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

by Nancy McGovern

  Nora looked around her, and sighed. Almost everyone was there. Chief Kahane and Deputy David sat behind the table, while Elly, the Professor, Tina, Simone and Nora had squashed themselves on various chairs around the table. Akamai was listening intently from his jail cell. Only Degas was missing.

  “First of all,” Nora said. “I think it’s time for introductions.”

  “We all know each other,” Chief Kahane said impatiently.

  “You don’t,” Nora said. She looked expectantly at the professor, who sighed, and bowed his head, then looked up at everyone.

  “Very well,” he said. “I’m Agent JT Taylor. I’ve been posing here as a professor of herpetology in order to gain Degas’ trust.”

  “Agent?” The chief gaped at him. “As in Federal Agent?”

  “FBI. Yes.” JT nodded. He took a deep breath. “Thing is, we suspect that there’s some serious drug trade passing through this island.”

  “We suspect that ourselves,” the chief said grimly. “The last few years, especially, we’ve been arresting more and more so-called “tourists”. It’s why us locals are so suspicious of outsiders.”

  “Yet it must have occurred to you that someone on this island is the mastermind,” JT said.

  The chief nodded. “I mean, Degas and his grand parties. Degas and his lavish spending. it’s not hard to figure out, is it?”

  “Actually, it’s rather obvious,” JT said. “Obvious enough that it caught our eye. Yet Degas is a smart one. He hasn’t left a single clue on his premises. I even placed a few bugs around his house, but I haven’t heard anything.”

  “But how did Nora know who you were?” The Chief asked.

  “We bumped into each other.” JT smiled. “Let’s just say that Nora has a bit of trouble keeping herself out of trouble.”

  “Speaking of trouble, why do you look like you’ve rolled about in the mud?” Nora asked, looking at him and Tina.

  “Well, we have,” Tina said. “While you were making small talk, JT and I figured out where the CDs were hidden.”

  “What!” Nora exclaimed.

  “Well, something surprises the great detective,” JT said with a laugh. “We found out where the CDs were. It was rather obvious when you think about it.”

  “Do think about it,” Tina teased. “I’d like to see if you can figure it out the way JT did.”

  Nora looked at them both, considered it for a moment, and laughed. “Of course. They were in the orangutan’s cages, weren’t they? Thrown into the bushes.”

  “Right you are!” JT laughed. “The murderer had no time to hide things when he killed Haku. It was broad daylight and he had to make a quick escape. He dumped the CDs in the orangutan’s cage, probably hoping he could come get them later.”

  “How did you figure that out?” the chief asked, looking astounded.

  “Well, it was a random comment someone made,” Tina said. “At the beach today, two people were talking about how Haku was obsessed with Curious George the monkey when he was a child.”

  “Tina told me that Curious George wasn’t a monkey because he had no tail. He was an ape, like an orangutan,” JT said. “That made me think of the orangutans, and how they hadn’t stopped screeching since Haku’s murder. I realized it was probably because something had disturbed them in their cage. I asked Tina to help, and she came with me. We found the CDs soon enough.”

  “How did the orangutans not harm you?” the chief asked, interested.

  JT groaned. “Tina distracted them with bananas while I slipped in and out of the cage.”

  “Well, if you were the one rooting around in the dirt, how did she get dirty, then?” the Chief asked.

  “I… well, I got excited and high-fived JT. But then I slipped.” Tina looked embarrassed. There was a roar of laughter from the others.

  “Here.” JT had them in a clear bag. “I checked, these have no fingerprints on them. The murderer was clearly wearing gloves.”

  “Huh,” Chief Kahane said. “Interesting.”

  “Isn’t it?” Nora asked. “Especially since you found a vial of venom with Akamai’s fingerprints on it.”

  “I’m being framed!” Akamai shouted, rattling the bars of his cage.

  “Yes, you are,” Nora said. “This is proof, but we’ll get even more solid proof in a few days. JT, as a federal agent, will you be able to give the vial and the spray can over to a forensic expert?”

  “Sure, but why?”

