The Leopard Hunts In Darkness Part 34

"What did you mean by the words: "This could be an ambush'T "Recently, many vehicles have been attacked by armed bandits, shufta, especially on lonely roads at night."

"So what were your feelings?"

"I was antic.i.p.ating trouble." "What happened then?"

"Two of my bodyguards left the Mercedes, and went to speak to the driver of the truck."

"From where you were seated in the Mercedes, could you see the truck-driver?"

"Yes. He was a complete stranger to me. I had never seen him before."

"What was your reaction to this?"

"I was by this time extremely wary."

"Then what happened?" "Suddenly there were other headlights on the road behind us. A voice on a bull-horn ordering my men to surrender and throw down their arms. My Mercedes was surrounded by armed men and I was forcibly dragged from it."

"Did you recognize any of these men?"

"Yes. When I was pulled from the Mercedes, I recognized General Fungabera."

"Did this allay your suspicions?"

"On the contrary, I was now convinced that I was in danger of my life."

"Why was that, Mr. Minister?"

"General Fungabera commands a brigade which is notorious for its ruthless acts against prominent Matabele-"

"I object, your lordship the Third Brigade is a unit of the regular army of the state, and General Fungabera a well-known and respected officer, "Abel Khori cried.

"The prosecution is totally justified in its objection." The judge was suddenly trembling with anger. "I cannot allow the accused to use this courtroom to attack a prominent soldier and his gallant men. I cannot allow the accused to stand before me and disseminate tribal hatreds and prejudices. Be warned I will not hesitate to find you guilty of gross contempt if you continue in this vein." Joseph Petal took fully thirty seconds to let his witness recover from this tirade.

"You say you felt that your life was in danger?"

"Yes," said Tungata quietly.

"You were strung up and on edge?"

"Yes.) "Did you see the soldiers unloading ivory and furs from the truck?" 11 did."

"What was your reaction?"

"I believed that these would somehow, I was not certain how but I believed they would incriminate me, and be used as an excuse to kill me."

"I object, your lordship," Abet Khori called out.

"I will not warn the accused again," Mr. Justice Domashawa promised threateningly.

"What happened then?"

"Miss Jay left the vehicle in which she was travelling and she came near me. The soldiers were distracted. I believed that this would be my last chance. I took hold of Miss Jay to prevent the soldiers firing and attempted to escape in the Land-Rover." "Thank you, Mr. Minister." Mr. Joseph Petal turned to the judge. "My lord, my witness has had a tiring examination.

May I suggest that the court rise until tomorrow morning to allow him a chance to recover?" Abel Khori was instantly up on his feet, l.u.s.ting for blood.

"It is barely noon yet, and the accused has been on the stand for less than thirty minutes, and his counsel has dealt with him recte et suaviter. For a trained and hardened soldier, that is a mere bagatelle per se." Abel Khori, in his agitation, lapsed into Latin.

"We will continue, Mr. Petal," said the judge, and Joseph Petalshrugged.

"Your witness, Mr. Khori." Abel Khori was in his element, becoming lyrical and poetic. "You testified that you were in fear of your life but I put it to you that you were attacked by guilt, that you were in deadly fear of retribution, that you were terrified by the prospect of facing the exemplary process of this very people's court, of facing the wrath of that learned and just scarlet, clad figure you now see before you."

"No." That it was nothing more than craven guilty conscience that made you embark on a series of heinous and callous criminal actions-" "No. That is not so."

"When you seized the lovely Miss Jay, did you not use E excessive physical force to twist her young and tender limbs?

Did you not rain brutal blows upon her?"

"I struck her once to prevent her hurling herself from the speeding vehicle and injuring herself seriously."

"Did you not aim a deadly weapon to wit, a military a.s.sault rifle which you knew to be loaded, at the person of General Peter Fungabera?"

"I threatened him with the rifle yes, that is true."

"And then you fired deliberately at his nether regions to wit, his abdomen?"

"I did not fire at Fungabera. I aimed to miss him."

"I.

put it to you that you tried to murder the general, and only his marvelous reflexes saved him from your attack."

"If I had tried to kill him," said Tungata softly, "he would be dead."

"When you stole the Land-Rover, did you realize that it was state property?

"Did you aim the rifle at Mr. Craig Mellow? And were you only prevented from murdering him by Miss Jay's brave intervention?" For almost another hour Abel Khori flew at the impa.s.sive figure in the dock, extracting from him a series of d.a.m.ning admissions, so that when at last Abel Khori sat down, preening likea victorious game c.o.c.k, Craig judged that Mr. Joseph Petal had paid in heavy coin for any small advantage he might have gained by placing his client on the witness stand.

However, Mr. Petal's closing address was finely pitched to incite sympathy, and to explain and justify Tungata Zebiwe's actions on that night, without flouting the judge's patriotic or tribal instincts in the process.

"I will reserve my judgment until tomorrow," Mr. Justice Domashawa announced, and the court rose, the spectators humming with excited comment as they streamed out into the pa.s.sage.

Over dinner Sally-Anne admitted, "For the first time in this whole business, I felt so try when Sarah went on the stand she is such a sweet*hild."

"Child? I guess she ois a year or two older than you," Craig chuckled, that' makes you a babe in arms." She ignored his levity and went on seriously, "She so obviously believes in him that for a moment or two even I began to doubt what I knew then, Of course, Abel Khori brought me back to earth." r Justice Domashawa read out his judgment in his precise, old-maidish voice that somehow did not suit the gravity of the subject. Firstly, he covered the events that were common cause between prosecution and defence, and then went on, "The defence has based its case on two main pillars. The first of these is the testimony of Miss Sarah Nyoni that the accused was on his way to what, for want of a better word, we are led to believe was a love-tryst, and that his meeting with the truck was a coincidence or contrived in some unexplained manner by persons unknown.

"Now Miss Nyoni impressed this court as being a naive and unworldly young lady, and by her admission is completely under the influence of the accused. The court has had, perforce, to consider the prosecution's postulation that Miss Nyoni might even have been, in fact, so influenced by the accused as to consent to act as an accomplice in arranging the consignment of contraband.

"In view of the foregoing, the court has rejected the testimony of Miss Nyoni as potentially biased and unreliable "The second pillar of the defence's case rests on the premise that the life of the accused was threatened, or that he believed it to be threatened, by the arresting officers, and in this belief embarked on a series of unreasoned and unreasoning acts of self-protection.