Alana then switched to the camera showing the hallway leading to Joe’s room. We first spotted Mill approaching the door. He didn’t knock on it as he described. He was slamming his fist against the door. He was yelling something, and I guessed it was “open up,” but I’m not the greatest at lip reading. We then watched as Mill reached into his front pocket and removed a key-card that he used to open the door. He was in the room for several minutes before he left. Mill had said he tried CPR on Joe. I wasn’t sure if he did it for those several minutes. Of course, he could have been giving Joe the overdose while Joe was passed out from too much drinking. There was also the comment Mill made about running out of the room. The video proved that to be inaccurate. He walked out of the room, and it wasn’t even a hurried walk. Unfortunately, it was impossible to see the look on Mill’s face from the camera angle.
Alana rewound the footage again. A few hours of footage went by and no one else appeared in the hallway. Then we saw a woman with blond hair leave Joe’s room. She wore tight jeans and a tank top. Alana rewound again until the woman appeared walking down the hall, approaching Joe’s door. Based on the time stamp of the footage, the woman had been in the room for a couple of hours. Alana called Mill back into the office.
“Do you recognize this woman?” Alana asked.
Mill studied the footage.
“No, I’ve never seen her before.”
“Is the person who worked the front desk last night still here?” Alana asked.
“Yes, the police told her not to leave.”
“Please send her back here.”
A young woman walked into our room a few minutes later. She looked college-aged.
“Did you work last night?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember this woman coming into the hotel?”
Alana showed her a still image of the security footage.
“Yes.”
“Have you seen her before?”
“She comes in from time to time. She’s a friend of Joe’s.”
“Would she ever ask you what room he was in?”
“No. She always knew. I guess Joe told her.”
“How did you know she was here to see him?” Alana asked.
“I stopped her the first time she came in. I didn’t recognize her.”
“Do you usually recognize everyone at the hotel?” Alana asked.
“No, I thought Mill might not want her here, based on the way she was dressed that night.”
“You thought she might have been a prostitute?”
The front-desk attendant nodded. “She got really angry with me for stopping her. Joe yelled at me the next night. He said I had no reason to question her.”
“Did you ever see her again?” Alana asked.
“Maybe once or twice in the bar. She’d have some drinks and talk to Joe while he worked.”
“Do you know her name?” Alana asked.
“No, I never asked.”
Alana thanked her for her time and told her she could go. Alana called Mill back into the office.
“Are there other bartenders or waiters who worked with Joe who might know this woman?” Alana asked.
“We only have one bartender on duty at a time, but I can give you the names and numbers of the two waitresses.”
“Were they both working last night?”
“I think so, but I’ll confirm that. Let me go check the schedule.”
Mill left the room. I turned to Alana.
“If the woman left Joe’s room, she probably exited the lobby. Maybe there’s a better view of her face on that camera,” I said.
Alana switched to the lobby camera and reviewed the footage. We found the brief clip of the blond woman exiting the elevator and walking toward the door. There was a slightly better shot of her face, but the image was still somewhat fuzzy. It was impossible to make out a facial expression.
“Not much better,” Alana said.
Alana and I stood and walked out of the offices and back to the front desk. We immediately saw Bethany and Barry in the lobby. Alana walked over to them, while I stayed behind the desk. I turned to the front-desk attendant.
“Can you do me a favor and burn two copies of last night’s security footage to a disc?”
“Sure thing,” she said.
She immediately left the desk and went into the back office. I think she was anxious to get out of the lobby. I went from behind the desk and got closer to Alana, who was now speaking to Bethany and Barry. I didn’t hear what Alana asked them, but I did hear Bethany say “You can’t actually suggest Mill had anything to do with this?”
“No one is suggesting anything here. I just wanted to know if either of you witnessed the argument between Mill and Joe yesterday.”
“Joe was out of control. Everyone knew it,” Bethany said.
“Mill says Joe would often spend the night here because he was drunk. Have you ever witnessed that?” Alana asked.
“What do you want from us? My brother just died!” Bethany said and burst into tears.
Barry did his best to comfort her, but there really wasn’t anything he could do or say.
First Charlotte was murdered, and then Joe died of what might or might not have been an accidental drug overdose. I walked behind the front desk and into the back offices. I found the attendant copying the security files to a couple of DVDs.
“When did you find out about Joe?” I asked.
“Mill told me. He came downstairs as soon as the ambulance arrived.”
“How did Mill seem?” I asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“He didn’t seem stressed out? He wasn’t crying?”
“No, he kind of had this blank look on his face.”
“Did he go outside to greet the paramedics?” I asked.
“No, he stayed in the lobby. He took them up to the room once they got inside.”
The camera files finished backing up to the DVDs and the attendant handed them to me.
“Thanks,” I said.
“What’s going to happen now?” she asked.
“They’ll do an autopsy to determine the cause of death.”
“Do you think that woman had something to do with it?”
“I don’t know.” I held up the two DVDs. “Thanks for this.”
I headed toward the lobby again, but I slipped one of the DVDs into my back pocket before I reached Alana.