  “There’s a subtle difference in the fingerprints made when someone grips a can, and when someone who is unconscious is made to grip a can,” Nora said. “If you send both those items over to the expert, he’ll be able to tell you that the fingerprints were obtained from an unconscious man.”

  The others at the table gasped.

  “Do you really think so?” Chief Kahane asked.

  Akamai jumped up and down in his jail cell, hooting with triumph. “Yes! Yes!”

  “I’m positive that you’ll find evidence to exonerate Akamai,” Nora said. “Add to the fact that the CDs, a crucial piece of evidence, have no fingerprints on them. If Akamai were the murderer, his fingerprints would either be on all the evidence, or none of them.”

  “Makes sense.” Deputy David nodded. “Go on. Who did it then?”

  “For the longest time, I suspected Elly,” Nora said. “She had access to the snake venom, after all, since she’s in the vet’s office. She had easy access to syringes too. She knew Haku well. Her motive, well, that was another story. I could figure out her motive for killing Haku. Maybe she wasn’t in love with him, for example, but I couldn’t figure out why she’d ever kill Tutti Frutti. He was just a harmless parrot.”

  Elly looked offended. “You pretended you were my friend. All the time you were secretly suspecting me of murder!”

  “I am your friend,” Nora said. “But I had to keep an open mind. It could have been you, but it wasn’t, because whoever is behind this, it soon became clear that they were the ones who ransacked our cottage and framed Akamai. Well, it couldn’t be you. You were sleeping in the same room as us that night.”

  “Right,” Elly said. “It couldn’t be Degas either, right?”

  Nora didn’t say anything.

  “Right?” Elly repeated, hope shining in her eyes.

  “Elly, Degas has a huge house. He could easily have slipped out at night,” Simone said gently. “We would never even have known. Besides, he was up first, before any of us. He doesn’t really have an alibi.”

  “So you think he did it?” Elly looked broken hearted. “I know Degas, I’m telling you, he’s incapable of this.”

  “So you say.” Nora smiled slightly. “Well, I agree.”

  “Go on then,” the chief said. “What’s so important about these CDs anyway? If anything, I thought they’re evidence against Akamai. You told me they show him being attacked by Tutti Frutti.”

  Akamai blushed from inside the jail cell. “I was kind of a jerk,” he said. “I deserved to get bitten, honestly.”

  “Well, I won’t comment on that,” Nora said. “But here’s the thing. All the while, I wondered why Haku showed us those tapes. Pretty funny behavior, wasn’t it? Showing random people the tapes? He even made it sound like he was showing it to us so that we’d suspect Akamai. But the truth was, I think it was insurance of sorts. He wanted someone else to see those tapes. Three reliable, unrelated witnesses who would be able to testify if something ever happened to him or the tapes.”

  “Wow,” the chief said.

  “The thing is, Haku was shaken up,” Nora said. “He was afraid for his life, but he was in too deep to back out. He hoped that things would go well and he’d be free, but he suspected that he was in danger. That’s why he was so emotional that night. The night Tutti Frutti’s cage was broken into.”

  “You mean the night the parrot was murdered?”

  “Ah, but the parrot was not murdered,” Nora said. “At least, I don’t think he was.”

  “What!” Tina
exclaimed. “We saw the body, Nora!”

  “We saw Degas get emotional over the parrot, and then we saw Haku examine the parrot and declare that it was dead,” Nora said. “But in truth, I think the parrot was only ever knocked out. It was given a drug that would make it unconscious.”

  “But… but why?” Tina asked.

  “Money,” Nora said. “But we’ll come to that later.”

  “No wait, why is the parrot important in the first place?” the police chief asked.

  “Exactly!” Nora exclaimed. “I kept thinking about that. The parrot’s cage was broken into. Why? Who picked the lock?”

  “I didn’t,” Akamai said, raising his hand.

  “No. You didn’t,” Nora agreed. “Well who did? And why?”

  “I think I can guess!” Simone said, excited. “Sugar at Tintop, you were mentioning that over and over in the car. Sugar at Tintop! The parrot was a witness! Those words meant something!”

