The Crocodile's Last Embrace (7 page)

“Not at all. But you are an astute young woman and you do travel in a wide circle of people. Of course, if you do hear anything—”

“I’ll let you know. I would be interested in learning how he died.”

“As will I. I am sorry to say that those reporters will likely have recognized you, Miss del Cameron. I might suggest that you make yourself unavailable for the time being. Visit Mombassa, perhaps. That is, until we need your testimony for an inquest.”

“I’m afraid leaving is not possible. I have to be at Mrs. Postlewaithe’s garden party tomorrow, of all places. The Girl Guides are giving an archery demonstration. Perhaps they can shoot the reporters.”

“Indeed. At times I’m inclined to agree with you. Let me get one of the constables to take you home.”

Jade rose and Finch stood with her. “That won’t be necessary, Inspector,” Jade said. “I think a walk will do me good. Help me clear my head.”

Jade initially intended to turn north towards Parklands. Then she remembered what Emily had said about the rest of the mail being ready today.
Maybe there’s a letter from Sam.
She turned south to the post office and set off at a brisk pace, hoping to lose some of her on-edge feeling.

The postal clerk told her that someone had already come by that morning to pick up the mail. Suddenly she felt the need for haste and decided to find a taxi to get back sooner.

“Thank you,” Jade said. “Sorry to bother you for nothing.”

“Wait a moment,” called the clerk as Jade turned. “Miss del Cameron, right?” Jade nodded. “Ah, good. I
do
have something for you. The package must have fallen into some mud, because the address was barely legible. However, after some brushing, I was able to make out the name Cameron. Only finished cleaning it now.” He handed over a very dirty parcel wrapped in brown paper and twine. As the clerk had said, “Cameron” and “Nairobi” were the only words clearly readable amid the grime and the blurred letters. If there had been a return address, it was obliterated.

As soon as the package touched Jade’s hands, she shivered. A nauseating fear gripped her and her heart pounded. Beads of sweat broke out on her brow. For nearly a minute, she stood rooted to the spot, unable to will her legs to move.

“Miss, are you all right?” asked the clerk. “This is yours, isn’t it?”

Jade nodded and noticed two businessmen staring at her. “Thank you,” she murmured, and went outside. The sun’s heat and the noise of the now bustling city helped to chase away some of the dread that had struck her. She found a quiet bench down the street and attacked the string with her knife as though she were attacking someone intent on harming her.

It wasn’t.

Inside was a silk neck scarf, the sort that aviators wore, only this one was splattered and stained rusty red with dried blood. A note written in David Worthy’s elegant but masculine hand read:
I won’t let you go. You belong to me!

A cold sweat broke out on Jade’s arms. Her hands shook, and her heart hammered in her ears as she dropped the packet to the ground.

—The Traveler

BY ALL APPEARANCES, Beverly was chatting with Mrs. Archibald and Lady Northey, but Jade knew that her friend was also keeping an eye on her. Ever since Madeline had found Jade sitting on the post office bench, the silk scarf lying at her feet, they’d all been worried about her. Madeline had come into Nairobi as she’d promised, bringing Biscuit to the house before going into town to shop. After she saw Jade, Maddy escorted her back to the police headquarters and insisted on having the scarf and the paper it was wrapped in fingerprinted before taking Jade home. Since then, Bev hadn’t let Jade out of her sight. Now, a day later at Mary Postlewaithe’s birthday garden party, Jade could feel Bev’s eyes on her back as she gave the girls an impromptu lesson on observing footprints on Mrs. Postlewaithe’s lawn.

“Gwendolyn, Clarice, you girls pick someone at the party and see if you can follow where they’ve been,” Jade said. The girls set off, searching out their quarry, leaving the other girls behind. Jade, in deference to Beverly’s position in the colony, had worn a loose, calf-length walking skirt over her trousers and boots, as she’d done in the ambulance corps. If the skirt wasn’t fashionable, it at least hid the pants and her knife and suited the approved attire for a Girl Guide lieutenant. Of course, the slender cheetah standing beside her caused more of a stir than her costume. Jade watched the first pair of girls for a while, eavesdropping on Beverly’s conversation with the governor’s wife while she waited.

“The girls are going to give an archery demonstration later, Lady Northey,” Beverly said. “I’m sure you’ll agree that archery is splendid physical exercise for young ladies. Even our late and beloved Empress Victoria practiced archery.”

“Indeed,” said Lady Northey. “I’m certain
you
would never allow the girls to do anything improper.”

Jade smiled.
No, but she’s worried that I might
. She looked at the girls in front of her, who were practically quivering with excitement while they awaited instructions. She gave them. “Now see if you can follow their tracks.” They skipped off in the direction that their friends had taken, slowing to a walk as they studied the ground.

“Then if you’ll excuse me, Lady Northey, Mrs. Archibald, I’ll just see to the girls,” said Beverly. Bev hurried to Jade’s side and grabbed her by her sleeve. “Oh, that woman is an insufferable snob. Her attitude towards single women in the colony is positively antiquated.”

Jade didn’t ask which of the two women Bev meant. Everyone had read Lady Northey’s scathing article in the papers, decrying single women trying to farm or work on their own. Only women of means or married women had a right to live here, according to her.

“How are you feeling?” Bev asked Jade.

“I’m well enough,” Jade answered, avoiding Beverly’s eyes. Bev could spot her in a fib in an instant. “I can’t seem to shake this feeling that my skin is crawling and that someone is watching me.”

“I’m watching you.”

“Besides you, Bev.”

Beverly scanned the attendees, an assortment of adults related to the Girl Guides. “Well, several men have had their eyes on you, love, despite that horridly outdated skirt you have on.”

