Paradise, Passion, Murder

by Terry Ambrose

  Detective Kadomo led me to another office, though I knew it would be used as an interrogation room today. “Have a seat, Miss Janus.”

  “You’re welcome to call me Cacao,” I told him. At my last job, the office was kept at a steady seventy degrees to prevent electronic equipment from overheating. I drank a lot of hot chocolate, usually topped with chocolate shavings from a cacao bean farm on the North Shore. When someone saddled me with the nickname, it stuck.

  “Fine, but you will call me Detective Kadomo, or Detective. This isn’t a game we’re playing. I’m not here to answer any of your questions, either, though I’m sure you have a few. Sergeant Ouelette told me you’re a reporter, always looking for a story. This time, it got you in hot water. I hope that’s all it is, Cacao, not a case of aiding and abetting.”

  “Is that an accusation, Detective?”

  “As I said, I’m not the one answering the questions here, you are. So let’s get to it. First of all, for the record, I will be taping this conversation.” He indicated a tape recorder on the desk in front of me. After clicking a button, he said, “In a clear voice, state your full name and date of birth.”

  I took a deep breath, processing what was happening. My innocence was obvious only to me at this point. If I could keep a clear head, this might be my best story to date.

  “My name…” I paused to remember exactly what it was. I’d simply gone by ‘Cacao’ for years. Born on St. Patrick’s Day, I’d been named after a distant Irish ancestor, Clarissa McKeough. “My full name is Catherine Clarissa Ma‘omaka Janus. My date of birth is March 17, 1982.”

  “Thank you. Other than your legal name, and Cacao, are you known by any other names?”

  Now I knew Alika had briefed this detective. If I didn’t answer, he could claim I was obstructing justice, though. “My father, and only my father, calls me CC. That’s it.”

  The detective stood at my back before pulling up a chair alongside me. “Did you know the men sitting at your table in Mele’s place? I mean before today?”

  Somehow, I got the impression the detective was leading me with his questions. Nani must have told him she first introduced me to Chen and Mina at the bar this afternoon.

  “No, I never met either of them before today.”

  “But you were told who they were, right? I know you were at the scene of the housing project stabbing. You heard things. You’re a reporter, Cacao. A floundering one, but still. It wouldn’t take much to put two and two together. Unfortunately, you’ve been given the wrong numbers so it’s understandable that you would come up with an inaccurate answer.”

  “What wrong numbers was I given?” I backtracked when he raised a finger. He wasn’t here to answer questions. “Okay, fine. Nani said Chen and Mina are the brothers of the dead man’s wife. I assumed there was some bad blood between the in-laws, and Mina decided to settle the situation with a sharp-edged weapon.”

  “You’re very good at prevaricating, aren’t you, Cacao? You made no attempt to name which in-laws might be involved in the bad blood. You also didn’t incriminate Chen in any way. Did you assume Mina was involved because of the blood on his shirt?”

  “Yes.” To both questions, though fibbing was what I was most often accused of. I still didn’t know who had done the stabbing, but now I knew Mina had been present when it occurred. Another fact confirmed, thank you Detective.

  “What happened to Chen?” he asked.

  “You mean before we were brought here?” I’d inadvertently asked another question. “Let me rephrase that. You want to know what happened to Chen at the bar. He went to the men’s room before the police ordered us to freeze. I never saw him after that. Your question suggests no one else saw him after that either.”

  He reached over and shut off the tape recorder. “Something tells me you’re almost too smart for your own good, Cacao. Wait, let me rephrase that. That’s what Alika tells me. I only concur. You’re free to leave. Do you want me to walk you out?”

  Nani was at the front desk when the detective and I arrived. Alika towered over her as they talked. When I walked up, they both acted startled to see me.

  “What, you thought they’d throw me in the slammer overnight?” I huffed past them and out the door.

  “Wait,” Nani called after me. “Alika said he’d give us a ride back to your car.”

