Wedding Day Dead: A Murder on Maui Mystery Read online

  “You have zero proof he was coerced,” she said.

  The police officer read me my rights as he escorted me up the dock and to his car. He removed a thick canvas belt from the trunk of the car. It had a metal loop on it, and he wrapped it around my waist. He then pulled my good arm behind my back and handcuffed it to the metal loop. He then zip-tied my cast to the belt. My arms weren’t going anywhere. He shoved me into the backseat of the car and shut the door. I looked back toward Panos’ boat but couldn’t see it from the angle the car was parked. I knew the murder charges wouldn’t stick, but I couldn’t help but be nervous. This was my first time in the back of a police car if you don’t count the time Alana pretended to arrest me outside Harry’s.

  They took me to the station and booked me on murder charges. They then threw me into a large cell populated by about twelve other guys. I had no idea what they were in there for, and I had no desire to get to know them.

  Despite what I may have implied earlier, I don’t think Detective Glen Adcock is a dumb guy. In fact, I think he’s somewhat clever in certain aspects. I do think he’s an incredibly lazy detective, and there’s no doubt in my mind he royally screwed up this investigation. Did I think he’d ever acknowledge that or even apologize to me? No chance. He’s clearly a vindictive tool. He uses the law to settle grudges and perceived grievances. But is he dumb? No. Case in point, he arrested me on a Friday afternoon. He knew nothing was going to get done over the weekend, so I would sit in that cell for close to seventy-two hours before they finally let me out.

  I probably would have been locked up even longer had it not been for Alana. She visited me a few times over the weekend and told me she was doing everything she could to get me free. I believed her, but it didn’t make the weekend any better or go any faster for that matter. They finally let me out late Monday morning. Adcock wasn’t there. In fact, I didn’t see him anywhere in the police station. I guessed he decided to do a coffee run or just take a personal day to work on his insecurities. Maybe he needed time to reflect on how he messed this thing up. Maybe he was just brainstorming on other bogus charges he could hit me with. Either way, I was glad I didn’t see him.

  “The medical examiner is a friend of mine,” Alana said.

  We walked toward the exit.

  “I convinced her to do the examination over the weekend. Makani’s time of death is around the time you were in the emergency room. You’ve got multiple witnesses to confirm that, as well as your medical records. By the way, we owe the M.E. an incredibly expensive steak dinner.”

  “No problem. I’ll be glad to buy her and a date of her choice dinner anytime.”

  We walked outside. The sky was overcast, and it looked like it might rain any second. I didn’t care about the crappy weather. I was just thrilled to be out of there. We walked toward Alana’s car, which was parked in the back of the lot.

  “What about Hani? That video has to exonerate her,” I said.

  “Mara Winters has seen the video and has filed a petition for her release. I don’t see the judge not granting it, but the hearing isn’t until this afternoon.”

  “If the judge agrees, how fast will she be out?”

  “By today if all goes according to plan. She knows what you did for her. She told me to tell you how grateful she is.”

  “It’s no problem,” I said.

  “No problem? You got your arm broken, and you were thrown in jail.”

  “You know what I mean. I wanted to help.”

  We reached her car. Alana put her arms on the roof and looked across the car to me.

  “I know what you did too. Thank you,” she said.

  “I did it for you,” I said.

  “I know.”

  We climbed into Alana’s car, and she drove out of the parking lot. We drove in silence for several minutes.

  “I guess Kai and his mother know what happened,” I said.

  “I told them. It was bad, especially with the mother.”

  I nodded. I couldn’t have imagined how difficult that must have been for them to hear. As much as I disliked Kai, I didn’t want something as awful as Makani’s suicide to happen to his family. Their pain had to be beyond belief.

  “Did you get a chance to look over Makani’s phone? Was there any other information on there that’s useful?”

  “We went through everything. Nothing stood out but the text to you and the video recording of his confession,” she said.

