The Crocodile's Last Embrace (26 page)

She couldn’t hear them over the airplane’s motor, but she knew they were chanting and singing loudly. Jade prayed their ruse would work, but somehow she doubted it would fool any crocs for long. She’d heard reports of the reptiles savaging migrating herds of wildebeest as they crossed rivers. If all those slashing hooves didn’t deter them, a few poles wouldn’t either. The Kikuyu’s best defense lay in the game warden killing this croc and patrolling the upper reaches of the Athi to keep more away.

They next flew around the mountain, clockwise from the south. Jade leaned over the lowered right side of the plane. She didn’t see Harry’s truck or another tent. She wondered if he’d given up looking for the crocodile or if Percival had sent him even farther downriver.

After they circled the mountain once and succeeded in startling one buffalo and two giraffes, Avery turned the plane and reversed the route, heading counterclockwise. Jade had suggested it earlier, hoping that something hidden from view in one direction might be visible from the other. But with so much of Roger’s and Harry’s land returning to wild growth, it was difficult to spot anything amid the tangle of vegetation. Jade did see old tire tracks here and there, but they might have been made by Harry. Avery had made inquiries and found that McMillan’s farm hadn’t had visitors for months.

Jade wasn’t sure what she’d expected to see. She’d hoped to find someone encamped in the grasslands with a clear trail leading to and from the Thompsons’ farm, unrealistic as it had seemed. Avery reached forward and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned in her seat, he pointed down to his fuel gauge, then back to the Thompsons’. She nodded. They needed to return. Fuel was still difficult to come by and they’d used enough already.

Once they’d landed and tended to the plane, they rejoined Madeline and Neville. Neither of them had anything to report.

“You’d think he’d have dropped a button or something,” said Maddy.

“We’ve questioned every one of the Kikuyu and no one remembers seeing anyone near the house,” said Neville.

“But then they wouldn’t, would they,” said Avery. “That was the intent of the fire.”

“I don’t suppose you found anything from above?” asked Neville.

Jade shook her head. “Tracks, but we lost them at the road. Still, not seeing any camps tells us that this person most likely came from one of the towns.”

“Do you think it’s safe for us to bring Cyril back home?” asked Maddy. Jade heard the longing in her voice.

Neville patted his rifle. “We won’t let the little chap out of our sight, Maddy,” he said. “Anyone who tries anything won’t live to try it again. I’ll go get him now.”

“Jade and I will locate Steven Holly at the Blue Posts,” said Avery. “He may know something.”

“Very well,” said Neville. He shook Avery’s hand. “Thank you. I can’t imagine a better friend and ally at present.” Then, as though he felt embarrassed by this exuberant display of masculine emotion, he coughed and added, “Not excepting you, of course, Jade.”

“Will you stay and take lunch before you go?” asked Maddy.

“Thank you, but no,” said Avery. He flexed his hands in a manner that bespoke an itching to connect a fist to a jaw.

Jade thought he’d need to get in line after her.

 

THE BLUE POSTS HOTEL was mainly a large round hut surrounded by a veranda upheld by blue posts, surrounded by several whitewashed sleeping huts and stables. When the hotel first opened in 1908, it boasted only four huts. Now there were more, testimony to the popular Chania Falls, which thundered nearby. But the same nearly deaf manager stood behind a wooden desk. He was known to all as Major Breeches ever since he misunderstood a question as to who made his breeches. Avery did his best to inquire after Holly, but the fall’s din, only partially subdued after the end of the rains, did nothing to help the man’s hearing.

“Mr. Steven Holly,” shouted Avery for the third time.

Jade took a more direct approach and pulled the guest registry towards her. She looked in vain for the name Holly but found the name Smith. She showed this to Avery.

“If he was really afraid someone might find him, he wouldn’t use his real name,” she said.

Avery pointed to the signature and shouted “Smith” at Major Breeches.

The manager beamed and nodded, his bald pate shining. “Very good, Mr. Smith,” he said.

“We want to see him,” yelled Avery. He pointed to himself and then to the book.

“Are you newly married?” asked the manager. “How very nice.”

Avery shook his head. “No.”

Major Breeches’ smile evaporated as he looked from Jade to Avery and his mustache drooped as though it had wilted. “I run a respectable hotel, sir. If you’re not married, I don’t think you should stay here.”

Avery sighed. “Any ideas, Jade?”

Jade looked about for paper to write a note and, seeing none, started to write in the registry. The manager immediately snatched it out of her hands. At that point, Jade pantomimed writing and was promptly rewarded with a sheet of paper. She wrote very carefully,
We wish to speak to Mr. Smith
, and handed the message to Major Breeches.

“He’s not here. He checked out this morning. Took the omnibus.”

“Blast and damn,” muttered Avery.

“Did he have any visitors?” asked Jade.

Major Breeches smiled. “Always nice to have visitors here. So many people come to see the falls.”

“Now what?” Jade asked Avery when they left. “We can’t visit every hotel in the colony.”

Avery shook his head. “We’ve run into a dead end, it seems. I for one want to get back home and make certain that Beverly and Alice are all right.”

They drove back to Parklands in silence. Jade felt she’d learned nothing the entire day, and her frustration had reduced her to introspective brooding.

Beverly must have been watching for them from a window, for she met them at the door and hurried them into the front parlor. She explained that Emily was out purchasing a ticket. “She was quite upset that we didn’t include her in the search or confide in her. She plans to take the down train to Mombassa tomorrow and stay for a few days. I believe she’s over Mr. Holly, at least. What did you two discover today? Why did you let Neville take Cyril so soon?”

Her inquiries were quietly answered by Avery. Jade, tired, waited for an opening so that she could politely excuse herself and go back to her own rooms.

