Sleuth on Safari

by A R Kennedy

  “You went through my delicates?” he asked, with mock disgust.

  “There was nothing delicate in there, Jack. But no blood either, so I felt comfortable clearing you.”

  “And the wife.”

  “Yep.”

  “Good. The wife didn’t do it.”

  “Positive?”

  “Yes.”

  “Went through her stuff?”

  “No, not like that, I wasn’t looking for a murderer. But I did have to find something for her and I would have found it then.”

  “Nice.”

  “So that leaves the trio.” His eyes bulged with the realization. “You weren’t asking about Zonah for Charlotte, were you? You were asking to clear him of the murder.” I grinned. “No wonder Charlotte hasn’t spoken to me since.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He laughed. “So if anyone murdered him, you’ve narrowed it down to those three.”

  “Two really. I can’t imagine Zaden doing it. Too young to be that angry, or sick, or whatever would make you kill a man you met only a few days before.”

  “I wish that were the truth. I’ve seen younger killers than that.”

  That had a sobering effect. And we both ordered another drink.

  “To Dr. Higgins.”

  “To Dr. Higgins.”

  Last Game Drive

  You’d think you’d tire of it.

  The early morning wake-up call.

  The ride on the bumpy roads.

  The forced group outings.

  But each ride was different. We observed different animals. Some were animals I’d never even heard of—like bushbuck, nyala, duiker, and steenbok. And now I had hundreds of their photos.

  Each photo was drenched in a different light—the predawn early rays of the gentlest pinks rising before the sun, the full day sun drenching us with its warmth, and the sun setting with the brightest oranges I’d ever seen.

  We observed the animals doing different activities—running, stalking, resting, fighting, mating, and even playing. And photos of them doing all of it. Except the mating. I did not take photos of the mating.

  Sometimes the animals sat and watched as we went by. Sometimes they paid us no mind at all. Occasionally, they seemed a little more interested than I would have liked. Ray assured me the elephant wasn’t going to charge at us, but his stare and his huffing made me doubt him. If he had stomped his foot, Sonny assured us he would have gotten us out of there unharmed.

  Sonny told us the animals considered us one of them. The big green Land Cruiser was just another animal roaming the African bush. As the minutes of our last game drive ticked down, I felt like one of them.

  Through all the differences of each game drive, each minute of it, there was one constant. The beauty.

  I understood why Geri kept wanting to return. I hoped I could one day too.

  Maybe next time I wouldn’t spend the whole trip investigating a murder.

  Checkout

  The phone rang. I hoped it was a reprieve. Sonny calling to say we could stay longer.

  I answered it. “Good morning, dear. It’s Leticia, the lodge’s manager.”

  “Yes, Leticia.” I was tempted to ask her about the internet only so I could simultaneously say, “It’s temporary. We’re working on it. It’ll be fixed shortly.”

  “Sonny will be waiting to take you to the airport in fifteen minutes. Please be in reception with your bags.”

  “Thank you,” I answered.

  “Oh and the internet is back up.”

  “Perfect timing,” I said before she hung up. I pulled my phone from my pocket and confirmed the Wi-Fi signal. But it was too late. My time to investigate was over. My time to fit everything into that suitcase was almost over.

  Charlotte and I trudged to the reception area, dragging our suitcases behind us. I was sad to be leaving this behind and sadder to return to my life. And, I wouldn’t tell Charlotte this, I was sad that our time together was ending.

  We were the last of the departing travelers to arrive in the reception area. I resolved myself to having failed. At yet another thing, I had failed. Sherlock I was not.

  I reminded myself that Jack, a homicide detective, a trained professional, had also not solved the case. It didn’t make me feel better. Jack hadn’t even thought there was a case to be solved.

  Geri sat on the couch, with Jack standing behind her. She held his hand on her shoulder, of course. Geri wore a bright pink, low-cut top. If we hit any turbulence on the flight, I doubted her breasts would stay contained in that shirt. She’d probably enjoy that.

