Death of the Big Kahuna

by Catherine Bruns

  "Excuse us, Poncho and Keanu," he said. "I'd like to talk to Carrie alone."

  I pointed at Keanu. "Can't he stay?"

  "It's all right," Detective Ray said smoothly. "You're not under arrest. Not yet anyway."

  Well, that was reassuring. Poncho gave me a somber look and departed. Keanu seemed more hesitant to leave, and his blue eyes were anxious as they bore into mine. Detective Ray shooed him away with his hand. "It's all right. We won't be long."

  Detective Ray sat down on the bench and motioned me to sit as well. "Carrie, the knife was found in your gym bag?"

  Nothing got past this guy. "Yes, sir."

  "When was the last time you looked inside it?"

  "Yesterday morning."

  He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't the restaurant closed on Mondays?"

  "Uh, yes." Oh man, I wished Keanu would have been allowed to stay. How was I going to explain this one? "I came in at Keanu's request to do some extra cleaning for a few hours."

  "What time did you arrive?" Detective Ray asked.

  Great. If Alana found out about this, I was doomed. "About ten o'clock or so."

  I hated to lie. I mean, I really hated it and wasn't any good at it either. But what else could I do? If the detective knew that I'd slept here two nights ago, he'd start thinking all kinds of crazy things.

  He made some more notes on his pad and nodded to the policeman who was standing there patiently. "Go ask Keanu to come in here—the young guy. Then take the bag with the knife and wait for me in the car. We'll get it run through the system for fingerprints immediately."

  My mouth went dry. I had only touched the tip of the knife. Would my prints be found on the weapon too?

  Detective Ray broke into my thoughts. "So how do you think the knife wound up in your bag, Carrie?"

  Gee, that's a tough one. "Well, I would guess that someone's trying to frame me for Hale's murder."

  "Any idea who?" he asked.

  I gave him an incredulous look. "I have no idea whatsoever, Detective Ray. I just started here and had never met Hale before. I'm telling you the truth."

  "Carrie didn't do it." Keanu was standing in the doorway. "I'd stake my life on it."

  Detective Ray glanced from me to Keanu. "Would you now?" His mouth twitched into a faint smile. "What I need from both of you is to tell me who exactly would have had access to this room in the past two days. The restrooms are on the other side of the café, so I'm guessing you don't get customers in here."

  "They'd have to come through the kitchen, unless they snuck in through the back door somehow," Keanu said.

  I counted on my fingers. "Me, Keanu, Poncho, Vivian, Lola, Leo, Anna, Alana—"

  "Tad Emerson," Keanu said in a low voice. "He works for Lovely Linens. He was in here this morning dropping off fresh aprons and napkins."

  I realized that Keanu had to name everyone who had access to the room, but I hated to see Tad implicated. Then again, I liked Tad, but what did I really know about him, besides the fact that he was a regular hoot to be around? Plus, he hated Hale. Enough said.

  Detective Ray was busy scribbling away on his pad. "I'm familiar with the place. I'll see if I can track him down. There's no one else that you can think of who might have been in here?"

  "No, sir," I replied.

  He rose to his feet. "I may want to question you both again later. I spoke with Mrs. Akamu right after you called her, Keanu. She's out of town shopping but assured me she would be back within the hour. There's no reason not to reopen the place if she wants."

  Keanu nodded. "The servers are hard pressed to get breaks around here, so I'll let them take off for a few minutes before she gets back."

  Detective Ray nodded. "Of course. If I were you, Keanu, I would refrain from telling customers about this, unless you want to be out of business. I believe most people at the resort think Hale's death was the result of a robbery. Mrs. Akamu—er—Alana—assured me that she would have more security cameras installed by tomorrow. There have been a few concerned patrons at the resort who left early and demanded a refund, but for the most part, curiosity seems to be the bigger factor."

  "We already know about that." Keanu pursed his lips together.

  Detective Ray nodded. "I'll be seeing you both soon."

  "Wonderful." I watched as he departed through the swinging doors. "What am I going to do if he comes back with a warrant for my arrest?"

