“Please, Soba, let us go home. You have accomplished your purpose.”
How did this wisp of a woman instill fear in my heart? “You planned this?” I hissed. “You wanted to make these people angry?”
“No, Mr. McKenna. I wanted them to realize they cannot escape justice.”
“If they’ve committed a crime.”
“We have all committed crimes, Mr. McKenna. May I ask you for one favor before I leave you to your work?”
“Of course.”
“Would you allow Benni and Lexie to accompany us? We still have much to do.”
While I stuttered and searched for an answer, Benni jumped right in.
“We’d be happy to go with you, Auntie.”
Now I had a roomful of angry people and a million questions. At the top of the list was what did the old woman have up her sleeve next?
20
Mrs. Nakamura’s request for Benni and Lexie to accompany her presented a new opportunity. We could split up the duties. Run our own little Command Central. As if.
I pulled Benni aside before they left. “You do background checks on all your new clients, yah?”
“Of course. I have to know who I’m working for—not only their business dealings, but also their likes and dislikes. Why?”
“Can you run checks on these Friends of Maui Water people? I’ll call if we run into something particularly unusual. What do you say?”
She kissed me on the cheek. “I love it. I’ll finally feel useful. Text me if you need anything.”
Even before Mrs. Nakamura and company took their leave, others started making their excuses. Things to do. Deadlines and commitments. Blah, blah, blah. To get anywhere, we’d have to employ McKenna’s Skip Tracing Secret #2—when in doubt, lie. Or, if we got caught, call on Secret #7—forgiveness is overrated, so is permission. It was time to lie our butts off and hope for the best.
“Folks,” I said, my voice filled with authority. “You came here for an FMW meeting and I know you’re all worried about this murder investigation.” I glanced at Chance. “You should be aware our department policy is very strict. Anyone who doesn’t cooperate will become a Person of Interest. That’s a politically correct way of saying you’ll be a suspect.”
Chance winked at me and flashed his oh-so-official-looking badge from the Philip Marlowe Online Detective Agency. His expression turned somber as Conroy and Billy peered at the bogus badge. Before they got a close look, Chance snapped his wallet shut and gestured at the chairs. “Everyone, take your seats.”
The first person to give in was Sherri. She plopped into her chair with a huff. TJ Wong followed suit. Billy eyed me suspiciously, but still took a seat. Begrudgingly, one-by-one, the others sat. Even Sherman the landscaper fell in line when he realized he was the only holdout.
Chance volunteered to query the group as a whole while I did the one-on-one interviews. I went first to TJ Wong. He sat back, his rheumy gray eyes wavering ever-so-slightly as he watched my face.
“What do you do for a living, TJ?” I asked.
“I’m retired. I owned four hardware stores on Maui. We were the only place to get quality building materials for decades.” Short, wheezy breaths punctuated the end of his sentences, and his right cheek twitched. “People came from all over the island to buy from us. Now, all the stores are gone.”
“What happened?” I regretted the question the moment the words were out of my mouth.
“Home Depot.” He sighed and the skin on his face crinkled. “My troubles began the day they announced they were coming to Maui.”
“It’s hard to compete with a company their size,” I said.
“Strangled me, that’s what they did. One store at a time. They brought better prices and more selection. They started stealing my contractors first, then the homeowners. I thought I might be able to undercut them. That was my biggest mistake.” After more tedious details, he shrugged. “So that’s how they drove me out of business.”
It seemed way too uncaring to brush off his life story, so I said how sorry I was to see the local businesses go out when a chain came in. But honestly, I’d gotten too much information. I had to bring him back to the subject at hand. “How does Mandy fit into this?”
“Mandy?” He snorted. “Now you want to know about her? You asked why I was here and I told you.”
“You explained how your business closed, but I don’t get the connection to this group. What did your company have to do with saving the water on Maui?”
TJ’s eyelashes fluttered and his crinkled skin puckered around his rheumy eyes. He squinted at me.
“You want me to spell it out for you? So be it. It’s all the fault of the special interest groups. When I owned my business, I made sure every one of my employees was part of their community. It didn’t matter if it was coaching a kid’s soccer team or working at a neighborhood center. I didn’t care what they did as long as they were involved.”
He crossed his arms and rested his elbows on the table. “I always liked to lead by example, so I helped build Kepaniwai Park. A lot of people call it Heritage Gardens these days. Anyway, that was my big project.”
“You worked on the gardens?” I recalled the peaceful walkways, structures, and ponds.
“That’s right. Those who came before us deserve to be honored. I was on a minesweeper in the Korean War and was one of the lucky ones. I survived. Too many of them didn’t. I think we did a pretty good job for them.”
“It’s a testament to community involvement and pride.”
He nodded, took a couple of short breaths, and continued. “I volunteered for search-and-rescue, too.” He fingered a scar on his neck. “This came from one operation that almost killed me.”
I opened my mouth to interrupt him, but he seemed lost in his own little world. An old man, reminiscing. I couldn’t bring myself to take away his moment, but he might have noticed my impatience because he cleared his throat and shifted position.
