The Leopard's Prey Part 7

They went to the Leader office first, ignoring the book and stationery store to one side and heading directly for the newspaper's business counter, where a freckled young girl in her late teens stood. Jade saw how the girl's eyes brightened as Sam approached, so she slipped one of the notices into his hands and stepped aside but not out of earshot.

Sam put on his most engaging grin and leaned his left elbow on the counter. "Good afternoon, miss," he said. "I'd like to run this notice for a week in the daily and once in the next weekly." He handed it across with a hundred-rupee note.

The girl took one look at the request for a child and her face became crestfallen. "You and your wife want a child?"

"Oh, it's not my ad," he said. "It's my employer's ad. I'm not married," he added.

The girl brightened again, her smile renewed. She batted her eyelashes. "That is very sweet of them."

"Isn't it, though?" said Sam. "They saw that someone had a Dutch baby boy for adoption, but it seems someone s.n.a.t.c.hed the little tyke up right away. I just can't see how anyone else could have gotten here so fast, though." He let the statement dangle.

"I don't know much about that," the girl said as she handed change for him.

Sam put the money in his pocket and straightened. "Too bad. Well, nice talking to you."

He turned to leave and the girl made a grab for his s.h.i.+rt-sleeve. "I could look something up for you," she suggested. "See what's on the sales receipt at least."

Sam smiled, his teeth flas.h.i.+ng under the brown mustache. "That's very nice of you. I must own to being curious."

The girl sashayed off to the vertical filing cabinet, adding a few extra wiggles on the way. Jade caught Sam's eye and rolled her own.

The young lady returned. "I found the bill of sale for the ad," she said. "It was sent through the mail with the money, but there was no name on it."

"But the ad said to reply to voucher nine-seven-five. Someone must have come in to pick up replies."

The girl shrugged. "Now that you mention it, that is rather odd. I've been here most of the day except to go to lunch and this is the first I pulled the file. Wait a minute and I'll ask Viola."

Jade watched as the girl went to the desk of an older lady, presumably Viola, and wondered if this new search for more information was merely another pretense to walk for Sam. Strap a pint of cream on that backside and you'll have b.u.t.ter by the time she returns. A tiny voice in her head asked her if she wasn't thinking like a jealous woman.

This time, Viola returned with the girl, handed her the file, and sent her back to the cabinets to put it away.

"I understand you're interested in that adoption. You're the second person to ask today. There was a nice couple in earlier."

"Yes," said Sam, "that would be my current employer. I just placed an adoption ad for them." He pointed to the paper still on the counter.

Jade joined him. "They were so disappointed," she said. "We thought if we could a.s.sure them that the child had been well placed, it would ease their sorrow."

Viola nodded. "That's very kind of you, I'm sure, but even if I knew, I'm not certain that I could relinquish that information. However, I can tell you this. I did a bit of looking myself after that nice couple left because I didn't recall anyone else coming in about the notice. It seemed odd in a way."

"And did you discover anything?" asked Sam.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. The notice saying that the child was already taken was mailed here just as the original ad was. So whoever adopted the child must have learned about it from another source because they didn't apply through us." She picked up the Thompsons' notice. "I certainly hope that this brings them the child they want."

Jade and Sam said goodbye, and Sam waved to the girl who'd first helped him. She didn't return the gesture or the smile.

"You broke that poor child's heart, flirting and leaving," said Jade as they left.

"You handed me the notice," said Sam. "I was just being friendly."

Jade elbowed him. "See if I fall for that devilish grin of yours next time you try it on me."

"Oh, that was just my being friendly grin. I've got a completely different smile for you."

He flashed one at her, and she threw her hands in front of her eyes, pretending to be blinded by the dazzle. "Come on, Sam," she said. "We've got another stop to make."

They hurried to the office of Nairobi's other newspaper, the East African Standard, and this time, Jade decided to try her luck, leaving Sam to wait for her in the foyer. The middle-aged woman behind the counter looked tired. Jade hoped she might be happy for some friendly conversation, especially if it involved missing people, murder, and other tantalizingly grisly topics. She placed and paid for the Thompsons' ad, then said, "So much has happened recently. First Mrs. Stokes disappears and then Mr. Stokes commits suicide." She gave the other woman a chance to speak.

"I have a friend who works at Dr. Montgomery's office," the woman said. "He took over for Dr. Abercrombe, you know. My friend keeps me very informed. She telephoned me at lunch to say that Mr. Stokes couldn't have killed himself. There wasn't enough of his blood to have died by bleeding out."

