I wrote her all the conversation I’d just had with Kalani, including what was supposed to be written on the envelope.
She wrote back, thanked us and said after all these years she couldn’t believe it was all over, and that she was in tears.
She asked if we would be returning home soon. I told her we weren’t sure, as some friends wanted us to stay and visit with them for a while, and that Kat and I wanted to investigate the three murders and to work with a Detective Larry Chen, hoping to solve the homicides before we returned home.
Mrs. Sinclair didn’t seem too happy. We didn’t ask why, and besides our connection with her had come to an end.
She said she was disappointed as she wanted to thank us in person and pay us the balance of what she owed us. But since we wouldn’t be there, she would deposit the $100,000 into our bank account.
We thanked her, said our goodbyes and called it a night.
Chapter 35
The next morning we had breakfast in our room. About ten there was a knock on the door. Kat got up from the table, opened it and standing there in uniform and alone was Detective Sally Ann.
“Hi, Mrs. Jones. Is Mr. Jones also in?”
“Yes he is. Please come in.”
Detective Sally Ann took a seat on the couch. Kat and I sat across from her on the two chairs.
Kat asked, “What can we do for you, Detective?”
“I just want to clear something up about last night where I saw both of you at the café. First of all, Nick Lang and I have been friends for a long time; high school and then college. Not sure how much you know about him, but he’s a really nice guy. There’s nothing romantic about our relationship. We’re just good friends. That was one reason why I was curious about what the two of you, Mr. Jones, had talked about in the lobby the other day. I know Nick is engaged to someone on Oahu, and I wanted to talk with him to see if he had any connection with the murdered victims. Are the two of you investigating them?”
“Well, actually Kat and I were hired by a client in California, as you most likely know, to investigate a blackmail case. The blackmailers just happen to be the two murdered victims, a Mr. Chas Baker and a Mr. Gary Smith. As far as it concerns our client, the case has been closed. She has paid us the agreed amount and seems happy with our investigation. However, we’re hoping to work along with Detective Larry Chen on the murders. He’s been a great help in solving our previous case.”
Kat said, “Nick Lang’s fiancée is a very good friend of ours, and when she hadn’t heard from him, she asked us to look for him while we were on the Big Island searching out information for our client. We did, and now Nick seems to be a suspect in the murders.”
As we continued, Kat and I took turns in giving Sally Ann a lot of the information we had on Nick Lang.
At this moment Sally Ann interrupted. “I’d like to work on the homicides with the two of you, and of course with Detective Chen. I don’t know him too well. He’s new to our precinct but seems to be someone who would be good to work with. Actually, I was assigned to this homicide. But my partner, Mr. Jimmy Yamagada, is off on an emergency leave on the Mainland. I’d love to work with the three of you. I could use three more heads at this time. What can you tell me about Nick’s fiancée? Nadia. Is that correct?”
“Yes, her name is Nadia. You’ll like her whenever you get the chance to meet her, maybe at their wedding.”
Then again Kat and I, taking turns, went back and forth giving the Detective the entire scoop about Nadia. We started at our college days when we were a close group, and the murder of our friend, Sue, on Paul’s Island. Even how Nadia disappeared right after we returned home, and how by chance we ran into her on the beach in Waikiki.
The Detective asked, “So you think she might be a suspect for the murders?”
“No way,” Kat answered.
“Well sometimes,” Sally Ann said, “the least suspected person turns out to be the guilty one!”
Chapter 36
After Sally Ann left, we set up a whiteboard we had purchased when Kat and I went to Waimea for lunch. We put it on the desk in our room and leaned it against the wall over a towel, being very careful not to scratch any of the furniture. We then wrote down with a black marker the name of the suspects we thought were the murderers of Chas Baker and Gary Smith. Then after a while, opposite the names of each suspect, using a red marker we wrote what we thought might be their motives.
When we were through we called the detectives, Larry Chen and Sally Ann, asking them to come to our room. We gave them a brief account of what we’d done, but mentioned no names or reasons. They both agreed they would like to see what we had come up with, and since they were free in the afternoon they said they would be there.
In the meantime, Kat and I kept going over and over our list of people, adding and changing our comments until we were satisfied and ready to share with our two detective friends.
They both arrived on time just as they said they would, which was an encouragement to us.
Since we believed that Baker or Smith murdered Lang’s best friend because he was closing in on them, this was the sign that greeted them on our whiteboard of names who we thought might have murdered them.
SUSPECTS, FOR THE MURDER OF CHAS BAKER AND GARY SMITH AND POSSIBLE MOTIVES
1. NICK LANG: REVENGE FOR BEST FRIEND’S MURDER
2. LANCE MANN: HE DIDN’T WANT THE SECRET REVEALED THAT HE WAS NICK’S FATHER
3. SUSANNAH: FOR PROTECTION OF HER HUSBAND AND SON WHOM SHE LOVES
4. MYSTERY WOMEN VISITING POST OFFICE: SHE MAY HAVE KNOWN TOO MUCH ABOUT THE BLACKMAIL
5. NADIA ???
We’d put Nadia’s name down only because of what Detective Sally Ann said: “Sometimes the least suspected person turns out to be the guilty one!”
