Lana'i of the Tiger (The Islands of Aloha Mystery Series)

by JoAnn Bassett

  I dashed toward her lattice-screened porch hoping she was like the majority of Lana’i long-timers and never locked her doors. I pulled the handle and the screen door yielded with a plaintive screech. Seemed Auntie Cora wasn’t a big fan of WD-40.

  I crossed the porch in three strides, but before I had a chance to knock on the front door, Auntie Cora had opened it.

  “Ah, you’ve come to visit me. How nice.”

  I was breathing heavy from the sprint and the adrenaline rush of fleeing Wong. “Hello Auntie Cora. It’s me, Penny, from the tai chi class.”

  “I know who you are. You think I’m so old I don’t remember a new friend? Come in, come in.”

  We went inside and she offered me a seat. “You in some kind of trouble? You look like a girl in trouble.”

  I nodded.

  “You stay right there. I’ll get us some tea.”

  She brought out a stoneware tea service with a small square pot, two tiny cups and saucers and a plate of saltine crackers.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have cookies. I usually have cookies but I haven’t had a chance to go to the store.”

  “This is fine, auntie. I should have let you know I was coming.”

  “So, what is this trouble you are in?”

  I wanted to tell her the truth, but she struck me as the kind of lady who saw things in black and white. Right and wrong. Good and bad. And fleeing from the police probably didn’t fall on the correct side of any of those absolutes.

  “Auntie, I’ve gotten word that some bad people have come here to Lana’i looking for me,” I said. I was hoping she wouldn’t want details, especially since I hadn’t worked out the details.

  “What kind of bad people?”

  “Uh, well you know my husband was in the military, and he got killed, and uh,” I stammered along, praying that something brilliant would pop into my mind. It didn’t.

  “Oh my! Was your husband in Special Forces?”

  I hadn’t thought of that. Sounded good to me. I nodded.

  “So you can’t talk to me about what he did. Maybe he was in SEAL Team Six? They are very brave men those special forces soldiers. But perhaps the enemy has vowed to track them down and seek revenge. And even harm their families.”

  Auntie’s imagination was clicking on all cylinders. You go, girl.

  “Yes, the enemy is vicious,” I said. “They’ll stop at nothing.”

  “Oh my poor girl. So, do you need a place to hide?”

  I nodded.

  “I am a proud American,” she said. “I don’t care what happens to me. I will hide you here in my home for as long as you need.” She came over and put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. “Don’t you worry. You are safe here.”

  I felt like such a fraud. Did the end always justify the means? Was it worse to abandon Tyler if he was innocent or use phony patriotism to get an old lady to help me hide from the cops? Luckily, I didn’t have time to ponder the ethics.

  “Mahalo, auntie,” I said. “I’ll need to leave soon, but if you can let me stay here for a day or two, I’d really appreciate it.”

  We drank our tea. After enough time had passed for her to not put two and two together, I brought up the situation with Tyler.

  “Have you heard anything new about the murders up at the Lodge?” I said.

  “Oh, it’s very sad, very sad. I think that man, you know, that movie man, must have found his girlfriend in bed with that fat man and he killed them both. That’s what everyone is saying.”

  “You know, I’m not so sure that’s true.”

  “Oh?” Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

  “Yes, you see, the movie man, Tyler Benson is his name, was a guest at the White Orchid but he spent most of his time up at the Lodge at Koele. The night of the murders he and his fiancée had a little spat. I think that happens a lot right before people get married. Anyway, he came down to talk to me about it. I suggested we take a drive to get his mind off his troubles. We drove down to Kaumalapau Harbor to watch the sunset.”

  “Oh, that’s romantic, watching the sunset down there.” She grinned.

  “No, it wasn’t like that. I was hoping he’d see the beautiful sunset and he’d calm down.”

  “Hmm,” she said. “But maybe he didn’t calm down. Maybe the more he thought about it, the madder he got.”

