by Kathi Daley
“It did come as a bit of a surprise,” Dad admitted. “The reason I’m here today is to ask a few questions to uncover anything I may have missed during my investigation five years ago. Given the new information available, it seems my conclusion then may have been faulty.”
“Of course,” Edwina answered. “I’m happy to tell you whatever I can, although I’m not sure I know anything more than I told you then.”
“Sometimes the smallest detail can make a huge difference,” I encouraged.
“What would you like to know?”
“On the night Roxanne Bronwyn was shot and killed you called 911 after hearing a gunshot coming from the house next door,” Dad began.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“What time was it that you heard the shot?” Dad asked.
“Late. After eleven. I remember thinking just before I heard the shot that I’d finish watching the news and go to bed.”
“And prior to the shot: Did you see anyone coming or going from the property next door?”
Edwina tapped her index finger against her chin. “No, I don’t think so. Of course, I wasn’t looking for anyone. Roxanne had a lot of visitors. Mostly men. I didn’t pay much attention when there was a car in the drive. In fact, once I went upstairs for the night I always closed my blinds.”
“Other than the shot, did you hear any noise coming from the house?” Dad asked.
Edwina shook her head. “No. Roxanne liked to have parties, but on the night in question the house was quiet. There were lights on, so I knew someone was home, but I didn’t see or hear anything that would indicate she had guests.”
“When we spoke five years ago you mentioned Clifford Cramer was one of the men who visited Ms. Bronwyn on occasion.”
Edwina nodded. “Yes, that’s true. Roxanne had many lovers and everyone suspected Clifford was one of them, although I didn’t know that for certain.”
“If Clifford Cramer and Ms. Bronwyn were having an affair do you think his wife would have minded that her husband and her neighbor were seeing each other?” Dad asked.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Can you elaborate?”
“It seemed to me that Anastasia had her own men to keep her warm at night. I thought the couple had an open relationship that seemed to suit them both.”
“Do you know the name of any of the men Mrs. Cramer had relationships with?”
Edwina paused. “There were several men who seemed to come and go on a regular basis, but I like to keep to myself, so I never met any of them. Except for Antonio, of course.”
“Antonio?”
“The pool boy.”
“Are you saying Anastasia Cramer was having an affair with the person who cleaned her pool?” I asked. I’m not sure why I was so surprised. A rich woman sleeping with her pool boy was a cliché.
“Yes,” Edwina confirmed. “He cleans all the pools in the area, but I’m pretty sure Anastasia was the only one to whom he provided additional services.”
I almost choked on my lemonade. I couldn’t believe the prim and proper woman sitting across from me had referred Anastasia Cramer sleeping with the pool boy as additional services .
“Are you all right, dear?” she asked.
“Sorry. I swallowed the wrong way.”
Edwina turned her attention back to my father.
“Do you know Antonio’s last name?” he asked.
“Gomez.”
“And do you have any idea where I might find Mr. Gomez?”
“He’s here cleaning my pool on Tuesdays.”
Dad narrowed his gaze. “So, Mr. Gomez still works in the area?”
“He owns the company now, but essentially, yes.”
“Would you have contact information for him?”
“Certainly. Wait right here and I’ll fetch it.”
After Edwina returned Dad spoke with her for a few more minutes before we returned to his car.
“Sorry about the choking thing,” I apologized. “I was just so stunned when Ms. Hatfield made her comment.”
My dad chuckled. “It was pretty funny.”
“Yet you didn’t even crack a smile.”
“Years of practice.”
“So, what now?” I asked.
“Let’s head next door to see if Ms. Bronwyn’s husband is in. I didn’t call ahead because I had a feeling he might refuse to see us if he knew what we wanted. If he isn’t home now we’ll try again later.”
The home Roxanne Bronwyn had once lived in and Phillip Orson now owned was similar in size to Edwina Hatfield’s. Dad rang the bell and the two of us waited for someone to answer. The likelihood that Orson might not be on the premises was pretty good—from the file we’d learned he owned homes in three states—but it didn’t hurt to take a chance.
Luckily for us, the man answered the door. “Can I help you?” he asked.
“My name is Keanu Pope and this is my daughter, Lani,” Dad introduced us.
“Pope? Are you the police officer I spoke to on the phone when Roxanne was murdered?”
“I am,” Dad confirmed. “We have some new information in the case so we’re taking a second look. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”
He stepped aside. “Come on in. I don’t know anything at all about what happened, but I’ll help if I can.”
We all sat down and Dad asked Phillip how he’d met Roxanne, when and where they’d married, and when they’d separated.
“I met Roxi in Vegas more than fifteen years ago,” Phillip began. “She was losing a lot of money at blackjack, so I gave her some tips. One thing led to another and I ended up in her room. I still don’t know exactly what happened, but three days later we woke up and realized we’d gotten hitched at one of those twenty-four-hour chapels. We had a good laugh, figuring it couldn’t have been a legally binding ceremony. Turns out, it was. Roxi had returned to Hawaii by the time we realized we were married, so I came over here to try to make a go of it. I know that may seem odd to some people, but Roxi lived alone and wasn’t involved with anyone, and I was between jobs and needed a place to stay. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea at the time. We had a fabulous summer together after which we realized settling down wasn’t for either of us. I went back to the mainland and eventually ended up in LA and Roxi stayed here.”
