The Crocodile's Last Embrace

by Arruda, Suzanne

  “Getting her to verify that I’d been involved was bad enough,” said Jade. “What was your sister thinking?”

  “Emily doesn’t have enough experience with men to tell when they’re using her,” said Beverly. “I think she truly thought that he was a nice gentleman.”

  “But it’s not accurate to say that I found Waters’ body. All I really found was the truck and the croc. The body found us. The Leader’s implication is that trouble always seems to turn up when I’m around, as if I created it.”

  “It is a pity,” agreed Beverly. “I’ve already had one mother ring me up and tell me that she won’t allow her daughter to join us on safari. I told her we were staying atop the falls and would be perfectly safe, but she felt inclined to believe that you would find some other peril for her child.”

  “I’m sure we’ll hear more of that at the meeting,” said Jade. Her shoulder twitched involuntarily and she rubbed it.

  Beverly caught the movement and frowned. “You’re still having nervous disorders, aren’t you, Jade.” She held up one hand, stalling any protest on Jade’s part. “There’s no need to answer; I can see it’s true. I don’t think you should be alone right now. Especially if someone went into your bungalow to hide that terrible letter. Did you ask Farhani if he’d seen anyone about?”

  “He saw only Matthew, the cook,” said Jade. “I suppose he was bringing me food at your direction.”

  “Nonsense,” said Bev. “Why would you think that?”

  “You’re already insisting that I eat every meal and take tea with you, Bev, ever since I returned from that crocodile hunt. You know I hate tea. You could at least serve that spiced variety.” Jade silently cursed the latest corpse and the ensuing investigation for keeping her from buying more coffee.

  “I don’t care for it much myself,” said Beverly. “It’s not genuine British tea, and who ever heard of pepper in tea? But you’re changing the subject. You should be staying at the house with us.”

  “Bev, there’s no room. Your nanny and the baby take up one bedroom, and Emily has the other spare. It’s a hotel here.” She nodded towards the barn. “And with that obnoxious parrot, it’s turning into a zoo as well.”

  “It is a dreadful bird,” agreed Emily, who just then joined them on the porch. She wore a spring green silk dress in a soft white floral print. “At least it’s shut away in the barn, where we don’t have to listen to it.” She wiggled her fingers at the baby, causing Alice to erupt into giggles.

  “What else could I do?” asked Jade. “Biscuit kept eyeing it and licking his chops.”

  “I’m sure it’s driving the horses crazy. I know it’s annoying Avery,” said Bev. “We’ll have to do something with it.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” said Jade. “After all, I brought it here.”

  “That man Waters must have had terrible eating habits,” said Emily as she rocked the perambulator to and fro. “ ‘Pile in salt’? What an odd phrase for that bird to overhear. What else could it mean?”

  “Are you planning on passing this on to another reporter?” asked Jade. Emily blushed and ducked her head. Jade instantly regretted her accusation. “I’m sorry, Emily. It wasn’t your fault. The man used you.”

  “And he seemed so refined and genteel, too,” murmured Emily.

  “I can shoot him if you’d like,” said Jade. She had the pleasure of seeing Emily smile. “But to answer your question, the bird seems to be giving two separate phrases. At least, I hear the bird yell ‘salt’ all by itself and ‘pile in’ at other times.”

  “Perhaps ‘pile in’ is a slang phrase,” suggested Emily. “Pile in a car?”

  “The man must have had an accent that the bird picked up,” said Beverly. “‘Pile in’ actually sounds more like ‘pale in’ to me. We might be assuming he says ‘pile in’ because we hear ‘salt’ afterwards?”

  Jade nodded. “Harry said that Waters was Cockney. But those might also be mining terms. Maybe they found a salt bed the first time and Waters was so angry he shouted it. The volume or severity of his tone could have impressed the word on the bird.”

  “Interesting. I’ll have to ask Avery,” said Bev. “He’s remarkably clever about a great number of things.” She looked at her older sister, who was still amusing the baby. “Emily, you look particularly lovely today. Are you seeing someone tonight?” The question was innocently asked, but Emily’s lips briefly pinched together.

  “Perhaps. Nothing has been planned, but I’m hopeful,” she replied.