“It’s what I wear to church, Bev. And I thought as Girl Guide leaders we weren’t supposed to dress to attract attention.” She nodded at Beverly’s own costume, a pretty but simply cut buttercup yellow dress with only a touch of lace at the collar and at the ends of the elbow-length sleeves. Compared to Lady Northey’s rose-colored silk, it was definitely plain but far more becoming.

“We are, but I’m telling you that even in that outfit you look quite fetching to the men and
that
explains this feeling that you’re being watched. It’s common gossip that Sam left, and you know there are several eligible gentlemen in the colony. Shall I tell you who is looking?”

“No! Introduce them to Emily.”

“I have, but don’t be surprised if Steven Holly comes over.”

Jade made a low growling noise. “Can’t your sister keep him occupied?”

“Emily’s busy with that new missionary gentleman, Dr. Landrake Dymant, and the postmaster, Mr. Hamilton. We could join them if you like.” Beverly nodded towards her sister, who wore a powder blue linen dress and a wide-brimmed straw hat trimmed in matching satin roses. She was speaking with a middle-aged man with hair the color of wheat. His bushy beard bore traces of gray strands amid the golden brown. He matched Emily’s height of five feet, five inches, but looked shorter because of his disproportionate build. Somehow his legs looked unable to support his expansive chest.

Bev led the way and Jade followed, preferring to stay by her friend and have some hope of intelligent conversation rather than risk Mr. Holly’s silly, self-centered attempts at repartee. She gave a slight tug to Biscuit’s leash and the cat immediately fell in step beside her. They joined the group as Dr. Dymant was explaining his reasons for coming to Kenya Colony.

“I spent several years in India and have acquired a certain respect for the Hindu,” Dymant explained. “But I felt I should look to those Indians who have made their home here in this colony. I have heard that they are not as well looked after as one might hope, but I intend to take care of that
dreckly
,” he said, slipping into an old dialect.

“Their houses and shops are atrocious,” declared Hamilton. “Do you realize that there were four more instances of plague in the Indian district last month? It’s shameful.”

“So much disease in Africa,” said Emily. “Although I understand that Kenya Colony is much healthier than the interior. Why, I read that leprosy still haunts parts of the Belgian Congo.”

“Leprosy is the least of the Congo’s troubles,” said Hamilton. “I fear they’ll never recover from Leopold’s rule. He encouraged every villain to brutalize and torture the natives in order to extract the last ounce of gold that he could wring from that land. Some of the atrocities! And not all from Belgians either. I heard tell of an English overlord who routinely cut off the ears of the laborers and branded them—”

“Ahem,” said Dymant. “Such topics are probably not appropriate for a lady’s ears.” He nodded towards Emily, Bev, and Jade.

“That is what is most curious,” persisted Hamilton. “Some claim that it was an English
woman
in charge—”

Emily gasped and Hamilton blushed. “My apologies. I forgot myself.”

“You are forgiven,” said Emily. She beamed at Dr. Dymant. “It is so good of you to come, Doctor. I’m sure Kenya can use a fine medical man such as yourself.”

Before Dr. Dymant could reply, Hamilton chimed in again. “The colony is a splendid place, to be sure, but it seems to be attracting a considerable amount of riffraff,” he said. “Er, not meaning yourself, Doctor. I was speaking of this latest news in the paper. Death on the Limuru Bridge, no less. The medical examination said that the man had consumed far too much alcohol. That smacks of an accident due to overindulgence.”

“Most tragic,” said Dymant. “Perhaps a suicide?”

“That is what the
Leader
hinted at,” said Hamilton. “Of course, the police have been very closemouthed about it. But the
Leader
even suggested there was a woman involved. One was spotted at the bridge with the inspector but he bundled her out before anyone could speak with her. All they could say was that she wore trousers.” Hamilton looked pointedly at Jade when he said this.

“If you are implying that Jade was the female, Mr. Hamilton,” said Emily, “then you should remember that she’s never without her cheetah, and the paper failed to mention seeing one of those.”

“But did you hear what they found?”

Everyone turned to the new speaker, Steven Holly. The banker wore a belted jacket in a pale brown plaid with a golf-style cap, and looked every bit the dandy he was. Jade stifled a groan. Holly, a notorious womanizer, had pursued her on several occasions, and more frequently since Sam had been gone.

“Yes, Mr. Holly,” said Beverly. “They found a pea-sized piece of gold. Hardly a fortune.”

“No, indeed,” said Holly, “but it wasn’t the nugget that was important. It’s what it represents. I know, because I’m a part of it, too.”

“Part of what?” asked Hamilton and Emily simultaneously.

“Part of a gold mine in the northern territory, of course,” said Holly. He wore a big grin plastered on his face and rocked up and down on his toes as he watched their reactions.

“A gold mine?” asked Beverly. Skepticism riddled her words.

“Yes, Lady Dunbury,” said Holly. “I shall be a rich man.” He smiled and winked at Jade. “But I doubt this was any more than an accident,” he continued. “Dr. Mathews performed an autopsy and could find no obvious cause of death aside from hitting his head in the accident. The man was quite gassed, you know.”

“Dr. Mathews, did you say?” asked Dymant. “I knew a Mathews in medical college. A year ahead of me. Pleasant fellow. Wonder if it’s the same man.” He threw one arm across his broad chest and balanced the other on it, his fingers tapping his lips as he thought. “Can’t remember his first name, something biblical. Peter?”

“Paul?” suggested Emily.

“Yes, I believe it was.”

“Then that’s your man,” said Hamilton. “He does a good bit of work for the police department, when he’s around. But he’s gone extensively, visiting the military outposts and some of the native villages.”

“Yes, quite,” said Holly, impatience edging his voice. “But as I was saying, I’m sure this dead Stockton chap had shares in the same mine that I have. It would be too much of a coincidence to have two such mines up north, wouldn’t it?”