The Leopard's Prey (14 page)

Jade had looked for Sam that morning, but after waiting for forty-five minutes, she went off on her own, disappointed, searching for Madeline. She saw her waiting anxiously nearby as two prim-looking women in broad, flowered, and feathered hats examined each entry for mildew or rust. Madeline was very properly dressed in a pale blue cotton dress and sturdy yet feminine walking shoes. She wore gloves like most of the ladies there, and a broad straw hat with a blue ribbon. Her graying brown hair, which Jade had cut short a year ago, was now pulled back in a low roll and held in place with a shell comb.

“Maddy,” said Jade as she waved to her friend, “have they judged yours yet?”

“No. They’re just finishing the tea roses. I entered two dark purple cabbage roses.” She pointed to the end of the table.

“They’re beautiful,” said Jade. “You can’t lose.”

Maddy chewed on a glove finger as the two judges conferred over their notes with much bobbing of heads and ribbon flowers. The sight reminded Jade of some gaudy birds’ elaborate courtship ritual. Finally the judges reached an agreement and placed a broad blue ribbon in front of a velvety red tea rose. Muted applause rose from the gloved spectators, followed immediately by the buzzing hum of whispered conversations.

Maddy gripped Jade’s arm as the judges began on the cabbage roses.

“Where’s Neville?” asked Jade.

“Either with the potatoes, the onions, or the coffee.”

“And Sam?” Jade also wanted to ask Maddy where her notes were so she could read them, but she knew that her friend’s mind was centered on the judges.

“Sam’s around somewhere. He brought his camera. I think he’s taking footage of Neville and the coffee competition.” She clutched Jade’s arm. “Oh, look. They’re examining mine now.”

Jade allowed Madeline to squeeze her arm and concentrated on watching the crowds rather than on the painful constriction.
St. Peter’s mother, but Maddy’s strong!
But then, what else would she expect of a hardworking farmwife? It made Jade wonder if Stokes’ killer was a woman and not a man. Maybe his wife hadn’t run away after all, at least not very far. Had she come back for her child? Had there been a struggle in which Stokes hit his head and fell into a tub of water? Mrs. Stokes was a small woman and not a farmer. Still, fear or fury could lend a lot of strength.

The scenario didn’t feel right to Jade, mainly because of what had happened afterward. While she admitted that a mother might resort to murder to get her child back, she couldn’t conceive of a woman of Alice Stokes’ small stature hoisting her husband into the coffee dryer or staging a suicide.
Maybe she had help. But then why leave the child behind?

Whoever it was knew about the corn knife Stokes was demonstrating.
Who grows maize around here?
A name immediately flashed into her head:
Alwyn Chalmers.
But just as quickly, she rejected the idea. Anyone coming into the store could have seen the gadget. It didn’t even have to be one of the farmers. The most likely candidate was his own partner, Winston Berryhill. Just how angry had he become when he found out that Stokes was cooking the books?

And how, Jade wondered, could she divert Inspector Finch’s attention away from Sam and onto Mr. Berryhill? Surely the embezzlement had been reported to him. As she speculated on what information she needed to convince Finch, she felt her arm being jostled.

“They’re making their decision,” whispered Madeline.

Once again, the ritualized bobbing of plumed hats began. Beside Jade, Maddy jiggled ever so slightly in tightly controlled anticipation. Then one of the ladies draped a blue ribbon around Madeline’s roses, and Maddy squealed with delight. Jade cheered her on with a “Hooray, Maddy!” while the audience looked on with mixed reactions and patted their gloved hands together. A few women frowned at the overt emotional display, most smiled politely and wished it had been their roses, and several nodded to one another as if to say, “What else would you expect from a country bumpkin and an American?”

“Oh, wait till I show Neville,” Maddy said as she stroked the precious ribbon.

Sam walked toward them from the edge of the crowd. “Well done, Madeline,” he said. His linen shirt was open at the throat and his sleeves were rolled up. He had his tripod and camera slung over one shoulder and gripped a leash with his other hand.

Jade felt something butt her legs and looked down. Biscuit had greeted her in his own cheetah fashion. “Sam! I missed you this morning. I was afraid you didn’t come. And you brought Biscuit. Thank you. I’ve missed him at the house.”