  “Oh,” said Bev, “someone who is dropping in? But all I know of are the girls and . . .” She paused, her brow scrunched in puzzlement.

  “Steven Holly,” said Jade. “Mary’s uncle.”

  Beverly’s eyes opened wide. “Emily?”

  Emily tugged at her elbow-length sleeves and smoothed the skirt. “He has brought his niece to the meetings in the past.”

  “But Mr. Holly?” Beverly asked.

  “There! I knew you would disapprove of him. I don’t see that I need my younger sister to act as my guardian,” Emily said, half rising from her chair.

  “Sit down, Emily!” said Beverly, then quickly added, “Please. You don’t need my approval. It’s just that you’re a smashing girl and you can do much better than Mr. Holly.”

  Emily sat down again and resumed pushing and pulling the perambulator. “He’s not such a bad sort. And he works at a bank. You know as well as I that I wouldn’t make a good settler’s wife. I’d be terrified to step out of doors. I’ve never had your dash and daring, Beverly.”

  “No one’s suggesting that you marry a farmer, Emily,” said Beverly. She turned to Jade for support. “Are we, Jade?”

  “Please don’t include me in this discussion, Bev.” Jade rubbed her arms again, trying to will away the creeping-flesh feeling.

  “Oh, but I want your opinion, Jade,” said Emily. “I know you’ll speak the truth. Do you think that Mr. Holly is a poor choice?”

  Jade sighed. “Yes, I do. He’s a skirt chaser, he drinks too much, and he has the intellect of a bug. A very stupid bug.”

  Emily slumped in her chair. “I suppose you’ve both picked out some nice stodgy old goat for me. I’m too old for a spot of fun or a handsome man. Not the sort of thing a skirt chaser, as you called him, would find worth going after.” She folded her arms across her chest and looked away, her blue eyes liquid with tears. “Even that silly little reporter only wanted a story out of me.”

  Bev jumped to her feet and put her arms around her sister. “There, there, Emily. You are too worth chasing.”

  “No!” Emily choked back a sob. “I couldn’t even seduce that reporter.”

  “What?!” exclaimed Beverly. “When did you . . .”

  Emily swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “This morning. I saw the paper, and I thought I could convince Mr. Smythe, the reporter, to print a retraction. I knew his flat was in the Victoria, so I went there and . . . well, he wouldn’t even let me in.”

  “Of course not, Emily,” said Beverly. “What gentleman would?”

  “He’s probably looking for someone rich,” offered Jade, “rather than pretty and smart.”

  Emily patted her eyes with a lace hankie. “You could be right, Jade. From what I saw of his room, he seemed to have extravagant tastes. Perhaps he prefers men!”

  Beverly’s eyes opened wider, and Jade wished that she were anywhere but here, imposing on this sad family scene. She turned her gaze from the sisters, giving them some privacy, and spotted a rickshaw coming up the lane.

  “We have company, Bev,” Jade said.

  Emily looked up, her eyes hopeful; then her shoulders sagged again. “It’s one of your girls,” she said as she dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. “Excuse me while I patch myself up. It won’t do for anyone to see me with red eyes.” She ran inside.

  “It’s Mary,” said Bev. “She’s two hours early and,” she added with a glance at the house, “alone. While I can’t say I’m sorry, I do
hate to see Emily disappointed.”

  The rickshaw driver, a Kikuyu on a bicycle, stopped a few feet away, and Mary climbed down from the seat. She wore her Girl Guide uniform and, with great solemnity, opened her little pocketbook and handed a few rupees to the driver.

  “Mary,” said Bev, after the driver pedaled off and the girl joined them on the veranda, “what are you doing here alone?”

  “Oh, madam,” said Mary. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Jade. “Has something happened to your mother?”

  “No,” said Mary. “Mother is at a planning committee for another garden party. It’s to raise money for the Lady Northey Home for Children.” She looked from Jade to Beverly. “She’s to collect me after the meeting.”

  “But she sent you here alone in a rickshaw?” asked Bev.

