by A R Kennedy
“You…you had an episode, dear. She came to help.”
“That’s nice,” he answered and closed his eyes.
I went to the minibar and grabbed a bottle of water. Hazel thanked me and opened it for her husband. “Here, Colin. Have some of this.”
“Maybe I should go get Charlotte?” I asked.
“No, it happens.” She leaned in and whispered. “It’s the cancer. The doctor said—” She wasn’t able to continue. She cleared her throat and told me, “This trip…this trip is our last.” She wiped away tears.
Was that why I had overheard them talking about death? They weren’t talking about Dr. Higgins but Colin’s impending demise.
“Just help me get him up,” Hazel told me.
He was a big man and, even together, Hazel and I were only a fraction of his weight. I didn’t think we’d be able to do it. “You think we can?” I asked.
“My daughter and I have before. You and I can.”
“Oh, Anna,” he mumbled. “Can you get her on the…the thing?”
“The iPad,” she mouthed to me. I went to get it for her. “Internet isn’t working, dear.”
“Oh,” he responded, meekly.
He took a long sip of water and perked up.
“Ready?” Hazel asked. He nodded. We helped him up, with not as much of a struggle as I feared.
We held his hands and guided him to the bed. He looked so much smaller, so much less threatening as he quietly let her tuck him into bed.
“What kind of episode did you have, sir? Something to do with the PTSD?”
He shook his head. “Oh no, nothing to do with that. I haven’t had a PTSD episode in years.”
“Well…” Hazel interrupted.
“Oh, yeah, the other night, but it was minor.”
“We should have never tried to stay out at the treehouse. I have no idea how you stayed out there all by yourself! We only lasted a few hours. Had to call Sonny to get us. I think poor Sonny was scared but Colin was more scared than any of us.” She patted him on his arm. “Once we got back, he settled right down. He’d never hurt anyone, dear.”
“I get scared, not violent,” Colin added.
“But you were in Vietnam, surely you had to hurt someone during the war.”
“I was a radio guy. Never in combat, thank God.”
I looked over at Hazel. Dressed in a tank top, her bruised arms were in full view. “And you’ve never hit Hazel?”
If anything was going to set this man off, it would be accusing him of hurting his wife. I expected him to be angry but he wasn’t. He had gentle eyes and looked at Hazel with such love I couldn’t imagine him hurting anyone.
But that, my inner detective told me, was not proof.
“Never,” he said and took her hand to kiss it.
“Oh, my Colin! Do you remember what happened when we got back from the treehouse?”
I didn’t answer, knowing what had happened—Dr. Higgins had been murdered.
She pulled out her phone and pulled up a video. Part of me hoped it was video of the murder and I could put this investigation to rest. Maybe being a private investigator was my next job.
A larger part of me knew it wouldn’t be. These two were too nice.
“Georgie said his first word!” She went over to the counter and opened the iPad. “Talking to his daughter always helps when he’s scared. Lucky with the time difference she was up,” she said. She clicked on the photo icon. Before hitting play, she said, “This is the cutest!” She started what looked like a video of a Skype conversation of them talking to a young woman who held a small child.
The young boy, Georgie, said “Pa-Pa” when he saw him on the screen. The women squealed and the baby and Colin laughed. “I gotta get his baby book!” their daughter yelled.
This wasn’t a man fueled by rage, minutes from killing a fellow guest.
I checked the time and date tag in the corner. Their daughter confirmed it when she wrote down the time in the baby book, in both Pacific Time Zone back in the US and in the African time zone we were in.
I had officially crossed these two off my suspect list.
And I was reminded the lodge had internet before the murder.
Last Dinner
Our last dinner was slated to be a special one.
Sonny announced dinner would be served at the fire pit, and recommended everyone get changed for our special meal. We had extra time to get ready before the meal would be served.
I didn’t want to waste time getting ready or being in the room. I beat Charlotte to the bathroom and slammed the door as she yelled at me for hogging the bathroom.
I quickly showered and left the bathroom in the lodge’s plush white robe, freeing the bathroom for her use.
She didn’t even say thank you.
I dressed in a slip floral dress and white sandals. The dress was the one item of clothing I hadn’t worn on our vacation. Also the only item of clothing I had left that was clean.
I threw my hair up in a bun, applied light makeup and made to leave. With my hand on the doorknob, I remembered the need for an escort. I called the front desk and requested one.
Moments later, there was a soft knock on the door.
“Leaving now, Charlotte,” I yelled toward the bathroom. The water was still running and I knew she wouldn’t hear me. I also knew she’d be glad I was gone.
Colin and Hazel were at the bar when I entered the lounge area. I felt silly for changing. They’d chosen to remain in their safari clothes and enjoy a drink by themselves at the bar. I was conspicuous in my pink dress.
“Don’t you look lovely, dear!” Hazel exclaimed when she saw me. My self-consciousness evaporated. Colin nodded in agreement. He pointed to a chair across from them and I sat.
“Maybe next time you can visit here again it’ll be on your honeymoon.” She droned on about their honeymoon and I did my best to feign interest. She was a nice lady. I didn’t want to appear rude but I knew she, and her husband, hadn’t killed Dr. Higgins. Their conversation was of little use to me.