  Keanu placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me around to face him. "They can't arrest you solely based on the knife in your bag. At least, I don't think so. But it's pretty obvious that someone here committed the crime. So if it's not you or me, that leaves Viv, Poncho, Lola, Leo, Tad, or Alana."

  A lightbulb clicked on in my head. "Holy cow. We forgot one person."

  "Who?" Keanu asked.

  "Carmen. Tad said he saw her on the path before he came into the café."

  Keanu raised his eyebrows. "What would she be doing here?"

  "Tad said she's working at Sir Spamalot's." I picked the clothes up off the floor and threw them back into my locker. Detective Ray had taken the gym bag for evidence as well. "I'm going to talk to her."

  Keanu shook his head. "You don't even know Carmen. She won't tell you anything."

  I untied my apron. "I don't care. I have to try. I'm not going to jail—" My hands started to shake. What would I say to this woman? Excuse me, did you plant a knife in my bag? Did you kill Hale?

  Keanu laid a hand on my arm. "We have a little while before Alana gets back. Come on. I'll go with you."

  "Really?" I was stunned but thankful at the same time.

  He nodded. "Carmen won't talk to you, but she might tell me something. I want to get to the bottom of this too."

  We crossed to the patio door. Keanu held it open and then followed me out. We started down the boardwalk in silence. It was another beautiful day, and there were several people outside on the beach area, soaking up the sun. All of the tables were filled at The Lava Pot. Casey was outside chatting with a customer and waved at us when we walked by. We smiled and waved in return but didn't stop.

  "It's starting to look like one of our fellow employees might have done this." I wished Keanu had divulged to me his reason for wanting Hale dead. I really didn't think that he could have killed him, but the only person I knew for certain was innocent was me.

  Keanu looked straight ahead, his face expressionless. "Do you think Carmen could have done it? What would be her motive? I know he fired her but that doesn't seem like enough of a reason to me."

  "I'm not sure, but someone told me that Carmen was taking antidepressants."

  Keanu cleared his throat. "There is another suspect you keep forgetting to mention. Your theater buddy."

  I winced at the thought. "I adore Tad, but would he have killed Hale based only on the fact that he insulted and embarrassed him that one time?"

  Keanu shook his head. "It was more than one time, Carrie. I think Tad tried not to make a big deal about it because he didn't want his uncle to lose business. But Hale always had something demeaning or insulting to say whenever he saw Tad. He bullied the guy constantly when there were other people around too. Okay, next suspect please."

  "I hate to say this, but Poncho has to be considered as well, especially since he—"

  I covered my mouth with my hand.

  Keanu stopped walking and turned to look at me. "Especially since Poncho is what?"

  I couldn't tell him I'd been snooping, but I didn't see any other way around it now. "He told me that he once killed a man."

  Keanu ran a hand through his dark silky-looking hair. "But that wasn't his fault."

  "Yes I understand but—" Oh, I'd really worked my way into a fine jam this time. "I have a confession to make."

  He folded his arms across his muscular chest and studied me with apprehension. "Go on."

  I bit into my lower lip. "It would be nice if you had something to confess too. You know, to even the score."

  Keanu gave
me a shrewd look, but his mouth twitched into a genuine smile. "Let's go visit Carmen first. Then we'll go down to the pier and have a long talk. We're due."

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Like the Loco Moco Café, Sir Spamalot's was situated near the beach, but we took Keanu's moped to save time. The place was a casual, open-air eatery with a grass hut feel to it. The counter ran in a square with high stools perched around the perimeter of it. There were two people behind the counter, and one of them was Carmen.

  As I had thought earlier, she seemed to be in her mid to late thirties, with some premature gray peppered into her light brown hair. Her opaque gray irises regarded me suspiciously as we sat down. She was attractive, but there were already fine lines forming around Carmen's eyes, a telltale sign that her life may not have been an easy one so far.

  There was only one other customer in the place—a pretty redhead reading a magazine. She had an expensive camera perched on the counter in front of her.

  "So." Carmen directed her question at Keanu. "Why are you here when you can dine at the King's Lair for free? Oh, pardon me. The Dead King's Lair."

  Keanu ignored her sarcastic remark and gestured at me. "Carmen Stacey, this is Carrie Jorgenson. She's a new server at the Loco Moco."

