Donkey-Vous by Michael Pearce

Author:Michael Pearce [Pearce, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, General, Historical
ISBN: 9781464201356
Google: f5qLMwEACAAJ
Amazon: 1464201358
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 2013-05-07T04:00:00+00:00

The meeting had already gone on for some time. It was being chaired by Saunders, a Scot from the Ministry of Public Works, who was proceeding painfully slowly through the business, referring meticulously at every stage to a vast sheaf of papers assembled for him by the Coptic clerk to the committee, consulting at every turn the maps and diagrams spread out on the table in front of them. There was also Martin, another Scot, representing, however, the main contractors, Aird and Co., two civil servants from the Ministry, both Copts, Paul from the Consulate-General (what he was doing there Owen could not figure out) and Owen himself.

What he was doing there Paul alone knew. He had rung up Owen the day before saying there was a meeting he would like Owen to attend.

“But I don’t know anything about that sort of thing,” he had said.

“You don’t have to. All you have to do is come in on cue.”

“But I—”

“I’ll tell you when. It will be pretty clear anyway.”

“But what am I supposed to be saying?”

“You’re supporting me. You’re supposed to be the voice of political wisdom.”

“I thought you were?”

“I am. But there are times when it is as well to have an independent voice saying the same thing. I’ll meet you half an hour before the meeting and explain it to you.”

But in the event Paul had been held up at the Consulate-General and there had been no time for him to give the briefing. He had slipped into his chair only the minute before the meeting started (much to Owen’s relief) and had just had time to mutter to Owen “You support me,” before the Chairman opened the meeting.

The subject of the meeting was the issuing of the remaining contracts for the next phase of construction at the Aswan Dam. The main ones had already been issued, mostly going to Aird and Co., but there were some subcontracts still to be placed for ancillary works. The most substantial of these was for the construction of a masonry apron downstream of the dam sluices.

“Of course we could do this at the same time as we’re doing the others,” said the man from Aird and Co.

“Haven’t you got enough on your plate as it is?” asked the Chairman.

“There are advantages in doing the two together. There would be men and equipment already there.”

“Would there be economies, then?” asked one of the civil servants.

“Oh, certainly.”

“Would they be reflected in the tender price?”

“Up to a point, yes.”

“That’s funny,” said Paul, “because the price Aird and Co. are tendering at is quite a bit higher than some of the other tenders we have received.”

“You can always be undercut,” said the man from Aird and Co., “by fly-by-night outfits. If you’ll take my advice you’ll have nothing to do with any of them.”

“Dassin, Laporte et Lebrun are hardly a fly-by-night outfit,” said Paul.

The man from Aird and Co. made a dismissive gesture. “They’ve not been doing too well lately on some of their contracts in Turkey.

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