  I wore a blue T-shirt and jeans—comfort over style as usual. Did I wear a blue shirt to remind the others of the day I found Dr. Higgins’ body? Or because it was the only clean shirt I had left?

  I looked at the pool of suspects.

  I’d cleared the staff after watching the surveillance video.

  I’d cleared the Vankeys after watching the time-stamped video of them talking to their daughter and grandson.

  I’d cleared the Wallaces. I’d found nothing incriminating in their room. Plus, Jack was a police officer. He would have known how to cover the crime better, wouldn’t he?

  The only ones left—the trio. I’d never cleared Sabrina, Zonah, and Zaden. Zonah was now clean-shaven. The beard must have been a vacation choice. He looked years younger without the unruly facial hair. And more innocent, especially since there were no cuts or scrapes on his face.

  Sabrina seemed anxious to leave, gripping her suitcase handles and looking expectantly toward the lodge’s entry. Or maybe she was a nervous flyer.

  Maybe Jack was right. I shouldn’t have dismissed Zaden so easily just because of his age. He played violent video games. He took, and enjoyed, videos of the violent and grotesque animal encounters during our game drives.

  Hazel called, “Naomi!” and waved for me to come over. Hazel and Colin were dressed as they were on day one, and every day on vacation, in safari drab beige pants and shirts. The hats were stowed in their luggage. I wondered if they had traveled on vacation with just one outfit each and washed them each night or if they had several pairs of the same pants and shirts.

  “You’ll send me those photos, dear?” Hazel asked.

  “Of course, Hazel. By the end of the week.”

  “You have my email address right?”

  Sabrina had collected everyone’s emails our first day. “I should have it.” I pulled up my phone and hoped the internet connection lasted long enough to me to check my email.

  I scrolled through the emails and didn’t see anything. I walked over to Sabrina. “Did you send the email with everyone’s email?”

  “Yes, first night, Naomi. Want me to send it again?”

  “Let me check again. What’s your email address?”

  She gave it and I checked my inbox again before going to the junk folder.

  And there it is was. I opened it and confirmed the travelers’ email addresses were there.

  Seven addresses in all—The Vankeys, The Wallaces, Charlotte, Sabrina, Zonah, me and, lastly, Jonah.Higgins@sanfricollege.edu

  Sanfri College. I’d heard of that before. I searched my brain. I certainly hadn’t gone there or toured there. Neither had Charlotte or our brother. Our parents hadn’t gone there. I couldn’t even tell you where the school was. But I’d heard it recently.

  I closed my eyes and repeated the name in my head several times. I finally remembered where I’d heard of the college before.

  On a game drive.

  When I was drinking coffee.

  With Sabrina.

  She had gone there.

  I looked up at her. Did she know Dr. Higgins when she attended?

  “Zonah, go get me a bottle of water, okay?” she asked her son. Her oldest son. She had been young when she had him. Just eighteen years old.

  I gasped.

  Zonah, like Zaden, had been named after his father. She told me that. On another game drive.

  Zaden
had been named after his father, Caden.

  Zonah had to be named after a Jonah.

  Jonah Higgins.

  Sabrina’s first love.

  “You!” I yelled. “You killed him!”

  “Oh no,” Charlotte said. She slunk into the corner of the couch and covered her face.

  “Someone get the popcorn, Rookie’s going to put on a show!” Jack announced to the shocked travelers. He plopped down in the side chair. The prime viewing area.

  Sabrina looked up at me. “Um…what?”

  “Colin, dear, what’s Naomi talking about?” Hazel asked her husband.

  “I don’t know,” he answered. He looked around at the group.

  Jack pointed at me. “She’s got the answers now. Go ahead, Rookie. You’ve certainly got our attention.”

  “Who’s Jonah’s father?” I asked.

  “None of your business,” she answered.

  Zonah returned with a bottled water from the bar. Noting the change in atmosphere, he asked, “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. You all ready to go? Let’s meet them out there,” she said to her sons, pointing to where the ride always picked us up.

  “Zonah, do you know who your father is?” I asked him.

  “What, Wha—” he stuttered and looked to his mother.

  “Before this trip, did you know who your father was before this trip?”

