Love and Death Among the Cheetahs

by Rhys Bowen

  “Or the lion crept up from behind and leaped into the car and he jumped out to save himself?”

  Darcy shook his head. “There is no sign of a lion in the motorcar. There would be paw prints, ripped leather seats. And his travel bag and evening shoes were on the backseat, undisturbed.”

  I helped Darcy lower the blanket to cover the body then place rocks to hold it in place.

  “At least hopefully the poor chap will remain undisturbed until we can get help,” he said.

  As we picked our way back to the road suddenly Darcy froze. “Look at this,” he said. He pointed to one of the thorny bushes. “Doesn’t that look like a scrap of lion’s fur, caught on this bush?” He pointed to a tuft of yellowish hair. It definitely did look the right color to be from a lion. “Well, at least it confirms one thing, doesn’t it? But it doesn’t appear that the lion dragged him from the car. There would be more signs of grass and branches being disturbed.”

  “Would he have got out of his car if he spotted a lion and decided to kill it?”

  “Where is his gun?” Darcy asked. “I didn’t see one lying beside him.”

  “No,” I agreed. “And I would have thought it was rather silly to try and kill a lion in the pitch-dark.”

  “Very silly,” Darcy said. “Look around his car. There are patches of mud and soft earth between the rocks. Do you see any pugmarks?”

  We both looked but there were none.

  “Look! There is his footprint where he stepped down from the car,” I said. There was a clear print of a man’s shoe in a muddy patch. And close to it another one.

  “So he got out and just stood there,” Darcy said. “Why?”

  “He heard a noise in the bushes? He got out, went to investigate and the lion got him?” Even as I said the words they made no sense. “He wouldn’t ever have done that.” I shook my head firmly. “He saved me from those ants. He spotted them right away. I didn’t. He knew this place, Darcy. He wouldn’t have taken silly risks.”

  “Unless . . .” Darcy paused. “We don’t know how much booze and cocaine he took last night. And we don’t know when he headed home. What if he was still really tipsy, which gave him stupid bravado. You know—‘I’m going to kill this lion with my bare hands.’”

  “It’s possible, I suppose. The only good explanation, really. And the other question is, why did he leave Idina’s so early? Did he have to get back home for something this morning?”

  “Maybe he had promised Angel that he wouldn’t spend the whole night there. He realized he’d stayed a little too late and was speeding home,” Darcy suggested.

  “Until something made him stop here of all places.” I looked around. The mist had now almost lifted and the boulders rose, dark and forbidding, on either side of the road. “It’s almost like a perfect place for an ambush.”

  Darcy nodded. “It certainly seems that way. I wonder if the ambusher was animal or human.”

  “Human?”

  “It’s a possibility,” Darcy said, thinking this through. “Someone with a grudge against Lord Cheriton waits until he has to slow to negotiate this narrow part of the road. He gets out. The other man shoots him.”

  I looked down at the ground where I was standing. “There’s only one flaw with that,” I said. “There are no other tire tracks but ours and Lord Cheriton’s. His tires are extra wide and knobbly. See, here are his marks from last night . . . the last car to come along this way from the direction of his house toward Idina’s after us. And here are ours this morning, covering his as he returned. Besides, everyone else was still at Idina’s when we left.”

  “You’re turning into quite a detective,” Darcy said, giving me a nod of approval. He walked a little way ahead along the track. “No vehicles came after him from the top of the valley last night, as you said. And it doesn’t appear that any vehicle followed him from Idina’s. If someone—a human—was lying in wait to ambush him it would have to be from a nearby house. Otherwise it’s a good six or seven miles in either direction.”

  “We certainly didn’t see any lights as we drove past last night,” I said. “And anyway, weren’t all the inhabitants of the valley at Idina’s?”

  “Except his wife and children,” Darcy pointed out. “Also Diddy and Cyril. But I can’t see how any of them could have managed six or seven miles in the dark on foot. After all, we have Diddy’s car.”