  I turned and glared at them until they caught up with me. “Fine. Just explain to me, Alika, what that was really all about in there. How come that detective interrogated me like a suspect in a murder investigation?”

  “Knock it off, Cacao,” he said. “You know darn well Dex treated you with kid gloves. Tell me, did he even read you your rights?”

  That stopped me cold. “What was all that with the tape recorder?”

  “Never hurts to get a conversation on tape. What you told him might actually be of help to us.”

  “How do you know what I told him?” Again, I had to stop and think things over. Of course, Alika had been listening from the other side of the mirror. After all, anything said in a police station is fair game to use in an investigation, even if it isn’t admissible in a court of law. No complaints. I was still compiling my story. “Tell me, Alika, what did happen to Chen? How did the boys in blue let him get away?”

  “That,” he said, fumbling with his car keys, “is not open for discussion.”

  “It’s a good question though,” Nani said. “I’m surprised no one asked me.”

  Alika and I stood stock-still, waiting for what she would say next. When she only looked back at us, he took a step toward her. “Do you have the answer, Nani?”

  “Not exactly.” She placed a hand on the hood of his car. “Just a good idea.”

  “Both of you, get in the back seat. Now.”

  He didn’t bother looking before he drove out of the police garage and almost clipped a bicyclist on Beretania. He slammed his foot on the brake and took a deep breath before pulling onto the street. “Okay, Nani, what is this good idea you have about Chen?”

  “Well, he went to the men’s room before the police barged into the place. I figure he had to go bad. He must have heard the officer yell at Cacao, about her not being able to hear so good. Right?”

  Everything she said made sense. But it didn’t explain what happened to Chen.

  “If he heard the cops yelling,” Alika said, “you figure he managed to sneak out the back somehow?”

  “No. Well, yes.”

  I couldn’t believe Alika hadn’t pulled over to the curb already to throttle Nani. Ready to strangle her myself, I said, “How can it be no and yes?”

  “No, he didn’t run out the back door. But, yes, he did run out a back door. See, the men’s room is connected to the service corridor, and it leads to the storage area. The storage area has a back door to the alley. Chen was probably half way to Mākaha by the time we got hauled off to the police station.”

  Now I was really confused. “Why would he head to Mākaha?”

  “Because his sister’s ex-husband, Russell, lives in Kaimukī.”

  I threw my hands in the air. Talking to Nani was difficult enough on a normal day. Today, I gave up.

  “Wait,” Alika said. “You’re saying Chen knows better than to get in Russell’s way when something bad happens. Like when the sister’s new husband gets stabbed to death.”

  “Right. I don’t know why, though.”

  “It’s okay, I might.” Alika turned into the parking lot at the strip mall. He pulled up to the driver’s side of my car and shifted into neutral. “Thanks for everything, girls. I’ll take it from here. You work on staying out of trouble for the next decade. And, Cacao, here’s something you might like back.”

  He was lucky I didn’t tear his arm off when I snatched my camera case out of his hand.

  Nani made herself comfortable in the passenger seat. “Where to now?�
��

  After turning onto Dillingham, I said, “I need something to eat before I can think about anything else. How does McDonalds sound?”

  “Sure, if you’re buying.”

  We settled at a back table with our food and ate in silence. So much didn’t add up about the Gabe Yuen case. Whether Nani could fill in any of the holes was questionable. “When you said Chen had to keep his distance from his sister’s ex-husband, what did you mean?”

  “I really don’t know, Cacao. Honest. It’s just something Chen always said. Whenever Russell was mad at him for anything, Chen made sure to get as far away from him as possible. He usually headed to his buddy’s house in Mākaha.”

  The man’s reasoning was sound. But one thing didn’t track for me. How did Alika know what Nani meant without her explaining it? Maybe it was a guy thing.

  We tossed our food wrappers, set the trays on the shelf, and headed back to the car. While I waited for traffic to clear, a thought hit me.

