I thought he might extend his hand. He didn’t. I didn’t offer a handshake either.
“Would you like something to drink or eat?” I asked.
“No, thank you. I had a late lunch,” Tavii said.
“Please have a seat,” I said.
I walked to the other side of the booth and squeezed in beside Foxx. Tavii sat opposite us. Then he glanced around the bar, probably to see if anyone was trying to listen to us.
“This is a pretty slow time of the day. No one will eavesdrop,” Foxx said, reading Tavii’s obvious concern.
Tavii turned back to us.
“You got your wish. I’m here,” he said in what was clearly a hostile tone.
“Why so upset?” Foxx asked.
“I thought we agreed we wouldn’t be seen together anymore,” Tavii said.
“We did? I don’t recall having that conversation,” I said.
“It was implied,” Tavii said.
“How’s that?” Foxx asked.
“Look, we all know what went down. You both blackmailed me. You’re lucky I’m the forgiving type,” Tavii said.
Foxx laughed.
“Is that right?”
“You think this is funny?” Tavii asked.
“Yes, I do,” Foxx said.
Tavii turned to me.
“Is he serious?”
“As a heart attack. Foxx generally doesn’t respond well to threats, but who does? I think you have a gross misunderstanding of what went down between us,” I said.
“Oh yeah? Then tell me your version of what happened,” Tavii said.
“I was about to do that. We were investigating a murder, which is what brought us to you. Your corruption, and yes that’s the right word for it, wasn’t hard to figure out. It also wasn’t our fault that you got in over your head. You’re still a free man and you’re still the mayor. I would think you’d be feeling pretty damn grateful toward us,” I said.
Tavii didn’t respond.
“Nice summary, Poe, and an accurate one at that,” Foxx said.
“Why don’t we agree to put all of that behind us. Let’s get to the purpose you’re here. What have you heard about Eric Ellis?” I asked.
“Not much. I know they found his body after he vanished five years ago. I’ve done my best to find what the police know so far, but I’ve come up empty,” Tavii said.
“Is that surprising?” Foxx asked.
“Yes. The police don’t normally keep secrets from the mayor. But given who Eric was, I understand.”
“How well did you know Eric?” Foxx asked.
“That’s a tricky question to answer. He worked for my family for a long time, but it wasn’t like we were close friends.”
“Were you aware that he tried to blackmail your grandmother?” I asked.
“Not at the time.”
“That’s surprising,” Foxx said.
“Not really. I don’t work for my grandmother. She doesn’t share business details unless there’s a need for me to know,” Tavii said.
“Just curious, why didn’t you go work for the family?” I asked.
“My grandmother always encouraged me to get into politics. She wanted me to be Hawaii’s governor. There’s no chance of that now.”
“I asked your grandmother who she thinks might have killed Eric. She couldn’t provide me with any specific names,” I said.
“I assumed you were going to ask me the same question. I could only come up with one person. Lee Walters.”
“Who’s that?” Foxx asked.
“He worked with Eric. My grandmother got rid of him after everything that went down.”
“He was part of the blackmail scheme?” I asked.
“My grandmother certainly thought so. Lee and Eric were best friends. No one thought it was possible that Lee didn’t know what was going on.”
“That includes you too?” Foxx asked.
“Absolutely. Those guys were practically inseparable.”
“If they were such good friends, then why do you think Lee may have killed Eric?” I asked.
“Because Eric ruined Lee’s life. Lee was making a lot of money from my family. Eric screwed all that up with his ridiculous scheme. Anyone who knows my grandmother would realize she’d never agree to a payoff.”
“Is that because she’d have other ways of dealing with it?” Foxx asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tavii asked.
“I think it’s obvious,” Foxx said.
“My grandmother’s no pushover. She wasn’t about to let some guy like Eric Ellis take advantage of her, especially after everything she did for him. That guy came from nothing. Anything he had was because of her generosity. That’s how people are, though, aren’t they? All they care about is what’s in it for them.”
“Do you know where Lee Walters is now?” I asked.
“He’s still on Maui, as far as I know. I don’t know what he does to make money.”
“There’s no one else you know who might have wanted to murder Eric Ellis?” Foxx asked.
“No. He’s the only one. Of course, I’m not saying he actually did it. I have no idea. Now, I’ve told you both all I know. I trust you won’t call me again.”
“Thanks for stopping by, Mr. Mayor,” I said.
“Any idea what you’re going to do when your term is up?” Foxx asked.
“Go to hell,” Tavii said.
“Go to hell? Why did you say that?” Foxx asked.
Tavii slid out of the booth and left Harry’s without saying another word.
Foxx turned to me.
“What did I say?”
“The guy’s ruined, Foxx. You just reminded him of something he didn’t need to be reminded of.”
“No, I didn’t. I asked him a question.”
“How do you think our first interview went?” I asked.
“We got one lead. That’s better than nothing. I guess we need to track down this Lee Walters guy.”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed. I looked at the display but didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello.”
