Siem Reap, Hotel «Golden Banana»
Scene 5
When he emerged from his bath, Maille found a text message from Marie waiting for him on his mobile: «Watch the news on Anat 1 without fail: our president makes a pronouncement before the national assembly on ORM, Hing and Broccoli.» Maille remembered the absurd demand made by Dr Hing in return for the kidnapped Prof Koslow: along with a ransom of 50 million Lemusan francs, the blackmailer wanted a recipe for tomato sauce with broccoli – the very same that Lemusan president Samson Godet had supposedly obtained from his officially non-existent mistress.
The «Golden Banana» had an Internet facility, which provided Maille with the chance to look at the program on the You Tube Channel of Anat, the official TV of Santa Lemusa. The newscaster spoke about a crisis, the threat being posed to a scientific research program, international terrorism, and then about Godet's great «Parable of Broccoli and the Tomato». She then proceeded to show President Godet standing at the pulpit, dressed as a chef. In front of the famous wall-hanging that adorned the conference hall, the Conseilé National was waving a tomato and a broccoli in the air while explaining something important – but most of what he had to say was, unfortunately, drowned in the din of the public's long-drawn applause.