by Susan Harper
“But if the conversation didn’t go well, Duffey was out a rhino and a substantial amount of land,” Pauline said. “If Zachariah told him that he planned to expand the company into the preserve’s land, then Duffey just falsified documents to allow Zachariah to hunt for nothing. Zachariah already had the paperwork stating he could kill a rhino. So Zachariah would walk out with a free hunt and would still be able to push Duffey off half of his preserve, and Duffey’s animals would all suffer because of it.”
“Having his life’s work blow up in his face is certainly motivation,” Kendell said. “He might have attacked Zachariah to prevent himself from losing the land and to save the rhino he had promised him.”
“But how are we supposed to prove that?” Pauline asked. “It’s all just speculation, and all we have to go on is a conversation we had with a couple of kids.”
“I say we confront him. Maybe we can get him to confess?” Kendell suggested.
“Maybe,” Pauline said. “But we should be careful. He has already killed someone. Well, if he is really the guilty party, he has.”
Kendell nodded in agreement. “Let’s go find Duffey.”
13
Kendell decided that after the incident in London, she was not so willing to put herself into another dangerous situation confronting a killer. You only had to be chased around by a crazed woman with an axe once to learn a lesson. Make that three crazy women, Kendell mused, not really wanting her mind to go back to that incident at the Globe Theater. It was the stuff of nightmares. Instead of confronting Duffey on their own, they first went to Detective Mwanji with the information they had, deciding to work with the officers rather than against them. It was a nice change of pace considering that for the first half of their vacation, Pauline and Lil had been fleeing from local authorities. Now it was time to work together to put an end to all of the nonsense. The only problem was that Detective Mwanji had arrived at a very different conclusion. They were still looking at Mr. Ashley.
Kendell and Pauline found themselves sitting in Mwanji’s makeshift office, Dot sitting quietly in Pauline’s lap while the three of them had their private conversation. “So, you believe that Duffey killed Zachariah, for what, some land?” Detective Mwanji questioned. He didn’t seem convinced at all. There was simply too much pointing to Mr. Ashley, and Kendell agreed to a certain extent.
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Kendell said. “It goes back a couple of years, according to the kids. He foresaw the company here in Nairobi failing, and he started trying to get in good with the Duffeys thinking that Mr. Duffey owned part of the land that he wanted to expand on. Except he didn’t realize the company was just letting Duffey use the land for the preserve. When Zachariah started trying to make a deal with the company, he realized that the land belonged to them and that he didn’t need to go through Mr. Duffey.
“So, the tables turned. Duffey needed to suck up to Zachariah to try to keep his land. Based off what his kids told us, it sounds like Duffey forged some paperwork to make it look like Zachariah was going to pay for a hunting trip on the property, but instead, it was just a gift from Duffey to Zachariah to try to win his favor. Our belief is that once Zachariah and Duffey both got here to the manor and started talking business, Zachariah revealed that, despite the hunting trip bribe, he still intended to kick Duffey off the property. Without that extra property the tech company was letting them use, Duffey’s preserve would be cut in half. Dozens of animals would be left without proper habitats, and that could affect the rest of the wildlife preserve as well. He would have to lay people off, reduce the number of volunteers, and a lot of the animals would be sent back into the wild where they could fall victim to local poachers. It could even affect the economy here in Nairobi, considering the number of people Duffey employs.”
Detective Mwanji nodded as Kendell spoke. When she was finished, he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “What you are saying makes a lot of sense, but so does Mr. Ashley’s motive. Mr. Ashley was pushed out of his own company by Zachariah, and the two of them have been long-term business rivals. Now, they were both competing for the same merger with the Nairobi tech company. They even got into a verbal confrontation in a public place only a few days before. It seems that the two of them are equally likely to have gone after Zachariah. They’re both reasonably sized men as well, so it fits with what we found at the scene of the crime.”
