Wedding Day Dead: A Murder on Maui Mystery Read online

  “So they don’t send an e-mail out or something like that to tell you if the system is down?”

  Both guys shook their heads.

  “I never knew it to go down before. To tell you the truth, I never paid it much attention,” guy one said.

  “You guys know Peter Bell?” I asked.

  “Sure, we know Pete,” guy two said.

  “Does he work early mornings?”

  “Not that I know of. We’re usually out of here before he arrives,” guy one said.

  And my theory took another blow.

  “Thanks for your time, guys,” I said.

  They nodded, and I walked back to the marina office.

  It was now just after eight o’clock, and the office should have been open, but it wasn’t. I did another walk around the building. Maybe Peter was in the bathroom when I did my circle before. It was desperate thinking, but I had nothing better to do at that moment. Peter wasn’t magically there all of a sudden. The offices were still empty.

  I walked back to the front of the building and sat down on the front steps. Less than five minutes later, the receptionist I met on my first trip to the marina drove up. She climbed out of her car and walked toward me. She looked annoyed that I was there. Maybe she expected me to give her a hard time about opening up late, but I didn’t.

  “Can I help you?” she asked as she reached into her purse and fumbled for a second set of keys.

  She found the right key and unlocked the doors.

  “I was hoping to see Peter Bell again,” I said.

  “He doesn’t come in until nine,” she said.

  She opened the door, and I followed her into the office.

  “Is that right? I thought he told me the other day he was the person who opened the office.”

  “He told you that?” she asked.

  Now she definitely sounded annoyed. She walked behind the front desk and dropped her purse onto her chair.

  “I think so,” I said.

  “Well he doesn’t. I open up every morning. Peter never gets in before nine. It’s later if he doesn’t have an appointment. Sometimes I don’t even see him until ten or eleven.”

  So much for that idea, I thought. My theory officially died.

  “Would you like me to leave him a message for you?” she asked.

  I thought about switching gears, but I wasn’t sure where to go next with the questioning. My cell phone rang. It was Alana.

  “Thank you,” I told the receptionist.

  She didn’t reply, and I walked to the front door as I answered my cell phone.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “It’s me. I’m on my way to Hani’s house. Shae called Adcock last night and told him about seeing the white car following Panos. He’s already gotten a judge to sign off on a warrant. I can’t believe he’s moved this fast.”

  “A warrant for what?” I asked.

  “To search Hani’s house. He knows Hani drives a white car. He saw it in my driveway enough times when she was staying with me. Adcock’s at her house now. I’ve got to go. Hani’s calling again.”

  Alana ended the call.

  I stood there by the front door of the marina office. I felt guilty again for causing Hani this trouble. I should have told Shae to keep everything to herself, but I began to realize the search warrant wasn’t a big deal. Hani didn’t kill Panos. There would be nothing to find in her house. What is that sound I hear? Is that you laughing at me? Yeah, I was being naïve.

  I walked outside and saw the two guys I had spoken to earlier heading out on their boat. I assumed they were fishermen. I looked up at the blue sky. It was going to be another beautiful day. I wished I was going to be out there with them instead of on my way to see Detective Adcock. I told myself to keep my mouth shut and not confront Adcock, but that’s not ever an easy thing for me to do.

  I walked back to my car and started the engine. I did my best to obey the speed limit on the way over, but I found myself driving faster and faster as I got closer to Hani’s neighborhood. Unfortunately, I hit every red light on the way there. I know it happens to all of us when we’re in a hurry, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. I turned off the main road and into Hani’s neighborhood. I had tried to call Alana back a couple of times on the way over, but she didn’t answer the calls.

  There were two police cars parked in front of Hani’s house, along with two unmarked cars belonging to Alana and Adcock. Alana stood beside a police officer outside the house. Hani was on the other side of the officer. She looked terrified.

  I drove past several neighbors who had come out of their houses to gawk. I thought about yelling at them and telling them to get back in their houses, but I knew it would be a waste of my energy. I parked a few houses down from Hani’s and walked toward Alana and Hani as quickly as I could, too quickly for the police officer’s comfort, apparently. He put his hand on the butt of his gun. Talk about overreacting. This guy was going to shoot me for walking fast?

  “Stop right there, sir,” he barked.

  I stopped immediately and held my hands just above my waist. Alana put her hand gently on the officer’s opposite arm.

  “He’s with me,” she said.

  The officer released his grip on the weapon.

  I looked around the yard. I didn’t see any of the other police officers or Detective Adcock.

  “Is Adcock inside?” I asked.

  Alana nodded.

  “They got here about thirty minutes ago,” she said.

  Suddenly the garage door opened. We all turned and saw Adcock and two police officers standing inside. Adcock stepped to the front of the garage.

  “Officer, would you please bring Ms. Hu up here,” Adcock said.

  “This way, please,” the officer said.

  Hani followed the police officer up to the garage. Alana followed a few feet behind them, and I was a few feet behind her. We all walked into the garage. Detective Adcock had a big shit-eating grin on his face. I knew this couldn’t be good.

  “Is this your flashlight, Ms. Hu?” Detective Adcock asked.

