Dangerous Inheritance Part III

Skulduggery in Thimbirigasyaya

By Richard Boyle

Location: The Duke de Richlieu's villa, Corfu
Time: Autumn 1960

Part II

Over two years have passed since the now 85-year-old Duke de Richlieu travelled to Ceylon to see for himself the Ratnapura gem mine bequeathed to him by his cousin, Count Plackoff. At that time the mine, which was named Olenevka, was in the illegal possession of the dastardly Ukwatte d'Azavedo, who had forged the Count's will. In order to retain his hold on the mine, d'Azavedo had incited his miners to kill de Richlieu, but had ultimately failed in his intention. Now the courts have restored the property to de Richlieu, a new manager has been installed, and d'Azavedo briefly imprisoned.

It is at this point in the novel Dangerous Inheritance (1965) that the author, Dennis Wheatley, introduces a new character - Simon Aron. Aron, a Jewish financier, is staying with de Richlieu at his villa. When Aron enquires about the gem mine, de Richlieu gloomily answers that the manager is ineffectual and that d'Azavedo's stock of gems, which was to be handed over, suspiciously disappeared during a bout of looting in the wake of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's assassination the year before.

Contemporary events in Ceylon -political, social and economic -here onwards become, once again, a major theme of the novel. For example, Dennis Wheatley pays much attention to the political happenings in the aftermath of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's death. There is also much discussion among the characters regarding Mrs Bandaranaike's policies. Predictably, the consensus of opinion is that they are not beneficial to the future of the country. ("Ceylon is in a muddle-a nasty muddle," "Whole island's going to pot," etc.)

Aron, who is involved in the tea industry and thus informed about political developments in the country, announces that he has information that d'Azavedo's son, Lalita, is now "a Colonel in Ceylon's Security Service".

In addition, Aron advises de Richlieu about the present stormy economic climate in the country:

'They're formulating legislation to prevent Ceylonese subjects taking money out of the country. Jolly tough ones, too. I'm told they'll be permitted to take out only one hundred and fifty pounds once every seven years.'

'But that is iniquitous,' exploded the Duke. 'The worst possible form of Socialist tyranny.'

'The currency restrictions in Ceylon have been getting worse for some time.

No firm is now able to import anything into the country without a permit.

If machinery breaks down and an incompetent civil service delays granting a permit to bring in the parts needed to get it going again, the firm is in a muddle, a sort of muddle that can cause a serious loss of profits.'

De Richlieu resolves to sell Olenevka after hearing from Aron that the Government intends to introduce legislation preventing capital assets, or money earned in the country, from being sent out. As it happens, Aron is to travel to Ceylon shortly on a business trip, so de Richlieu decides to accompany his friend in order that he might execute his plan.

Their reception by the officials at the airport was far from being welcoming; and it was clear that many of them now regarded white people, particularly the British, with scarcely veiled hostility.

On entering the city de Richlieu saw that a considerable deterioration had taken place. On his last visit he had thought that it had an uncared for appearance; but now the paint was peeling from shops and buildings even in the Fort quarter, and there seemed to be many more beggars in the streets.

As before, the Duke de Richlieu ensconces himself at the Galle Face Hotel.

He meets, once again, Fleur Rajapakse, the daughter of his English friends, the Eatons, who is the wife of his lawyer in Ceylon. Despite widespread reservations about Fleur's inter-racial marriage, it has now survived for over two years and she appears happy with Douglas, her husband.

In the privacy of their spacious house near the Racecourse, Douglas Rajapakse informs de Richlieu and Aron that it is not wise to express opinions in public anymore:

De Richlieu raised his eyebrows. 'Surely you don't mean that Ceylon has actually become a Police State?'

'No, I wouldn't say that,' Douglas replied. 'But there are plenty of signs that, like Ghana, it might easily become one. Since the assassination of Mr. S.W.R.D. Banadaranaike there have been a considerable number of arrests made on one pretext or another.'

Douglas goes on to cite examples of the economic malaise affecting the country:

'The docks have fallen into a hopeless state of inefficiency, because they are now run largely by people who have never been trained to administer such concerns. Cargo ships often have to lie off our harbours for several days before they can be brought in and unloaded. There are scores of ways in which through ignorance and prejudice the new Sinhalese officials are ruining their own country.'

When de Richlieu advertises Olenevka as being for sale, it is ironic that it is Ukwatte d'Azavedo who makes an offer for the mine -the offer being the stock of gems he is suspected of stealing from de Richlieu. The Duke is initially reluctant to even consider the deal, but is in the end persuaded by Aron to accept d'Azavedo's offer.

That evening, after Aron has left the hotel for a dinner engagement, de Richlieu receives a garbled telephone call asking him to come to a certain house, where Fleur and Douglas are supposed to have been taken following a car accident. The unsuspecting de Richlieu gets into the car that is sent for him and is driven to the house by an Indian-looking chauffeur.

As de Richlieu alights from the vehicle, the chauffeur puts a gun to his back and pushes him towards the house. When they are near the front door, none other than Ukwatte d'Azavedo opens it. Once they are inside, the 'chauffeur' rapidly peels off his disguise and reveals himself to be Lalita d'Azavedo.

The d'Azavedos produce their own contract of sale and assure de Richlieu that if he signs it, they will give him the gems and set him free. De Richlieu does so reluctantly, accepts the gems, and is about to stand up when the elder d'Azavedo states his real intention:

'Death planned for you is very painful. Unfortunate but no way to avoid. Last year death penalty reintroduce here. I take no risk -or of years in prison. Your death must look like accident. In back room here I have king cobra. We put you in room and leave rest to my snake.'

