‘He mentioned you when I spoke with him this morning, Daniel. Minister Massoud wanted me to give you his regards.’ Jabril gave Daniel a wan smile of apology.
‘And as you’ve just heard, he wanted me to give you his. He wants us to know that he’s not afraid of us knowing about the boy.’
‘So it would seem,’ Jabril said. ‘He’s telling us he’s untouchable.’
‘With good reason,’ offered Zahra, rising from her chair and turning to Daniel. ‘I’m sorry, Daniel, I have an appointment, but I want to thank you for telling us this. As Sofia and my husband know, I believe they shouldn’t have got involved in the first place. Someone’s going to get hurt.’
‘People are already getting hurt,’ Jabril said after his wife left the room.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ Sofia said, speaking for the first time. ‘What if MSF and the UN took up the cause?’
Daniel turned in his chair to look directly at Sofia. ‘You want me to ask MSF and the UN if they’ll campaign against bacha bazi?’
‘Is it possible?’
‘It isn’t part of MSF’s remit. It’s not how they operate in a host country. They won’t touch it.’ Daniel considered what the options might be. ‘There are areas within the UN that might be interested, though.’
‘Would you also be willing to testify against Massoud if we could bring a case against him in Kabul?’ Sofia asked.
Jesus, thought Daniel, I didn’t see that coming.
‘No,’ Jabril interjected immediately before Daniel had time to answer. ‘Do you understand what you’re asking Daniel to do?’ he said to Sofia. ‘You’re asking him to put his life in danger for this thing that’s not his responsibility. I’m sorry but I can’t agree with this.’
Sofia turned back to Jabril, her excitement growing as she became more animated. ‘I’m not asking on my own behalf. I’m asking on behalf of all the little boys who are being molested. Think about it. I’m not sure such a good, high-profile opportunity will ever come again, and there can be no more credible witness than Daniel against Massoud. And yes, there might be some degree of danger, but I don’t think Daniel’s a stranger to such things.’ She looked over at him. ‘Whatever you say will be heard, Daniel, and because you’re not an Afghan, you can leave if things get too dangerous.’
And never come back again, he thought.
‘No,’ Jabril repeated. ‘No.’
‘Surely you see that this is an opportunity we might never have again?’ Sofia turned back to Daniel. ‘It might sound otherwise but I don’t want you to feel pressured, and I won’t think any less of you if you say no, but this is an extraordinary opportunity.’
Daniel wondered whether what she said was true. She probably would think less of him. There was no way she was comprehending the full ramifications of what she was suggesting. He could take risks with his own life, but a court case and testimony against Massoud would put his colleagues at MSF in danger and maybe even his UN colleagues. It would also jeopardise the whole MSF operation in Afghanistan. He didn’t have the right to do that. In any event, neither MSF nor the UN would allow one of their employees to initiate a highly public court case against a cabinet minister in a foreign country. He would have to resign first and probably never return to Afghanistan. There was also the possibility that such an action would endanger Sofia and Jabril now that Massoud was linking them to him. Even if someone brought a court case, he doubted they’d be able to find a judge brave enough to convict Massoud.
‘Sofia, I ask you to think again,’ pleaded Jabril.
‘I don’t think they’ll dare touch Daniel, and people will listen to him.’
She was putting way too high a value on his position while completely underestimating Massoud. Men like him weren’t frightened of MSF or the UN. They were untouchable in their own countries. And yet, Daniel understood where she was coming from and her desperation. When he thought of the boy dancing and how his night would have ended, he knew he had to do something, but it couldn’t be what Sofia suggested. There had to be another way.
‘Did Minister Massoud ever admit he owned the boy?’ Jabril asked.
As soon as Jabril asked the question Daniel knew where he was going. He thought back to their conversation. ‘No, I don’t think so, but the inference was always there and Forood said the boy belonged to Massoud, although you’d never be able to get him to say that in court. He and his family would be dead before he left the house.’
Jabril turned back to Sofia. ‘I don’t see how we can take this to court. We have no evidence. If Daniel were to accuse Massoud his claim would be hearsay, and unless he could prove the boy belonged to Massoud, which I’m sure he can’t, the case would be thrown out of court. Besides, I can’t think of a single judge in Afghanistan who’d be brave enough to convict Massoud. No,’ Jabril said, sounding surer of his argument every minute, ‘there can be no legal case brought against Massoud on what we’ve got so far.’
Daniel watched Sofia’s body slump as Jabril’s words sank in. When she spoke again she sounded defeated. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. I got ahead of myself. I wasn’t thinking.’
‘Perhaps it would be enough if Massoud knew we had the information on him?’ offered Jabril.
‘He already knows that,’ offered Daniel. ‘In fact, he wanted you to know he knows. I’m not sure threatening Massoud is the way to go. In my experience you have to be cleverer with men like him.’
‘How?’
‘I don’t know yet. Let me think on it.’
‘What about name and shame?’ offered Jabril, sounding excited. ‘These men should know that if we find out about their nefarious activities we’ll name and shame them no matter who they are and how powerful they might be.