Advice came out from behind the bar and brought me a multicolored drink. “A special drink for your last night,” he told me. It appeared to be the same one as he had made for Sabrina the night Dr. Higgins died.
“Thank you,” I told him before he walked away. I took a sip and tried not to wince.
Whew, it was a strong one. I put it down, knowing I needed a clear mind for tonight.
I waited until my suspects had all arrived. Geri and Jack were next. I was relieved they had also changed clothing. Jack wore khaki slacks and a white button-up shirt. Geri too had changed into a dress, far more low-cut and revealing than mine. She wore a turquoise blue maxi dress. Sure, they’d let her wear blue. My wearing blue had been the most traumatic event of the trip. (Although, Dr. Higgins had a different view of the most traumatic event of the trip.)
Geri squealed when Advice brought her what he called his signature cocktail. Advice looked to Jack. “My usual please. I’ll skip your cocktail.”
“Thought you’d say that,” Advice answered and handed him a beer he’d been hiding behind his back.
“You look nice, Rookie,” Jack told me as he came over.
“Thank you. You clean up nicely as well.”
“Oh! You should see him in his uniform,” Geri told me. She had her phone out, snapping pictures of her drink. “I’ll show you.”
“Not now, Geri.”
She agreed and put her phone back in her purse.
The trio arrived next. The boys had changed into T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. To them, I’m sure they were dressed up. Sabrina wore a loose black skirt that hung to her knees and a ruffled black tank top. Compared to the others, she looked like she was in mourning.
Advice handed each young man a soda and Sabrina his specialty cocktail. She stared at it for a moment and then took it from him. She didn’t take a sip. I knew she’d seen the special drink before and wondered why she looked at it so intently.
Charlotte arrived and I handed her Advice’s signature cocktail. She took a sip. “That’s good. Thanks.”
Sonny called the group over to join him at the fire pit. We followed him down a lantern-lit pathway to our dinner spot. A long table, covered with white linens and set for our party, awaited. The fire pit crackled in the far corner. The only light this evening would be the fire and the brilliance of a million stars.
Charlotte and I were at the end of the pack.
She took another sip of her drink before commenting, “I don’t like your look.”
“My look? Everyone said I looked pretty.”
“You do. I don’t like this look,” she clarified, using her pointer finger to circle my face.
“And what look is that?”
“The look that says I’m going to use my feminine wiles to catch a killer.”
“My feminine wiles. Why, Charlotte, I didn’t know I had any feminine wiles.” I looked down at myself. “But now that you mention it, I do intend to use them.” I’d watched Geri enough this trip to learn a few things.
“Oh for goodness sakes,” I heard her mumble as I walked away.
I said it just to irritate her. Who exactly would I use my feminine wiles on? Zonah was barely legal and Zaden was a child. I could not, and would not, flirt with either of them. The only other option was Jack. And, to be perfectly honest, I think if I flirted with Jack, Geri might hurt me. She was a nice lady but in a fight, I’d put money on her. She had fierceness about her, plus a fifty-pound weight advantage.
If provoked, I bet she’d fight back. It made me pause. Could I instigate a fight to reveal the killer?
I sat next to Jack and tried to remember how to flirt. It had been a while. He took Geri’s hand and I realized I couldn’t do it. One, I couldn’t flirt with a man thirty years my senior that I wasn’t even remotely attracted to. Two, it just felt wrong to ruin their vacation, on the chance they had committed a murder.
Plus, would flirting to get what I want make me a prostitute? Maybe Leticia’s Pretty Woman analogy had been right. I shook it off. Advice brought me over a bitter lemon and vodka.
“Thank you,” I said.
Sonny stood at the head of the table. “To my favorite group that I’ve led here.” He held up his drink to toast.
“You think we’re his first group he’s led here?” Jack whispered to me.
I tried to contain a laugh. “I’m guessing he says that to all his groups.”
“Better for the tips, I’m sure.”
He was met with “Cheers” and “Salud” from the guests.
“To our favorite field guide,” Jack toasted, which was met with cheers. “And to our favorite tracker,” he added, holding his beer in Ray’s direction. This was also met with “cheers” and “thank you’s” from the group.
The appetizers, tempura vegetables with various dipping sauces, were served. As my fellow guests drank and ate, I looked around the table. There was killer in our mix and I hadn’t been able to identify him, or her.
Most would say eating by the light of the fire was romantic.
I found the lighting ominous.
Last Night at the Bar
“To our last night,” Jack toasted. He was the only guest at the bar until I sat down.
He held his glass at me to toast. Advice quickly filled my hand with a glass, my usual. We clinked glasses and drank. I finished my cocktail in one gulp.
“Rookie, what’s wrong?”
Advice refilled my glass. I sighed heavily and answered, “Nothing.”
“Don’t want to go home?” Jack asked.
“Not particularly.”
“Don’t like your job?”
“Not particularly. You?”
“It’s a job. Just back to the cruelties of man on Monday.”
That seemed slightly poetic. I would have thought he would have said he was going back to the grind, or something of the sort. “The cruelties of man?” I asked. “Seems bleak.”
