Corky found a spot on a five gallon bucket to place the flashlight and carefully slipped the wedge end of the bar under one corner of the lid. It took no pressure to pry up the wooden cover since the nails on that end had already been removed. Lifting the lid, she peered in.
“Well?” Hanks head and one shoulder were inside the window opening, blocking out most of the daylight.
Corky picked up the flashlight and shone it into the interior of the box. “Dynamite, all right, Hank. The top row of sticks is gone. Whats left is enough to blow up a block of Front Street.”
***
They were still discussing their find on the way back to the station. Corky was relieved to see Hank was in no hurry to get back, especially since the drizzle had turned into a typical tropical downpour.
“Can Newman just walk off with a stick of dynamite without getting a court order?” Corky asked, as Hank tooled the car down the steep road with unusual care.
“Hell, hes going to take more than a stick. We're confiscating the whole case. The field supervisor, whoever he is, has a lot of explaining to do. Leaving the dynamite out in a flimsy shack with the window unlocked was just asking for trouble. Can you imagine what a couple of curious gradeschool kids could have done to themselves if theyd climbed in there?”
“But, Hank, its illegally gathered evidence.”
“Makes no odds. Public safety comes first.”
Corky was inclined to agree with him, and only hoped his legal analysis was as solid as his concern for public safety. “Any guesses as to who planted the dynamite in OHearnes car?” she asked.
Hank slowed to a crawl as a concrete mixer lumbered up the steep incline, passed them, and sprayed a solid sheet of water over the car. “You know, Corky, this case is getting beyond us.”
Corkys eyes sprang open in astonishment. In all the years shed been working with Hank she had never heard him give expression to such a sentiment. Puzzled, sometimes, yes. Guessing wrong often, but guessing right many times also. Hank had never sounded so defeated.
During the silence, he swerved to avoid a mongoose who was probably rushing out from a flooded den. The car fishtailed, Hank turned into the skid and drove on unconcernedly while saying something which so astonished Corky as to momentarily take her mind off of her peril. “Maybe we should ask Sid and Kay what they think. They dont have a client anymore, you know, so it wouldnt hurt to give them what information weve got.”
Corky didnt express her amusement at the thought of giving Sid and Kay information they already had. Instead, she said, “Why dont we drop by their office? Or maybe we could have them come by the station this afternoon.”
A fire truck crowded them over on a curve. “Pumper.” Hank said. “I know just where theyre going. Its up by the park. The damn culvert at the entrance floods every time we get a shower.”
Corky peered out at the sodden world around them and wondered what constituted a shower in Hanks mind. Hank interrupted her thoughts to say, “Give „em a call when we get back to the station. We should be able to get together someplace this afternoon to talk story.”
Talk story, hell! Corky thought. What he really wants to do is to pick Kays brain, but he wont admit it.”
Hank cruised slowly through a stream of water crossing Ridge Trail where it joined with the highway. His next words gave Corky her biggest surprise of the day. “You know, Corky, Kay has a pretty good mind.”
Chapter 11
It had been a satisfactory two sets. Kay had won the first one by a wide margin, driving Sid to exert himself sufficiently to eke out a win in the second one. A pleasant tiredness after all the exercise, a shower, a change to the informal street clothes they always kept handy, made even the steady downpour incapable of dampening their general feeling of relaxation as they drove the half dozen blocks to Hanks house.
“ What possessed Hank to have this meeting at his house?” Sid asked, driving slowly, since even on high the swipes were having a difficult time clearing off the streams of water flowing across the windshield.
“ I think he wanted to get away from the office for a change. And therell be several of us: You, me, Hank, Corky, Qualit should just be more comfortable.
“That doesnt make much sense. Our conference room can hold ten. His has held as many, more than once.”
Kay shrugged. “Maybe he just thought it would be a nicer place to be on a rainy day.”
“Wheres Toni?”
“Corky says shes going to pick up the kids at school and then do some post- Christmas swapbacks shes been wanting to do.”