  “Oh, no!” said Mary, her eyes widening. “Mother would never do that. She doesn’t know. It’s my uncle, Steven. He was to bring me here. He promised to help me pick out new boots today, for our safari. But he wasn’t at the bank when I stopped after school. And they said he hadn’t come in all day.”

  “He’s probably sick and forgot to telephone in,” suggested Jade. “Does he have a telephone where he lives?” It occurred to her that she had no idea where a bachelor like Holly would stay.

  “He doesn’t have one in his rooms, Miss Jade,” said Mary.

  “Well, there, you see?” said Beverly. “He could hardly telephone then.”

  “But there is a telephone at the lobby desk,” the girl said. “He has rooms at the Victoria Hotel.” She fidgeted with her kerchief.

  “Sit down, Mary,” said Jade as she pointed to the chair that Emily had vacated moments before.

  Mary sat, but she continued to fuss with her attire. “I stopped at the bank when I didn’t see him at the school and they said that they’d called the hotel. The desk clerk knocked on his door, but no one answered.”

  “I’ll get her something to drink,” said Bev. “Keep an eye on the baby, please.”

  “Your uncle is a grown man, Mary,” said Jade. “If he’s not well, he might have gone to see a doctor.”

  “But he would have left a message on his way out,” wailed Mary. “I just know something is wrong. Miss Jade, you’re clever at solving problems. Please help me find him. I’m afraid he’s gotten himself into some trouble.”

  Beverly rejoined them along with Emily, who had freshly powdered her face. They were soon followed by Farhani, the Dunburys’ majordomo. As usual, Farhani was dressed in a long white robe, neatly pressed. He carried a silver tray with four glasses of freshly squeezed lemonade and handed them around using a linen cloth even though he wore white gloves.

  “Northey telephoned, memsahib,” Farhani said to Bev. “I have told her that you were not at home.”

  “Lady Northey, Farhani,” Beverly chided. “You cannot just call her Northey. And thank you. I suppose I’ll have to ring her up later.”

  Emily pulled up another chair and, after Farhani went back into the house, they resumed their conversation.

  “As I told Miss Jade,” said Mary, “Uncle Steven would surely have answered his door even if it had been to tell the desk clerk to leave him alone. I just know that something is wrong.”

  At the mention of Steven Holly, Emily sat up straighter in her seat. “Has something happened to Mr. Holly?”

  Mary nodded. “He’s missing or hurt or something. I just know it.”

  “Now, Mary,” cautioned Beverly, “you don’t know that. You are letting your imagination run away with you.”

  “When did you last see your uncle?” asked Jade.

  “Two evenings ago,” she said. “He ate dinner with us and talked on and on about his silly gold mine. He was perfectly fine then. And now all this business in the papers about two men dead, both of whom had a share in a mine.”

  “Did you go to his rooms at the hotel today?” Jade asked.

  “Yes, but the clerk wouldn’t let me go up alone. He said that children should not be running about disturbing the residents.” Her lips pursed together into a pout. “I’m hardly a child. I’m thirteen now, you know.”

  “We really should see if something is the matter,” said Emily. “He may be unconscious.”

  “I’ll ask Avery if he’ll stop by the Victoria Hotel,” said Beverly. “Will that be satisfactory, Mary?”

  “Yes, thank you, madame,” said Mary. She sighed. “Uncle Steven is rather stupid, but he is family. And we have a duty to family.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t agree with you more,” said Jade. When Beverly raised her brows and Emily glowered, Jade hastily explained, “That we have a duty to family.”

  “That’s quite all right, Miss Jade,” said Mary. “But do you really think Lord Dunbury will go to town and find him?”

  “We shouldn’t bother him,” said Emily before her sister could answer. “He’s in the barn with the horses. I’ll go into town with Mary and look for her uncle.”

  MARY AND EMILY RETURNED TWO HOURS LATER for the Girl Guides meeting, just in time to hear two mothers express their horror over the girls’ going anywhere near the “scene of that horrid death.” The other girls had gone to the barn to see the horses, and Beverly sent Mary to join them. After Mary left, the mothers launched back into their arguments with great gusto.

