He looked about ten years older than me and around several inches shorter. I know it’s shallow of me to point out those details to you, but hey, I’m still a bit perturbed by the incident. If he wants to give his side of things and make fun of my appearance, he can write his own damn story.
He threatened to injure me if he ever saw the dog on his lawn again. It was a serious overreaction, at least in my humble opinion. Maybe you feel differently.
I tried to be patient and just take the abuse, but then he threatened to shoot Maui the dog, which was a major mistake. I told him if he ever threatened my dog again, I would, in fact, choke him out and not think twice about it. He informed me he was going to call the police and report the threat. I shamelessly encouraged him to do so and implied that I had serious connections with the Maui police department. All of this was over a tiny pile of poop from a ten-pound dog, which was now in a plastic bag in my hand. I walked home and vented to Foxx about the incident. He laughed, at first, but then he reminded me that the guy could have had a gun and that you can’t protect yourself from crazy. I got the point.
I went for a long run on one of those afternoons. It was maybe six or seven miles. I replayed the search for Charlotte’s secret in my mind. I saw myself going through each of the rooms in her house. I saw the letters hidden under the desk calendar. I saw the key with the storage-unit number on it. I pictured the inside of her storage unit. I had found the letters from Edelman and the photographs in an old shoebox at the bottom of a stack of other boxes. Despite their presence in a room full of junk, I knew they had to mean something for her to keep them all of these years, and she knew she risked her family discovering the truth about Joe’s paternity, if they didn’t know already.
As I took a shower after the run, I thought about seeing Trevor Edelman at Joe’s funeral. His presence there had been a surprise to me. Joe’s brother and sister hadn’t come, so why had Trevor, especially after accusing the Chambers family of ripping off his family?
I climbed out of the shower and got dressed. I looked at my watch. It was just after five o’clock. I didn’t know how long Trevor’s boat-building company was open, and their website offered nothing more than a few photos of the boats and an e-mail address for more information. It wasn’t a long drive from Foxx’s house, so I decided to go there anyway. I arrived in time to see his few employees pulling out of the parking lot. I parked near the main-warehouse door, which was still open. I got out of my car and entered the building, but I didn’t see Trevor.
I took a moment to walk around and admire the boats again. The craftsmanship was undeniable. Trevor and his team were truly gifted. There was no office in the warehouse, so I guessed Trevor might be in the back.
I exited the backdoor and found him sitting on the table under the tree where Alana and I had interviewed him before. He was drinking a beer, and he took a long gulp. I knew he saw me as soon as I walked outside because we made solid eye contact with each other, but he didn’t say anything or even acknowledge my presence with a wave or nod. I walked over to him.
“It’s good to see you again,” I said. I wasn’t sure how else to greet him. Trevor said nothing in response. “I was a little surprised to see you at Joe’s funeral,” I continued.
Trevor took another swig of his beer.
“Did you know Joe well?” I asked.
“Not well,” he finally said.
“I only met him a couple of times myself.”
“Why did you go to his funeral then?” Trevor asked.
“It seemed like the right thing to do, and I wasn’t sure if his brother or sister were going to be there. I thought someone should be there.”
“Those two are real assholes,” he said.
I didn’t know how to respond to his harsh words. It was a true statement, at least in regard to them not attending their own sibling’s funeral.
“Do you mind me asking you a question about your father?”
“Depends what the question is,” Trevor said.
“Why did he leave the Chambers Hotel?” I asked.
“I thought I told you that the last time you were here. He and Chambers had a falling out.”
“I know, but what was it over?”
“It’s been decades, man, and I was really young. I didn’t know what was really going on.”
“What about your mother? Would she know?” I asked.
“She’s dead. She died when I was just a kid,” Trevor said.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
I wasn’t sure the best way to transition to the topic I really wanted to talk about. I think both Trevor and I knew the reason I’d come over, but we were both secretly hoping the other would be the person to bring it up first, or maybe the guy was desperately hoping I’d avoid the question. Unfortunately, Trevor didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood. I considered stretching out the conversation a bit more, but then again, what would have been the point? He was either going to answer my question or he wasn’t.
“You knew, didn’t you? That was why you were there at the funeral,” I said.
“Knew what?” he asked.
“You just telling me your mother had died adds another piece to why your father had a relationship with Charlotte. Maybe your father was vulnerable. Maybe he was looking for comfort. That certainly didn’t make him a bad person. It made him human.”
Trevor said nothing, which was really an answer unto itself. He didn’t ask me what I was talking about, and he didn’t tell me to go to hell.
“Did your father ever tell you, or did you figure it out on your own?” I asked.
Trevor hesitated some more. He took another drink of his beer. He twisted the bottle around in his hands. He looked up at the tree branches that shaded him, and then he looked back at the bottle.
“She used to bring him around a lot when I was little. We would play together in the backyard. I remember doing that.”
“I guess she didn’t bring Mill and Bethany with her.”
Trevor shook his head.
“My father would play with us both. He was always happy when she brought Joe around.”
