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

by Nancy McGovern

  “Elly, in your case, are you sure he doesn’t?” Nora asked.

  “Oh, I’m sure,” Elly said. “I’m very sure.”

  “You loved Haku, didn’t you?” Nora asked.

  “Of course, I did,” Elly said, but she looked away a little as she said it. She looked back up and met Nora’s eyes, then repeated. “Yes, I did love him.”

  “But were you really happy? Were you really happy with the future Haku had planned for you?” Nora asked. “You were both only 16 when you first got together. You’ve had no other boyfriends. Didn’t part of you want to explore the world?”

  “Of course, it did,” Elly said. “But that’s natural, isn’t it? You can love someone and still have complications. It didn’t mean I… It didn’t mean anything.”

  Nora didn’t comment, but her silence seemed to goad Elly. “Nora, I think I know what you’re trying to imply. You’re just as bad as any of the others here. I thought you were our friend.”

  “I am your friend,” Nora said.

  “Then how can you believe that Degas and I…” Elly broke off, clearly angry. “That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it? That Degas, has feelings for me?”

  Nora shook her head. “I didn’t say a word.”

  “Your silence is as good as a speech,” Elly said. “But I’m telling you. I’m telling you Degas has no interest in me. I know it for a fact. He invited me to stay with him out of kindness.”

  Nora shrugged. “All right.”

  “Don’t take that tone with me,” Elly said. “I can hear the disbelief.”

  “It’s just…” Nora took a breath. “Elly, you can’t expect us all to believe it’s 100% him being a good man. Somewhere underneath that, Degas likes you. It’s obvious sometimes that—”

  “Degas doesn’t like me,” Elly said flatly. “You want to know how I know?”

  “How?”

  “Because he turned me down when I asked him out,” Elly said.

  *****

  Chapter 16

  Akamai’s Return

  For a moment, Nora was far too shocked to reply to Elly’s comments. Elly herself seemed embarrassed, as if she realized she’d blurted out far too much. She made a pattern in the sand with her foot, and tried to act nonchalant.

  “Anyway,” Elly said. “That was a long time ago, and no one cares about that, right? But my point is, Degas is a genuinely good guy, and it burns me up when people are mean to him for no reason. Just because he’s an outsider, they want to make up silly rumors about him.”

  “Elly, did you just admit that you were in love with Degas?” Nora asked gently. “You can talk about it if you want. I won’t tell anybody, I promise.”

  “There’s nothing to tell, really.” Elly said. “I…”

  They were interrupted as Tom the security man and Simone appeared. “Seen Tina around?” Simone asked. “I haven’t seen her or the professor since we came.”

  Nora shook her head. “Neither have I. Sorry.”

  “I actually think they got out of here early,” Elly said. “Tina was saying something about how she was uncomfortable, and the professor asked her if she’d come help him out with something at the zoo.”

  “Oh.” Nora nodded. “That makes sense.”

  “Yeah. I feel really out of place here too,” Simone said. “Like I’m intruding on the family’s privacy.”

  “Never mind that,” Tom said. “You’re here in the right spirit, and that’s what matters. You three were among the last people Haku talked to that night, weren’t you?”

  “Yes.” Nora said. “He showed us his tapes, Akamai getting attacked by the parrot Tutti Frutti.”

  Tom nodded. “Poor parrot. Poor Haku too.”

  “He loved you a lot,” Elly said. “He told me that you were one of the people to whom he owed a huge debt, that you helped him recover.”

  “It was nothing,” Tom said. “It’s what we do for our own people, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, Elly, I wanted to ask, who owned the parrot before he came to the zoo?” Simone asked. “He was saying some weird things in the tapes.”

  “The parrot? He was a direct import from the Amazon,” Elly said. “We had him in our offices for a while. Initially, he didn’t adjust well to the change in temperature. But Haku kept him in his own cottage and tended to him for a month, and Tutti Frutti pulled out of it. He was very fond of Haku. The two had a special bond.”

  “I suppose Haku fed him a lot of sugar.” Simone smiled. “That’d explain how he learned to ask for treats.”

