Scene 6

The boat organised by Roff was rather more difficult to find. Although Maille had an address, the building in question appeared almost inaccessible. The colonial-period villa looked out onto a dusty playground where two young teams were engaged in a bitter football battle. The sweaty seriousness of their tussle formed a strange contrast to the huge old Baobab tree that stood like a comical ghost in the middle of the ground. Astonishingly, although the tree stood like a mighty obstacle on the field, it seemed to have no influence whatsoever on the progress of the game. It might as well have not existed.

The spiked fence in front of the entrance to the villa was, however, a very real obstacle. Should he attempt to jump over it and into the front-yard from a tree? That did not seem to be an unmanageable task but, on the other hand, it could go wrong. Already, Maille could envision himself dangling from the rusty wire mesh topping the fence with bleeding hands and bruised head – surrounded by a bunch of sweaty football players who would make his «fall» the topic of mocking discussion in Wolof. Or, should he opt to use a wire-cutter and wait until dark to make a couple of precise cuts in the fence to enter the house? Even as Maille was pondering the problem of how to get into the house, he noticed a young man with a big drum on his shoulder suddenly step up to the door and kick it open. Yes, naturally, that was also an option. Sometimes it did not make things simpler when one was a secret agent.

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