A thought hit Kendell. Neither Mr. Ashley nor Mr. Duffey had any visible markings, nothing that would draw attention. Zachariah had clearly fought back. According to Mwanji, Zachariah had split knuckles and bruises all over his body. “What if they worked together?” Kendell questioned. “Those two big guys versus just Zachariah would explain why they came out mostly unharmed, though with Zachariah’s knuckles cut open, I’m sure he managed to knock one of them fairly well—probably somewhere underneath their clothing. If it had just been one of them, you would think the strong punches Zachariah was landing would have at least managed to get one of them in the face, somewhere where they couldn’t hide it. Zachariah might have fought off more than one attacker.”
“You think they were working together?” Detective Mwanji asked. “The Ashleys and the Duffeys do not seem to have known one another at all. Why would they work together?”
“Well, if Duffey failed to win Zachariah over, maybe he started talking to Mr. Ashley?” Kendell suggested. “Ashley and Zachariah were both competing over the same company. Maybe Duffey went to Ashley, saying he’d do what he could to help him win over the company if he promised to let him keep the land? The two of them… They could have been plotting to ensure Zachariah lost the business, Zachariah could have confronted them about it, and then it resulted in a beat-down in the kitchen, thus ensuring the Ashleys would manage to get the startup with the other company’s CEO down for the count, and Ashley would make sure Duffey got to keep his land for the sake of the animals. As far as I know, Ashley wasn’t planning on expanding the building in the way that Zachariah was, so Ashley wouldn’t need all that excess land.”
Mwanji nodded, a slight smile appearing on his face. “This makes a lot of sense, but, we need to prove it. This is all speculation, and I can hardly arrest and trial someone over mere speculation.”
“Well, how do we prove it, then, Mr. Detective?” Kendell asked, crossing her arms
“Oh, that’s easy,” Pauline said. “Turn them on each other. Make one of them think the other talked.”
“That’s risky,” Mwanji said. “But it’s doable. And quite clever, ma’am.” He smiled at Kendell and nodded toward Pauline. “Your grandmother is…a sneaky devil, isn’t she?”
“Oh, she’s not my grandmother,” Kendell said. “She’s a friend.”
Mwanji smiled and then called one of his officers for assistance, and they all decided to put the plan into motion. Most everyone was out on the patio enjoying an early dinner, so Kendell and Pauline headed outside to join them. Kendell could hardly wait. Even Rider and Landon had decided to come down for dinner after downloading some additional photos. Kendell sat by Pauline and began fiddling with the food on her plate. She certainly didn’t feel like eating knowing what was coming, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself, so she took a couple of bites and tried to not appear like she had something to hide.
A few minutes went by, and Mwanji asked Mr. Ashley to come to his office for another interview. Mr. Ashley moaned as he stood up. “How many times is he going to interview everyone?” he questioned, shaking his head. “This is getting ridiculous.”
Landon sighed. “They’re never going to let us leave. They have no idea who killed Zachariah. Just talking to everyone is not going to do a thing to find out what happened. Not at this point.”
Mr. Ashley left with Detective Mwanji while everyone else continued to eat their dinner. “How many times have they asked you to come talk to them?” Mr. Duffey asked Landon.
Landon groaned. “Just twice,” he said. “It’s getting o
ld.” Yes, everyone was growing frustrated. That was good for the plan.
“You’re not kidding,” Duffey said, shaking his head. Kendell was pretty sure they were about to find out exactly what happened to Zachariah.
Only ten minutes went by before Detective Mwanji returned…without Mr. Ashley. He had a serious expression, and his eyes darted straight toward Duffey with a piercing gaze. “Mr. Jean Duffey, you are under arrest for the murder of Zachariah Lot! Stand up!”
Duffey jumped up quickly, his eyes wide. “What! That is nonsense! I didn’t kill anyone!” he shrieked.
“That’s not what Mr. Ashley said,” Detective Mwanji spat. “He says he saw you kill Zachariah to try to save your wildlife preserve! I hope it was worth it, Mr. Duffey!”