  “That’s how it always is,” Tom said. “Animals and humans are alike in that way. They learn the things that benefit themselves fastest.”

  “You own a farm too, right Tom?” Nora asked. “Elly here was telling us about how you and Akamai came in for an operation.”

  “Right,” Tom said, looking glum. “Farming isn’t the greatest way to make money right now, unfortunately.”

  “The vet’s visit, Chief Kahane told us there’s a chance that that’s when Akamai stole the venom,” Simone said. “Did you see anything that day?”

  “Well, we don’t know anything yet,” Elly said, looking uncomfortable.

  “He’s out on bail now, you know,” Tom said. “I’m glad, too. Akamai has always loved animals. I can’t believe that he’d ever do what they say he did.”

  “Let’s not talk about it,” Elly said, with a quavering voice. “Please? I’d just like to think about something pleasant today. Or better yet, not think at all. The last thing I want to think about is Akamai.”

  “Well, in that case, I have some bad news for you,” Tom said, motioning with his chin towards the parking lot.

  A blue car shut its engine, and the door slammed. Akamai stepped out, dressed in a dark shirt and grey slacks, freshly shaved with his hair patted down neatly. He squared his shoulders, as every person present turned to look at him. With a deep breath, he made his way toward his parents. Halfway there, he was intercepted by his grandfather.

  “What are you doing here?” the old man hissed. “Get out.”

  “I came to pay my respects, grandfather,” Akamai said with determination in his voice.

  “We appreciate the gesture, but the only thing you’ll do here is stir up trouble,” the old man said. “Please leave, Akamai. Your mother is feeling bad enough as it is.”

  “That’s why I’m here,” Akamai said. “To comfort her.”

  “She’ll get no comfort from you,” the grandfather said angrily. “Go!”

  “She… does she believe I did it?” Akamai asked. “Does she?” He tried to move toward her, but the grandfather sidestepped a little to block him.

  “Akamai, I’m warning you. Don’t test my patience.”

  “Akamai!” Tom gave him a friendly wave, and a big smile. He put one large arm around the boy’s shoulder. “Good to see you. So you finally made bail, eh? Great job. Come, there’s a lot we have to discuss.” Expertly, he navigated Akamai away from the crowd and toward the buffet table.

  Simone and Elly stayed back talking to the grandfather, while Nora trailed behind the two men.

  “Tom, I didn’t do the wrong thing by coming here, did I?” Akamai asked. “You don’t believe I did it, do you?” He sounded almost tearful.

  “I believe you are innocent,” Tom said. “So does Nora here.”

  “I don’t understand how my fingerprints got on that can,” Akamai said. “I just don’t get it. I was… I went to the cottage early in the morning to apologize. I couldn’t even sleep that night because father’s words kept playing in my mind. He told me that I had disappointed him, and I wanted to change. I wanted to turn a new leaf. Then… then I was hit on the head, and that’s all I remember.”

  “There now,” Tom said.

  “They’re saying I stole the snake venom when we went to the vet’s that day,” Akamai said. “But I really didn’t. Degas has snake venom too, he has it in his house, he said so.”

  “Yes, of course,” Tom nodded. �
�Besides, so many people come in and out of the vet’s office. It could have been anyone.”

  “Right,” Akamai said.

  “They did find evidence that someone had picked the lock, though,” Nora said.

  “Anyone can pick a lock these days,” Tom said. “You can find videos of it on youtube. Right, Akamai? It could have been anyone. Doesn’t have to be you.”

  Akamai hung his head. “When I was a teenager, if I was behaving badly, mom used to lock me in my room,” he said. “I learnt to pick locks then. Became quite good at it, too. But I never used it for anything else. I definitely didn’t steal the snake venom.”

  “Hey, your dad and I are brainstorming ways to fix this,” Tom said, “You get it? We’ll figure something out. Now you just focus on staying out of the public eye for a little while, all right? Please don’t do anything that causes embarrassment.”

  “Uncle?” Elly came up behind them. “Grandfather Kahane wanted to see you.”

  Tom nodded. “I’ll be back.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Akamai said, not getting the hint when Tom frowned and said, “Maybe you should stay with the ladies.”

