by Marie Moore
“I came to you with this,” I said, “because I know you meant Mabel no harm, and that you’ve been distraught over her death. I thought that if you could help me expose all of this, it might, in some small way, help you feel better about the accident.”
George’s eyes teared up, and he took off the red glasses and wiped them with a bar napkin.
“You’re right, Sidney, it would,” Willem said, approaching us from the room behind the bar. “You should help her, George. We’ll both help her. Forgive me for eavesdropping, Sidney. I heard what you said, and if what you say is true, I want to help, too. I can’t say I’m shocked. I’ve had my own suspicions for some time. Could I see those papers?”
I handed them over.
Willem studied them, frowning.
“There are whole files of them, Willem,” I said, “in the office at the tented camp and probably in the office here, too. They appear to be ordinary invoices, mixed in with the real ones, but it’s perfectly clear what is going on, once you understand the code. Mabel figured it out first, but she didn’t tell anyone. This is just a sample. There are lots more. Those files are the records of all the illegal transactions. The paper trail.”
All the time I was speaking, George hadn’t said a word. He just sat on the barstool blinking, his head swiveling between me and Willem. Watching Willem. Watching me. He looked more like an owl than ever.
A tear rolled down his cheek. He took off the big glasses and wiped his eyes.
“Well. This is quite incriminating, isn’t it?” Willem said. “It’s not all the proof that will be needed but it is certainly enough to start the investigators on the right path. We must get all this into the proper hands immediately. I will do all I can to make that happen. You will, too, won’t you, George?”
“Yes, ’course I will,” George slurred, after a pause. He was drinking again, having reached behind the bar and poured himself a double. “I’ll help. I guess I must.”
Willem took the bottle from him, shaking his head, and replaced the cap.
“George,” he said, “before you can be of help to anyone, you need to go to your hut, lie down for a while, and get yourself together.” He gave me a conspiratorial look. “Maybe Sidney will walk with you. I am working just now in the kitchen, preparing for tonight.”
George just sat there, his head in his hands.
“Sidney,” Willem said, suddenly, “I’ve just had an idea. I’ve thought of something that you might want to see, something that may help us in exposing this whole operation. I can’t take you there now because I am busy with the refreshments for the party tonight, but I can later, during the evening game drive. Why don’t you and George meet me back here when the bell rings and I’ll take you there myself? Is that okay with you. George?”
George nodded yes, then we stood and walked to the door. He didn’t seem so very drunk now, just sad.
“Keep those papers safe, Sidney,” Willem added, “and don’t tell the others of your suspicions. You never know here who might be listening or who you can trust. Just say you don’t feel up to the game drive, that you’ll join them at the party later. We’ll be finished with everything well before Henrik’s party, and before the night is over, I expect that we’ll have quite a surprise for him.”
Chapter 29
I had a hard time convincing Jay to go on the evening game drive without me, particularly because he was terrified of the Sundowners. He’d sworn he was never going to another al fresco cocktail party in Africa.
I finally got him to leave with the others by reminding him that David had said that the drinks for this special farewell Sundowner would be served “in a gaily strrrrrriped tent on Mr. van der Brugge’s lawn” before dinner, not in the bush. Therefore, there would be little chance for a wild animal to attack him. During the game drive itself, he could stay safely in the Rover. I felt bad about deceiving him, but it had to be done.
“George is too drunk to go,” I said. “He’s lying down. My headache’s better, but not completely gone. I’ll check on George after a while and we’ll meet you later at the dinner party.”
“Okay, Sidney. Sorry your head hurts. Take it easy, babe. Don’t worry about George. He can take care of himself. You try to grab little nap, too, while we’re gone. See you later.”
When the bell stopped ringing and I thought everyone had left, I headed for George’s hut and knocked on the door. It wasn’t long before he poked out his spiky little head. He looked terrible and I could tell that his head must be hurting, but he seemed sober enough.
