The Leopard's Prey (21 page)

Jade swept up the short black waves that normally graced her forehead and bent over so Bev could see better. At the hairline were five tiny blue marks, three below and two above, representing a lion’s paw. “Satisfied?” asked Jade as she straightened.

Beverly made some
tsk
ing sounds. “Soon it will be impossible to take you into any fine establishment. But at least that one is easily hidden by your hair.”

“I didn’t ask for it, you know. I thought it was henna and would go away after a while.”

Beverly grinned. “It’s what Avery and I love about you, Jade. You’re becoming a walking bit of Africa.” She looked around at her home and sighed. “I know we haven’t lived here very long, but we do love it: the animals, the flowers, the wonderful people.” She suddenly stopped and listened. “Speaking of people, Jade, why don’t I hear any? Didn’t you hire
any
help at all?”

“There’s a man, Nanji, who trims the bushes every month,” said Jade. “His wife brings eggs and milk twice a week. You’ll like her. Her name is Bisa. She also sells chickens to me for Biscuit. Not that they’re hard to come by. Some native’s always hawking chickens by the depot.” As she said this, she realized that was possibly where the bird blood had come from.

“But who cooks for you, or cleans?” Beverly ran her finger along a nearby table, then inspected the dust streak. “Hmm, never mind the last question. I see the answer to that.”

“Bev, you know I don’t want to manage a household. You also know that you don’t just hire a cook here. You also hire two or three kitchen boys, and someone to wait tables, and—”

Beverly waved her hand as a signal to stop. “Yes, I know all about it. I’ll see to it myself tomorrow. Maybe your Bisa can recommend someone.”

The sound of a motorcar and a truck pulling into the drive interrupted their conversation. Slamming doors and male voices shouting in Swahili brought Jade to the window. Beverly tried unsuccessfully to hoist herself out of the chair. “Is that Avery?”

“Yes. He just stepped out of a brand-new Hupmobile. The truck seems to be hired. It’s your luggage and enough men to carry it all inside.” She opened the door for Avery and received a kiss on the cheek for her reward.

“Jade, damn good to see you. Ah,” he said, looking to where Beverly struggled against the cushion, “and there is my darling wife and our little bun in the oven.”

“That bun is the size of a full loaf now,” said Jade. “When
are
you due?”

“We thought early September, but now we’re not so certain,” said Beverly. “Dr. Burkitt believes August is more likely.” She held out a hand. “Help me up so I can direct the luggage.”

“You’ll do no such thing, my love. Jade, I’m counting on you to see to it that Beverly does not get up.”

With that, he stood at the door and, after a quick look at each label, directed the crates and valises to their appropriate rooms. Most were personal items for the master bedroom, but a few went into Avery’s study. The men worked quickly. Avery paid them handsomely and sent them on their way with the truck. Then he eased himself into the matching leather sofa.

“I bought a motorcar, my dear. A new Hupmobile. It’s imperative that we have transport, so I saw no reason to beat about the bush.” He clapped his hands on his knees to underscore his statement. “By thunder, it’s marvelous to be home again, and to see you, too, Jade.”

“Why didn’t you wire that you were coming?” asked Jade, sitting on a footstool by Beverly. “I’d have met you at the train.”

“Beverly and I wanted this to be a surprise.” Avery looked at his wife. “Tell me, Beverly, was Jade surprised to see you?”

“Not half as surprised as I was to see her,” Beverly said.

When Avery looked confused, Jade chimed in, “We sort of startled each other.”

“Ah, indeed,” he said. “Wish I’d have been here to see that. Well, bring us up-to-date on all the news. Tell us what Maddy and Neville are up to. Oh! And how is Sam? Is he still out at the Thompsons’ making his movie? Are you two still … you know … an item?”

“You might have to ask Sam that,” said Jade, the smile evaporating from her face. “He’s been a bit … distant just recently, but then, he’s also a murder suspect.”

“What!” the Dunburys yelled in union.

