Death At The Zoo: A Culinary Cozy Mystery (A Murder In Milburn Book 5)

by Nancy McGovern

  Nora didn’t know what to say. “I guess, all we can do is admit to ourselves what we really want,” she said. “At least you’re honest enough to admit you wish it was Degas, and at least you’re smart enough to know there’s a good chance it isn’t him.”

  The grandfather nodded. “Yes. I can tell you that Degas had no motive that I can think of.”

  “How about Elly?” Nora asked. “What if Degas loved her? Would that be motive enough?”

  The grandfather thoughtfully scratched his chin. “It would be a motive, yes,” he said. “But I’m not so sure that Degas would kill Haku over a girl. The two were very good friends. I’m ashamed to say it but Degas and Haku were closer than Akamai and Haku were.”

  “Speaking of Akamai,” Nora said. “I know he’s your grandson…”

  “Then you know that I won’t say one word against him.” The grandfather smiled. “Why are you so interested anyway? Are you a reporter of some kind?”

  “I’m just… nosy,” Nora said.

  The grandfather nodded. “ Akamai has temper issues, but killing Haku? I don’t see any reason why he’d do that. Now if Degas were the one who had been murdered, perhaps then I would suspect Akamai myself. As it stands, there was absolutely no motive for Akamai to murder Haku.”

  “Money, perhaps?” Nora asked, knowing that she ran a risk of the grandfather losing his temper.

  “Money? Haku didn’t leave an inheritance behind.” The grandfather scoffed. “Our village isn’t the richest, Nora. This year, the crops have been especially bad. But even so, no child I raised would kill his brother for money. Akamai may have ransacked your cottage, that’s the kind of reckless thing he’d do. But kill his brother? Not a chance.”

  “And the parrot?” Nora asked. “Who do you think might have done that?”

  “Again, I’m clueless,” the grandfather said. “Akamai loves animals. He wouldn’t do that.”

  Nora nodded. Frustrated, she wondered who it could be. All the questions she asked so far seemed to lead her down the same circular paths. The first suspect was Degas. There was definitely enough motive in Nora’s mind for Degas to have done it. Degas possibly loved Elly, though she had no idea why he had then rejected her. Perhaps he had rejected her and then come to regret it? After all, it had been a few years. Still, it was a stretch, wasn’t it, to think that he’d murder his best friend and assistant over a girl he was unsure about? Degas had other secrets too, of course. The professor was here to check if Degas had a hand in smuggling drugs. If that was the case, Haku was sure to have found out something about it. Perhaps that’s why Degas had killed him. Degas had the opportunity, too, since he’d been one of the last people, or perhaps the last person, to talk to Haku. He also had vials of snake venom with him. Yes, it was possible that Degas had done it.

  Then again, Chief Kahane had clearly said that it three vials of venom had been stolen from the vet’s clinic. Which led Nora to her second suspect. Elly.

  Elly had just admitted that she had secretly loved Degas. Did she feel trapped in her engagement with Haku? Had they fought? Had Elly decided to kill him? She had easy access to the venom, and to the syringes which she might have then injected Haku with.

  But why? And the parrot, how was the parrot connected to any of this? Why had the murderer decided to kill an innocent bird?

  Her eye wandered around. Only a handful of people were still at the beach. Akamai was one of them. He was smoking a cigarette, deep in conversation with his father. From a distance, he looked almost identical to the chief. Mirror images. Akamai was a complicated man, Nora thought. At first, he had seemed like the obvious suspect. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

  Could he be the murderer? He definitely had the motive - he’d been attacked by the parrot, and if he was a psycho, surely he wanted revenge. He’d been hostile to Haku too. Perhaps after years of anger over his twin sister’s death, Akamai had snapped and decided to kill Haku. But was Akamai really the kind of man to kill? If he was, was he the kind of man who would premeditate a murder and steal venom from a vet’s clinic? Surely he could just as easily have hit his brother on the head, or strangled him, or killed him in any number of ways that involved fewer complications.

  Nora suddenly brightened. She’d missed asking a very simple, very basic question. How had she been so stupid? Elly would know the answer, surely. She had to find Elly.