  “I don’t think so. He didn’t seem that upset. But I’m not sure, because he brought me back to the White Orchid at about eight-fifteen. It takes about ten minutes to get to the Lodge and get the car parked. The medical examiner estimated the time of death for both Miss Diamonte and Mr. Romano at between six and nine o’clock that night.”

  “So he was with you most of the time, but for a short while you don’t know where he was.”

  “Yes,” I said. “And now I’m in hiding.”

  “So you can’t go to the police and tell them he was with you. That’s not so good for him.”

  “That’s right. If I go to the police, I’ll put myself in jeopardy from the people who are after me. But if I don’t tell the police he was with me, I may be responsible for allowing an innocent man to be accused of murders he didn’t commit.”

  “Are you sure he didn’t do it?” she said.

  “I don’t know. If I knew for sure, it would be a lot easier to decide what to do.”

  She squinted her eyes at me and leaned in. “Dead husband, terrorists coming for you, and now you’re the only one who can speak up for the movie man. You know, I’m seventy-two years old and I never heard of a girl with so much bad laki as you.”

  “Laki?”

  “You know, ‘luck’, like it sounds.”

  “Auntie, have you ever heard the saying, If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, you’re looking at her.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Auntie Cora was kind enough to offer me her second bedroom and half-bath. I’d have been happy with a spot on her sofa. I woke up throughout the night with nightmares of being chased. I’d go back to sleep and the unseen threat would come back. I remember foul hot breath on the back of my neck and then a thin knobby hand reaching for me. Just when I’d feel a clawed finger touch the middle of my back I’d jerk upright in bed. When the sun finally peeked through the pine trees I got up. No use trying to fool myself that I’d get any more sleep if I hung out in bed.

  “Will you be joining me for tai chi this morning?” Auntie Cora sang out as she shuffled into the kitchen to put on the tea kettle. I gave her a quizzical look before I remembered it was Friday, a tai chi in the park day. But more importantly, Darryl and Ewa were coming home that morning.

  “Mahalo, auntie, but I better lay low. I’ve got some things I need to do before the rest of the world starts moving around.”

  “You think al Qaeda sleeps in?” she said.

  “No, I’m sure they don’t. But I need to get up to the Lodge before the tourists start waking up.”

  “What do you need up at the Lodge? You think terrorists can afford a place like that?

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I just need to go up there and see if anything jumps out at me.”

  “Ha! Seems everything jumps out at you, girl. You be careful, we don’t want no more dead bodies on our island.” She smiled, but when I didn’t smile back, she traded it for a look of concern.

  She put a hand on my shoulder. “If you want to stay safe,” she said, “I know how to make you invisible.”

  “Like a magic trick?” I smiled, thinking she was joking.

  “Something like that. Come with me.” She led me into her bathroom and told me to sit on the closed toilet seat. Then she rummaged around in the cabinet and pulled out a tall white can. She twisted the lid of the can and began sprinkling powder from the can onto my hair.

  “That smells good,” I said. “What is that?”

  “Baby powder,” Auntie Cora said. “Now sit still, I’m almost finished.”

&nbs
p; She fluffed the powder through my hair and then pulled my hair back into a short ponytail at the nape of my neck. She secured it with a rubber band and wound the tail into a tiny bun.

  “Almost done,” she said sprinkling a bit more powder on top. “Stay right there for one more minute.”

  She came back carrying a flat straw hat with a three-inch brim and artificial flowers circling the crown. A long pastel-print scarf was draped across her arm.

  “You want to see?” she said. She held up a hand mirror and I couldn’t believe it.

  “I look like a tutu,” I said, admiring my slicked-back hair that looked almost gray from the powder.

  I sat back down and she fitted the hat snug on my head and wrapped the scarf around my neck and tied it in a loose bow.

  “Now,” she said. “You need to walk like this.” She demonstrated a stooped posture and a slow side-to-side gait. “You do that and you’ll see what it’s like to be invisible.”