  He indicated a black flashlight on a small work bench that was pressed against the garage wall. It looked like one of those heavy metal flashlights. Hani looked at it. She was confused.

  “No, I’ve never seen it before,” she said.

  “So how did it end up in your garage?” Adcock asked.

  “I don’t know. It wasn’t here before.”

  Alana walked closer to the flashlight. Adcock held out his hand to stop her.

  “Don’t,” Alana said.

  There was no hiding the venom in her voice.

  “No problem, Detective. You realize what’s on that flashlight, don’t you?” Adcock asked Alana.

  Alana said nothing. The lighting in the garage wasn’t good, and I wasn’t close enough to the flashlight to see what Alana was looking at. I already guessed what it was, though. I’m sure you did too.

  “What is it?” Hani asked.

  “It’s blood,” Alana said.

  “And hair. Black hair. How much do you want to bet that hair is going to match your fiancé’s when I get it tested?” Adcock asked.

  “That’s impossible,” Hani said.

  “Impossible? It’s right here, Ms. Hu.”

  Adcock turned to one of the police officers in the garage with us.

  “Officer,” he said.

  The police officer unclipped his handcuffs from his belt and walked over to Hani.

  “What’s going on?” Hani asked.

  “You have the right to remain silent,” the police officer said as he pulled Hani’s arms behind her back and slapped the handcuffs on her wrists. “Anything you say and do can and will be held against you in a court of law.”

  “Alana,” Hani started.

  Her voice was filled with panic.

  “You have the right to speak to an attorney,” the officer continued.

  “It’s okay, Hani. I’ll get this straightened out,” Alan
a said.

  Adcock laughed.

  “You really think so?” he asked Alana.

  She ignored him.

  “If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as they have been appointed to you?” the officer asked.

  “I know a good lawyer. I’ll call her for you,” Alana said.

  The police officer walked Hani down to his car and deposited her into the backseat. Alana and I stayed in the garage with Adcock. I saw Hani looking back at us through the window of the car. She started to cry.

  “You’re lucky you’re not in there with her,” Adcock said. “I told you to stay out of this.”

  “Really, Glen,” I said. “You’re going to pick this moment to try to flex your muscles?”

  “That’s Detective Adcock to you.”

  I wanted to tell him to kiss my ass, but what good would that have done? I’d have ended up arrested too, and then I’d be no help to Hani or Alana. I looked at Alana. I couldn’t believe how well she was handling this. Her expression was calm, but I could see the look of determination and resolve in her eyes. I had seen it a hundred times before. It always appeared when she wanted me to do something that I didn’t want to do. Now it was turned on Detective Obnoxious. Alana was going to prove him wrong. I had no doubt about that.

  Adcock turned to one of the other officers still in the garage with us.

  “Seal this place off,” he barked. Then he turned to me. “You need to leave. I don’t want you tampering with any of the evidence.”

  I knew I didn’t have the right to stay there.

  “I’ll call you later,” I told Alana.

  She nodded, and I walked down the driveway. I got as close as I could to the police car and mouthed the words ‘it’s okay’ to Hani. She saw me, but I didn’t know if she understood what I had just said. If she did understand, I hoped she believed me. I just wasn’t sure I believed myself.

  I didn’t know where to go after leaving Hani’s house. I didn’t want to head home. I feared I’d do nothing there but pace back and forth. I couldn’t follow Alana to the police headquarters. There was no way I could justify my presence. I wasn’t even sure what they would allow Alana to do. She was one of their lead detectives, but she had an undeniable conflict of interest. I didn’t know if that meant she would be forbidden to speak with Hani, let alone view the evidence against her.

  I found myself driving back to Lahaina and toward Harry’s Bar. The bar was closed when I got there. It was still too early, so I walked down Front Street until I hit a section that overlooked the harbor. It was one of my favorite places to sit and look out at the water.

  The more I thought about what had happened that morning, the more my head began to spin. I felt beyond guilty for bringing this on Hani. If I hadn’t spoken to Shae, the truth about Hani following Panos to the marina wouldn’t have come out. That’s what gave Adcock the evidence he needed for the search warrant. I didn’t think Hani was capable of murder. Alana agreed with me, but she was her sister. What did I expect her to say?

  I thought back to my one and only previous investigation. The resolution to that case had thoroughly surprised me, and it taught me the lesson that the killer is not always the guy with the black hat who has the word “killer” tattooed on his forearm. So maybe I was wrong about Hani. Maybe she was guilty. It made the most sense. She walked in on Panos kissing her sister and then found him betraying her a second time with Shae. It was hard to believe she followed him all the way to the marina, only to turn around and drive home. Did I really believe Hani was capable of putting those two things behind her and showing up for the wedding ceremony? I wouldn’t have been able to do it. I would have told him to go to hell and caught the first plane back to California.