  “They couldn’t and they wouldn’t,” I said. “And why would they want to? If any of them wanted to bump him off they could do so on his own property.”

  Darcy nodded. “You’re right. And there is that tuft of lion fur caught on the bush. A lion figured in this somehow. We need to get back to Idina’s and try to make sense of this. See what might have happened last night that might be relevant.”

  “I did hear a lot of doors slamming and feet running,” I said.

  “Perhaps he had a row with someone,” Darcy said.

  “If so, they didn’t follow him,” I pointed out. “I can’t see other vehicle tracks, can you?”

  “I suppose we could have driven over them, if we took exactly the same route, and we had the same sized vehicle,” Darcy admitted, staring at the red earth of the track. “But I really don’t see . . .”

  “Another person might have ridden in the motorcar with him,” I suggested.

  Darcy bent to examine Bwana’s car. He sniffed at the air. “No expensive perfume. No dropped gloves or other clues. Anyway, that wouldn’t make sense. If someone had ridden with him and killed him then where are they now? Are there any estates nearby? If not, the person would not have gone home on foot. It’s several miles to anywhere. And I don’t see any footprints on the track, do you?”

  I checked in both directions. “No,” I admitted.

  He sighed. “This is very perplexing, Georgie. I hate it when things don’t make sense.”

  I stood beside the motorcar, helping him to reverse down a tricky stretch of road until we came to a bit of a clearing where he could actually turn around. I climbed in and we drove like the devil back to Idina’s house.

  Chapter 19

  AUGUST 12

  AT IDINA’S HOUSE AGAIN

  I am still shaking. I’ve seen dead bodies before, but not like this. Bwana’s body was a horrid, bloody mess with great chunks taken out of him. I really wish I was safe at home.

  Only a couple of African servants were up and about when we arrived back at Idina’s. They came to the front door on hearing our motorcar drive up.

  “Bwana O’Mara, you forget something?” the head servant asked, coming over to the car.

  “No, there has been an accident,” Darcy said. “You need to wake up the memsahib right way.”

  “Wake her now?” He looked worried. “Oh goodness gracious, sir . . . She doesn’t like it if we disturb her after one of her parties.”

  “Then I’ll wake her,” Darcy said. He strode in the direction of Idina’s bedroom and banged on the door. “Idina, wake up. Emergency.”

  “Bugger off!” came a muffled and grumpy voice.

  “Idina. I need you to call the police. It’s an emergency. Lord Cheriton is dead.”

  There was a long pause then the bedroom door opened. Idina definitely looked the worse for wear . . . bleary-eyed, blinking like a mole in the daylight and with her robe hastily thrown onto a naked body.

  “Is this some kind of joke?” she demanded. “It better not be someone’s idea of a joke.”

  “No joke. We found his motorcar parked on the road and his body in the bushes,” Darcy said. “We have to call the police and notify Freddie Blanchford.”

  “Oh my God. Was it an accident?” she asked. “Was he driving too fast and hit something?”

  “I don’t know what it was yet. He didn’t hit anything. He stopped his car and got out and his body is now half-eaten by animals of some kind. We need to g
et hold of the police as quickly as possible.”

  “How absolutely horrible.” Idina looked as if she might throw up. “Bring me coffee,” she barked at one of the servants who were hovering as close as they dared, not wanting to miss any excitement. She turned back into the room. “Get up, Pixie. You’ll need to be decent before the police get here.”

  I couldn’t resist peeking past her into the bedroom. The other occupant of her big bed was the supercilious little man with the mustache. He didn’t look quite so polished now with his dark hair all tousled and his eyes still half-asleep. I found myself wondering why Idina had chosen him. Surely she would have had her pick. Then the thought occurred to me that he might not have been the first visitor. Didn’t Diddy say that they played musical beds? Oh crikey. I was cringing with embarrassment, wishing again that we had never come in the first place.

