‘They already know about it. But they might not get there in time.’

‘You can’t leave,’ he said firmly. ‘You might cause an epidemic. I can phone someone at the clinic in Udi. I have some connections with the American government.’

‘Do you, now?’ I said. ‘That’s interesting. But no, thank you. As for an epidemic, I may not be fit to pass a company medical but I’m not about to die either, and if I understood our conversation earlier the other people who caught the disease you think I have did die, and very quickly.’

‘You’ve taken medication—’

‘I’ve taken a tablet of amphetamine, which you’ve just told me should make me even more ill. So how is it that I am standing here talking to you about all the rats there are going to be scuttling around here if you don’t help me?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘If the Prime Minister is killed,’ I said, ‘his replacement may decide to start providing arms to the Biafrans instead of the Nigerians.’

‘Good for them,’ he said, folding his arms.

‘I thought the Red Cross were meant to be neutral.’

‘We are,’ he said, clenching his jaw. ‘As much as it’s possible to be.’

‘I see,’ I said. ‘But it’s not as simple as that. Strengthening the Biafrans may simply mean that neither side will be able to deliver the knockout blow. The war could last months, perhaps even years longer. In which case, you’ll be treating a lot more amputees, and the rats will be the only ones happy about it.’

He considered this, and I tried to ignore the ticking of Akuji’s watch.

‘From what I hear,’ he said, ‘this war is very unpopular in Britain. If there is a new government, it might decide not to supply either side with arms, and that could lead to a ceasefire coming sooner rather than later.’

It was the same argument I had used on both Pritchard and Akuji, and the one I personally thought was the most likely to happen. I made a note that David Kanu was not as green as he appeared, and tried again.

‘That may be the case,’ I said. ‘But I wouldn’t like to have it on my conscience if it weren’t.’

‘You don’t strike me as a man whose conscience often troubles him.’

‘Perhaps not,’ I said. ‘But I think yours does. So, David, do you want to be kept awake at night because you have helped prolong the bloodshed among your fellow men or do you want to give me a lift and save a respected world leader from being murdered in cold blood by the Russians?’

He stared at me with hatred in his eyes, and I knew I had him.

XXII

XXII

Friday, 28 March 1969, Biafra, 11.30 a.m.