  To Jade’s surprise, Emily came to her defense, reiterating Jade’s point that the proposed campsite was above the falls and that the crocodile could not scale the rocks. She announced that with three women, herself included, watching the girls at all times, there would be no danger at all. In the end, the five older girls, the ones the trip was planned for, were allowed to go. When Jade questioned Emily about both her decision to go camping and her search for Mr. Holly, Emily only shrugged at the latter and said she thought an adventure would do her good.

  Mary was noticeably quiet during the meeting, which was devoted largely to last-minute details concerning tomorrow’s trip. Jade put it down to not having any luck locating her uncle. Considering the man’s flighty nature, Jade assumed he’d taken a holiday for himself without bothering to inform anyone else. However, to ease Mary’s disappointment and to solve her own problem, Jade made a present of the obnoxious African gray parrot to the girl. Mary was delighted with the gift and named the bird Pepper.

  In the morning, Jade regretted her decision when Mary appeared with the parrot.

  “He’s our mascot,” she declared. “I couldn’t leave him behind.”

  “Salt! Pile in!”

  Maybe the crocodile will show up and eat this thing. Jade instantly regretted the thought. Not fair to the croc.

  “I believe everyone is here,” said Beverly as she ticked off the girls’ names one by one. She wore a split skirt, blouse, and tall boots. Her campaign hat bobbled as she looked around to where Avery was busily tying down the last of the gear onto one of two hired Overlands, whose cloth canopies had been covered in wooden planks to hold the tents. “Emily?” she called.

  “I’m here.” Emily came from the house with a basket of fresh scones. “Matthew mpishi just took these from the oven. There’s plenty for everyone.”

  She passed the basket around and Jade took one of the sweet pastries. “Thanks, Emily.” She noted with approval that the woman had opted to wear practical jodhpurs and a linen shirt rather than a dress. “I think you’ll enjoy yourself for these two days. The change will be good for you.”

  “I hope so, Jade,” Emily said. “I’m so tired of Nairobi. Why, this morning’s papers are filled with news every bit as awful as that Waters’ death. More trouble in the Indian district. There was a knife attack there just yesterday afternoon. Between that and the plague cases, it’s not safe to visit the bazaars.”

  “Knife attack?” asked Jade, after she swallowed a mouthful of buttery pastry and raisins.

  “Yes. It seems that an unnamed Englishman was caught up in the middle of a squabble between a shopkeeper and another Indian.
He was stabbed in the leg, according to the paper.”

  Jade wondered at Emily’s concern. “I hope you’re not worried that it was Mr. Holly. But even if it was, it probably wasn’t serious.” Jade nodded towards Mary, who was chattering away with the girls. “Mary doesn’t seem anxious this morning.”

  “Oh, I’m not worried,” said Emily. “On the contrary, I’m looking forward to this little excursion.”

  Mary joined them, holding the parrot in a cage. Biscuit stuck his nose against the bars and sniffed. Pepper let out an ear-piercing squawk and Biscuit immediately pulled back.

  “I must tell you all,” said Mary, “that one of our teachers is coming along as a chaperone.”

  “A chaperone!” exclaimed Jade. “Why do we need a chaperone?”

  “Um, perhaps that’s not the correct word, Miss Jade. Miss Biddleford is concerned about our having a day off from school for this outing. I believe she intends to make certain that we are actually learning something about nature while we’re at the falls.”

  “Sweet Millard Fillmore on a bicycle,” Jade muttered. “Does Lady Dunbury know?”

  “I just informed madame before I told you.”

  “Well, she’d better get here soon,” said Jade, “or we’re leaving without her.”

  Mary pointed to the end of the lane. “I believe she’s arriving now.”

  A taxi pulled up and a dowdy woman stepped out. She wore a heavy brown serge dress that came to her lower calves and old-fashioned woolen stockings. Like many of the Kenya colonists, she must have feared not only the equatorial sun, but insects as well, since her red-lined, broad-brimmed straw hat was swathed with netting like a beekeeper’s bonnet. Mary and Elspeth hastened over to help her with her bag.

  “I hope I haven’t kept you waiting,” Miss Biddleford said in a high, crackly voice nearly as piercing as the parrot’s.

  “I asked Avery to find another cot,” whispered Beverly. “But where are we going to put her? Perhaps I should stay at home after all.”