Bet Your Bones

by Jeanne Matthews

  “You think your mother wanted to kill someone else?”

  “She was angry. She climbed out onto that arch, God only knows how she did it, and stood upright. A tourist standing just about where we are now took her photograph. It appeared on the front page of the next day’s newspaper. Her expression was spiteful and defiant and she was blowing a kiss.”

  “To Xander?”

  “It’s a question I keep asking myself.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  “Dear friends, we have come together today to give thanks for the life of Raiford Reid,” intoned the minister in a buttery voice. He was a round-faced, cherubic man in his middle years. He wore Episcopal robes and a rueful smile. The funeral program identified him as Father Phoenix. “We commend his soul to the Almighty and ask God’s heavenly mercy on the loved ones he left behind.”

  Jon, Lyssa, and Raif’s parents occupied the right front pew and a large number of strangers—Lyssa’s local friends and Raif’s alums from Punahou Prep who’d flown in from Oahu—crowded into the pews behind. George Knack and two of the girls Dinah recognized from Peacequest were also in attendance. Claude Ann and Xander snuggled close together on the left front pew and next to them sat Avery and Kay Wilhite.

  Dinah, in the pew behind, studied the back of Kay Wilhite’s head. Her straight, gray-blond hair was crowned with a flapper-era black cloche adorned with a large, black satin flower. It fit Dinah’s stereotype. Even if her daughter weren’t psycho, Kay would have to be somewhat kooky to be married to Avery.

  “What’s with the shoes?” whispered Steve in Dinah’s right ear. She and Jon had run late getting to Hilo from Holei Arch and she’d hurried into the chapel in her Nikes.

  “Shh.”

  Steve had brought his mother, who leaned around him to see who he was talking to. She was a frail looking woman with deep lines between her eyes and hard parenthetical lines around her mouth. The adjective that came to Dinah’s mind was careworn. It would be interesting to see if, after the service, Steve cozied up to Jessica, the glass-of-milk blonde from Peacequest.

  “Not a religious man, but a spiritual one,” droned Father Phoenix. “A vital young man with a tremendous zest for life, Raiford was admired and respected by his peers and beloved by his friends, his family, and his young wife, Lyssa. Raif would be surprised to hear us speak today of the many ways he has touched the lives of those who knew him. But Raif has left a very special mark on the hearts of each of us gathered here today.”

  If eyebrows made a noise when they flew up, the sound would have been deafening, thought Dinah. She looked at Raif’s smiling picture on the program cover—so handsome, so clean-cut, so deceptively winsome. She looked across the aisle at George Knack, his eyes inscrutable behind his thick glasses. Had he come to demonstrate that his relationship with Raif had been innocuous, or had he come to lean on Lyssa for Raif’s unpaid debts? She wondered who among the congregation might have played cards with Raif and how many IOUs had been canceled by his death.

  “While we rejoice that one we love has ascended to sit at the feet of our Lord, our joy is leavened with our human grief. The brutal manner of Raif’s passing has sickened us all. And yet as I walked along Leleiwiwi Beach this morning, I saw the spirit of rebirth and renewal in so many small but hopeful ways.”

  Dinah’s eyes wandered around the chapel, from the wreath of black anthuriums that stood as the focal point of the chancel décor, to Jon’s inappropriate plaid shirt, to Xander’s frowning profile, to Avery’s bobbling head. The man couldn’t hold still. Of course, it could have been a reaction to Marywave, who sat on Dinah’s left side thumping her feet metronomically against the pew under Avery’s behind. “Stop it,” she hissed, and pinched Marywave’s arm.

  “Ouch!”

  Claude Ann twisted around and gave them both a sharp look. Phoebe, who sat on the other side of Marywave, was sniveling audibly. Claude Ann put her finger to her lips and turned back around. Dinah didn’t think Phoebe’s tears were for Raif. She must have heard about Hank’s arrest.

  Dinah looked behind her. Would Tess have the audacity to show up at her playmate’s memorial service? If she did, it would certainly liven things up. But, apparently, she’d decided to pass. Lts. Langford and Fujita, alert as Dobermans, were on hand for the proceedings. They had positioned themselves at about the midway point. Langford gave her a considering look and she turned back around, wondering if Tess had carried through with her threat to reveal Raif’s blackmail scheme and Xander’s motive. It was possible, but it wouldn’t necessarily be in her best interests or the best interests of George Knack.

