“Must have been a rock slide,” Em said.
Nat nodded and then said, “I was thinking about using the murder in the restaurant kitchen as a storyline, but there’s no ending yet.”
“It’s still a mystery, for sure.” She filled him in on what Roland knew and then said, “I keep thinking about who and why someone might impersonate a produce deliveryman.”
“Maybe it was a robbery gone bad. The guy shows up intent on a robbery, he discovers the place full of crazy hula dancers and a film crew. Maybe Bobby confronted him, and the killer stabbed him.”
“But who didn’t know filming was going on? There was a tech van outside. All the Maidens’ cars were there, too,” she said.
“If it wasn’t a bungled robbery, why would someone kill Bobby?”
They both sat in silence, thinking and watching rain pour down the windshield.
The bulldozer finally pulled to the side of the road, and the flagman waved them on. Rainwater was running down the mountain side in small streams, taking the iron rich, red Kauai dirt with it. Em held her breath, hoping they made it before more rocks decided to slide.
“Maybe the guy was there to kill someone else. Like Kimo,” she said.
“Then why didn’t he? Maybe he posed as a deliveryman to have access to the kitchen without looking out of place.”
“But something like that is easy enough to check out here. It’s not like the mainland where there’s a delivery van with a driver in some kind of uniform on every corner.” Nat thought a while longer. “Why kill Kimo? He’s not the obvious choice, you know.”
“Then who?”
“Marilyn. Maybe someone wanted her dead all along and finally succeeded.”
“So whoever killed Bobby might have been there to kill Marilyn instead? That certainly leaves Kiki out of it,” she said.
“Unless Kimo killed Bobby and Marilyn. Or, as Tom contends, the Godwins were in it together.”
She stared at the road stretching out ahead of them. The rain had let up as soon as they left the North Shore behind, but thick smoke-gray clouds were still blanketing the island.
“I just can’t and won’t believe it.”
“I can’t either, but right now there are no other suspects.”
They chatted all the way to town. Nat suggested Em hire another waitress or two since the Goddess was obviously out of the red.
“That’s an idea,” she said, “but good, dependable help is hard to find. Bottom line is that the Goddess is a family owned and operated business. I’m just thankful Sophie fit in so easily. Not everyone could put up with the craziness around there. Still, finding good part-time help might be worth a try.”
It was no longer raining when they reached the airport. She turned onto Ahukini Road and entered the roundabout.
“I’m on Hawaiian,” Nat said. “Stopping in Honolulu first.”
She pulled up to the curb in front of the security check in. He reached into the back seat for his backpack. There was an awkward moment as Nat paused with his carry on backpack in his lap.
“Thanks for driving me in.” He leaned closer. “See you soon, I hope.”
“Bye,” she whispered.
When he leaned close enough to kiss her, it seemed natural to let him. He kissed her on the lips, not her cheek.
“Bye, Em.”
Nat stepped out and waved as she pulled away from the curb. Em waved back, remembering to smile. Deciding to head over to Costco to pick up a package of microfiber cleaning rags, she turned left out of the airport onto Kapule Highway. As she drove past police headquarters, she couldn’t help but think of Roland.
She reached the corner of Kapule Highway and Rice Street, made another left, and a few yards down the road heard the short whoop whoop of a police siren. She glanced at her speedometer. Well within the speed limit. Em glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a white unmarked car with a rotating light on the dashboard behind her.
Roland.
How long had he been following her?
She pulled over, cheeks were on fire as she glanced in her rearview mirror and watched him get out of the car and walk up to the truck. She lowered the window and blessed the rush of cool air on her face.
“Sorry, officer.” She looked up at him when he stopped outside her door. “I don’t think I was speeding.”
“That’s what they all say.” He leaned his forearm on the window. His face was inches away from hers. “Where’s the fire?”
“That’s what you all say.” Is it a guilty shame to be so happy to see him?
“How about breakfast? Have you eaten?” he asked.
“Don’t you want to see my driver’s license and registration?”
“Maybe later. Right now I’m hungry.”
She couldn’t think of a reason in the world to say no.
“I’d love breakfast. Where?”
“Follow me.” He walked back to the cruiser, and she followed him on down the hill toward Nawiliwili. When they reached the Harbor Mall shopping center, he turned into the parking lot. She pulled in beside him.
“The Feral Pig all right?” He held the truck door open for her.
“Great. I hear it’s good.”
She grabbed her purse, and together they walked across the lot and into The Feral Pig, on the ground floor of the two-story mini mall of shops and restaurants. Em hoped that passengers from the various cruise ships berthed in the harbor up the road were able to see more of the majesty of Kauai than just this one stop.
The attractive young waitress acting as hostess knew Roland, and they were seated right away. While Em perused the menu, she felt his gaze on her. She made a choice, closed the menu and looked up at him.
“I just dropped Nat off at the airport.”
“I know.”
She blushed and wished she had more control. “How long were you following me?”
