Shattered Palms (Lei Crime Series)

by Neal, Toby

  They moved quickly until they got to the cloth bag.

  Lei very gently upended the bag, and five tiny bird corpses fell out onto the counter. Clarice gasped, stepping back with her hand to her mouth. “Where these poor babies came from? So shame, this!” The usually stoic clerk was shocked into pidgin English.

  “Up the mountain. We think the vic was a bird catcher, maybe a poacher.” Lei spread the birds out on the counter to photograph them individually, handling the bodies carefully with her gloved hands.

  Each bird was hunched in on itself, eyes closed, tiny claws drawn up as if trying to stay warm. Lei wasn’t a birder and didn’t know much about them, but she was struck by the vivid coloration of two red birds, bright as the scarlet of a chief’s feather cape. One had a long, curved red beak and the other, a short black one. There was a tiny green bird with a black beak and a larger bird that was a mottled black-and-white with a crest, and finally, a medium-sized green bird with a hooked bill and a yellow band across the eyes.

  Lei felt sick at the waste, wishing again she knew more about the jewel-like creatures. She was sure that by the end of the case she would. She took several photos of each and then put them into individual paper bags. “Can I store these in the freezer?”

  “Of course.”

  Lei and Clarice stashed the birds, labeled with brief descriptions, in the big Sub-Zero used for evidence that would degrade.

  “For shame,” Clarice muttered again. She returned to her computer and hit Print on the photos of the items, including the birds.

  “Can you forward these photos to Dr. Gregory, the ME? He said he wanted to see any bird evidence, and he might want to speculate on what killed them.”

  “No problem.” Clarice constructed an e-mail and hit Send.

  Lei met Pono, each of them holding a stack of paperwork, right outside Omura’s office within the thirty minutes they’d been allotted. Lei realized she hadn’t had time to pee after the hike and the long drive down the hill. The interview with the captain was sure to make her bladder explode.

  “I have to go to the bathroom. Take these in. I’ll be right there.”

  Lei hotfooted it down the hall and barely made it into the unisex stall in time. Sitting on those hard plastic chairs in front of Omura had gotten easier after her trial-by-fire work for the FBI and her former boss, exacting and critical Special Agent in Charge Waxman—but not that much easier.

  In the privacy of the bathroom stall, Lei shut her eyes, feeling a little dizzy. She probably needed to eat something, and remembered she hadn’t eaten yet that day. She gazed at the ring on her finger and wiggled it to see the sparkle, picturing the ruggedly handsome face of her fiancé, Michael Stevens. He was the commanding officer of Haiku Station here on Maui, and three months ago she’d made the agonizing choice to leave the FBI to be with the only man she’d ever loved.

  Lei still missed her FBI partner, Ken Yamada, working with her best friend, Marcella Scott, and certain aspects of her brief career in the FBI—but seeing Stevens every day more than made up for that. She also served as a liaison for the FBI on Maui, a role that kept her in close touch with her friends from the federal agency.

  At the sink, Lei used a little water to tame wayward curls away from her face. The sunshine outdoors had brought freckles and color to her olive-skinned face. She washed her hands and hurried out, sliding into a chair next to Pono.

  Pono had already submitted the case paperwork to Omura, and his face was tiki-god blank as the captain leafed through and reviewed it, red nails tapping each page as she scanned. Omura’s dark brown eyes looked up at Lei over tortoiseshell reading glasses perched on her perfect nose. “You’re late.”

  “Hadn’t been to the bathroom since we got the call to check out the body,” Lei said.

  Omura looked back down at the paperwork. “So the likely scenario is that this man was hunting or capturing native endangered birds. Any guesses as to motive for his killing? Or was this an accident?”

  Lei looked at Pono, and he led off. “Doesn’t seem accidental to me. It was a perfect kill shot with a bow from a location with excellent visibility. The blind the vic was shot from was unknown and, of course, unsanctioned by the Park Service and the Hawaiian Bird Conservatory, the agency that manages the land where the shooting took place.”

