by Kay Hadashi
“My turn,” Lailanie said, nervously shifting on the bench.
Melanie gave her hand a squeeze. “You’ll be fine. Just tell the truth, smile politely, and be agreeable.”
“Mrs. Esposito, you’ve been in my courtroom before, yes?” the judge asked, staring down at her from his dais.
“Yes, your honor.”
“This is the third time for the same offense, speeding. Seventeen miles per hour over the limit, fourteen miles over, and most recently eleven miles per hour over the speed limit, and each time along the same stretch of highway in West Maui.”
“Yes, your honor.”
“Do you have anything to say about that?”
“I’m getting better, your honor. I’m not speeding as fast lately.”
“That’s something to celebrate.” He looked directly at her over his half-glasses. “Is there somewhere in particular you are going that you can’t be late? I think it’s work, right?”
“Yes, your honor.”
“Is there a reason why you can’t leave home half an hour earlier? Eat breakfast earlier, get up earlier? Get your day started half an hour earlier?”
“No, your honor.”
“This is a very difficult decision for me, Mrs. Esposito. On the one hand, you are the owner of a popular small business on the island, a member of the chamber of commerce, and island better business bureau. On the other hand, you seem to have a disregard for our basic traffic laws and safety. Now that your third time has come, I really must do something about it.”
“Yes, your honor.”
“Please approach the bench, Mrs. Esposito.”
Lailanie stepped close to the judge and quickly began nodding her head while listening. Melanie tried hearing what was being said but gave up. The judge opened what looked like a large schedule planner and jotted a few things. After nodding one last time, Lailanie stepped back again.
“You agree to the terms of community service as already discussed, Mrs. Esposito?”
“Yes, your honor.”
When the paperwork had been signed by all concerned and the procedure ended, Lailanie left the courtroom, Melanie following after.
“It sounds like you got off with just community service,” Melanie said. “You’re lucky. He usually isn’t so gracious.”
“I’m not so sure how lucky I am,” Lailanie said, entering a time and date into her personal planner in her phone.
“Why? What was the community service?” Melanie was imagining the worst, collecting litter along the roads for three weeks, doing laundry for homeless people for a month, cleaning public beach restrooms on weekends.
“He has a teenage son.”
“Yes, so?”
Lailanie looked as though the idea made her sick. “It seems that he’s kinda shaggy and unkempt after living at the beach for a while, and I have to help clean him up by cutting his hair. In my salon. Three times.”
Melanie wanted to laugh at her friend’s plight of having an unpleasant man come to her girlish salon and spa. “That’s not so bad. But how did the judge know you have a salon?”
“Oh, Judge Cartwright is one of my regular monthly clients. Has been for years.”
Melanie couldn’t keep from chuckling over the idea that the toughest judge on the island went to the same girlish spa she did. After reminding her friend to drive home slowly, Melanie met Detective Nakatani in the small courthouse cafeteria.
“See this morning’s newspaper?” he asked, handing it to her.
She looked at the headline.
Maui Mayor Tough On Crime!
“Better than last time they dragged me into the news,” she said, setting the paper aside.
“The Winstons’ lawyer let it leak to the news how you beat up the son. Twice. But I doubt anybody wants to press charges.”
Early that morning, Melanie had received a lecture from Judge Cartwright in his chamber about leaving law and order to the police and legal system, and just wanted to move on.
“Well, it sounds like the Maui Police Department got some interagency help from the feds this time, thanks to Cassandra and the Secret Service,” Melanie said. “But it was you and Detective Kalemakani who cracked the case. You guys still say that? Cracked the case?”
“Not really. But who’s this Kalemakani you keep talking about?”
“That’s who called me the very first time about the stolen artifacts. He said he would be helping solve the case. And then, he called me again on the day of the arrest. He said the strangest thing. Something about the culprits being very close to home. That was right when I heard noise on the baby monitor and went back into the house. Somehow, he knew the Winston kid was there.”
“We don’t have anybody named Kalemakani at the station, not even close to that name. The other detective assigned to the case was named Grant.”
“Grant? How could that be?” Melanie muttered. “Whatever. Do you think the murder convictions will stick? I got lost in all the legalese mumble jumble in court.”
“We have evidence that one or both of the Winstons were driving that boat when it struck and killed at least two of the men. The damage on that propeller matches the injuries of the decapitated man, and marks on the skin of the others matches the metal ridge on the hull of the boat. Along with their fingerprints all over everything, that’s good enough for the judge to hold them over for trial, and should be good enough for any jury to convict.”
“Okay, dumb question of the week. What were the roles of the other three men, and why were they killed?”
“That was the most fun part of the investigation. When we pressed the mother, she rolled over on her son, saying it was his idea. Then we pressed the son, and he rolled over on his own mother. Can you imagine that? They ratted each other out to save their own butts.”
“I still don’t get it. Saying what was whose idea?” Melanie asked.
“This whole gay lifestyle that Kenny was portraying was a hoax, just a part of a simple disguise. Even the name Kenny was a ruse. They believed no one would ever think to associate the name Kenneth with him. He simply put on a big act when he came here, something his mother knew about all along. The pretty hair, the way he dressed, how he led people to believe he was gay was simply a distraction.”
“It worked. He had me and Lailanie fooled. But what about the three men they killed?”
“They worked for him and the mother. The men were the actual thieves, while the Winstons did all the planning. Once they did a couple of jobs, they were killed to keep the identity of mother and son hidden. In fact, we nabbed them just in time. They were ready to move on to Alaska to start stealing Eskimo and Inuit treasures from museums there.”
