Black Horn by A. J. Quinnell Read Free Book Online Page B

independence, the Selous Scouts just sort of drifted away
into oblivion. No photographs were taken of the black members, unless their
faces were covered. All records were destroyed. Many of those black members are
now in positions of authority in that country, while others went back to their
villages. With independence, the new black government carried through, after
some years, a remarkable policy of conciliation between the forces who fought
for independence and the forces who fought against it. They created a cohesive
single army, some of whose members were Selous Scouts." He turned back to
Maxie and said, "The police made exhaustive enquiries, particularly as
they were highly pressured by the American government, a major aid donor to the
country. Mrs Manner's daughter, Carole, had been spending a few days at camp
with a white South African friend. He was an eminent zoologist and was doing
research work in the Zambezi Valley on the after-effects on wildlife after the
creation of Lake Kariba. He was thirty-five years old and well versed in bush
lore. So much so, that he liked to be on his own without African helpers and,
as a matter of principle, never carried a gun."
    Maxie
muttered something under his breath.
    Immediately,
Gloria asked, "What did you say, Mr MacDonald?"
    He
shifted his eyes from Creasy to her. "It was just a curse, Mrs Manners. I
know the type. In a way, it's kind of a macho syndrome, to go out in the bush
and commune with nature. That's fine, if you do it totally on your own and
accept the risks... but you don't do it with a companion, especially not with a
city girl... and especially not in an area like that, where elephant and rhino
poachers roam around with high-powered assault rifles."
    Gloria
was nodding, but she said, "I cannot blame the man entirely. His name was
Cliff Coppen and while he spent a few weeks in Bulawayo, Carole fell very much
in love with him. She wrote me a letter, saying that she wanted to go on a
field trip with him, but that he had refused because of possible danger. In
that letter, she also told me that she knew where his camp was going to be, and
that she was going to travel to Victoria Falls, hire a Land-rover and driver,
and have him take her to that camp... You have to understand, Mr MacDonald, that
my daughter was a headstrong and determined woman... and a very beautiful one.
I don't think that an idealistic zoologist would have been much of a match for
her."
    Maxie
smiled slightly.
    "She
was your daughter, so I get the picture."
    He
looked again at Creasy and asked a one-word question. "Poachers?"
    "Possible
but very doubtful. There are few rhinos left in that area. The Zimbabwe police
report also shows that an anti-poaching patrol had passed by only forty-eight
hours earlier. They had seen and spoken to Cliff Coppen and Carole. There were
no tracks anywhere around the camp. The motive was not robbery because nothing
was taken. The bodies were not discovered until three days later, by which time
there had been heavy rainfall."
    The two
men began to speak in a sort of jargon.
    "Bullets?"
    "7.62
millimetres."
    "How
many?"
    "Three,
same rifle. Two in the man. Stomach and upper spine. The bullet that killed
Carole was a heart shot."
    "A
loner?"
    "Looks
that way."
    "Close
target?"
    "Penetration
gives an estimate of four to six hundred metres."
    "A
pro?"
    "Looks
like it."
    Creasy
sighed and looked at Gloria. She was sipping her brandy, looking down at the
table. Creasy switched his gaze back to Maxie and said, "Coppen was clutching
a long stick. The end was blackened. They were shot by an open wood fire. My
guess is that Coppen was on his haunches prodding at it, with Carole standing
beside him -- I've seen a position drawing. The gunman shot her first because
she was standing and could move faster. The fact that it was a heart shot shows
that he knows his business. He would have shot Coppen as he rose. With that
movement, Coppen took the first bullet in his stomach. He was spun