  “Speculation?” The captain sat back in her chair, taking off her glasses. This was Omura’s invitation for them to take their best guess about the case, and this time Pono looked at Lei.

  “I think someone was hunting pig and deer in the blind. Someone who’s a conservationist at heart,” Lei said. “Hunting’s allowed to keep the invasive species from wrecking the habitat up there. So this person is up there and sees this guy catching the native birds, putting them in a bag, and shoots him on impulse.”

  Pono rubbed his lip under his bristling mustache, an old habit. “Another scenario is that someone is hunting and sees a movement out of the corner of his eye. The vic was in full camo gear. He shoots him on accident.”

  “Or the vic was being hunted intentionally by someone who either didn’t like him personally or didn’t like what he was doing. He’s a John Doe. That doesn’t make establishing motive as easy,” Lei finished. “Those are the three scenarios we’ve come up with so far.”

  Omura looked through the papers again. “I see a lead here. A bar receipt from the Maui Beach Hotel. I also notice the evidence items have Chinese writing on them. Have you notified Interpol?”

  “Not yet. Not until we get the prints. Gregory should have that covered.” Both of them glanced at the clock—it was 4:45 p.m. “Do you want us to go over to the morgue and get the prints tonight?” Pono asked. “With the state of the body’s decomp, I don’t know if the doc has been able to process them.”

  Omura shut the folder and slid it back to Lei. “Tomorrow is soon enough for that. Give the ME time to process the body. Nothing looks too hot on this one but the possible citizenship issue if he’s not American—but I want you to nail down the Maui Beach Hotel lead, grab anything he may have left in his room before it disappears, and maybe you’ll find identification there. You also have a car being pulled into impound to process.”

  “We’ll check in again tomorrow.” Lei picked the folder up.

  “Keep me apprised.” Omura dismissed them with a flick of her red nails.

  Chapter 3

  Lei and Pono took separate vehicles to the Maui Beach Hotel since they planned to go home afterward, and on her way Lei put in her Bluetooth and called Stevens. They usually had dinner together after work at either her house or his—but there was no point in that tonight, as she’d be home so late.

  “Sweets. I was just thinking about you.” Stevens’s voice, warm with a smile and a promise, still made her stomach tighten and her body hum into awareness.

  “Can’t see you tonight. Gonna be really late —we caught a body on Haleakala.” Lei sketched him in on the details.

  “Well, I’m already at your place with something started for dinner. Don’t worry about it. I’ll keep it hot and see you when you get home. Keiki and I will just be pining away here. ”

  “You’re the best. I can’t believe I’m marrying you in just two weeks,” Lei said. “Thanks for understanding.”

  “Next time it’ll be me catching a body and you keeping dinner hot.”

  “I can keep something hot, but it won’t be food.” Lei laughed as she hung up.

  Her next call was to her guardian and surrogate mother, Aunty Rosario, in San Rafael, California.

  “Hey, Aunty.” Lei navigated the four lanes of traffic between the police station and the nearby utilitarian hotel with ease. “How’s everything at the restaurant?”

  “Pretty good. Getting so excited about the big day!” Rosario exclaimed.

  “That’s what I called about. We have arrangements for a house for you and Dad to stay in, and I wanted to double-check on everything.”

  “It’s all a go. So what’s your dress like?”<
br />
  Lei grimaced. She should have seen this question coming. “It’s beautiful. But a surprise, Aunty. I can’t tell anyone about the design.” She mentally crossed her fingers—she still hadn’t even ordered the dress.

  “As it should be, Sweets.” Aunty Rosario and her father had picked up the misnomer of a nickname given to her by her partner on Kaua`i, Jack Jenkins. “I had a call from Tiare Kaihale, your wedding coordinator. She arranged for my restaurant to do all the food at your reception. Your dad and Aunty Momi are already working on some of it.”

  “That Tiare. So awesome.” Lei felt gratitude washing away the intimidation Pono’s efficient wife still elicited. “I can’t believe she thought of having you do it. I’m so lolo, it never crossed my mind. So how are you getting all the food over here?”

