“Did Guy ever confide in you about his wife’s affair? Did he ever tell you his suspicions?” I asked.
“No, never. I think he was caught completely off-guard. He was always in a good mood. I don’t think he would have been if he’d thought she was cheating on him.”
“I spoke to someone who told me they thought Guy was having an affair of his own. Do you know anything about that?”
“No. Who told you that?” she asked.
“It wasn’t the most reliable source, but I feel compelled to check it out anyway.”
“Guy loved Lucy. I don’t think he would have cheated on her, let alone killed her.”
“So you think he’s innocent?”
“I do.”
“Who do you think did it?” I asked.
“I have no idea. I didn’t know Lucy very well. I don’t know who would have wanted to hurt her.”
“Forgive me for asking such an indelicate question, but did Guy ever hit on you?”
“No. Not once. He was always the perfect gentleman.”
“You didn’t even catch him looking at you inappropriately, maybe even a fleeting glance?”
“What are you getting at? Our relationship was professional.”
“I’m sure it was and I’m sorry if I’ve offended you in any way,” I said.
“Do you have any more questions? I really need to get back to the office and download these photos.”
“No, thank you for your time.”
Bella Bridges stood and walked away without saying goodbye. It was clear my last few questions had upset her, but there’d been a reason for my forwardness. Guy Livingston had an affair before he and his wife moved to Maui to start over. I found it hard to believe that a man like that wouldn’t have stepped over the line even once with a woman as attractive as Bella Bridges.
There were two possibilities. Option one was that he was a reformed man, completely dedicated to his wife. A woman, I might add, who was so convinced he was cheating that she decided to stray herself to get even.
Option two was that Guy hadn’t changed at all. That meant one thing. His affair was with someone other than Bella Bridges since I was inclined to believe her denials of an inappropriate relationship with her boss.
My brain started going in a million directions at once, but the ringing of my phone interrupted everything. I looked at the display and saw the name Tavii Akamu. He’d reached out to me sooner than expected.
24
The Safe
“Hello, Tavii. What can I do for you?” I asked.
“Is it possible for us to get together, now if you’re available?”
“Of course. Where would you like to meet?”
“I’m heading to my grandmother’s house now. Can we meet there?”
“Yes, I’ll see you shortly.”
“Thank you.”
I ended the call with Tavii and immediately phoned Foxx. I invited him to tag along, and we met in the parking lot of Harry’s so we could switch vehicles. We didn’t talk much during the drive to Kula. We both assumed that Tavii would beg me to get back on the case, especially with the recent discovery of the gun that had killed Eric Ellis. Once again, I guessed wrong.
We saw Tavii’s car in the turnaround when we arrived at the house. Foxx parked his SUV beside it, and we climbed out. We walked up to the front porch and knocked on the door. Tavii opened it a moment later.
“Thank you for coming so quickly. Please come in,” he said.
We entered the house and followed him back to the living room. The first thing I noticed was that the home had been trashed, presumably during the police’s search.
“Can you believe what they did to the place?” Tavii asked.
I continued to look around the room. It seemed as if the police had taken a wrecking ball to the house. Everything, from the flower vases to the paintings, had been thrown on the floor, and much of it was broken beyond repair.
“Someone sure has a grudge against your grandmother,” Foxx said.
“I agree. This was more than just a search,” I said.
Tavii bent over and picked up a damaged painting of a hula dancer. There was a giant hole in the middle. It looked like someone had put their foot through it.
“My grandmother has made a lot of enemies over the years. I guess that goes without saying.”
Tavii turned to me.
“I spoke with Ruben Dalton last night. He said you quit the investigation. I don’t blame you,” Tavii continued.
“He’s not the most pleasant person,” I said.
“True, but that’s not what I meant. The case is hopeless, at least that’s the way it looks to me.”
“We assume you’ve heard about the gun in your grandmother’s safe,” Foxx said.
“Everyone has heard about it by now.”
“Can you show us the safe?” I asked.
“It’s in the study. Follow me.”
We exited the living room and walked a short distance down the hallway. Tavii led us into a study with a wooden desk that was positioned by a large window. The window offered great views of the valley. The other walls were covered with tall bookcases. Two of those bookcases had been separated to reveal a safe hidden in the wall.
“How in the world did they think to look there?” Foxx said.
“Here’s another question. How did they move these bookcases with all the books still on them?” I asked.
Tavii walked over to one of the bookcases. He removed a copy of the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
“There’s a switch that activates the system,” he said, and he reached to the back of the bookcase and pressed a button.
The two bookcases moved back into place automatically. Tavii then pressed the button again and the bookcases opened back up to reveal the safe.
“My father was the one who had the safe installed, but my grandmother was the only one who used it after he died,” Tavii said.
“Who knows the combination to the safe?” I asked.
“Just my grandmother.”
“You don’t know it?” Foxx asked.
