Deadly Wipeout (Aloha Lagoon Mysteries Book 3)

by Beth Prentice

  I couldn't guarantee that Mark had been the one who'd opened it, but I'd bet every cent I owned that it was.

  * * *

  I was contemplating what to make for dinner. Mum was staying out for the evening with Rebecca, and I had no idea where Luke was. I'd messaged him earlier and told him about Mr. Fathersham, and he'd messaged back that he would sort it out. Whatever it was. That left me to my own devices for dinner.

  The fridge had no leftovers in it, as Mark had helped himself to those at lunchtime. In Sydney, I'd eaten a lot of takeout. Aloha Lagoon didn't have too many choices for takeout. It had a lot of restaurants, but I would have felt silly eating in on my own. I was just thinking Bugger it, let me look silly, when my phone rang. It was Alani.

  "Hey!" I sang, happy to hear her voice.

  "Hey you," she said back.

  "What's up?"

  "I'm going to see Tutu tomorrow and wondered if you wanted to come?"

  "Oh, okay. That's cool. So long as it's in the morning. I don't have any classes booked until after lunch."

  "Yeah, that suits. I just want some backup when I tell her I want her to move home with me for a few days. At least until they've caught the murderer." Alani's tone turned dark, and I could hear the concern in her voice.

  "Do you think she'll resist?"

  "Of course she'll resist. She's not known for doing what others tell her."

  "But she could be in danger."

  "I know. Try telling her that though."

  "Alright. I will. Right after you've told her."

  "You don't want to say it first? She might listen to you."

  "Ummm…maybe." Of course I didn't want to say it first, but what could I do? "Hey, do you think she'll listen to Mum? I could get her to come with us."

  "Hasn't Rita been asked to stay away from Aloha Ohana until the investigation is over?"

  "Yeah, true. Maybe I could get her to call Lahela and tell her she needs a vacation for a while."

  "How about that can be our backup plan? If Tutu resists us, then we'll ask Rita to call her."

  Good. That sounded like a plan.

  "What are you doing for dinner?" she continued.

  "Looking in the fridge, willing it to miraculously fill with Luke's cooking."

  "Do you want to do something?"

  No need to ask me twice. I was about to say hell, yes, when I heard the beeping of my phone alerting me to another call coming in. I looked at the display.

  It was Casey.

  My heart did a little happy dance as I put Alani on hold and answered him.

  My happy dance thing didn't last long when he informed me that Luke was at the bar, he was extraordinarily drunk, and would I come and pick him up? I sighed. What exactly did he think I was going to pick him up with? My push bike?

  I told him I'd be there as soon as I could and went back to my call with Alani, explaining to her that I'd have to take a rain check, as Luke needed saving.

  "I'll come and get you," she said, happily, "and we'll bring Luke home in my car."

  "You wouldn't mind?"

  "Of course not. You're helping me tomorrow with Tutu."

  I smiled. You just never knew when a good deed would come back to you.

  Alani didn't take too long. I heard her beep her car horn and ran out to meet her, pulling the front door locked behind me.

  "Thanks," I said, smiling at her in the glow of the car's interior light.

  "No worries at all. I'm always happy to help Luke." Did I just hear a hitch in her voice? "And you. I'm always happy to help you."

  On the short drive to the resort, Alani embellished Lahela's stories of Island traditions and folklores. Some of the stories freaked me out a little, especially the one about the faceless creature known as the Mijuna. He was known to roam the dark roads at night, asking travelers for water or tea. I made a vow to myself to never ride my bike alone after dark ever again.

  I stuck close to her as she locked the car in the resort parking lot, and we made our way toward The Lava Pot. It didn't take long for the resort to ease my anxiety. It was such a beautiful place that I figured nothing bad could ever happen there. Hang on a second—a body washing up on the beach was pretty bad.

  The wind gently blew the fronds of the palms, and the flames danced on the torches as we passed the fishpond. I made a mental note to stop by here in the daytime and see if I could spot Harold the Turtle (he'd been named by the resort guests).

