Duel in the Jungle

Perry faked his death to collect the US$2 million insurance policy that named him as the beneficiary with his elderly mother as the intended recipient. He staged being swept overboard from the SS Nigeria during a storm off Lourenço Marques, then disappeared to continue his diamond-mining operation underwater. The scheme was designed to pay off his debts and secure financial security without working.

Perry gave Walters a rifle during a jungle pursuit, intending for Walters to be killed by a lion when the rifle failed to fire. The rifle had its firing pin removed, making it useless against the approaching lion. However, Vincent, Perry's native right-hand man, shot the lion before it could attack Walters, inadvertently foiling the murder plot.

A crewman attacked Pitt during a storm, mistaking him for Scott Walters. The attacker borrowed Walters's trench coat to go outside, and in the darkness and chaos of the storm, the crewman confused Pitt for Walters. Marian's scream stopped the assault before it was completed.

Walters discovered a secret compartment on the SS Nigeria containing a cigarette butt with Perry Henderson's bespoke markings. This was a crucial clue that suggested Perry had been on the ship, contrary to the official story of him being swept overboard and drowning.

Marian was traveling aboard the SS Nigeria to meet Perry Henderson in Northern Rhodesia. She had flown from London after learning of Perry's apparent death, heading to where he was actually hiding. When questioned by the captain, she stated she did not want Walters to trouble her further.

Walters pieced together several clues: the cigarette butt with Perry's marks in the secret compartment, the fact that witnesses to Perry's death were employees of Perry's own firm, and his pursuit of Marian to Northern Rhodesia. With help from a police superintendent, he tracked down Perry's mother and then Marian, ultimately confronting Perry in the jungle where the truth was revealed.

Perry needed to eliminate Walters because the insurance investigator was getting too close to uncovering his insurance fraud scheme. As Walters continued digging into the policy and tracing Marian, Perry's entire plan to collect the $2 million was at risk. Killing Walters would silence the only person who could expose the fake death and bring the authorities down on him.

The only witnesses to Perry's death were employees of Perry's own company, which also owned the SS Nigeria. This obvious conflict of interest made their testimony unreliable and raised Walters's suspicions that the death had been staged. The ship was essentially under Perry's control, allowing him to orchestrate his disappearance.

Perry was conducting deep-sea diving operations off the coast of Portuguese East Africa to harvest diamond deposits on the sea bed. His cousin Arthur Henderson initially withheld this detail from Walters, mentioning only that Perry was deep-sea diving. The dangerous underwater mining operation was the real reason Perry needed large amounts of money.

During the climactic struggle, Perry fought Walters and escaped by boat down the river rapids, but his boat capsized. Walters saved Perry from drowning, and he was arrested by police led by the superintendent. This ended his attempt to escape justice after his failed murder plots and insurance scam were exposed.