Lagos functions as an offstage source of danger in the plot: it is the city behind the Nigerian hit men sent to Bombay, linking a failed drug deal to a threat against Lin and the men’s forced departure.

Place in the Plot

The three men are tourists, newly arrived in Bombay and unknown to Hassaan Obikwa. His contacts nevertheless establish that they intend to harm Lin, though the motive is initially unclear. Their passports identify them as Nigerian citizens on tourist visas; their wallets and luggage connect them to a prior stay in Lagos. Lagos therefore enters the story through information gathered during the search, rather than through a scene set in the city.

Connection to the Attack

After the men are captured and questioned, the account becomes more specific: they are hired muscle sent by a gangster in Lagos to punish Lin over a heroin and Mandrax deal that went wrong. The lost sum is about sixty thousand dollars, and the Lagos boss has been told that Lin masterminded the theft. The accusation makes Lagos the distant origin of a chain of mistaken attribution and threatened retaliation, while the actual person who framed Lin is identified as Maurizio Belcane.

Departure and Significance

Lin orders that the men be taken to the airport and put on a morning flight to Lagos, with their own money used to buy the tickets. He also warns them not to return to Bombay, making their departure a practical end to the immediate threat. The city remains outside the narrated action, but it frames both ends of the episode: the attackers’ previous stay there and their compelled return. Through that narrow connection, Lagos marks the reach of Bombay’s criminal dealings beyond the city itself.