“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.
“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.”