“When did you realize what was going on?” I asked.
“When I was a teenager. I don’t remember exactly what year I was. I hadn’t seen Joe in a few years. That may not make sense because this island is so small, but we went to different schools, and my father would do anything to avoid the Chambers family. When I finally saw Joe again, I was shocked.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because of how much he looked like my father,” Trevor admitted.
“Did you ask your father about it?”
“Years later.” Trevor laughed. “It took me that long to get up the courage, but he didn’t admit it. He didn’t deny it, either.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“He asked me if that was something Joe had told me. I told him it wasn’t. I told him it was something I thought about on my own. He didn’t say anything after that. He just walked out of the room.”
“Did you ever ask him about it again?”
“No, I knew after that he would never tell me,” Trevor said.
“Do you think that’s the reason your father and Chambers broke up their partnership?”
“The timing would be about right.” Trevor paused. Then he asked, “How did you figure this out?”
“Same way you did, really. The resemblance was uncanny.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t even know what my father looked like.”
“I found a photo of him with Charlotte Chambers in her house,” I said.
I didn’t want to tell him about my snooping through the storage unit, nor did I say anything about the love letters written by Edward Edelman. I wasn’t sure how Trevor would feel about those, especially if they were written shortly after his mother’s death. I also couldn’t be totally sure of the timeline. They could have even been written before his mother died.
“She really had a photo?” he asked.
I nodded. “It was hidden, of course. I found it while I was looking for evidence.”
“Do you think Joe knew?” Trevor asked.
I thought back to a comment Candi had made to me. She said Mill and Bethany hated Joe from the moment he was born. She also said Joe had no idea why. Was that a lie Joe told Candi, or did he truly have no idea why they felt that way?
“His family treated him like an outcast, but I don’t think he knew why, at least nothing he was willing to admit to anyone else,” I said.
“Like I said before, they’re assholes.”
Again, I didn’t know how to respond. What about Edward Edelman? Was he an asshole too for not acknowledging his son? Was it an agreement he made with Charlotte so her husband would raise the boy?
I thanked Trevor for his time and wished him good luck with the business. I knew this wasn’t scientific proof yet, but between the photo, the love letters, and Trevor’s story of confronting his father, this was about as close as I was going to get to confirmation that Joe Chambers was really Edward Edelman’s son.
Chapter 17
The Funeral – Part 3
I spent another week not doing much of anything regarding the case. I walked the dog past that one neighbor’s house once a day, but despite all of my urging to do so, Maui decided he had no desire to do his business there again.
Foxx and I got hooked on one of those cooking shows. The contestants had to make a dish out of raw peanuts, honey, creamed spinach, and some chicken that was actually black in color. The thing looked like it had already been cooked for days.
“What the hell are they going to do with that thing?” Foxx asked.
I didn’t have an answer, so I just shrugged and finished my beer.
“I’m gonna get another one. You want one?” I asked.
“You have to ask?”
I climbed off the sofa and headed into the kitchen. Maui the dog followed me. I knew why. I kept a bag of his treats on the counter. I broke one in half and made him sit. He actually did it this time. He wagged his tail as I bent over to give him the Milk bone. I walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out three beers, one for me and two for Foxx.
I went back into the living room and handed Foxx his beers.
“Thanks,” he said.
We watched the contestants hack away at the black chicken. The thing looked disgusting. Alana called me, though, before I could see them finish their meals for the judges.
“Hey there, how’s it going?” I asked.
“Tell her about the black chicken,” Foxx said.
Before I could tell her, Alana said – “Can you come to Bethany’s house?”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“There’s been another death.”
Alana ended the call before I could say another word. It was a long drive to Bethany’s, and the traffic was terrible. I wanted to call Alana back multiple times, but I knew she’d have her hands full.
I had been to crime scenes before, and this one was no different. There were several police cars in front of the house. An ambulance was also there. The back of the emergency vehicle was open, and there wasn’t a stretcher inside. It must have been taken into the house.
I parked several houses down from Bethany’s and texted Alana. I then walked as close as I could to Bethany’s house. A police officer eventually came out of the house and approached me.
“Your name Poe?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Come with me.”
He escorted me past the crowd and to the front door.
“Wait here,” he ordered.
I stood on the porch for several more minutes. I was about to text Alana again when the medical technicians brought a body out on the stretcher. The body was covered with a sheet, so I wasn’t able to tell who it was. I guessed it had to be Bethany or Barry. I watched them cart the body down the driveway and lift the stretcher into the back of the ambulance. They shut the doors and climbed into the front but didn’t immediately drive away. I waited a few more minutes before Alana came to the door.
“Hey,” she said.
“Bethany?” I asked.
Alana nodded. She led me inside. I looked around but didn’t see Barry. I followed Alana to the master bedroom. I noticed the covers on the bed were slightly disturbed, like someone had been laying on top of the covers but not underneath them.
“Did you find her on the bed?” I asked.
“Yes, she was on her back.”
Alana motioned to the nightstand. “There was a note,” she added.