“I’m calling for Edgar Rutherford.”
“You’ve got him.”
“Mr. Rutherford, my name is Josh Parrish. I’m a detective with the Maui Police Department. I’m hoping we can meet.”
Alana’s prediction had come true, but much sooner than I’d thought it would.
6
The Detective
Since I had some free time, I agreed to meet with Detective Parrish immediately. Okay, let me rephrase that to make it more accurate. Since I didn’t want to go home and potentially get sucked into more endless talk about Hani’s wedding, I agreed to meet with Detective Parrish immediately.
He suggested we meet at a coffee shop not far from the police station in Kahului. It was a bit of a drive for me, but I didn’t mind considering that the gorgeous weather of the morning had decided to stick around. I hopped into the convertible (top down, of course) and threw on some music from jazz musician, Wes Montgomery.
I was obviously going through a jazz phase. If you’re going to have a phase, though, it might as well be that one. Better than a tattoo phase that you’ll regret decades later when you’re in the nursing home and that cool tribal tattoo is now a misshapen design on sagging skin.
The coffee shop wasn’t the most original of meeting places. It was a popular hangout for the local cops, and they did serve excellent coffee, or so I’m told. I’m not a huge coffee drinker, and I usually end up ordering something else.
As I entered the coffee shop, a tall man in the back corner stood and walked over to me. He was about my height at six foot two. He had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. I estimated his age at around thirty.
“Mr. Rutherford, I’m Josh Parrish,” he said, and he extended his hand, which I shook. “You may not remember this, but we’ve actually met before.”
“Yes. The holiday party. How’s your wife doing?”
“She�
��s great. Thanks for asking.”
“By the way, you can call me Poe if you like. But it’s really whatever makes you most comfortable.”
“Sure thing, and please call me Josh. I haven’t gotten used to the whole Detective Parrish thing yet.”
“Of course.”
I followed him back to his table, and we sat down.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Detective Parrish asked.
“No, I’m good. So, what did you want to talk about?” I asked, although I thought I already had a pretty good idea.
“I understand that you’re a consultant with the department and that detectives are free to call you if they think they might need help.”
“That’s right.”
“This is only my second case. The first one wasn’t much of a challenge and I had it wrapped up in a few days.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks. Then they dropped this new one on me. It’s formidable to say the least.”
“Is it the Eric Ellis case?” I asked.
“You know about that?”
“One hears things on a small island.”
“What do you know about it?”
“Not much, only that Eric Ellis went missing five years ago and his body recently turned up,” I said.
“His remains were found by a man hiking with his dog. He didn’t have the dog on a leash and the dog took off. When he found the dog, it had a bone in its mouth. The radius bone to be exact. Whoever killed Eric Ellis dug a shallow grave. It was only a matter of time before the rain exposed parts of the body.”
“How was he killed?”
“A single gunshot to the back of the head, execution style.”
“Before we go any further, I need to make sure you’re aware of something. I was contacted by a client to look into this murder. This could be considered a conflict of interest,” I said.
Detective Parrish didn’t immediately respond.
Then he asked, “Could this new client be considered a suspect?”
“Probably, but I feel confident they didn’t do it. I wouldn’t have taken the case otherwise.”
Okay, that wasn’t technically true since I’ve been guilty more than once of working for a crooked client. In fairness to me, I didn’t know they were guilty at the time, although I’d probably suspected it on some level.
“Are you always right about your client’s guilt or innocence?” he asked.
“Unfortunately, no.”
“So, you have no way of knowing if this new client, let’s say her hypothetical name is Mele Akamu, might be guilty?”
That was interesting, I thought. The fresh-faced detective wasn’t as green as he’d initially tried to appear. Or had I simply assumed he was? One sometimes judges without realizing they’re doing so.
“What makes you think it’s her?” I asked.
“You’re not going to confirm or deny it?”
“Not yet. I’m more intrigued as to why you tossed out that name.”
“Is this some kind of test?”
“No and forgive me if it comes across that way. I enjoy learning how others solve puzzles. That’s all.”
Detective Parrish took a sip of his coffee. Then he put the cup back down on the table.
“I heard rumors that Mayor Akamu was somehow involved in your wife’s last major investigation. I also heard rumors that his grandmother, Mele Akamu, intervened. I doubt that she went to Detective Hu directly. My guess is that she did the next best thing. She spoke with you and you passed along whatever information she wanted to get back to the police.”
I smiled.
“Is something funny?” he asked.
“No, nothing funny. I just realized the irony of this conversation.”
“What’s ironic about it?”
“Nothing about this conversation in general. It’s a specific question you asked a few seconds ago. You asked me if I was testing you. You had a bit of aggression in your voice, as if I’d offended you.”
“I’m a new detective, fresh off the boat so to speak. People are going to underestimate me.”
“And that would be their mistake, not mine.”
“Are you going to tell me what was ironic about my question?” he asked.
