Princess Play (18 page)

The mark still remained, but it was fading, albeit slowly; besides, Maryam was becoming used to the headscarf. She estimated another month before Aliza's hair would just look very short, and she too could leave the scarf at home.

She was ready to take the reins again on the investigation, which she regarded as becalmed without her leadership. Osman was summoned to her house for a general discussion, during which he offered
a précis
of what had gone on, and what had not. There appeared little progress in actually finding who killed Jamillah and far too much talk about grasshoppers, which had no bearing on the case.

‘We aren't here to catch a
pelesit
,' she reminded him curtly, and could not resist adding, ‘even if your wife would really enjoy it.'

Osman looked hurt, but didn't argue. Maryam elaborated. ‘I know she's really interested in the case, I could see it when she visited, and that's wonderful. She's your wife, she should be. But let's not concentrate on all the …' she thought for a minute, then waved a dismissive hand, ‘exotic Kelantan … spirits and such. There seem to be plenty of flesh and blood suspects who could have done it without getting
into jinn
.'

She looked at him meaningfully, expecting agreement, which she received. She scratched her scarf around her mark. ‘It's itchy,' she told him. ‘I can't wait till it's healed.'

She then returned to the matter of apprehending the killer. ‘Rubiah thinks it's Murad, but that's because she doesn't like him.'

‘I don't like him either,' Osman said. ‘I don't like the whole family, and I'd be very happy to throw all of them in jail. But we've got to prove something first.'

‘I hate to think Rahim …'

‘We've left him alone …'

‘No more,' Maryam told him decisively. ‘It's time to wrap this up.'

Which led directly to Rahim sitting in Osman's office, at the large, scraped table on a chair with one leg slightly shorter than the rest, facing Maryam directly. Osman, as was often his habit, sat off to the side, taking notes and occasionally interjecting when he felt strongly about a comment.

‘Rahim,' Maryam began mournfully, ‘When I first met you, I thought you were such a nice boy. A man, I mean. Hard-working, polite, honest. Both
Mak Cik
Rubiah and I talked about how pleased
Mak Cik
Jamillah must have been to see her daughter with such a man.'

Without any money, she forbore to add, but she believed Jamillah would have gotten past that, had she lived. All market women knew that hard work formed the basis of good business. Rahim hung his head and looked embarrassed and uncomfortable. Well, that was a sign of decent character, anyway.

‘And then you ran off to get married. Marriage is a good thing, and given what you did, it was the only thing. I wished you two hadn't done it, it's wrong, and I don't defend it, but having done it, you did what you had to.
Mak Cik
Jamillah would have agreed, I'm sure.

‘But when Zaiton grabbed Aliza, and hurt her like she did,' both Rahim and Osman winced just thinking about it, ‘that changes everything. Now Zaiton cried and looked confused and the men in the
kampong
and the police, they didn't want to press it. There was enough going on, with two serious head wounds.'

She looked hard at him, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.

‘But Ashikin thought – and you know, I listen to her, because she's smart.' Osman could not have agreed more heartily, but would himself have added ‘intimidating'. ‘Zaiton believed you'd attacked me and was trying to draw attention away from you.' She flicked the ashes of her cigarette into a battered ashtray, and Osman silently leaned over to offer her another. Rahim also took one.

‘What do you think of what I've said?'

‘You won't believe me now.'

‘Maybe not. But you really must try. Right,
Cik
Osman?' Osman nodded and looked official.

Rahim sighed. ‘I was going over to see you,
Mak Cik
. Not to hit you over the head, why would I do that? And where would I have gotten an
enam sembilan
? I wanted to talk to you and tell you what was happening with us, that we were going to Sungei Golok and why, so you wouldn't think we were two suspects running away. Though why you would suspect anyone of killing their own parents …' No one spoke.

‘So I was coming to see you. And as I was coming into the
kampong
, I heard all the commotion and realized you'd been hurt. I decided not to continue, because if I came there to help, everyone would ask what I was doing there, and our secret would have come out, and everyone would know.'

‘Everyone knows now,' Maryam pointed out to him.