“Sometimes it is. Being a cop in a metropolis can be depressing.”
Shocked, I yelled, “You’re a police officer!”
“Homicide detective, to be precise.”
“What! You could have been helping me this whole time!”
“Helping you with what?”
I got up from my bar stool and sat next to him. I didn’t want anyone else to here. “Finding Dr. Higgins’ murderer.”
“Murderer?” he repeated.
“Yes, you could have been the Watson to my Sherlock.”
“Oh, Rookie…I’m nobody’s Watson. And I think your doctor-to-be sister would be a more appropriate Watson.”
I sipped on my bitter lemon and vodka. It was most likely my last cocktail of the trip. “You didn’t think Dr. Higgins was murdered?” I asked Jack.
He shrugged. “You really think someone killed Dr. Higgins? I never thought about it.”
“But…you’re a homicide detective. It’s what you do.”
“Yes, it’s what I get paid to do. And I’m on vacation. In contrast to some mystery novels, officers on vacation do not investigate crimes. Especially not ones out of their jurisdiction.”
I took a long sip of my yellow holiday drink. I was going to miss this stuff. “So the thought never went through your mind? You never thought his death was odd?”
“Odd, sure. But murder? No. I’m guessing you are the only one who thought about it. I was just glad I wasn’t going to get stuck sitting shotgun on the game drives.”
“Really?”
I finished my drink and signaled to Advice for another. This would be my last vacation cocktail. It was a needless gesture. He already had one prepared for me and handed it over. I tapped by fingers on the cool glass, thinking how things could have been different if I had had Jack’s expertise.
“You are upset,” Jack commented.
“I just think with your help I could have solved it.”
“Why?”
“I eliminated most of the suspects.”
“Most?” he asked.
“Yes, it wasn’t the Vankeys.”
He laughed. “Why? ’Cause they’re Canadian?”
“No. That would be racist.”
He laughed. “Racist? I don’t think that’s—”
“You know what I mean!” I told him and continued, “I saw video proof that they were in their room during the approximate time of the murder. And plus, they are not from Canada originally. They emigrated from the US in the eighties.”
He seemed impressed. He was more impressed with his waiting beer and took a long sip.
“Okay, who else did you eliminate?”
“Ray, he stays at another lodge every night with his wife and child. Sonny confirmed it. I watched the video surveillance and was able to eliminate all the staff. Sonny, Coral, Advice, Leticia, Bayode, and the escort who takes us to our rooms.” I pointed to the video camera and then to the walkway to our lodgings. “There’s only one way in and out. There’s no other way to get to the suites except via that walkway.”
“Because you checked?”
“Yes.”
“Wait? How’d you look at the surveillance video?” He looked back up at it. “How did you get access to it?” I certainly had Jack’s interest now in the murder. I started to answer but he cut me off. “Wait, the internet is down. How’d you view it?”
“The camera has a memory card. I watched it on my computer.”
“How did you get the memory card?”
I reminded myself he wasn’t a police officer here and felt free to answer. “I borrowed it.”
“Borrowed?” he asked.
“It’s back in the camera now so yes, I borrowed it. No one knows. I only had it for a little bit.” I took a sip of my drink. “Ask forgiveness, not permission, right?”
“Not really how the law works, Naomi.”
“You are not the law. And you are on vacation.”
He returned his attention to the surveillance camera and
the area it covered. “So what did you see?”
“Nothing really. Just people coming and going. No staff was down there long enough to kill him.”
He looked back at me. “You really think someone killed him.” It was a statement, not a question this time.
“You really think Higgins left his door open? And some hyenas strolled in? And ripped his throat out?”
“They’re opportunistic animals.”
“The escort always waits until I close the door before he walks away. He would have made sure Higgins was safely in his room, door closed, before walking away. Don’t they do that for you?” Jack nodded yes. “Higgins had to have opened his door to let the killer in.”
“Or someone had a key?”
“True. But, remember, I cleared the staff using the surveillance tape.”
He nodded. “So you really believe it was one of the guests?”
“Yes.”
“But not the Vankeys.”
“Yes and not Charlotte.”
“Because she’s your sister?”
“No, because I went through all of her stuff. I didn’t find any weapon or any blood evidence.”
“I like you, Rookie. The skepticism of everyone. You even investigated your sister. Maybe you could be a police officer.” He placed his elbows on the bar and sipped his beer. “You even investigated me, didn’t you?”
“Of course.”
“How did you eliminate me?”
“Because you’re a police officer.”
He smiled. “I told you that just a few minutes ago. Did you really eliminate me? Or are you just saying that so I don’t kill you in the middle of the night while you’re sleeping?”
I shrugged. I doubted I’d be sleeping tonight now after that comment. I’d be positioning a chair by the door to block the entrance just in case. Maybe all of the sitting area furniture.
“Well, to be honest, I chatted up housekeeping. She didn’t find anything in your room. They’re real sensitive about anything with blood. That’d be a right flag. Literally.”
“And…”
Either I had a terrible poker face or he was a good detective. “And I went through the laundry your wife sent out.” I left out the part about also going through his room.