“Who told you I had left?”
“The manager at the Hotel Jacares. He also said that your room appeared to have been robbed. The next day your jeep was found near an empty boathouse. I learned that Senhor Whitman had started from there on a rubber exploration trip upriver.”
“And you thought I had joined him?”
“Exactly, Senhor. So I came by plane to find you.”
Biff realized that Serbot’s plane must have been one of those that had passed over Nara’s cruiser on the trip up the Rio Negro.
“After I hired Urubu as a guide,” continued Serbot, “I learned that you had arrived on Nara’s cruiser. So I assumed that you planned to meet Nara later.”
“So you bribed Luiz to kill me, to make sure of meeting Nara first.”
“No, no, Senhor. I only wanted Luiz to delay your safari, as Pepito and Urubu will tell you.”
Serbot gestured to the pair, and Pepito smiled broadly while Urubu showed his usual ugly grin.
“I wanted to talk to Nara,” continued Serbot earnestly, “because I had heard that he was willing to sell his gold mine to the highest bidder. That is, if he really has a gold mine. Perhaps you could tell me that?”