Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Jack and Old Muto return safely, with a strange expression on his face.
There was another jeep nearby, and two local police officers, wearing the same uniform as Detective Pollino, were collecting the bodies.
They spread a large tarp on the ground and carefully examined the scattered remains with their heads down.
"Did you find anything?" Jubal asked as he sprayed himself with mosquito repellent.
Mosquitoes are the most notorious and deadly killers on the African continent. They transmit and infect a range of deadly diseases, including malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and West Nile virus.
Tanzania generally has two rainy seasons each year: November to December (the light rainy season) and March to May (the heavy rainy season). The rest of the year is naturally the dry season, with less rain and relatively fewer mosquitoes.
It was still February, but Jack still insisted everyone wear long-sleeved shirts and tuck in their pants when going out, and reapply mosquito repellent regularly.
Malaria here is as common as the common cold. Locals might be used to it, and just endure the shivers, but outsiders, experiencing malaria for the first time, could end up in the ICU with liver failure.
Finding an ICU bed in this country is incredibly difficult.
"It has nothing to do with those people. There were only 12 of them, and they weren't organized enough to carry out such a large-scale kidnapping. There wasn't enough space on the hilltop to hide so many people."
Jack didn't elaborate on his experience, but simply gave his conclusion.
It was clear that Old Muto and his militia were the true rulers of this area. The Somali militia, a mere 12 men, half of them teenagers, seemed more like refugees.
Jack saw them as similar to the Naxalite (Maoist) militias entrenched in Nepal and eastern India, only smaller and less powerful.
Simba, the "Lion King" as he was called by the old MUTO, was a young man with a hideous scar on his forehead. When he met the two men in the dilapidated "bunker," a majestic, full-grown African lion with a thick mane lay beside him.
His nickname, apparently, came from the lion he called his brother, and his name was inspired by a Disney cartoon.
After some heated probing, Jack finally, through the mediation of the old MUTO, traded four Type 81 rifles and 1,000 rounds of ammunition for information.
Of course, the actual supplier was the old MUTO; Jack only had to pay the US dollars.
According to one of the "Lion King's" sentries, a dozen militants armed with AKs escorted a group of men wearing red T-shirts through the valley below early yesterday morning.
They rested for a while, and at dawn, several militants took the two men in the red T-shirts, who appeared to be the leaders, to the edge of the distant woods.
Because of the distance, the subordinate couldn't see exactly what happened, but he was certain that when the group returned, only the man in the red T-shirt remained, and he didn't seem particularly fearful of the armed kidnappers.
"According to the town pastor, there were two leaders of the Brunswick Mission: Jacob Bruce, who died, and another named Elijah."
Jubal pulled a tablet from the car and opened a photo. It was a photo they had received just before their departure, which Garcia had found on the social media account of one of the missing female tourists.
The photo had been uploaded at 10 p.m. the previous night, just hours before the 23 tourists disappeared.
It was a cut from the center of a large group photo. Besides the uploader, there were three people standing in the center: the local black pastor, flanked by Jacob Bruce and Elijah.
"Looks like we need to investigate Elijah," Aubrey suggested, looking at the photo.
"And that pastor? We need to verify his story and learn more about the relationship between Jacob Bruce and Elijah,"
Jubal said, looking at Detective Pollino, who nodded knowingly. "No problem, I'll send someone to town right away."
"So what do we do next? Continue following the trail?" Hannah asked.
Jack looked up at the sky, then at Old MUTO. The sun was setting, and without him and his militia, Jack had no confidence he could survive the night safely with everyone else in this desolate wilderness.
Although he had confidently trekked through the Mexican Gobi Desert with little Isabel, back then, with only one person to care for, he'd only managed a sleepless night.
The Tanzanian wilderness was far more complex than the Mexican Gobi, with the sheer number and variety of wildlife on a completely different scale.
Thankfully, Old MUTO took the initiative to take on the difficult task. "Leave the tracking to my people. I'll contact you tomorrow morning."
With that, they bid farewell to Old MUTO and his militia and returned to Arusha, checking into the area's most expensive hotel.
The hotel suggestion came from Rossi, who had been to Africa and had been severely tormented by a local bug-like creature.
It turns out that money can bring a comfortable life anywhere, with clean mattresses, 24-hour water and electricity, and reasonably good food.
The local staple is cornmeal dough called "bu curry," eaten with a dipping sauce. The taste is a bit strange, but not unacceptable. Rice
is also a common staple in the area, but it's seasoned with oil and salt, which Jack found a bit strange.
After a simple dinner, the group contacted Alice, who had stayed in New York, and the BAU members who had rushed to support them. After some discussion, they discovered more suspicious points.
The first was the identities of the 23 kidnapped people. Of course, after receiving the fingerprint photo sent by Jack in New York and confirming that the body belonged to Jacob Bruce, the number of kidnapped people was now reduced to 22.
Hotchner and Reid flew to Texas and discovered the Brunswick Mission headquarters deserted. Their investigation confirmed Jacob Bruce and Elijah Ward as the mission's leaders.
They contacted Jacob Bruce's estranged wife, who was on a flight to New York.
Garcia investigated the mission's finances and discovered they had raised at least $300,000, all of which Jacob Bruce had used to purchase various supplies, which he had distributed to Tanzania in recent months.
"$300,000 in charitable donations? Perhaps that's why Jacob Bruce was a target?" Aubrey knew the allure of money.
Upon landing, he exchanged US dollars for some Tanzanian shillings, intending to use them for a tip, but was surprised to discover the largest denomination was a 10,000 shilling, equivalent to less than $4.
The hotel bellhop's surprise when he casually gave two bills to the doorman who opened the door for the group was a stark reminder of the money's purchasing power.
"These charitable supplies were sent to Tanzania as donations. I've found out the signatory for them is a local pastor named Tumo Makanni."
Garcia sent a photo, and Jubal saw it and circled the previous photo. He was the black pastor standing between Elijah Ward and Jacob Bruce.
(End of chapter)