  “What about the gun Makani used to kill himself ? Does it match the weapon used to murder Peter Bell?” I asked.

  “I’m still waiting on the ballistics report. My guess is yes.”

  We drove for several minutes, and we approached the turnoff for the marina.

  “Foxx and I picked up your car. It’s back at the house.”

  “Thanks.”

  I looked out the window as Alana drove past the marina. I certainly couldn’t see Panos’ boat from the road, but I knew it was down there. I thought the thing should be torn apart and recycled piece by piece.

  “Foxx is pretty pissed at you. He can’t believe you didn’t wait for him.”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty pissed at myself too,” I said.

  “That makes three of us mad at you.”

  I turned to her.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “You should be. Oh, I forgot. There’s actually four of us mad at you. The dog’s angry too. There was no one there willing to walk him.”

  “Foxx didn’t take him out?” I asked.

  “I’m sure he did, but the dog is still bent out of shape.”

  “I’ll give him a bone to chew on. That’s should repair our relationship.”

  XXI

  Doubts

  After viewing the video confession, the prosecutor recommended all charges against Hani be dropped. The judge agreed, and Alana threw Hani one of the biggest parties I had ever seen. At least for the time being, the animosity I had first seen between the two sisters had completely disappeared. Hopefully that would remain the same for a long time to come. I only knew a few people at the party, including Hani, Alana, Foxx, and Michelle, but I had one of the best times of my life that evening. We stayed up well past dawn. I don’t even remember going to bed. I think I fell asleep in Alana’s backyard at some point. The next few days were a bit foggy. The older you get, the harder it seems to be to get over those all-night parties.

  Hani decided not to move back to Los Angeles. I don’t know if she was ever serious about the modeling career. She was certainly beautiful enough, but I still thought her main goal of moving to California was to get Panos away from Alana and other women like Shae. I had no doubt, though, that Panos probably had a list of beautiful women in L.A. too. The city certainly had no shortage of them. Panos must have loved Hani, at least in his own way. He committed to marrying her after all. The guy was still a mystery to me, and with his passing, I knew there was no way I’d ever figure him out completely or even partially. He obviously had a charm that made him irresistible to people, but he was also self-centered and egotistical. Regardless of his tendency to ignore the feelings of others, he didn’t deserve his fate.

  This story, though, was also about the death of Makani. He was the classic example of the quiet guy who was pushed too far. I thought back to the verbal confrontation he had with Panos the night of the wedding rehearsal party. Panos had thoroughly humiliated him. I wondered if Makani had made the decision to stay home that night, how things would have turned out? Would Panos and Hani actually have gotten married? Would they be happy today? I guessed they were silly questions to ask considering how they were totally irrelevant now. I just couldn’t shake the feeling all of this was one giant example of how a human life can be snuffed out for such an insignificant reason. I did my best to put the entire ordeal behind me. After all, life goes on.

  My relationship with Alana seemed back on track. I don’t want to say it was like the kiss between her and Panos never happened because it did, and it wasn’t som
ething I could forget. But I did my best to forgive. I assumed it was only a matter of time before I screwed up something in the future. So who am I to cast stones? There’s enough of that going around these days.

  As good as things had become for me again, I couldn’t shake lingering doubts about my investigation into Panos’ murder. I knew there was something that just didn’t feel right. It’s kind of like when you’re leaving your house and you just know you’re forgetting something, but the harder you try to figure out what it is, the less likely you are to remember what you’re missing. The doubt kept growing, and it was annoying, like a splinter in my palm. Yes, Makani confessed to the crime. I knew my initial suspicions were that Kai killed Panos. I didn’t think Makani had it in him, but I did believe the confession. Also, I didn’t think Makani would commit suicide just to take the fall for Kai.

