The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  “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 dif
ferent 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.

  “It was the least I could do,” Degas appeared at the bar.

  “Well, you should be receiving an invitation in the mail soon,” Harvey said, “but I’d also like to personally invite you and your lovely wife to our wedding in Milburn. It’s only a few months away now.”

  “Thank you,” Degas said. “We’ll definitely be there.” He adjusted his tie, looking nervous. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “How do I look?” he asked.

  “Like a supermodel,” Tina said. “I’m glad you guys decided to have a relaxed beach wedding. I thought you were going to have some really fancy party with tuxedos and full length gowns.”

  “Well, as you know, the reception is going to be that way,” Degas said. “But she and I both wanted the wedding to be a small affair, just family and friends.”

  “Well, I’m glad we made the cut, then,” Tina said with a brilliant smile.

  “Of course, you did,” Degas said. “I mean, how could you not? After all you’ve done for us. If it weren’t for you three, we would never have solved the mystery of Haku’s murder. Elly might still be suspecting I did it.”

  “Well, you should thank Nora, mostly,” Tina said. “She’s got some brains behind that sweet face of hers.”

  “Oh, it was nothing,” Nora said. “But I must say, there’s one mystery I never did solve.”

  “What’s that? The mystery of how the food here can taste so good?” Tina joked. “Because these appetizers are just amazing.” She popped a small bruschetta into her mouth.

  “Try the pork with mango-chutney,” Degas said. “That’s my favorite.”

  “Ahem. The mystery we haven’t solved yet?” Nora said.

  “Oh. Right. What was it?”

  “Why did you say no to Elly when she asked you out?” Nora asked.

  Degas looked away, a little ashamed. “She never told you?”

  “No. She said it was your story to tell.”

  “It’s a little embarrassing,” Degas said.

  “We won’t laugh.” Nora replied.

 
“Probably,” Tina said, and got elbowed.

  “The thing is… at the time, I was just back from the Amazon. I hadn’t been to Hawaii in a very long time. When I first saw Elly, she’d grown so much. She was so smart, so beautiful…” Degas’ voice trembled. “I fell in love with her the first day she served me coffee over at Jimmy’s. She was working there part-time to supplement her income. I started coming in every day just to see her. I couldn’t believe it was her. My Elly. The one I’d loved since she first appeared like magic in my garden.”

  “So why did you reject her when she asked you out?” Nora asked.

  “At the time, when I came back, I also became friends with Haku again,” Degas said. “I learned that he’d had a tough time since I left. I learned that his sister had drowned in the tintop. Well, I felt guilty, to be honest. I felt guilty I hadn’t been around to support Haku. I felt guilty because I was the one who drove that tintop and overturned it. I felt guilty because of how badly Haku had done in the years since.”

  Nora nodded. “You’re a good friend. You tried to help him. You gave him a job.”

  “I did,” Degas said. “I told him I’d seen my fair share of loss too, and that the only way out of it was to feel the pain, and then let it go. What Haku was trying to do was escape from his feelings, and escape from the pain. Well… Haku started working. He worked really hard to get clean. He went through a lot of pain, and he told me that the one thing keeping him alive was the thought that someday, he’d recover, and end up married to Elly.” Degas swallowed, and said sorrowfully, “What was I supposed to do? I thought the only reason Elly had a crush on me was because, well, I was new and exciting. I thought Haku was the man she really loved. I thought that the two of them were meant to be together. And I? Well, I was the eternal free spirit. How could I even dream of having a family? I let them be together, and I flirted with other people, like Simone.”

  “You’re an idiot,” Tina said cheerfully, popping another appetizer into her mouth. “Luckily for you, Simone didn’t take it too hard. But you could have broken some poor girl’s heart.”

  “I suppose I am an idiot,” Degas said.

  “But a noble idiot,” Nora said. “I understand what you did and why you did it.”