The Crocodile's Last Embrace (25 page)

“This is true,” said Jelani.

“Shut up,” snapped a constable. Jade glared at the man, and Finch waved for the constable to leave.

“See if you can’t find Dr. Dymant,” Finch ordered. “Blasted time for Mathews to be off. I’ve a mind to telegram Fort Hall and order him back here.”

“If I might intrude,” said Percival. “Those limbs were torn off by a croc, most likely after the body was submerged for a while. As you know, this isn’t the first person that croc has taken.” He replaced the cloth over the body and stepped farther away from it. “But no croc could cut off an ear like that. That was done with a
panga
knife.”

“I’m well aware of that, Mr. Percival,” said Finch. “But the question remains whether the crocodile killed this man or whether he was dead and then thrown in. Theft of the necklace might be enough of a motive for revenge. And
that
,” he said, glaring at Jelani and Irungu, “is why I’ve brought in these two for questioning, as well as you, Miss del Cameron.”

“You’re assuming that Irungu or one of the other natives killed Mutahi and tossed him to the croc,” she said, nodding to the covered corpse.

“When Mr. Percival found the body, he inquired at the village and some women told him the witching tale.”

“I didn’t look at the body that closely,” said Jade, “but all I saw were teeth marks. I didn’t see any evidence of a stab to the heart, at least not from the front. No deep cut to the throat or mark made by a rope. The natives aren’t allowed to possess firearms. Did you see any marks on the back, Mr. Percival?”

“Possibly a blow to the back of the head but it may have been caused by a fall or by hitting a rock in the water when the croc had him in a death roll.”

“The lack of those more obvious marks are why I want a doctor to look at him,” said Finch. “He might have been throttled by someone’s bare hands. Difficult to see such bruising now, but there may be internal damage from a beating.”

Jade sized up Jelani’s smaller build. “I can’t see Jelani having the ability to do that, and Irungu made no such threats in my presence.” She looked back at Finch and folded her arms across her chest. “You must release them.”

“So now you are telling me how to conduct my investigation and how to run native affairs?”

“You brought me in here. But I might have information that would interest you.”

“Go on,” said Finch.

Jade shook her head. “Not until these two men are released back to their village.”

Finch glared at Jade, his jaw clenched. “I give you my word, Miss del Cameron, that I won’t hold them for this man’s death unless I have solid evidence. However, I must detain them until Dymant examines the body.”

Jade watched Jelani for a moment before answering. He stood ramrod straight like a soldier, eyes ahead and looking beyond the room. No, not a soldier—a martyr ready and willing to die for a tightly held belief. She knew he wouldn’t thank her for gaining his release. Irungu kept his head bowed but his eyes looked up hopefully.

“I have your word?” Jade asked.

“As I said.” Finch called a constable and ordered the two men to be taken to a holding cell until the autopsy was completed. “Now,” he said when they were gone, “I believe you said you have information for me. Or was that some female ruse?” He motioned for her to leave the room and rejoin him in his office.

Jade wrestled with her fears and suspicions. Could she trust Finch? Other than the fact that his age and position made him eligible, was there any other evidence that he could be Pellyn? She’d need to trust him a little, if only to find out more herself. She waited until he’d offered her tea, which she declined, had poured a cup for himself, and taken a swallow.

“I know what happened to Mutahi’s necklace. Someone, a white man, gave it to Neville and Madeline Thompson’s little boy just before he tried to abduct him.”

Finch choked on the tea and coughed, spraying the papers in front of him. Jade checked her smile. At least his reaction made her less suspicious of him.
Unless his reaction is to my knowing.

“The Dunburys called for the Nairobi police just before you demanded my presence,” Jade said. “Madeline and Neville Thompson are at Lord Dunbury’s Parklands estate with their child.” She briefly explained what had happened.

“A kidnapping for ransom that went awry when one of the native staff came too close?” suggested Finch.

“Everyone was on the far end of the farm, fighting a grass fire.”

They were interrupted by a rap on the doorframe. A European constable poked his head in. “Begging your pardon, Inspector, but we’re having a spot of trouble finding Dr. Dymant. He doesn’t answer at his office.”

“Did you try his residence?”

The man cleared his throat and looked at the far wall. “Actually, sir, I’m not certain where it is. Dr. Mathews is still away. Is there someone else I should fetch?”

Finch pounded his fist on his desk, splattering the rest of the tea. “Use your head, man. Find someone. There has to be at least one government doctor left in Nairobi.” He righted his teacup and sponged the mess with his pocket handkerchief. “I’ll send someone around to the Thompsons’ to make inquiries.”

“There’s more,” said Jade. Finch clenched his jaw. “I saw the shell-casing necklace. Someone, maybe Mutahi, had scratched a design on it. It was simply and crudely done, but I recognized the pattern. Two overlapping circles. It represents a moon eclipsing the sun.”

“Likely a design this Mutahi felt had power. He’s seen an eclipse, I’m sure. What of it?”

“It’s Lilith Worthy’s emblem. I ran across it before. Mutahi must have seen it somewhere.”

“And you think that it might have something to do with that Pellyn chap then? Very well, I’ll collect the necklace for evidence.”

“Overlapping circles, you say?” asked Blaney Percival. “There was a circular burn mark on this man’s back. Too decomposed to be clear. I thought he may have backed into a torch or something but it could have been a brand.”

“The Congo natives were branded,” murmured Jade. “And had an ear cut off.”

Jade excused herself, but as she joined Avery in the waiting area, she considered Dr. Dymant. Assuming Cyril had been pointing to Biscuit’s lighter base fur, the hair bore some resemblance to Dymant’s. Dymant also sounded Cornish.