Sid snorted. “She sure picked a great day for dragging kids and Christmas rejects around.”
Kay took her eyes off the rain-sodden road long enough to grin over at Sid who was straining to see ahead of him. “Tonill manage.”
Only the two umbrellas and raincoats prevented them from being soaked in the thirty feet from curbside, where theyd parked, to the shelter of the DeMellos covered lanai. Kay was grateful for the rubber sandals shed been wearing, since shed managed to step in an ankle deep puddle when getting out of the car. They both kicked off their footwear and stripped off their wet raingear as Hank answered their knock. Qual had preceded them, and Corky was already pouring the coffee.
“Who won?” Qual asked, as they stripped off their raincoats.
“Kay took the first set,” Sid said with a grin, “then I took the second one to show her I just let her win the first one.”
Kay joined in the banter, saying, “You should have seen him huffing and puffing over the last point. He had me laughing so hard, I couldnt hit the ball.”
Kay always admired the DeMello home. Built back in the twenties, it was almost ancient by Hawai'i's standards. With high ceilings, old fashioned wooden sash windows, and furniture equally old but well cared for, the house gave off a comfortable, lived-in appearance. Hanks surprisingly large collection of books, mainly on the subject of World War Two, lined one entire wall. Somehow, the large bookcase and its contents seemed to fit well with the rest of the rooms decor.
As Hank came in with a cup of coffee and eased himself into one of the overstuffed chairs, the conversation moved on to his future job prospects. “Whats the latest on the new police appointments, Hank?” Qual asked.
Hank shrugged. “Rumors, just rumors.”
“Will you take a captaincy if its offered?” Kay, Sid and Corky watched Hank closely as he answered Quals question.
“I dont know. I think a lot will depend on who the chief is. Ive had my differences with Yamada, but all in all, hes been good to work with. Ive always done just about as I pleased. It would be hell to be captain under someone who might want to turn the department inside out. I get along pretty well with the men, now. Id hate to have to turn chickenshit just to keep some new chief with new ideas happy.”
“Dont you think the mayor will take it all into account when she replaces Yamada?” Kay asked.
Hank looked thoughtful.“I hope so. She seems to have a pretty good head on her shoulders.” Corky expected him to add, “…for a woman,” and was pleased and relieved when he didnt.
“Guess its all academic anyway,” Hank went on, “since she probably wouldnt even consider me for a captaincy if I dont find out damn soon who blew up OHearne. I dont imagine Yamada likes the idea of going out with a bang, so hes not too likely to write me much of a recommendation if I dont solve this caseand soon.”
“Thats why Hank wanted you folks over,” Corky said. “You worked with OHearne, and you probably know more about who his enemies were than anyone else. Hank and I figured if we put all of our heads together, we might be able to come up with a solution, or at least a few leads.”
“Bring us up to date,” Kay said. “I know you must have more information on the explosion.”
“We sure do,” said Hank. He described the mornings discovery of the explosive. “Newman Ihara says hes almost positive the dynamite used to wipe out OHearne is from the same batch the sticks in that box came from. H
e says the labs can usually identify the individual boxes. If thats the source, and Im thinking it is, then weve narrowed down the field. It would have to be someone with the key to the shack, or at least someone who knew the window would be unlatched.”
“What about the first killing, Hank?” Kay asked. “Dont…”
Hank interrupted with a louder and even more expressive grunt than usual. “You know as well as I do your late client killed Mrs. Dyer. Hell! Lets face it. He was guilty as all hell.”
Startled by Hanks unaccustomed vehemence, Qual broke in, saying, “Whether youre right or not, theres someone else who agrees with you that OHearne killed Mrs. Dyer.”
“Yeah? Who?”
“Why, whoever blew him up, of course.”
Corky picked up on Quals idea. “Youre saying whoever blew up OHearne did it because he was convinced OHearne killed Mrs. Dyer?”