He nodded sadly. ‘I was hoping to do it quietly, but then, after what happened with Zaiton – and
Mak Cik
, I'm very sorry it did – she couldn't tell her father, so she just left, and then he went to the police, of course, and then … well, you know. But it wasn't because I didn't want to help you. There were so many people around I knew you'd be cared for, and I still thought, like I said, we could keep it quiet and no one would know.

‘I look back now and think how stupid I was, believing that no one would find out. And if I had come forward, you wouldn't be asking me this.'

‘Probably not,' Maryam agreed.

‘After the
main puteri
, Zaiton went to speak to her mother, to ask her when we could get married. I was in the house, but not in the room with them. I couldn't hear them, but I could see
Mak Cik
Jamillah was tired, and I don't think she wanted to discuss it then. I tried to tell Zaiton that earlier; a couple of days more wouldn't make any difference. But she can be stubborn.' Maryam silently agreed.

‘She went right into the bedroom with her mother, saying she was going to help her into bed, but I know she wanted to talk about it. Then she came out a few minutes later and said her mother was sleeping, which the
bomoh
told us would happen.' Maryam knew all about that. ‘And then I went home.'

‘So
Mak Cik
Jamillah didn't come out of the bedroom again after Zaiton put her to sleep.'

‘No, she was asleep. Well, she didn't come out while I was there anyway. Maybe she did after I left? But Zaiton said she was asleep.'

‘So Zaiton would have been the last to see her.'

‘Except for her father. I mean, he was sleeping right next to her.'

‘True.'

Rahim looked at her with horror. ‘You don't mean you're thinking …? That wouldn't be possible. No.' He looked from one to the other.

‘We're thinking everything, Rahim,' she said tiredly. ‘We're keeping an open mind.'

‘That's it. You can go now,' Osman told him. ‘But not to Thailand, you understand?' Rahim nodded glumly. ‘Because if you try that again, I'll arrest you.'

He nodded again and shuffled out of the office. He looked broken.

Chapter XXV

Maryam, Rubiah and Osman sat on Aziz's porch drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and eating Rubiah's cakes while an anxious Zaiton hovered nearby, offering more refreshments and looking to her father for help.

Maryam reflected it was actually quite pleasant sitting here, if you didn't remember why you came. It was late afternoon, so the air was cooler than it had been at noon, the cakes were excellent, the cigarettes were Osman's, and the coffee thick and sweet. Really, a Kelantan paradise; but then thinking about being here to question people ruined the atmosphere. She strove to enjoy her coffee and cigarette before settling down to business.

‘How are you feeling?' she asked Zaiton.

‘Oh fine,' she answered nervously, looking constantly toward her father as though he might know better how she felt.

‘Not sick in the mornings?'

‘Well, maybe sometimes.'

‘Eat plain rice when you get up,' Rubiah advised. ‘It'll settle your stomach.'

Zaiton nodded and fidgeted.

‘
Pak Cik
Aziz,' Osman asked finally, ‘would you mind if we spoke to Zaiton alone for a moment?'

With a long look at his daughter, who looked back imploringly, he turned and walked down the stairs. Rahman invited him for a coffee at a nearby stall, and they walked away together, with Aziz frequently looking back as if to send Zaiton moral support.

Rubiah was at her most maternal: understanding and sympathetic, yet allowing no nonsense. ‘Now Zaiton, tell us what happened after the
main puteri
.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘Just what I said. After the ceremony, did your mother go to bed? She must have been tired.'

‘I know I was,' Maryam chimed in.

‘Yes, she was. I helped her to bed.'

‘Did you discuss anything with her?'

‘She was tired.'

‘Did you talk about your wedding?'

‘She was tired …'

‘Zaiton,' Rubiah adjusted her glasses and looked down her nose at the girl. ‘If you don't want to answer questions here …'

‘We did … a little.'

‘And?'

‘She was very tired, like I told you. She just wanted to go to sleep. She said we could talk in the morning.'

‘Why was that a problem?'

