by Tony Jenkins
Bumbesco intended to park outside Pasiti so that the car engines would not be heard and then have his team approach from four sides by walking through the surrounding forest. Pesha reluctantly agreed to go with the police team, who needed his local knowledge and they drove off to meet Bumbesco. Just short of the crossroads, they found a Roma trying to repair a tyre puncture on an old lorry. The man told them that he had been taking Tigo to Moinești to follow Pesha when the tyre made a loud noise and lost all its air. He had no spare tyre and was using useless tools and hoping to patch the hole in his inner tube. Tigo had seen Rudi turn towards Comănești and had run back to Pasiti to fetch his horse and follow him. They heard the sound of a car engine and saw Bumbesco drive up in his Suzuki.
As soon as he heard that Tigo could be riding after Rudi, Bumbesco told the policemen to drive into Pasiti as quickly as possible and if they found Tigo to arrest him, or shoot him if he tried to escape. He had just met with Rudi on his way to the crossroads and told him to park at the roadside and wait until Tigo had been captured and he would return. If Rudi had tethered the horse and was sitting near his vardo, he would make an ideal target for Tigo with his hunting rifle. Rudi had been surprised to see Bumbesco’s car coming towards him and the two men had exchanged information on Tigo. The lieutenant asked him to wait at the roadside to protect his horse and vardo, while he drove off to meet with his team at Pasiti.
After making sure that his horse was amongst some good grass, Rudi followed his survival instinct and placed a stool amongst some thick shrubs to give him cover. He had a clear view of the road from Pasiti and his horse and vardo. There were six bullets in his revolver and he also took a carton of twenty-five more to protect himself if Tigo escaped the police raid and came his way. It was a pleasant afternoon and as he sat silently in his hideout, he watched as small animals scurried through the grass and bushes, ignoring him as he sat motionless. Birds suddenly flew out of the trees further along the roadside and Rudi checked that the revolver’s safety catch was switched on and gripped his gun. He thought he saw a flash of colour as someone, or something moved within the forest, but parallel with the road.
Some minutes passed very slowly and there was no noise apart from the rustling of the wind drifting through the trees. Rudi found himself breathing as quietly as possible and trying to look closer into the forest. He had left the door of the vardo open and suddenly there were five shots, carefully timed and probably spaced to hit anyone exposed to the line of fire through the open door. Gun smoke drifted slowly up from a spot in the forest directly opposite the open vardo door. Tigo must have hoped that Rudi was in the vardo and that the spread of shots would take him by surprise. He switched the safety catch off and raised his gun, but held his fire until he could see his target. Rudi was waiting for Tigo to walk towards the vardo to check if his shots through the doorway had hit the unseen target, but Tigo was aware that once he left the protection of the forest, he would be fully exposed.
Tigo could not know that Rudi had a gun, but the man had noticed and admired his knife and he might not want to risk having Rudi throw it at his unguarded back. Rudi smiled as he thought about two men with guns and each not wanting to show himself to the other. He guessed that Tigo was a good twenty metres away, which for him was too far for accurate shooting with a revolver. Moving off the stool, he lay flat on the ground, aimed at the area where smoke had risen and prepared to fire as soon as Tigo emerged. A small car raced up and stopped in front of the horse. Rudi could not see Bumbesco inside and guessed he was crouching down for protection after hearing rifle shots.
Bumbesco had heard the shooting as he was driving back to the vardo to help Rudi, but after he had stopped his car, the horse continued grazing contentedly and there were no more shots and no sign of anyone. Rudi was smart and Bumbesco hoped he had avoided the shots, but Tigo could be hiding nearby until he could shoot Rudi, or Bumbesco himself. He needed to get Tigo to give his position away somehow. He pulled a tent pole from the back of the car and wrapped his green hunting coat around one end. Opening the car door carefully, he moved the pole sideways, then pushed it forward so that his coat dropped outside near his front tyre. Two loud rifle shots were fired from his left immediately. One ripped through his coat and the other struck his front tyre and Bumbesco could hear the air escaping and hoped his spare was intact. At the same time, six lighter shots were fired from another part of the forest and he guessed they were from Rudi’s revolver. There was a yell as someone was hit and he saw movement in the trees to his left. Pushing his rifle through the open window, he aimed at the spot and fired all ten bullets in the magazine and thought he heard another yell.
Next, he heard the sound of a horse galloping away through the forest and guessed that Tigo was escaping. He shouted out to ask Rudi if he was safe and the big Roma replied that he was and wondered if he dared leave his hiding place. Bumbesco ran into the forest behind the vardo and made his way round to Rudi by following the sound of his voice. Rudi was lying flat on the ground and explained about the shots at the inside of the vardo and that he had waited for a target, but lay down to avoid likely return fire.
“When you tempted him to fire at your car, I saw the smoke and emptied my revolver into the bushes around it. I think I hit him and when you fired all those shots, I think he was hit again.”
