Deadly Harvest A Detective Kubu Mystery - By Michael Stanley Page 0,12
and lifted one of the ceiling panels. He took out a packet of something wrapped in cloth. After he’d removed it, I started feeling better. Now I have no problems.”
Samantha shrugged. “He could’ve hidden it there himself.”
“Yes, of course. But the point is that I had no idea it was there. I still have no idea why anyone would put a curse on the apartment. I hadn’t offended anyone. Perhaps someone else wanted to rent it, and the idea was to drive me out.”
“Maybe.” Samantha shrugged again. “What I want to know is how these things are supposed to work.”
“Well, let me try to explain the basic principle they use. It’s not all that complicated. The idea is to transfer a desired property exhibited by one organism to another through some medium. Let’s say you admire the strength and courage of a lion. So you kill it and eat its heart. You believe you ingest its strength and courage with the organ. This concept of transference is widespread in a variety of cultures, especially African and Eastern. But don’t think it’s restricted to them. I myself take a homeopathic remedy that consists of tiny, tiny amounts of a material that causes the symptom I want to cure. The amounts used are far too small to have a measurable biochemical effect. Why does it work?” He shrugged. “Maybe only because I believe that it does.”
Samantha said nothing, and the professor could see that she was completely lost.
“Let me give you a concrete example. Let’s say Tau is a man who is rich and powerful, but is not successful sexually. As you know, in the culture here it’s very important to a man’s self-esteem to have great sexual prowess and many offspring.”
Samantha nodded. “And to a woman’s also.”
“Yes. So Tau goes to a witch doctor for help. Tau’s a rich man and goes to a powerful witch doctor. It’ll cost him a lot, but he doesn’t care—that just shows how successful he is and how powerful the medicine will be. The witch doctor tells him what he needs. He must take the sexual power from another man—a young virile man, maybe a boy, who hasn’t spent any of his sexual power yet.”
“So Tau gets that boy’s sexual organs?”
“Yes. Exactly. Made into a potion in a special way, of course. That potion is very powerful muti.”
“It’s all complete nonsense!”
The professor shrugged. “Physiologically it’s nonsense, of course. But think of the effect in Tau’s head. He believes he’s obtained great power from the medicine. What’s more, power that he’s caused to be taken from another man by force. That makes it even more potent. Sex is driven by the mind in any case.”
Samantha disliked the story but could believe it. Men always seemed to be looking for power and sex. This was just another example.
“However, this was a young girl.”
Van der Meer thought for a moment. “A woman who can’t make milk may get muti made from the nipples or the breasts of a healthy young woman. If a woman can’t conceive, the muti must be made from a womb. Someone with a weak heart needs the heart of a healthy person. Young. Fresh.”
Samantha felt a bit queasy. These are my people he’s talking about, she thought. I’m ashamed for them.
The professor continued, “But I think this case may be different. Sometimes there is something very unusual about the individual, which suggests strong spirit power. For example, it could be a special birthmark on the face. And albinos are thought to have enormous power. Do you see the connection with Lesego?”
Samantha shook her head. “Lesego wasn’t an albino.”
“But her name. Lucky. That’s why I said it was a bad name. Not many children are called that. The name gives them a power that others want badly, perhaps badly enough to steal. Potions for luck usually involve animals thought of as fortunate for a special reason: the scaly anteater—safe from attack with its armor plating, the klipspringer—escapes easily by jumping between rocks on hooves that seem to hold like Velcro. But in this case . . .”
Samantha absorbed this new idea. “So it could be for fertility, young organs to fix unhealthy ones, or even just for luck.” She felt more nauseous. And she was uncomfortable with this white European, who seemed to find all of this reasonable. She stood up.
“You’ve been a big help, Professor. I need to think about how all this fits with my case. Can I come back if I have