  “That’s it.” I snapped my fingers. “Alika saw the logic in what you said, Nani. He went to hunt down Chen in Mākaha. Do you know where his buddy lives out there?”

  “Sort of. I’ve been there for a luau more than once. The country club and golf course are off to the right. There’s some side roads off Farrington, before the beach park, and a trail leads through the woods to a small cabin. He’s probably there.”

  Once we were back on Dillingham, Nani started to fiddle with the radio dial. After finding a country station, she sat back and sang along to a Taylor Swift song.

  “You think you can find the cabin in the dark?” I asked. The sun would set soon. I didn’t like the idea of driving down some dirt trail with no idea what to expect at the end.

  Nani gave a couple of quick nods. I hoped that was an affirmative answer, not just her keeping beat with the song coming over the radio.

  I took Farrington Highway out past the Wai‘anae schools. She told me to keep going, that she would know the road when she saw it. At Mākaha Valley Road I started to get nervous. Dark was creeping up fast. When we passed Jade Street she told me to slow down.

  On the right, I spotted Nani Court. I was sure Nani had used it as a landmark and would tell me to turn that way. Instead, she shouted, “This is it, hang a left.”

  I followed the shoreline. With the windows rolled down, the sound of splashing waves filled the car. If I hadn’t been following a lead, I would’ve stopped for a quick dip. My beach bag always held towels and an assortment of suits for just such an opportunity. A red flashing light ahead erased the thought and I slammed on the brakes. Something told me Detective Ouellette had figured right. And found Chen.

  I eased the Coop over to the beach side of the road. The sun had touched down before we arrived, so we’d missed our chance of seeing a green flash today. The flash was caused by something to do with gases. But magical events made a better story. An orange glow bouncing off low-slung clouds and red flashing lights coming from several police cars were the only colors visible in the darkening sky.

  “Should we walk over there?” Nani asked. “We won’t learn anything sitting here.”

  “Remember, Alika told us to stay out of trouble for the next decade. How do you think he’ll react if we walk up to our second crime scene in one day?”

  She made a face but didn’t object. I glanced from the flashing lights to the beach and back to the car. Finally, I had an idea. “How about a leisurely walk along the beach at sundown? No one can fault us for that.”

  “Nope,” Nani agreed. “No one. We can say we wanted to see the beach park. That will take us right past the flashing lights.”

  As we walked, I knew our reasoning had more holes in it than a pasta strainer. My camera battery still had plenty of juice, so I took a few shots of blushing clouds before the sun slipped away completely. Then I experimented with silhouettes, asking Nani to stand so the flashing lights formed a halo around her head. When she started prancing, I kept clicking until we both got the giggles.

  “What in the name of Hades do you think you’re doing here?”

  I had always been able to distinguish Alika’s voice, even in a crowd. With only the ocean waves for competition, there was no question he was the one demanding an answer. I reluctantly turned toward the sound.

  “You’re not the only one who can draw correct conclusions from Nani’s cryptic comments.”

  “If you think that’s funny somehow, Cacao, let me clue you into what’s happening here. Yes, I figured out Chen was hiding out in Mākaha for good reason. Looking for him here made sense. So that’s what I did, I looked for him. And I found him. But what if I hadn’t figured right, and you had? What would you have done if you came traipsing out here on a mission and found what I found?”

  I took a step toward him. “What did you find?”

  “Another dead body. Only this one wasn’t stabbed to death. This one got stuffed into the trunk of a car. Then the car was set on fire.”

  “Why set the car on fire?” I asked, feeling clueless.

  Alika stared at me for a moment. The flashing lights distorted his face into a demonic expression. Or else he was building up steam because his next words spewed out as an unrestrained accusation. “To cover up the two bullet holes in Chen’s head.”

  Waves continued to seep onto the shore and recede again at a steady pace. The moon sparkled off the water. I tried to focus on what Alika had told us, but taking mental pictures of the scenery helped to keep me grounded.