"But I heard he was practically drowning in blood in that dryer where they found him," Jade said, embellis.h.i.+ng her information so the woman would contradict it to set her straight.

"It wasn't all that much," she said and leaned closer. "And it wasn't his blood!"

"No?"

The woman shook her head solemnly. "No. It was from some kind of bird. They have ways of telling what type of animal it came from. But you are nearer the truth with the drowning part. He had some kind of liquid in his lungs."

Jade put her hand to her mouth to express her pretended shock. "So did he fall into a well or a pond?"

"Likely he fell into something else. The doctor is still doing chemical tests on it."

Jade shook her head and made tsk sounds. "I hope nothing horrid happened to Mrs. Stokes. I saw the notice in the wanted section looking for information regarding her whereabouts."

"I'm afraid for her," said the woman. "I knew her from church when she was a girl, though I can't say I've seen her more than once since she married." The woman dropped her voice. "She should have married that Alwyn Chalmers instead of Martin Stokes. A man's looks aren't everything. I'm sure she wasn't the happiest lady and I can imagine her running off to England maybe, but I can't see her abandoning her baby."

"She had a baby?" asked Jade. This time she didn't have to pretend to be shocked.

"I don't suppose many people knew about him, her always being at home and the Stokeses living out of town. Dr. Abercrombe delivered a sweet little boy about, hmm, four months ago, just before he left for England. My friend told me."

CHAPTER 6.

The Maasai lump all other peoples together as ilmeek, or "aliens."

Europeans are sometimes called iloridaa enjekat, which means

"people who enclose their flatulence" due to our custom of wearing trousers.

-The Traveler "MRS. STOKES HAD a baby boy?" asked Sam.

"Yes! The same age as the child that Maddy and Neville tried to adopt," replied Jade.

"Did this lady know that the baby was, in fact, left behind?"

"No, but I'm not one to believe in coincidences. There aren't that many children available for adoption anymore. And both of these just happen to be the same s.e.x and age."

They stood to the side of the Standard's stone building, out of the general foot traffic. Both of them pondered the possibilities for a few moments before Sam broke the silence.

"Let's a.s.sume then, for the moment, that you're correct. That it's the same child. It doesn't prove that Alice Stokes was murdered. Maybe she abandoned both husband and child."

Jade frowned. "It's possible, and Stokes didn't want the baby, so, after he tried unsuccessfully to find his wife, he gave it up for adoption. But that doesn't fit the timing. True, he could have mailed the notice to the paper before he was killed, but who sent in the more recent notice that the baby was already taken? By then, he'd been dead for several days. No, my bet is that she handed the baby off to keep it safe, then ran away herself."

"That would mean there was someone else involved, at least with the baby," said Sam. "Maybe that person had already handed off the child to another couple or to a mission."

"That's possible," agreed Jade. "Or what about this idea? Stokes killed his wife, posted the ad seeking information to cover his tracks, but someone found out and killed him for it."

"What about the kid?"

Jade shrugged. "He probably gave it away earlier. The notices for the adoption might not have been from him."

"Maybe he was holding the child hostage to bring back his runaway wife, and she killed him," said Sam. "That woman at the Standard said he had liquid in his lungs?" Jade nodded. "Well, there you have it," he said.

"Have what?" asked Jade.

"She pushed him in a horse trough. They still have them around here despite all the automobiles." He extended his arms in a "ta-dah" motion to emphasize his point.

"But he wouldn't drown right away," said Jade. "She'd have had to hold him under for a while, and that suggests the strength of a man, not of a woman."

"Then maybe she had an accomplice who killed him for her. Women have been known to hire someone to finish off a husband."

Jade shuddered as she thought of one in particular and the murder that first brought her to Africa after the Great War. "Possibly. And she took back her child," Jade finished. "But the woman hinted that this liquid wasn't ordinary water. And why run the ad?"

"That is confusing," agreed Sam. "It would certainly help if we each knew what happened in our respective interviews with Finch."

"You're right, Sam. I may have to wait until tomorrow to read Maddy's or Neville's material, but for reasons that will become clearer when we . . . um . . . accidentally exchange notebooks later, I don't think either of them will have much to offer."

"I don't know. Madeline looked awfully upset."

"Probably just knowing Stokes was murdered would make her upset," said Jade. "And it's one thing to hear about it. It's another to actually find the body in your coffee dryer. I think it's time we each found out what the other knows. Will you please take me home to the Dunburys'? We can write in our journals there and accidentally pick up the wrong one later."