  “We’re coming in two days before the wedding to have time for food prep. Freezing most of the food and air-shipping it to arrive after we get in. Your dad and I’ll pick it up and rent the equipment for prep and heating—you’re going to have a real Hawaiian luau with Japanese food, too, down at that beach park. Your grandpa Matsumoto, even he’ll find something to eat.”

  “Great!” Lei said. “Need anything else from me?”

  “No, I don’t think so.” There was a long pause.

  “Is everything all right?” Lei asked.

  Aunty Rosario’s breath hitched, and Lei frowned. Something was wrong. Even navigating the traffic and pulling into the nondescript parking lot of the Maui Beach Hotel, Lei could picture her aunt so clearly: her short, plump body probably wrapped in one of her restaurant’s plumeria-print aprons, dark brown eyes with well-marked brows, her hair in a thick salt-and-pepper braid with little curls escaping around an olive-skinned face that was still unlined.

  “I’m having some tests done.”

  “Oh, Aunty! What kind of tests?” Lei felt a familiar band of anxiety tighten around her chest. Aunty Rosario was her mother in all but name, and the thought of anything happening to her was terrifying.

  “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing, but I have this stomach pain that won’t go away. It’s been months now, and my antacids don’t do a thing…I almost didn’t say anything…”

  “No, Aunty. Don’t ever hide anything from me.”

  “Well, like I said, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “I will pray it is. And I’m sure Dad is praying too.”

  Aunty laughed. “You bet he is, and being kind of a pest about it too. He put olive oil on my forehead the other day and had his prayer group over to pray. He’s really taking his religion seriously, as you know.”

  “Well, it can’t hurt,” Lei said. She’d parked the truck, and Pono was striding toward her from his vehicle. “I gotta go. Can’t believe how soon I’ll be seeing you. Call me the minute you know anything about your tests.”

  “Love you, honey,” Aunty said.

  “Love you too.” Lei hung up. Aunty wasn’t usually so demonstrative. Must be she was worried about her health. And then there was the wedding. It seemed to make everyone emotional.

  Lei and Pono went to the front desk of the modest hotel and showed their badges.

  “We’re investigating a murder. We have reason to believe the victim may have been staying here or had business here,” Pono told the round-faced receptionist. The woman had a gigantic hibiscus blossom arrangement in her hair that Lei couldn’t stop looking at.

  What had Tiare said about her veil for the wedding?

  Oh yeah—no veil. Pikake, those tiny fragrant white flowers, woven into a crown-like haku lei. She let her breath out in relief. No giant flower explosions would be coming out of the side of her head.

  The receptionist was tap-tapping her keyboard. “When would this person have been here?”

  Lei and Pono looked at each other. “Not sure. But he would not have returned to his room, if he had one, for the last four days, at least.”

  “We charge guests’ credit cards when they stay beyond their reservations and their belongings are abandoned in their rooms. We do have someone who was due to check out two days ago and appears not to have returned. I have to check with my manager to see if it’s okay to release that information to you, or if I need a warrant.” She bustled off.

  Lei looked at Pono. “Seems like he was here.”

  “Hopefully. That receipt was just for the bar.”

  The errand appeared to be taking a while, so Lei looked around the lobby. The Maui Beach was conveniently located for business and had a decent pool, which looked out across Kahului Harbor to the docking area, where one of the Princess Cruises ships sat like a wedding cake at anchor.

  “Wedding cake,” Lei muttered. “Tiare said it was handled, but I didn’t pay attention to what it was.”

  “What?” Pono pushed his ever-present Oakleys up, gave a squint. “You saying you don’t know what kind of cake Tiare ordered for the wedding?”

  Lei felt the blush that had been the bane of her existence heat up her cheeks. “Your wife has things totally under control. I’m sure it’s going to be awesome.”

  “She told me you were the opposite of bridezilla—the bride who can’t be bothered,” Pono said, the dimple he tried to hide with his mustache very much in evidence. “You’re the perfect client. She’s having a blast doing everything with no interference.”

  “I’m just not into it. Thank God Stevens understands. I get really nervous with all the choices and start having escape fantasies. Tiare picked up on that and took over, and I’m so glad.”