  A few of the guests were enjoying the night air, still sitting around the pool, some watching the kids swim, whilst others lay on the loungers, enjoying a cocktail or two. Candles burned on the restaurant tables at the Loco Moco Café as we passed, and the sound of laughter floated our way. As did the aroma of all the delicious food, making my stomach growl, as I still hadn't eaten. Maybe I'd be able to control Luke long enough to grab something to eat at The Lava Pot.

  Casey had put Luke on a barstool at the far end of the bar, away from the rest of the patrons. Luckily, tonight was another quiet night, and only a few tables were filled. Alani and I made our way toward him.

  Casey winked. My pulse picked up, and my hormones raced the moment he looked my way.

  Alani got to Luke before I did, sitting on the stool alongside him. Her motherly instinct took over, and within seconds she was oohing and ahhing at him, as if being this drunk in a public place was acceptable.

  Not me. I death-stared him and asked him what the heck he thought he was doing.

  His slurred response was a bit hard to understand at first, but I got the gist of it.

  "I hash a baaaad one. No…no…not baaad. Yesh it wash…" He dropped his head, laying it on the bar.

  "You poor thing," said Alani, lifting his head from the bar and propping him up.

  "Was it, or wasn't it?" I snapped.

  Luke turned to face Alani, his crooked smile beaming at her with affection.

  "Luke!" I snapped again.

  He jumped. "Whaaaat?"

  "Your day. Was it bad, or wasn't it?"

  "Oh," he replied, sitting up straight. "Where's my driiink? Casey! Where'sh my drink?"

  "You drank it, mate," Casey called.

  "I did?" Luke looked around, completely bewildered. "Then get me another!" Luke almost cheered, slamming his hand on to the bar.

  Casey smiled and moved closer to him, leaning on the bar. "I'm pulling the pin, mate. I think you've had enough already."

  "But how can I shelebrate with…without a drink?"

  Celebrate? "What? You just said your day was bad."

  Luke turned to me and grinned. "I got an inheritansh," he slurred.

  My mind flicked back to Mr. Fathersham's visit this morning.

  "Who from?" I asked. Casey handed Luke a glass of water.

  "Jeremy. He was my mate, but I didn't know that! Why didn't I know that?"

  Luke's eyes filled with tears, and my attitude with him dissolved.

  "Jeremy Gibson?" I asked, just to clarify. "The last guy murdered at Aloha Ohana?"

  "Ahuh!"

  Alani rubbed Luke's back, encouraging him to drink some of the water.

  "Does Detective Ray know about it?" I asked.

  "Ahuh!"

  That couldn't be good.

  "Did he question you about it?"

  "Ahuh!"

  "Am I going to get any other words from you tonight?"

  "Ahuh!" He then shook his head. "Nuh-uh!"

  Okay, job number one for the morning was to find out what the good detective was thinking. In the meantime, I wondered if The Lava Pot kitchen was still open for business.

  * * *

  Detective Ray was a very busy man. I couldn't see him until almost ten. That didn't give me a whole lot of time, as I'd promised I'd visit Lahela and still had to be at work by one thirty.

  Luckily, Detective Ray was very efficient and didn't like to waste time on small talk. As I sat at his desk, waiting for him to arrive, I looked around me to see if a window was open, as the mess on his desk sug
gested a windstorm had come through recently.

  "Miss Reynolds," he said, approaching the desk and making me jump. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

  It sounded like a nice way to greet me, but the scowl he was wearing told me differently. He pulled out his chair and sat down. I blinked against the glare from his very bright shirt.

  "Hello, Detective," I replied, determined not to let him intimidate me. Well, okay, just sitting there had already done that, but I wasn't going to show him that. "I was hoping to speak to you about my brother, Luke."

  "Yes." His tone was clipped, and I wondered how a man who wore such bright, happy shirts could actually look so grumpy all the time. I guessed it was the job.

  "Oh, well, Luke said you questioned him about the inheritance Jeremy Gibson left him."

  "Yes. I did."

  "Great. Can I ask, is Luke a suspect in his murder?"

