Rose and Chris left the Cottage Hospital as lunch was being served. Chris drove Rose to Cape Chestnut restaurant, but he didn’t stay. Rose hadn’t arranged to meet anyone, but she didn’t feel like being alone at home. She was unsettled and felt she needed to remain close to Craig, and the hospital.
She sat at the same small wooden table that she and Chris had occupied the previous Sunday, under the shade of the large Cape chestnut tree. As she ordered a passion fruit juice, her phone rang. She snatched it from the table, panicking that the hospital was calling about Craig, and answered briskly, “Hello”.
“Rose, it’s Chloe. I wondered if we could meet up. I’ll buy you lunch.”
“That’s very kind,” answered Rose, slightly breathlessly. “I’ve just arrived at Cape Chestnut. But you’re welcome to join me.”
“I’ll come straight over.”
Rose finished the call and thought about Chris’s story and the dead woman on his skiing trip. Val d’Isère was the same place Robert had mentioned the previous evening. And he’d told them he and Vivian had both been there three years ago.
Was it just a coincidence? She wouldn’t be at all surprised if Robert was the reason for his wife’s disappearance. But had he killed her? If so, how? And did it mean he was responsible for other deaths, such as the poor woman in the ski resort?
And what about Vivian? She had appeared very uncomfortable when Robert mentioned Val d’Isère. But was that because ‘bumping into each other’ was just a phrase to cover up the fact that she and Robert had been staying at the resort together?
Rose’s drink arrived. “Would you like to order food?” the waiter asked.
“Not yet, asante. I’m waiting for a friend.”
He returned to the main restaurant building and as Rose removed her straw and sipped her passion fruit juice, she considered Vivian.
She had initially seen her at Nanyuki airstrip, the same day that she had first encountered the Scott Watsons. And at the marathon she thought she kept seeing the same woman, one with glossy brunette hair, flitting just out of view. Had that been Vivian?
Chloe had remarked that Vivian’s surname, Scott, was similar to Robert’s double-barrelled Scott Watson. Was that significant?
“Cooee,” called Chloe, but with less than her usual enthusiasm.
A waiter followed her to the table and asked, “Would you like a drink?”
“Definitely. A gin and tonic, please. I better not make it a double though, as I am driving.” Chloe flopped onto the chair opposite Rose and exclaimed, “What a morning. How is Craig?”
How was Craig? Something was niggling at Rose about him this morning. To Chloe she said, “I think he’s OK, but …”
“You’re concerned something’s wrong?” Chloe hung a small black leather bag on the back of her chair.
Rose swirled her drink with her straw. “I am, but nobody at the hospital seemed particularly concerned. I think I’m just being paranoid. Perhaps puzzling over what happened to poor Nina Scott Watson is unsettling me. Do you know, Chris told me a strange tale today.” Rose repeated Chris’s story.
“Oh, international intrigue. Robert must be quite the lady’s man.” A hint of colour returned to Chloe’s cheeks.
“You should have seen the way he was eyeing you up last night at supper. It seriously put Vivian’s nose out of joint.”
“Oh, so you also think they’re friends with benefits.” Chloe’s drink arrived, and she took an appreciative sip.
“What do you mean by friends with benefits?” The phrase was new to Rose, although she thought she understood its meaning.
“You know, sometimes it’s a little more than friends and they end up in the same bed.” Now the whole of Chloe’s face turned pink.
Rose leaned back in her wooden chair and said, “Yes, that’s exactly what I think, and perhaps more than that. Just before you came, I was toying with your observation that both Robert and Vivian have Scott in their surnames.”
Chloe leaned forward across the table and asked, “Do you believe they’re related? Oh,” Chloe cried, “Or were they married?”
“It’s worth considering. And I don’t think Nina was Robert’s first wife, or second if he was actually married to Vivian.” Rose tapped the side of her glass.
“So what are you going to do?” Chloe’s eyes shone.
