The Fruit Picker

by Bea Eschen

  He opened the door with shaking hands.

  As he entered, the smell of cordite struck him. The chemically spiced smell of the burnt gunpowder with aromas he hadn’t smelt before gave a funny taste in his mouth. The opposite door was wide open and Arief was gone. The man on the floor lay in a pool of blood. Had Arief shot him a second time? Sebastian took a closer look and saw a knife sticking out of the man’s chest. The blood ran out of the wound in a trickle. The dead man’s eyes were wide open, his last gaze was on the ceiling. Sebastian threw up his arms in disbelief. The stench of death petrified him, and his breathing accelerated which made him gasp.

  A piercing pain went through his head. His immediate thought was to leave, as he feared he could be blamed for killing this man.

  Wrong place at the wrong time. Should he just disappear? But no, I am not the murderer! Chill out. It will be alright. Relax, relax, relax …

  “What’s going on up there?” Aaron was coming up the stairs.

  Sebastian woke with a sudden jerk.

  “Don’t come,” he said in a voice he didn’t know he had.

  Too late. Aaron was standing behind him.

  “Fucking hell.” He heard his friend’s voice as if from a distance.

  “What can we do? Pull out the knife?” Aaron’s voice was shaking.

  Suddenly, Sebastian’s head was clear again. Cold clarity without any feeling for the dead man. Surprised at himself, he said to Aaron,

  “Do not touch the knife, Aaron. Do you know what the fucking emergency number is in Australia?” Sweat was dripping off Sebastian’s white face.

  Aaron shook his head. “No idea.”

  Silence. No one stirred. Both men were thinking what to do next.

  Aaron said, “I am calling Jessica, she will know.”

  He took out his phone and dialed. Jessica answered straight away.

  “Jessica, what is the emergency number?”

  “Why, triple zero.”

  “Thanks.” Aaron was not wasting time. He hung up and dialed triple zero.

  It took a long time to make himself understood in his desperation and broken English.

  Because of the remoteness of the place it took police and ambulance over one hour to arrive. Sebastian and Aaron went back to their truck, not knowing what to say or do. All they knew was that they couldn’t help the dead man.

  Aftermath

  “But I told you this earlier.” Sebastian was irritated.

  “No, I did not see when he stabbed the man. It must have happened when I walked around that corner.”

  He pointed to the wide steel frame that held the glass in place and blocked the view into the office.

  “The stabbing must have happened just before I entered.”

  The policewoman was relentless in her questioning and compared Sebastian’s responses to those he had given in the morning.

  “And you are absolutely certain you saw the man you call Arief fire the gun at the other man, who you think is his brother-in-law?”

  “Yes, I am sure.”

  Since their arrival, two police officers took turns questioning Aaron and Sebastian. When the forensic team finished their work at the crime scene, they put the dead body into a black body

  bag and zipped it up. Then they put the body bag into the ambulance and drove away. Watching this the two young men were feeling their exhaustion. They were still in shock and annoyed, worn out and starving. Finally, at around six in the evening, they were allowed to leave but had to be on call for further questioning in the coming weeks as they were important witnesses.

  “Yes,” they agreed, “we will tell our supervisor.”

  On their exit from the warehouse they noticed several journalists with camcorders. A number of people were standing in groups talking to each other excitedly. Sebastian and Aaron quickly drove past them. They felt safe in the shelter of their small truck.

  “Lucky they can not get on our nerves now.”

  Both men were relieved. They talked little on the way back, but were asking themselves why this had to happen to them.

  “It was just a freak coincidence that I was looking up in the precise moment the guy fired the shot,” Sebastian said.

  Aaron concluded it was part of their Karma. “It is that which we can’t foresee or influence. The incident happened and now we have to live with the consequences. It has become part of our lives − whether we like it or not.”

  After a while, Sebastian spoke into the silence.

  “Maybe it’s the omen of the bats my grandpa told me about.”

  “Come on, Sebastian, you’ve got to be kidding!”