  “That is correct!” Nora said triumphantly. “The parrot was a witness. Haku showed us those tapes because he wanted us to be witnesses too. If nothing happened, and the drug deal went off smooth, we’d have gone away unaware. But if something happened to him, well, he had witnesses who could say the magic words, “Sugar at Tintop”.”

  “I’m lost,” Elly said. “What do those words mean?”

  But JT, looking very excited, was scribbling something down. “They’re the location of a drug trade,” he said. “Right Nora?”

  “Right.” Nora smiled. “Haku was involved in dealing drugs. He was clean now, but he was still greedy. He wanted to make money. My theory is that he started dealing drugs when he was still an addict, and that his boss was now forcing him to continue doing the dirty work. Blackmail.”

  “Wow,” Tina said.

  “What better cover than a private zoo with links to the Amazon?” Deputy David nodded.

  “But somehow, Tutti Frutti, being a smart parrot, overheard him. Even worse, he started repeating a key phrase. Sugar at Tintop. 1909.”

  “It sounds like nonsense to me.” The Chief frowned.

  “Me too,” Nora said. “The 1909 threw me off. I thought it’s a historical date of some sort. It’s not. Today’s the 18th of September, chief. 18-09.”

  Everyone gasped. “Of course!”

  “Midnight tonight, at tintop beach. That’s where the ‘sugar’ will be exchanged,” Nora said. “If my guess is right, Tutti Frutti will be with the cargo too. Either unconscious, or with his beak taped up to prevent him from speaking.”

  “But… how is Tutti Frutti alive?” Tina asked. “I’m so confused.”

  “Haku’s boss never wanted to kill Tutti Frutti,” Nora said. “He was a witness, but he was also a rare parrot, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to the right collector. So Haku’s boss thought up a plan. Haku would break into the cage, use a sedative to knock the bird out, and kidnap it. Unfortunately, Degas bought us all along at the exact moment when Haku was trying to kidnap the bird. In the ruckus that followed, Haku managed to hide, and then, when Degas thought the bird was dead, Haku played along. The bird was only unconscious.”

  “Wow,” Tina said, nearly speechless.

  “But why do you suspect this?” Simone asked. “I mean, the bird might be dead.”

  “He isn’t,” Nora said. “Because you see, no one has his body. I thought he was dead until today, but Elly confirmed that Dr. Momoa never received the body. Haku either buried the bird, which doesn’t make sense, why would he? Or the bird was never dead, and he’s being sold off to some collector.”

  Tina gasped. “Someone at the party that day made a comment about how he knew sheiks who would pay money for the rare animals.”

  JT nodded. “There’s always a market for illegal animals, sadly. Especially in countries abroad.”

  “Well, we have to rescue it!” Simone exclaimed. “Poor Tutti Frutti!”

  “Wait,” the Chief said. “I’m still confused. It’s Degas isn’t it, who’s at the centre of all this? Well why would he lead you to Haku just as Haku was kidnapping the bird, then?”

  “I was confused about that too,” Nora said. “I thought Degas was at the centre of it all, and he is, but in a different way than we realized. You see, Degas’ garage, the code to open it was 0919. Sound familiar?”

  “September 19!” the chief gasped.

  “Yes. Which made me suspect him again. Sort of felt like it all tied together, you know?” Nora said. “So I was convinced that it’s Degas, and that the parrot had been murdered, but it threw me for a loop when Elly made me realize that the parrot had never been murdered. Well, now I was wondering what was happening.”

  “So am I!” Tina cried.

  Nora took a deep breath. “The code is what made it all clear to me. Someone as rich as Degas doesn’t set his own garage code. No. His security man does it for him, and that’s when I realized who the murderer was.”

  “Tom?” Chief Kahane gasped. “No!”

  “It has to be,” Nora said. “That’s the only explanation that makes any sense to me. First, Tom was at the vet with Akamai. We were so focussed on Akamai being the bad guy, no one stopped to think that Tom had opportunity to steal the vials too.”

  “My God!” the Chief cried. “You’re right. He did.”

  “He as good as admitted that anyone can be a lockpick these days,” Akamai shouted. “Remember? He said that you can look up videos on how to do it online.”

