by Kay Hadashi
“Mom thinks it’s important that Brother and I learn other languages.”
“Do you know Hawaiian?”
“Pretty good with that one. Spanish and Hebrew, too.”
“Certainly an interesting mix,” Maile said, more to herself.
“I got trouble with math. Gives me conniptions.”
“Conniptions?” Maile asked, chuckling.
“All those numbers and formula thingies are tricky.”
“They sure are, but you gotta learn them.”
“That’s what Mom always says. She also says it gets even harder later on.”
“Yep, but I know you can do it.”
“Why you think that?” the girl asked.
“Because of how you ran all the way to the top of Diamond Head. If you do your math homework the same way as that, you’ll learn that stuff in no time.”
“Kinda like a contest, huh?”
“Yep, and you’re smart enough to win it.”
A few minutes later, Thérèse had her gift rolled up and secured with rubber bands, and the old map was put away again. While Maile looked through history books for other mermaid coves and homes on Maui, Thérèse continued to pull drawers open for inspection. When she got to the one on the bottom, she tugged with all her might.
“Won’t come open…”
Maile glanced over. “You know what? I think that one is jammed shut. Nothing to see in there, anyway.”
While Maile searched the internet looking for ‘mermaids on Maui’, the girl continued rummaging through drawers. Maile barely paid attention, until she heard a grunt when the girl fell onto her back. That’s when she went over to see what had captured the girl’s attention.
The bottom drawer of one cabinet had been pulled open, one Maile was sure would never be looked in again. Just as Thérèse was reaching inside for what was in there, Maile grabbed her hand and shoved the drawer closed again.
“Something inside, all wrapped up,” the girl said. “What was it?”
“It’s a very special thing that’s not for everybody’s eyes.” Maile positioned herself between the kid and the cabinet. What was inside the drawer was too important, and far too troublesome, to be played with. “Why don’t you make your kite?”
Sitting in the middle of the floor, the girl took out all the parts from the package and laid them one in a half-circle around her.
“Why’s she like that guy, anyway?” Thérèse asked.
“Who?”
“My mom.”
Ever since being listed as a hanai big sister by the girl, Maile had been wondering if this was going to come up. “Oh. You mean why does she like Darrel so much?”
“Yeah. Just another guy.”
“Well, he’s handsome, kinda rugged looking. He has a good job as fire chief. Is he nice to your mom?”
“He calls her every day after dinner. Stays over on the weekend sometimes. That’s when Brother and I spend the weekend with our Auntie Trinh.”
“Oh, I see.” Maile turned off the computer, now that she was getting some juicy gossip. She joined the girl on the floor. “Are you sure it’s okay to tell secrets about your mom?”
“Guess so. Are those secrets?”
“Sounds like it. Is Darrel nice to you and your brother?”
“He spends more time with Chance. He’s teaching him how to play catch.”
“That’s nice. Where’s your dad?”
“Wyoming. There was some trouble and he doesn’t come see us anymore.”
“Do you miss him?” Maile asked.
Another wince from the girl. “Kinda don’t remember him so much anymore.”
Maile had the same problem with her father, since he’d been gone for twenty years. She only had glimpses of his face and the scent of his after-shave stored in her memory. As far as she was concerned, she grew up without a father, something she always wondered if she missed.
“Well, maybe Darrel with be your new dad someday.”
“You can do that, get a new dad?”
“You can’t go to the store and buy one, no. But it sounds like your mom might have a husband and dad in mind with Darrell.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” the girl said quietly. “Just a kid.”
“Well, for being just a kid, you’re pretty smart. I think the best thing to do is make friends with Darrell, just like your brother has.”
Thérèse was busy playing with the ribbon meant to be the kite’s tail. “But why’s she like him so much? All she ever talks about is Darrel.”
Maile tried not to smile too much. “It sounds like she’s in love. That’s how it is when people fall in love.”
“Talk about each all the time?”
“Pretty much. And spend lots of time with each other. It sounds like you’re a little jealous?”
“She ustah spend all her time with me and Brother on her days off. Auntie Trinh would come by with her boyfriend and we’d do stuff together.” The girl frowned. “Everything’s different now since he showed up.”
Maile felt for the girl, that she was losing a part of her mother to someone else. She also felt honored that Thérèse was confiding in her. “Come on. Can’t you make just a little room in your life to add one more friend? It sounds like she has.”
Thérèse put down the ribbon. “There’s a boy at school named Darrel.”
More gossip for Maile to hear while she put the finishing touches on the kite. “You like him?”
“He’s icky.”
“Oh, and you’re worried that since the icky boy at school is named Darrel, your mom’s friend named Darrel is also icky?”
“Guess so.”
“Well, it doesn’t work that way. Trust me, I’m an expert at icky boys. In fact, I know an icky boy named Robbie, but I also know other Robbies, and Robs, and Roberts, and Bobs that aren’t icky. Name’s got nothing to do with being icky.”
“For realz?” Thérèse asked.
