Wasike began his investigation the following morning, moving through the villages like a whisper on the wind. Wanjiru pulled him aside before he left the edge of camp, her eyes sharp beneath the linen wrap that covered her hair.
"Be careful," she warned. "You may walk with Nuri's colors, but you're in enemy territory. Not everyone here has accepted our help."
Wasike nodded once. "I'm not here to step on pride. Just find truth before more die."
With Bakemba as their translator and guide, Wasike led a small team—two mkono wa giza medics, four Watchers, and a pair of Nuri soldiers—into the heart of Buganda's countryside. The days blurred into one another, a slow rhythm of questioning villagers, inspecting food stores, mapping wells and latrines, and tracing the flow of rivers and rainfall.