  “Not only that, as someone involved in installing security systems, I think Tom was pretty good at circumventing them too,” Nora said. “Don’t you?”

  The chief nodded. “Of course,” he said.

  “Now the second piece of evidence I have is a little sillier, but it feels right to me,” Nora said. “The word tintop.”

  Everyone looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

  “It isn’t a very common word, is it? Akamai, I spoke to your grandfather earlier, and he explained that the word is one that he and his contemporaries use. In other words, it’s a word Tom would use, but not Degas.”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Finally, Tom has been around a long time. JT mentioned that the drug trade has been going on a long time too.”

  “My God,” the chief gasped. “Tom used to be a mechanic. He serviced the plane, the plane that had Degas’ parents in it”

  “I didn’t know that,” Nora said.

  “Seems kind of obvious now, doesn’t it?” JT said. “Now that all the pieces have finally fallen together.”

  “I can’t believe it,” the chief said. “He was such a close friend of our family. Akamai here looked up to him like he was a second father.”

  “But he used my trust against me,” Akamai said. “He used it to frame me.”

  “And Haku…” Elly said. “I can’t believe Haku was leading a double life. I can’t believe he betrayed Degas the way he did.”

  “There was a reason he got murdered, Elly,” Nora said. “I think it’s because Haku put his foot down. I think he stood up to Tom, and told him that he wouldn’t do this anymore. That’s when Tom decided to get rid of him. He killed Haku that morning, and then raised an alarm, pretended that he’d just found the body.”

  “But chief, surely you see there’s no real proof,” Deputy David said. “I mean, yes, Akamai will be proved innocent. But there’s no proof against Tom, is there?”

  “Yes,” the chief said with a frown. “There’s also one missing piece of the puzzle. The cottage. Why did he ransack the cottage that day, Nora?”

  “The cottage?” Nora looked up with a start.

  “Yes.” The chief nodded.

  “Well… at first, the cottage was another piece of evidence against Degas,” Nora said. “You mentioned that Degas had offered to buy that piece of land from the old lady who owned it. Mrs. Moor, was it?”

  “Uh-huh?”

  “Well, at the time, I thought Degas was just trying to make us stay with him, and get the land from the lady at
a lower price. Now that I think of it, however, it seems obvious. Tintop beach is right in front of the cottage. If that was their spot, Tom didn’t want us three hanging about in the cottage, did he? He ransacked the cottage so that we would get out, and give him a clear field.”

  The Chief nodded. “It makes perfect sense.”

  “But there’s still no evidence,” Deputy David said.

  “Well,” JT said, standing up. “The evidence collection, that’s part of our job now, isn’t it? Since Nora’s been nice enough to hand us the theory on a platter.”

  “It’s 10.30 pm,” Chief Kahane said. “I’d guess that somewhere between midnight and dawn on September 19, the drug deal will happen.”

  “Let’s get going then,” JT said with relish. “I can’t wait to throw some handcuffs on Tom!”

  “And I can’t wait to get out of mine,” Akamai cried.

  *****

  Epilogue

  Wedding Bells

  (Six months later)

  Six months had passed since Nora had last been in Hawaii; six months since the arrest had occurred. As Nora had predicted, Tom had shown up, with two other henchmen, and by the light of the moon, the triumphant policemen had completed a sting operation that earned three of them medals from the state governor.

  As for Nora, she’d had to fly back home the next day. After all, she had a diner to run. But now she was back in Hawaii for a wedding. And she couldn’t be happier.

  “Hey,” Tina said from behind her. “It’s nice to be back, huh?”

  “Oh, my God! Yes!” Nora smiled. “Hawaii is so beautiful. And, on that note, so is the bride. Have you met her?”

  “Nope,” Tina said. “I was too busy drinking mai-tais with my husband dearest. Speaking of which, where’d your man run off to?”

  “Right here.” Harvey appeared with a mug of beer in his hand. Turning to Nora, he gave her a gentle kiss. “Hello, Darling!”

  “Harvey,” Nora looked up at him, as always feeling a little burst of happiness inside her.

  “I was just telling Sam how generous it was for Degas to send a chartered plane all the way to Milburn to pick us up,” Harvey said.