Frederick Ramsay_Botswana Mystery 01 Read Online Free PDF Page A

But she couldn’t be positive.
    She stood and glanced once again at what was left of that bad boy. All that remained belonged to the insects. She put on rubber gloves. Collecting body parts would not be pleasant nor would she be expected to do a complete job. Bits and pieces would be scattered over a half hectare. She returned to the village half an hour later and deposited the plastic bag with the headman who would try to contact the Zimbabwe officials.
    “Missus,” the old subchief said, “These wheels must be returned to their rightful owners. You must take them to the police.”
    She inspected the wheels; saw where the bad boy had started to repaint the rims. She loaded them, into the back of the Rover. When she returned to Kasane, she attempted to deposit them at the police station. Inspector Mwambe gave her a hard look and told her to take them away, that he had no time for her and did not need more paper work. She asked what she should do with them.
    “Do whatever you like, woman,” he said and lowered his eyes back to the shiny, very empty surface of his desk as he dismissed her with an impatient wave.
    Mr. Pako had no suggestions for her either when she called him.
    “Throw them away. I do not wish to have a conversation with you about it.”
    ***
    Bloody and beaten, Sekoa staggered into the bush and settled in the shade of an acacia tree. He had not walked away, as wisdom would have suggested, but stayed through a second attack and then he turned and walked. He had not been badly injured in this his last battle. In the past, his bouts with other lions had frequently ended in severe wounds, the scars of which still marked his face and shoulders. And he had managed to impose on his conqueror a few wounds as well. In the distance he heard the roaring and yelping as his replacement assumed sovereignty over the pride and decimated the youngest cubs—the older males raced away into the grassland where they would live or die by their wits. Soon this new alpha male would mate with the females and receive, as his dowry, the disease that, more than his strength, had won him his victory.
    Sekoa had not hunted in years. That duty usually belonged to the females. He instinctively knew he could not run down any fleet-footed animal and did not have strength enough to pull down slower, larger ones. His only hope was to feed on the carrion left by others, to steal the kill of smaller predators, to hunt down the sick, the lame, and those like him who were dying. And then there were the hated hyenas who, if they sensed his weakness, would track him, waiting for the moment when he collapsed. The eternal animosity between the two species would be played out once more. He huffed and swished his tail at the plague of flies that had come to torment him.
    He would go to the water. Eventually all animals had to go to the water. There would be game there for the taking. He might survive another day.
    ***
    Sanderson detoured to her house before parking the Land Rover. She needed to deposit Lovermore Ndlovu’s purloined wheels in her court. She had no idea if they would work on the HiLux. She was not mechanical and assumed that all automobile wheels were pretty much the same. Perhaps larger or smaller but the significance of the number of lug nuts for each had never registered. Four, five—who knew?
    Michael slept fitfully under his mosquito netting. It had become necessary to fit this gossamer cone of protection over him as he, in his weakened state, could barely brush the flies and mosquitoes away. She tiptoed into the room and looked in on him, half hoping he would wake so she could tell him her good news, tell him of their change in luck. After a minute she left. The vehicle must be returned to its proper place. Mr. Pako must be assured of her presence on duty.

Chapter 6
    Henry Farrah took the call even though he couldn’t imagine what Bobby Griswold’s wife wanted from him.
    She told him.
    “What you’re asking for is