  As she looked up to find Elly, she noticed a police car suddenly pull up in the parking lot. The former Deputy, now the Chief, got out, along with two other officers. With a somber expression, he approached the party.

  Chief Kahane looked confused. “Deputy David? What is it?”

  “It’s Chief now, sir,” The Deputy said. “Akamai Kahane, you’re under arrest for the murder of your brother Haku Kahane. You have the right to remain silent—”

  “No!” Akamai cried. “No! No! No!”

  “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” The Deputy’s face remained impassive.

  “Son, just go along with them.”

  “I didn’t do it!” Akamai exclaimed. “I didn’t!”

  “You have the right to consult an attorney. If you cannot…”

  “Father, help me,” Akamai pleaded. “Tell them that I didn’t do it. Tell them. Make them stop.”

  The Deputy had a handcuff on one of his hands, and with a still impassive face, he finished reciting the miranda.

  “Do you have solid proof this time?” Chief Kahane said, his face nearly white.

  “I’m afraid so, sir,” the Deputy replied. “Your son’s fingerprints have been found on a vial of snake venom. We found the empty vial in one of the animal cages. Tom’s men found it while installing their cameras. Akamai must have thrown it there.”

  “I didn’t!”

  “Come along quietly, son,” the Deputy said. “We’ll find you a lawyer, and you can tell the judge your story.”

  “He won’t believe me either, will he?” Akamai asked.

  The Deputy didn’t say anything.

  With a sudden lunge, Akamai butted his head into the deputy’s stomach. There was a scream from around them, and the Deputy fell to the ground. The other policemen immediately unholstered their weapons, while Chief Kahane stood frozen. But Akamai had gone for the Deputy’s gun, and wrenched it off him.

  “Nobody move!” he yelled, pointing the gun at the deputy. “Nobody move!”

  “Son, this is stupid. Don’t do this. Surrender and it’ll be much easier,” Chief Kahane said.

  “I won’t. I won’t just let this happen. I won’t go quietly!” Akamai screamed. He’d clearly gone unhinged, Nora thought, looking at his eyes, which were wide as saucers.

  “Everyone just back away. Put your guns down and back away. I won’t hurt anybody if you put your guns down!” Akamai shouted. “But if you don’t…”

  Slowly, the policemen complied, dropping their weapons one by one.

  “Now stay where you are.” Akamai backed away slowly, his gun pointed at the policemen still. “Stay where you are, don’t move, and nobody gets hurt.”

  “It’s an island, you idiot,” the deputy said. “Where do you think you can escape to? We’ll get you sooner or later. You’re making things harder on yourself.”

  But Akamai wasn’t listening. With his eyes still trained on the policemen, he opened the door of his car one-handed, and slid into the seat. His gun was still pointed at them. Seconds later, the car screeched out of the parking lot. Even before he’d left, the policemen had all picked up their weapons and begun firing at him. They weren’t able to hit him however, and as the crowd screamed, the policemen ran to their cars to give chase.

  Chief Kahane tried to calm the others there. Some people were screaming, while others were crying. Akamai’s mother just sat motionless with a blank look, as if this were all too much for her.

  *****

  Chapter 18

  A Wild Goose Chase

  “That was crazy, wasn’t it?” Simon
e asked. She put a hand to her heart. “I actually feel very glad we’re all staying together at Degas’ house. I couldn’t bear to be alone in the cottage with Akamai on the loose.”

  “They’ll catch him,” Elly said. “They’re sure to catch him.”

  “I hope so,” Simone said. “I hope he doesn’t do anything stupid, you know? I’d hate to think—”

  “Simone… please. Let’s not discuss it,” Elly said with a shudder. “We’ll find out soon enough, I suppose.”

  “You’re right,” Simone said. “There’s been enough unpleasantness for today.”

  Nora was driving, and she hadn’t said a word for half an hour now. Elly and Simone both looked at her, and then at each other. Elly was sitting in the backseat, and gave a gentle kick to Nora’s seat. “Nora? Any comments?”

  “Tintop,” Nora whispered.