  By seven o’clock that morning, I’d hobbled up to the Hotel Lana’i and was waiting for the shuttle bus. I kept my head down. Darryl and Ewa were due home on the eight-thirty flight which meant they’d be back by nine. I needed to get up and back from the Lodge as quickly as possible.

  The shuttle ride was uneventful. Cora was right. With women of a certain age, no one takes notice, and no one tries to engage them in conversation. We pulled to a stop at the entrance to the Lodge at Koele and I waited onboard while the other riders got off.

  I was wearing the same clothes I’d had on the day before. But with the addition of Auntie Cora’s hat and scarf and an old pair of her black Chinese cloth shoes I was pretty sure I looked nothing like the BOLO—the be-on-the-look-out—description Wong would have issued with the police department.

  I tottered into the enormous lobby of the Lodge and turned and headed down the hall to the housekeeping office. I slipped off the hat and scarf and stood up straight before knocking on the door.

  “Aloha, come in,” sang a familiar voice on the other side.

  Kate was sitting behind her desk. Everything looked exactly as it had when I’d been there before. Same worn guest chair, same employment posters on the wall and the same messy pile of manila file folders strewn across her desk.

  She stood. “Can I help you?” She peered at me and lines formed across her forehead.

  “Oh, aloha! You’re Penny Morton, isn’t that right? I didn’t recognize you. You look, uh, different.” She extended her hand for a shake.

  It’d been two weeks since I’d interviewed with Kate, so I wasn’t sure if she’d remember me. I didn’t know if I should be pleased or concerned that my slicked-back powdered hair had only caused her a momentary pause.

  I shook her hand. “Aloha, Kate. It’s good to see you again. Yes, I’m having a ‘bad hair day’ so I pulled it back.”

  “Please sit down.” She gestured for me to sit in the guest chair as she sat back down behind her desk.

  “Do you have your fingerprint card for me?” she said. “Because I can put you on the schedule today if you’d like. We’re really short-handed right now. I’m pretty sure I could get them to grant you that twenty-five cent raise right away.”

  “I’m afraid I didn’t bring the card with me.”

  Her face fell. I winced. I hated manipulating people’s emotions like that. I tried for a partial save. “But I’ll see what I can do about getting it back to you soon.”

  “Well, the sooner the better. I’ve lost three housekeepers this past week. Just like that—” She snapped her fingers. “You’ve probably heard we had some trouble up here…” She steepled her hands in front of her mouth. She looked like she was praying I’d tell her I’d heard all about it. I’m sure the last thing Kate wanted to do was utter the word ‘murder’ within the four walls of a Four Seasons hotel. The corporate-types had probably already sent out a stern ‘hear no evil, speak no evil’ memo.

  “Yes, I did. I was sorry to hear about it.”

  I avoided eye contact while I fished around in my mind for a polite way to begin the interrogation.

  “In fact, I’m here because I wanted to ask you a few questions if you’re at liberty to talk,” I said. “I know it may appear I’m only trying to dig up gossip, but the man who’s been accused of this is a friend of mine.”

  She placed her elbows on the desk and dropped her head in her hands. She kept her eyes down and said nothing. If I were a betting woman, I would’ve bet she might start crying at any moment.

  “It was horrible,” she said in a whispery voice. “It completely traumatized two of my girls. They haven’t been back to work since. Can you imagine seeing something like that?”

  I kept quiet. After a few moments, Kate went on. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I have no one else to talk to. And it looks like I’ll be losing my job anyway.”

  “I’m sure it was terrible, but why would you lose your job?” I said. “You didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?”

  “No, of course not.” She snapped her head up and looked at me as if she was about to ask me to get the hell out of her office.

  I stared down at the tutu hat in my lap. And waited.

  Once again, Kate’s voice came out as a whisper. “Oh, Penny. I can’t even pretend to know how gruesome it must have been. Those poor girls coming in on that situation.”

  “They saw the victim?” I was whispering now too.

  “Yes, it must have been right after it happened.”