“And you never got divorced?” Dad asked.
“We talked about it from time to time, but we never got around to filing the paperwork. It wasn’t like either of us was interested in getting hitched to anyone else. After she died I got a letter from her attorney letting me know I’d inherited her entire estate. I happened to once again be between jobs, so I moved here. Like I told you when we spoke then, I wasn’t on the island at the time of the murder and have no idea who could have murdered her. Roxi was a wild one, but she was a good woman at heart.”
“Can you remember the last time you spoke to her?” Dad asked.
“I guess it was a week or so before I was notified of her death. She called to tell me that she’d reconnected with a man we both knew from the summer we spent together here. Neither of us had stayed in touch with him, and she wanted my opinion on what, if anything, he might really be after.”
My dad frowned. “What do you mean by that exactly?”
“Fritz—that was his name, Fritz Meyers—was a nice-enough guy and the three of us had a lot of fun together that summer, but Roxi and I both thought there was something off about him. When he showed back up in her life she called to ask what I thought of it.”
“What do you mean by off ?” Dad asked.
Phillip shrugged. “Fritz liked to party, same as Roxi and me, but he had a serious side to him. It almost seemed like he had a reason for hanging out with us that he wasn’t willing to talk about. For a while Roxi thought he might be working a con of some sort to get money out of her. We watched him real careful, but the con never developed and eventually he moved on. We talked about it later and decided we’d imagining things that weren’t
there.”
“And you stayed in contact with Ms. Bronwyn even after you returned to the mainland?” Dad clarified.
“Sure. We always got on just fine; it was the whole till-death-do-us-part portion of our relationship that didn’t quite fit.”
“You said Fritz Meyers reconnected with her just prior to her death. Can you give us more information about that?”
“Roxi ran into him in Honolulu. He asked about me and she told him that we’d split up. He said he was going to be on the island for a few weeks and suggested they have dinner. She said sure. The next thing she knew, Fritz showed up on her doorstep, saying there’d been a mix-up with his credit card and he was being kicked out of his hotel. His return flight wasn’t for another week and he wondered if he could stay with her. She wasn’t sure that was a good idea, so she gave him some money and checked him into a nearby motel. Once he was settled she called me and we talked about it. We agreed letting him stay at the house wouldn’t be a good idea and Roxi decided to pay for his motel through the date of his return flight. I’m not sure what happened after that. I never spoke to her again.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Fritz Meyers when we spoke five years ago?” Dad asked.
“You didn’t ask about him. It seemed you might have thought I had something to do with Roxi’s death, which I absolutely didn’t. You asked for my alibi, I gave it, and got off the phone as quickly as I could. I’ve seen on TV how saying the wrong thing can lead to all sorts of trouble even if you’re innocent.”
Dad didn’t respond to that. I think he was beginning to realize he may not have handled the investigation as well as he could have five years ago. He asked Phillip if he knew where Fritz Meyers was now and he had no idea. Dad thanked him for his time and we left.
Dad suggested we head home to check in on things. Part of me wanted to follow the next clue, but another wanted to find out how Jason was doing. When we arrived at the house, Mom told us Jason was awake. He was groggy and didn’t remember what had happened, but Alana was at the hospital and had requested that my parents join her as soon as they were able.
The J team were still out, so when Mom and Dad left I set to work entertaining Kale and Kala. Mom had already made enough food to feed an army, so I took the kids and Sandy down to the beach until it was time to get cleaned up for dinner.
******
“Aunt Lani let me surf with her,” Kala informed her mother, whose face faded from a rich brown to a pale ash.
“It was all very safe,” I assured Alana. “Kala was on the board with me and we surfed in teeny, tiny waves that can hardly even be called that.”
“Was she wearing a life vest?” Alana asked.
I cringed. “I was hanging on to her the entire time. I promise you, if she had fallen—and she didn’t—I would have jumped in right after her.”
“You’re a water safety officer. I would think you’d know it isn’t safe for children to be in the water without life vests,” Alana scolded.
“Yes, Lani,” Mom agreed. “We trusted you to be responsible when you were left to look out for your niece and nephew. I thought you knew better than that.”
“Lani always has had a careless streak,” Jeff commented with a gleam in his eye. “Remember when she ran off when the family went camping that summer?”
“I was five,” I pointed out.
“I don’t think running off is the point. I think the point is putting my child’s life in danger.” Poor Alana looked like she was going to cry. I felt bad about adding to her already huge burden.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I was careless and I never should have taken the kids in the water without the proper equipment. It won’t happen again.”
I could see Jimmy snickering out of the corner of my eye. If he made some snide remark about me being sent to my room as some sort of punishment I was going to dump the bowl of potato mac over his head.
“So, tell us about your visit with Jason this afternoon.” John, who appeared to have taken pity on me, changed the subject.
“He’s awake and the doctor seemed to think most of the danger has passed. He does still have a way to go, however. He can move his legs, which is good, but he has a tingling in both feet. I guess recovering from such a severe injury just takes time.”