“He had a good run alongside my motorcycle.” Sam pulled out a pocket handkerchief and dabbed at his forehead. “Sorry I was late this morning.” He tried to stifle a grimace.

“Are you all right?” asked Jade.

Sam nodded. “I’m fine. Just a headache. I flew over those farms yesterday. The ones you’d been working at. Saw some interesting things.” He lowered his tripod to the ground and leaned on it. “Well done, Madeline. That made a great sequence for the motion picture.”

“What?” Maddy exclaimed. “You were filming me?” She immediately patted at the stray hairs that refused to stay back in the roll. “I must have looked a sight.”

“You looked lovely,” Sam said. “I hope you don’t mind. I thought about asking you but I didn’t want you to be self-conscious. You were certainly more fun than the group with the potatoes. Most expressionless lot I’ve ever seen.”

“Did we win?” asked Madeline.

“Not on the potatoes,” said Sam. Madeline’s shoulders drooped. “But your bag of coffee beans took first.” Maddy’s eyes opened wide and she bounced again. Sam laughed along with her. “I got Neville’s reaction on film as well. He was a bit more restrained, but he had a great grin as the men around him all clapped him on the back. I left after that and he went on to the onions.”

“That’s wonderful, Maddy,” said Jade. “You beat the Karen Coffee Company. You can ask a higher price next time you sell.”

“Yes. Assuming we get our coffee dryer cleaned and the door back before we need it in another six months for the big crop.”

Jade saw this as the opening she needed to discuss their information. She broached the topic obliquely to begin with, since there were so many people in earshot. “Neville should ask for the door back, in a firm manner. Finch should be done with it by now.”

“That chicken or duck blood should not be too difficult to clean out,” Sam said. Then he added more recent news in a softer voice. “Especially since Constable Miller was back yesterday with battery lamps. He went into the drum and dusted and photographed and scraped everything he could off the insides. It’s probably cleaner in there now than it was when Neville bought it.”

Jade wondered what sort of materials Miller found inside. Hairs? Fibers? She’d read an article in a popular magazine about the information that police could find by photographing these items under a microscope. As a photographer herself, she found the topic fascinating. As a suspect or a friend of one, her interest took another, less academic direction.

Biscuit, restless from standing too long in one spot, tugged on his leash. “I want to talk about this more, but not now. We should separate,” said Jade, “and gather information.”

“How?” asked Maddy.

Jade shrugged. “Eavesdrop. Or, in your case, since the body was found in your dryer, use that to initiate conversation. Maybe someone has heard something useful.”

“I’ll find Neville,” Maddy said. “I’d rather do this with him nearby. By the way, I want to thank you, Jade, and you, too, Sam, for putting those notices in the papers. I bought a copy of the
Leader
this morning.” She pulled the paper from her large handbag and gave it to Jade.

Jade flipped past the steamer arrivals to the public notices and Maddy’s ad. From there, her attention turned to an article headed
Native Trouble Brewing?
It mentioned a Kikuyu named Harry Thuku who was urging villagers to stop working. Next to it was an essay on native superstitions. “Let’s hope it does some good,” said Jade, handing back the paper. “Now, everyone skeedaddle and get to work. We’ll all meet up this afternoon at Bev and Avery’s house, where we can talk in private.”

Sam waited until Madeline left to find Neville before speaking his mind. “I think we should stick together, Jade. You and me.”

“No, Sam. You have a perfect excuse to infiltrate and study people.” She pointed to his camera. “You could even use it as part of the subject matter. Tell them you want to document the horrified reactions of the townspeople to this outrageous incident. You don’t even have to load film if you don’t want to. They won’t know that you’re cranking empty reels.”

“But you could come with me.” Sam found an empty bench and sat down.

Jade saw his face, flushed just a moment ago, blanch. “Are you sure you’re all right, Sam?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “I’ve probably caught a cold.” He forced a grin. “It is winter here in Nairobi, you know.”

Jade chuckled. “Right. As if moving a few miles south of the equator makes a difference.” Then she had a thought and sobered. “Your leg isn’t becoming a problem, is it?”

Sam laughed. “That’s it. I’ve got termites or a tree fungus.”

Jade laughed in spite of her concern. “I meant your real leg on top. I would think that having that wooden one underneath would rub sores or something.”

Sam shook his head. “Nope, but,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her down onto the seat next to him, “I do appreciate your concern.”