“Every person in my company helped their community,” he said. “That’s why I’m here. I like to give back and since I can’t drive much anymore, this committee suited my needs.”
“But, why this cause? There must be other things you could have done.”
“You really don’t understand our issues, do you?”
Uh-oh, was he deliberately putting me on the defensive? “I’m just figuring out why you’re here.”
“That’s what I keep trying to explain. You come in here from Honolulu and think you can solve all our problems. Well, you can’t. Look, I started out as a plumber. I was just another kid who thought he was stuck here forever. I figured I might as well take up a career where I could work for somebody else and leave my troubles behind at the end of the day. Then I discovered I liked to surf more than I liked to work, which got me fired in no time.”
TJ’s skin bore the splotches of someone who had spent too much time in the sun without protection. Even his body, though shrunken with age, still had the triangular proportions of a swimmer. I wished his mind were in decent shape because his ramblings were driving me nuts. Did he have anything worthwhile to offer?
“When I figured out I couldn’t support myself with a surfboard, I took a job in a hardware store. All those parts and tools. I couldn’t get enough of it. Especially when it came to plumbing. Whether it was irrigation, indoor, or water features, I loved all of it. When my boss quit, he made me a deal that helped me buy him out. You see, water, especially Maui water, is precious to me.”
“Ah, so you love water and that’s why you participate in this group.”
“Now you’re getting it. I could sit and watch the ocean all day long. When it rains, I just want to go outside and smile. When I heard there were people trying to save Maui’s water, I knew I had to help.”
“You said something about special interests. What did you mean?”
“We had twenty members before this whole mess with Mandy. Between her and Hisao, I think they were robbing us blind. People started talking. Demanding answers. When there weren’t any, they threatened legal action.”
“Someone was embezzling money from the group?”
“The money’s not in the treasury anymore. And your friend Hisao was in charge. Him and his girlfriend—that Mandy Kenoi. I’m sure they’re working for some special interest group. They’re the ones behind it.”
21
“Don’t listen to a word the old man says. He’s full of BS.”
The words came from Sherman Li, our resident landscaper and heir to the title of Jerk Apparent. He stood next to me, stroking his right arm. When he caught me watching, he frowned. “What are you looking at?”
I gestured at the spot he’d been rubbing. “Too much sun?”
“Being outside is my job. Like it was Hisao’s to keep this group of losers on track. No money got taken. This committee’s got expenses. Nobody paid hardly anything to be here. There wasn’t no money to begin with, so they got nothing to complain about.”
TJ’s face reddened to the point where it looked like he might pop his cork. “No, no. I personally contributed a thousand dollars.” He jabbed an emphatic finger at Sherman. “Where’d that go, Mr. Know-it-all?”
“I told you before, old man. The group had expenses.” Sherman cocked his head in TJ’s direction. “These old guys, they don’t remember nothing from one meeting to the next. They don’t get how business works these days. You want to know why he went under? Mismanagement. That’s what got him. He made bad decisions.”
“So you say,” I snapped.
Sherman sneered at us. “You’re both out of touch with the world. Now me, my company is more profitable than ever because I know how to get things done.”
I had an overpowering urge to knee Sherman where it would really hurt, but feared what he might do in retaliation. Instead, I reined in my anger. Physical force would only make the situation worse. I’d have to outsmart him. Resting a hand on TJ’s shoulder, I assured him I’d seen plenty of businesses go under in my day. It was always sad and seldom seemed fair. Sherman’s attitude, however, would only rub salt into the old man’s wounds. “I’ll talk to you next, Sherman.” I led TJ away, did what I could to calm him down, and assured him we’d be in touch if there were any further questions. Time to get back to Mr. Arrogant.
I was returning to where Sherman stood when the beautician broke away from Chance and rushed toward me. He started to follow her, but I signaled he should leave her alone.
“Don’t you believe anything he tells you.” She shot a sideways glance at the landscaper. “He’s arrogant and can lie with the best of them.”
“Thanks for the heads up, Sherri. I’ll be aware.” I dismissed her with a raised hand and a polite smile.
Her lips were a pale pink. The shade almost matched the color of her tongue when she ran it across them. She took a sip from her glass, which looked like it contained ice tea. “I have a perm at four, but I’ve locked horns with Sherman many times. I want to be there when the scum starts twisting the truth.”
Not a great idea in my opinion. I glanced at Li. He came forward and stood a few feet away.
“Sure, why not?” His cheek twitched and he glared at Sherri. “She’ll contradict everything I say. Don’t make no difference to me. You’ll get both versions at once. We’ll leave it up to you to decide which one’s the liar.”
On a scale of one to ten, I’d say their hostility pegged the needle. The heat in their stares was enough to melt glass. Unless I was mistaken, they were looking forward to facing off against each other, and I saw no way to get them apart now. McKenna’s First Skip Tracing Secret was “Be flexible and go with the flow.” So why not let these two duke it out? I regarded Sherri for a moment.
“Ladies first. Let’s begin with how you knew Mandy.”
Even when she brushed her dark bangs to the side, one eye was still covered. “Mandy was a customer. I did her hair. She also came in for waxing.”