“Why did those other men have blond hair, the same as Kenny? And their surfboard accidents?”
“They were supposed to look like Kenny. Just in case anybody started to figure things out or asked too many questions, Kenny would claim he was being mistaken for the other three.”
“The Winstons thought a fake mistaken identity would work?”
“It worked for them in other states. All they were doing here was rehashing what had worked elsewhere, but instead of killing men by pushing them off cliffs or leaving them to die of thirst in the middle of the desert with broken legs, they ran them down with a cabin cruiser. We think one or two of the victims here might’ve already been dead before they were taken a few miles out to sea and put onto rental surfboards. Then they ran them down in the water with the boat a couple of times, just to make it look like a surf accident.”
“What about the day I found Kenny coming down from the mountains with an empty knapsack? What was that all about?”
“He and his mother had run out of people willing to grave rob for them, so he went up looking for stuff on his own. It seems he’s not suited for the task of rooting around in dark places with creepy-crawly things living in them. His mother really had something to say about that, how that was the beginning of the end for them. When she had your mother-in-la
w drop her off at the airport, she was leaving her son behind to face the consequences alone.”
“Some mother. And to think I almost hired her as our nanny. I wonder why she agreed to that when she knew she was leaving the island soon?”
“She’s been staying with her son for the last several months since getting here. But when you dropped into her life, it was like a gift. She could keep an eye on the investigation through you, and once the police got too close, she was going to abandon ship, with or without her son.”
“And I suppose those days when she went out on her own, it wasn’t to mourn her son but to plan their next theft and how to get the stolen stuff off the island. She played me for a fool every step of the way.”
“People like that are experts at it, and these two had a lot of experience,” Nakatani said. “They had us running in circles for quite a while. Good pickup on Kenny being left-handed. That was the clincher, to focus our murder investigation on him.”
“I’m still confused, but right now, I just don’t care about the fate of the Winstons. Do you ever get any idea why Kenny was stealing that picture of my parents?” Melanie asked.
“Just to piss you off. To let you know he was able to get into your house and mess with your life. You’d messed with his, so he was going to do the same in return. Oddly enough, that picture of your parents led to his downfall, and his mother’s.”
“Glad to know my mom and dad are still good for something, even if it’s just an old picture of them. When do Maui County residents get their museum pieces back?”
“Spoken like a true mayor!” he said.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Only a mayor that cared about the county and the people would ask that question. That’s why so many people voted for you.”
“Some days, I wish they hadn’t,” she muttered. “Do I need to call the families of the victims?”
“I’ve taken care of it. Since those guys also had criminal backgrounds, it might be best for you to leave it alone.”
“Maybe so.”
“Did you hear me, Mayor? Leave it alone.”
“Roger that. Nice nab with the guys from Gonzo’s.”
“Thanks. Having them out of business will put a dent in the island drug trade. We’re still looking for your old friend, Ozzie Simpson.”
“Not my friend. No surprise he was selling drugs.”
“He might be part of the Winston case. Turns out he had a part-time job with the county cleaning buildings, and had a set of keys to every county door in town. We figure he let the crooks into the museum and library after hours.”
“But he didn’t clean the set of fingerprints that were left behind?” Melanie asked. “Why leave evidence?”
“That’s what we can’t figure. Once we round him up, we should be able to get the last of the facts of the case. Once he comes out from wherever he’s hiding and starts pushing again, we’ll get him.”
“I don’t get it,” Melanie complained. “Isn’t Maui nice enough? Why do people use drugs if they already live in what most people consider paradise?”
“They don’t know how to surf or golf. Ever find a nanny?” he asked.
Melanie pressed a knuckle into the tic in her eye. “My mother-in-law. Unless you’re applying for the job? Minimum wage for one-hundred-twenty hours a week, free room and board, and a new car.”
“As exciting as your lifestyle is, I think I’ll leave the nanny business to someone more capable. I imagine you’ll be coming up with a new name for the baby?”
“We already have. It turned out that the birth was never registered, and when we looked at the birth certificate, Nurse Ito had filled out the baby’s name in pencil. So, when no one was looking, Josh and I fudged a little and changed it. Don’t tell City Hall or there might be trouble. Wait, I’m City Hall. Never mind.”
“What’s his new name?” Nakatani asked.
“We were a little indecisive.”
Nakatani sat back in his chair, waiting.
“We considered Juan Aito Francis Kirby Arthur Strong-Kato, one name representing each of his grandparents.”
“For all one kid?”
“Yep. But we can’t agree on the order.”
He shook his head. “That’s five names. Most families have only four grandparents.”
“We’re not most families, Detective.”
▪▪▪
Thanks for reading “A Wave of Murder”!
To find out the baby’s name, please read “A Hole in One Murder” due out by January 2019!
Next in the Maui Mystery Series
Coming early in 2019: A Hole in One Murder
Spring 2019: A Moonlit Murder
Summer 2019: A Very Clever Murder
The June Kato Intrigue Series
Forever June
Kimono Suicide
Stalking Silk
Yakuza Lover
Deadly Contact
Orchids and Ice
Broken Protocol
The Island Breeze Series
Island Breeze
Honolulu Hostage
Maui Time
Big Island Business
Adrift
Molokai Madness
Ghost of a Chance
The Melanie Kato Adventure Series
Away
Faith
Risk
Quest
Mission
Secrets
Future
Kahuna
Directive
Nano
The Honolulu Thriller Series
Interisland Flight
Kama’aina Revenge
Tropical Revenge
Waikiki Threat
Rainforest Rescue
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