  _____________

  Arief was racing back to Darwin. All he wanted was to be with Farah. His head was spinning in a blur of feelings and thoughts. He was laughing and crying and feeling relieved and worried at the same time. He had to flee Australia and go back to Jakarta but needed a new identity urgently. His phone rang. With a swift movement he took out the chip and tossed it out of the window, cursing at himself for not having thought of it earlier. Now they can't track me down anymore. At the next petrol station he bought a new prepay chip and inserted it into his phone. After a few calls a new passport was in the making that would be handed over to him in person by one of his Chinese contacts, who would come to Australia for that purpose the following week. This time his name was to be Bintang Ramadani. He didn’t like the name because of the religious association of Ramadani with the Muslim month of fasting. Okay, he was born as a Muslim but he had never followed the rules of the Koran.

  After he had spent time crying at Farah's grave, he collected himself again. He needed a hiding place but had to get a few things from his home first. When he got there later in the afternoon, he parked his car a distance away and walked to his house. He pulled down his hat and checked out the area around his home before he went closer. All seemed to be clear, but as he entered through the back door two armed police officers were waiting for him.

  “Arief Lee, you are under arrest for the murder of Garuda Megawati.”

  As they handcuffed him, Arief knew this was the end of his long troublesome life of freedom.

  __________

  When Sebastian and Aaron arrived back at the orchard that night, Jessica was waiting on the veranda. They were welcomed like heroes. She had prepared a lavish buffet including grilled chicken, kebabs, baked potatoes, salads, pickles, fruit, and plenty of cold beer. The other teams gathered to listen to the news. The two young fruit pickers ate, drank and answered questions non-stop but exhaustion soon took over. Jessica told them a detective had visited earlier to speak with her. It was imperative for Sebastian and Aaron to be on call to assist the Police in their investigation. An appointment had been arranged for two days later in the morning. Jessica gave them the week off to recover from their ordeal. On the way to his room Sebastian thought of Magda and his family and how they would take the news. He couldn’t believe how his life had changed in an instant. In the morning he would write a long email to Magda and his parents. Despite the dreadful experience and turmoil of the day he fell into a dreamless sleep.

  The next day another big surprise awaited them. When they were having breakfast, Jessica put the newspaper under their noses. The front page of the NT News showed a big picture of Sebastian and Aaron when they were leaving the warehouse in the small truck. The photograph was taken from outside the driver’s side, so Sebastian’s face was clearly visible while the passenger side with Aaron was blurred. An article was printed under the picture, starting with a bold heading.

  German Fruit Picker Crown Witness in Bizarre Murder Case, Pine Creek, Northern Territory

  A young German man, in Australia on a working holiday, has become the crown witness in a bizarre murder case. When he and his workmate delivered mangos to a depot outside Pine Creek, *Klaus (*name changed) saw a man shoot at another man. On investigation, *Klaus found the dead body with head and chest injuries. The killer is known under the name of Arief Lee, who is the
co-founder of a recently established fruit distribution business called Megawati & Lee Fruit Suppliers. Arief Lee has been arrested at his Darwin home and charged with the murder of his brother-in-law and business associate, Garuda Megawati. Both men are alleged to have Indonesian connections.

  “But how do they know all this?” Sebastian was taken aback.

  “The Commissioner spoke to the press in a TV interview on the nightly news.” Jessica sat down. “Apparently there is a lot of guessing about the two men’s identities. They say they may be two criminals on the run from Indonesian authorities, but this is not yet confirmed.”

  Aaron dropped a piece of fruit in surprise. “What were they running from?”

  “They may be drug dealers.”

  “Drug dealers as fruit dealers? Funny.” Aaron was amused.

  “No, clever!” Sebastian said. “I always thought that Arief Lee had a screwed face.”

  “What do you mean?” Jessica and Aaron asked at the same time.

  “Well, he really didn’t look like an ordinary fruit dealer. Somehow he seemed messed up − confused and sad, as if he had been through a lot of hardship in his life.”