Anyway, we knew if we left Nadia’s name off our list, Detective Sally Ann would put it on. And if that happened, maybe she would think we were not open to all possibilities, and our board with the names and the motives would not be credible.
Although we knew Nadia was the only one on the board that we were sure was not involved in the murders, we wanted both the detectives to know we were open for all who could possibly be a suspect; friends or not.
Both of us gave comments on the suspects. The detectives seemed to be impressed that we had written it all out on the whiteboard so we could discuss the names and motives, and get feedback from each other. We wondered how one of us, or all of us, would get the opportunity to meet the potential suspects, and ask important questions. If that happened, then we would compare our conversations with each other.
After the discussions and thinking that all the suspects’ names must be on the board, Detective Larry Chen surprised us when he said, “There is one more name we feel at the precinct should be on your board. But right now it’s under investigation. Sally Ann and I aren’t free to reveal that name just yet. So put number six, and in the space for the name write J. Doe. The J will represent either a male or female, and for the motive, three question marks like you have after your friend Nadia’s name.”
I did as Larry Chen suggested, and both Kat and I were not only curious who the name J. Doe represented, but also wondered if it was someone we knew.
Chapter 37
After the detectives left, Kat and I tried to come up with who J. Doe could possibly be. Was it a John or Jane Doe? But each time, we came up empty handed. We were sure there were no other suspects. The five we had put down were it, as far as we were concerned. But still, in the back of our minds, we wondered, was there really a sixth person’s name that should be on our board?
We kept going back and forth, and finally came up with the idea that we should try and think of the motive rather than the person. We were sure if Larry Chen had a name in mind, he also had a motive to go with it.
But first, we decided to focus on the five names on our whiteboard: Nick Lang, Lance Mann, Susannah, Nadia and the mystery woman who inquired about the box number at the post
office. These were the people we knew that somehow were involved in the murders. But how would we go about talking to them was another story, and where did we begin?
Kat suggested, “How about starting with the number one name on our list: Nick Lang? He’s seen us around so perhaps we can meet him and tell him we’re private detectives working with the police on the murders of Baker and Smith. We don’t have to tell him he’s a suspect, but just want to ask him some questions. He knows you saw him talking to Chas Baker in the lobby the other day.”
“I think that might work. We can begin with something like, ‘We’re friends of Nadia, your fiancée. Perhaps she’s mentioned our names to you.’ And that will open up the door.”
“Okay, let’s go looking, but how do we start? It would be great if we could just bump into him so it doesn’t appear we were scouting him out.”
As we started to leave our room my cell phone rang.
A man asked, “Is this Kit Jones?”
“Yes it is. What can I do for you?”
“My name is Nick Lang. I believe you’re a friend of my fiancée, Nadia.”
Before he could finish, I said, “Yes, both my wife and I have known Nadia for a long time. We’ve been good friends for many years.”
“Well, Nadia called me and told me to contact the two of you. She feels we should get to know each other, and since we’re staying in the same hotel she encouraged me to call you. Do you have some free time for us to get together?”
“Yes, that would be great. We were just leaving to get a bite to eat. How about joining us?”
“Sorry, I can’t today, but how about tomorrow morning for breakfast? I can meet you in the lobby if that’s good for the two of you.”
“Breakfast tomorrow sounds good.”
“How about around eight, and how will I recognize you?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find you. Main lobby then, tomorrow morning.”
Even though Kat only heard half of the conversation, she figured out who I was talking to. We were amazed how God works everything out.
We headed to the restaurant to eat, and to talk about our forthcoming meeting with Nick Lang in the morning. We wondered what questions we should be asking him. And when we were through with our meeting, would we feel certain he was innocent, and be confident enough to remove his name from the list on the whiteboard?
Just to make sure, that evening we wrote down some questions we wanted to ask the five people whose names we had written down. Most of the questions were carefully thought out, depending on whom we would be questioning at the time.
Chapter 38
The next morning at 7:40 we headed out to meet Nick Lang, our number one suspect. He was in the lobby waiting for us. We walked toward him waving our hands. He waved back, smiled, but had a look on his face as if to say, “Are you Nadia’s friends, Kit and Kat?”
“Hi Nick, I’m Kit and this is Kat. We’re looking forward to getting to know you. Nadia has told us some things about you – all good I assure you.”
“Hi, I thought you two looked familiar. If I’d heard both of your names together, Kit and Kat, I would have figured out who you were. Nadia has shown me pictures of the two of you and your college group of friends many times. She told me about the murder of your friend, Sue, on Paul’s Island. Nadia’s talked very highly of the two of you, and I know she’s missed your friendship these past years.”
Kat spoke up. “We’ve also missed her. We had some great times together, and it was very nice running into her at the beach the other day.”
“So true,” I added to the conversation. “Let’s go have breakfast, and get acquainted.”
