Ray had been too busy when we stopped for coffee and juice to show me the photos. I didn’t even try to ask. Everyone would have flocked to us the moment he pulled out his phone. Did we each not have enough photos on safari?
I could hang around after the drive and wait until Ray was free but that would be suspicious. I was known for heading right for the coffee upon returning from our early game drives. A waitress had started just standing at the ready as I was the first to enter the breakfast area. She would stand next to me as I downed my first cup and then refill it before I headed to the breakfast table. I would feel embarrassed if not for Jack.
They had learned to have a plate of bacon ready for him at his table. That was worse, wasn’t it?
After finishing my first cup at the lodge, the third for the day, I placed it down and left for the front of the lodge. If anyone was watching, they’d think I was heading to the bathroom, located off the reception. I glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching. They weren’t. They were too invested in the sumptuous breakfast being laid out in front of them. Were those blueberry pancakes? I hoped I could make this trip quick and return before they were all gone.
“Ms. Naomi, how did I know you’d be back?” He tossed me my mosquito repellant fan, which I had left on my seat. As I was the last one to leave the cruiser, I knew another guest wouldn’t find it. I knew Ray wouldn’t miss the signal.
Without asking, he pulled out his phone and clicked on his photo application.
I recoiled when the first photo appeared. “Yikes, that’s a lot of red.”
“Blood,” he added. As if didn’t know.
“How’d you know it was a hyena?” I asked. It just looked like one bloody mess to me.
“Hyenas,” he corrected me. “They travel in packs. It would be highly unlikely that just one would enter this area. They share their kills.”
“You really think they killed him?”
He looked up from his phone. “Of course? Who else could have?”
That was the question I was earnestly seeking an answer to. Who could have done it?
There was genuine shock on his face. The thought that Dr. Higgins had been killed by human hands had never entered his mind. Maybe it shouldn’t have entered mine.
I inspected the photos and Ray began his lecture. “First, we look for claws. Cats claws are retractable so you don’t see them in their prints.” He enlarged the photo and pointed to an area. “See that?” I peered in and nodded. “Those are claws. So it’s a wild dog or hyena.”
He stopped himself. “Cheetahs do have semi-retractable claws but their foot pad has three lobes.” He pointed again to the enlarged photo. “This does not, so I know it’s not a cheetah.”
Ray pulled his phone back, clicked a few times, and showed me the phone again. An illustration of various animals’ paw prints. In black and white, it was easy to the see the differences. In the dirt and in the blood, I didn’t know how he did it. I was going to have to trust Ray’s expertise.
“Can you go back to the photos?”
He did as I asked and held the phone out to me. I took it and flipped through the photos. It really didn’t matter what wild animal Ray identified the tracks as. I was looking for evidence of another type of animal—human.
“What’s that?” I asked. Could a human’s footprint or shoe print have been left behind?
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Internet still down?”
“It’s temporary. We’re working on it. It’ll be fixed shortly.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. I needed to see the photos larger. I couldn’t think of any available option. With the internet still down, emailing them to me, to view on my laptop, was not an option.
“Can we print these?” I asked, when I handed his phone back.
“Yes,” he answered. “But why?”
I couldn’t tell him the truth, could I? And if I dismissed him, he’d either not get me the photos or think I was a killer. I chose the truth, sort of. “Tracking, I find it fascinating!”
His eyes widened. “Sonny said you were interested in a job here!” He put his phone away. “I can lend you a book while you’re here. Go to breakfast and I’ll get you the photos and the book before lunch.”
I thanked him and scurried off to breakfast, hoping there were blueberry pancakes left.