  The next morning a team of detectives arrived demanding to speak with Sebastian and Aaron. The detectives asked the same questions the two young men had answered two days ago. Sebastian repeated that he did not see the stabbing; That all he saw was the moment when the man he knew as Arief fired the gun and how the other man fell on the floor, and that when he entered the office Arief was gone.

  The detectives confirmed that Arief Lee and Garuda Megawati were hunted drug dealers from Jakarta and that they had come to Australia on false passports. Their registered names in Indonesia were Wahir Dur Gus, alias Garuda Megawati, and Heryanto Sukarnoputri, alias Arief Lee. One of the detectives also asked if Sebastian or Aaron had ever met a woman in the warehouse called Farah but they both denied this. According to the immigration authority, Farah was part of a triad when they entered Australia, but she was now missing.

  On the days that followed, the news was full of revelations about the cross-border drug dealings of the trio, the killing of the Eagle, and the search for the mysterious woman called Farah. Through the Internet, Sebastian’s picture went all over the world in connection with witnessing the murder of one of the world’s most notorious drug lords.

  In Jakarta, the leading newspaper, TEMPO.CO, revealed the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) had found over one hundred kilogram of heroin, fifty kilogram of crystal meth plus one hundred fifty thousand ecstasy pills at the Eagles home before he disappeared together with his sister and brother-in-law two years ago. Trained dogs of the BNN found the goods carefully packed behind the wooden wall panels in different rooms. Every packet had a number that related to a delivery address. Detectives then extracted the relevant list from Garuda’s deleted computer files. The list exposed the names and addresses

  of each client. As a consequence, an initiative had been started between the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Bank of Indonesia for the prevention and eradication of drug abuse and distribution in Indonesia that was now well under way. As many drug-related transactions were conducted through banks, Bank of Indonesia was now actively involved in the drug eradication effort. Most of the accounts of Wahir Dur Gus, alias Eagle, identified as dealing with drugs, were frozen.

  Within the drug scene, news of the Eagle’s death spread fast, and the Wolf, Eagle’s competitor, was happy. With the Eagle dead and Heryanto Sukarnoputri, the mastermind behind the Eagle’s drug business imprisoned, major Chinese drug suppliers would soon change over to the Wolf. But the Wolf wasn’t aware of Heryanto’s loyal friends, who had always been treated fairly and paid very well for their work. It was in their interest to get Heryanto freed up in Australia so they wouldn’t lose their generous income. Imam, Garuda’s manager, felt especially obliged to help Arief, because Arief had paid for his children’s education. Although Imam offered Arief to pay him back in installments, Arief didn’t accept any payback. He said he was happy to help Imam’s children, and told him about his sadness not to have children of his own.

  _____________

  Two weeks later, when things appeared to have calmed down a little, Sebastian and Aaron were walking out of the Katherine cinema when Aaron whispered to Sebastian:

  “I think we are being followed by someone.”

  “What did you say?”

  “Fuck, someone is following us!” Aaron had gone pale.

  Sebastian stiffened. “Let’s cross the road at the pedestrian crossing, then change sides again after a few meters to see if we are really being followed.”

  The man behind them followed them across the road then back again.

  Yes, they were being followed.

  With panic in his voice, Aaron asked: “What shall we do?”

  “Confront him.”

  “Have you gone completely nuts, Sebastian?”

  Without further comment, Sebastian stopped abruptly and turned around to face their follower. The sudden stop let the man nearly bump into Sebastian. He came to a standstill. The two men faced each other silently for a moment.

  Sebastian’s voice was harsh. “What do you want? Who are you?”

  The man, undoubtedly of Chinese origin and with a cold look, drew a knife and held it in front of Sebastian, who turned to stone.

  Dead silence followed.

  Sebastian awaited his death.

  No feeling.

  No thought.

  In bewilderment, the Chinese man stepped back and looked Sebastian up and down. Was that compassion in his gaze? Was he smiling? The man turned away and disappeared amongst a group of tourists.