Biscuit butted his head before Sam could show his appreciation. “This cheetah needs to walk, Sam,” Jade said as she rose.

“Wait,” said Sam. “About Finch and what happened with Stokes …”

Jade sat back down and waited for him to continue. People milled around them, making any private conversation nearly impossible.

“I hit him,” Sam said. “I didn’t intend to, but I did.” He studied her face.

Jade frowned, then nodded. “And that’s why Stokes suspects you. But how do you unintentionally hit someone?”

“I know fuel costs are rising, but that last bill was outrageous. In light of his skimming off the books, I can now see why. I yelled at him and waved the bill and … well, maybe I waved it a bit too close to his jaw on purpose. But he was still standing when I left.”

“But Finch probably doesn’t believe you,” Jade said.

When Sam shook his head, she said, “Then I need to do something about that. Can’t have Finch locking up my friends.” Jade stood up again.

“Where are you going?” Sam asked.

“Hunting.”

SAM WISHED HE FELT BETTER. Right now his head felt like two bulls butting, and the headache wouldn’t go away despite those aspirin Jade always recommended. He was running a bit warm, so he’d loosened his collar and rolled up his shirt-sleeves. It was possible that he
had
caught a chill while flying yesterday.
Should have worn your leather jacket, you dolt.
But even with his self-chiding, Sam didn’t believe it was a cold. No, it was worry. Was Finch focusing only on him? Men had been convicted on less evidence before. True, Jade was on his side, but her reason stung.

What was it she said? Can’t let Finch arrest my friends?
Friends! He wanted more, much more.
One thing at a time, partner. Can’t ask a woman to marry you when you’re going to jail.

He’d just have to clear his name. Find out something to remove him from suspicion. That was when Sam saw four men standing in front of the Stokes and Berryhill booth, and decided that if there was ever an opportune spot to gather information, this was it. A teenage boy who Sam presumed was Berryhill’s son, Harley, stood behind a plank desk, looking as bored as only a young man impatient to mingle with his friends could. Sam stood the tripod on the ground in front of him and introduced himself to the group.

“Gentlemen, I’m Sam Featherstone, and as you can tell by my accent, I’m an American. You can probably guess by this camera, I’m also a motion picture maker, and I sure would like to include some of this fine fair.”

The men, curious about the camera, stepped closer.

“I say. Are we in your way or something, young fellow?” asked the oldest. Unlike the others, he hung back.

“No. As a matter of fact, I want you
in
the picture.” Sam nodded to the Berryhill boy. “You, too, if you don’t mind.”

Suddenly, everyone stood a little straighter, and several of the men took off their hats and ran their fingers through their hair to set it in order. As if on cue, they formed a line and struck a pose together.

“Oh, no. You misunderstand me, gentlemen,” said Sam. “This is a
motion
picture camera. I want you to move and talk to one another, just as you were doing before.”

“I say,” repeated the old man. He blew out his bushy mustache. “Just what sort of motion picture is this that we would want to participate?” His companions nodded in agreement.

“I am actually filming the life of the coffee farmers Mr. and Mrs. Neville Thompson to be exact. That includes this fair and the people at it.”

“Indeed! Well. Hmm, that is an altogether different matter, then,” said the elderly man. He pushed up the brim of his solar topee, exposing a crop of hair as snowy as his mustache. “I know the Thompsons. First-rate people. Good workers. Smart fellow, that Thompson. Took my advice last year on an engine. Naturally we shall help then. You’ll be documenting that, I presume. Of course you will. Might have expected it.” He waved his companions forward. “Snap to, gentlemen. Look lively, now. Help this young fellow out. Er, what did you say your name was?”

“Featherstone. Sam Featherstone. I’m an engineer, so I’m also working for Thompson.”

“Naturally,” decreed the old man. “Only decent thing to do. Interesting people, you Americans. Good of you to help out in the war. A bit late, though.”

The men, having the approval of the old man, outdid one another in their dramatic endeavors. First they kept finding pretexts to face the camera until they appeared to speak to young Harley over their shoulders. Next they fumbled about picking up a gadget or two and struck excited or incredulous poses complete with forehead slapping and wild gesticulations, all except the elderly man. He watched his companions with what appeared to be a great deal of amusement. Every few moments, his shoulders shook and his magnificent, bushy white mustache fluttered as he blew out a puff of air.