Duffey’s fists clenched, a scowl appeared on his face, and he pointed toward the doorway where Mr. Ashley had been ushered off to only a little while ago. “That rat! It was his idea to kill Zachariah! I just held him down. He’s the one who beaned him in the head with the coffee pot and killed him!”
“Dad!” Victor yelped after hearing his father’s confession, and Kendell felt a knot form in her stomach. She shook her head. What kind of man brought his family on a trip where he planned to kill someone? She hoped it was at least impromptu and not some twisted, premeditated thing.
Mrs. Duffey looked incredibly confused, and she and Abella started speaking to one another in rapid French. Kendell wasn’t able to follow. The next thing Kendell knew, Mr. Ashley was being escorted back outside by another officer, seeming completely oblivious to what was happening. “You creep!” Duffey shouted in Ashley’s direction. “You ratted on me!” Duffey pointed at Ashley. “It was his idea! I just wanted to save my animals. This man was just in it for the money his company would make off the merger!”
Mr. Ashley’s eyes widened. “Duffey, you idiot, I didn’t say a thing to them!” Before Ashley could get the entire sentence out, the officer who had escorted him outside was placing him in cuffs. Detective Mwanji did the same to Duffey.
Kendell smiled. Case solved. They could finally leave the manor.
She glanced over at the Duffey children, and it made her sad. Mrs. Ashley was crying. Mrs. Duffey just sat there in a daze, attempting to get the children to explain to her what was going on. Rider and Landon just sat back, shaking their heads as Mr. Duffey and Mr. Ashley were led out front and placed into the back of Detective Mwanji’s vehicle. He slammed the door shut as everyone gathered around. “I’m very sorry,” he said to Mrs. Ashley and the Duffeys. “Please allow my officers to escort you folks to the local station where we will be taking your husbands. We will be sure to put you ladies in contact with a local consular officer from your countries’ embassies to help you through this difficult time, but your husbands both confessed. For everyone else, it’s over, but I know for you, this is far from through.”
It was finally over, as Mwanji had stated. While Kendell was relieved, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Victor and Abella. However, Mrs. Duffey was crouched down next to them, speaking gently to them in French. She didn’t seem to care about her husband at all in that moment, just about those children. This was probably not the bonding trip they had in mind, but it sure worked, Kendell thought when Abella willingly accepted a comforting hug from her new stepmom. The look on Mrs. Duffey’s face told Kendell that this was probably the first time Abella had hugged her without being told by her father to do so. At least the children had someone who seemed willing to help them through this difficult situation. No doubt their father was about to go to a foreign prison.
The Duffeys and Mrs. Ashley rode off in patrol cars ahead of their husbands, as Detective Mwanji had some unfinished business at the manor. He spoke with Jahi and his family, apologizing for the inconvenience he had placed on their business. The detective then came over to Kendell and Pauline, shaking each of their hands. “You two are some very clever ladies,” he said. “Thank you for your assistance on this case. It seemed we each had a piece of the puzzle, but not the whole picture.”
Rider held up his camera. “Picture?” he asked. “No charge for this one. I’ll just print you a little four-by-six before you leave?”
“Sounds good,” Kendell said. She, Pauline, and Dot posed on either side of Detective Mwanji. The man laughed, demanding he be sent the picture as well. He left the manor, driving off with the guilty parties in tow.
Kendell sighed. “Well, this sure is turning out to be quite a vacation,” she said.
Pauline nodded. “Frankly, dear, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
14
Kendell sat next to Pauline while they waited in the Nairobi airport for their flight. She sat with her new laptop in her lap, Skype pulled up as she spoke directly with Detective Mwanji. It seemed as though she had made a friend in him during their adventure, and it was a friendship she was proud to have. He had been a kind, thoughtful, and very professional man during their stay. Much better than the initial on-scene officers who had done nothing more than chase Lil around the forest. “Hey there, Detective!” Kendell said excitedly as his face popped up on her laptop screen. They had exchanged information, and she was surprised to be hearing back from him so soon, but she was certainly glad to see him. The man had a lovely smile.
“Miss Kendell, I see you’re in the airport. Are you leaving us so soon?” he asked.