  Sebastian swallowed deeply after his near death experience.

  “Did you just see what I saw?”

  “Yes.” Aaron answered, shocked. “I saw what you saw.”

  “The Police station is right there. Let’s report it.”

  “So, let me get this clear. You are the guy who witnessed the killing of the drug lord from Jakarta?” The constable held up the picture in the NT News and compared it with Sebastian’s face.

  “Yes, that’s me.” Sebastian managed a smile despite the shock he was still in.

  “And the Chinese man drew a knife on you, and your friend Aaron saw it?”

  “Yes.” Aaron said. “I was standing right next to them.”

  “You know,” the constable said after a while, “you should be under protection and not running around like a free range chicken!”

  The humor made them relax a little.

  “You can call yourself the luckiest guy on earth to be alive right now.”

  “Yes, I certainly do call myself lucky.”

  “So why do you think he did not stab you? What made him change his mind?”

  Aaron answered on behalf of Sebastian: “Because the would-be killer was attracted to my friend.”

  “Attracted? In what way?”

  “In a sexual way.” Aaron spoke the words loud, slow and clear.

  The constable looked at Aaron, then at Sebastian and back at Aaron.

  “Okay, I understand.”

  Aaron said: “Just to be clear, we are not a couple.”

  Sebastian rolled his eyes.

  The officer grinned. “I said, I understand.”

  Two police officers drove Sebastian and Aaron back to the orchard, and organised a security firm to stand guard at their accommodation. Sebastian was assigned a lawyer, Glenn Moore, who was a serious man with a stern expression. Sebastian noticed his unusually firm handshake. Despite the heat, Glenn Moore was dressed in a dark grey suit with a white shirt and tie. He had a hat on too and Sebastian thought the man looked odd. All his facial features and appearance matched those of Charlie Chaplin, except this lawyer was a lot taller. Sebastian was by no means short − measuring one meter eighty eight, he was taller than most guys, but Glenn Moore almost reached two meters. He spoke in a broad Australian accent and had to repeat himself several times
before Sebastian and Aaron understood what he was saying.

  “I suggest we apply for an urgent witness protection program to be put in place until the court hearing, which could be weeks away.”

  Aaron looked confused: “My flight back to Israel is booked for the fifteenth of December. I suppose this protection plan won’t affect my departure?”

  “No”, Glenn Moore answered. “It doesn’t affect you and you can fly home. We may have to contact you again via videoconference to make a statement in court about the killing attempt. My team and I are more concerned about Sebastian, as he is the key witness to the murder and now someone has tried to kill him.”

  He turned to Sebastian. “Even if we allow you to fly back to Germany, we cannot guarantee your safety, because the people we are dealing with are cold-blooded hit men and their instruction is to kill you − no matter where in the world you are.”

  Sebastian: “What if the murderer gets extradited to Indonesia?”

  Glenn Moore: “Unlikely. His earlier drug-related offence back in Jakarta carries the death penalty in Indonesia, in which case Australia will most likely refuse a request for extradition.”

  “Okay then, that’s fine”, Sebastian agreed. “I don’t mind staying here, as long as you can guarantee my safety.”

  Glenn Moore looked relieved. “Okay, so the next step is to let immigration know what’s happening and to extend your visa. While this is in progress we will arrange for a safe place for you to go until the court hearing.”

  “Oh, does that mean I have to leave this place,” Sebastian asked.

  “Well, yes, your picture and your whereabouts are all over the Internet.”

  Sebastian thought for a while. Instead of feeling scared he was feeling excited. Great, I don’t have to return home. More adventure ahead of me!

  He was smiling as he said: “You know, you couldn’t do me a bigger favor.”

  They laughed.

  Glenn Moore spoke decisively. “You’ll hear from me within the next forty eight hours. Until then, stay inside the house and prepare yourselves to leave. Aaron, you will be taken to the airport under police guard. Security personnel are guarding the area around your accommodation until you have both departed.”