  "Everyone is a suspect until I rule them out."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  "Oh. Okay. Why? Why is Luke being questioned? He didn't know Jeremy that well."

  "Listen, Ms. Reynolds, I am continually looking at evidence. At the moment the facts state that your brother worked in the same facility Mr. Gibson lived in. He had access to the murder weapon, and we found his fingerprints all over it. Add that to the fact that Mr. Gibson changed his will to name Luke as the sole beneficiary, Luke is the son of my number one suspect for the murder of another resident of Aloha Ohana who also strangely changed his will, and the facts are looking like your family is involved in something very sinister."

  Anxiety swirled in my stomach. When you looked at it like that, it didn't sound good at all.

  "But it couldn't have been Luke."

  "Why? Can you give him an alibi for the time of the murder?"

  "What time was that exactly?

  Detective Ray shuffled through a stack of papers, locating a file. For such a mess, he obviously knew where everything was.

  "Twelve forty-five a.m. on the morning of the twenty-first."

  I thought back to that night. It was the night after I had visited Lahela, and I'd slept like crap, my mind going over Lahela's stories and what Kylie had done to Valerie.

  "Yes!" I yelled, a bit louder than I meant to. The detective jumped. "Sorry. Yes. He was at home asleep. I know that because his snoring kept me awake for most of the night."

  Detective Ray scribbled some notes. "But you didn't see him?" he asked.

  "No. Not with my eyes. But he was there. He snores loudly enough to keep the neighbors awake."

  "Don't worry. I'll be talking to them as well."

  I gulped.

  "Are you going to arrest him?" I asked quietly.

  Detective Ray sighed, his shoulders dropping slightly. "Not at this stage. I'm still gathering evidence. But rest assured that once I have it all, I will be arresting whoever is responsible for the death of Jeremy Gibson. Now, Ms. Reynolds, if you'll excuse me, I have a murderer to catch. If you find anything that is relevant to this case, bring it to me. In the meantime, good day to you." He stood, signaling to a uniformed officer to show me to the door.

  * * *

  I rode my bike through town, past the town square, a church, under the canopy of trees covering the road, and stopped outside the solicitor's office. I'd had an idea. I needed to find out why those men named Mum and Luke in their wills. I also didn't know if it was a coincidence or not, but I found it interesting that both of the murdered men had used the same estate lawyer.

  Hopping off, I looked around me. The town was reasonably busy for the time of day. Cars were parked in the street, locals were going about their daily business, and a few tourists were laughing and taking happy snaps.

  I leaned the bike against a palm tree, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. In Sydney I would have had to lock up the bike, but here in Aloha Lagoon, I knew that it was safe. Still it felt odd, like I'd forgotten to do something. Oh, who was I kidding? As if I would have ridden a bike in Sydney.

  I straightened my T-shirt and looked at the outside of the building I was about to enter. It was a two-storey, painted dark green with white trim, and it had a reddish-brown tin roof. It was old but still in good condition.

  I stepped up to the door and noted the brass nameplate—Fathersham Estate Lawyers. I wondered who worked there other than Edward Fathersham.

  Pushing the door open, I heard the faint tinkle of a bell alerting whomever that they had a visitor. A blast of welcome cold air hit me as I stepped inside.

  The reception area was empty of people, so I took the opportunity to have a good look around. Not that I was looking for anything out of the ordinary—quite the contrary. I was just here to ask Mr. Fathersham for some information. The area was light, the furniture dark, and the walls bare. I was just about to sit in one of the worn leather seats when a woman, I'd guess to be in her forties, wandered down the hallway, carrying a cup of coffee and a biscuit.

  She looked surprised to see me. "I'm so sorry," she said, hurrying to her desk. "I didn't hear the bell. Have you been waiting long?"

  "No. I only just walked in," I replied, smiling in an attempt to convey that I was friendly. "I was hoping to see Mr. Fathersham."

  "Do you have an appointment?"

  "No. I'm sorry. I don't."

  "He's a very busy man, but I'll see what I can do." I looked around the empty room and figured Mr. Fathersham wasn't as busy as she was making him out to be. I figured it to be more like his nap time.