“Did he know who shot him?”
Dad shook his head. “He can’t remember anything from the day of the shooting. In fact, he seemed surprised when I told him about you finding the remains of Clifford and Anastasia Cramer.”
“He has amnesia?” I asked.
“He remembers all but the last few days. The doctor told us patients with severe trauma oftentimes suffer from short-term memory loss. It was his opinion that Jason’s memory would return over time, but he said some people never do regain the memories they lost. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
I looked at Alana. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this, and I know you’ll want to spend time at the hospital with Jason. I want you to know you can trust me with the kids. If we go to the beach again it will be life vests all around. I promise.”
Alana didn’t respond, which made me feel even worse. The last thing I wanted to do was to upset or worry her. I’d been surfing since I was four years old and it hadn’t occurred to me that Kala and Kale, both excellent swimmers, would need to wear life vests with me right there in the water with them. I didn’t remember wearing a life vest when I first learned to surf, but Mom always made sure one or more of my brothers were with me.
“I think the kids and I are going to decorate the house for Halloween tomorrow,” Mom offered.
I could see Alana was relieved her children would be spending the day with their responsible grandmother rather than their irresponsible aunt.
“Now that Jason is out of the woods I really should get back to work,” Jimmy said. “I’ll plan to come back on my next days off. Hopefully, Jason will be home by then, or at least able to have visitors.”
“I should get back as well,” Jeff said. “I hate to leave Candy home alone for longer than I have to.”
I was about to suggest that Jeff could have Candy come to Oahu, but then I remembered that my mother and Jeff’s wife didn’t get along at all.
“John?” Mom asked.
“I’m going to stay for a couple more days. Justin and I are working on some leads and I’d like to see them through.”
Although my brothers made me crazy at times, I realized I was sad to see them go. I was sure Justin would return to his own home tonight and I supposed I should go home too, but I’d enjoyed the brief time the Popes had been together as a family. I could see Mom was disappointed that her chicks were leaving the nest so soon as well.
“I’m off tomorrow,” I informed my dad. “I can come over before we go to lunch.”
“Dad and Lani are having lunch?” John asked, suspicion in his voice.
“Lani is my child, the same as you, and you and I have had lunch on many occasions,” Dad reminded John.
“I guess,” he said, but his expression communicated that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with Dad’s explanation.
Alana excused herself to put the kids to bed; Jeff and Jimmy got on the phone to book flights home; Dad, John, and Justin headed into his den; I decided to pitch in and help Mom with the dishes.
“I really am sorry about the life-vest fiasco,” I said as I began rinsing the dishes.
“I know you didn’t intend to put the kids in any danger. And they’re strong swimmers. But Alana is already at the end of her rope, so I think it’s important that we be extra careful.”
“Noted, and I agree.”
“So, what exactly are you and your father up to?”
I hesitated. I had no idea whether Dad intended to keep our investigation from Mom. “Nothing, really. He found out Jason was going to recommend me for the next academy class and wanted to take me to lunch to celebrate.” I frowned. “I wonder if Jason even remembers he was going to recommend me.”
&
nbsp; “If not you can remind him when he’s feeling better, although I have to admit you going to the academy isn’t something I’ve been hoping for.”
I opened the dishwasher and began stacking dishes inside. “You know how much it means to me.”
“I do. But you’re my daughter and my youngest. I spend enough time worrying about the boys. It was nice not having to worry about you as well.”
Dad and the boys tended to protect Mom, so I was fairly certain she had no idea the amount of trouble I’d managed to get myself into even without the responsibility of wearing a badge.
“I know being the wife of a cop was hard on you. And I know being the mother of five cops has been even harder. And after what happened to Jason, I’m sure your fear has been amplified. I wish I could tell you that I was content working at the resort for the rest of my life, but we both know my time there was never going to be more than temporary.”
Mom squeezed my hand. “I know. And I want to be supportive. But you are and will always be my baby girl. I’m never going to stop worrying about you. Having said that, my worrying shouldn’t be a reason for you not to follow your dreams. I want you to be happy and I’ll support whatever life path you choose.”
I hugged Mom. “Thanks. I promise to be extra careful and not to give you cause to worry if I can help it.”
******
Initially, I went back to the condo after I left my parents’, but Cam and Kekoa weren’t there, so I grabbed some clean clothes and Sandy and headed over to Luke’s. I knew his house would be unoccupied as well, but I figured I could start decorating, which would help to divert my attention from the million things my mind was trying to convince me I should be worried about. Brody was sitting by the pool with Duke and Dallas when we arrived, so I grabbed a beer and sat down with them.
“Looks like the dogs are happy to see one another,” Brody commented.
“Yeah, I think Sandy got used to us spending a lot of time here. He missed the boys.”
“Luke told me that you might be staying here at least part of the time.”
I shrugged. “I came over tonight to get started on the decorating, but I haven’t made up my mind about what I’m going to do beyond that. I took some extra days off after I found out that my brother Jason had been shot, so I don’t have to be back at work until next Friday. I might stay here a night or two.”
