that after sixty-five years, no one is quite sure what the little guy looks like. Here’s the number. How’s it going?”
“Says here the initial redback bite isn’t painful and sometimes you don’t see no puncture marks. Pain sets in after about five minutes and some common symptoms are localized swellin’, sweatin’, muscular weakness, paralysis, stiffness, loss of coordination, and tremors.”
“Claire was sweating when she was in the visitor center,” I recalled. “And she was complaining about stiffness.”
“Nora obviously lost coordination when she collapsed,” added Tilly.
“Here’s the kicker,” said Nana. “‘Redback venom is slow-actin’ and serious illness shouldn’t develop for at least three hours.’ It don’t say nothin’ about anyone dyin’. It says the symptoms can sometimes clear within a week.” She snorted in disgust. “We been had. You was right, Emily. All Jake was hankerin’ to do was scare us.”
“And make fun of our reaction.” Tilly looked down at her boots. “Do you suppose that little boutique in Melbourne accepts returns on slightly used sale items?”
I squinted at the tiny writing on the screen. “Does it say anything about the venom being more toxic on people whose immune systems have been compromised, or who might have preexisting medical conditions?”
“I don’t see nothin’. I bet he even lied about them other critters he was tellin’ us about. Taipan. Funnel web.” Nana cleared her screen and Googled ‘taipan.’
“Wait a minute. Before you do that, would you check out something for me?” I ran for my shoulder bag and dug out my memo pad. “Can you call up ‘Google Earth’ and type in these numbers? It’s Roger’s waypoint on his GPS. I got it when he was arguing with Diana. I just hope I remembered the numbers correctly.”
“Google Earth,” said Nana as her fingers flew over the keyboard. “Is this somethin’ new?”
“Etienne told me about it. I guess it can give you satellite images of just about anywhere on the planet. So if these numbers produce an image of the exact spot where Claire died, Roger Piccolo might have some explaining to do.”
“To whom?” asked Tilly.
“To anyone who might show up to ask questions about the ever-increasing number of deaths on this tour!” I shuddered to think how many more people might die from apparent natural causes before the authorities arrived.
“Looks like I gotta download a program before I can access the site,” said Nana. “You want I should do that, dear?”
“Go for it.”
We stared at the window that appeared on the screen. “Could be a slow download through the modem,” Nana predicted. She checked her watch. “This’d be a good time to hit the earring store and get Conrad taken care of. You s’pose they’d fax that photo for me downstairs at reception, Emily?”
“It’s worth a try, but pin a note to your jersey: Remove the photo from the fax machine when you’re done.”
Nana gave the keyboard a maternal pat. “I hope no one was plannin’ to make a phone call on account a the line’s gonna be tied up for a while.”
“There’s one phone call we could make that would make all this fuss unnecessary,” said Tilly. “Call Peter Blunt. See if he’ll give you the result of Claire’s autopsy report.”
Peter? Damn, things had gotten so complicated, I’d forgotten all about Peter. I gave my forehead a whack with my fist. “I should have thought of that before. What is wrong with me? Okay, I’ll just—” I regarded the download bar on the computer. “I’ll run up to the guys’ suite and use their phone. That’ll be easier.”
“You want we should wait on you for dinner, dear? Tilly and me are gonna take a cab to some famous seafood place.”
“Go on without me.” I grabbed my shoulder bag and headed out the door. “I’ll wing it.”
Tap, tap, tap.
Etienne answered the door wearing a towel slung low around his hips and nothing else. His hair was ruffled into a dark, wet tangle. His chest sparkled with errant water droplets. His skin gave off a delicious aroma of citrus, and wind, and sunshine. I sniffed appreciatively. “Oh, God, what is that? It smells wonderful.”
He hooked his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me against him. “The hotel’s shampoo/ body wash.” He tilted my chin and pressed a soft, lingering kiss on my lips. “I’ll share. It works up into an incredibly erotic lather.”
Eh! I kissed him back and swallowed half his tongue. He kicked the door shut and wrapped me in his arms. I flattened my palms against his naked