As the night progresses and while they watched over the deceased, with Marie’s ears equally dead, Jack tells David the story about Mukurob, the iconic Namibian sandstone structure which fell in 1988.
An indigenous’s prophecy linking the end of the white people’s rule to the day the rock would collapse—and considering that the country had its independence from the South African apartheid´s regime soon after it actually fell—captured David’s attention completely.
“That’s a fabulous story, Jack. You certainly don’t believe in coincidences, do you?”
“All I know is that such a unique geological formation should have survived the politics of man. I only got to see it in photos,” smiled Jack.
“Interesting! And what does Mukurob mean?”
“It is said to somehow relate to The Finger of God.”
“So, it refers to a biblical image…”
“Sure! ‘The Finger of God’ inscribed the Ten Commandments onto the stone tablets carried by Moses,” Jack recalled.
“And yet I can only think of it as pictured in the fresco painting by Michelangelo,” said David.
“The one on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling?”
“Exactly: ‘The Creation of Adam.’”
“But why?” Jack was surprised.
“Well, it has always intrigued me that, in the painting, God’s and Adam’s fingers don’t touch each other. The image of the near-touching fingers must have embodied a more encompassing meaning than that of the creation of the first man, don’t you think?”
“Like what?”
“God’s finger is trying to reach Adam’s when he is already alive. He’s lying down comfortably and does not seem to make much effort to complete the action. So, Jack, it is as if God wished to grant him with something other than life.”
“you mean…”
“Imagination, perhaps…”
David uttered the last sentence as his eyes landed slowly on the ground. The reality that awaited them was much too painful. “How was Marie when you left her?”
“She fell asleep in my arms. I tiptoed out… You think it was Benjamin, don’t you?”
“It’s hard to believe…he didn’t seem capable of such a cruel act,” pondered David.
“Well, I’m certain it wasn’t him.”
Jack’s statement was so decisive that it drew David’s attention to his demeanor. The former seminarian looked disheartened, but his eyes were as firm as his tone of voice.
As the first rays of sunlight announced a new day, David and Jack’s bodies gave in to fatigue. They fell into a deep sleep, only to wake a few hours later to the campsite bustling like a St. Patrick’s Day.
Standing near the entrance to his tent, David watched the arrival of a procession of police, press and U.S. diplomatic corps vehicles. Most of the occupants spilling from the cars into the bright sun tried to disguise the tiredness resulting from a journey evidently started before dawn. Others yawned unashamedly as if they were attending a trivial event.
David looked carefully at a young woman with long fingers, who had stepped out of the back of one of the diplomatic vehicles. She spoke and gestured more than everyone else combined, even questioning the police officers, who, at the time, knew nothing more than the victim’s name. With index finger pointed, she demanded impossible explanations and rolled her eyes whenever her subjects hesitated to respond.
Andreas realized that this symphony needed a conductor and started organizing the horde of outsiders. The work of the detectives and coroners would be given precedence, the diplomatic representatives would be heard next, and, finally, the press would have their turn.
In practice, however, everything ran simultaneously and conflictingly until the senior policeman in charge of the mission decided to end the chaos by exercising his authority. Only then did the press fall silent and the American diplomats step away, initiating a parallel investigation.
David observed as the long-fingered woman approached the San family. Her officious manner frightened them at first, but her tactic eventually worked. Two young boys told her that they had not been able to sleep because of their parents’ snoring and had decided to leave the tent to get some water. On their way, they saw the black man who had recently been fired by the scientists walking behind the tents. They lost sight of him, and seconds later heard a terrifying woman’s scream. Frightened, they dropped the water jug they had been carrying and ran back to their tent, pretending to never have left at all.
The boys’ statement had a devastating effect on Marie. Her knees buckled, and David’s shoulders failed as a sound refuge this time. She crumpled to the ground. Andreas and Thomas picked her up and escorted her, dusty and disheveled, back to her tent.
In less than half an hour, the police pieced together the boys’ testimony and the circumstantial evidence of Benjamin’s dismissal over his disagreement with Edward to formally pronounce the first suspect. “A puzzle fit for a child,” one of the policemen said. Satisfied with their speedy investigation, they soon forgot about the initial tension and became exceedingly friendly towards the emissaries from the U.S. embassy, particularly a military officer, whom they treated with pats on the back and complicit smiles. The press, however, was not placated, sensing in Marie’s dramatic reaction the beginning of a much more seductive story for their readers.
Andreas was equally disdainful of the rapid progression of the investigative process. He gave the detectives a detailed account of the conflict with the Chinese hunters and of how Edward had risked his life to rescue the San boy. “The Chinese left the camp in a rage, shouting words in Mandarin that we could not understand, but that certainly sounded like threats.”
Just as Andreas was wrapping up his explanation of the episode, Thomas approached breathlessly, adding the news of !Soh’s disappearance the night before, and thus fueling a different focus on the investigation. Although Andreas’s theory about who murdered Edward became all the more plausible and alarming, the Americans were restless. They were afraid that a second line of inquiry would hold back police action in hunting down the Herero and, most of all, in solving this crime against a North American citizen. Yankee pressure then proved effective, and the police officers put away their notepads. They loaded the victim’s body ensconced in a body bag into a van and headed back, leaving a single policeman behind to guard the crime scene.
As if propelled by so much hustle and bustle, the day quickly came to a close. By sundown, David found himself inside his tent once again, seeking silence to soothe his shaken spirit and to pray, pray, pray. The amount of prayer was proportional to the tragedy of the event. However, peace eluded him as Andreas’s voice called the team for an emergency meeting.