“Definitely for realz. Anyway, it might be kinda fun to have a man hanging around the house. Just try to make friends with him.” The kite now assembled, they went to look out a window to the backyard. What they found was the next disappointment of the day. “Raining.”
“No more wind,” Thérèse said.
“Better save the kite for some other day, and we’re running out of time. You know what? Maybe you should take Darrell something? Show him you want to be his friend.”
“Like what?”
“I know just the thing.” Maile went to a drawer of old photos and poked around for a moment. “Here it is. This is a picture of Maui’s first fire station in Wailuku. They didn’t even have a truck, just a large tank of water and a hose on a wagon, and some horses to pull it. Let’s make a print of that for him.”
“He’d like that?” the girl asked.
“Men like that sort of thing.”
With the second gift in her hand, Thérèse looked ready to go.
“What about your brother?”
“What about him?”
“Your mom has a gift, and so does Darrell. Maybe your brother should get something, too?”
“The kite?”
“Good idea.” Maile made fast work of disassembling the kite and putting it back into its package. “You and your brother can fly that at home sometimes.”
Thérèse tucked that away in a bag with the rest of her treasures. “Mom can help us.”
“Or maybe Darrell.”
Thérèse looked up at Maile and smiled. “You’re sneaky!”
“I am, huh?”
***
Thérèse’s mother was waiting in the lobby when they got back to the hotel.
“Look, Mom! I got stuff!”
“I see. What is all that?” Melanie asked, looking more at the gifts than Thérèse.
“Secret map to a mermaid’s house and a picture of a tub of water.”
The girl’s mother seemed confused when she looked at Maile for an explanation.
“Just printe
d scans and a kite. It wasn’t windy enough to fly it today,” Maile explained. Thérèse got the key card from her mother and went to their room. Maile tried giving the envelope of money back. “We didn’t use much.”
“Keep it. But what happened at Diamond Head?”
“We were the first ones there and decided to have a race to the top. She’s quite the athlete.” Maile gave a quick account about the dead man in the pillbox, and about the police that came later. “I did my best to keep her out of it, making it sound like I was the one who found the man. I didn’t lie to them, but they didn’t press too hard for her name.”
“Thanks,” Melanie said.
“She never did cry, though.”
“She won’t. Lose a toy and she freaks out. Find a dead body with flies buzzing around, and she barely notices. She’ll probably be a mortician when she grows up. I heard you’re a nurse along with being a tour guide?”
“Until a few weeks ago. I lost my job, and I’m doing this to keep money coming in until I get my job back. Just a big misunderstanding.”
“Well, if you ever want a job, our hospital needs good nurses. Give me a call when you apply and I’ll put in a good word for you.”
***
Once Maile was alone, she sent a text to Detective Ota that she was free.
“Maybe he’ll have forgotten, or found something better to do.” She was out of luck when she saw his sedan roll down the narrow street and ease to a stop in front of her. Reluctantly, she got in. “Does your wife know you pick up strange women from Waikiki sidewalks?”
“She doesn’t mind, as long as I come home faithful to her at the end of the day.”
“But you think I’m strange?”
“Not any stranger than any of the other women I meet.”
“Are you taking me to lockup? Making me sweat for a while before I give a confession?” Maile asked, watching the direction he drove. It was in the direction of downtown, and the police station.
“That never seems to work with you. I’ve heard you have a way of dominating the cellblock milieu.”
“Yes, the ladies and I never seem to get along very well in lockup. You do realize I had nothing to do with the man at Diamond Head today, right?”
“Every time we meet, you say the same thing, that you had nothing to do with a stiff that was just found.”
“And I’ve always told you the truth, right?”
“As far as I can tell.”
“Where are we going?” she asked when he took an unexpected turn. “We’re not headed in the direction of your second home at the police station.”
“Chop Suey City, on McCully.”
Maile sighed. “Oh, there.”
“What’s wrong with Chop Suey City?”
The Chinese restaurant was something of a hangout for cops, and Maile had been there with them a couple of times. The problem was with one of the waitresses that seemed to linger around Officer Brock Turner more than Maile appreciated. She even had a special nickname for the waitress, one that couldn’t be said out loud.
“A little early for dinner, isn’t it?” Maile asked.
“Cops eat when they can. Have you eaten a real meal lately?”
“I had lunch.”
“Something more than French fries at McDonald’s.”
“How’d you know…you’re following me now?”
“No, you make that too hard when you take the bus. We lost you after lunch. Who’s the kid?” he asked.
“Nobody you need to know.”
He parked at the Chinese restaurant and led her in. The waitress took them to a table where two uniformed officers were already seated. Stepping in front of the waitress, Maile greeted Officer Turner with a smile, and introduced herself to Officer Rehnquist, a trainee working with Turner. They all ordered their usual combo plate meals, and since Maile was still hours from being hungry, she got soup.
“Okay, once again, who’s the kid?” Detective Ota asked.
“She’s nobody the police need to talk to. I gave as much of a witness statement as could be given this morning. You won’t get anything from her that I don’t know.”
