O'ahu Lonesome Tonight? (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series #5) (26 page)

I didn’t worry
about libel. Or slander.
Or defamation of any kind.
That kind of stuff only applies if what you’re saying isn’t true. And after
hearing what Jason had to say, I was sure there’d be plenty of guys who’d back
up my allegations. After all, with Stuart dead, they had no reason to lie.
Maybe I’d find a way to sweeten the deal, like when Anna Nicole Smith died and
practically every guy on the planet claimed to be her daughter’s father.
Funny how money brings out the paternal instincts in guys with
loose morals.

I pulled in the
driveway and there was a strange car parked in the portico. It was an enormous
Beemer. I figured it was kismet that I’d showed up to accuse Natalie of
cheating on Stuart while she was bedding her latest conquest.

Yvonne answered
the door. Once again, she appeared anxious.

“No worries,
Yvonne,” I said in a low voice. “After what I have to say to your sister you’ll
be free as a bird.”

Her facial expression
didn’t change. She stepped back and I came inside.

“Natalie?” I
said in my announcer voice. “It’s me,
Pali
.” I hoped
she wouldn’t choose to answer and I could stomp down the hall and wrench open
her bedroom door and catch her ‘coitus
dilecti
’ with
whoever drove the big Beemer.

But
disappointingly she called from the living room. “We’re in here,
Pali
.”

I crossed to
the living room and found Natalie and Barry Salazar sharing the sofa. He was
leaning back, with his hands clasped across his chest as if he’d just snatched
them back from groping her.

“Hello Barry,”
I said.

He started to
stand.

“No, please
don’t get up,” I said. “I can only stay a few minutes.”

 I hadn’t
thought about having an audience to my little intervention, but now that it
presented itself I realized it was better that way.

“I have a
couple of things I need to say to Natalie.”

Natalie picked
up a little brass bell from the coffee table and rang it. The tinkle sounded
like the bell in Farrah’s store reminding me that in just a few hours I’d be
back
home. I’d get this done and then I could head to the
airport.

Yvonne appeared
in the doorway. Natalie talked to her in Chinese and Yvonne nodded. Then
Natalie turned to Barry. “It was so nice of you to come over to console me. But
I should get back to dealing with everything I need to handle. And as
Pali
said, she only has a few minutes.” She got up and
started heading for the door.

“It’s okay with
me if Barry stays,” I said.

He ignored me
and got up and followed Natalie to the foyer.

When she came
back in the room, she didn’t sit down. She crossed her arms on her chest.
“Whatever you have to say, just say it. From the look on your face, I have a
feeling you’ve been listening to Jason.”

“I have. And
he’s told me everything.”

She snorted. “And
you believed him.”

“Why shouldn’t
I? It all makes sense. You
guilting
him into getting
you pregnant and then blackmailing him into keeping his mouth shut while you
hopped in bed with half of Honolulu.”

She shot me a
malevolent smile.
“Oh sweetie.
Your father thought you
were the smart one. But obviously the old man should’ve done his homework.”

“I’m not here
to talk about my father,” I said. “I’m here to accuse you of killing my
brother. You knew exactly what you were doing when you pushed him in that canal.
You were probably hoping he’d drown.”

“I have no idea
what you’re talking about. I’m not proud to have to say this, but the night my
husband fell into the
Ala
Wai
Canal I was unable to help him. I was right here.
In my
house.
With someone who can provide me with an
ironclad alibi.”

“Your sister?”

“Hardly.
My sister doesn’t speak English.” She chuckled and
then said, “But I supposed the police are required to provide an interpreter.
So I guess that makes it
two
ironclad alibis. Better for me.”

“Who’s the
other person?”

“He just walked
out the door. But don’t bother chasing him down. We’ve got our stories
straight.”

Right then it
hit me. Stuart had been tossed overboard by the people he loved long before he
ended up in the
Ala
Wai
Canal.