They walked back to the police station, where Sam had left his Indian motorcycle, an olive drab model used during the Great War. It had originally lacked the second seat that Jade's had, but Sam had engineered one over the rear wheel. Jade again climbed on after Sam, wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tightly.

Just as in the airplane, the cycle's noise didn't allow for much conversation. Not that there was much time to say anything during the short, three-mile run to the Dunburys' Parklands estate-besides an "oof" said everything that needed to be said concerning the street's sad condition.

Jade invited Sam into the parlor and headed to the exterior kitchen to see about some coffee. No one else was around. Avery and Beverly kept telling Jade to hire some of the native Kikuyu as cook and maids and general help, but Jade felt she was never home enough to warrant a full staff, or even one person for that matter. The only one she would have welcomed was Jelani, the Kikuyu boy who'd impressed her with his bravery and quick intelligence when she had first arrived in Africa. She'd taught him to read and write, then sent him back to his village to study with the old shaman. No, she didn't want Jelani to be anyone's house servant. Occasionally she hired someone to tend the grounds, and was grateful for the solitude once they were gone. Naturally this meant Bev's roses were suffering from neglect. Maybe I'll prune back the dead canes later this evening.

Jade returned after a short while to the parlor with two mugs of steaming coffee and set one in front of Sam. He had already found the ink bottle and a pen and was well under way writing his own account. Jade, who preferred a sharp pencil, took out her own newest leather journal and flipped past the pages concerning the animal captures.

At first she wasn't certain where or how to begin, so she started with a brief summary of observations she'd made the day before. That freed her mind up enough that she could recall almost verbatim her conversation with Finch. When she was finished, she tossed the notebook on the low ebony table next to Sam's book.

"I need to get to work, Sam, and I know you need to get back, too."

Sam shoved his hands in his pockets and let his head droop. "You want me to go?"

Jade wondered if men practiced that "lost puppy look" or if it came naturally to them. She smiled and slipped her hand around his arm. "Stop that, Sam. You'll make me feel like a heartless beast that turns strays out in the cold."

He grinned and leaned close. "So does that mean you'll take me in?"

Jade looked into his coffee brown eyes and felt her face flush. Like the African night, his gaze seemed to contain all sensual feeling, enough to make her heart race and her knees quiver. The thought that someone could have that much influence over her emotions made her uncomfortable. She never was one for letting people or situations control her life, and ever since she'd met Sam, she'd felt as though she'd lost part of that control. What scared her the most was the temptation, at times, to turn it all over to him.

Jade squeezed his arm gently and released it. "You don't need me to take you in," she said, stepping to the side. "You have a movie to make and a plane to tend to, and I have film to develop and I want to check on the leopard cubs and pick up my Graflex."

He folded his arms across his chest, a pose Jade had come to call his "serious and imperious male" posture, one that made her hackles rise. "I don't think you should go wandering back into Nairobi tonight, Jade. I'll take you to the animal compound if you want and stay until you're finished."

"It's perfectly safe, Sam. The animals are all in cages."

"I'm not worried about the animals. There's a murderer on the loose."

Jade had to admit she hadn't thought about that. "Surely you don't think I'm in any danger. Whoever killed Stokes most likely had a personal grudge against him. For all we know, it was his partner. You said that Berryhill looked angry about the missing funds. There's no reason for anyone to be after me." She studied his face to see if he knew something she didn't, something revealed in his journal. Well, she'd read it first to find out. "I won't stay late."

"Define 'late.' "

Jade clenched her jaw, biting back a retort. "I'll be home just after sunset. And I'll take my rifle if it makes you feel any better."

Sam let his hands drop to his sides. "You can't fire your rifle in town anymore." He reached for her and took her by the arms. "Stay home. I'll pick you up here and take you to the fair tomorrow. I could come by early."

Something about the way he said "early" made Jade's heart beat double-time. Better not risk temptation. "I'm going out and I'll meet you at the fairgrounds tomorrow," she said. "You won't have room for me on your cycle with your film equipment."

Sam sighed. "You're a cruel lady, Jade del Cameron, breaking a serviceman's heart this way." He let his hands slide down her arms in a caress.

Jade's skin tingled at his touch. Maybe he can stay for just a little while longer.

"That Anderson fellow can handle the cubs," murmured Sam as he bent to nuzzle her ear.

Jade tilted her head, allowing him access to her neck. Sam's mustache tickled the sensitive skin just under her jaw. Her eyelids drifted down, shutting out everything but his touch as her own hands felt their way up his arms. He needed to go, but Jade was having a hard time remembering why. Something she'd once learned about nice girls.

Someone knocked on the door.

"d.a.m.n," muttered Sam in her ear.