Rose sat up and sipped her fruit juice as she considered what to do next. “There’s not much I can do, but perhaps Commissioner Akida can do some digging.” She picked her phone up, tapped some keys and waited for the commissioner to answer.
He did, although he sounded distracted as he answered, “Mama Rose. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.”
“I’ve been thinking …” responded Rose.
“Excellent,” cut in the commissioner. “And do you know who killed Nina Scott Watson?”
“Not yet, but I wondered if you could look into something for me? Something relevant to the case. Do you have any contacts in the UK who could search for information about marriages?”
“I do, as a matter of fact,” replied the commissioner. “And he owes me a favour. Tell me who you would like to look up.”
“Well, firstly, can you find out if Robert Scott Watson has been married before, during the past twelve to fifteen years?”
“Ah, so you do think he did it. Constable Wachira told me Thabiti is convinced Robert Scott Watson killed his wife, but none of us can work out how.”
“I’m still not sure. The pieces don’t fit together at the moment. So, secondly, can your contact check if there has ever been a marriage between a Robert Scott and a Vivian someone? I’m afraid I don’t have a surname. For that one we may need to look further back, up to say twenty years. And if he can’t find anything in the UK, then, and this might be more difficult, but if it’s possible, could he confirm if there is any record in the Philippines?”
“The Philippines? What have they got to do with it?” The commissioner sounded bemused.
“Probably nothing, but I’m just tying up loose ends.”
“I’m not sure my favour extends that far, but I will try. Is there anything else? Is Bwana Craig well?”
“He’s comfortable for the moment, and no, there’s nothing else.” Rose ended the call and as the waiter approached again she suggested, “Shall we check the menu board?”
She and Chloe approached the single-storey wooden restaurant building. The day’s dishes were written on a large blackboard leaning against the wall on the veranda.
“Just the soup for me, tafadhali,” Rose said to the hovering waiter.
“And I’d like the chicken salad.”
Chloe and Rose returned to their table.
Rose hesitated before asking, “How was your session with the counsellor? Did you persuade Dan to accompany you?”
Chloe took another sip of her gin and tonic and replied, “Dan did come with me. He was conciliatory this morning and readily agreed. But I think he believed he was just supporting me. He became very defensive when the counsellor started probing him. He said things like, ‘These are my red lines and I’m not crossing them’. And after the session he insisted on walking back and wouldn’t get in the car with me.” Chloe looked down at her hands and twisted her engagement ring.
Rose made her voice sound bright and positive as she said, “At least it’s a step in the right direction. I guess he needs some time to himself to digest what you discussed.” Rose leaned forward and placed her hand on Chloe’s arm. “Don’t push him too much over the next few days. When does he have to return to work?”
Chloe looked up at her. “Not until next Monday. They’ve postponed his return. And we’ve actually booked another session on Thursday. But I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if Dan will come back with me.”
Chloe opened her black bag and removed a lipstick and vanity mirror. A folded piece of paper drifted to the floor. As Chloe applied her lipstick, Rose picked up the paper which she recognised as a results sheet from the Lewa Marathon. Removing her glasses from her own tote bag, she skimmed through the names and times again.
Chris really had run very well, especially considering that he hadn’t had long to adjust to the increase in altitude. And Chloe had done amazingly, even though her husband had been so dismissive.
Chloe replaced her lipstick and mirror in her bag and commented, “Dan gave me that today. He actually congratulated me, although I think he still resents that I ran so well.”
“And you didn’t have the support of teammates as he did. You ran and finished on your own.”
Chloe bit at her freshly painted lips. “That’s what I thought. But the result sheet shows that I didn’t finish alone. In fact, and I really don’t remember this, but perhaps she caught up with me when I fell. You see, Vivian Scott finished with me. With exactly the same time.”
Rose leant back, rubbing her chin. She knew that couldn’t be right. She had cheered poor Chloe home after she had fallen on the bend.
Her thoughts were interrupted as her phone rang. “Hello.”
She sat up straight as the voice on the phone said, “Mrs Hardie. This is the Cottage Hospital. It’s about your husband.”