***

My flight back
to Maui seemed short. Maybe it was because I was running through ‘What ifs’ and
‘If I could haves’ that all resulted in dead ends. What was I missing? What bit
of evidence could I offer the police that would allow them to unhinge Natalie’s
so-called perfect crime?

Now that I was
pretty sure I had all the pieces I still didn’t have any proof. Even Wendi
Takeda acknowledged she was reluctant to print that Natalie had pushed Stuart
into the canal that night.

“She’s the grieving
widow,” she said. “I’m not only inviting a libel charge but also a huge
backlash from the public. No way
my editor would
approve it.”

When I got to
the Kahului airport I was thrilled to see Farrah and Ono waiting for me at the
bottom of the escalator.

“
Aloha
,”
said a beaming Farrah as she draped
a double-strand orchid
lei
around my neck.

Ono stepped up
and placed
a smaller, but more fragrant
plumeria
lei
on top of the orchid one. He gave me a peck on both cheeks.

“Glad to have
you back,” he said.

“Great to be back.”

“We were so
sorry to hear about your brother. We sent flowers to the service. Did you get
them?”

It was odd to
hear him say ‘we’ and realize he and Farrah would be ‘we’ for a long time;
hopefully forever. “I’m sure they arrived. The memorial service was huge. I’m
afraid I didn’t get to see all the cards from all the flowers.
But
mahalo
for thinking of me.”

“You look
fried,” said Farrah. “I’m sure this past week has been a total bummer.”

“You have no
idea,” I said. “Can I ask a big favor?”

“Sure,” they
said in unison.

I looked at
Ono. “Would you mind if Farrah comes with me back to
Pa’ia
?
I could really use the company.”

He smiled. “We
already planned she would. I’ve got to get back down to
Lahaina
.
I
gotta
get the cat ready for a sunset sail tonight.”

I hugged him
and then I went to get my car from the parking lot. While I waited for the
crosswalk light to change I turned and looked at them. They were kissing.
Farrah had her arms around his neck and he’d pulled her in close. Like loving couples
do.

I took a deep
breath and thought about my brother and Natalie. Then the light turned to
‘walk’ and I headed for my car.

***

As we drove up
to
Pa’ia
, I recounted to Farrah how I’d learned what
had happened to Stuart and how Barry and Natalie were poised to get away with
it. I finished with, “Barry Salazar’s backing her up one-hundred percent. After
all, with Stu dead he’s four million dollars richer. So not only is Natalie
literally getting away with murder; everyone feels sorry for her. The City of
Honolulu will probably fork over millions of dollars to settle her claim
against them.”

“Wow,” Farrah
said. “That’s like biblical, you know?”

I looked over
at her. “I wish it were biblical. I’d turn her ass into a pillar of salt.”

“No, think
about it,” she said. “Remember about the sins of the father being visited upon
the children? Looks like it came true. Your dad never paid the piper so now his
son will never get justice.”

“Huh. That’s
true.”

“But don’t
worry,
Pali
. Remember
karma
?”

“Oh yeah, your
old pal,
karma
,” I said. “I figure if anyone’s entitled to good
karma
,
it’s you. You should’ve found a lamp with a genie in it
who’ll
make all your wishes come true.”

“I did,” she
said.

“Did what?”

“Did find someone who makes all my wishes come true.”
She smiled
and put her hand over mine on the gear knob.

“You’re so
sweet,” I said. “But I’m afraid
karma’s
a nice idea, but it’s not real.”

“No,” Farrah
said. “
Karma’s
righteously real. And even if it wasn’t, human nature’s
totally real. I watch people all day. I see how they tick. You let somebody
filch a pack of gum; next day they’ll be back for your cash box. Greed never
sleeps.”

I stared at her
until the wheels on the car hit the gravel. “You’re right! That’s it.”

I swerved and got
back on the road.

“Are you okay?”
she said. “What’s ‘it’?”

“I need to go
back to Honolulu,” I said.

“Right now?”