Together, we walked to the dining hall to meet Willem.
* * *
The sun was just setting as we drove out the back gate, loaded in Willem’s jeep. George was sprawled in the backseat, complaining about his headache, and I rode shotgun. It promised to be a beautiful evening.
“Where are we headed, Willem?” I shouted over the sound of the engine and the rushing air in the open vehicle.
“You’ll see soon enough,” he shouted back, steering the jeep around a hole in the dirt road. “Too loud to explain now. Enjoy the ride.”
I did enjoy the ride. It was our last evening on safari, and I had hated to give up the game drive. I only agreed to it because I thought what I was doing was more important.
As we lurched off the main road onto a grassy track, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t missed my game drive after all. Animals are everywhere in a game reserve. Cruising through the bush in the open jeep, I was getting my own game drive. Willem slowed, reaching across me to point out giraffe moving gracefully in the distance, silhouetted against the setting sun.
The sun had slipped well below the horizon, and the sky was beginning to darken, so Willem turned on the headlights. In a few moments, just as it began to get really dark, he pulled into a clearing and switched off the lights and the engine.
“We’re here. Let me help you down, Sidney. George, are you ready? Get it together, George. You’ll have to manage for yourself. I’ve got Sidney. Come on, George, get out of the car.” Willem lifted me down. Then, just as my feet touched the ground, George jumped down behind me, suddenly quite sober, and stuck a gun in my back.
Chapter 30
“This won’t work, Willem,” I said, as he forced me farther into the clearing. He had taken the gun from George and now had it firmly wedged in my side. “I’ll be missed. Before long, they’ll all come looking for me.”
I could hardly see where I was going in the dim light of the moon. I was terrified.
“It will work, Sidney. It’s already working, darling. They won’t miss you until morning. You told them yourself that you weren’t going on the game drive, didn’t feel well. Winsome will back up that story. Winsome is my girl, not Henrik’s, though he doesn’t know it. Winsome will tell everyone that you are ill, resting in the infirmary. She’ll say that you called her to say that you felt worse after they left, and didn’t feel up to attending the farewell party at The Big House. She’ll say you have a high fever, are delirious, confused. Then, when they hear you have wandered off into the bush alone, no one will be surprised.”
He shoved me to the ground with the gun pointed directly at me. “Lie still, Sidney, or I will have to really hurt you. Turn over on your back. Be still, I say, or I’ll hurt you so much that you’ll be glad when I shoot you. Get busy, George, there’s not much time before I have to be back.”
George began tying my hands and feet to short stakes that had been previously driven into the ground. He knew exactly what he was doing. It was not the first time.
Stretched between the stakes, I soon could not move at all, except my head.
“You really can’t get away with this, Willem,” I said, a tremor in my voice. “Someone will come.”
“Oh, but I can. Scream if you like. No one will hear you. By the time you are missed, by the time they do come, it will be too late. We are in the leopard’s territory and there is a pride of lions nearby. It won’t take long. It’s dark, and the animals are h
ungry. As soon as we’re finished here, George and I will go to the party and confirm Winsome’s story. Later, when the animals have done their work, we will return to remove the ropes and stakes and report the discovery of yet another unfortunate accident.”
Willem stood over me, peering down into my face. Even in the shadow I could see his blue eyes glittering. “I’m sorry you had to meddle in all this, Sidney,” he said. “I hate to have to do this to you, but you’ve left me no choice. I can’t risk losing what I’ve built. I was actually quite attracted to you. You are a beautiful woman. In another time, another place … I really liked you, Sidney. George did, too, didn’t you, George? We both liked you until you got in our way.”
George wouldn’t look at me, hadn’t looked at me even as he forced me to the ground and tied the knots. Willem kept his gun trained on my head.
“Willem, for God’s sake,” I pleaded, “don’t leave me like this. Or at least, just go on and shoot me before ... before … Have some mercy, please. George? Please. Can’t you stop this? Can’t you help me? Please help me.”