Bumbesco suggested they split up and approach the spot where Tigo’s gun smoke had shown, by coming at it from different directions. They moved warily and then found drops of blood on some leaves and the grass below where Tigo must have been hiding. It would be unwise to follow the trail through the forest themselves, but Bumbesco telephoned to call up armed men and dogs, as well as an armed policeman to travel to the vardo. The policeman would remain until transport could be arranged for the cart and horse to return to Budapest. They replaced the flat tyre with the spare and drove to Pasiti to examine Tigo’s belongings and look for any likely locations where he might have gone.
Pesha was waiting with the policemen outside Tigo’s house and he rushed over to Rudi and hugged him.
“Thank you, my friend, for driving that monster away from us. Now we can live without having him take our food and threaten us every day. Will I get the big reward written on the paper you gave me?”
Rudi smiled at the man, who may well have saved his life and pointed to the policeman standing beside him.
“My lieutenant is the man you should speak to and I know he has many questions also about what happened in Budestin.”
Pesha gave him a detailed account of his race to Moinești and his meeting at the police station and how he had persuaded the sergeant to hurry to Pasiti to capture the dangerous man.
Bumbesco assured him that he would recommend that he should be paid something, but since Tigo had escaped, he would not receive the full amount.
“Tell me what you can remember about Budestin and how the man Renko was killed there.”
“Two Romas came from France where Renko had killed the son of their chief and then another Roma came with a big Englishman and a Hungarian, who said Renko had killed his sister. The French Roma wanted to kill Renko and the Hungarian wanted to take him back to Hungary for a trial. Tigo and Renko were brothers, but did not like each other. Tigo held a trial and the visitors told about how Renko had murdered their people. Tigo decided that because Renko had accepted traditional Roma hospitality in France and then killed the chief’s son, it was a double crime and they should be allowed to do what they wanted to Renko. They took off his clothes and nailed his hands to a board, then left him in the forest all night. I had a bad stomach and got up in the night because my ass was on fire. When I was coming back from the forest, I heard voices and saw Tigo talking to Renko. As I passed, I heard Renko ask Tigo to do something for him and he would tell him where to find his treasure.”
“What was it that Tigo promised to do?”
“I did not hear, because I was hiding and did not want Tigo to see me and beat me.”
�
�So how did Renko die?”
“The next morning, the women gathered around Renko and taunted him and he shouted at them, which was not wise because he had raped some of the young girls. They heated their knives in the fire and then pressed them on his dick and legs. The Hungarian asked Tigo to stop them and one of the French Roma walked over and slit Renko’s throat.”
Bumbesco thought about this for a few minutes and decided that Renko had got what he deserved, but had paid a high price for his crimes. With the French Roma, the Englishman and the Hungarian involved, as well as the Romanian Tigo, it would be a very complicated case to try in a Romanian court and he doubted that it would proceed.
“Tell me about the stranger who came before the soldiers visited Budestin for the first time.”
“He was a quiet man, but he was a friend with Tigo and taught him how to shoot his new rifle and they went away together before the soldiers came.”
“You told Rudi that Tigo bought the gun with money taken from Renko’s house after his brother was killed. How do you know that this is so?”
“I heard Renko tell Tigo where his treasure was and after he was killed, Tigo took his house and everything in it.”
Bumbesco now had a clear report of what had happened and he thanked Pesha for his cooperation. He then asked a colleague to drive the Roma back to Moinești to collect his wife, who had been left at the police station.
At the village there was no sympathy shown for Tigo and the police were guarding his house and waiting for Bumbesco to begin his search. Tigo was obviously very unpopular and the villagers were happy to respond to any questions about his habits and background. When asked about the visitor to their village at Budestin before the soldier’s visit, a number confirmed that the man had been friendly with Tigo. He had taught him how to fire the rifle he had bought with the money he took from his brother Renko’s home. Tigo’s house was dirty and untidy, but hidden amongst the clutter were boxes of papers, which would take some time to examine.
Obviously Tigo had been desperate to catch and kill Pesha and Rudi because he wanted to prevent them passing on details about Renko’s death. As a result of his desperate hurry to chase after the two men, he had no time to hide, or destroy the papers, which Bumbesco now collected for examination. They would all be taken back to police headquarters at Bucharest, since much of the detail was written in Hungarian. Bumbesco had some knowledge of the language, but not enough to fully understand what was written in the papers. Turning to Rudi, he complimented him for using Pesha to get his message to the police. He would do all he could to have Rudi given some worthwhile recognition, or share in the reward money for his dangerous role in Tigo’s exposure. He offered to take Rudi with him on his drive back to Bucharest, but the big man wanted to stay with the vardo and be sure it was safely loaded for its return to his father. Rudi dreaded looking inside to find what damage had been done by Tigo’s bullets, but was sure he would be able to make repairs before returning the vardo to his father.
