind!’ His wife scolded him angrily. ‘Are you telling me that…’ She added astonished and stopped, afraid to utter the words that were on the tip of her tongue. ‘Relax, you aren’t speaking to a murderer.’ Sinclair hastened to calm his spouse, she was on the brink of a hysterical weeping outburst. ‘Before I received that jeep we used to ride in his landrover to the camp and back,’ he started to explain while putting a hand on her shoulder and was guiding her gently to the nearest armchair. ‘You’ve never seen that road, you’re not allowed to. There’re three sets of sharp windings in that mountainous road, and in every straight stretch he used to accelerate to some seventy five miles, and turn to me a quizzical look, as if he was saying: “what do you know seventy five miles…” Whenever we got close to one of the windings he slowed down and drove through it in hardly twenty five miles…’ ‘So it was an accident and you aren’t…’ ‘Just listen and you’ll understand it right away. After I’ve received the jeep and if it wasn’t in such a bad state, I guess I wouldn’t have received it; well, in the few times that Harvey bothered to visit the camp, he used to send me off at the end of day, just to overtake with his landrover right afterwards. I’ve told it to you, remember?’ ‘But you didn’t mind his childish behavior, so what’s the point?’ ‘Cause I was furious on that day. He arrived at the camp for the preparatory session of the third course, after he hasn’t shown his face there for almost a fortnight. He opened up with a few sentences and asked me to carry on, while he kept barging in with a show-off, of sheer ignorance into my words. He of course summed the session up, and then came up a completly new matter. The locals demanded their share of fuel coupons in my presence, which he received from the division each month for them and for the two of us – and I didn’t know a thing about it up to that moment! I didn’t mind my share of fuel, but it was such a shame to see the locals angry faces…It was too much… I was so furious I could have killed him. He offered me two hundred litres and I took it and kept my mouth shut; things were ugly enough and I’d no intention to start a heated argument in front of the locals.’ At that point Sinclair stopped and watched his wife, as if he was pondering whether he should tell her the rest of it. ‘He didn’t waste time of course and told me as usual: “you may move I’ll settle it up with them.” I was terribly upset and buried in my thoughts, when a moment or two passed and he overtook me with his landrover. I was so mad at him, I decided to teach that coward a lesson. A jeep can reach fifty five miles per hour, but the one I have

can’t do it. Well after I’d warmed up its engine I reached about fifty miles on the straight streches and took the windings at about forty five; after the first set of windings I saw him not far off, and after the second set I was on his tail, and was about to overtake him…’ Sinclair couldn’t refrain from laughing, seeing in mind’s eye the frightened face of his late commander. ‘Do you realize what it meant to him, to that pompous ass – me with that screwed up jeep of mine overtaking him! He blocked me and as he reached the last straight stretch of road he accelerated wildly, and almost bumped off a cow that crossed the road; cause he watched me in the mirror all that time, to see where I’m… He zigzaged from one side of the road to the other, and if it wasn’t a landrover he would have turned over in the ditch beside the road. I was driving right behind him and I couldn’t stop laughing, he was simply panicked.’ Sinclair noted with a short laugh. ‘So that was it, and you didn’t… She didn’t dare to add another word, as if she didn’t wish to hear anymore of it. ‘I’d enough I was statisfied, I taught him the lesson I wanted so badly to teach him, so I slowed down. But he must have been so afraid that I’ll try again to overtake him - though he was quite far off. He stopped his car got off, and made me a sign to stop and join him. I joined him and he didn’t say a word about the fright I’d given him, but asked my advice about an event, which we were supposed to organize for the locals in two weeks time. I guess that if he wasn’t afraid that I’ll try on to overtake him, I would have known these details at the last moment; and then as if to settle his account with me, he told me that he had assigned one of locals to conduct it – the most reliable among them. He couldn’t grasp the fool, that this was the very proof of our work’s success in this country, as he hardly did anything for truth sake; and that was it, he went to his car, I returned to my jeep and we drove home.’ ‘But how for god’s sake did it happen?’ ‘It happened two days later, after the last session before the course opening, which we’d with the locals. He decided to leave before me and he must have tried to drive faster then twenty five miles per hour, while driving through the windings… Well, getting rid of him as far as I’m concerned, was a piece of cake.’ ‘You shouldn’t speak that way, the man died!’ His wife scolded him vehemently. ‘Well you didn’t work with him my darling, and I had no intention to kill him.’ ‘But you said yourself you were so mad you could have killed, didn’t you?’ ‘Don’t we all say such horrid things when we’re very angry?’ He asked her smiling and bending down to her he kissed her lips.