—The Traveler

THE OX-5 MOTOR’S SONG reminded Jade of Biscuit’s throaty purr, surrounding her as did the blue sky and the plane’s Irish linen. Avery sat in the rear of Sam’s Curtiss JN-4, manning the controls, while Jade took over the front of the plane and scouted for anything out of the ordinary on the ground. Avery had offered to let Jade fly, but she’d declined. It was uncomfortable enough being in Sam’s beloved Jenny without him. Flying it would have felt dead wrong.

Neville had gone home Sunday to wait for Finch’s man and to guard against further attacks on his farm. He’d left Cyril and Madeline at the Dunburys’ estate under the Dunburys’, Biscuit’s, and Farhani’s watchful eyes. Jade and Avery took Maddy home later Monday morning to help Neville continue searching the grounds for any sign of an intruder. Beverly had promised to do something nearly unheard of during the day: she’d shut and bolt the doors, admitting no one until Avery returned.

Madeline had been torn between duty to husband and to son, but Beverly had finally convinced her that Cyril would be safe, allowing Madeline to search with Neville. Jade had never seen such a look of determined and controlled fury on Maddy’s face. She could still hear Maddy’s voice saying, “I want to be the one to find that bastard so that I can shoot him first!”

Avery banked the Jenny and broadened the search circle, moving outward in an ever-increasing spiral. Below them on the Thompsons’ farm spread burned grassland, a patchwork of black blotches amid wetter wallows where fresher grass had resisted the blaze. She spotted trampled areas where the men had stood and fought the fire. She pointed down and Avery dropped lower and crisscrossed over the burn. Jade looked carefully for any telltale tracks at the point of origin. She spied some and pointed again.

Avery followed a set of tire tracks as they cut a wide path around the farm nearer to the house. The vehicle had never been any closer than a quarter mile. If they hoped to find where the person had come from or escaped to, they were disappointed. One set of tracks eventually doubled back on the other and all tracks were lost at the road. The vehicle could have come and gone from anywhere.

Below, Maddy and Neville continued their own ground search for anything dropped by the would-be kidnapper. Jade saw them look up and wave. Avery waggled the wings in reply and turned away. With little more to be gained here, they’d continue to fly around the area and especially Ol Donyo Sabuk, hoping to spy a camp or an unknown vehicle. As they headed southeast, Jade kept her eyes on the landscape, but her mind played with the morning’s first visit to the land office.

The spectacled clerk, a Mr. Lippincott, had insisted that no mining claims had been filed for anyplace in the colony in the past year.

“But that’s not a surprise,” he’d said. “It’s common knowledge that the colony is sadly lacking in valuable minerals. Why should anyone even attempt mining? Getting Tanganyika Territory from the Germans might prove useful. Shame we couldn’t win the Belgian Congo, right? That Leopold, he sure fell into a rich pot. Copper by the score. Gold too, but some of that is in pretty rough country. But they have a new governor-general running things now, don’t they?”

“Yes, but it took long enough,” said Avery. “Leopold died in 1909, but the scoundrels in the Congo continued running things for years and the war only aggravated the problems.”

“What do
you
know about the mining under Emperor Leopold?” asked Jade.

“Terrible tales,” Lippincott said. “Butchery and brutality. Open season on Africans, it was.”

“Did you ever hear of anyone named Worthy or Pellyn committing these crimes?”

“Those are English and Cornish names,” said Lippincott. “Can’t say I recognize them, but I did hear of an Englishman involved in one mine. Put a brand on his workers in case they tried to run away. Oddest part of that story was that once, a white
woman
came into camp and sliced the ears off some men.”

“When did you hear these tales?” asked Avery. “Were they reliable?”

“During and just after the war. And reliable enough. Settlers and traders proving up land would swap tales in the office. I heard that one twice after the war.”

Now Jade pondered those facts. The Congo was reported to hold gold, especially in the Katanga province. That obnoxious parrot was a species from the Congo. It stood to reason that Waters had been prospecting in the Congo, legally or illegally. The question remained: had he been prospecting in Kenya Colony as well or had he brought gold back and used it to lure gullible settlers into investing in a fake mine?

If that parrot was trying to say “Pellyn” rather than “pile in,” then either Waters was actually Pellyn or had worked with him long enough for the bird to have learned the name. Jade didn’t think Waters was Pellyn. For one, he wasn’t Cornish. He was a Cockney. True, the drugged South African red tea had been given to her before Waters died, but Cyril’s abduction pointed to someone still active in the area. Perhaps Waters had run afoul of Pellyn and tried to cheat him. That would explain his death, but why would Pellyn try to take Cyril?

And it might have worked if Harry hadn’t been taken ill, exposing the scheme. Now she was still here and she’d have to play a part, testifying in any inquests or trials concerning the recent deaths.
Is someone now threatening me through my friends? Is their safety the price of my silence? Or does Pellyn hope that my friends will drive me out?
She thought of Mary’s plea to help her uncle. Jade had grudgingly agreed, but Holly’s suspicious behavior suggested he was involved as more than a victim.
Was he told to lure me to Harry’s farmhouse?

Whatever Pellyn had in mind, he was in for a surprise. Jade didn’t run away from a fight. She’d find him and deal with him.

Jade pushed her speculations to the back of her mind and concentrated on studying the landscape. She loved seeing Africa from the air; the distant zebra herds looked like living shadows as they milled and grazed, and she wished she could give herself over to the view. They next followed the Athi downriver from the falls. A tent and a boxy car attracted Jade’s notice and she pointed them out to Avery. He passed over them at fifty feet and Jade recognized Blaney Percival’s truck. This was where he was camping as he continued to look for the elusive mottled crocodile. They flew over Jelani’s village before turning back west for Ol Donyo Sabuk. Several women hunkered over the river, washing broad swaths of cloth. Others stood nearby, throwing rocks and beating the water with sticks to drive off any lurking crocodiles.