  I extended my hand across the counter, but it was left dangling in the air as Carmen merely grunted at me. "My replacement, no doubt. What'll you have?"

  Keanu waited for me to go first. I didn't want to make it obvious, but I was not a spam fan in any shape or form. My mother used to serve the canned meat to me as a child on a regular basis, and I'd had more than my fill to last an entire lifetime. "Just coffee, please."

  She looked at me like I had pineapples growing out of my ears. "Try again, honey. We don't have coffee here. We have spam and more spam. Spam kabobs. Spam musubi. And we've got soda or iced tea to drink."

  "Soda," I said quickly. "Any kind is fine."

  She produced a can of Sprite for me and looked at Keanu. He studied the menu. "Make that two."

  Carmen slammed his can down on the counter. She started to walk away, but he leaned over to touch her arm. "Can we talk to you for a minute?"

  "Carmen." The young woman waved a bill in the air. Carmen ignored us and hustled to her side.

  "Thanks for the meal. Keep the change."

  "No problem, Autumn. Good luck on that gig of yours today."

  "It's a perfect day to photograph a wedding, isn't it?" Autumn nodded at my coworker. "Hi, Keanu. Sorry to hear about your boss."

  We'd been hearing the same utterings of sympathy for a couple of days now. I had to wonder if anyone really was sorry that Hale had died. In my mind, I pictured Tad doing a hula dance to the news and forced a giggle back down in my throat.

  "Thanks, Autumn." Keanu smiled at her, and for some odd reason I was instantly jealous.

  She leaned closer to him. "I heard that it was a random robbery. Do they have any leads?"

  It was good to know that Detective Ray's earlier assumption was spot-on. If people thought there was a murderer working at the Loco Moco, would they be coming in to sample Poncho's famous pineapple salsa or Hale's Hamburger Platter? My guess was no.

  Keanu took a sip of soda. "I really don't know much, Autumn."

  She sighed wistfully. "I bet they got some cool photos of the crime scene." She gave a wave to all of us, including Carmen, and left the hut.

  The place was now deserted. The other woman who'd been behind the counter said good-bye to Carmen and left, obviously having finished her shift for the day. Carmen sauntered back over to us. She focused on Keanu, deliberately ignoring me. "So, what'd you want?"

  Keanu didn't mince any words. "Someone murdered Hale, and we'd like your thoughts on the topic."

  She snorted. "Look, I'll admit I'm not sorry he's dead, that's for sure. But I didn't kill him."

  I remembered the argument they had when he fired her and the check register entry for the money he had paid her. Carmen was involved in some detail of his life, and I wanted to know exactly how. "The day Hale fired you, he said it was because of the way you reacted to a customer's tip, but you told him that was just an excuse. I think there was something else going on between the two of you."

  Carmen scanned me up and down. "You're quite the nosy little thing, aren't you?"

  Keanu cut in. "Do you want to tell us what's going on, or would you rather speak directly to the police? I'm getting to know Detective Ray pretty well. I'm sure he'd be interested in what you have to say. He hasn't questioned you yet, right?" He pulled out his cell phone.

  Carmen's eyes registered with sudden alarm. "They don't know I'm working here—yet. Please don't call him. I can't deal with that right now."

  Okay, so we were making progress.

  "Come on," Keanu urged. "Level with me. You can trust us."

  She sighed heavily. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Yeah, I did sleep with Hale. It was only once, but I assure you, that was more than enough."

  Good grief. "Is that why he fired you? Because he was afraid you'd tell Alana?"

  Carmen shook her head. "It's a little more complicated than that."

  Keanu and I exchanged glances. I thought again about the check register in the desk. The pieces were starting to fit together like those jigsaw puzzles my mother always enjoyed doing. I had a sudden hunch, based in part on Carmen's earlier comment, but couldn't be positive my assumption was correct. If I was wrong, Carmen might grab me by the hair and throw me across the beach. She looked strong enough. "Were you pregnant?"

  Her face registered shock and alarm, while Keanu watched me, clearly impressed.

  Hey, Nancy Drew's got nothing on me.

  Carmen's eyes filled with tears. "How did you know?"