“Our flight is supposed to leave in about twenty minutes,” Pauline said, glancing over Kendell’s shoulder to get a glimpse of Detective Mwanji.
“I just thought I would update you on the case,” he said. “You did request to know what was going to happen to Mr. Duffey and his children.”
“Yes,” Kendell said. “Any news?”
“It is still very early to tell. He has a consular officer from the French Embassy representing him now. He is most certainly going to face some prison time,” Mwanji said. “But Mr. Ashley is cooperating. He has confessed that he pressured Mr. Duffey into helping him take out his competition. It seems this was most certainly a revenge story. Ashley still harbored some resentment for losing his part of the startup in California.”
“Do you think Duffey will get a lesser sentence?” Kendell asked.
“It likely won’t be what Ashley is facing; he is being charged as an accomplice to murder while Mr. Ashley has already confessed to being the one to deliver the fatal blow. His lawyer has advised him to be fully cooperative,” Mwanji said. “As for Duffey’s children, it seems his new wife is going to be sticking around to run the wildlife preserve instead of returning to their home in France. She tells me she plans to live here in Nairobi for a while with the children.”
Kendell smiled. “That’s probably so that Victor and Abella can visit their father regularly while he’s going to court and in prison. She’s quite an incredible woman.”
“Those kids are lucky to have her,” Detective Mwanji said.
“I think they would agree,” Pauline said. “Victor really likes the preserve, from what I could tell. His stepmom is probably getting a lot of brownie points deciding to stay out here for a while.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said just as a voice over the airport’s speaker system called for their flight to start boarding.
“Got to go,” Kendell said. “But stay in touch, Mwanji.”
“You too, McDonald,” he said.
Kendell closed her laptop, and she and Pauline stood up and headed to their plane. Eventually, they managed to snag their seats and were able to take a load off while they waited on the rest of the passengers to board. “Oh, I almost forgot!” Kendell exclaimed, pulling out her carry-on bag. She slapped on a sticker of the manor that read Nairobi, Kenya over the image of a giraffe, right next to her sticker of Big Ben in London. It was her new tradition—collecting stickers to put on her carry-on bag.
“Very lovely,” Pauline said.
“I hope you two weren’t planning on leaving without me!” a familiar voice called. Kendell jumped up out of her se
at when she saw Lil boarding the plane. “Lil!”
“I made it just in time too,” she said, plopping down in a seat in front of them. “I thought I was going to have to travel alone.”
“Oh, good!” Pauline exclaimed. “I’m so glad you are able to leave the country.”
“Thanks to you two, I hear,” Lil said. “I spoke with Detective Mwanji, and he said you two helped him solve the case! How awesome is that?”
“Very awesome,” Kendell said, relieved to see her friend again. She hadn’t seen her since Lil ran off with Pauline to the US Embassy.
“Lil, would you care to join us on the next leg of our adventure?” Pauline asked.
“Heck no!” Lil exclaimed. “I’m done vacationing with you two looney toons.”
Kendell laughed. “I don’t blame you after what happened in Nairobi. Wait, where is this flight headed anyway?”
“Hawaii, dear,” Pauline said.
Kendell’s eyes glistened. “Hawaii” she yelped.
“I’ve got to take a flight from Hawaii to LA and from LA to New York in order to get back home,” Lil moaned. “I am not looking forward to that.”
“You really don’t want to stay with us in Hawaii?” Kendell asked.
“No, I’m good,” Lil said. “I’m ready to curl up in my own bed in my New York City apartment and forget about the fact that I was accused of murder, had to run away from the cops, and almost got mauled by a lion in the process. Yes, New York is my town, and I’m ready to go home.”
Kendell nodded, certainly understanding the sentiment. “And…don’t forget?” She hesitated.
“Like I said, I got this, Red. I don’t know what has Jack being so crazy, but I’ll help you figure it out. It’s not like I don’t owe you one after helping me clear my name,” Lil replied.
Smiling gratefully, Kendell said, “Thanks.”