“No, but soon.
Maybe tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve
nailed it,” I said. “
Greed never sleeps
.”

CHAPTER 37

We spent the
rest of the ride up to
Pa’ia
talking about Farrah and
Ono’s plans for their Halloween wedding. The good news was they were both
laid-back people so the whole affair was going to be more beach than cathedral;
more barbeque than china-plate dinner.

“Remember the
little christening ceremony we had down at Baldwin Beach last summer?” she
said.

How could I
forget? What happened shortly after that was one of the most depressing times
in our long friendship.

“Well,” she
went on. “I want my wedding to be like that. Halloween falls on a Wednesday
this year, so that’s
kinda
a bummer. But everyone
takes the day off anyway, so I’ll have the wedding during the day. We’ll do a
beachside ceremony and then have a party until dark. Nothing fancy but a good
time for everybody.”

“Do you want
people to wear costumes?” I said.

“If they want.
Then they could go down to
Lahaina
and keep the party going.”

“Are you going
to wear a costume?” I said.

“Sure.
And Ono too.”

“What are you
coming as?”

“Duh.
A bride and groom.”

“Well then,
you’re
gonna
need a big
ol
’
bride dress.”

“I know. Where
can I get one in a month?”

I glanced at
Farrah’s
Rubenesque
 figure
. “There’s not much to pick from here on Maui.
We’ll need to go to Honolulu. They have a much wider selection of styles and
sizes over there.”

She sighed.
Loudly.

“Okay,
I’ll
find you something in Honolulu. The shops over there will let me take a few
dresses on loan. I’ll bring them back and you can try them on and see which one
you like.”

She reached
over and patted my arm. “If you weren’t driving I’d give you a big
ol
’ hug.”

“Save the hug
for when I bring you the perfect wedding gown.”

***

I called Hatch
to tell him I’d made it back to Maui. It’d only been three days since we
talked, but it felt like weeks.

“Hey, it’s
great to hear your voice,” he said.

“The phone goes
both ways, you know.”

“I know. I’m
sorry. I had classes and then I got called out every day this week except
today.” He sounded disappointed to have a day off.

“But you’re
enjoying it?” I said.

“Best gig ever.
I’ve made almost as much in the past two weeks as I make in two months sitting
on my butt in the station.”

I didn’t want
to have the ‘mainland move’ conversation on the telephone so I changed the
subject. I told him the short version of Natalie’s plotting to kill Stu and
then getting the pity vote for being a young pregnant widow. I also mentioned
how she’d managed to talk Barry into alibiing her since he was about to come
into four million bucks.

“So that’s it?
She’s getting away with it?” he said.

“Not if I can
help it. I’m going back tomorrow to look at wedding dresses for Farrah and
check out something I should’ve looked into when I was there. I’ll let you know
how it goes.”

We promised
each other to stay safe and then said our ‘I love
you’s
’
before hanging up.

***

Steve wasn’t at
home on Friday when I got there and he still hadn’t returned when I had to
leave to go back to the airport on Saturday morning. I wrote him a note saying
I’d been home but had to leave and I’d be back again on Sunday. I couldn’t help
but wonder if he’d already accepted the job in Honolulu. I doubted I’d be too
eager to fly over to Honolulu very often to visit him in his new digs, but I
hoped he’d come back to Maui now and then. The house felt hollow without him.

I couldn’t get
on the first few flights to HNL so it was nearly noon when I landed. I rented a
car since I’d be doing some driving. I called
Moko
and told him I was back in town for the day looking at wedding gowns, but I
didn’t divulge my other reason for coming back so soon.

“By the way, do
you still have keys to the boat yard?” I asked.

“The boat
yard?” he said. “I was just a working stiff out there. But I got Stu’s keys.
They gave me his personal effects when he, you know.” He choked up, but cleared
his throat and went on.
“Why you asking?
You want to
go out there? I don’t want you going out there by yourself. It’s not a good
neighborhood.”

“I’m not
planning on going. I just wondered who had keys to the place.”