“I know it might seem too early for such a drastic decision, one with so many implications, but I spoke to Marie, and we have concluded that we must, at least for the time being, cancel our project.”
Marie had no words to follow her partner‘s harsh statement. Instead, she kept her head down and her lifeless arms thrown on her knees.
“Without Edward, I’ll have to go back to our sponsors with a revised project proposal,” continued Dr. Ecklund. “I don’t know how much time we’ll need, but I can’t keep you here waiting for an answer… Father Callaghan, I’m sure Jack will find a new project where your voluntary work will be more than welcome and appreciated.”
Andreas extracted a folded piece of paper from the front pocket in his shorts and handed it to David.
“Take that with you. I had written down my thoughts about our conversations before the tragic event.”
“What about you, Marie? Will you go back to Europe with Andreas?” Jack asked.
“Yes. I’ll help Andreas revise the parameters of the project,” she muttered,“but I’ll need some time first.”
“I don’t know what to say…” David stammered, breaking a long silence. “Saying that I regret the whole miserable episode is certainly not enough. All I know is that I’m grateful to have shared a bit of my life with all of you, however briefly.”
Jack was then delivering some kind words about David’s presence and what it had meant to the mission when, suddenly, every head turned in shock as !Soh, accompanied by the two child witnesses, burst into the scene with no sense of protocol.
“Oh my God! It’s !Soh!” Marie shouted, vocalizing the surprise on everyone’s face.
“Sir, I’ve come from the Chinese camp,” the San boy told Andreas. “They caught me last night, but I was able to escape a little after sunrise.”
“Were the hunters here last night?” Andreas asked.
“Yes, sure. That was when they caught me. I was sleeping when they put the rifle barrel to my throat.”
“So, it really wasn’t Ben!” Marie blurted out. “They’ve kidnapped !Soh and killed Edward. Did you see them do it?” she asked the San boy.
“Easy, Marie!” Andreas said, grabbing her by the arm. “We need to calmly establish what exactly happened.”
“The boys told me about it, ma’am, but I didn’t see anything. Sorry…” the San boy said, lowering his head.
“No, Andreas!” Marie wrenched her arm free from his grip. “I’m sure that Ben… how could I ever have doubted? He would never commit such a cowardly murder. How long have we known him, huh? Five years? We know his code of honor, Andreas. He would never kill a person by stabbing him in the back... you know that!”
“What’s your opinion, Jack?” Andreas asked.
“Well, I heard the coroner say the blow was dealt with great precision, the work of a professional, surgically slashing the aorta from the back...”
Marie let out a great sob and hid her face behind her hands, rendering Jack unable to finish his description.
“What I’m trying to say is that, yes, I agree with Marie. I don’t believe that Benjamin would commit such an atrocity.”
“Sir,” !Soh started. “They kidnapped the black man, too. We tried to run away together, but they caught him again. He was shot here…” !Soh pointed at his right leg, “…and fell. I ran faster than a cheetah.”
“Andreas, did you hear that? They caught him, and he’s probably badly wounded. We have to do something. I know what they want,” Marie said.
“We’ve already lost Edward. The police are handling the case now,” Andreas said firmly, raising his voice. “German, inform the detectives of the new developments!”
“And what should I do with the San families?” Thomas asked, not yet knowing what part he was to play in the unfolding tragedy.
“Send them back to Grootfontein in the morning!” ordered Andreas. “They can use our office as temporary lodging since they have no other place to go. They can stay there for one or two months, maybe even three, who knows. But the San boy has to stay with you because the police will need to question him.”
Although not all necessary logistics had been discussed, the meeting was aborted through consensus. Andreas and Thomas headed off to make arrangements for the imminent departure, while Marie and Jack sought seclusion in a quiet corner. David, however, not feeling invited to either of these, returned to his prayers.
Night settled perfectly outside his tent. David felt though increasingly less drawn to the scenery of the Kalahari, too hostile for anyone who did not profess to the tenets of animism. Even during his prayers, memories of the last two nights haunted him. It dawned on him then that a good deal of time had gone by since he had heard any of the team members, the only audible voices talking in the San language. From their proximity, he could tell that they were lighting the night fire.
David left his tent to watch as wood turned to color and light. He thought about the power that fire had given human beings—in truth fire had never spoken to animals but had always fascinated man. Most animals were scared of it and ran away from. Humans, even though initially frightened, would eventually run toward it. Something draws man to fire; then he takes hold of the object of his admiration and controls it. His thoughts and a glass of red wine kept David company. It was the first time he had alcohol in the desert, and the fermented grape juice had never been more generous in soothing his nerves. Looking at the bottle, he found the occasion more important than its South African origin. He poured himself another glass.
Some twenty meters ahead, one of the Toyotas was swerving precariously through the camp as if trying to avoid something. The noise of the screeching tires and revving engine soon drowned out the native banter. Hesitating, David put down his glass and left his tent to go and offer help as the car came to a stop. Positioning himself in front of it, he not only realized that the driver had managed to avoid the set of logs used to fuel the campfire, but also that Marie and the San boy were sitting in the front seats.
“Going somewhere, doctor? Do you need help?” David asked.
“Everything’s fine, Father,” Marie said. “I’m just off to solve a very earthly issue.”
“Are you going to find Benjamin? Then you will need my help.”
David did not wait for a reply. In one swift move which defied good sense, he found his way into the backseat of the Toyota. There was no arguing with his unexpected, though effective action. Marie put the car into first gear immediately, and sped out of the camp in the direction that !Soh had indicated.