  “Why are you so hyper?” whispered Steve.

  “No reason. How’d the closing go?”

  “We’re golden. Tell you all about it after the service.”

  There was a lot more about Raif’s racing career, his ambition to go into politics someday, and his all-around youthful promise. Dinah hadn’t heard about Raif’s interest in politics, but in hindsight, his blackmailing skills would have stood him in good stead in either the Democratic or Republican hierarchy.

  “Let us bow our heads,” said Father Phoenix. “Grant us, Lord, the wisdom and the grace to use aright the time that is left to us on earth. Lead us to repent our sins, the evil we have done and the good we have not done. Help us through our tears and pain…” he faltered.

  There was a commotion at the back of the chapel. “Move. Move out da way, bruddah.”

  Heads jerked around and Dinah groaned as she saw a whole row of people being displaced to the far end of a pew to make room for Eleanor. Kingdom come. What was she doing here? Had she come to denounce Uwahi and Xander? To crow over the death of her niece’s no-good husband? There was a sharp intake of breath in the front row and a general stiffening of backs. Lyssa sat bolt upright and glared behind her.

  Looking bemused, Father Phoenix shut his eyes again and went on with his prayer. “Help us, dear Lord, to glimpse your loving hand at work and bring blessing out of our grief. Reach out to Lyssa and to Raif’s mother and father. Enfold them in the circle of your love and may the afterglow of Raif’s life light their way to a happier tomorrow.” Father Phoenix raised his arms over his head. “Now receive, O’ Lord, your servant, Raiford Reid, for he returns into your hands.” He nodded at the organist and she launched into a recessional hymn.

  Over the music, Dinah heard Xander say, “Don’t, Claude Ann. Please don’t.”

  But Claude Ann stepped into the aisle and started toward the rear of the church. Eleanor rose and started toward the front. Dinah flashed to that old math problem, two trains leave the station at the same time, traveling in opposite directions. Dinah squeezed past Steve and tripped over his mother’s cane. Lyssa and Jon and Raif’s parents, Xander and Avery and Kay—everyone poured out of their pews and clogged the aisle.

  Xander tried to jockey around the Reids, but Raif’s father grabbed his arm. “I’d like you to think about going in with me to set up a memorial fund in Raif’s honor.”

  There seemed little hope of averting a head-on collision between Claude Ann and Eleanor. Dinah and Xander looked on helplessly as Claude Ann and Eleanor met mid-way up the aisle. The organ drowned out their words.

  “Dinah, this is my wife, Kay. Kay, young woman here’s from Georgia by way of Manila. What d’you say?”

  “Pleased,” said Kay. “Dreadful place, Manila. Dreadful climate, wall-to-wall people. All those peasants in from the hinterlands.”

  Dinah shook her hand. “I wish we were meeting in happier circumstances, Kay. It must have been a sad week for you. Avery said there’d been a death in your family, too.”

  “My brother’s son.”

  “Stepson,” corrected Avery.

  “Frightful tragedy.” Kay lobbed a pitying look over Avery’s head toward Lyssa and shook her head. “Terrible. Can’t believe it. Just like Raif.�
�

  “Young,” said Avery. “Same age, same school, and dead in the same month and year.”

  Kay dropped her voice. “Not to speak ill of Raif, but Rick was a hard worker. A lot of promise. Conscientious. Taught at Manoa.”

  “Adjunct,” said Avery. “Sharp as a tack, but PhD not worth a sack of sand these days.”

  “Avery, I said, that boy will make something of himself one of these days, but there you have it.”

  “Wasn’t to be,” finished Avery. “Wasn’t to be.”

  Dinah didn’t know whether Avery had adopted his wife’s speech patterns or she’d adopted his, but if this was the kind of ricochet dialogue Tess grew up with, no wonder she was schizo. Dinah tried to see where Claude Ann and Eleanor had gotten to, but they’d disappeared. “What did your nephew teach?”

