Day 5


The sense of desperation in Gisenyi grew with each new Gacaca session, as did discontent with mayor Rwigema’s handling of the crisis. Most of the villagers had passed the prior night without sleep; this, combined with the secretive yellow envelopes many had received, resulted in many frayed nerves. The mayor had some explaining to do.

“Why keep us all in the dark?” someone asked angrily. “Wouldn’t it have been more effective to organize a group that could work together? If these rumors are true, you just sent lot of solitary individuals, unprepared and unequipped, to carry out dangerous missions. They could’ve been killed!” There were disgruntled shouts of agreement with this.

Rwigema tried to defend his choices. “Please try to understand,” he explained desperately. “I had no way of knowing whether or not I was delivering instructions to honest people or Cosa Nuova operatives. If I had tried to organize a team, a single enemy operative in its ranks would’ve undermined the success of the whole group.”

Some of the people recognized the wisdom of this, while others remained skeptical. The mayor continued.

“Also, think of what would’ve happened if the tasks I assigned had been public knowledge. The Cosa Nuova would’ve been the first to find out – and then they would’ve known exactly what to do to thwart our efforts.”

Most seemed to give grudging acknowledgement; though some still disagreed with the course of action the mayor had taken, they understood his approach.

“Fine,” a man said, giving voice to the consensus. “The only question, then, is why this wasn’t done sooner. But at this point it doesn’t matter. What’s important now is that we pool our knowledge – all of it – and solve this mystery once and for all.” With that the man pulled out a yellow envelope and withdrew a sheet of paper.

Rwigema looked alarmed but made no move to stop the man as he read the message in the envelope aloud. Having finished, he explained what he had done the previous night, and what he’d seen. “And now,” the man said, “let’s hear what the rest of you have to say.”

One by one, several people came forward and professed to have received envelopes. Some had brought theirs to the assembly; others had not. The mayor shook his head sadly; he knew he had placed many people at great risk. But what else could he do? The limited powers of the few government officials in Gisenyi were no match for a threat of this magnitude.

Thus it was that the people pooled the knowledge they had gained the night before along with everything else they could think of. In spite of this, however, they could not come to a strong consensus. Many claimed to be working for the good of the town, but almost every claim was questioned as the people shifted their inquiries from person to person.

It was true that the worst of the rancor was gone from the assembly, due to fear of their desperate situation. However, in its place were tension, suspicion, and paranoia. Everyone tried to keep their emotions in check and think as logically as possible, but this was easier said than done.

In the end it once again became necessary to take a final vote. Caius Flaminius, a colorful character who was often misunderstood, and Dutch_guy, who many perceived as being a bit too quiet, were both suspected.

As before, Rwigema ordered the people to stand in groups according to their individual decisions. He quickly counted each group – they were disturbingly small – and announced the result.

“Bring Dutch_guy forward,” he said resolutely. The accused man was seized and brought before the mayor. He didn’t resist, and the anger and fear one might have expected were scarcely to be seen. He merely looked tired.

“Dutch_guy, do you have anything to say?” asked Rwigema. Dutch_guy merely gazed at his accusers sadly. “I’m not one of your enemies,” he said with a touch of bitterness. “You’re putting the wrong man to death.” But he could change no minds.

The brutal execution the night before had plainly had no effect, and no one was anxious to repeat it. Dutch_guy was dispatched mercifully with a clean machete stroke that removed his head.

Vote Count

Dutch_guy: 4 (AndresTheCunning, HughTower, TwilightBlade, Warmaster Horus)

Caius Flaminius: 3 (greaterkhaan, sapi, Seamus Fermanagh)

TwilightBlade: 2 (pevergreen, Stig)

greaterkhaan: 1 (Sigurd Fafnesbane)

sapi: 1 (Caius Flaminius)

Not Voting: 3 (Destroyer of Hope, Dutch_guy, RoadKill)

Status List

Murdered

BlackAxe3001
GeneralHankerchief
Crazed Rabbit
rdece.jabolko
Kagemusha
discovery1
CountArach
Xehh II
Killfr3nzy

Lynched

Warluster
Tran
Xdeathfire
Sasaki Kojiro
Dutch_guy


Suicide

Omanes Alexandrapolites the Idiot
Ichigo

Died of Mysterious Causes

Ignoramus
Motep
Myrddraal

Still Alive

AndresTheCunning
Caius Flaminius
Destroyer of Hope
greaterkhaan
HughTower
pevergreen
RoadKill
sapi
Seamus Fermanagh
Sigurd Fafnesbane
Stig
TwilightBlade
Warmaster Horus