After the long drive to the capital, Bumbesco tumbled into bed at his parents’ home and slept until mid-morning, before presenting himself at the office of Major Chisca. The police team with dogs had followed the trail left by Tigo through the forest and discovered that their quarry had circled round and returned to Pasiti, where policemen were guarding his house. The man was either bold, or desperate to take such a risk. The dogs followed the trail to a woman’s house and when they searched it, they found bloody clothes, which she had used on Tigo’s wounds. Under threat of prison, she told them that Tigo had a shallow wound in his leg and a more serious wound to his shoulder. He could ride his horse, but would not be able to walk any distance. As soon as she had applied the bandages, he rode off before the dogs and men caught up with him, or someone saw him in the village and told the police. He had plenty of money and had paid her for helping him.
Chisca congratulated Bumbesco on flushing out the killer and almost capturing him. The man had been lucky and he was relieved that no one else had been injured, or killed at the shootout. A fluent Hungarian-speaking policeman joined them and they spent the rest of the day slowly working through the mass of papers. The elder brother Renko had been topping up a number of bank accounts in Hungary and Romania, as well as keeping cash at his house in Budestin. Tigo must have already collected the money from Budestin, but Chisca would arrange to have the Romanian bank accounts blocked to prevent Tigo obtaining any more money.
There were pages of details about the Pusztai family lands and property at Dunakeszi outside Budapest. Renko was trying to kill the entire family and he had forged evidence to have the father, Istvan, imprisoned and then arranged his death. Chisca had copies of the extradition request from Hungary and it described the killing of Arianne Pusztai and her husband, as well as a French citizen by the renegade Renko. There were also details of three attempts to kill the brother Demeter, who was now controlling a large aluminium mining company and living at the family home in Dunakeszi. Renko also listed documents proving the guilt of a number of senior Hungarian politicians and officials. In addition to the documents found at Pasiti, he discovered there were more in his stepbrother’s home in Dunakeszi.
Having read all the papers, the men took a coffee break and discussed what Tigo was likely to do now that he was no longer a Roma chief and was a wanted fugitive in Romania. Bumbesco was the first to make a suggestion.
“Tigo made a friend of Gunari, the Roma soldier who was sent to investigate Renko’s killing and he taught Tigo to shoot. He may be the only friend that Tigo has left, but we still have no idea where he is now. My guess is that if Gunari is still alive and if we can find him, we might also find Tigo.”
“You think Tigo might have killed him, perhaps because he did his job by being friendly and finding out about Renko’s murder?”
“Well sir, it has to be a possibility and we know that neither of them was at Budestin for either of the visits by our soldiers. There is also the strong link to the Pusztai family. Renko killed the father and sister and we know the brother was at Budestin when Renko was killed. Will you be sending a report to the Hungarians and include the record of crimes by some of their officials?”
“It is not my decision, but I will recommend that we pass on all information regarding Hungarian subjects to their government.”
Chapter 22
Confirmation
Demeter and Jack drove to the Roma village and Boldo met them outside his house and took the two men inside for the meeting with Gunari. At previous meetings, the Romanian had shown no emotion, but when he saw them, his face broke into a smile and Demeter hoped that it was a good sign. After shaking hands, the four men sat around a table and Gunari waited for the visitors to open the conversation. Demeter spoke first.
“Good morning, Gunari. I have lived here for most of my life and although my family was persecuted by the police chief Renko Veres, I believe I have many friends with the local Roma people. Unfortunately, Commissar Radics has done his best to cause trouble with your people, but you led them well in holding up production and took care to avoid injury to the workers. Your surprise evacuation of the people of the village was clever, since it protected them from possible reprisals by Radics.”
The Romanian smiled and nodded his head before replying to Demeter.
“Boldo was very worried when he heard rumours that a rail line would have to be built and knew the shortest way from the mine to the refinery was through the middle of his village. I agreed to help him persuade you to move it and pass outside the village instead. When we met, I was sure that you also wanted this, but the bad man Radics hated us and tried to destroy us. I was glad sir that you stopped the line outside and then built around the village.”
Demeter was relieved that Gunari did not blame him for the lack of concern about the Roma and possible destruction of their community. He tried to reassure Gunari and obtain answers.
“I hope now that we can live together as friends and there will be work for th
ose who want it. I must ask you Gunari if you know anyone who would want to harm me, or my fiancée, because someone fired a shot at her when she was riding near my home. The bullet missed her, but killed her horse and it is possible that whoever fired was actually aiming at me and missed.”
Gunari looked genuinely surprised to hear about the shooting at Dunakeszi and the men watched his facial expressions as he seemed to be considering possibilities before giving a reply.
“Killing always brings more killing and I am glad your lady was not harmed. I have a friend in Romania and he is the brother of this Renko who hated your family and tried to kill all of you. The brother does not know you and has no reason to harm you. We spent some weeks together in the mountains and I taught him to shoot a rifle he had bought. Then we came here together and he visited his brother’s family house, but he stayed only two days then returned to his people, where he was chief.”
“Where did you learn your shooting skill, Gunari?”
“I was for eight years in the army and there I did much extra training and always I was the best.”
“My friend thought that you might have had military training, like him. Is this friend called Tigo?”
Gunari nodded his head and Demeter looked at Jack, who frowned and waved his hand to indicate that Demeter should go on with his questions about Tigo.