“Long enough.” He dropped his gaze to her lips.
Em had the urge to slide out of the chair and run out the door. Thankfully the waitress appeared and claimed their attention.
“Ready to order?” she asked them.
Em ordered the banana bread French toast and scrambled eggs.
“I’ll have the kalua pork breakfast burrito.” Roland closed his menu.
The waitress nearly fell all over him while thanking him for his order.
“Nat said something interesting.” Em fiddled with her napkin.
“It was a long drive. I hope so.”
“He wondered if Bobby’s killer might have been there to kill someone else.”
“Go on.”
“Maybe he came that morning hoping to kill Marilyn. When he didn’t get the chance, he cut her brake line later.”
“So why was he posing as a produce deliveryman?”
“Maybe he was casing the place,” she said.
“It’s a possibility,” he said. “Maybe he wanted to kill Marilyn at the Goddess so the blame would fall on someone close to her. The murder could be pinned on your uncle, or Kiki, since everyone knew about their animosity toward each other.”
“So, you’ve already thought this scenario through. The murderer might have been there to get Marilyn and ended up killing Bobby.”
“That’s why I have a badge. They pay me to figure this stuff out.”
“So you really don’t think Kiki killed Marilyn.”
“I’m not entirely convinced. I know she didn’t kill Bobby. She was in the bar when he was murdered, but that doesn’t let Kimo off the hook.”
“He didn’t do it.”
“So what happened to set the murderer off? Why kill Bobby Quinn? Other than Kimo, no one else had motive.”
“That we know of.”
Their breakfasts arrive
d. Em dove into her banana bread French toast. “This is really good. Like eating cake.”
He was staring at her and hadn’t even picked up his fork yet.
“What?” She stopped eating.
“So you and the neighbor. Is this a thing?”
“A thing?”
“Are you two in a relationship?”
So he did see the kiss. “No, Detective Sharpe. I am not in a relationship. Nat and I are friends.”
“You kiss all of your friends goodbye like that?”
“We’ve dated a couple of times. That’s all. Not that I owe you any explanation.”
Roland was still staring.
“Your burrito will get cold.”
He ignored his plate.
“I’m not sleeping with him, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I wasn’t asking, but thanks for the information.” He dug into the ono looking burrito.
“You’re quite a detective. Don’t you always manage to get to the truth?”
“Eventually. I take my time, but I’m worth the wait.”
Em focused on her scrambled eggs so he wouldn’t catch her smiling.
“We’ve got new information on the murdered maid. Her husband is back on Kauai. Victor Villaviejos has been questioned and released,” he said.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“He couldn’t have killed his wife. He’d been fishing off of Kona since the morning of her death. He wasn’t on island when she died. He flew out early that morning.”
“But, I thought you checked the plane manifests, and he wasn’t on any flights out. How did he get to the Big Island?”
“He used his cousin’s ticket and driver’s license to get on the flight.”
“Isn’t that against the law?”
“Definitely there are security issues, but that’s up to DHS to follow up on. The cousin had paid for the fishing trip and couldn’t go, so he gave Victor the non-transferable ticket. They look like brothers more than cousins. So much so that Victor was able to use the cousin’s ID to get through security.”
“Because the name on the ID has to match the name on the ticket,” she said.
“Right. When Victor’s wife was murdered, and we were questioning his friends and family as to his whereabouts, the cousin was too scared to come forward.”
“With good reason. So Victor is off the hook,” she said.
“He didn’t find out about his wife’s death until the fishing boat got back to Kona. He’s pretty broken up about it. He came right into headquarters with his cousin and explained. He was trying to work things out with his wife, just like her friends at the resort said. So now we’re back to square one on that one.”
“Unless you can tie Bobby’s murderer to Esther Villaviejos.”
“When we found those phone calls from Orion to Marilyn, I thought we had something. Still might have,” he said. “I’m going to show up at his place again, see if I can press him.”
Em swallowed the last of her coffee and stared down into her empty mug.
“What?” he asked.
“What?”
“I can tell there’s something you’re not telling me. Say it, Em.”
“You are psychic.”
He shrugged. “Your expressions always give you away.”
“Remember when you told me to leave the detecting up to you?”
“I have a feeling I’m not going to want to hear this.”
“I ran into Orville Orion.”
“Accidentally, of course.”
“I was dropping some flowers at Marilyn’s for her nephew, Tom, and discovered their backyards were connected by an opening in the hedge.”
“Discovered?”
“I went around back to leave the flowers in the shade on the lanai. It was all perfectly innocent on my part.”
“I’m sure it started that way.”
“When I saw the opening in the hedge I realized Marilyn and Orion were closer than any of us suspected. I was checking it out when I ran into Orion on the other side. So I started pressing him about that phone call in the wee morning hours, and he admitted that Marilyn was marrying my uncle just to get her hands on the Goddess.”