  “No. I’ll come,” Akamai said, and followed him.

  There was an awkward silence. Elly looked away, and would have walked away in all probability, if Nora hadn’t said, “I won’t judge, Elly.”

  “What?”

  “I won’t judge,” Nora said. “So your feelings were complicated. So maybe you didn’t love Haku with all your heart, just most of it. So what? That doesn’t matter. You were good to him, weren’t you? That’s what’s most important.”

  “Yeah.” Elly nodded. “Yeah it is.”

  “I’ve been told that Haku was dependent on drugs and only cleaned up his act because he was in love with you.”

  Elly sighed. “Who told you that?”

  “Does it matter? It’s the truth, isn’t it? You were good for him. You were good to him. Those are the things that matter.”

  “I was.” Elly nodded. “I never, never cheated on him, Nora. I want to make that very clear.”

  Nora nodded. “When did you propose to Degas?”

  “I was just…” Elly sighed, and put a hand to her eyes. “I feel so guilty about it.”

  Nora wisely stayed silent.

  “Look, you have to understand, Haku and Degas, they’re like, they’re like the two sides of me,” Elly said. “Even when we were friends, the three of us were like a spectrum, with me in the middle. Haku was the grounded one. He had solid roots. He was very clear that he was born on this island, would live on this island and, and die on this island.” Elly sighed. “The thing is, back then, he thought he’d die an old man. A great grandfather or something. We were all so sure that we were immortal.”

  Nora nodded. “That’s common in teenagers.”

  “Yeah, isn’t it? But Degas, Degas was different. He was like the air. Always free. He had no responsibilities, no parents really, nothing holding him back. He could conjure an entire world from his imagination, and then make it come true. Look how easy it was for him to want an Amazonian adventure, or a zoo, and then make it reality. So Degas was a free spirit, and knew he wanted to travel the world. Degas always said he didn’t care if he died young so long as he died in the pursuit of something great. He once told me he thought he’d probably die while doing some extreme sports like paragliding in the Himalayas or something.” Elly sighed. “Funny, isn’t it, how little we know about the future?”

  “So you were between the two,” Nora said. “Never knowing whether you wanted roots or the freedom to move about.”

  “Yes,” Elly said. “Exactly. I loved Haku for how stable he was, I loved Degas for how fun loving and adventurous he was. But then Degas left for his boarding school, and Haku and I were thrown together. We spent all our time together, and naturally, we fell in love.”

  “Of course.” Nora nodded.

  “People laugh at teenage first-crushes, but they forget how intense it is,” Elly said. “I was ready to move mountains and rend the earth in two for Haku. I loved him so much. But then tragedy struck. His sister drowned.”

  Nora nodded. “Haku took it hard, didn’t he?”

  “It broke him into pieces,” Elly said. “It broke him into pieces, and it made him very depressed. It was compounded by the fact that his entire family held him responsible. They made it very clear that it was his fault. They just couldn’t… couldn’t give him the support and comfort he needed. Neither could I.”

  “You were just teenagers,” Nora said. “You couldn’t have been expected to deal with it.”

  “I know that,” Elly said. “Now. But back then, I was desperate to get my Haku back again.”

  “So what happened?”

  Elly shrugged. “Haku broke up with me, and that was that. He told me he couldn’t even bear to be near me anymore. He told me I had to move on, and so, though it was very tough, I did move on. I focussed on studying to be a vet. I threw myself into it, actually. I buried myself in books.”

  “How did you two get back together, then?” Nora asked.

  “It’s… complicated.” Elly sighed. “But it began when Degas came back from his Amazonian pursuits. So many years had passed, and there he was, back in that old house of his. I’d met him once, briefly, after his parents died, but he’d disappeared again all too quickly. Now he was back, and it seemed he wanted to stay put for a while. He and I started meeting for coffee, just as friends. He was so full of life and energy. I hadn’t realized it before, but when he spoke of all the countries he’d visited and the people he met, I saw that it was what I wanted to do too.”

  “Is that when?”

  Elly took a deep breath. “We met one day, as usual at the coffee shop, and I told Degas that I loved him. He said he just didn’t feel the same way, and never would.”