“Who found the body?” Turner asked. “Because I talked with Bailey, the responding officer you gave your statement to at the scene, and he said there was more to the kid than you let on.”
Maile felt surrounded. “Okay, fine. The girl found the body before I did. I doubt she saw it for more than a few seconds. All she wanted to do was get away from it.”
“You don’t actually know if she touched anything?”
“She said she didn’t. She promised me that all she saw was the knife in the guy’s face. I think the smell bothered her more than anything.”
“He was pretty ripe,” Ota said. “Who is she? And before you accuse me of wanting to badger a crime scene witness into submission, or whatever you call it, I just want to verify a few facts with her. It looks better in court documents.”
“And that’s why I’m trying to protect her. She doesn’t need to go to court about this. Honestly, she didn’t see anything I didn’t see. Or smell.”
“We got the cup she used at lunch. We can run her prints through the National Child Identification Program database, if necessary.”
Maile couldn’t believe her ears. “Seriously? She’s not a criminal, Detective.”
“Why are you trying to protect her so much, Maile?” Officer Turner asked.
“She’s something of a VIP, or at least her mother is. I think she’d appreciate it if the family name was left out of the news.”
Ota tried staring down Maile, but didn’t get far. “Okay, fine. Maybe you’ll change your mind. There’s something you need to know about the vic.”
“What’s that?”
“Did he look familiar to you?” Turner asked.
“No. I think I saw the knife more than the face. Why?”
“Did you see any identifying marks on his body?” Ota asked.
“Why are you asking me all this? I told the cop this morning everything I know about the dead man. The girl doesn’t know anything more than I do. He was just a guy in a pillbox with a knife stuck through his eye.”
With that, their meals arrived, the waitress cringing at Maile’s words. Once their plates were on the table, she practically ran. Maile also noticed Turner watching her leave. Looking at the departing waitress again, she couldn’t help but admit there was something alluring about her figure in a red silk cheongsam.
“Okay, once again, what’s with all the questions about the man?”
“Does the name Swenberg ring a bell?” Detective Ota asked.
Chapter Four
That was a name she never wanted to hear again. Maile put down her soupspoon and blotted her lips. “As in Carl Swenberg? What about him?”
“You might remember Carl Swenberg as the man who died in the hospital a while back. He was the replacement patient for the man you rescued from drowning in Hanauma Bay two weeks ago.”
“That’s what you figured out, that there were two brothers swapping identities, or whatever. All I noticed was that one had an anchor tattoo on his arm and good teeth, while the other had a large nose bent slightly to one side. What’s that got to do with the girl I spent the day with?”
“The vic in the pillbox has been positively identified through two fingerprint databases as one Frank Swenberg, brother of Carl Swenberg. Now they’re both dead. That’s why we’re having dinner together, to figure out what you know about Frank Swenberg, and how the kid fits in.”
There was a lot for Maile to process. “Look…”
“Maile, we need to know what you know about Frank Swenberg,” Officer Turner said.
Maile was finished with her meager meal, having lost all appetite. “Well, if I have it right, Frank was the man I rescued from Hanauma Bay, before being taken to the hospital. Anchor tattoo, sunburn, good teeth, bad breath. Then while he was there, there was a switcheroo. Carl took Frank’s place in the bed. He had a bent nose, pale sk
in, and needed a trip to the dentist. They resembled each other enough that they had the doctors and nurses fooled.”
“Had us fooled also,” Detective Ota said. “There’s more to the story than that, Ms. Spencer.”
“Sure is. Carl was given a drug that he was allergic to and ended up in the ICU, dying not too long after. To answer your next question, I have absolutely no idea why they pulled the switch, or why Carl used his brother’s ID, or maybe it was the other way around. But seriously, not my problem.”
“It is your problem, Ms. Spencer,” Ota said. “You were the one who pulled Frank from the drink and kept him alive until help could arrive. Then he promptly disappeared from the hospital you used to work in, directly after leaving the department you worked in until only recently, and replaced by his brother, Carl. Then you were seen in Carl’s ICU room not long before he died under suspicious circumstances. And just today, you were the one who found Frank’s dead body at a popular tourist destination. How do you explain the fact you were with both brothers either immediately before or after their deaths, including a close call drowning?”
“Bad luck for them, I guess. I’m generally not the harbinger of death.”
“Not a good day to play the wise guy card, Ms. Spencer.”
“What do you want me to say, that I killed them both? I can’t, because I didn’t. And might I remind you of what you just said, that I kept Frank, or at least one of them, alive until help arrived. Would I do that if I wanted him dead?”
“And might I remind you that in the few weeks since you’ve become a tour guide, you’ve witnessed or have been in close proximity to four murders, and two other serious crimes. Both of those crimes have had their evidence tampered with, by you, in fact.”
“What evidence?”
“That missing paddle a while back never has shown up. I get the impression you know more about that than you’re letting on,” Ota said. “And you were apprehended at the scene when a large amount of gold that belonged to a foreign organized crime gang was being illegally recovered.”
“You have someone in jail for that.”