“I don’t mean to sound superficial, but the escalating gifts of jewelry, sunset suppers on his yacht, and the supportive words of his friends, combined to make me feel I was the ideal answer to the loneliness in this successful man’s life. Our wedding was a blink in a getaway weekend at the base of a tropical waterfall near Hilo. Although it greatly disappointed my parents, our only attendees were two of Luke’s right-hand men who served as our witnesses.
“My fairytale in paradise lasted for eighteen months. Then I opened a drawer and learned everything I had assumed about Luke’s life was a sham. The home on the Hill was heavily mortgaged and owned by the company, not Luke. Closed meetings held before and after the frequent parties were the real reason for the festivities. The final revelation about my marriage came when I asked about having kids. ‘No way’ was all he said. At first I thought his refusal related to his daughter Naomi; yet he never spoke of her after I dropped her in Europe.
“It was a sham of a marriage. After a while, keeping my hair, nails and wardrobe perfect became the focus of my life. One night, when I thought Luke was alone in his study, I went in with a tray of his favorite brandy and interrupted one of his private meetings. I’d seen the man before, but only in Marseilles. Within a minute, I was strong-armed out of the room and told I was never to mention seeing the man that evening.
That night I slept in a guest room. In the morning, dark and painful bruises had developed around my right wrist and arm. After two more incidents of his physical violence toward me, I heard a conversation between two of the newer servants. Neither of them, nor any of the staff, knew I understood Spanish and I did nothing to let them in on the fact that I knew exactly what they were saying. The man and woman were new to me. Evidently they were from the house in Playa del Carmen, where Luke’s previous wife had died. I say previous wife because I’d learned she was actually his second wife.
“Between his growing hostility, and the servants’ speculations about Renée’s drowning, I was starting to doubt everything in my life. In fact, this incident marked a shift in both my marriage and Luke’s overall affairs. After that point, I grew accustomed to his black moods and got used to periodic visits from the police. There were times when he must have been expecting them, because his attorney was present, but sometimes they just showed up and interrupted whatever event was going on. I’m glad to say that after a while, Luke seemed to lose interest in my existence and practically ignored me. Although he never grabbed or bruised me again, I didn’t feel safe and I knew I couldn’t go on with things as they were.
“One afternoon I delayed going home after a hair appointment, so I could call my mother. When she learned the truth about my life, she told me to get out without delay. Since my Dad had recently had a stroke, and Luke had threatened to kill me if I ever left him, I decided not to go home. Later, while Luke was at a business dinner, I went through my drawers and closet to see what might be valuable. In the morning I parked my car on a side street in Chinatown and pawned some jewelry. Then I checked into a low-end hotel. Sitting on the sagging bed, I picked up a phone book and called several government agencies. That’s how I learned of Hale Malolo.
“There’s not much else to say. Except for abusing me, I never saw Luke commit a crime. But in addition to lying about his property, when I tried to pawn them, I learned that a lot of the jewelry were fakes.”
With a disgusted shake of her head, Samantha reached for the water bottle sitting beside her chair.
CHAPTER 16
The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust [1871 - 1922]
Clearing his throat, John Dias said, “Samantha, you may not think you’ve told me anything important. But we both may be surprised by where your information leads. I know it’s been a couple of years since you were couriering for Luke, but do you remember any of the dates when you travelled on behalf of him?”
“Yes, I do. I’ve always kept my day planners. Until recently, they’ve been reminders of the high points in my life since leaving home. There’s one interesting thing I can tell you about my trips for Luke. A lot of them were on days following holidays. Not the big ones like Thanksgiving or Christmas, but St. Valentine’s Day and the Fourth of July. One year, it was on January third.”
“That’s interesting because some of those days are low-volume travel days with the airlines. Also, ones like Valentine’s coincide with the giving and receiving of gifts,” observed John.
“I guess you’re right. There were a lot of times when the first-class cabin wasn’t all that full.”
“Also, you’ve said you met a lot of people through Luke. I think it would be good to have you look through some photos I can access. It won’t be right away, because I need you to provide me with a list of your travel dates.
Samantha nodded and took a sip from the bottle of water in her hand.
With Samantha’s story told, we got up and headed downstairs. After the prolonged look John gave me, I knew he agreed with my assessment of Miriam’s death being a mistake. Earlier I had wondered how to handle my realization that Samantha, and not Miriam, was the intended murder victim. Now I wondered how John would handle making an official declaration of that possibility.
“How do you feel about continuing our conversation in the living room,” John asked Samantha.
“That’s fine, but I need to run to the bathroom for a minute.”
As she turned toward the powder room in the hallway, John pulled me to the side. “When I have Samantha’s information, I’ll check in with Federal agencies like the F.B.I. and I.C.E. I’ll look also look into anyone that comes up on the radar of Interpol, Europol and the French National Police. Like I told her, depending on what I learn, I’ll be checking back to see if she recognizes anyone those agencies turn up from the underworld of major criminals. After that, I’ll have to decide whether there’s a need for her to go into witness protection.”