  “Hear, now. Enough about our kin, eh, Kay? No need to pile tragedy on tragedy. We’re here for Raif today.”

  “Avery.” Xander wrapped an arm around Avery’s shoulder. “I’ve invited everyone down to Xanadu after the service for a post-funeral reception. Lyssa and Raif’s parents will be there along with a few of Raif’s local friends.”

  “Good idea. Keep things moving. Maybe we can take Lyssa’s mind off her troubles for a little while. Can’t speak for Kay, but I’ll be there. How about you, Steve?” Avery snagged him as he stepped into the aisle.

  Steve’s mother kept on walking and Dinah jostled through the crowd and followed her. As the older woman cleared the door, she stumbled over a raised floorboard and Dinah plowed into her back. Dinah regained her balance and caught Mrs. Sykes before she tumbled off the stoop and down the stairs.

  “Sorry, dear. I’m rickety.”

  “Let me give you a hand down the stairs.”

  “Thank you. I don’t know where my son got to.”

  Dinah helped her to ground level. On the side lawn, she noticed a glider swing under an arbor of white flowers. “Would you like to sit over there and wait for Steve?”

  “Yes, I’ll do that.”

  She looked as if the slightest zephyr would blow her over, so Dinah walked her across the lawn to the bench and sat her down.

  “So many terrible things happening all at once on our little sliver of Paradise. All this violence. I still can’t believe that poor little Lyssa’s husband was murdered. Steve and Jon and Lyssa were inseparable when they were kids. I haven’t seen much of her since she married and moved away, but I think of her almost as family.”

  On the sidewalk in front of the chapel, Dinah caught sight of Eleanor and Claude Ann standing toe-to-toe, or as close as Eleanor’s size permitted. Eleanor cocked her head and squinted into the sun. Claude Ann appeared to be the one doing most of the talking. Neither was shouting or waving her fist. Dinah couldn’t imagine what they were saying to each other.

  Mrs. Sykes said, “Xan has done so much for Steve. Hitting balls and shooting baskets when Steve was young, taking him to sports events, being a sort of substitute father. And now that Steve’s an attorney, he’s giving him a leg up in his career.”

  “You and Xander must have depended on one another for moral support, losing your mates so close to the same time.”

  “I wasn’t much support for Xander. I’ve felt guilty about my stand-offishness toward him. It must have hurt his feelings. Once or twice I thought about explaining, but time got away from us. To say anything now would only trouble the waters.”

  “Why were you stand-offish, Mrs. Sykes?”

  “Call me Sara, dear.” Her bony fingers worried the folds of her skirt. “It’s strange how Raif’s murder has brought back sad memories for me. I wasn’t much older than Lyssa when I was widowed.”

  Dinah took her veiny hand in hers. “Steve and Jon have told me about the accident. It must have come as a great shock and a loss.”

  “A shock, yes. But I had lost Louis long before he died. I had become quite invisible to him. He was in love with another woman, you see. At his funeral, the minister heaped kudos on his fine character and devotion to his wife and family. No one laughed or contradicted the pretty picture. I didn’t. You can’t tell a six-year-old that his father was a shit.”

  Her sudden acerbity struck Dinah dumb. Steve had been protecting his mother from rumors that his father had a lover and she’d been living with the knowledge since the day Louis died. “Sometimes, it’s better to talk these things out. Protecting people from the truth is a kind of robbery. Steve’s a big boy. You wouldn’t want to deprive him of the chance to decide for himself how to think about his father.”

  “I disagree. Some secrets are best kept. They can only bring pain and unhappiness to the people who least deserve it.” She patted Dinah’s hand. “And yet here I’ve gone and told you my secret. Why is it so much easier to talk to a stranger than a friend or a relative?”

  “Maybe because it’s easier to control the story. A stranger can’t argue with your characterizations.” Dinah turned around and Claude Ann and Eleanor had disappeared. Mystified, she sat down beside Sara Sykes.

  She laughed. “You’re a very astute young woman. My characterization of my husband would certainly differ from others who knew him and worked with him.”

  “Did you know the other woman? His lover?” Just then, Steve walked out of the chapel with Avery and Kay and Dinah had an epiphany. What was the word Avery used? Besotted. Like himself, Louis had been besotted by Leilani Garst. “Was it Xander’s wife?”