  She flicked through a schedule that lay open on her desk. I was a bit surprised. I thought everyone in this century used a computer. Showed you what I knew.

  "Can I ask what it's in reference to?" she asked.

  "Ummm…yes. I wanted to make a will."

  "Oh!" She looked surprised. "Well, that's very good. Mr. Fathersham can definitely help you with that. In fact, he's available at the moment, if you'd like to do it now?"

  "Definitely. No time like the present." I gave her my biggest smile.

  I'd actually planned on him seeing me right away, which was probably a silly thing to have done. For all I knew, he could have been extremely busy, and I'd have had to wait weeks to see him. Looking around me once more, I figured I was safe in my first assumption.

  "What was your name, please?" asked the lady.

  "Samantha."

  She tilted her head, suggesting I give her more information.

  "Samantha Reynolds."

  If she questioned my motive for being there, she didn't show it. "Please take a seat, Samantha. I'll let Mr. Fathersham know that you're here."

  "Thank you."

  It didn't take long, and she was back, smiling once again. "He'll see you now, if you'd like to follow me?"

  I did as asked and followed her down a relatively long hallway, our footsteps echoing on the timber floor. She showed me into an office, where Mr. Fathersham stood behind a large oak desk, rubbing his eyes as if I'd just woken him. He quickly pushed his glasses back on and stood.

  "Hello again, Samantha," he said, extending his hand.

  "Hello. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."

  "My pleasure. Cathy tells me you wish to make a last will and testament."

  "Ummm…sure. I mean yes, definitely."

  He narrowed his eyes at me as he indicated that I take the seat opposite him. It didn't make him look intimidating. It just made him look like he'd had a stroke.

  He seemed to be moving fine as he took his seat, so I figured he was okay. He pulled a legal pad from the top drawer of his desk and picked up a very expensive-looking pen.

  "Have you ever written a will before?" he asked.

  I shook my head.

  "Okay. First of all, I need your personal details."

  I rattled off my name, date of birth, and address, then answered his questions involving my next of kin and told him how I wanted Mum and Luke to get equal shares in my estate.

  He nodded knowledgeably. "Now I need the details of your estat
e. Your bank accounts, savings, property portfolio, investments like shares, term deposits, and of course any insurance you have."

  I looked at him blankly. "Well…I have…" What did I have? Not a lot.

  "What about money? Bank accounts?"

  "Oh, yes, I have a bank account. Here at the local bank. Mum had insisted that I open it as soon as I arrived in Aloha Lagoon."

  "Very good. I'll need the account details, of course."

  I had a good memory for numbers, so I rattled off what he needed.

  "Savings? Investments?"

  "I have about $10 in my savings account at the moment, and no, I don't have any investments. But I will! I just need some time."

  I was starting to sweat actually. This was worse than being interrogated by Mum. And not even the reason I was here. This was simply an excuse. Maybe I needed to get the conversation going in the direction I needed it to. "Ummm, Mr. Fathersham, if I change my mind about my beneficiary, how do I change my will?"

  "Any solicitor can do that for you. It's quite simple. We either write a new will or a codicil, which is an addition or amendment to this will. I have a smaller fee for amendments."

  I gulped at the word fee. "Exactly how much is a will going to cost?" I asked quietly, scared to hear his response.

  "I bill by time. At the moment this isn't going to be more than a few hundred dollars."

  A few hundred dollars?

  "Amendments are popular at the moment," he said, placing his pen carefully on his legal pad and looking at me through his tortoiseshell glasses. "Why do you want to know all of this?"

  "Well…" Come on, Samantha. Ask him what you came to ask him. "My mother, Rita, and my brother, Luke, have both been named in the wills of the two men who were murdered. I was wondering who changed the wills to add their names."

  Mr. Fathersham sat back in his chair, placing his fingers together, steepling them under his nose.

  "In Hawaii a will must be signed by the testator and be witnessed by two people."

  "Yes. And?"

  "Unless a representative has been appointed by the testator for reasons being that they are physically unable to sign it themselves, then only the testator can change it."