“Something tells me that you already know. You found out that I’d been approached by Mele Akamu again, and you assumed, correctly I might add, that it was about Eric Ellis. But you didn’t open this conversation with that knowledge. Instead, you tested me. You wanted to see how far I’d go before letting you in on that little secret, or maybe I wouldn’t have told you at all.”
Detective Parrish shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s a small island, but you already noted that.”
“Yes, it is,” I said.
“Are you willing to tell me what she said? Which choice will you make? Consultant for the Maui Police Department and husband of its best detective, or private investigator for Mele Akamu?”
“Thank you for the compliment on Alana. I happen to agree with you. Many of my cases have put me in a tough spot, especially with Alana and other detectives, but I don’t believe this is one of them.”
“How’s that? Mele Akamu is my number one suspect.”
“And I can understand how she would be. Eric Ellis worked for her and he was privy to many of the details of her business. I can see how that would make him vulnerable, but I don’t think that vulnerability is just with her. There are others, perhaps Mele Akamu’s enemies. Maybe Eric Ellis crossed one of them.”
“What are these business details you’re talking about?” he asked.
“I don’t know. You may not believe that, but it’s the truth.”
“You’re right. I don’t believe you.”
“I understand. We don’t know each other, and I just admitted that I’m doing a job for Mele Akamu.”
“Does your wife know that?”
“First of all, what is said between my wife and I is none of your business,” I said.
“And second?”
“It’s still none of your business.”
“I’m sure you must have asked Mele Akamu who she thought had killed Eric Ellis, especially if she’d declared that she didn’t do it.”
“You’re right. I did ask her that and she told me that she didn’t have a clue.”
“You bought that?”
“No, I didn’t buy it, but I didn’t think that meeting was the time to press her. I need to learn more about the case. You’re only going to get so many shots with Mele Akamu. Better to be prepared.”
“So many shots? It sounds like you’re out to get her.”
“I’m not out to get anyone. I’m only interested in the guilty party being brought to justice.”
“And if that’s Mele Akamu?” Detective Parrish asked.
“Then she should go to jail. What did you think I was going to say?”
“When word got out that I was being promoted, Detective Kalani offered to take me to lunch to celebrate. We had a long conversation about you.”
He paused a long moment, apparently waiting for me to ask him how that conversation went. I didn’t.
“She warned me about you,” he continued. “She said that you undermined her on several occasions.”
“Did she also tell you how I helped her solve some of her toughest cases?”
“No, but I assumed there was a reason she kept calling you.”
“I like Detective Kalani and I don’t have one bad word to say about her.”
“Good. I have another question for you. Why in the world would you be willing to work for one of Maui’s biggest criminals?”
“I’ve already answered that question. Is there anything else you want to say before I leave? It’s obvious that you have no interest in working with me.”
“One more comment. That’s all. I’m not going to let you play me like you did Detective Kalani. You try to obstruct my investigation, I’ll arrest you. I don’t care who you’re married to. Do
we have an understanding?”
“And here I had such high hopes for our potential working relationship. But not everything is to be,” I said, and I stood. “Have a good day, Detective. I’m sure we’ll be talking again soon since I have no intention of dropping my investigation.”
Detective Parrish said nothing.
I turned and walked out of the coffee shop. The conversation hadn’t gone anywhere close to where I thought it would. Detective Josh Parrish had already decided that he’d rather have me as an enemy than an ally.
You may be wondering if I was worried about that. I wasn’t and maybe that was my overconfidence talking. I was more than a little annoyed with Detective Kalani for sowing the seeds of discord as she’d walked out the door of the Maui Police Department. I knew our last case hadn’t gone well, at least in terms of how we’d interacted with each other. But I didn’t think she’d try to sabotage my relationship with the department.
Once again, I was reminded of my naïve nature and how I try to look for the best in others. That brought up an interesting question related to my current case. Was I committing the same mistake with Mele Akamu? As I mentioned before, she reminded me of my own grandmother, a woman I admired greatly.
Perhaps my desire to see my grandmother again had me overlooking obvious problems with Mele Akamu. Nevertheless, I’d been honest with Detective Parrish when I’d said that I’d have no problem with pointing the police in Mrs. Akamu’s direction if I discovered she’d been the one to murder Eric Ellis.
Despite the hostile nature of the conversation, I did learn one new interesting fact about the case. Eric Ellis had been killed with a gunshot to the back of the head. It was a pretty cold-blooded way to kill someone, and I had no idea who’d done it.
7
The Best Friend
It took a few days for us to track down Lee Walters, the former co-worker and friend of Eric Ellis. We discovered that he worked as a manager of a jewelry store in Kahului. Since Foxx was my partner in crime on this new investigation, we agreed to meet at Harry’s for the drive north to Maui’s most populous town.
Foxx barely fits in the Z3 convertible, so I climbed out of my car and hopped right into his Lexus SUV. It’s a solid, comfortable vehicle, but it’s nowhere near as fun as the little roadster.
Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery Page 5