  “Long as you don’t leave Stevens at the altar. Don’t think any of us can handle another breakup between you guys.”

  “Thanks a lot.” Lei punched him in the shoulder, fairly hard, and ended up shaking out her fingers. “Ow. You must have been lifting.”

  The receptionist returned with the manager, a dapper Japanese man in the regulation floral print of the hotel. “May I see your identifications?” He had brought a pad and noted them down. “What is this regarding again, please?”

  Pono recapped.

  “All right. I think it’s appropriate to cooperate with the Maui Police Department. We were wondering about the whereabouts of this guest ourselves. We keep abandoned items in our storage facility. Follow me.”

  The manager led Lei and Pono around behind the counter and down a utilitarian hall to a room marked storage. “We keep things for about six months and then donate them to a charity.” He unlocked the door and pushed inward, flicking on a light.

  Cardboard boxes lined floor-to-ceiling shelves. They were marked with last name, a room number, and a date in Sharpie. Boxes of paper towels and other supplies took up the rest of the space.

  “Wow. Lotta stuff in here.” Lei frowned. “How often does this happen?”

  “Well, most of it is just an item or two left behind. We keep them as a courtesy. Seldom does a guest do what this one did and disappear entirely.”

  “So why didn’t you notify the police?” Lei asked, as the manager zeroed in on a box marked chang, pulling it off the shelf. The sight of the name made her brows snap together, even as she reminded herself Chang was as common a Chinese name as Smith was American. Pono pointed to the name and frowned, glancing at her. She shook her head. This random poacher couldn’t be related to her enemies, the Chang crime family on the Big Island. Could he? She dismissed the connection.

  “There are a lot of reasons people might abandon their room, and if there’s no indication of foul play and they’ve paid their bill, we don’t assume that anything bad has happened. As I said, this doesn’t happen often. This client had prepaid his stay in cash, according to my receptionist. He showed an ID for this name.” The manager indicated the writing on the box.

  Lei pulled a pair of rubber gloves out of her back pocket, snapped them on, and squatted beside the box.

  She took the top off. “Was there a suitcase?”

  “Yes. We didn’t open it because it has a combination.” The manager indicated a good-sized hard-sided gray plastic
case with his toe.

  “You know, Pono, I think we should take all of this down to the station,” Lei said as she flipped open the wallet that sat on top of the contents of the box. She held the ID up so Pono could see that the photo matched the distorted face of their victim from the cloud forest.

  Chapter 4

  Clarice looked at the suitcase Pono had wrestled up onto the table. “It’s locked,” the taciturn clerk said.

  “I know. Got a hammer?” Pono grinned.

  Clarice eyeballed him over her rhinestone-studded half-glasses with no sign of amusement. “Find some other way.”

  Lei had already begun unloading the box of incidentals from the abandoned hotel room and listing them on the inventory sheet. A wallet containing a credit card and ID that looked real, in the name of Xu Chang. One small black men’s comb with two hairs stuck in it, which she bagged. A black men’s bathroom kit containing an electric razor, travel-sized can of shaving cream, toothbrush, and toothpaste. All the products were American and looked brand-new.

  “This guy traveled light. Nothing personal here. I’d bet money that this is a fake ID.”

  Pono had unfolded a paper clip and was fiddling with the lock, moving it around inside. “Not sure this is going to work. This is a better-made lock than most.”

  “You could shoot it open,” Lei said, deadpan.

  “Yeah.” Pono’s dimple flashed.

  The ribbing was lost on Clarice. “No discharging of firearms in the evidence room,” the clerk said.

  Lei continued unloading the box. A black satin bathrobe with a dragon machine-embroidered on the back, nothing in the pockets. A pair of black shoes, men’s size nine—and the box was empty. She looked at Pono.

  “You gotta get that suitcase open. The good stuff must be in there.”

  Pono was still fiddling with the paper clip, and suddenly the lock on one side popped open. He went to work on the other side and had that open by the time Lei and Clarice had entered all the contents of the box into the evidence log.