“Can we not leave you alone for a minute, Jade, without your getting kidnapped or involved in something unseemly?” asked Beverly. She folded her arms across her chest. “Tell us everything. Start at the beginning.”

So Jade began with finding the body in the coffee dryer and reported on all she’d learned since then. She explained Maddy’s desire for a child and finished with Sam’s snappish tone and her confusion over what she might have said or done to provoke it. “We’re supposed to fly tomorrow morning to find a rhino calf for the company, but Inspector Finch told Sam not to fly off anywhere, and even if he doesn’t, I don’t know if Sam still wants me to go with him.”

“You don’t suspect him, of course, do you, Jade?” asked Avery.

“Certainly not,” said Jade. “He knows I’m trying to find evidence to clear him.” She frowned. “But this new job keeps getting in the way, so I’m not making much headway. Maybe that’s what’s bothering him. Maybe he thinks I’m dragging my feet.”

“Don’t you see, darling?” said Beverly. “He’s had a terribly humiliating experience being hauled off to jail like that. He’s probably hurt that you didn’t make more of it.”

“Or try to bust him out,” added Avery with a chuckle. “But it looks as though I need to have a word with Inspector Finch. If he’s been waiting for me to respond to a wire that I never received, he might have his suspicions about the both of you. And speaking of this other job, why on earth are you working for them?”

“Two reasons,” said Jade. “I’m trying to save a few animals earmarked for extermination, and I need the money.”

“But your articles,” said Beverly.

“I still send in copy, but traveling to write about someplace new costs money, Bev. Plus I don’t like being so beholden to you and Avery. You know how I value my independence. I should rent my own rooms somewhere,” said Jade. “I feel as if I’m being kept.”

Avery lit his pipe and puffed away while his wife muttered something about being too independent for her own good. “Hmm,” he mumbled as he studied Jade’s face.

“What?” Jade demanded.

“Nothing.” He looked at his watch. “Getting late in the day now. I’ll see Finch first thing tomorrow morning. I’m famished. I don’t suppose we have any food, do we?”

“We do, and I’ll be happy to be your cook, kitchen help, and waiter this evening,” said Jade, “in return for my keep.” She went out to the little stone well house, where they kept the eggs, and brought in six along with a cut from a wheel of cheese. Next she took a good-sized portion of smoked ham from the larder along with several large potatoes and an onion.

After lighting the stove and setting up the coffeepot, she melted a dollop of butter in a skillet. Jade peeled the potatoes, sliced them paper thin, and threw them into the butter along with some salt and pepper. She diced the ham and onion, adding them to the potatoes. Once the mix was sizzling, Jade beat the eggs with paprika and pepper and poured them into a second, buttered skillet. She stirred the mixtures frequently, pausing only to grate some of the cheese into the eggs. Finally, when the eggs were done, she divided everything onto three plates.

“Voilà,” she said as she served them. “Home-fried potatoes with ham and scrambled eggs.” She went back to the kitchen and returned with the coffeepot and a loaf of bread.

“This smells delicious, Jade,” said Avery. “Doesn’t it, love?”

Beverly’s mouth was already full of food. She settled for nodding vigorously. “I can see why you didn’t hire a cook,” she said once she’d swallowed.

“Just a basic Western breakfast,” Jade said, “but equally delicious for a late supper.”

“Maybe we should hire you,” said Avery. “Except I’d never see tea again, would I?”

Jade apologized and started to rise. Avery stopped her with a “Don’t trouble yourself,” and went to the pantry to rummage around for tea. He returned juggling a teapot, loose tea, a creamer, a cozy, and the sugar bowl. Jade assisted him in setting the supplies on the table.

“Sure you left anything in the pantry, Avery?” Jade asked.

“I couldn’t find any lemons,” he said. “And I must go back for the kettle of water.”

This time Jade told him to sit and fetched the hot water herself. “So what do you make of the Stokes murder?” she asked while she poured water into the pot.

“Most curious,” said Avery. “I met the man, but I can’t recall much about him. What about you, my dear?” he asked Beverly. “Do you recollect anything about this person?”