“No. The only reason I know about the safe is because I lived here as a child when it was built. My father would pick me up and let me press the button to open the bookcases. He even put Treasure Island in front of it since that was our favorite book to read at night,” Tavii said.
“Who else knows about the safe other than you and your grandmother?” I asked.
“I’m sure Samson knows since he lives here.”
“Does your wife, Oleen, know about the safe?” Foxx asked.
“Yes. I showed her after we got married.”
“Any chance she told someone?” I asked.
“I told her not to, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t.”
“But she doesn’t know the combination?” Fox asked.
“No, and there’s little to no chance my grandmother told her. She never trusted Oleen.”
“Did you know Oleen is the eyewitness to the murder?” I asked.
“She’s not an eyewitness. She’s lying. Oleen would have told me back then if she’d seen something like that. She wants to hurt my family. That’s all this is. You’ve been involved in a lot of these types of cases. What’s your opinion? Will my grandmother get convicted?” Tavii asked.
“Based on the evidence as it is today, almost certainly,” I said.
“What about the act of keeping the gun? Can’t her attorney say she’d never be foolish enough to hold onto it after murdering Eric Ellis?” Tavii asked.
“He can suggest it. That was our first thought too. But after seeing this safe and how well it’s hidden, I think a good argument could be made that she assumed it would never be discovered,” I said.
“Unless Oleen told someone like Stan Cross about it and he planted the gun,” Foxx suggested.
“Yes, but Oleen didn’t know the code, so it wouldn’t have mattered,” Tavii said.
“I’m actually impressed the
police found it,” I said, even though I knew Detective Parrish had told me he’d spent three days in the house looking for something like it.
“I’m not,” Foxx said.
“Why not?” Tavii asked.
“Look at this room. There’s not one book on the floor. Why didn’t they trash this room like the living room?” Foxx asked.
“True. You should see the bedrooms. Everything’s destroyed. They even turned the mattresses upside down and threw them across the room,” Tavii said.
“It’s like the cops knew exactly what they were looking for in here,” Foxx said.
“It’s a sound theory. So how did they know?” I asked.
“Easy. Stan Cross told them. Oleen admitted that she struck a deal with Stan to pay her for being an eyewitness. I bet he planted the gun in the safe once she told him you’d figured things out,” Foxx said.
There was also a practical reason the police hadn’t thrown the books to the floor. They would have most likely obstructed the automatic movement of the sliding bookcases.
“I think you’re giving Stan Cross too much credit,” Tavii said.
“How well do you know him?” I asked.
“Well enough. The man’s a thug. You’re describing someone who carefully planned this out. Stan doesn’t do that. He’s a bulldozer who threatens to run over people if they don’t do what he wants,” Tavii said.
“Okay, then who did?” Foxx asked.
“There’s only one answer that makes any sense. My grandmother. She had Eric Ellis killed and put the gun in the safe. I didn’t want to admit it, but she’s guilty,” Tavii said.
“And here I thought you brought us here to ask us back on the case,” I said.
“I wanted you to see the safe and give me your opinion on the strength of her legal defense. You answered that question for me. She doesn’t have a chance,” he said.
“You’re just giving up?” Foxx asked.
“I’m not giving up. I’m being realistic,” Tavii said. “My family’s business is under attack, not only from our enemies but also family members. I’ll be out of political office in a matter of weeks. I need to start focusing on what can be saved. My grandmother got sloppy and now she’s paying the price.”
He turned to me.
“Thank you for what you did for her. Please send your invoice for your time to Ruben Dalton. I’ll make sure it gets paid,” Tavii continued.
“I understand. For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing the right thing. Your grandmother’s most likely guilty, and I’m sorry for what you’re going through,” I said.
“Thank you.”
I turned to Foxx. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he was smart enough to know that Tavii’s arguments wouldn’t have swayed my opinion so easily.
“Let’s leave, Foxx, and allow Tavii to start the clean-up process,” I said.
“Good luck,” Foxx said.
Tavii nodded.
We left him in the study and walked back through the wreck of a living room. Foxx didn’t say anything until we got outside.
“You don’t really think she’s guilty, do you?”
“She might be,” I admitted.
“But now you think Tavii might have done it?”
“The guy could have fooled us.”
“I don’t buy that he doesn’t have the combination to that safe,” Foxx said.
“I don’t either. Lee Walters said he always suspected that Tavii had killed Eric Ellis. Maybe he did and Tavii’s the one who planted the gun in that safe.”
“It makes sense and he has more than enough government connections to slip a message to Detective Parrish on how to find the safe.”
“It’s a solid theory.”
We climbed into the SUV, and Foxx drove back onto the road.
“I think it’s time we made a run at Stan Cross. He’s the only suspect we haven’t met with. The hell with this coming up with some creative angle. Let’s just go right for him,” Foxx said.
“I’m with you.”
My phone rang.
“It’s Alana,” I said, and I answered the call. “Hey there, I have you on speaker mode with Foxx.”