  I also had to admit that I didn’t really know Hani very well. I couldn’t make the mistake of applying my values and feelings on her. I needed to find a way to put myself in her shoes and figure out her motivations and desires. She seemed like a case of contradictions though. On the one hand, she was the young woman who had the long-term relationship with Makani, a mild-mannered guy who seemed to have no ambition. A life with him seemed like it would be calm and steady but also incredibly boring and unadventurous. I wasn’t sure how that girl ended up with a self-absorbed jerk like Panos. The guy had money, though, and life with him seemed to be a permanent vacation. Was that Hani’s main reason for being with him? Maybe she thought the life of luxury was worth looking the other way regarding his indiscretions. She certainly wouldn’t be the first person willing to do that.

  I didn’t know what my next move should be. Did I concentrate on proving Hani innocent? What about the other suspects? I had interviewed everyone on Daphne’s list. Did I try to interview them again? Like I said before, my head was spinning.

  I called Foxx and brought him up to speed on Hani’s arrest. I asked him to meet me at Harry’s. I looked at my watch and saw the bar was about to open. I didn’t want to be standing outside the door when they unlocked it, so I got up and walked back toward Front Street. I just strolled up and down the street, gazing at the window displays like all the tourists. There were at least twenty or thirty of them walking around. They all looked happy. I looked at my watch again. I had killed about thirty minutes, so I headed to the bar. I was indeed the first customer of the day. I sat down at the bar and ordered a beer. One beer led to two which led to three. I looked around the bar. I was still the only customer. I sent Foxx a text message but got no reply. The bartender asked me if I wanted another beer, but I declined.

  A second later, I heard the bell jangle on the door. I turned around because I assumed it was Foxx. I was wrong.

  “They told me you like to hang out here,” Kai said.

  Kai stood just inside the door. A guy several inches taller than him was at his side. The guy looked like he could have been a pro wrestler. I turned away from them and just stared at the dozens of bottles of liquor behind the bar. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was about to happen. I heard their footsteps as they walked across the wooden floor. Kai smacked his hand on the bar.

  “I’m so glad we can have this conversation,” Kai said.

  I turned to him.

  “I’m really not in the mood to talk,” I said.

  “That’s funny. You expect my brother to talk about Panos, but now that I want to talk to you, you’re not in the mood.”

  He has a point, I thought.

  “Who told you to talk to my brother?” he asked.

  “Who says anybody asked me to? Maybe I just did it on my own.”

  “My brother had nothing to do with Panos. You need to stay the hell away from him.”

  “You made that perfectly clear yesterday.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But I think you could use more convincing.”

  “And who’s going to do that. You and this gorilla?” I asked.

  The gorilla shoved me hard against one of my shoulders, and my back slammed into the bar behind me.

  “You’re not making a very good case for your innocence,” I said.

  The friend shoved me again. This time even harder. I heard the bell on the door jangle again, but I couldn’t see who it was, because Kai and his enormous friend blocked my view.

  “This is going to be fun,” Kai said.

  “What is? I love to have fun,” Foxx said.

  I couldn’t see Foxx, but I easily recognized his voice. Kai and his friend turned around and saw Foxx walking toward us.

  “How do you know my friend?” Foxx asked them.

  They said nothing. Foxx stopped when he was a few feet from them. He was the same height as Kai’s grunt, but he outweighed him by at least thirty or forty pounds. Foxx turned to Kai.

  “You didn’t answer my question. How do you know my friend?”

  Kai still said nothing.

  “I’ll talk slowly so you can understand me,” Foxx said. “If my friend ever tells me you’re bothering him again, I�
�ll find you both and break your damn necks.”

  Foxx shoved Kai’s friend in the shoulder in the same spot he had shoved me seconds before. The gorilla almost lost his balance and fell into me.

  “Get the hell out of here,” Foxx said.

  They both waited a few seconds before doing anything. I guess maybe they were showing some defiance in an effort to save face. Finally they turned and walked out of the bar.

  “I appreciate you not destroying the bar. Can I get you anything?” the bartender asked Foxx.

  Foxx looked at the empty beer bottle in front of me.

  “We’ll have two more of those,” he said, and he sat down beside me.

  “That was interesting,” I said.

  “They’re all talk,” Foxx said.

  “No, I’m pretty sure they intended to beat the hell out of me.”

  The bartender put two beers in front of us.

  “Put them on his tab. He owes me one,” Foxx said.

  The bartender nodded and walked away.

  “Sorry I’m late. Michelle heard about Hani getting arrested and fell to pieces,” Foxx said.

  “Where is she now?” I asked.

  “Back at the house. I told her to play with the dog. It makes her feel better. So what are you going to do?”

  I took a sip of my beer.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted.

  Foxx shook his head.

  “I know just what Hani’s going through. Everybody thinks you’re guilty. You feel completely trapped.”

  “Not everybody,” I reminded him.

  “True.”

  Foxx held up his beer, and I tapped mine against his.

  “What does Alana say?” Foxx asked.

  “I haven’t spoken to her since I left Hani’s house.”

  “You’ve got to be there for her. She won’t show it, but I’m sure she’s losing it right about now.”

  “If she asks for my help, I’ll give it to her.”

  “The hell with that. Don’t wait to be asked. Just do it.”

  “She’s warned me off the case twice,” I said.

  “Because that’s her official line. I’m telling you, she wants your help.” Foxx put his empty beer on the bar. I looked at mine. It was still half full. “I’ll take another one,” he told the bartender.