Beverly shook her head. “Cannot say that I do.” She put the cozy over the teapot to keep it warm while it brewed. “I think I met his wife once after church. Quiet little creature.”

“Physically beaten?” asked Jade.

“Not exactly,” said Beverly. “Those women seem to pull into themselves. When you do get them to speak, they’re always so apologetic. Always assuming they are at fault.” Bev shook her head, her corn silk blond curls jiggling just above her shoulders. “She seemed to have built barricades and was in for a long siege. I remember thinking of that old phrase about still waters and all that.”

“So,” Jade summarized, “to keep with this fortress metaphor, you had the impression that she had hidden capabilities, possibly even the ability to attack.”

“I suppose I did, though it could be that she was merely planning her escape. But it’s hard to imagine any woman leaving her baby behind,” added Beverly. She placed a slender hand on her bulging tummy, an action that spoke of both possessiveness and protection. “And how perfectly awful for poor Maddy to raise her hopes about adopting, only to have the child swept away from her like that. I feel dreadful going on and on about ours in my letters. Do you really think that was Mrs. Stokes’ baby?”

Jade nodded as she swallowed her coffee. “An unhappy wife making plans. But she’d need resources. A boat ticket to England costs money. Mrs. Berryhill said Alice Stokes’ family all died of typhus at the start of the war. That’s why she married Stokes, someone to take care of her. And she seemed to slip away without telling anyone. No one can even tell her that her husband’s dead. She might want to come home or at least have her son rejoin her.”

“For myself, I would be interested in knowing how many people this Stokes was blackmailing,” said Avery. “Finch should interview that Berryhill lad. Harley, is it? Or that other man, Griswell.” He looked at Jade. “Or perhaps you should.”

Jade poured another cup of coffee for herself and buttered a slice of bread. “I
could
do that, when I get back tomorrow, but I don’t know that the boy would talk to me.
You
should see him, Avery. Have a man-to-man talk with him.”

“He doesn’t know me at all,” protested Avery.

Beverly pulled the cozy off the teapot and poured for her husband and herself. “Then order something, my dear,” she suggested, “fifty pounds of flour or something else rather large, and have the boy deliver it. When he comes, I’ll stuff him with cake and you interrogate him. It’s all very simple.”

“Not so simple, my love,” said Avery as he poured milk into Beverly’s tea and added a sugar cube to his own. “You forget that we have no cook, and hence, no cake.”

“Then I’ll open a tin of biscuits and ply him with those. Sweets are all one and the same to a growing boy, I should think.”

Jade chuckled at her friend’s scheming. “Then I’ll leave you to that job,” she said and stood. “In the meantime, I’ll wash the dishes and hit the sack. I have an early date with an airplane tomorrow, assuming that Sam is still letting me go along.”

“Convince him that he needs you either to fly or to work his camera,” said Beverly. “But don’t tell him or the Thompsons that we’re back. We want to surprise them all with a party tomorrow evening. Just get them to come to the house at seven.”

Jade stacked the plates on top of one another. “I doubt I’ll get them to come, Bev, not without giving away your secret. You know Maddy and Neville don’t leave their farm very often, and they were just here this weekend for the fair and the dance.”

Beverly frowned. “I’ll think of something. Perhaps I—” Her words were interrupted by a commotion outside as someone drove fast into the lane. “Whoever could that be?”

Jade put the plates back on the table and went to the window. “It’s Neville,” she said. “And he looks worried, too.” Jade opened the door just as Neville got to the top step, her mind racing with horrid possibilities: Maddy mauled by a lion, their house burned down, Sam crashing.

“We need you, Jade,” he said. “Sam’s collapsed in a raging fever.”

CHAPTER 11

It’s hard to imagine recovering from severe injuries resulting from these
fierce exploits, but that’s when the valor of a warrior shows through.
Healers will remove splintered bone, rejoin the broken ends,
and sew up the wound with sinew. If this cannot be done,
the healer will make a ligature and cut off the limb, all without
benefit of a sedative.

—The Traveler