  Bingo. "Call it a woman's intuition. Once is all it takes." The same words my mother had probably told my father years ago when she discovered she was pregnant with Penny. "What did Hale do when you told him?"

  Carmen wiped at her eyes with the back of her head. "He asked me to get rid of it. He said he'd pay me enough money to make it worth my while." She paused. "I didn't want to, but I also didn't know how I was going to raise a baby all by myself, without any help. He gave me five thousand dollars up front and promised me more." Her face became pinched with pain. "The next day I suffered a miscarriage. The doctor said it might have been brought on by all the stress I was suffering from, but there wasn't a way to know for sure."

  My heart went out to her. "I'm so sorry."

  She straightened up and glared at me. "I don't want your sympathy. Anyhow, I'd already cashed the check, and Hale thought I'd made the whole thing up. He was totally pissed. I even offered to put him in touch with my doctor, but he was still convinced I was lying. A few days after I came back to work, the incident with the customer happened. I guess he saw it as his chance to be rid of me. I even called him later that evening to tell him he'd better give me my job back or I'd tell Alana. Hale just laughed and said 'go ahead.'" She twisted a napkin between her slender fingers. "I didn't kill him, but I'd like to thank the person who did."

  Yikes. "But why would you—" I stopped myself, afraid to sound judgmental if I asked her why she would even consider sleeping with him. Sure, Hale had been attractive and rich, but the thought of being with him in an intimate manner was enough to make me want to retch.

  Carmen blew out a long, ragged breath. "I get it. You want to know why I'd sleep with such a pig. The truth is, I don't know. We went out for drinks one night after work. We got to talking, and he actually seemed like a nice guy—even human. I guess I had a little too much to drink. I remember getting into the car with him, but things went fuzzy after that." Her face turned a shade of crimson. "Sometimes I drink a bit more than is good for me."

  Vivian had said that Carmen was a regular at The Lava Pot, but I wisely kept that piece of knowledge to myself.

  "The next morning I woke up in one of the Aloha Lagoon resort rooms, alone." Carmen's voice was low. "No note from him, zero acknow
ledgement of any kind. When I saw him at work the next day, he acted like nothing had happened."

  Keanu broke in. "I knew about the extra money, Carmen. I thought maybe you were blackmailing him for some reason."

  Head smack. Why had I not surmised that Keanu, who handled the finances, had also seen the checkbook? Was he on to my snooping as well?

  Carmen's lower lip began to tremble. "I should have gotten more from the louse while I had the chance. I should have told Alana. She thinks we slept together anyway. Lola stopped by yesterday and told me what she's been saying about me." She placed a protective hand over her stomach. "I wish the outcome could have been different for someone else."

  I wanted to believe her, but Carmen had suddenly jumped to the top of my suspect list.

  "I don't sleep around," Carmen said defensively. "He and Alana were separated, and it's not the first time he'd been unfaithful to her. I've heard the rumors. Those two have always been off and on like a faucet. She had spies too, or so I've been told."

  What a great foundation for a marriage. I exchanged a doubtful glance with Keanu. If her account was true, I was genuinely sorry for Carmen. Still, I was not convinced that she could be trusted or that her story held water.

  Realization dawned in her eyes, and she jutted her chin out in defiance. "Look, I had nothing to do with his murder. That's why you're both here, right? You think I did it. No, wait. The police think one of you did it, so you're trying to pin it on someone else."

  Keanu shook his head at her. "You're wrong on both accounts. We only want to find out who did this before someone else gets hurt."

  Carmen glared at him. "I earned that money from Hale fair and square. My doctor would verify the pregnancy if I asked him to. I couldn't care less about Alana's feelings when she finds out I was carrying her husband's child. Now, I think you two have overstayed your welcome." With that, she abruptly turned and walked over to a couple who had just sat down on the other end of the counter.

  I opened my mouth to say something, but Keanu laid a firm hand on my arm. "Let's go, Carrie."

  He threw a ten-dollar bill down on the counter but made no further comment to Carmen, who stood there watching us, hands on hips, as we walked away. When I turned my back to her, I could almost feel those scorching eyes burning a hole through my skin.