  “My dad? C.K. is my dad.”

  “He’s your stepdad. Zaden told me that. Your real dad. Your biological dad. Before this trip, did you know who it was?”

  He remained silent and stared at his mother for help.

  “Zaden, let’s go!”

  Noting the stress in his mom’s voice, he came running over.

  “Jack, what’s going on?” Geri asked her husband.

  I turned to her. I noted Jack’s attention didn’t leave the trio. He was ready to move if needed.

  “Didn’t you ever think Zaden and Zonah were odd names?” I asked Geri.

  “Well, a little,” Geri admitted. “Sorry,” she said to the trio.

  “Sabrina told me she named her son Zaden after his father, Caden,” Charlotte said. “I didn’t think that was odd.”

  “I thought his name was C.K.?” Hazel asked.

  “Yeah, I know. I asked her too. It’s the initials. Caden K—something,” Charlotte answered.

  “Caden Kristoff,” Zaden offered. “Mom, why’s everyone looking at us like that?”

  “It’s nothing. Let’s go.” She tried to herd her boys, and their luggage, to the front of the lodge.

  Jack got up. “I think you should stay right where you are until Naomi’s done.”

  “Zonah is named after a Jonah, right? You told me you named your sons after their fathers. Zaden is named after his father, Caden. It only makes sense that Zonah is named after a Jonah. That’s the only name I can come up with.” I surveyed the group. No one disagreed or added another option. “If only your first love’s name had been Jack, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  Geri whispered to her Jack, “What does she mean?”

  “If Zonah’s dad’s name had been Jack, he’d be named Zack and no one would think anything of it.”

  “Ahh,” she answered, understanding my logic.

  “First love, right? It’s tough, right, Sabrina?” I asked, not expecting an answer.

  She glared at me but didn’t disagree.

  “Everybody ready?” Sonny asked. No one moved.

  Leticia, Advice, and Ray came into the common area to check on why their guests were not departing. I’m sure they were used to groups saying they didn’t want to leave, but this was probably the first one that wasn’t leaving.

  “Who knew Dr. Higgins was Dr. Jonah Higgins?”

  Colin interrupted. “There’s a lot of Jonahs in the world. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s Zonah’s father.”

  “Did you know Dr. Higgins works at Sanfri College? Check your email. He gave his professional address when the sheet went around our first night. Before he was murdered.”

  Sabrina recoiled, slightly. But I didn’t miss it. No one else did either.

  “Sabrina went to Sanfri College too. Didn’t graduate, though.”

  “She told me that too,” Charlotte admitted. The other ladies nodded agreement.

  “Did she tell you why she left?” I asked.

  “Personal matter,” Geri and Hazel answered. Charlotte nodded vigorously.

  I pointed to Zonah. “The birth of a child seems pretty personal.” I paused for a moment, to let that sink in. Sabrina remained stoic. The boys were shocked into silence. “Does anyone remember what she said when Dr. Higgins was late that morning? That it wasn’t like the professor to be late. The professor.” I looked around the room. “Did anyone know what kind of doctor he was.” No one answered. “Did anyone know he worked at a college?” Still silence. “No one else knew he was a professor. Except Sabrina.”

  Colin looked up from his phone. “He held a PhD in mathematics. Has worked at Sanfri College for twenty-two years.” Now that the internet was back up, everyone was a detective.

  “Anyone can do the math. Sabrina was a student when Dr. Higgins, Professor Higgins then, was a teacher at Sanfri College.” Feeling I had convinced my audience, I returned my attention to Sabrina. “I kept wondering who would kill a man they didn’t know. But you knew him. You must have been shocked when we all got on that plane. I bet you had a whole mix of emotions.” Still nothing from Sabrina. But most important, she wasn’t denying it. “You must have felt love and maybe a little hate? And maybe you thought it was kismet, serendipity. You’re fighting with your husband. You meet an old love, your first love, in a foreign land. It was like those romance novels you read. Or at least you hoped it would be.” She looked down and I knew I had hit a nerve. “But he didn’t recognize you, did he?”