  Here’s what really bothered me, though. Alana eventually got the ballistics test from the gun Makani used to kill himself. That gun was not used to shoot Peter Bell. Granted, Makani could have used a different gun, but was it likely he had two guns? Maybe, but I didn’t think so. Furthermore, Makani hadn’t expressed remorse for killing Peter Bell during his video confession. He didn’t even bring it up. I’m sure you noticed that before I did. Makani was a sensitive guy. I didn’t think he would just ignore Peter’s death.

  The flashlight also stuck out. I didn’t believe Makani would frame Hani by stashing the bloody flashlight in her garage, so I really thought a second person was still out there. It was probably Kai. He may not have killed Panos, but I had him pegged for the killing of Peter Bell. I just didn’t know how to get evidence on him, especially now that Makani was gone and couldn’t be interrogated. I hated the thought there might be a second killer walking around free. I just didn’t know what to do.

  There was something else that kept popping up in my mind that I mentioned before. Daphne’s behavior toward me. I didn’t understand why she was against me continuing the investigation after Hani was arrested. Daphne seemed to be a smart lady, so I had a difficult time comprehending how she believed such flimsy evidence as the planted flashlight. I knew she wanted the killer to be found. Could she have really believed Hani did it? Yes, she said she always thought Hani was only interested in Panos’ money, but that was another factor that pointed to her innocence. Daphne had to have realized that. Hani wouldn’t kill someone when she’d already signed a prenup, and there was no life insurance policy in place that would have given her a dime should Panos die. Plus, Hani never officially became Mrs. Panos Laskaris to begin with. She got nothing by killing Panos the night before the wedding. It wasn’t like Hani just discovered Panos was cheating on her either. That was apparently obvious to everyone who knew Panos well. Certainly Daphne fit into that category. You’re probably wondering why I obsessed so much over the Daphne thing. I just don’t like loose ends, and this was definitely a loose one.

  It was during one of the moments I was obsessing over Daphne’s strange behavior that Alana called and asked if I was in the mood for dinner at Eddie’s. It was a Friday evening, and we were both looking forward to the weekend. She asked me to pick her up from work in a couple of hours. I was pretty bored at home, so I decided to drive to Harry’s to grab a beer before meeting Alana. I hadn’t been in the bar since apologizing to the owner. I was a little embarrassed to go back, but I figured I liked the place, so why continue to avoid it?

  When I entered Harry’s, I saw Shae working behind the bar.

  “What happened to your arm?” she asked.

  I looked at my cast. I still had to wear it for another two weeks.

  “Oh, just clumsy, I guess. How long have you been working here?” I asked.

  I slid onto a bar stool.

  “A few days. What can I get you?” she asked.

  “Coors Light, please.”

  Shae fished out a beer and popped the top. She put the beer down in front of me.

  “Thanks. How do you like bartending?” I asked.

  “I’m a lot more tired at the end of the night, but the tips make up for it.”

  “Good. I’m glad things worked out for you. I had a feeling they would,” I said.

  “It was good I got out when I did. I heard the View is about to close.”

  “Really?”

  “I ran into Dolly in the grocery store. She said Wes has decided to close the place and open a new restaurant back in Paia.”

  “That’s surprising. I thought Jim might turn things around for them,” I said.

  “Dolly said Wes and Jim are constantly at each other’s throats.”

  “I didn’t see that coming,” I admitted.

  “Wes picked one prima donna partner for another,” she said.

  “So what’s Jim going to do?”

  “Don’t know. He sure as hell isn’t going to Paia with Wes. I don’t think Wes wants to ever see Jim’s face again.”

  “I remember Wes told me he wasn’t happy with the business in Paia. It doesn’t make sense he would try to go there again.”

  “He’s desperate,” Shae said.

  There was a giddiness to Shae’s voice. I couldn’t blame her after the way Wes allowed Jim to fire her with no warning. The fact that Wes didn’t even have the courage to do it himself just added to the bitter feelings.

  “Speaking of moving on, I heard Daphne moved back to California to be with her mother,” I said.

  “I can see that. With Panos gone, there’s probably not much reason for her to stay.”