Zaiton commenced squirming, making Rubiah herself nervous. ‘It was just that, you see …'

‘Listen to me,' Maryam said softly, but with menace, ‘I think we've all had enough of your acting and crying and being confused. Now, you tell us what happened without any more fuss. And hurry up!'

Zaiton looked pleadingly at Osman, who sat stone-faced. He agreed she had been allowed to get away with this far too long. She deflated.

‘It was just that I wanted to get it going! She'd put it off a couple of times because she was sick and she was waiting to have the
main puteri
finished first. She knew I had to do something soon! I didn't want to wait till morning, and then she'd say she had to have breakfast first, and then something else, and before you know it, even more time would have passed and then what? I told her, and she just lay down and fell asleep! Just like that.'

‘Did you do anything to her?'

‘Do anything?'

‘To keep her awake?'

‘No, why? There was no point. She was already asleep.'

‘Are you sure you didn't shake her or anything?'

‘Are you asking me if I killed my own mother?'

‘I'm asking if you shook her.'

‘No! She was asleep. She wasn't going to talk about anything.'

‘Was the window opened in the bedroom?'

Zaiton thought about it. ‘Yes, about halfway. The shutters were opened a little. She liked fresh air.'

Rubiah nodded. She did, too.

‘And one more thing. Did your father go to sleep right away after that?'

‘No, my relatives were all here, Zainab and her family. We stayed up for a while, we were all so happy that she was cured. No one was in a hurry to go to sleep.'

Zaiton was dispatched to the kitchen when her father came back, and they reconvened on the porch. Again, coffee was served, cigarettes offered, cakes passed around. Maryam was putting her weight back on faster than she would have thought possible – but then, for the past weeks she'd been living on a cake-heavy diet.

‘Is she alright?'Aziz asked about Zaiton.

‘Of course, she is. Why wouldn't she be?'

‘I'm just asking. I thought she looked upset.' He craned his neck as if trying to see through the wall of the house to the kitchen.

‘Nothing to be upset about,' Maryam said briskly. ‘
Abang
Aziz, tell me, what happened after the
main puteri
?'

Aziz shrugged. ‘We came back here, all the family. Jamillah was so tired, she was practically asleep standing up. Zaiton took her into the bedroom to put her to sleep.'

‘Did they argue?'

‘No, I didn't hear anything. She was asleep!'

‘Alright. And then?'

He looked confused. ‘Well, we talked for a while. Zainab was here with her family, and Jamillah's sisters, and my family. We just sat here and talked.'

‘For how long?'

‘Oh, at least two hours, I would think.'

‘And you went to sleep after that?'

‘Yes.'

‘Next to Jamillah?'

‘Where else?' He seemed mystified.

‘And she seemed fine when you went to sleep.'

‘She seemed asleep!' He began to look angry. ‘Did I check her? No, she was asleep, turned away towards the window. And I went to sleep. And in the morning, I tried to wake her, and you know what happened then. You were here!'

‘Yes,' Maryam said, absently. ‘Did you notice anyone hanging around the house?'

Now he was angry. ‘If I had, don't you think I would have said so already? Would I have kept quiet about it?' He glared at all of them. ‘What a question!'

‘I'm just asking,
Abang
,' she said mildly. ‘Just trying to get all the facts together.'

‘Well, now you have them.' Aziz stood up, ending the meeting. ‘So you can do with them what you like.'

Chapter XXVI

He thinks Zaiton killed her,' Maryam told Osman as they walked back to her house. ‘That's why he's so angry.'

‘Really? How could he live with her?'

Maryam shrugged. ‘I'm just telling you that's what I see there. Rubiah?'

Rubiah was adjusting her headscarf and pushed her glasses farther up her nose. ‘It's very sad,' she replied. ‘It feels like that to me, too. He's lost his wife and doesn't want to lose his daughter and grandchild now. It's a terrible choice.'

Osman protested. ‘But how can he protect a child who's killed her mother?'

‘I didn't say she had,' Maryam told him, kicking away a goose who was following her and getting ready to start making noise. ‘I just said Aziz thinks so, or is afraid so. That's why he isn't pushing anyone to hurry up the investigation.