  “What?” Elly and Simone looked at each other as if she’d lost it.

  “Sugar at Tintop,” Nora said. “Sugar at Tintop.”

  “Have you gone quite mad, Nora?” Simone asked.

  “What date is it?” Nora asked suddenly.

  “Today’s the 18th,” Simone said. “No, that’s not right. Is it?”

  “It’s the 18th.” Elly checked her phone, and nodded. “Yep. 18th September. Why?”

  Nora took a deep breath. “I’ve been an idiot, Simone. There’s things that I just totally ignored.”

  “Like your mental health?” Simone asked. “Nora, you’re worrying me a little bit. What is it?”

  “I need to think,” Nora said. “The pieces are clicking together, and I need to figure out how…” She took a deep breath. Turning around, she asked Elly. “Elly, what did the autopsy show?”

  “Um, eyes on the road please, Nora!” Simone barked, putting a steadying hand on the steering wheel.

  “Right. Sorry.” Nora shook her head as if to clear it.

  “The autopsy?” Elly asked, confused. “I mean, it’s not really my department, is it? It showed two puncture wounds on Haku’s neck, I’ve been told. Also, the cause of death was snake venom. So it was instantaneous.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about,” Nora said. “The parrot. You must have done an autopsy on Tutti Frutti, right?”

  “Tutti Frutti?” Elly shook her head. “No, I never did the autopsy on him. When Haku died the next day, I guess I didn’t think about it at all. Maybe Dr. Momoa performed the autopsy on the parrot.”

  “Could you call him?” Nora sounded excited. “Could you call him right now and ask?”

  “Sure,” Elly said. “I’ll do it.”

  “Now, Elly, please, we have no time to waste!” Nora’s voice was a bark.

  “O-kay. But you’re acting kind of weird, Nora.”

  “I think she’s coming close to figuring it out,” Simone said, also visibly excited. “Are you, Nora?”

  “I don’t know,” Nora said. “But I do know that there are things that just don’t add up.”

  Elly held up a finger. Her phone was on her ear. Distantly, Nora could hear the ring of the line. She heard a voice, though it was just a series of squawks to her.

  “Hi. Dr. Momoa? This is Elly,” Elly said. “What? Yes. Yes.” She nodded. “We were at the beach. Yes, it’s terrible. Akamai...” She paused, as the voice on the other end continued. Nervously, Nora tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. When Elly looked up to make eye contact, Nora made an impatient motion with her hand, saying fast forward please.

  “Dr. Momoa, I’ll talk to you about Akamai later. For now, could you tell me if you performed the autopsy on the parrot?”

  There were a few squawks on the other end.

  “Really?” Elly raised an eyebrow. “That’s strange, isn’t it?” She paused a bit, then nodded. “Oh. Of course. Okay. I see. All right, I’ll talk to you later. Yes, I’ll be careful. Thank you Dr. Momoa!”

  She hung up, and looked up at Nora. “That is strange,” she said. “How did you know?”

  “Know what?” Nora asked. “I just wanted to confirm that the vial of venom was used on—”

  “Dr. Momoa never performed the autopsy,” Elly said. “He couldn’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he never got the body,” Elly said. “In all the confusion over Haku’s death, the parrot’s death was overlooked.”

  “That’s… that’s amazing, isn’t it?” Nora asked. “All this time, we just assumed that the parrot is…” She slammed the brakes, and the other two were flung forward in their seats.

  “Whoa, Nora, what is your problem?” Simone asked.

  Nora took a sharp turn. “We have to ask the chief,” she said. “Right now!”

  “Nora, he’s not chief anymore, and at any rate, he’s probably really worried about…” Simone bit her words off as a car came careening around the corner. Four police cars with their lights flashing followed seconds later.

  Five seconds after that, an unmarked Ford Sedan sped by, and Simone clearly saw Chief Kahane driving, his fingers nearly white on the steering wheel.

  “Nora, Nora, don’t even…” Her words were cut off as Nora sped after the sedan. Simone sighed. It was no use talking to her. Her friend had a mad sort of glint in her eyes.