I nodded. “Despite the information that’s emerging, you’ve done a great job of keeping everything calm and smooth for Samantha.”
“Well, it’s not like I’m new to this. The key was simply to get her talking about a topic she was relatively comfortable with—herself.”
When we arrived in the kitchen, I could tell that Joanne was curious about Samantha’s meeting with John and me. Trying to remain non-intrusive, she continued rinsing dishes and casually mentioned that Izzy had gone to her niece’s home to check that everything was ready for the family’s return that night.
“You must be wondering what’s happened, Joanne” said John. “I’m sorry Izzy isn’t here, but it’s time to look at where the evidence is leading in the investigation of Miriam’s murder. I’m going to lay it all out when Samantha joins us, but the short story is that it’s looking like Samantha may have been the intended victim.”
Sagging against the edge of the apron of the sink for support, Joanne moaned and said, “Oh, no. Don’t tell me Miriam died by mistake! How could anyone confuse Miriam with Samantha?”
John shook his head in understanding. “I’m sorry to be so abrupt, Joanne. But Samantha will be back in a minute. I think we should all sit down, either here in the kitchen, or in the living room so I can explain everything.”
I had been trying to control my natural tendency to blurt out my thoughts, but now I rushed into a spur-of-the-moment response. “I think it would be best to go into the living room. We can spread out a bit, and there’ll be room for Izzy to join us.”
“Good idea,” said John.
Joanne looked solemn as Samantha came into the room. The former teacher quickly put on her take-charge smile. “You all look kind of tired. Why don’t we go into the living room until Izzy gets home. I’ve got some fresh grapes and a fresh pitcher of iced tea with lemonade.”
Soon we were all seated. Obviously John wanted to set a casual t
one and refrained from bringing out his recorder. He did, however set a small black notebook and pen on the coffee table. Seated in a wingback chair, he looked at each of us as he cleared his throat. At that moment, the front door opened and Izzy dashed into the room breathlessly.
“I’m sorry to be late in returning. I didn’t want to miss out on whatever you have to report, Lieutenant.”
“You haven’t missed anything, Izzy.”
Quickly sitting beside Samantha on the couch, Izzy dropped her handbag and a carryall on the floor beside her and turned to face John.
Speaking slowly and evenly, John engaged us in his findings. “As you all know, there have been very few leads for the CSI team, Ken`ichi, or me to pursue. There’s simply nothing in her life—at least in the last forty years—that we can find to have provoked such a crime.
“It is true that her initial work with the United Nations dealt with crimes stemming from the Second World War, but she was a minor cog in a huge wheel. She had no public voice; she was merely working behind the scenes as a researcher and analyst. The only other issue we examined in her professional life was her serving (with her husband Henri) as an expert witness in a few international high profile cases of human rights violation. This could have made her a target. But in all probability, anything arising from those cases would have occurred years ago.”
“What about her finances? This home is worth a lot, and both she and Henri had successful careers. They must have acquired quite an estate,” said Joanne.
“That’s all true. But as you and Izzy learned this morning, all of Miriam’s assets are in an irrevocable trust. Aside from providing for your living in this home, and a small gift to one of Henri’s cousins, the balance of the trust goes to UNICEF to benefit women and children around the world,” replied John.
Continuing, he moved toward the bombshell announcement of the day. “One of the reasons I wanted Natalie to be here today is that she has some results to report from her time analyzing Miriam’s journals. And while it’s not directly related to their contents, I think you’ll understand her concern when she’s explained what she may have uncovered.” With that brief introduction, he turned to me with a cautionary look.
As always, I tried to reveal my thoughts without discussing my vision. “Do you all remember when we were chatting at Keoni’s party, and Joanne made the remark about Miriam’s only vanity being her hair—maintaining both its color and length throughout her life?”
They nodded blankly. “Well, when I looked at the scene of her death, it was that long, blond hair that I saw from outside the room. And today, when I was finishing my morning of reading her journals, I looked up to see Samantha standing in the doorway of Miriam’s bedroom.”
I took a deep breath. “And what did I see? Her long, blond hair.”
I paused for a moment. “Think about the night of the murder. There were no lights on in the room where Miriam died, only muted light coming in the windows from a cloudy sky. The murderer would have looked into the room as I did. And what would he have seen? The long, blond hair of a fairly slim woman seated in the room where he’d been told his target would be.
“But what if Miriam wasn’t the target in the first place? She wasn’t even supposed to be in that room. It was to have been Samantha’s room until Miriam broke her leg and couldn’t get up the stairs to her suite.”
There was dead silence. Even though Joanne had known the gist of what would be revealed, my words produced tangible disbelief among all three of Miriam’s Ladies. In the middle of the heavy pause, John’s cell phone rang. After glancing at caller ID, he signaled that he needed to take the call and left the room.
Reaching forward to refill our glasses, Joanne said, “That was the only thing Miriam was vain about—as she aged, she refused to give up keeping her hair long and blond.”
Unconsciously, I touched my strawberry blond hair that has had more than a little assistance from bottled colorant through the years. I wondered if I too was being vain...