“Here’s a copy of the security footage. I asked the front-desk lady to burn you a copy.”
I handed her the DVD.
“Thanks.”
“Did Mill give you the names of the two waitresses on duty last night?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll need to check them out later today. Right now I need to get back to the office. I’ll have to catch up with you later.” Alana then realized my car was still at her house. “Damn, I forgot we rode in together.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Just give me a ride to your office, and I’ll either call a cab or get Foxx to take me back.”
“You sure?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s no problem. You’ve got enough on your plate.”
I ended up taking a cab from the police station to Alana’s house. I had a spare key. Yes, we’d reached that point in our relationship, so I let myself in and got the dog. I took Maui back to Foxx’s house. I noticed the white sedan was gone - so was Foxx’s car. I was kind of glad I was alone. It would slightly delay the inevitable Foxx-Hani conversation I was sure was coming. I walked Maui around a couple of blocks so he could do his thing. I then went into the house and loaded the DVD into my laptop. I copied the footage to my hard drive so it would play smoother. I found the clip of the blond woman in the hotel lobby. I went through it frame by frame until I found the best shot. I printed the still image. Fortunately, Foxx had a fairly nice laser printer, and the image wasn’t half-bad.
I said good-bye to the dog. I know; that’s kind of weird, isn’t it? But I’m guessing I’m not the only on
e who does that. I got into my convertible and drove to Candi’s apartment. I wasn’t sure if she’d be home, and if she was, I hoped she wouldn’t be entertaining a customer. Fortunately, I caught her alone.
I knocked on her door. Based on her expression, she seemed surprised to see me, maybe even a little happy. I knew for certain, though, based on that happy expression, she hadn’t heard of Joe’s death yet. I sat back down on the same sofa. She sat beside me again, but not nearly as close as last time.
“I was wondering, Candi, if you know who this person is?”
I handed Candi the photo I had printed out. She studied it a second, and then I could see in her eyes she realized who it was.
“Why do you want to know?” she asked.
“Forgive me. I don’t know how else to say this, so I’m just going to say it. Joe died sometime this morning.”
“Oh, God. Oh, God.” There was a long pause and then another “Oh, God. How did it happen?”
“They think it might have been a drug overdose.”
“Was she with him?” Candi asked.
“At some point. Do you recognize her?” I asked.
“It Joe’s old girlfriend Donna. Where did it happen?”
“At the Chambers Hotel. This shot is from the security camera in the lobby. Joe was found dead in a hotel room.”
I wasn’t sure if that was considered sensitive information. It probably was, but I wanted a dramatic buildup to the plan I had worked out on the long drive here.
“I spoke with several employees of the hotel who worked with Joe. They said he would often get drunk and check himself into one of the empty rooms. Apparently, this Donna woman was a frequent visitor of his.”
“That son of a bitch,” she said.
I let Candi fume for a few seconds, and then I said, “I know Joe did drugs. Do you know if Donna did too?”
“She might have. I don’t know.”
“What do you know about her?” I asked.
“Not much. Joe didn’t talk about her a lot. She’s a waitress at a restaurant down the street from the hotel. Joe said he met her when she came into the bar after work. That’s the only reason I know what she looks like. She came there once when I was hanging out with Joe.”
“It seems pretty clear that Joe was cheating on you. You must realize he never intended to share any of the inheritance with you.”
I expected some kind of response from Candi, maybe not verbal but definitely a physical sign that would show she knew exactly what I was talking about. Of course, I wouldn’t have gotten one if I had been wrong about the whole thing, but I would have bet all my dollars that I wasn’t. So, did I get a reaction? Absolutely. Candi looked like she would have cut me in half had she only had a machete within reach.
“I had a handwriting expert compare Charlotte Chambers’ signature to the one on the new will Joe produced. It’s a very good likeness, but it’s still a forgery. My guess is Joe offered to give you some of the inheritance if you claimed to have witnessed her sign it. You know that’s a felony, don’t you?”
Candi didn’t respond this time. She no longer seemed angry or afraid for that matter. She’d gone into survival mode.
“Of course, Dick Halverson has a lot more to lose than you do. He’s going to get disbarred in addition to going to prison,” I said.
“What do you want?” Candi asked.
“Information. The new will is going away, especially now that Joe is dead. Maybe I can convince Mara Winters to forget she even saw the new will, and maybe I can ask Detective Hu to drop the case against you and Halverson.”
“What kind of information?” she asked.
“A few things. Am I right about the will?”
Candi nodded. “Joe promised me money for signing it. Her signature was already on it when he gave it to me. I didn’t know if she signed it or not.”
“But you signed it anyway.”
“He gave me five grand to do it.”
“Did Joe tell you if he faked his mother’s signature, or did he get someone else to do it?” I asked.
“He didn’t say anything about that. I didn’t even know if it was a fake.”
“And Dick Halverson? You were the one who put Joe in touch with him?”
“Joe gave him five grand to write the new will and sign it too. You’re wrong about Dick getting disbarred.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Because he’s already been disbarred. The guy’s broke. That’s why he agreed to do the deal with Joe.”