I looked at the nightstand and saw a white piece of paper on top of it. I walked over and read the two words which were handwritten, at the very top: “I’m sorry.”
“Suicide?” I asked.
“Maybe.”
“Is she saying she’s sorry for killing herself? What if she’s apologizing for something else she did?” I asked.
“Like killing her mother?”
“Was the cause of death obvious?” I asked.
“Pills, I’m guessing.”
I followed Alana’s gaze back to the nightstand where I saw an empty prescription bottle alongside an empty glass. Alana turned to me.
“There were no visible signs of trauma.”
I’d noticed the lack of blood on the bed and carpet as soon as I’d entered the room.
I walked over to the nightstand and bent closer to the empty pill bottle. Her name was on the label along with the name of the drug - Estazolam.
“Were these sleeping pills?” I asked.
“Yes, I had to look the prescription up on my phone, though.”
“Fingerprints?” I asked.
“We dusted for them but need to compare them to Bethany’s.”
“Where’s Barry?” I asked.
“He’s on Oahu at some marketing conference. He’s catching the first flight back tonight.”
“How did he take it?”
“Quietly. He didn’t say much. I think he’s in shock,” Alana said.
“What about the daughter, Olivia?” I asked.
“We don’t have a number for her. Barry said he’d call her.”
“I know the place where she works, if that would help.”
“Maybe. I’ll let you know.”
I looked around the room. Nothing looked disturbed beyond the bed cover. I saw a cedar chest. The drawers were still in place. The photographs on top of the chest were still standing. There was a television sitting on a black table. The TV was off, and the remote control was sitting on the table. I looked at the other nightstand on the opposite side of the bed. There was a paperback on it and a digital clock with glowing blue numbers. I looked at a painting on the wall. It was of a rocky shoreline with green covered mountains, an iconic image of the island of Kauai. I turned back to Alana.
“There’s one more thing. I found a nine millimeter in the other nightstand. The safety is on, but it’s loaded with a full magazine,” Alana said.
“Understandable. Would you want to off yourself with a gun or a bottle of sleeping pills?” I asked.
“Yeah, but that’s not what I was getting at. The gun has no prints on it, at least on the handle. There are, however, prints on the magazine.”
“Okay, that’s interesting. Did someone point the gun at her and force her to write the note and take the pills?” I asked.
“The thought crossed my mind. We’ll have to compare the prints on the magazine to Barry’s. I’m guessing they’re his.”
“What does your gut say?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I just don’t know.” She paused a moment and then asked, “Yours?”
“Same here,” I said.
“Barry’s flight should arrive in a couple of hours. I’ve asked him to come to the station.”
I nodded. I knew that was also her way of telling me I wasn’t going to be part of the interview process. I was actually surprised she’d called me to Bethany’s house. I figured she was tight with the
other officers present, but I didn’t know if any of them would casually mention my presence to the captain. I knew she’d take serious heat after he’d told her to take me off the investigation.
“There’s something else. I already got a call from Mara Winters. She’s going to be there with him,” Alana said.
“Tonight?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“His wife just died, maybe committed suicide, and the first thing he thought to do was call his lawyer?” I asked.
“I know what you mean. It’s exactly what I was thinking, too. I’ll give you a call as soon as it’s over.”
I thanked Alana for keeping me in the loop as much as possible. I left the house and drove back to Foxx’s. The traffic was still bad, so I had plenty of time to think about what I had just seen and heard. It made no sense that Barry would immediately call Mara. He had a solid alibi for the time of Bethany’s death. I don’t even think anyone would have considered him for the perpetrator anyway. But what about that gun? I knew people routinely cleaned their weapons, at least I thought they were supposed to do that. Is that how the prints got wiped off the handle of the gun? Probably not. But did that mean Bethany’s death had to be murder?
Foxx was still watching the cooking shows on television by the time I got back. They must have been having some marathon on that particular channel. I told him about Bethany’s death, Barry calling his attorney, and the note with the two-word message.
“The dude lawyered up fast, didn’t he?” Foxx said.
“You had the same reaction we did,” I said.
“Who wouldn’t? You’d think all he’d care about was finding out who did this, if it was even murder, that is,” Foxx said.
I thought about Olivia and wondered if she’d be at the station with her father. How would she respond when she saw his cold reaction? Or was it even cold? Was I being unfair by judging him? I’d never been married before, but I loved Alana deeply. I had no idea how I’d truly react if she were killed. Maybe I’d go into shock too and act in a strange way.
I watched the television show for a few minutes and then got up to walk the dog. I just couldn’t sit still. I really wanted to be at the police station and see Barry for myself, but I knew that was impossible. I got back to the house and gave the dog a treat. I grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and walked outside to the pool. The night air was cool. I sat beside the pool for a couple of hours and listened to the ocean waves hitting the rock jetty behind Foxx’s house. He owned one of the most beautiful pieces of property on the island. I knew I couldn’t live with my friend forever, and I also knew I would truly miss this place once I eventually left.
Blood like the Setting Sun: A Murder on Maui Mystery Page 17