“He or she. Someone had considerable affection for Mrs. Dyer and this was retaliation. After all, you really didnt have much of a case against OHearne, no matter what you say, Hank. In fact, Emil was just about ready to drop charges. and the word got around. So, whoever killed OHearne wanted to make sure he wouldnt escape scot free.”
“And a damn good thing,” Hank growled. “Except the killers method has brought half of Napua down on my neck. Nobody likes a bomb thrower.”
“Maybe thats a good place to begin,” Sid suggested.“Who might have been infatuated with Mrs. Dyer? And who knows enough about dynamite and where this batch was located to have put those sticks in OHearnes car?”
Corky flipped open her notepad, saying, “All of our prime suspects might fit the first category. But Im not sure how many of them could handle dynamite. First theres Joe Demos. I guess he could have been going through a mid-life affair. Certainly, he would have had easy access to the shed, and he most certainly knows what to do with dynamite. His first farm was a Big Island lava flow.
“Then theres Zoe. I suppose its possible she could have crossed over as far as sexual tastes are concerned, but I cant quite see her handling dynamite sticks.”
Some of the others laughed in appreciation as they tried to envision the impeccably coiffured and clothed mistress of the Lady Mac slipping dynamite under the pedal of OHearnes car.
Kay was one who didnt laugh. “Its a good idea to run down the list this way,” she said, “but we shouldnt sell anyone short. Give me one phone call, and maybe I can settle the question of Zoes explosive abilities, once and for all.” Several raised eyebrows followed Kays comment, but Corky put her notebook aside, and Hank went off to replenish the coffee supplies while Kay punched in a number on the phone.
In the meantime, Qual leaned over to ask Corky,“Whats with Hank? He really seems irritable.”
“Its the damn captaincy,” Corky answered. “Im pretty sure hes made up his mind to take it, but he doesnt have the least idea of whether or not it will be offered to him. The uncertainty is getting to him. Hes a gorilla with ulcers around the office.”
The conversation stopped as Hank returned with the new pot of coffee, and Kay began talking over the phone.
Yoshito was clearly surprised to hear his daughters voice. He interrupted the call to shout, “Etsuko! Its Kay.”
Kay heard the sound of another phone clicking in.
“The reason I called was to find out something more about the Demoses. Do either of you remember what Joes financial condition was like back then? Back when you first knew him. How was he living?”
Yoshitos chuckle greeted the questions. “You can be sure Zoe didnt marry him for his money. Yeah? He was still struggling. Land rich, but money poor. He had just borrowed all he could, to buy some land here on Oahu. Well, you know how expensive farm land is over here. Yeah? And about all you can get is a side hill on the windward side. He invited us out to see his new farm soon after they got married, so Etsuko and I went out to take a look one weekend.”
Etsukos voice broke in. “It was quite a sight, Kay. They were living illegally in one of those little travel trailers with a canvas tarp tied to the side. Zoe seemed to be happy, but she admitted she was working harder then, than she ever had at the Sushi Maru.”
Yoshitos chuckle punctuated Etsukos comments. “They were having a devil of a time. Yeah? Joe admitted he hadnt expected his farm to be all blue rock. They had to blast for every single tree and then bring in topsoil to fill in the holes.”
“Just the two of them were doing that?”
“Thats right. They couldnt afford help.”
“Do you know if Zoe handled any of the explosives.”
“Oh, she did, all right. She told us, while we were there, how her first husband used to spend hours telling her all about his demolition work. She said shed been pretty bored, but now it was all coming back to her and kept her from panicking when she handled the dynamite.”
Kay felt she had all the information she needed, but went on with small talk, then asked,“I hope Uncle Nate made it off to his convention after all. I felt kind of responsible for his missing his plane.”
“He didnt seem to mind at all, Kay,” Etsuko said.
Yoshito made a grumbling sound and added, “I dont know what got into Nate. Hes been talking about the convention for months, and then he just suddenly canceled out and stayed with us instead.”
“Has Marcella found a place to live?”
It was Yoshito who answered. “She moved out Monday morning, but she didnt say exactly where her apartment is.”