Farhani came to the sitting room door and coughed to announce himself.

“What is it, Farhani?” asked Beverly. “Is Matthew
mpishi
having difficulty with my new recipe?”

“No, memsahib,” said Farhani. He stood ramrod straight, his white robe falling in stiff folds. One arm was behind his back. He brought it forward now, his white-gloved hand holding a silver tray. “A boy has delivered this message for the bwana. I have already paid him a rupee and sent him on his way.”

Avery took the paper from the tray and thanked their majordomo. Farhani bowed, his white turban nearly brushing Avery’s shoulder.

“What is it, Avery, darling?” asked Beverly.

“It’s a telegram,” he replied.

“Sam!” said Beverly. She smiled broadly. “I knew we’d hear from him soon.”

“It’s not from Sam,” said Avery as he read the return address. “In point of fact, it’s from my brother.”

“Marcus? Whatever could be so urgent?” Beverly’s eyes opened wider. “Oh, I hope he and his family aren’t on their way to stay with us. I’m not sure where I can fit any more relations.”

Jade felt her neck hairs tingle. Avery could have had any number of estate-related telegrams, but for some reason, she knew this was different. She watched Avery’s normally placid face tense as he clenched his teeth. “Avery?”

“For mercy’s sake, Avery, don’t keep us in suspense. What does it say?” asked Beverly, her hands knotting around her skirt.

“Quite simply, ‘The bird has flown.’ ” He crumbled the paper in his fist and sank into a chair. “It means that Lilith has escaped.”

—The Traveler

“ESCAPED!” shouted Beverly. She jumped to her feet. “Lilith?”

Jade said nothing. She fought down the panic, her heart pounding as the force of this news hit home. When she closed her eyes, Jade saw Lilith rise up like a specter, an icy woman in black silk, a mockery of a grieving widow.
Mamba jike! The female crocodile.

Avery smoothed out the telegram and studied it as if some hidden message would rise out of the paper. “I’ll read it.” He cleared his throat. “‘In London. Found old telegram at house. Date December twenty-six. The bird has flown. Marcus.’ ” Avery folded the paper and set it on the side table. “That was the code phrase I told my acquaintance at the prison to use if Lilith escaped.”

“Then she escaped over the Christmas holidays two months ago,” said Beverly. “I understand the telegram going to the London house, but why wasn’t the message sent on?”

Avery put his head down and ran one hand across the back of his neck. When he looked up, he seemed older and haggard. Jade had never seen him this way. Avery was always the epitome of British pluck and dash. “I fear this is all my fault,” he said. “When I originally arranged for these messages, we were in London awaiting Alice’s birth. When we left early for Nairobi, it was rather sudden and”—he looked at his wife—“I confess I had more important concerns on my mind at the time. I neglected to leave notice with the prison warden.” He stood up and paced around his chair. “But I never really expected Lilith to escape. To attempt it, perhaps, but—” He broke off and dropped back into his chair.

Beverly hurried to his side, kneeling beside him, her hands on his. “It’s not your fault, darling,” she said. “I don’t understand why the message was not sent on to us from the house.”

Avery patted her hands. “The London house was shut up. The only person there was Mrs. Delvin, and that’s only because the dear old soul has been with the family for so long that we let her live there in retirement. She probably hasn’t employed anyone other than a part-time cook. Marcus must have had business in London and decided to stay at the house rather than the club.”

“Does he know what this means?” asked Beverly.

“ ‘The bird has flown’? No. Probably thought it had to do with an aeroplane.”

Jade listened to their conversation as if she were eavesdropping from another room. At least, that was how she felt—unconnected. It seemed as if neither of them fully grasped the magnitude of the situation, like someone who smells smoke but doesn’t realize that the room they’re sitting in is on fire.

“You have to leave,” Jade said, “and take the baby with you.”

Her voice broke through, but her message did not. “What?” asked Beverly. “The baby’s asleep. Why would I wake her?”

“Bev, Avery, listen to me. You have to leave and take the baby with you. Hide. Get Maddy and Cyril to go with you.”

Avery sat up straighter. “You’re suggesting that they are still in danger. That the attempt on Cyril might be repeated.” It was not a question. At least, thought Jade, one of them was grasping the situation. Jade nodded.

“Don’t you see?” said Jade. “That attempt was a warning, meant to frighten me. Perhaps to induce you to send me away. The next time will be more serious. She could be anywhere by now. Here, in the colony, maybe even in Nairobi. It’s enough to worry about who Pellyn might be masquerading as, but Lilith? For all we know it was Lilith who put Cyril in the coffee dryer. Whoever gave Mutahi’s necklace to Cyril did it not to put blame on a native, but to let me know that I’m being watched. This person knew I’d recognize the emblem etched on it.”

“Perhaps she never made it out of England. Perhaps they’ve captured her by now?” suggested Beverly, her tone hopeful.

Avery handed his wife back to her chair. “Until recently,
you
were the only target, Jade. Do you think Lilith took Cyril or would go after anyone else just to make you leave?”

Jade shook her head. “There will be inquests in the recent deaths and she may fear my testimony more than we know. Those deaths were
meant
to look like accidents. Now they’re murder. And it would expose the mining scheme. Or she may be trying to get me away so that she can kill me. I can
feel
her behind this. She hates me;
that
much we know for certain. I doubt she’d scruple at hurting my friends just to get to me.”

“Oh, dear,” said Bev. “Taking the children would be the ultimate blow.”

“Exactly,” said Jade. “Until we find her, everyone I care about is in danger. You all should go to ground. Someone should alert David’s brother, too.” Jade looked at Avery. “She hates Pili as much as me simply because he’s her husband’s illegitimate child.”