Sawdust Caesar: Omnibus Edition by Howard Baker

Author:Howard Baker
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Published: 2015-09-21T04:30:00+00:00

That evening I found Frankie sitting with Mustafa outside the Pudding Shop. I'd arranged to meet Nilüfer the next afternoon at the same teashop in the bazaar, but hadn't expected her to be the subject of conversation that evening. I'd told her to carry on as usual to avoid any problems, although the thought of Frankie shagging her again made my stomach turn over.

'Tommy! You like coffee?' asked Mustafa with an olive oil smile.

'Cheers, Mustafa.' I dragged up a chair. All around us in the soft evening darkness sat a mixture of young travelers and Turks. Three tables away sat Barbara and Diane surrounded by a little mob of polished and coiffured local boys who stared hard at me when the girls waved.

Mustafa clicked his fingers at a waiter and pointed almost indiscernibly to the empty space on the table before me. The waiter disappeared inside the restaurant and reappeared almost instantly carrying a coffee probably meant for someone else. On this patch, Mustafa came first.

Frankie spoke with a grin that wasn't quite true. I knew him well enough to be able to tell when something was on his mind. 'Did you get your legover?' he asked.

I sipped the coffee before answering. 'What are you talking about?'

'The bird. Nilüfer. Have you seen her?'

'Yeh. Of course I've seen her. But in answer to your question, no. Not after you and him have been there.' I laughed trying to sound matey. 'No, we went for a walk along the seafront then she split, saying she had to see someone. Why?'

'Because my little girl is gone,' said Mustafa deep in thought, playing jacks with a solitary sugar cube, tossing it in the air and catching it on the back of his hand. He looked across the table at me as if he had a dog turd stuck under his nose. 'What she say to you?'

'Not a lot. She just showed me some of the sights.'

'Sights?'

'Things tourists look at - you know, mosques, the zoo... '

'You go in the zoo?'

Mustafa's attitude was getting to me. 'As it happens, I popped in to see if they had a spare cage for you.'

Frankie nearly spilt his coffee. 'Cut it out for fuck's sake. The geezer's only asking for a bit of help.'

'No we didn't go in the zoo. We walked past Gulhane Park then down towards the Bosphorus and along the seafront, okay? What is this anyway, some sort of interrogation?' I overdid the anger because I disliked Mustafa and would have liked the chance to slap him.

But Frankie intervened: 'No no, she's gone missing and Mustafa's wondering if she's gone back home or been kidnapped or something. Nothing personal.'

'Better not be, otherwise I'll have to give him a spank.' I kept to London-speak to prevent Mustafa understanding what I was saying.

'Leave it out - the man's only worried about his investment.'

Mustafa smiled at the word. 'Investment, sure, I worry. This girl, she no good. But no problem. I make her - how you say? - see a light.

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