  Nora winced. “Ouch.”

  “It hurt, but I understood,” Elly said. “Have you seen the parties he throws? The kind of women he meets? I don’t know how I could have been stupid enough to believe he cares for me.”

  “But you and Haku—”

  “It was after that,” Elly said. “Haku came to me, told me he’d spent the last year getting clean, all because he had realized how much he loved me. Well… what could I do? I got engaged to him, and it wasn’t out of pity or something stupid like that. I did love Haku very much.” She turned away from Nora. “That’s it. That’s my story. Maybe you want to judge me, well, go ahead. All I can tell you is that while I was with Haku, I never even looked at Degas again.”

  “I believe you,” Nora said.

  *****

  Chapter 17

  The Grandfather

  One by one, people began to leave. As someone who was used to catering jobs, Nora felt it her duty to help the family pack up the buffet table. She knew that at events like this, the clean up was often a very difficult and thankless job.

  As she was picking up litter, and marveling at how much the crowd had managed to make in the short time they were here, Nora found herself side by side with the grandfather.

  “Mr. Kahane Senior,” he introduced himself. “Miles Kahane. I don’t believe I know you?”

  “I’m a tourist, actually,” Nora said. “The three of us rented the yellow cottage by the beach.”

  “Oh, that’s Mrs. Moor’s cottage, isn’t it?” the grandfather asked. “It’s the beach with the overturned tintop?”

  “Yes.” Nora nodded. “Er… excuse me, but why do you call it that? The car… it’s a jeep, isn’t it?”

  The grandfather smiled. “Well, in my day we used to call those cars tintops, though I suppose the younger generation just calls them jeeps or SUVs or whatever fancy lingo they have.”

  “I heard…” Nora paused, wondered how she could phrase it delicately. “I heard that it isn’t a safe place.”

  “My granddaughter died while playing in there,” the grandfather said, sounding sad. “It was a long time ago, and I petitioned the
mayor to put up signs warning kids of the danger there. Well, we did put up signs, but the kids ignore it. Eventually, someone stole the sign.” The grandfather sighed, and looked out at the ocean. “It doesn’t matter anyway. The ocean is a cruel woman. If she wants to take somebody, she will. All the signs in the world can’t prevent destiny from finding its path.”

  Nora nodded. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “For everything that’s happened.”

  “It’s tough on my daughter,” the grandfather said with a sigh. “As for me, I’m just waiting for it all to make sense someday. I believe that life is like a tapestry. You can’t tell what the threads mean till you see them all at once.”

  Nora nodded. “That’s an interesting way to look at it.”

  The grandfather smiled. “I always told Haku this, and he used to tell me that life isn’t a tapestry or a painting, it’s a song. There’s no grand meaning, Haku used to say. The only reason we’re here is so we can sing and dance while the music is still playing. Now I don’t know whether I agreed with him, but for his sake, I hope he’s singing and dancing now, wherever he is.”

  “Mr. Kahane, sir.” Nora took a deep breath. “Do you know who could have wanted to harm Haku?”

  The old man sighed and shook his head. “It’s been hard on me,” he said. “Since Haku was murdered, I have spent my nights wide awake, thinking, thinking. Wondering who it could be.” He took a deep gulp of air. “I wish I knew, my friend. I wish I knew. All that wondering and worrying, all it’s brought me is fear and sadness. I find myself looking over my shoulder, looking at my neighbors, my own grandson, and wondering, was it them?”

  “And Degas?” Nora asked. “Do you look at him?”

  “Honestly?” The grandfather’s eyes sparkled with malice. “I wish it was him,” he said. “If anyone has to go to jail, let it be the boy who’s at the centre of every misery in my life. Degas is bad luck for me. Degas’ mother was bad luck too. So yes, if it were Degas who was the murderer, I would be satisfied. I’d still not have my Haku back, but I’d be satisfied that no one I know did it. So it tempts me. I find myself hoping that they will find a way to pin the crime on Degas.” The grandfather paused. “It’s evil of me to think that way, isn’t it? I ought to be more sympathetic, perhaps?”