  “Your silence suggests I finally penetrated that daredevil skull of yours, Cacao. Are you happy now?”

  “I apologize for upsetting you, Alika,” I said. “It wasn’t my intention. I figured Chen was holed up here. I wanted to follow the story as it unfolded. Something Detective Kadomo said hinted that Mina stabbed the brother-in-law. I assumed Chen feared he would get caught up in the police dragnet, too, even if he wasn’t guilty or even involved in the killing. I wanted to hear his side of the story, that’s all.”

  “Well, that’s not going to happen now, is it?” Alika dropped to one knee in the sand and sifted the fine grains between his fingers.

  “It certainly makes a statement. Chen must have seen something and needed to be silenced.” My article was beginning to sound more like a mob story. “If the police are holding Mina on suspicion of killing Gabe, the brother-in-law, then who killed Chen?”

  “That’s a good question, Cacao.” Alika stood and brushed sand off his pants. “Now this is what I suggest you do about it. Go home, get a good night’s sleep, and call me in the morning. I’ll fill you in then, how’s that?”

  “Sounds like a plan.” I walked over and gave him a hug. “Sorry you get to spend the night writing reports. I’ll drop Nani off at her place and go home. Promise.”

  He hugged me back, warming me inside the same way my dad always managed to do. Alika worried about me, but he never realized I worried about him also. Something very bad had happened within this local family, something that knives and bullets were only making worse. I would go home and get a good night’s sleep. But in the morning Nani and I were going to have a talk with a man who lived in Kaimukī. This story had a deep hole and I planned to get to the bottom of it.

  The next morning, Nani was waiting at the curb when I pulled up. I had tossed and turned for a couple of hours last night, trying to figure out what could have ignited the family feud between Gabe Yuen and his wife’s brothers. “How did you sleep?”

  “Never have a problem sleeping,” she said. “I was thinking about a few things before I fell asleep though.”

  “Like what?”

  “For instance, what did Chen and Mina’s sister tell the police when they interviewed her about the stabbing?”

  The question had crossed my mind. I didn’t think the sister was in any shape to tell the police anything useful, though. Not after she saw her husban
d’s dead body sprawled out on the lawn. Learning her little brother might have been the one to kill him wouldn’t have helped matters.

  “Do you know the sister?” I asked. Just because Nani spent time in a bar with the brothers didn’t make her friends with the female sibling. “Are they all about the same age?”

  “No. Chen’s twenty-six and Mina is only twenty-two. The sister is a couple years older than you and me, but I never met her.”

  “Does she have a name?” I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, but always playing twenty questions with Nani got tiring at times.

  “Chen always called her Kami. She has two sons from the previous marriage. One’s ten, the other is a couple years younger.”

  “She has kids from that marriage? Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  “Why?”

  “Maybe the brothers didn’t like the way the stepdad treated their nephews. That could cause a rift in family relations.” I hoped Russell, the sister’s ex-husband, could give us some insight into how they all got along. “Are you sure you know his address?”

  “Russell likes to party. We went over there about once a month. His house is off Wai‘alae Avenue, on a numbered street after you pass the elementary school. The place is set back. Has a fence and lots of trees. You can’t see the house from the road.”

  “Does he live alone?”

  “No, with a dog. An old rheumy-eyed black lab. Can hardly bark anymore. At the next intersection, get in the left lane, take a left and go two houses down. There’s an alleyway on the right. It’ll take you to his property.”

  I parked on the street. Everything was quiet, no kids or animals running around. We went straight to the side door. Nani knocked. A man shuffled up to the door and pressed his face to the glass. He raised his hands, a signal I interpreted to mean “What?”

  Nani bent toward the glass so her face was even with his. “Let us in, Russell.”

  Russell opened the door wide, then shut it as soon as we stepped inside. “Have a seat,” he said. “I suppose you’re here to ask me questions about my ex-wife’s brothers, too. First the cops, then her, now you. Grand Central Station. Want a beer?”