“Do you know anything about Charlotte’s death? Did Joe have anything to do with it?”
“No, Joe loved his mom. He said he would never have hurt her.”
“Did he have an idea of who might want to harm her?” I asked.
“He said he thought his brother did it. He said the guy was the greediest person he knew and that he’d do anything to get his hands on the money.”
I stood.
“Thanks, Candi, and I’m sorry about Joe. I know you cared for him.”
Actually, I wasn’t sure she cared for him at all, but it seemed like a nice thing to say.
“Are you really going to keep my name out of this?” she asked.
“I think I can.”
I left the apartment, and as before, Candi stayed on the sofa and didn’t walk me to the door. I drove past the Chambers Hotel to see if I could figure out what restaurant Donna might work at. There was only one place near the hotel. It was a mom-and-pop pizza place called Momma’s.
I pulled into the parking lot, but I called Mara before I entered the restaurant. I told her about my conversation with Candi and her admission that she didn’t actually witness Charlotte sign the document. I left out my little fib about the handwriting expert. I did mention that Dick Halverson had supposedly been barred from practicing law and was paid handsomely to pretend to witness Charlotte’s signature. I didn’t know if it was illegal for Halverson to create the will for Joe given he was technically no longer an attorney. Mara didn’t mention anything about that when I told her. She just thanked me for the information, and I ended the call.
Mara had two options, at least that’s the way I saw it. Option one was to pretend she never saw the fake new will. Joe was now gone, and I doubted there would be anyone else who would fight for that phony document. Option two was to move forward with legally proving the new will was based on a fake signature. I knew she couldn’t base any legal decision on what I had just told her. It was all hearsay.
There was also another new question that Joe’s death brought up. What happened to Joe’s share of the property? Even if there was no new will, fake or otherwise, he was still entitled to a third of the Chambers fortune. Did Joe have a will of his own? What happened to his third now that he was gone? Did it immediately get split between Mill and Bethany? Was that an additional motive for a potential murder?
I didn’t know if Mill or Bethany had gotten a good look at the new will. I saw Mill look at it briefly during the wake before he tore the photocopy to pieces. Maybe he or his sister went to see Mara the next day and got a better look at the original. Mara thought the signature could pass for Charlotte’s. That certainly could have also meant it fooled Mill and Jen too. Perhaps they thought their mother had really written them out. How might they have reacted if that had been the truth? Was it strong enough to murder their brother?
Charlotte had thought one of them was responsible for the threats on her life. If they were cruel and greedy enough to kill a parent, they probably wouldn’t think twice about murdering a sibling. Of course, Joe’s death might simply have been an accidental overdose and the close proximity in time to his mother’s death a pure coincidence. Charlotte’s murder could also very well be someone outside the family - for example, Trevor Edelman.
I pushed all these questions temporarily aside and walked into Momma’s. The restaurant only had about ten tables. I saw one couple dining, but it was the middle of the afternoon - too late for the lunch crowd and too ea
rly for dinner. I walked up to a small bar near the front of the restaurant.
“May I help you?” the bartender asked.
“Yes, I’d like to order a medium pizza to go - all the fixings, please.”
“You got it. Would you like a drink while you wait?”
“Sure, a Coors Lite would be great.”
The bartender rang up my order and then handed me the Coors Lite.
“Would you like a glass with that?” he asked.
“No, thanks. Bottle is great.”
I took a swig of the beer.
“Say, is Donna working tonight?” I asked.
“How do you know Donna?”
“I met her last night at the Chambers Hotel bar. She said she was a friend of the bartender there.”
“Joe?”
“I think that was his name,” I said.
“Yeah, I know Joe, too. Good guy. Yeah, Donna is working tonight. Should I tell her you said hi?”
“Sure. Tell her Dick says hi.”
I wasn’t sure why I gave my fake name as Dick, but I’d just been talking about Dick Halverson right before I came into the restaurant. I know I told Candi I’d do my best to keep her name out of everything, but I really needed a way to nail Halverson. The guy was a fraud. He took five grand to cheat Mill and Bethany out of their legacy.
The bartender handed me the pizza about twenty minutes later. It smelled good. I paid him and left a decent tip for the beer. I walked outside and put the pizza on the passenger seat. I called Alana before I started the car.
“I was just about to call you,” she said. “I spoke to the two waitresses who work with Joe at the Chambers Hotel. One of them said she thinks the girl works at an Italian restaurant.
“It’s called Momma’s, and the woman’s name is Donna. She has a shift there tonight, but I don’t know exactly what time she comes on.”
“Should I ask how you got this information?”
“I can fill you in later, if you want. Any word on Joe’s autopsy?”
“It’s scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, but we already know it was heroin. The question is, did he stick the needle in his arm or did someone do it for him,” Alana said.
“If the girl supplied him the drugs or if she did them with him, can that potentially go down as murder?” I asked.
Blood like the Setting Sun: A Murder on Maui Mystery Page 13