  “Degas,” Nora muttered under her breath. “Degas is at the centre, of course. I was so blind...”

  “You’re driving a car, Nora. Please don’t be blind right now,” Simone protested.

  “Look, Akamai’s stopped!” Elly pointed.

  “He’s come to a dead end!” Simone exclaimed. “No place he can go unless he wants to jump off the cliff.”

  “This could be dangerous, Nora,” Elly said. “Akamai might do something stupid.”

  “We have to stop him before he does,” Nora said.

  Akama had gotten out of his car, and was still sobbing. His face looked red and puffy. The policemen had surrounded him, and had their weapons trained on him.

  “Just drop the gun,” Deputy David said. “Drop the gun, Akamai. It doesn’t have to end like this!”

  “It does,” Akamai said. “I’d rather die than go to jail, and I’m innocent. I’m telling you, I didn’t do it.”

  “Fine, we believe you. Just drop the gun, and you don’t have to go to jail,” the Deputy said.

  “Son!” Chief Kahane parked, and jumped out of his car. “Son, think of your mother, don’t do this!”

  “I am thinking of her,” Akamai said, tears falling down his face. “How can I live if she thinks I murdered Haku? I’d rather be dead. No one believes me.”

  “I do,” Nora said. She didn’t raise her voice, and yet it carried over the shouts. “I believe you, Akamai. You can’t do this. Please don’t kill yourself.”

  Akamai looked at her hesitantly. “Y-you believe me?” he asked.

  Nora nodded. “Absolutely,” she said. “I’m sorry we didn’t at first. You have to admit there was evidence against you.”

  “I’ve been framed.”

  “I know you have,” Nora said. “I think I can prove it, too. So please, don’t make a mistake you can’t undo.” She began to step forward.

  Simone tried to stop her, and hissed, “Nora, he’s dangerous!”

  Nora ignored her, ignored the policemen, and stepped forward. “Look,” she said to Akamai. “You can take me as a hostage if you like. Because I know you aren’t a murderer. Okay? Just give me a day, a single day, and keep me hostage all day if you want. But don’t do what you were about to.”

  “Why should I trust you?” Akamai asked, looking doubtful.

  “Because I have absolutely no stake in this,” Nora said. “I’m not a trained policeman, I’m not related in any way to the murders.”

  “So why do you care?” Akamai asked.

  “I don’t like to see evil triumph while good people suffer,” Nora said. “It’s as simple as that. In this cynical world, maybe people will sneer at me for believing what I do, but we need simplicity in our lives. We need good to win sometimes. This is one of those
times. Don’t do it, Akamai.”

  “You promise?” Akamai said. “You promise you believe me?”

  “I do,” Nora said unhesitatingly.

  “You think you’ll be able to find out the real murderer?” he asked.

  “I’m pretty sure I know who he is already,” Nora said. “Soon enough, we’ll have proof, too.” She looked deep into Akamai’s eyes. “Trust me,” she said.

  For a long, tense moment, their eyes remained locked with each other’s. Akamai’s finger remained stiff on the trigger of his gun. Then, with an imperceptible movement, it dropped away. Akamai’s whole body slumped, as he handed the gun over to Nora, and collapsed on the ground.

  He’d fainted.

  *****

  Chapter 19

  The Professor and His Discovery

  When they reached the police station, the professor was already there. Tina was with him. Both of them looked very disheveled, but very happy.

  “There you are,” the professor said, as the others entered. “We were wondering why it’s so empty around here. Then the lady at the front desk mentioned there’s been a car chase.”

  “There has.” Deputy David nodded. “This guy here is getting locked up.” He shoved Akamai angrily into a jail cell. “I have no idea what’s going on, but this lady here has promised to enlighten me.” He poked a thumb at Nora, who gave a sheepish smile.

  “You’ll keep your promise, right Nora?” Akamai asked. “Please?”

  Nora nodded, and calmed him down, motioning for him to sit down.

  “All right.” Chief Kahane nodded at one of the other deputies. “Larsen, get a bunch of extra chairs from the basement, will you? I think we’re going to hear some interesting stories now.”