‘Of course! I hate troubling you…’ Azrina began.
‘Not at all,’ Maryam said grandly.
‘Eat!’ commanded Rubiah with a significant look towards Osman. He began explaining the nature of each cake under Rubiah’s watchful eye.
‘You must have eaten quite a few of these,’ his wife said, ‘to know so much about them.’
‘We try,’ Rubiah told her. ‘He’s so skinny.’
Maryam nodded. ‘We try to feed him whenever we can.’
‘Cakes aren’t enough to live on though,’ Rubiah said. ‘I mean, you can make a meal out of them…’
‘And he has,’ Maryam added. ‘But it isn’t enough. But now that you’re here, you can take care of him!’
Azrina smiled at Osman and nodded. ‘You know, Mak Chik,’ she said, leaning in closer, ‘my husband told me about Rahim confessing. Who would have thought?’
‘I never suspected him. Did you?’ Rubiah asked Osman. ‘Not really,’ Osman admitted. He turned to Maryam. ‘But you did.’
She shook her head. ‘Not as much as I should have. I was blinded by his manners, and because there were other people so…crazy!’
Osman nodded. ‘But it was you who kept the case open. I think I would have taken Hamidah’s word for it if you had agreed.’
Maryam leaned back against the wall, taking a deep drag of the cigarette. ‘I thought—that is, I still think—Hamidah may have told Kamal to kill Jamillah, but he was reluctant. That’s why she came to Penambang to do it herself. Well, Kamal isn’t as mean as either of his parents, but after a few years with his wife, who knows?’
‘Will they stay married, do you think?’ Azrina asked.
Maryam shrugged. ‘I don’t know if his mother-in-law will want him now that the family is so notorious and he’s in jail. We’ll see how devoted she is to family.’
‘But Mak Chik,’ Osman pursued, ‘why didn’t you think she did it?’
‘Oh, I thought she would have, no question. She killed her own husband practically with her bare hands!’
‘But what a husband,’ Rubiah interjected. ‘I can understand that.’
‘I believed Kamal when he said he found Jamillah already cold. That eliminated Hamidah and Kamal. Murad was mean, but he didn’t care enough to kill her. I think he would have killed if it suited him, but Jamillah was no threat, so why?’ They all nodded.
‘That meant it had to be her family, someone in the house who no one would question. It could well have been Zaiton. I mean, she spent time alone with her mother putting her to sleep, and surely she wouldn’t look suspicious at all. But a daughter killing her mother? I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, just that I didn’t want to believe it.
‘It’s wrong to look at a crime in that way, I know, but what an awful thing that would be. No, I couldn’t think about that. Then it was either Aziz or Rahim. Aziz had no reason at all. By default, then, it was Rahim. But I didn’t get to that fast enough to save Zaiton.’
‘You tried, Mak Chik,’ Azrina objected. ‘You asked to have her released.’
‘I couldn’t produce the actual killer. Not then. But I wonder if Zaiton would have been any better off if she knew it had been Rahim. She was heartbroken either way, poor thing.’
‘He should have stayed with her.’
‘He should have left her mother alone! It was silly! Really, what choice did Jamillah have with Zaiton already pregnant? Of course, she would have agreed to their marriage, after making them suffer a bit. There was absolutely no need to kill her as though she was standing in their way and would never budge. It was a waste of life, and look what it led to? How many people died because of it?’
Maryam willed herself to calm down. This was, she reminded herself, her day off. ‘And even those who survived, like me, like Aliza, look what happened here. No, in the end, he was the devil himself with good manners.’ She looked morose.
‘Are you still interested in crime, then?’ Rubiah asked Azrina. She blushed and looked down for a moment, and then looked up with a mischievous grin. ‘I must admit, I am. Though it’s a lot harder to deal with in real life than it is in books. I can always guess the killer there, but this time, I really had no idea.’
‘It’s your first time,’ Maryam said kindly. ‘Just wait till you get some practice.’ She took another sip of her tea. ‘But it’s dangerous. I think I’m getting too old for it. Maybe you should take over helping Osman, I mean. That way you can work together.’
‘How is your Kelantanese coming along?’ Rubiah asked, her glasses glinting in the sunlight.
‘Well, not so fast. I have to try to make it faster.’
Rubiah nodded. ‘It’s important. Otherwise, how will you know what people are telling you?’ She gave Osman a significant glance.
‘And he needs an interpreter,’ Maryam added bluntly.
‘You’d think by now…’ Rubiah began.
‘Not now,’ Maryam put a hand on her arm. ‘This is no time to criticize.’
‘You’re right,’ Rubiah relented. ‘You’ve done a wonderful job.’
Osman tried to smile with a mouthful of cake, but it was difficult.
‘I hear you’re planning a wedding,’ Azrina began. ‘Your son?’
Maryam nodded. ‘It’s my next project.’
‘The songket will be marvelous, I think.’
‘They’ll never lack for fabric or fish sauce,’ Rubiah told her. ‘If they can live on just that, they’re set for life.’
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My grateful thanks to Shahmim Dhilawala, Puteh Shaharizan Shaari and Ashikin Mohd Ali Flindall for their insightful comments on Malay custom. Doug Raybeck, who first introduced me to Kelantan, taught me Malay in college and offered valuable help, not the least of which was his analysis of Main Puteri and its meaning in Kelantanese society. Bonnie Tessler constructed my website, Valerie Vogel read my books with enthusiasm, and Esther Kirk, Michele Bowen and Bryn Barnard read tirelessly, draft after draft. Joanne Spicehandler encouraged me, Richard Lord, my excellent editor, worked wonders on the text, and Phil Tatham believed in the series.
Thank you all!
For more Mak Chik Maryam and other “Foreign” mysteries
from Felony & Mayhem Press, please visit our website:
FelonyAndMayhem.com
All the characters and events portrayed in this work are fictitious.
SPIRIT PLAY
A Felony & Mayhem “Foreign” mystery
PUBLISHING HISTORY
First edition (as Princess Play ) (Monsoon Books, Singapore): 2013
Felony & Mayhem edition (first US edition): 2018
Copyright © 2013 by Barbara Ismail
All rights reserved
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63194-150-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ismail, Barbara, author.
Title: Spirit play / Barbara Ismail.
Other titles: Princess play
Description: Felony & Mayhem edition. | New York : Felony & Mayhem Press, 2018. | Series: A Felony & Mayhem mystery
Identifiers: LCCN 2018017512| ISBN 9781631941467 (trade pbk.) | ISBN 9781631941504 (ebook)
Subjects: | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3609.S583 P75 2018 | DDC 813/.6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017512
Spirit Play Page 20