I wanted to hunt down Ray. I was so eager for a closer look at those photos. I wandered around the lodge in search of another distraction. I was so desperate I even considered going to the gym.
“Naomi,” Ray called out. He handed me a book. “This book is my most treasured resource. My first guide gave it me when I first became a tracker. I’ll need it back before you depart. But maybe you could buy a copy in the US when you get home?”
I nodded, searching for the photos he said he’d print for me. I smiled when I found them. “Thank you, Ray. I’ll give the book back to you. I promise.” I didn’t need the book, but it did hide the photos well.
“I spoke to Leticia. She can’t believe you’d like to work here.”
“I’m sure she’s thrilled.”
“We’ve never had a guest want to work with us.”
I found that hard to believe. The place was beautiful. But long-term, I didn’t think I’d survive. Literally, I think I’d be killed by an animal. Any animal. Mosquito or hippo or snake. You name it.
And if I wasn’t actually killed, I’d struggle to live here. At some point, you’d stop seeing the beauty. It became background noise. At your forefront would be the travelers, on a trip of a lifetime, wanting every inane question answered and every desire filled. My fake smile would only last so long.
I kept the real smile on my face and thanked Ray again for the book. Charlotte was on the patio when I returned to our room. The day was beautiful, like all the others, and I joined her.
“Did you really buy a book from the gift shop?”
“No, Ray lent it to me.”
“I had no idea you were that interested in the wildlife here. You are interested in learning about the wildlife, aren’t you? And not interested in local life?”
I looked up from the book. “Huh?”
“You’re not interested in him, are you?”
“No, don’t be ridiculous. He’s married with a baby.”
She slammed her book closed. “How do you know that?”
“He told me.”
“Because you were hitting on him and he wanted to thwart your advances?”
“No,” I answered. I returned my attention to the book.
“You’ve been mocking me for studying on vacation and now you have a book on”—she tipped the cover so she could read it—“a book on tracking. What are you up to?” I didn’t answer. “Oh no, it’s about the Higgins thing, isn’t it?”
“Shh!” I went into the room and signaled for her to follow. She did but didn’t look happy about it. “You don’t know who can hear you!”
“You’re the only one who cares what happened to that man. No one cares what you’re doing.”
“Well, I’m sure the killer does!”
She threw her arms in the air. “What killer?”
I grabbed the photos out of the book.
“This. Do you see this?”
“I see a lot of blood, Naomi.”
I pointed to the spot again. “A footprint. I think it’s a partial footprint.”
“It’s probably yours!”
I paused and considered it. “No, no way. I was careful walking in.” I pointed to my brown hiking boots. “I didn’t want to get anything on my new shoes.”
She sneered at the brown hiking boots. They were not as fashionable as her gray ones with lilac accents.
“Then it was one of the others.”
“No, only you came in the room.”
She shivered. “I did not step in that man’s blood.” She went to the fridge and grabbed a water. “I don’t know why you went in that room when you saw all that blood.”
“It happened so fast. I didn’t realize it was blood until it was too late.”
She looked at the printout again. “It could be Sonny’s. Sonny came in the room with us.”
“But all the suspects stayed out.”
“Suspects?”
“Yes, the killer had to be one of the guests.” I began to pace to come up with a plan.
“I knew you shouldn’t have watched Murder on the Orient Express on the flight!”
I gasped. That was a take on the case I hadn’t considered. That it had been meticulously planned, by all of them, before our arrival. Maybe that was why Sabrina’s husband had backed out of the trip. Not wanting to participate in a murder plot. Maybe that was how we got the good deal on the trip. That group hadn’t planned on Inspector Poirot. This group hadn’t planned on Detective Naomi! “Do you really—”
“No, Naomi. I do not think everyone, but the two of us, knew Dr. Higgins before the trip and that they all plotted his murder together. You sound crazy.”
She was right. It did sound farfetched, but she brought it up. I returned to my previous plan. “I should look at everyone’s shoes this afternoon. How can I do that?”
“What would be the point?” she asked, watching me pace.
“To see if any of them have blood on their shoes. You said if someone had cut Dr. Higgins in the carotid there would be a lot of blood.”
“Yes.”
“So they would have a lot of blood on them.”
“Most likely.”
“They could hand-wash their clothing.”
“It’d be hard to get that blood out.”
“Yeah, the gift shop didn’t have any detergent that said it would remove bloodstains.”
“Because you looked?’
“Yes, of course. They were all marked ‘gentle’ detergents.”
“So what? They throw the bloody clothes out.”
“Nope, I told you I went through the garbage.”
She sighed and shook her head in disgust. “I tried to forget about that.”
“Plus, if they threw it out in their room, Coral would have found it. If they threw it out in the common area, I would have seen it when I reviewed the surveillance tape. So the bloody clothing, maybe it’s partially cleaned and in a suitcase.”
“They threw their bloody clothes in their suitcase? Don’t you think Customs will see that?”
“Customs isn’t looking for a murderer. Bloody clothes won’t show up on an X-ray. It’s all in black and white. If they happen to go through his or her luggage, which is unlikely, they could just explain it. Plus, they could throw out the clothing in the bathroom before security.” I stopped my pacing and faced her. “If Customs did stop them, they could say—I cut myself shaving. I’m on Coumadin and it really gushed.” She shook her head but this time smiled. “What?” I asked.
“Mom was right.” I waited for her to say how Mom said I was crazy but she surprised me.
“You’re so smart. You could have done anything you wanted. You can do anything you want. You just have to set your mind to it.”
“Well, my mind is set on finding a murderer.”
Charlotte surprised me again. “Then God help them. Because you’ll find them.”