by Kay Hadashi
“That means he drowned, right?”
“It seems he died very quickly, most likely from the trauma of whatever hit him.” Melanie took a few steps to stand next to Addie. “From what I’ve heard, it seems very complicated. That’s why they have a detective investigating his death so closely and the coroner doing his autopsy.”
“Complicated how? When I spoke to the police yesterday, they almost made it sound like there was some sort of foul play?”
“There are some odd things. First, his board wasn’t with him, just the leash trailing from his ankle. That leash is pretty strong and is meant to keep the surfer and the board together. The other suspicious things were his injuries. They were much more consistent with blunt force than drowning.”
Addie hugged herself. “I don’t know what that means.”
“There was no water in his lungs, which is how people drown. But his broken ribs and injured head mean he was struck by something large, probably a boat.”
“This seems too shallow for a boat.”
“Right. We think he paddled out to a second surf line that would’ve had bigger waves. He might even have been caught in an outgoing tide that drew him further from shore than he realized. That happens occasionally with inexperienced surfers and swimmers. Most likely, a boat came along and struck him.”
“Wouldn’t they have stopped to help?”
“They might not have seen him, thinking they struck something floating in the water, and kept going. Or just afraid of owning up to what they did. The police have a team going from marina to marina, checking for damage on boats.”
“Does that mean he went quickly? If he was struck hard enough but didn’t drown, he would’ve died instantly, right?”
“That’s what makes the most sense to me,” Melanie said. She considered backing off, if the woman had had enough for one morning. Instead, she pushed her luck to potentially have a visitor break down right in front of her. Being on the beach on a sunny day seemed like the only decent place to bring up so much bad news. “There’s something else about his injuries we haven’t told you or the media.”
“What’s that?”
“It seems he had been in a fight not long before going out surfing. He had some bruising on his face and a minor fracture to his jaw, which weren’t suffered while he was in the water.”
“How can you possibly know that?” Addie asked.
“A bruise wouldn’t form after death, and the location was such that it was typical of a fist hitting someone. He also had a single broken rib on the opposite side of his other injuries.”
“Kenny was beat up?”
“It appears so, and not long before he went surfing.”
“If he wasn’t still attached to his surfboard, how do we know he even went surfing?” Addie asked.
“His pickup truck was found in the parking area back there, the tie down straps in the back as if they’d been used. Plus, the police didn’t find a board at his apartment. They don’t know what kind he used or what it looked like. Would you happen to have a picture of him with his board?”
Addie got out her phone and hit a few buttons. “He sent me pictures on my phone but I can never remember how to find them.” She gave the phone to Melanie to use.
It took only a moment for Melanie to find the saved pictures. They weren’t in folders, only saved individually. As she clicked from one image to the next going backward in time, almost everything was of Kenny or some scene on Maui. She found a few pictures of him at a restaurant maybe where he worked, and a couple of him working in a vegetable patch, probably the upcountry job he had. The pictures were either selfies, or of him posing with other young men, also dressed in casual wear or swimsuits. Very few of the images had women in them. Melanie was picking up on a vibe Kenny’s mother apparently hadn’t. Then she found a picture of him posing with a surfboard.
“White tanker with a blue stripe,” she muttered. She swiped her finger to enlarge the image. There was a sticker near the nose, the logo of a local surf school in Lahaina that catered to tourists. “Gonzo’s Surf School.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Surf schools use boards called tankers. They are extra long and wide for maximum flotation, making it really easy to learn how to surf, even in tiny waves. Gonzo’s is right here in Lahaina.”
“Maybe they know something?” Addie asked.
“I doubt it. But I wonder if they’ve been looking for their rental board that was never returned? They don’t use the best boards, but it seems to me they’d be looking for it by now.” She gave the phone back after giving the mother a quick tutorial on how to find the images. “You have very nice pictures of Kenny there.”
“I want to get them printed for a scrapbook.” The woman scrolled, looking at them quickly before putting the phone away again. “Can we go to his apartment?”
Melanie stepped away to call Detective Nakatani to see if it had been released from evidence collection yet.
“Yeah, sure you can take the mother. We found nothing suspicious there at all. We still have his phone and a few things we took into evidence. Not that he had much. But Doc, there’s something you do need to know about that kid.”
“I have a pretty good idea what it is.”
“You already know about the fingerprints?” he asked.
She was expecting something else. “What fingerprints?”
“The fingerprints on the broken case at the library are his.”
Melanie took a few more steps away from Addie. “You mean the missing artifacts? Trinh mentioned something about there being only one set.”
“Exactly. Perfect match between the Winston body in the morgue and the prints on the case that was broken into. And no other prints anywhere else.”
Melanie mumbled a swear word she rarely used.
“That’s what I said, but it’s a fantastic lead. When we discovered that, we went back to his apartment looking for evidence related to the artifacts, turning it into a burglary investigation rather than possible homicide.”
Melanie glanced at the woman, who seemed lost in thought. “But there’s nothing about this kid that makes me believe he’d do something like that.”