  I took a long sip from my beer.

  That’s not her mother by the way,” Shae said.

  I almost choked on my beer.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Daphne’s parents died in a car accident in Greece. She went to live with Panos and his family when she was just a teenager.”

  “So Panos’ mother is her aunt or something?” I asked.

  “Panos father and Daphne’s father were brothers.”

  “That makes Panos and Daphne cousins,” I said.

  “Yep.”

  I thought back to my first visit to Daphne’s house. I remembered looking at the family photographs in the sitting room. There were several photos of Panos as a child but none of Daphne. She didn’t appear in the photos with Panos until she was a teenager. Now it all made sense. I stood and pulled my wallet out.

  “Thanks for the info and the beer.”

  I slid some cash onto the bar.

  “Good luck with the new job,” I continued.

  “Thanks.”

  Shae grabbed a wet cloth and cleaned the bar top.

  I walked outside and headed to my car. Panos and Daphne were cousins and not brother and sister. That was interesting. I brought that little fun fact up to Alana when I picked her up. She said she didn’t know it either, but she didn’t understand why I found it so intriguing. She told me it made perfect sense for them to give people the impression they were siblings when they had grown up together, at least for part of their childhoods.

  We drove to the restaurant and had a pleasant meal. Our conversation consisted of what we wanted to do that weekend. We debated over seeing a movie but realized there wasn’t much out we wanted to see. We were almost finished with dinner when Aaron Tench approached our table. I hadn’t seen him in the restaurant earlier.

  “I was glad to hear Hani was released,” Tench said.

  “So were we,” Alana said.

  “How’s she doing?” he asked.

  “She’s better. She misses Panos, of course, but she’s just taking it day by day,” Alana said.

  “I guess that’s all you can do,” he said.

  “Do you come here a lot?” I asked.

  Tench patted his stomach.

  “Way more than I should. I usually pass the restaurant on my way back from work. Sometimes it’s hard not to stop, especially when I don’t feel like making myself dinner at home.”

  “Speaking of your work, my friend, Foxx, has a nice pool in his backya
rd, but the landscaping around it isn’t that great. I thought I might hire you to spruce it up, sort of a thank you to Foxx for letting me live at his place.”

  “Sure. Sounds like it could be a nice project. Just let me know when would be a good time to stop by and look at the place.”

  “We’re in Ka’anapali, though. Do you do work that far out?”

  “I’m out that way all the time. Most of my clients are over there,” he said.

  “Didn’t you used to live out there?” I asked.

  “Yeah, it’s a nice area. I just wanted something a bit more isolated.”

  I found that somewhat strange. I can understand someone wanting to have privacy, but he’d moved a pretty good distance away from his main client base. I imagined landscaping was a tough job that often required long hours. Who the hell would want to do such a long drive afterward?

  “I heard Daphne moved back to California,” Alana said.

  Tench said nothing.

  “Have you considered it yourself? I know you guys were childhood friends,” she continued.

  “I’m happy here,” he said.

  “When was the last time you were there?” I asked.

  “It’s been years,” he said.

  “You know, you should give Hani a call sometime. She’d probably be glad to hear from you,” Alana said.

  “I will,” he said.

  Tench reached into his wallet and removed a business card. He handed it to me.

  “Just give me a shout when you’re ready to start your project,” he said.

  He started to leave.

  “I have a random question,” I said.

  Tench stopped.

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “Is everything okay between you and the Laskaris family? Hani told me you had somewhat of a falling out with Panos. Is that true?”

  “No.”

  I could have accepted the one word answer, but it was the way he said it. He didn’t say “no” like he was bewildered as to why I would ask such a thing. And without the confusion in his voice, I would have expected him to elaborate if the answer was, in fact, “no.” He should have said something like, “No, I don’t know why she would say that.” Instead, he said “no” as if I had just asked him if he would like a red hot poker to the eyeball.