  “What the deuce are you talking about? Police?” Mr. Atkins jumped out of bed, realized he was naked and grabbed at one of the pillows, holding it in front of him. If it hadn’t been so deadly serious it would have been funny. I swallowed back a desire to giggle. “Look here, Idina. People can’t know I was here. If word got back to Nairobi . . . I’m a bloody representative of the Crown, you know.”

  “Nobody needs to know anything,” Idina said calmly. “You and your lovely wife came to dinner and stayed the night because one can’t drive back to Nairobi in the dark.”

  Idina tied her robe more firmly around her waist. She turned to one of her servants, waiting behind me. “Go and wake Mr. Jocelyn, Farah. Tell him I need him immediately.”

  “Yes, memsabu,” he replied and darted away to one of the outbuildings. So Jocelyn was not granted a bedroom in the main house, I thought. That must mean that Idina did not have any designs on him. He was housed with the servants.

  “How far away is the body?” Idina asked us, as we left the bedroom and made our way along the veranda.

  “I’d say about six miles,” Darcy said. “You know that spot where the track becomes really narrow as it passes between those big rocks?”

  “Of course. Near the Eggertons’ place.”

  “The Eggertons?”

  “Yes, darling. Tusker and Babe. Their estate is just before you get to the narrow part. You must have noticed their gateway. It has their name over it.”

  I tried to glance at Darcy but he was still focusing his attention on Idina.

  “I wonder if they saw anything. . . . They must be told.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe he’s gone. You’re sure it was him? You said the body was partly eaten.”

  “I’m sure,” Darcy said.

  She reached the main front door and a houseboy leaped to open it for her. I was relieved to follow her into that big central room. The fire was already roaring in the stone fireplace and it was delightfully warm. I had been so shocked by what had just happened that I hadn’t noticed until now how jolly cold I was. The morning air was icy and I was shivering—from shock as well as the cold air, I suspected.

  “It’s impossible to believe.” Idina put a hand up to her mouth. “My dear Bwana. What on earth would have made him stop along the way? An elephant? They don’t like motorcars.”

  “There was no sign of an elephant and no damage to the motor,” Darcy said. “We did see a scrap of what looked like lion’s fur on one of the thorns.”

  “Lion? In that part of the valley? That’s most unusual.” She frowned. “It must be a rogue man-eater that has decided to move in on human territory. I suppose it lay in wait and pounced on him when he slowed to cross that little stream.”

  “In which case it was a dashed clever lion,” Darcy said. “It opened the car door and let Bwana Cheriton step out. His footprint is quite clear.”

  “How extraordinary. Nobody knew this country better than him. He’d never have got out in the dark if he saw a lion. Perhaps it was blocking the road, and he took a shot at it and only wounded it and it came for him.”

  “We didn’t see a gun near the body,” Darcy said.

  “He always carried his gun with him. We’re never without a weapon in this part of the world. You never know.”

  “We didn’t exactly search the car carefully,” I pointed out. “Or look under it or under the bushes. He could have dropped a gun, I suppose.”

  “It could have been a leopard,” Idina said thoughtfully. “Yes, that’s more likely. If it leaped down from one of those rocks, right onto him. He’d be hampered by the steering wheel, not able to move, so he’d open the car door and get out, trying to shake the thing off him. But the leopard managed to bite into the back of his neck, as they like to do, and he fell and died.” She nodded with satisfaction as if she was pleased with this diagnosis. “Yes, that would have been it. Even a smart hunter like Bwana can’t always predict the behavior of a leopard.”

  “Idina, for God’s sake take me to the telephone,” Darcy said. “We need to try and catch Freddie Blanchford before he sets out from Gilgil. He’s taking a chap on a safari jaunt with Cyril Prendergast.”

  “I really don’t see why you’re so keen to have the district officer here. What good can he do? It’s the doctor you need. He’ll give you the cause of death and sign the certificate. And I’m sure you’ll find it was a leopard.”

  “I’d really like Freddie Blanchford to see the body,” Darcy said patiently. I was impressed how calm he was remaining. “He should be the one to decide if the police need to be called. If we don’t hurry he’ll have left.”