Roland’s plate was empty. He sat back, set his napkin on the table. “How did you get him to admit it?”
She had to clear her throat and tried to gauge just how upset Roland was going to be. Maybe not so much now that he was full of food.
“I told him that he was still a suspect as far as you were concerned. That’s not too far off the mark, is it? He got all panicked and told me that there was no way he killed Marilyn because he loved her. He believed she loved him even though she was going to marry my uncle, and he was trying to talk her out of going through with it.”
“And you believed him.”
“You should have seen his face. He was telling the truth, Roland. I know he was. I was so upset I still haven’t told Uncle Louie what Orion said. I did tell Louie about the phone calls they exchanged that morning, but I said that Orion was just calling to wish Marilyn luck. I didn’t want to break my uncle’s heart.”
“I wish you’d have left Orion to us. We have no idea what’s really going on. Things could have gone really bad, Em. Have you forgotten that not too long ago you were kidnapped, ended up in the trunk of a car, and dumped in the jungle?”
“How could I? But I wasn’t worried. There was a window washing crew at Orion’s. They were only a few yards away. He was a wreck anyway. I’m glad I confronted him. But now I don’t think he killed Marilyn.”
“So we’re back to Kiki. Only she had motive.”
“But she didn’t do it. So, who did?”
He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “That’s for me to find out, not you. Don’t be fooled by all the palm trees and rainbows outside, Em. There’s a killer or killers out there, and I don’t want you putting yourself in danger again.”
30
Where’s Kiki?
The next day Em set her alarm early enough to get in a walk on the beach before she had to go to the bar. The weather was still drizzling rain, but it was light enough to ignore. She was in the outdoor shower when Louie called over the rock wall.
“Some of the Maidens are milling around in the parking lot.”
It was too early for Sophie or Kimo to be in yet. Too early to have the Maidens show up, but as Em rinsed shampoo out of her hair she called back, “I’ll get the key and go over as soon as I get dressed. Can you go out and tell them I’ll be there?”
Em heard indistinct grumbling and took it as a yes. Within fifteen minutes she’d thrown on a pair of capris and a top, grabbed the key, and was headed out to the lot. Suzi hurried over to her while Flora and Trish waited out of the drizzle beneath the overhang by the back door.
“We’re having an emergency meeting,” Suzi said. “Hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” Em opened the back door into Louie’s office and Suzi, Trish, and Flora filed through into the bar.
Em walked through the room to unlock the front door. “Where’s everyone else?”
“On the way, I hope,” Suzi said. “Lillian’s the only one who can’t come. She’s still touring with the official Lillian Fan Club.”
“Where’s Kiki?”
Suzi shrugged. “That’s why I called the meeting. She’s missing.”
Trish stopped in the act of pulling out a chair at one of the larger tables. “What do you mean missing? If she’s missing, then we should call the police.”
Suzi waved toward the chair. “Sit down, Trish.”
Trish sat. So did Flora.
“No calling the police,” Suzi said. She looked at each in turn. In a whisper she said, “She’s on the run.”
The only thing that would send Kiki running was if she had heard Roland intended to arrest her. Em figured he would have told her about it yesterday at breakfast, unless some startling new evidence had been uncovered overnight.
“She’s afraid of Tom Benton’s detective,” Suzi said. “Tom’s out for revenge, and Kiki’s sure he’s going to frame her.”
“Is he even on island yet?” Trish asked Em.
“The detective? I don’t know.”
Pat Boggs came stomping into the bar, her cowboy boots hammering against the wooden floor. She was carrying Precious under one arm like a sack of potatoes. She set Precious down on her feet before she noticed everyone was staring.
“What?” Pat held out her arms and shrugged. “She walks too slow. Thought I’d help her make up some time.”
Precious tugged on the hem of her blouse and patted her hair into place.
“What’s up?” Pat asked. “What’s the big emergency? It better be good. I’ve got dirty condos waiting to be cleaned. Work is stackin’ up out there.” Pat pulled out a chair for Precious and one for herself. Precious climbed up and set her purse on the table. Pat sat down.
“Kimo called and told me that Kiki has been gone for two days, and he’s worried.” Suzi had taken over as their leader and remained standing at the head of the table.
“He’s just getting around to telling someone now? Suspicious!” Flora shouted.
“No, Kiki left him a note so he wasn’t worried at first, but he hasn’t heard from her yet. He said she always checks in with him at the end of the day. Her cell isn’t picking up, but he wasn’t too worried, because she left the charger on the kitchen table. He brought me the note she left him.” She pulled it out of her purse, unfolded it, and began to read.
Kimo honey,
I’ve driven to Wailua to teach Meno’ok Lodfort from the senior center to make that special chicken hekka we all made and served at the last Annual Hanalei Slug Festival. She’s cooking challenged so I may have to spend a couple of days with her, but that’s probably for the best. You told me to calm down so this will be a good way not to think about you-know-what. I have my cell phone with me. Don’t worry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
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