Etsuko made no comment.
***
“So there you are,” Kay said, after repeating what she had heard from her parents about Zoe Demos.
Corky grinned and picked up her notebook. “It looks like were not going to cross off any of our prime suspects. But lets try Richard Hanamoto.”
“From what my Uncle says,” Kay said, “Hes unlikely to have been having any kind of an affair.”
Corky twisted her mouth as she added a note to Richards name. “Ill check and see how familiar he might be with field work. Then theres Winston.”
Hank picked up the conversation at this point. “He was in combat in Mid East, so you can be damn sure he knows all about explosives. Hell! Im sure it was like Nam. We never put a foot down there without thinking about them, and Ill bet every grunt over there had some kind of training in planting them.”
“Anybody know anything about his love life?” Corky asked.“So far, all we know about him is hes never married.” Receiving no answer to her question, she went on,“Ill see what I can find out about that. And Ill check to see how much he goes out to the fields.” Another note went down in the pad.
“Isobel?” Corky asked, looking around at her listeners.
“Shes big enough,” Hank commented dryly.
“Aw, cmon, Hank,” Corky said. “Whats size got to do with anything?”
“Shes pretty much of a blank as far as Im concerned,” Kay said.
“O.K. Ill check her out on both counts. Guess that pretty much takes care of all the primes.”
“Uh-uh,” Kay dissented. “Theres one more.”
“Whos that?” Hank and Corky asked, simultaneously. Qual looked over at Sid, and both of them shook their heads.
Kays answer was, “Morton Dyer.”
***
Kays theory was greeted with even more skepticism now than it had received earlier. Hank insisted there was absolutely no reason to believe Dyer hadnt been on board the plane when it crashed. Corky pointed out the return of the money virtually guaranteed he wouldnt have blown up the plane.
Sid brought up the factor which had launched Kays theory, and said, “If youre right, about how someone drove the car at the airport that morning, theres no way of proving itwas Dyer. You said Louie found a spare key under the bumper. Why couldnt someone else have found it, used it, and then replaced it?”
Kay stood up and declared, “Time for another phone call.” This one was to Louie the Locksmith. Kay quickly identified herself.
“Do y
ou remember the car at the airport the other day? The one you were called out to make a key for a few days ago?”
Kay had no problem detecting the amusement in Louies voice as he said, “I sure as hell do. Its my favorite bar story these days.”
“What shape was the magnetic box in? Did it look like it had been opened recently?”
“It was rusty as all hell. I was surprised it was still hanging on, and I damn near broke a fingernail opening it up. My guess is itd been there for yearsmaybe ever since the lucky guy bought the car.”
“Lucky?” Kay couldnt resist asking.
“Sure, lucky. If his wife was anything like her sister, he was lucky as all hell to be blown up in a plane instead of having to come back to her.”
***
“So there it is,” Kay said with some satisfaction after relaying Louies information about the magnetic box.
Sid was still reluctant to concede. “Maybe Dyer gave his key to someone else before he took off on his last trip.”
Kay raised one eyebrow at the comment, then said. “I only wish we still had a client. OHearne would have been only too happy to pay for us to investigate this lead.”
It was Sids turn to raise an eyebrow.
Corky was about to say something, when loud noises in the kitchen interrupted her.
Hank supplied the answer as he got up.“Toni and the kids. Id better go out and help her with the loot shes brought back from her expedition.”
Hanks two grade schoolers crowded past him through the kitchen doorway.
The air was soon filled with greetings to “Uncle Sid” and “Uncle Qual” and “Auntie Corky,” and “Auntie Kay.” The greetings were punctuated with giggles, and every time the children caught each others eyes they broke into laughter.
“What stores did you go to?” Kay asked.
The younger child began a list, ticking the items off on his fingers. “We went to Uchimas, then Liberty House, then we went to the hardware store, and then we went to Uncle…” His older sister put a hand across his mouth and both of them doubled up with laughter.
The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2 Page 60