  “Did they see who did it?” My heartbeat was thumping in my ears. So the housekeepers must’ve been the ones who pulled the fire alarm. Did the police know this? But I kept quiet.

  “I talked briefly to my lead girl, Stella, on Wednesday and she told me she went in to do the turn-down service for Miss Diamonte,” she said. “There were two housekeepers assigned to the room because Stella was training a new girl. Miss Diamonte didn’t answer when they knocked, but when guests are out we’ve instructed the girls to just go ahead and enter. They tidied up a little and then when they went into the bedroom they saw the victim. The other girl told Stella she may have seen a man, but I’m not sure she was thinking straight. Neither of them has reported for work since it happened.”

  I nodded.

  “Normally, I wouldn’t excuse employees who fail to show up for their assigned shifts, but in this case… It’s just horrible, don’t you think?”

  Again, I nodded. “Did they talk to the police?”

  She pressed her lips into a tight line and locked eyes on mine.

  “Kate? What’s wrong?”

  “Penny, one of the reasons I need you to start work here as soon as possible is I’m expecting some trouble from this.”

  “I’m not following you.”

  “The girls who witnessed the scene were sort of ‘shadow’ employees, if you understand what I’m saying. Stella’s worked here for years. She’s well-known in the community, so no one ever questioned her status. But the other girl is new. No one knows her and her English is non-existent. And she’s the one who claimed she may have seen a man.”

  “Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight. The police want to know who found the victims, but you don’t want to tell them because the housekeepers are illegal immigrants and they’ll get deported?”

  “Or even put in jail. That’s why they pulled the fire alarm instead of reporting it to our security staff.”

  “But how will all this get you fired?”

  “The Four Seasons Corporation is more aware of how hotels work than the police are. One of the first things they’ll ask me is who was working the floor that night. And if I refuse to tell them…well, that will be that. The Four Seasons security executives are on their way over here right now.”

  It took me a minute to mull over what I’d just learned. “Tell you what, Kate. I have a crazy idea, but it just might work. I need to leave because I promised I’d meet some people who are coming in from Honolulu. But I’ll explain more when I get back. Until then
, I’d like a chance to meet with Stella. Do you think she’ll talk to us?”

  “She’s really scared. And she’s trying to protect the other girl as well.”

  “I realize that. But if my idea works out, everybody could be off the hook.”

  “The Four Seasons executives are coming from the mainland so it will take them a few hours to get here. Whatever you’re thinking of doing will have to be done pretty fast.”

  “I know. I’ll try to be back in an hour and I’ll explain everything. In the meantime, can you arrange for us to meet with Stella?”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” She didn’t sound too hopeful that whatever I’d dreamed up was going to save the day. I got up and we shook hands.

  “I’ll be back in an hour,” I said.

  Out in the hall I put on the tutu hat and the scarf. I trotted down the hallway, but as soon as someone came into view I stooped over and went back to my gimpy walk.

  The bellman at the lobby door told me the shuttle had just left for town. That meant it wouldn’t be back for at least another thirty minutes. I started down the entrance road, using my tutu walk until I was safely out of sight. Then I started jogging.

  I cut across Dole Park and, even though I had to resort to the old lady posture when I was on the main road, I made it back to the White Orchid in twenty minutes. I went in through the back gate and peered around the greenhouse to see if Wong’s car was out front. It wasn’t.

  I used my key to go through the back door and stood in the hallway listening for sounds of Darryl, Ewa or baby Ekana. Nothing.

  I let out the breath I’d been holding for who knows how long. I stripped off the hat and scarf and went up front to check for phone messages. There were five. Two were from prospective guests and three were from Detective Wong. I erased the ones from Wong.

  I grabbed a dust rag and ran it around the window sills and the coffee table, but I was in no mood to clean. I was itching to talk to the two housekeepers from the Lodge. What had they seen, and when? Was it actually possible that one of them had seen a man in the room? And what would I do if they described the guy as ‘about thirty-five, tall, good-looking and African-American’?