I looked at Kat, wondering how we were going to get to the questions we had prepared. After we sat down and ordered, Nick asked, “Nadia said the two of you are private detectives. Are you working on some kind of a case here on the Big Island?”
That was the opening we needed.
“Yes,” I replied, “we were, but the case has been closed and now we’re working with the police department on the murders of Chas Baker and Gary Smith, and your best friend. We were hoping you could help us out.”
“Me? What could I possibly know that would help the two of you about the murders?”
“I think,” Kat replied, “if you thought about it for a while you could come up with something.”
There was silence for a while, then Nick asked, “Am I a suspect?”
“You are one of many suspects because of your involvement with one of the deceased who were blackmailing Anita Sinclair. Is that name familiar to you, Nick?”
“Maybe, but before I say anything else, should I worry about getting a lawyer?”
I said, “I don’t think so, at least not just yet. We’re not accusing you of anything. We would just like some honest answers to our questions.”
“Okay, go ahead and ask away. I’ll try to be as honest as I can. But first I want to say I had nothing to do with the murders of those two men, or of my friend.”
“Good, Kat and I are happy to hear that. But for now, please tell us everything you know about your friend’s death, and why you’re on this island. And tell us all you know about the blackmailing of Anita Sinclair, who we believe is your birth-mother. We’re pretty sure you’ve figured that out already. We also know that you’re not here because you were on an assignment from your boss on Oahu, as you told Nadia you were. Please be honest, so we’ll have no reason to believe you’re not telling us the truth, and then we can truly believe everything you tell us. That way we’ll have no doubt of your innocence.”
“I can see you’ve both done your homework. I will be honest. Where do I begin?”
Kat suggested, “Why don’t you start from the moment you received the phone call from your best friend, who was possibly murdered because of the information he gave you.”
Chapter 39
Nick Lang gave us all the information he had about the phone call. He said his best friend, Oliver – we finally got a name – told him he was sitting alone at a bar having a nightcap when Chas Baker came over and sat at his table.
Nick went on, “Oliver said Chas Baker had been drinking plenty and could hardly walk or even stand up. He fell into the chair next to him and started to brag about retiring from the post office. Baker told my friend the money for his retirement wasn’t enough to support him in the kind of living he was accustomed to, but he had other income coming in for over thirty years. He’d been saving it to help him live the life he always wanted to live.
“Oliver was on an assignment for a blackmail case, and Chas Baker just happened to be one of his connections. So he egged him on to tell him more. To make a long story short, my friend said Baker practically confessed to him that he was blackmailing a once-famous movie star named Dena Davis. She had an affair with another would-be-actor. I found out later that Dena Davis really wasn’t that famous.
“Then Oliver asked me if I wanted to know who my birth-mother and father were. I said, ‘Don’t tell me it’s that Chas Baker character.’
“He shook his head, smiled and then repeated the question, ‘Do you want to know who your birth-mother and father are?’
“I wasn’t sure. I hesitated and then Oliver said, ‘It’s okay, I know you’re happy with your adoptive parents. If you don’t want to know, I understand; but if you ever do in the future, just ask me.’
“I remember saying, ‘Well, okay, tell me. It can’t hurt anything, and maybe you’re wrong. Who are they?’
“He said, ‘I’m not wrong. Your birth-mother is Dena Davis who now goes by the name of Anita Sinclair, and Chas Baker has been blackmailing her for over thirty years.’
“I asked, ‘And my father?’
“Oliver said, ‘This may come as a shock, but your birth-father is Nicholas Lang, known in the movie studio at that time as Lance Mann. You know him as your adoptive father, but he’s your real father.’
“I was shocked, but after thinking about it, everything seemed to fall into
place, especially why I was called Nick Lang and never Nick Mann, which was my adoptive parents’ last name. I’d always accepted it, and at times did wonder, but I always knew my parents loved me, so I really never questioned them about it. I knew in due time they’d tell me all about it. I just waited patiently for that day to come.
“Two days later Oliver, my friend, was murdered. That’s why I came over to the Big Island, to see if I could find out who murdered him, and to look up this Baker character.”
Kat asked, “Did you ever contact your birth-mother, Mrs. Sinclair, or tell your folks you knew your adoptive father was you real father?”
“Yes to both of those questions.”
“How did you get a hold of your birth-mother, and what was her reaction?”
“She sounded excited and a little confused, wondering how I found out about her. She didn’t deny she was my mother. I wondered if she knew more about me than she was willing to say. As for finding her, that was easy. She’s listed in the Los Angeles phone book. The operator I talked to helped me a lot. Mrs. Sinclair gave me her email address, and I sent her a photo of me at her request.”
Kat asked, “How did your dad take it when you told him you knew he was your real birth-father?”
“Much better than I thought. I was probably more apprehensive than he was. I love my folks, and as I said, I didn’t ask too many questions. I knew they loved me, and whatever they did I was sure it was in my best interests. It hasn’t changed my relationship with either of them, and for that I’m truly thankful.”
This time I asked the question. “I know your father is here on the island. Could you arrange for us to get together for some honest answers from him?”
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