“You’re probably right. We ran his prints for wants and warrants. Nothing current but he has a record in Arizona and California. Shoplifting, petty theft, underage drinking, a drunk driving arrest in California that didn’t stick because he blew below the legal limit. On the surface, he was responsible, but scratch the surface a little and he’s no Boy Scout.”
“And now he’s dead,” Melanie said, sighing at the end. “Can I take his mother to his apartment? Is it okay if she takes a few things as mementoes?”
“Whatever is there needs to stay there for a while, at least until we finish the investigation. Then she can have whatever she wants. But like I said, there isn’t much. The building manager is Akani. She’ll let you in. But with that matter of the museum thefts, let me investigate a while longer before we tell anyone about it.”
“Okay with me, and you can be the one to tell the mother her son was a thief, when the time comes.” After the call, she went back to Addie. “Good news. The police said we can go to Kenny’s apartment.”
“Is it far?”
“About twenty minutes. We can have some lunch in Kihei, if you’re feeling up to it?”
“Still not terribly hungry.”
As they walked back toward the small parking area, Melanie waved for Josh and Thérèse to come. The girl bolted, running as fast as she could through the soft sand. Just as she was about to ram into Melanie headfirst, she caught a foot in the sand and tumbled into a landing.
“Poor thing,” Addie said, bending down to rescue the girl from the sand.
“Our daughter is a little on the awkward side,” Josh said.
“You okay, little one?” Melanie asked, looking down at her daughter. She had long since grown out of crying, usually laughing at her own natural clumsiness.
“I okay.�
��
“Well, let’s get some of that sand dusted off you,” Addie said, taking over at being motherly.
“Where we go now, Momma?”
“For another drive to Kihei.”
“Go to the beach?”
“You and Daddy are going to the beach while Aunt Addie and I go to a building.”
“Kama-or…Karma-o…Kama…Number one, two, or three beach?”
“Kamaole Three. You and Daddy can look for coconuts for a while.”
“These Hawaiian names sure are hard to pronounce,” Addie said, more to Thérèse.
The girl nodded, her pigtails bouncing. “That one always mix me up.”
“Even for residents, we have a hard time pronouncing some of the names of places,” Josh said, getting his SUV up to speed on the highway.
Melanie sat in the front this time while Addie sat in the back with Thérèse as they drove along the coastal highway to another part of the island. When the woman started to play a game with the girl, it gave Melanie and Josh a chance to talk.
“Kenny’s apartment?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“Which building?”
“The Polynesian Surf, right next to Kam Three.”
“Isn’t that place mostly for…”
“Yep.”
Josh turned off the A/C and opened the front windows, allowing the wind to blow through. “Does she know?” he whispered.
“Nope. And we’re leaving it that way.”
“Okay.”
To keep her hair from blowing around, Melanie put it into a ponytail.
“I thought you had an appointment with Lailanie today?” he asked.
“Things change. We’re going to Kihei instead, which is better for all of us.”
“Did you have something else to do today, Melanie?” Addie asked from the backseat. “I appreciate you driving me around like this, but I think it’s a bit much for you to do.”
“Nothing that can’t wait. I haven’t been to Kihei in a while. I’d like the change of scenery.”
“She had a hair appointment,” Josh said, looking at Addie in his rearview mirror. “It’s how she induces labor. She goes in to get her hair done and comes out with a baby.”
“I got borned in a hurricane in a haircut place,” Thérèse said, still playing the game with Addie.
“Say it right, Sweetie.”
The girl rolled her eyes and sighed. She stopped playing the game to concentrate. Once she had it figured out, she spoke slowly and nodded with each word. “I was born in a hair salon while there was a hurricane outside.”
“That sounds very exciting. I’d like to hear that story someday,” Addie said.
“I’d like to forget it,” Melanie said. “This time, I’m leaving nothing to chance. I’m being induced at twelve noon at the hospital, surrounded by doctors and nurses, and not by hairstylists and my mother-in-law.”
She called Lailanie and cancelled her appointment again.
“That’s three times in two days you’ve cancelled on me,” the stylist said. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. Just doing some errands. What about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is Sunday. Church, remember? Is Josh bringing Thérèse?”
“You and Tay going to church tomorrow?” Melanie asked Josh.
“It might be a while before we have the chance, so yes.”
Melanie made an appointment for Monday with Lailanie, and then called the apartment building manager to let her know they were going to be there in a few minutes.
“Which church do you go to?” Addie asked.
“Well, that’s a good question,” Melanie answered. “Occasionally on Saturdays, Josh and Thérèse go to the synagogue in town, and on Sundays they go to the Catholic Church here in Kihei.”
“But I’m not Catholic,” Josh added. “We don’t have an Episcopalian Church on this part of the island, so I attend the competition’s church.”
“Why the synagogue?”
“My father is Jewish and Mother is Episcopalian.”
“You don’t go with them, Melanie?”
“I’m Buddhist, which I got from my mother. My father was Catholic, so it makes sense for our daughter to go to Mass occasionally.”