“She gets all the dirt. You know how women talk.” Sherman again stroked his arm and his face lit up. “So you got to see her tattoo…”
“What did I tell you?” Sherri spat. “Mandy didn’t have any tattoos.”
“Not what I heard,” Sherman leered at her.
“She was deathly afraid of needles.” Her cheek muscles tightened, giving her cheeks one of those pinched Mr. Yuck expressions. She shuddered and avoided Sherman’s direct gaze. “Creep.”
I ignored her comment and his. “You two probably talked during her appointments. What kind of things did she tell you?”
Sherri glanced at Sherman, then off to her left. “It was, well, personal.” She shrugged and bit her lower lip. “I wouldn’t feel right sharing those sorts of details.”
The landscaper grinned and it became obvious smug was another adjective that belonged on the list I was building in his honor. “Your turn,” I said. “Give me your side.”
“They’re lesbians,” he snickered.
Sherri’s cheeks flushed, and the color spread down to her chest. She threw the last half of her ice tea into Sherman’s face. I saw the motion start and tried to get out of the way of the flying liquid, but was too late. The landscaper and I shared equal amounts of the drink.
“Now look what you made me do!” Sherri grabbed a nearby napkin and started to dab at my shirt.
“Stop,” I said. “I’ll get it.” The reality was, I had more on my shorts than the shirt and didn’t want this woman getting too personal with napkins while everyone else watched.
Sherri glared at Li. “You are such a jerk. And a liar.”
“Dis why she ain’t got no man, brah.” He brushed at his shirt with a napkin from a nearby table. “She never wanted to go out with me ‘cause she had girlfriends to hang out wid.”
“You’re not a man, Sherman Li, you’re a toad. And for your information, I’m not a lesbian and neither was Mandy.” She paused for no more than a heartbeat, then continued. “Her roommate isn’t either. You think because two women live together it means they’re lovers. You’re nothing but a sick, perverted…oooh...you make me want to vomit.”
Billy approached and handed a damp bar towel to Sherman and me. He clucked at Sherri as he walked away without a word.
“Sorry, Billy,” she said.
The bartender raised one hand to signal he’d heard her apology, but made no other move to acknowledge it. I thought Sherri might storm off, so I grabbed her arm before she could move. “Please, stay. Tell me about this roommate.” I wanted to add a request for her to resist throwing any liquids or hard objects.
It took a moment, but she muttered to herself and faced me, putting her back to Sherman. “Mandy told me once she was living with some girl. They might have met on the island. I don’t remember her mentioning the other girl’s name. I guess they were both new here.”
Sherman opened his mouth to speak, but I held an open palm in front of his face. I wasn’t even sure this guy, who had the finesse of a Neanderthal, would understand the gesture. Then again, he must have gotten it—he was finally quiet. And I had a chance to get this conversation back on track.
I gazed at Sherri and raised my eyebrows. “What makes you think they were new here?”
“The way Mandy talked—kind of like everything was short-term with her. She said she’d never stayed in one place for long after she left home. At first, she said Maui was just a ‘temporary stopover’ until she could fix a few things. But the next time she came in? She changed her tune altogether and was making plans to stay.”
“Just what we need,” grumbled Sherman, “more women who hate men.”
Sherri stamped her foot and locked her elbows at her sides. The flush from earlier deepened to crimson. “She didn’t hate men! It’s alway
s all about you. Isn’t it, Sherman? You’ve been that way since your whole life. It’s why all the girls hated you. You think you’re God’s gift to women, but you’re not. You’re a weak man with an overblown ego.”
There was something familiar in how these two treated each other, and then it clicked. They reminded me of a bickering married couple. “You must have known each other a long time.”
“He was a grade ahead of me in school.”
“Football quarterback.” Sherman puffed up his chest. “She became a cheerleader just to watch me play.”
Sherri growled from deep in her throat. Wow. I’d been wrong about the animosity between them. It wasn’t a ten. It was more like an eleven—or a twelve. I distracted Sherri while I engaged Sherman in a stare-down. “You enjoy baiting her, don’t you? How long have you had a crush on her? Since high school? And she never went out with you, did she?”
It was Sherri’s turn to act smug while Sherman turned fifty shades of red.
“I don’t got no feelings for her,” he spat. “You don’t know nothing.”
“Not yet,” I said. “But I’m getting closer. And by the time we’re done with the others, the truth will come out. You might as well tell me now. What are you hiding?”
“I ain’t hiding nothing. I’m here because I care about our water being polluted. My business depends on it being kept safe. If people start dying because they’re poisoned by what they drink, there’s going to be a disaster.”
“That’s the first sensible thing you’ve ever said, Sherman Li. It’s why I’m here, too.”
Sherman scoffed. “No way.” He pointed an accusing finger at Sherri. “She’s here because she had a thing for Mandy. I’m telling you, she don’t care about the environment. I saw them together, thick as thieves. Just ask the others, they saw it too.”
Sherri turned on her heel and stormed away. And of course, the jerk had a king-sized smile on his face. How was I going to wipe it off? Or get rid of the sticky mess I’d be wearing for the next couple of hours?
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