“Hey guys. I’ve been doing a little digging into Daniel Davis. Turns out he made a call to a burner phone after speaking with you guys,” Alana said.
“That’s interesting. Were you able to account for the other calls in his phone history?” I asked.
“I was. Nothing jumped out at me, though,” she said.
“Where did he work?” Foxx asked.
“I spoke with the manager of his apartment complex. He told me Daniel worked at the organic grocery store in Paia. I haven’t had a chance to swing by there yet.”
“What about Daniel’s bank account?” I asked.
“Regular direct deposits from his job but no large payment, if that’s what you’re getting at. I did go through his apartment but didn’t find any cash. If Daniel Davis was paid to lie to the police, then he did a good job of hiding the money,” Alana said.
“Maybe he already spent it,” Foxx said.
“It’s a possibility,” Alana said.
“Any more news from the medical examiner?” I asked.
“No. She’s scheduled the autopsy for tomorrow morning. I’ll check back with her then. What about on your end?” she asked.
I filled Alana in on our meeting with Tavii, including a description of the well-hidden safe, and Tavii’s admission that he thought his grandmother was probably guilty.
“I’ll see if I can get any updates from Josh. Maybe he’ll fill me in on how he found that safe,” Alana said.
“Sounds good,” I said.
“I gotta go.”
“See you, Alana,” Foxx said.
“Talk to you guys later,” she said, and she ended the call.
“Daniel Davis called a burner phone after we met with him. That’s pretty damning,” Foxx said.
Yes, it was, but there was no way to discover who owned the phone. We were still in the dark and we still had multiple suspects. There was also the real possibility that the guilty party was already in jail.
25
The Photos
Foxx and I decided to take another divide and conquer approach. He would work on learning more about Stan Cross, while I would transition back to the Guy Livingston investigation. They’d almost certainly finished closing arguments, and the case had then gone to the jury for final deliberations.
I’d told Guy and his attorney that I wouldn’t be rushing into the courtroom at the last minute to reveal the true killer, but I still felt the need to wrap up my investigation soon. I had a theory forming in my mind and I had a vague plan on how to prove it.
I drove home after getting my car from Harry’s. I said hello to Maui and retrieved my laptop from my home office. I walked outside to the patio. Maui followed me, of course. He took off sprinting after I’d opened the sliding glass door. He often feels the need to race to the far corners of the yard as if he expects to find some intruder.
I positioned my laptop under the shade of the patio umbrella and logged into my Facebook account. I rarely posted anything to the account. When I did, it was usually photos I’d taken around the island, or more likely shots of Maui…the dog, not the island. I mainly had the account so I could use it to snoop on suspects.
I found the Facebook page for Guy’s photography business. It showcased numerous shots of customers. They fell into one of three groups: families, couples, and young females. The family shots were all the same, and I know I’ve made this observation in past tales. Each family member was dressed identical to the others, which usually consisted of white dress shirts and khaki pants. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but one does wish for a little more originality from time to time.
The couples weren’t dressed like each other, but they definitely fell into patterns. Usually the man would be wearing a button-down, short-sleeve shirt, most likely silk or linen, and the woman would be
wearing a flowy dress, sometimes a solid color, but many that had floral designs.
The single female photographs also resembled each other. The women all wore skimpy clothing, including string bikinis. One can only assume these shots were for their Instagram accounts. It was sort of a “Hey-look-at-how-sexy-I-am-on-an-island” vibe.
Faithful readers will know that I consider myself a decent photographer, and I gave Guy Livingston and his partner, Bella Bridges, high marks. The photography was well done. The lighting, locations, and composition were all quite nice too.
After going over his business page, I found Guy Livingston’s personal page. There wasn’t much there, which didn’t surprise me. I imagined it was hard to dedicate time to both pages, and I assumed his attention had been spent more on the business account. That said, I wasn’t really interested in his personal postings. Rather, I wanted to look over his list of friends.
It took just a few seconds to find the name Vincent Livingston. I clicked on that name and came to the conclusion that he was Guy’s brother. I sent him a direct message and asked him to contact me at once. I also let him know that I was investigating his brother’s case.
I didn’t know how long it would take for him to get back to me, so I walked into the house and changed into my running gear. I was almost through my three-mile jog when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but I hoped it was Vincent. I wasn’t wrong.
“Yes, Mr. Livingston. As I mentioned in my message, your brother hired me to look into his case.”
“Have you found anything yet?”
“I have a lead, which I’m hoping you can assist me with,” I said.
“Anything to help my brother.”
“I know this is a sensitive subject, but do you have any knowledge of your brother’s past affair?”
“What in the world does that have to do with this case?”
“The evidence against your brother is pretty damning, I’m sorry to say. But I still think there’s the possibility he didn’t do it. The only theory I have now is that his lover killed his wife. Your brother’s attorney thinks he was having an affair, but your brother denied it.”
Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery Page 18