But George turned away, heading for the jeep. He never looked back, wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Before what? Before the animals come?” Willem laughed. “And deprive you of the suspense? Of your last few moments in this world? No, Sidney, I’m afraid not. You see, I can’t afford to leave any evidence. I can’t chance that a bullet might be traced back to me. This way, there’s no clue as to what really happened. Just as with Dennis, they’ll conclude that nature was the culprit.”
Terrified as I was, I knew I had to try to keep him talking, to buy some time, in the desperate hope of changing his mind, or that someone might come along in time to save me.
“Did Henrik order you to do this to me?”
“Henrik?” he laughed. “Do you really think Henrik could plan all this? He has nothing to do with my operations. Henrik doesn’t give me any orders, except what to cook. Henrik has no idea what’s happening under his very eyes.”
He smiled as if to himself, his eyes gleaming.
“But he’ll know soon enough,” he continued, “when I have everything in place. That’s when he’ll meet with his own accident. Maybe in that plane of his. You see, Henrik doesn’t care, has never cared, about the little people, Sidney. He cares only for himself, only for his own desires. Henrik never gave the slightest thought as to what it might mean when he took my wife from me.
“Your wife—”
“Became his wife. You’ve met her, remember? When she wrecked her car and broke up your dinner party? But it didn’t last. Now she’s found another husband, a richer one, and only comes around to torment him. Perhaps she imagines she still loves him, especially when she’s been drinking. Serves him right. Tell me, Sidney, why did you suspect Henrik?”
“Winsome. She warned me about him. She said I must ‘stay away from Ingwe. Ingwe is a bad man.’ ”
“She did, did she?” he laughed. “Is that what she said? You little fool. I’m the one they call Ingwe. Willem is Ingwe, not Henrik.”
“What about the note?”
“What note?”
“Henrik wrote the note to Mabel, and signed it Ingwe.”
“I wrote that.”
“But the handwriting … it was the same as in the other note—the one inviting me to dinner.”
“I wrote that note, too,” he said, “at Henrik’s bidding. I had Winsome slip it under your door.” His lips stretched into something like a smile. “Ah. That’s what made you so certain Henrik was Ingwe.”
“Willem, please let me go. I’ve not done anything to harm you.”
“No, dear, and that’s the shame of it. But you would, knowing what you know, if I released you. I can’t risk that. Not now, when I’m so close to getting everything I want. You shouldn’t have meddled in my business. I really have no choice here. You see that, don’t you? You’re a bright girl. Don’t blame me. It’s too bad, but it’s not my fault. It’s your own fault, Sidney. Your own fault. You did this to yourself.”
And with another raucous laugh, he climbed into the jeep with George and drove away.
Later, lying still, spread-eagled alone in the moonlight after struggling in vain against the ropes that bound me, those words, “your own fault,” echoed in my ears.
His mocking words and my own prayers drowned out the sounds of the night. Eventually my sobs subsided. Numbed by shock and cold, I lay helplessly beneath the stars in the vast African sky. Too late I realized how the whole scheme worked, and what a fool I had been.
Chapter 31
A snuffling sound heralded the first animal I heard as I lay motionless under the Southern Cross. Then the gray bulk of an elephant emerged from the brush, walking softly as he grazed not twenty feet from me.
Thank You, God, thank you for the elephant.
Lions don’t like to come where there are elephants.
I am not afraid of the elephant, Lord, only the lion. The elephant will not harm me if I lie still. Not unless he steps on me.
The elephant knew I was there. He has a keen sense of smell. But he paid no attention to me, and after a long while, he moved slowly on. I breathed again, staring at the stars. I could feel ants crawling in my hair.
Then I heard another sound.
A man, this time, I was sure it was a man, walking quietly toward me through the brush. Helpless and desperate as I was, I remained silent until I could figure out who it was.