  “Don’t fret so, darling. If he’s already left I can have Jocelyn drive out to the spot where the road comes up from Gilgil and intercept him,” Idina said. “But all right. We’ll try to get him on the old blower first.”

  I had not joined in most of this conversation because I was thinking about something Idina had said. Now I decided to ask. “Idina, you said the Eggertons need to be told. Aren’t they still here?”

  “No, darling.” She turned back to me. “They went home in a huff. Or at least Babe was in a huff because Bwana’s feather landed on another woman. She thought he was deliberately snubbing her. And then Tusker’s feather landed on Pansy and Babe thought he’d done that deliberately to spite her. So there was a big blowup and they went home.”

  “And who did Lord Cheriton’s feather land on?” Darcy asked.

  Idina smiled. “Why, me, darling.”

  “A smart move on his part,” Darcy said. “Not wanting to choose between either of his mistresses or the woman from Nairobi who was hoping to snag him for the night.”

  Idina gave him a cold stare. “I rather like to think he chose me because he’s always liked me best. He wanted to marry me once, you know. But I had a new husband at the time and it seemed like too much trouble to go through another divorce. I’ll tell you one thing: I’m a hell of a lot better in bed than that little shopgirl Babe, or Pansy Ragg for that matter.”

  “If he was with you, then what time did he leave? And when did Mr. Atkins take his place?” Darcy said. I was glad he asked this and not me. I had been thinking the same thing but would have been too embarrassed to say anything.

  Idina frowned. I could tell she was taking this as an insult to her feminine attraction—that Bwana might have tired of her and wanted to leave her.

  “Well, that was just it, darling. We never got very far, did we? We had just retired to my bedroom and he was undressing me when Jocelyn knocked on the door and said that Bwana’s wife had telephoned. She was feeling much worse and wanted him home right away.”

  “So he went?” Darcy asked.

  “Not exactly right away.” Idina gave a little smile. “We did . . . finish what we had started. But then he went.”

  “And what time was that?”

  “Couldn’t have been much later than midnight.”

  “And had the Eggertons already left at that stage?”

  “Yes, they went ri
ght after the feather game.”

  Two servants appeared carrying pots of coffee and arranged them on the table that had previously housed the drinks.

  “Help yourselves,” Idina said, going over to pour a cup. “You must need it as much as I do. The telephone is over here on the wall. Do you want to make the call or shall I?”

  “If you don’t mind I’d like to speak to Freddie Blanchford myself,” Darcy said. “He’s a good friend of mine. And he’ll know the protocol in such a case.”

  “What protocol?” Idina asked. “Bwana made a stupid mistake and got himself killed by an animal. I keep telling you: what you need is Dr. Singh to come up and sign the death certificate.”

  “We need to verify that it was an accident,” Darcy said.

  “What on earth do you mean?” Idina said. “You’re not suggesting it was suicide, are you?”

  “Certainly not. But I am suggesting we need to rule out murder.”

  “Murder? Don’t be ridiculous,” Idina said. “Who’d want to murder Bwana? His workers love him. And everyone else in the valley was here.”

  I seemed to remember that not everybody agreed with the statement that Bwana’s workers loved him, but I said nothing.

  “You said the Eggertons drove home,” Darcy pointed out.

  Idina laughed. “Oh, come on. You don’t think that Tusker Eggerton waited to ambush Bwana because he was having a fling with Tusker’s wife? That makes no sense. He couldn’t have known that Bwana would leave my place before midmorning. And it’s a foolhardy man who would spend the night in that particular spot. He also might have found himself facing a leopard or an elephant in the dark.”

  “I’m not saying it was Tusker Eggerton,” Darcy said, “I’m just pointing out that not everybody was at your house all night.”

  Idina sighed as if this was all rather difficult, then picked up the telephone mouthpiece and handed it to Darcy. “I think you’re making more of this than necessary. Call Freddie. He’s a sensible enough young man. And tell him to bring Dr. Singh with him.”

  * * *