At that point, Samantha had returned to the dazed pose she had on the day she discovered Miriam’s body. Seeing her glazed eyes and rounded posture, I was not sure how much of what John said would register with her. When he returned, I could tell he had absorbed the state of everyone’s mood and knew he needed to address the situation quickly.
“I’m sorry for the interruption. This development has to be a shock to all of you, but I thought it was important to take that call.”
“That was Sergeant Ken`ichi. He’s completed a cursory look at Luke Turner’s record. It’s worse than I first thought, Samantha. You said the man has grabbed you on more than one occasion. Would you describe him as a violent person, in general?”
Finally looking up, Samantha said, “Well, uh, yes he was. Following the incident where he jerked me around because I’d seen that man in his office, there were more occasions when he got rough and only stopped when someone walked in on us. That was enough to make me pay more attention to his moods and behavior—you know, because I was afraid something would set him off again. Like I said, that was a turning point in every aspect of our lives. He seemed to be on edge all the time. Maybe he’d always been that way. Before then, things seemed so wonderful and I thought he was just being controlling to make sure everything was perfect for us.”
“You’ve mentioned social gatherings and private meetings with some of the men you’d met in Europe. Did any of them seem violent to you?” John continued.
“No. But thinking back, it seemed like they were kind of afraid of Luke too.”
John contemplated that for a moment. “Is there any reason you can think of that would have motivated Luke to want to have you killed?”
“Not that I know of. Of course, I don’t know whether he was ever violent with Renée or if he might have been involved in her death in some way.”
Except for the dialogue between John and Samantha, the room remained still. After adding to his notes, he asked, “You’ve said that his previous wife, Renée, died in Mexico. What do you know about Renée? Did you ever see any documents about her life…or her death? Perhaps her maiden name?”
“No, John. I only know she was from Marseilles.”
“Hm. Well, I’ll be checking in with Interpol about Luke’s European business operations. I’ll add checking on her background to my list of inquiries.”
“Except for Luke’s not wanting me to see that man from Marseilles, I can’t think of any reason why he’d want to hurt me. I never saw anything really bad happen—like a drug deal, or murder or anything. But he did threaten to kill me if I tried to leave him. That’s why I went to Hale Malolo. I would have left the Islands, but I didn’t have much money and I was afraid to put my folks in danger. I mean, he knows who they are and where they live.”
“I guess the next thing we need to explore is how he found out you were here, in Miriam’s home. You don’t have a car of your own, do you?”
“No. Since going to Hale Malolo, I’ve been relying on other people for transportation.”
“And who’s been driving you, Samantha?”
“Well, first there was the lady who took me to the shelter. I don’t remember her name, but I’m sure Nathan or one of the staff would know who that was. Then there’s Nathan. He brought me here to meet Miriam, Joanne and Izzy; then he helped me move in. After that, Joanne has done most of the driving, the few times I’ve gone anywhere.”
“Have you been back anywhere near your home, in Waikīkī, or maybe out near the airport?”
“No.”
Breaking her silence, Izzy said, “What about the day we were out in Kailua. You were with us, Natalie. I needed to do some shopping, and thought it was a great way to introduce you and Samantha to our community. We parked the van and walked all over Kailua Town. We went so many places. I don’t think I could name them all. There was Times Coffee Shop for breakfast, and Herit
age Antiques, and clothing stores, and A Cup of Tea, and Whole Foods.”
“That’s right! I ordered some items to be catered for Keoni’s party,” I remembered.
“With all that activity, I doubt you would have noticed anyone paying attention to you, what you were saying, or whether they followed you back to the cottage,” commented John.
“No. You’re right. We were having too much fun to notice anyone around us,” replied Izzy.
“I sure wasn’t thinking about Luke. After all, I wasn’t anywhere near where he or his friends would be,” Samantha added.
“But there’s no way of knowing how many people he might have put in place to look for you. O`ahu isn’t that big, and if he thought you were still on the island, it would have been easy to stake out shopping areas where you might show up.”
“That’s why Hale Malolo tells the women not to go out—at least not until it looks like they’re safe. Even then, only when they’re with people who can be on the lookout for any sign of trouble. I just didn’t realize I was in any real danger,” said Samantha with a sniffle.
“That’s how it is in these situations. Most people never think they’re going to be the target of an attack. There’s no way of knowing how you were discovered. It won’t do any good to worry about the past. We simply have to make sure no one can get to you again.”
“Should I give Nathan a call and see if Samantha can return to Hale Malolo tonight?” I asked.
“Okay, Natalie. That may work in a pinch, but I want to put her in a more secure location as soon as possible,” said John.
As Izzy and Joanne comforted Samantha, I went to the kitchen for my phone. When I returned, I found that John had gone out to his car for a moment and that The Ladies were helping Samantha pack her bags again. As I entered the maid’s quarters, I found Joanne staring out the window as she folded some of Samantha’s clothing while Izzy and Samantha were in the bathroom assembling the young woman’s toiletries.
Murder on Mokulua Drive Page 20