Rose invited Sam and Constable Wachira to her room before supper. Thabiti unfolded two wooden safari chairs and arranged them by the room’s wingback armchairs.
He turned to Sam and Constable Wachira, and asked, “What would you like to drink?”
“A Tusker for me,” replied Sam.
“Just a diet coke, please, as I want to stay alert this evening,” said Constable Wachira.
He looked over at Rose, who was unpacking her toiletry bag. “And for you, Mama Rose?”
“A small glass of white wine would be lovely,” she replied with a smile.
Sam sat down in an armchair and Constable Wachira in a safari chair. Sam asked Rose, “How is Craig?”
“He’s comfortable in the Cottage Hospital and getting the care he needs. But the doctor is not sure how well his hip will heal, or whether there will be any secondary complications.”
“I’m sorry,” said Constable Wachira. “I hope he’s not in too much pain.”
Rose thought of Craig lying in his hospital bed and she hoped he was resting peacefully. Despite the tragic end to the weekend, and his fall, she thought he had enjoyed his visit to Borana and the chance to be involved in the Lewa Marathon, if only as a spectator.
Thabiti returned with a tray of drinks, which he set down on the small coffee table.
Rose crossed the room and sat down in the free armchair and enquired, “Did you find out anything useful today about Nina Scott Watson’s disappearance and death?”
Sam poured his Tusker into a glass and said, “You go first, Judy.”
“There’s not much to tell, is there Thabiti?”
Thabiti shook his head as he picked up another bottle of Tusker and moved across to the window.
The constable continued, “The problem is Lewa was full of people on Sunday morning, when Mrs Scott Watson went missing, and none of the Lewa staff noticed anything unusual.”
“What about the men from BATUK?” enquired Rose.
“Sergeant Sebunya questioned them. Although they didn’t leave Lewa until three o’clock in the afternoon, they didn’t see anyone matching Mrs Scott Watson’s description. In fact, nobody has.”
Thabiti continued to stare into the gathering gloom as night fell. He commented, “The only mzungu woman who was spotted on her own was completely different.”
Rose turned to the window and asked sharply, “What do you mean?”
Thabiti turned towards her and then looked down at the floor.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned it. It happened on Friday night, so it has no bearing on the case.”
“What did?” Rose’s eyes drew together.
“An attractive mzungu woman, with dark hair, had to be rescued from somewhere near the watering hole. Apparently she was taking a shortcut through Borana to Lewa, got lost, and then her car broke down. She had to call the camp where she was staying before the marathon and one of the Lewa staff was sent to collect her.” Thabiti picked at the label on his Tusker bottle.
“I had a bit more luck,” Sam announced. “I checked the logs of all Borana’s entrance gates for Sunday and found an interesting entry. Early, around half past seven on Sunday morning, a female driver exited through the gate onto the Ngare Ndare Forest road. She signed her name as Jane Smith.”
Thabiti sighed, “That’s not much help. I bet she made the name up. It’s like calling myself John Otieno.”
Rose asked, “Did the askari remember what she looked like?”
Sam replied, “It was a different guard on duty that day, but we called him. He said he didn’t get a good look at the woman as she had a scarf wrapped around her head and was wearing dark glasses.”
There was a knock at the door and Chloe poked her head into the room. “Do you mind if I join you?”
“Come in,” said Rose. “I see you have a drink. We were just discussing the progress that has been made into the disappearance of Nina Scott Watson. At the moment there just seem to be a lot of dead ends.” She turned back to Sam and asked, “Did the gate askari say anything else?”
“The guard who had been on duty thought there was something distinctive about the car, and when we looked at the log, we noted that he had jotted down ‘green beetle’.”
Rose rubbed her chin and said, “I wonder what he meant by that? Perhaps he saw an unusual bug on the car, but it doesn’t help us much.”
Chloe sat down on the end of the bed and said in a thoughtful tone, “It could mean a green Beetle car. I saw one in the car park at Kongoni’s when we left on Sunday. I noticed it because it was one of the old-style Beetles, and looked as if it had been well cared for, although its shiny green paintwork was covered in dust.”
There was another knock on the door and a male voice announced, “Dinner’s about to be served.”