  Tears in her eyes, Sabrina stood in front of Zonah. “You can’t keep us here. Let’s go, boys.”

  “Did you mean so little to him that he didn’t recognize you?”

  Zonah lunged for me but his mother held him back. “Don’t make this worse, Zonah.”

  “You couldn’t contain your anger, so you went to see him that night, in his room. And what? He thwarted your advances? He threw you out of his room?”

  “Yeah, my mom’s married to my dad. She…she didn’t. She…wouldn’t…” Zaden stared at his mother, waiting for her to join in the protest.

  “A jealous rage ensued?” I asked. Nothing. Sabrina had no response. She stood in front of Zonah and glared at me. We both knew I was on the clock. I had to prove this before we departed.

  It was like playing the hot and cold game. By Sabrina’s subtle reactions, I could see if I was getting closer to or further from the truth.

  She had reacted when I had said she had hoped this vacation would play out like one of her romance novels. That had to be the truth.

  Zonah reacted when I had said Dr. Higgins didn’t recognize her. That had to be the truth.

  Sabrina stood in front of Zonah, protectively. Like a wild animal protecting her young.

  “Oh no,” I mumbled. I looked at Jack to see if he had figured it out. He had. He was now standing behind the couch, staring at Zonah. To the others, he may have appeared interested in my interrogation, like everyone else. But his focus was only on Zonah.

  I looked at Sabrina. “I’m sorry.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, trying to figure out what I meant.

  “You never told him who his father was, did you?”

  She closed her eyes. I took that as a yes.

  “And you certainly didn’t mean for him to find out the way he did, did you?”

  “Of course not,” she mumbled.

  I changed tactics. With less force in my voice, I asked, “So what happened? You went to see the professor, after a little liquid courage?”

  “I…I thought that’s what he wanted.”

  “You left ten minutes after he did,�
� Jack told us. “You finished your drink and then one of the workers escorted you back to your room. The same one who had taken Dr. Higgins back to his. So you knew there was no one else on the path.”

  “Did you hear her come in the suite and then leave right away?” I asked Zonah. “Did you follow your mother to see where she was going so late at night? Maybe you just wanted to see if she was alright?”

  “He just wanted to make sure I was safe,” Sabrina tried to assure us.

  Zonah said nothing. His fists and face clenched, I waited for him to explode at any moment. I only had minutes before the staff forced us out of the lodge and to the airport. Or maybe not. I looked around at the growing number of staff who had come over to see what the commotion was. They looked as enthralled with the drama as the tourists.

  “He’s a good boy.” She turned to Zonah. “Really, he’s a good boy. It…it was an accident.”

  Zonah gripped Sabrina’s arm. “Mom, please.”

  She turned to him. “They’ll understand. It was a misunderstanding. It was my fault. I should have told you years ago Professor Higgins was your father. This is my fault.” She turned back to the group.

  “Mom, please,” he pleaded again.

  “We were arguing when he came in. Zonah heard him…heard him say he never wanted a child. Not with me. Not twenty years ago and not now. Zonah…he was stunned. He just stood there—”

  “Mom, stop,” Jonah interrupted.

  I saw it in her eyes. She was going to confess. Zonah knew it too and reacted.

  He took off, for the front of the lodge. “Stop,” I yelled. I was closest to him and grabbed his arm in hopes of stopping him. He was bigger and stronger. He grabbed me by both arms and threw me down. I landed hard on the ground.

  Sabrina ran to my side. “Really, he’s a good boy. Zonah, stop!”

  Jack and Colin, as well as Ray and Sonny, took off after him. Moments later, they returned. Jack held Zonah’s hands behind his back. “I wish I had some handcuffs.”

  “Oh, I have some,” Geri answered. We almost got whiplash as the group turned our heads toward Geri. She went into her luggage and grabbed a pink case. She pulled out a long purple feather, a small whip, and then some handcuffs. I did not want to know what else was in that case. I doubted I was the only one scarred by the image of the couple using the equipment from that bag. She tossed the handcuffs to her husband and he deftly put them on Zonah.