So quietly they came on to talk of Todak … What can one do? Who is the man who can resist money? The forest rats were paying well for everything and even the kampongs might be giving them plenty of food.

‘A great responsibility for you,’ said Che Ahmad.

‘It is the will of God,’ said Abdullah.

‘It is difficult, I suppose,’ said Che Ahmad. ‘Perhaps,’ he suggested diffidently, ‘a zigzag road had been followed by some people here also, within the fence, as well as outside.’

To which Abdullah replied in substance, but with a great deal of hyperbole, that a policeman’s salary did not remove him from temptation.

‘Allah sees the heart,’ said Che Ahmad. ‘No one of us can say, before the majesty of God, that he is without sin.’

‘It is the wells,’ Abdullah said thoughtfully. ‘People all want water. Water should be free, as rain is from Allah. Alas, there are too few wells in Todak … it was hard on my men, having to guard the posts, all these people coming and going all the time, saying they wanted water … perhaps something improper then occurred … it is hard for one man to keep his eyes open upon everyone …’

‘And there are the roofs, and the fence, and not enough wire, and the felling of trees,’ said Ahmad easily. ‘There was short measure in the rice, and a great many other things.’

‘These things were done mostly by the Chinese contractor, this Chinese Ah Kim is insatiably fond of money, Enche. And not reasonable in his demands.’

‘Many drops of water can make a big storm,’ said Ahmad, meaning that eight thousand people, however poor, could still produce a fair amount of cash if squeezed.

Abdullah answered neither yes nor no, which meant yes.

‘When the head is blind, the limbs fall into the mud. Tuan Uxbridge trusted Ah Kim and no one else.’

‘Did Ah Kim collect pleasant money in your name?’

This was so direct that it disconcerted Abdullah. However, his courtesy made him reply: ‘If it did happen, I was largely ignorant of it. The money did not come into my pockets.’

He could have added that Ah Kim had appeared one day, a small gift of two hundred dollars in an envelope, smilingly forgotten on Abdullah’s desk. But Abdullah had given twenty dollars away in charity, and after all, he had many children. And two hundred dollars was only a fraction of Ah Kim’s pickings …

‘It is hot, I must go down before it gets hotter,’ said Ahmad, courteously taking his leave. ‘I expect there will now be changes. It is good. A man must not always be in the same place. He must travel … I wonder where your next post will be, Inspector Abdullah.’

‘It is in the hands of Allah,’ replied Abdullah, equally courteous, seeing Ahmad down the steps to the road.

*  *  *