  “Why, yes. How on earth did you guess?”

  “Did Xander know or suspect that Louis and Leilani were having an affair?”

  “I doubt it. Even if he did, he was completely mad about the woman. If she’d taken a hundred lovers, he’d have forgiven her. And he loved Louis. Xan was lecturing at Stanford the day Louis died. When he got back to the hotel that night and learned that Louis was dead, he called me in tears. I was the one who told him about Leilani. That she’d killed herself.”

  Dinah thought about Jon’s theory that suicide was murder by proxy. She pictured Leilani perched atop Holei Arch blowing a kiss. Was that kiss a message of hatred? Had she killed herself to spite someone else? “Sara, who was it who told Leilani about Louis’ death?”

  “I don’t know. The police probably, or one of the U.S.G.S. people at the conference. Avery is the one who called me.”

  Chapter Thirty-three

  The gathering at Xanadu following the memorial service, like the gathering at Kilauea Lodge following the discovery of Raif’s murder, was rife with emotion. But not all of the emotion was grief. There was an irrepressible light of triumph in the eyes of the SAX Associates. The deal they had wanted so badly had finally closed and their relief was conspicuous.

  A table of wine and cold cuts had been set up on the deck. The centerpiece was a blown-up photograph of Raif posing beside his hot yellow race car with a bright red 7 painted on the door and roof and Durante’s Auto Parts in white on black on the rear fender. Several guys about Raif’s age reminisced about seeing Raif do a backflip once after winning a race.

  Xander stood beside the lagoon talking with Raif’s parents. His father, an older, beefier Raif, seemed to have cottoned on to the fact that Claude Ann might be implicated in his son’s death. “We’re staying on at our condo in Honolulu until the police can give us some answers. It seems the gun that killed our boy belonged to your girlfriend or her ex. The police tell me they’ve got the man behind bars. If they can’t get to the bottom of this, I’ll hire private cops.”

  “I hope they get to the bottom of it, too, Robert.” Xander’s reply was mild and amicable. He seemed to be going out of his way to paper over his dislike for Raif, presumably for Lyssa’s benefit. “My daughter needs to put this tragedy behind her and move on with her life.”

  His daughter languished in a chaise longue at the edge of the deck. Raif’s mother sat at the foot of the
chair, dabbing at her eyes. Dinah wished that she didn’t know about Lyssa’s arrangement with George Knack. Every time she looked at Lyssa now, she thought of Pele and the jealous rage that moved her to incinerate her two-timing lover.

  Dinah was dying to talk to Claude Ann and find out what she and Eleanor had been yakking about, but every time she got within earshot of Claude Ann, she dashed off to answer the phone or tend to something in the kitchen.

  Jon and Steve had walked down to the beach where they seemed to be having a weighty discussion. Steve had dropped off his mother before coming to the party, but Dinah felt that she had solved the mystery of Leilani’s and Louis’ near-simultaneous deaths. Avery Wilhite had worked for the U.S.G.S. way back when and attended that earth sciences conference in California. He sussed out that Leilani and Louis had an extramarital thing going on and it must have infuriated him. Not only did Xander have a sexual relationship with this enchantress, but so did Louis. When Avery saw Louis fooling around with another woman, the jealous old gossip decided to rat Louis out by telling Leilani. He didn’t count on her jumping off a cliff to spite Louis. Or had she done it spite Avery?

  Dinah took a Sincerely Yours out of her purse and went to smoke and look out at the ocean. She leaned over the rail and exhaled a mare’s-tail of smoke and suspicion. Was Avery the source of the scuttlebutt about the woman on the float? What if Louis hadn’t cheated on Leilani? What if Avery conked Louis on the head, pushed him into the pool, and made up a story to cover it up, or even paid a woman to say she’d witnessed the drowning?

  “Beautiful sight, eh, Dinah? Never palls. Ever think about moving to the islands? Everything you’d ever want. Year-round swimming, snorkeling, sailing, fishing. You can even ski on Mauna Kea if that’s your thing. And your friend Claude Ann lives here now.”