Meanwhile, Aron returns to the Galle Face Hotel to find a note from de Richlieu informing him of the misfortune that has befallen Fleur and Douglas. When Aron rushes to the Rajapakses' house and finds that there has been no accident, he immediately suspects the d'Azavedos of having abducted his friend. From the telephone directory he discovers that the d'Azavedos live on Thimbirigasyaya Road. Following a hunch, he drives to the house with Douglas.

They find the house in darkness but are able to discern a body lying in the front room. Believing the body to be de Richlieu's, they break in through the window and are confronted by the cobra. After they make a hasty retreat, Aron explores the rest of the house in search of the d'Azavedos.

To his astonishment, it is de Richlieu whom he finds in an upstairs bedroom.

De Richlieu recounts how the younger d'Azavedo had left the house before the elder had pushed him into a room downstairs, kicked over a basket containing the cobra, and locked the door. When asked how he had cheated death, de Richlieu replies that he had employed a stratagem mastered by him in Madagascar decades before:

'An angry snake can be calmed if one has the courage to extend one's hand with two fingers pointing downward over its head. Why that gesture should have such an effect I have no idea. No doubt willing the snake not to strike is the real secret. For a few minutes the reptile continued to sway its head and hiss at me, then it relaxed, sank down and went to sleep.'

Of course in Sri Lanka, cobras and other snakes have traditionally been subdued with the use of a piece of desiccated white root - rather like the broken stem of an antique clay pipe - which is supposed to be obtained from the aptly named snake-plant. As with the Malagesy method of subduing snakes, the local version requires that a downward or lateral movement be made from above the reptile's head.

Many years ago I acquired a 'root of the snake-plant', or naya-thalic kalanga as I believe it is called, from an itinerant snake-charmer near Anuradhapura. I'm glad to report, though, that I have not as yet been presented with a situation where I have been forced to find out if it works. However, I believe, like de Richlieu/Dennis Wheatley, that the effectiveness of the action to subdue snakes -whether with the aid of fingers, root or whatever - undoubtedly has much to do with focusing the powers of the mind.

Sir J. Emerson Tennent writes in a similar vein in Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon (1861):

"It is probable that the use of any particular plant by the snake-charmers is a pretence, or rather a delusion, the reptile being overpowered by the resolute power of the operator, and not by the influence of any secondary appliance. In other words, the confidence inspired by the supposed talisman enables its possessor to address himself fearlessly to his task, and thus to effect, by determination and will, what is popularly believed to be the result of charms and stupefaction."

It is fortunate that the ever- reliable Tennent provides a rare description in his book of the snake-root being operated:

"An Indian took from his bag a small piece of white wood, which resembled a root, and passed it gently near the head of the cobra, when the latter immediately inclined close to the ground. He then lifted the snake without hesitation, and coiled it into a circle at the bottom of his basket."

As for the identity of the root itself, Tennent believed that several species were used:

"One appears to be a bit of the stem of an Aristolochia; the other is so dried as to render its identification difficult, but it resembles the quadrangular stem of a jungle vine. Some species of Aristolochia, such as the A. serpentaria of North America, are supposed to act as specifics in the cure of snake-bites; and the A. indica is the plant to which the mongoose is popularly believed to resort to as an antidote when bitten."

But back to Dangerous In heritance: De Richlieu explains to his friends that when d'Azavedo had returned to check that he was dead, he had given him a judo chop to the neck, and his tormentor had fallen onto the cobra with fatal effect. De Richlieu and the others make to leave the house, but with flawless timing, Lalita d'Azavedo appears in the doorway, gun in hand.

There follows a long, intense passage in which the advantage swings back and forth between the protagonists. First, de Richlieu informs d'Azavedo that his father is dead - killed by accident by the snake. Aron then disarms d'Azavedo while he is suffering from the initial shock. But a short time later the tables are turned once again when Mirabelle de Mendoza, Ukwatte d'Azavedo's mistress, surprises them. She has a gun, has been hiding in the house, and has overheard how de Richlieu killed her lover.

Put in an awkward posi- tion, de Richlieu offers d'Azavedo the gem mine in return for Mirabelle's silence. But he also demands the stock of gems, a condition that d'Azavedo refuses to accept. At this juncture the pendulum, somewhat improbably, shifts in the opposite direction one more time. On this occasion it is with the undetected entrance of Aron's business partner, Rex van Ryn, who is also in possession of a gun.

Van Ryn has just arrived in Ceylon to meet up with Aron, and has found out where he and the others are from a worried Fleur. His appearance on the scene prompts d'Azavedo to accept the original deal whereby he receives Olenevka in exchange for the gems. So d'Azavedo departs, leaving behind the gems and taking the contract de Richlieu has signed. However, de Richlieu later tells his friends that he used a false signature and therefore it is invalid.

Van Ryn's son, Trusscott, goes to see his ex-lover, Fleur, while all this action is occurring down Thimbirigasyaya Road. At first Fleur pretends that her life in Ceylon is ideal - a life full of the social whirl, tennis and golf. ("There are dances at the Galle Face every Saturday, the bathing at Mount Lavinia is as good as you would get in the South of France," etc.) But as Trusscott is leaving, she suddenly opens her heart to him:

'What I told you is all lies. I'm not happy here. I might as well be in prison. I hate every moment of it. If I don't get away from here I shall go mad. I was crazy to marry Douglas! Crazy! For God's sake help me to get free or I'll have ruined my whole life.'

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