A Spear of Summer Grass - By Deanna Raybourn Page 0,124
“You confessed? To murder?”
“Well, yes. It put them in a rather difficult situation, you see, because I wouldn’t make any further statements without my attorney. Now, they could have found one for me here in Nairobi, but all I had to do was wave my American passport and invoke the name of my senator uncle and they were happy to wait for you to arrive to question me further.”
“You mean you haven’t been charged?”
“No.”
“Good God. And they’ve kept you in prison the entire time?”
“I think they said I was ‘helping police with their inquiries.’ Makes me sound quite eager, doesn’t it?” He rubbed his face, and there were shadows under his eyes and around his mouth. “Poor Quentin. How long is it since you slept?”
“Days. I can’t remember. I think I may have dozed on that god-awful train from Mombasa, but some fellow kept telling the most frightful stories of lions eating the railway workers.”
“The lions of Tsavo. You ought to have listened. It’s a fascinating tale.” I thought back to the day I had tortured Dora with it. It seemed a lifetime ago.
“Be that as it may, I would rather keep to the matter at hand. The police inspector will be wanting a formal statement from you, and I would advise you to answer as fully as you can without revealing anything that might be prejudicial to your case.”
“I don’t even know what that means. Why don’t I just tell the truth and we’ll see where we are when we’re finished?”
“It might be at the end of a hangman’s noose,” he replied brutally. “If you don’t know if you ought to answer something or not, look at me. I will guide you.”
“Fine.”
“Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
* * *
It lasted seven hours with short breaks for lunch and tea. By the time we were done, the inspector lectured me thoroughly on the venality of making false statements and Quentin lectured him thoroughly about due process. It was a very thorough experience for everyone, and when it was finished, I was free to go. Inspector Gilchrist had arranged for me to leave from the back of the prison and he personally escorted us to the door. He opened it and I saw that the rains were still coming down in a soft grey curtain. Gilchrist turned to Quentin.
“Mr. Harkness, perhaps you will be good enough to make certain the car has arrived. I wouldn’t like Miss Drummond to stand around outside and attract the attention of the press. No need to give the reporters anything else to write about,” Gilchrist said, his lips twitching like a rabbit’s. Quentin hurried out the back door leaving us alone for just a moment.
“Thank you,” I said, tipping my head and smiling sweetly.
“Don’t bother,” he growled. “I ought to charge you with making false statements and hindering my investigation. You’ve cost me nearly three weeks.”
“No, I didn’t. I’ve had time to work it out, Inspector. You knew the first day you had me here that I didn’t do it. And you knew Gideon didn’t do it either. You wanted me in custody because as long as I was being held somewhere, you could claim to be doing your best to bring Kit’s murderer to justice and you could keep Government House happy. And all the while, you gave an innocent man a chance to get to freedom.”
His jaw hardened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do.” The inspector wasn’t tall. I didn’t have to stand on tiptoe to kiss him. I pressed my lips to his and moved back just as he lifted his arms. “Thank you.”
He reached into his pocket. “I believe this belongs to you.”
He held out a Masai bracelet, blue and white, with a thin line of distinct green beads. I would still look in my jewel box when I went back to Fairlight, but it would be a formality. This was the one Moses had given me, the bracelet that had led Gilchrist to Gideon in the first place. The slight kink where I had stepped on it getting out of Ryder’s truck was unmistakable.
I hesitated. “What makes you think that is mine?”
“Routine investigation. It does uncover most things eventually. You know, we’d have saved a great deal of time and trouble if you had just admitted that you lost it at Parrymore’s during one of your trysts.” But the inspector was wrong. I hadn’t seen it since the night I had been with Ryder, the