The brush parted and the moonlight reflected in George’s red glasses.
“I can’t do it, Sidney,” he said. “I can’t leave you here like this, no matter what he does to me.”
* * *
It took a long time and a bit of luck to free me from the ropes and stakes that bound me to the earth. George had done his job too well. The untying was not easy or quick.
Once free, I stretched my aching limbs until, with his help, I could finally stand and hobble forward in the moonlight. Then I walked, and finally ran, following him, for we knew that time was short and our chance of survival slim.
I followed him toward the camp. He knew the way, leading me across a faint trail.
We ran as fast as we were able, fending off branches, dodging obstacles. Broken clouds had formed, partially obscuring the moon.
A deep cough broke the silence. For a moment we paused, slowing to a walk, looking over our shoulders, scanning the bush for movement.
When we saw the eyes glowing in the darkness behind us, I knew deep in my core that this time we would not escape, would not survive, but we ran silently on, ragged gasps and sobs and pounding feet our only sounds, dodging in and out of shadows, on and off the sandy track, stumbling, falling over roots and branches, falling—only to drag ourselves up to run again, to make one final desperate dash for freedom.
But always the eyes were there behind us, coming, coming, ever closer, ever closer, until it was certain that we could not make it, would not elude our fate.
The game was up, the hourglass empty, the tiny bit of luck we once held, gone. Then, though he was far stronger, George inexplicably slowed, falling behind me, shouting to me, “Run, Sidney, run!”
We had almost made it back to the lodge when he was caught. But almost was not enough.
The last sound he made was the terrified squeal of a shoat that tapered off into a deadly silence, a silence broken only by the tearing of flesh and the crunch of bone.
Chapter 32
The aftermath was terrible, but not as bad as it could have been. Because of Jay. Jay took charge of me and everything else, and it was only later that I fully realized what a masterful job he had done.
I pretty much had a breakdown after my ordeal. I was recovering from shock and distraught over George’s supreme sacrifice. Jay thought my sorrow over George’s demise was excessive and pointed out that it was George who had put me in danger in the first place. But I couldn’t help the way I felt.
George had acted as Willem’s main man and his spy, posing as a
perennial guest to watch for trouble from people such as Dennis, Mabel, and me. George had purposely killed Dennis on Willem’s orders, and Mabel, too, seizing the opportunity of the panicked elephant on the path to make it look like an accident. The two of them had already decided to take her out at first opportunity before she could harm them or their operation. The elephant encounter simply provided an easy way to do it.
“They are pretty sure it was George who killed the man in the Nellie garden as well, Sidney, on orders from Willem. Remember, you saw George that night in the garden just after you saw the mystery men questioning Henrik. The murdered man was said to be a drug runner from Mozambique, but in reality, he was an investigator, like Dennis, working undercover. Both George and Willem were deeply involved in a lot of bad stuff.”
I saw Jay’s point, but still knew that my life would have ended had it not been for George. He had come back for me, and I would never forget that.
For the first time in my life, I really could not cope with anything at all for a few days. Jay took care of me. It was Jay who summoned the police and medical people pronto, Jay who got us all back to Cape Town. Jay managed it all. I don’t even remember the trip back.
When I finally recovered enough to ask questions and give my statement, we learned that the authorities had been watching the Leopard Dance/Spieël Provisioners operation for quite some time.
“It was my decision, Miss Marsh,” the chief investigator said, “to send Dennis Bagwell in undercover, posing as a travel agent, to investigate. I deeply regret losing him. He was a good agent and a fine man. He knew the risks and he had been in the service for many years. Willem killed him when he got too close, leaving him staked out for the leopard as he did you. His autopsy showed marks consistent with that on what remained of his wrists and ankles. They must have had their eye on you for some time, Miss Marsh. I’m not sure how, but you apparently attracted their attention early on as a potential troublemaker. It was also George who stole your key card and searched your hotel room in Cape Town.”
