Inspector Green Mysteries 9-Book Bundle (151 page)

“Ian always tried to help where he could. He taught the local kids English and adopted this crazy dog. He loved animals and hated it when we came across livestock that had been hurt in the shelling. Anyway, we all got a little tired and worn down, and as time went on and both sides kept dicking the
UN
around, we got more jaded. Plus by the end, when we were basically ordered to break up this war, it got downright scary. None of us wanted to die over there, and even our commanders didn’t believe our lives were on the line.”

Green’s senses grew alert. “Tell us about that.”

“It was when we were posted to Sector South...” He paused and pushed his glasses back up. Behind them, his tiny eyes peered at them uncertainly. “You guys know about the
UNPA
s?”

“Give us the highlights, just in case,” Green said. He wanted to interrupt the man’s recollections as little as possible.

“See, when Croatia and Serbia declared their independence from Yugoslavia, there were all these disputed parts of the country where they disagreed about whose land it was and which country it should be in, because the ethnic groups were all mixed up. Similar to where I’m from in New Brunswick, where the English and the French live side by side. The Croats claimed a whole lot of territory, and they basically wanted the Serbs out. The Serbs, on the other hand, wanted to join their villages together as part of Greater Serbia. And of course there were Muslims stuck in the middle too.” He grimaced wryly as if it were all beyond comprehension, then he shrugged.

“So the
UN
created these four
UN
Protected Areas in these mixed pockets. Sector South was the trickiest one. It was in Croatia, but the Serbs had a big population tucked into the mountains there, and they could basically cut off all of Southern Croatia if they wanted. There was a bridge, a dam and a few other strategic installations that both sides wanted to control. When we got there, the Croats had captured the bridge and dam, but the Serbs kept shelling from up in the mountains, so the Croats couldn’t use them. It was a war, and neither side wanted a ceasefire till they won. But...”

He paused to catch his breath. His voice was calm, but beads of sweat had formed on his upper lip and temples. The three detectives sipped their coffees and waited in silence. This was an intelligent and cooperative witness, a dream come true, and they knew it was best to let him tell his story.

“The
UN
had been taking a lot of heat for the mess in Yugoslavia, what with the rumours of ethnic cleansing, the blatant ceasefire violations, the land grabs, and the endless squabbling and double-talk among the various factions. The
UN
general at the top wanted to prove the
UN
military force could do something useful besides sell gasoline on the black market and get the local girls pregnant, so he decided to clean up Sector South.”

Sullivan leaned forward, suddenly alert. “A Canadian general? Was that MacKenzie?”

“No, it was a guy from France. Of course, I didn’t know any of this when we were little blue helmets down on the ground. I learned all this big picture stuff later. Anyway... Where was I?”

“Cleaning up Sector South?”

“Oh, yeah.” Thompson mopped his brow and pushed his glasses up again. “So the general figures the Canadians can do the job, and all our own brass were so eager to hop to it, they ignored the fact none of the belligerents wanted us there. Plus you know, no one’s supposed to fire on the