On Sunday evening, Thabiti sat with Judy and Sam on the wooden viewing deck outside the drawing room of Aureus Lodge. Marina had taken the yoga group on their final game drive before they departed the following morning.
Sam, and Judy, in her official police role as Constable Wachira, had spent most of the afternoon questioning the members of the yoga retreat and Robert Scott Watson about Nina’s disappearance.
Thabiti placed a diet coke for Judy, and Tusker beers for himself and Sam, on a small wooden coffee table and sat down in a wooden framed safari chair with a canvas seat. He opened his beer and without looking up asked hesitantly, “Did you find out anything else about Nina’s disappearance?”
Sam opened his beer and took a long drink. “Very little,” he replied and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Judy removed a small notebook from her trouser pocket, which she opened. Reading the pages, she commented, “The members of the yoga retreat were at a dawn class on the edge of the escarpment, but, unlike your sister, none of them remembers seeing Nina, or anyone else for that matter. Apparently they were all centring themselves and becoming one with nature as the sun rose.”
Sam added, “And none of them had met Nina before this weekend, or so they say.”
Thabiti flicked the ring pull on his can. “I took a gin and tonic to Robert in his room earlier, but he only grunted at me.”
Sam sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s a difficult one to read. He’s certainly worried, but in his shoes I would be desperate to be out there.” He indicated towards the conservancy. “Looking for my wife. But instead, he’s sitting in his room fretting about her disappearance, and snapping at anyone who approaches him.”
Thabiti looked up at Sam and then over his shoulder towards Robert’s room, beyond the dining room. The door onto the small balcony was open, so he whispered, “You know, I don’t like Robert that much. And he’s not very loving towards Nina, considering they’re on their honeymoon. So I’m not surprised she wanted to walk out. I would leave him, too. But not here. Not in the middle of Borana.”
Judy consulted her notebook again. “Her husband said she didn’t know anyone in Kenya, and that it was his idea to spend their honeymoon here and take part in the Lewa Marathon.”
Sam stood, leaned against the platform rail and stared into the conservancy as the light dimmed. He said, “There are two sets of headlights returning to the lodge. Presumably Marina and the car you sent out to search for Nina?”
Thabiti stared down at a shortwave radio on the table. “As neither of them radioed in, I doubt they’ve found her.”
Judy shivered and said, “Poor girl, out there on her own. She must be terrified.”
Sam collected a shuka blanket from a small pile by the entrance to the drawing room, unfolded it, and draped it over Judy’s shoulders. “I’ve spoken to Reuben at Lewa Conservancy,” He said. “If Nina hasn’t returned by the morning, he’ll bring the tracker dogs over to search for her. They might have more luck than us.”
They all drank in silence for a few minutes.
Thabiti looked across at Judy and said, “Well done in the marathon yesterday. You make me feel rather inadequate, only doing the half, and Marina and I walked much of the way.”
“Thank you. But I’ve been training, whereas I understand you took someone’s entry at the last minute.”
Thabiti looked into the drawing room and answered, “Yes, the owners of this lodge. The wife was injured, so they didn’t come over from the UK. They offered their marathon places to Marina and me, and the use of the lodge to the Scott Watsons.” He looked back at Sam and asked, “Have you ever taken part?”
“Oh, yes, back in the day, when I was my younger, fitter self.” Sam clasped his hands together. “But now I’m happy supporting those who are competing, and I enjoy organising the timing equipment.”
Thabiti leaned forward and said, “So you use transponder chips in the competitors’ numbers to track their times? Is there monitoring equipment along the route or just at the start and finish?”
Sam tapped his thumbs together. “At the start the equipment just confirms the numbers who cross the starting line. The time begins for all the runners when the starter shouts ‘go’.”
Thabiti bit his lip and picked up his beer can. “So the time I was given was not my true ‘running time’ as it took us several minutes to get through the start.”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s why they call the elite runners forward to the front, so they can be through the start and away for a true race, and the fun runners follow.”
There was a crackle on the radio. Gingerly, Thabiti picked up the handset, pressed the switch on the side and spoke into it. “This is Aureus Lodge receiving, over.”
The radio crackled again and a voice said, “This is Reuben at Lewa Conservancy. Is Sam Mwamba there? Over.”
With relief, Thabiti handed the radio to Sam.
“Sam here, over.”
Thabiti heard Reuben respond, “Sam, one of our guides, who was leading a game drive this evening, spotted a jackal with what looked like a human hand in its mouth. So they followed it and eventually scared it enough to drop the object. They brought it back to me and it is a hand. A woman’s, I would say, with a gold wedding band and a diamond engagement ring. Over.”