“Doesn’t that make it complicated for your daughter?” Addie asked.
“Not really. One day a week she’s Jewish, one day she’s Catholic, and five days a week she’s Buddhist. When she’s old enough, she can pick out what she wants for herself,” Melanie explained.
“What do you think you are, Thérèse?” Addie asked the girl.
“A girl.”
Addie laughed. “I suppose you really are the All-American girl.” She took a breath. “We’re Catholic, not that Kenny ever showed much interest in the church.”
“If you’d like to come with us tomorrow, we’d like to have you?” Josh offered.
“Really?”
“Sure! We’re rather informal, though. Not so many suits and neckties like on the mainland.”
Melanie looked back at Addie, who was now looking out the car window, deep in contemplation. She gave Josh’s hand a squeeze and a smile.
“That reminds me,” Josh said. “You’ll be okay by yourself while I pick up my mother on Thursday?”
“You’re taking Tay?”
“It would be a nice way of welcoming Mom if she came to the airport with me.”
“Great. I’ll nap while you’re gone.”
“She wants to come sooner,” Josh said.
“She’ll be here soon enough.” Melanie shifted in her seat to look back at Addie. “Sorry. Just some family dynamics to sort out. My mother-in-law is coming from Wyoming, set to arrive the day before I’m due, which is a month too soon, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I bet if it was up to her, she would’ve been here by now.”
“If it was up to her, she would’ve been here nine months ago, supervising every little moment of my pregnancy. She’s rather, mmm, enthusiastic about family things.”
“As a mother-in-law should be.”
Knowing she was treading very close to another faux pas, Melanie let the topic fade away. A few minutes later, Josh parked at the beach parking lot, taking Thérèse by the hand to where middle-age sunbathers were perched on chaise lounges.
“Nice looking building,” Melanie said as they walked to the front entrance of a mixed-use condo/apartment/retail complex.
“You don’t have to come with me,” Addie said.
“It’s not a problem. All they’ll do is look for coconuts and give them thorough inspections. For some reason my daughter is fascinated by coconuts. Calls them tree eggs. But these resort areas tend to keep them knocked out of the trees so they don’t fall on sunbathers. Must be the only place in the world where a coconut injury shows up in the emergency room.”
Another faux pas.
“Do you get many drownings?” Addie asked. “Or surf accidents?”
They were in the shaded interior now, the breeze blowing through as natural air-conditioning. “Too many drownings, unfortunately. And one or two surf accidents a month. Usually nothing serious.”
Saving Melanie from anything further was their arrival at the manager’s door. She knocked.
After footsteps came to the door, it didn’t open. “Yeah?”
“This is Melanie Kato. I’m looking for Akani. I called a few minutes ago.”
The door opened a crack, a part-Asian, part-Polynesian face peeking out. “You wanna see rooms?”
“We’re here to see Kenny Winston’s apartment.”
“Kenny gone died.”
“Hi. I’m Kenny’s mother. May I go to his apartment?”
The girl opened the door. “Sorry. Yeah, I can take you. Let me get the keys.”
As they waited at the elevator, two men came out, walking off holding hands.
“You look familiar,” Akani said, her eyes going back and forth from Melanie’s face to her belly, back to her face. The elevator doo
r slid closed.
“I’m the mayor. Maybe you’re seen my picture in the newspaper?”
“Oh.”
The three of them watched as the light for the second floor illuminated, not yet their stop.
“Of Maui?”
“Yep.”
The light for the third floor illuminated, still not their floor.
“For how long?”
“Almost a year.”
They got to the fourth floor, not yet ready to stop.
“They let preggie kind girls be mayor?”
“They made an exception for me.”
The fifth floor came and went in slow motion.
“What’s your name again?”
“Kato. Melanie Kato.”
Sixth floor.
“I try and remember.”
“Yes, please do. And tell all your friends, too.”
The seventh floor.
“Not gonna have that baby around here, are ya?”
“I was thinking of having it at the hospital.”
“Should be better that way.”
Finally, the eighth floor and the elevator door opened. Melanie bolted for freedom as quick as she could.
“Were you a friend of Kenny?” Addie asked, as the three of them went down the hall.
“On the first of the month, when he paid his rent, just like everybody else here.”
The young woman let them in the apartment.
Being second to go in, the place was smaller than what Melanie had been expecting, only an efficiency studio. It was also a mess. Furniture was overturned, drawers hung open, personal things strewn all over the floor. The mattress had been taken aside and cut open in several places.
“Addie, I’m sorry. The police told me they were done with searching the place, but I wasn’t expecting this.”
Addie looked completely stunned. “Neither was I.”
They walked through the mess, picking up things here and there, looking at them before setting them down again.
“He was better housekeeper than this,” Akani said. She also seemed surprised at the disorder.
While they picked through the clutter, Melanie went out to the hall to make a call.
“Detective Nakatani, why didn’t you tell me you left Kenny’s place in such a mess? I have his mother here with me.”