Murder on Kaanapali Beach

by R. Barri Flowers

  Akela grabbed the brown bag. "Okay."

  Mele gazed at Seymour. "What time will you be home tonight?"

  He didn't want to lie to her, as that had gotten him into trouble before and contributed to nearly ending their marriage. "Not sure," he replied, knowing that the greater responsibilities of being a lieutenant didn't allow him the luxury of punching out at a given time. Still, he added to soften the blow: "But I shouldn't be too late."

  She twisted her lips with resignation. "Okay, we'll see you then."

  He gave her a kiss on the mouth and kissed Akela's cheek before seeing them out. He left shortly thereafter.

  During the drive to work, Seymour thought about Parker Breslin and the young daughter he'd left behind. She would never get to truly know him or vice versa. It was a fate Seymour wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. That was one reason seeing to it that justice was served in apprehending Breslin's killer was such a priority for him and the department. And it looked like they were beginning to make some headway there. Sadly, it appeared the one calling the shots was far too close to home, even if not especially surprising, all things considered. Intimate homicides were prevalent in society and always came at a terrible price. In this instance, the victim's daughter, Marie, would have to suffer that much more once she was old enough to reconcile the apparent sad truth about her parents.

  Seymour was still thinking about the effect it would have on Breslin's daughter if her own mother had orchestrated the hit on him. He was standing outside the interrogation room, alongside the detectives working the case. He gazed through the one-way window as Willa Takeyama sat there staring at the wall.

  "The walls are closing in on her," Rachel said confidently.

  "Not fast enough, as far as I'm concerned," Leila muttered. "She clearly thinks she's pulled one over on us and isn't likely to blink."

  Chung grunted and said: "Maybe she'll rethink that now that her ex-boyfriend is talking."

  "My guess is she's sweating bullets right now," Ferguson said.

  "I think she's sweated long enough," Seymour said. "Let's go see what the lady has to say for herself, if anything."

  "This should be interesting," Leila remarked.

  He agreed. Just how interesting it would be depended on the suspect and her willingness to play ball at her own expense.

  * * *

  Rachel entered the room with Ferguson, knowing that the stakes were high for all parties concerned. They now had a bona fide suspect with Parker Breslin's ex suspected as the one behind his murder. As though that weren't enough, in a disturbing surprise twist, she was now linked to Verlin Yashiro, a suspect in the murder of his estranged wife Joyce. Had the two been in on this all along?

  Rachel sat down in front of the suspect and asked tartly: "So do you prefer we call you Willa Takeyama or Willa Breslin?"

  Willa blinked uncomfortably. "Whatever you want, though these days I'm going by my maiden name, Takeyama."

  "So be it. Well, Ms. Takeyama, there's been an interesting development since we last had you in..."

  "Really? What is it?" she asked coolly.

  "Do you know a man named Ray Hennesy?"

  Willa's eyes widened. "Yes, we used to date."

  "According to Hennesy, you did more than just date. He says you tried to recruit him to murder your ex, Parker Breslin."

  Willa sighed theatrically. "He told you that?"

  Ferguson stepped in, staring down at her. "He told us more than that. Hennesy said you offered to pay him twenty grand to murder Breslin."

  "I did no such thing," she insisted. "Ray is a consummate liar who would say anything to get back at me."

  "Why would he want to get back at you?" he asked.

  "Why do you think? Because I broke up with him and it pissed him off."

  Rachel peered at her cynically. "You expect us to believe Hennesy would concoct such a story out of revenge all because you ended the relationship?"

  "It's the truth! Ray is a control freak. He hated that I wanted to end a volatile relationship and swore he'd make me pay. Now I see how he intended to do that."

  Rachel had to hand it to her; she seemed to have an answer for everything and was daring them to prove otherwise. "There's a problem with your version of the story," she told the suspect. "Hennesy actually went to Breslin's house and cased the place. In the process, he happened to spit out some gum. We were able to link it to him through DNA. I seriously doubt he would have been smart enough to count on that if his intention was to set you up for conspiring to murder your ex, especially when he initially denied playing any part in Breslin's death, including your involvement."

  "So maybe he's a lot smarter than you give him credit for," Willa suggested. "If he went to Parker's house, it was because he wanted to stick it to me. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. What better way to implicate me than by leaving the gum and waiting for you to figure it out for yourself?"

  Rachel narrowed her eyes, hiding her frustration. "You know what I think? I think you're the one lying here. I think you were willing to do anything to get full custody of your daughter. That included using Ray Hennesy to kill your ex. Only Hennesy got cold feet, turning down your offer—even though it meant no longer getting you into bed and missing out on a big payday!"

  Willa's thin brows bridged menacingly. "The whole thing is absurd," she maintained. "I do not have $20,000 to spare to hire someone to kill Parker or anyone else. So why would I pretend I did knowing that when it came time to collect, I would risk Ray going to the police?"

  "Uh, I don't know," Rachel said sarcastically. "Maybe because you thought we'd pin the entire thing on your boyfriend and you would go free to move on to another man, while keeping custody of your daughter."

  "It never happened—none of it!" Willa stated firmly. "Sorry if I won't admit to something that's not true."

  Rachel bit her lower lip, aware they didn't have enough to hold her, in spite of what Ray Hennesy had to say. She glanced at Ferguson and moved on to their next angle. "Okay, then let's talk about Verlin Yashiro—"

  Willa was clearly taken aback by the mention of his name. "What about him?" she asked unevenly.

  "How long have you been dating him?"

  Willa paused. "Off and on for a few months."

  Rachel looked at her. "So you were seeing him and Ray Hennesy at the same time?"

  Another pause. "Is there a law against dating two men at once?"

  "Only when you use one or both in a murder for hire scheme," stated Ferguson, taking a seat next to Rachel. "Or did Yashiro offer to do it for the price of being in your bed—or his?"

  Willa wrung her hands. "There was no murder plot between me and Verlin, just like there wasn't one with Ray. We've simply been dating like normal people—nothing more."

  Rachel leaned forward. "Are you aware that Yashiro is a suspect in the murder of his estranged wife, Joyce Yashiro...?"

  Willa sighed. "I knew she had been killed, but I didn't know he was a suspect, especially since we were together at the time she was killed. I told the other detectives that—"

  Rachel eyed Ferguson. They had already been updated on this development from Leila and Chung. But that didn't mean it had to be revealed to the woman suspected of masterminding a murder.

  "So you were with Yashiro when his wife was killed, huh?" she threw out.

  "Yes, the entire night," insisted Willa.

  Rachel pressed her hands on the table. "I find it just a little suspicious that you're the alibi for Yashiro in his wife's death, and he just happens to be involved with you while someone was gunning down your ex. Do you see how strange that looks from our perspective?"

  "Maybe it does," Willa offered, "but one thing has nothing to do with the other. Verlin and I had nothing to do with the deaths of our spouses or exes—or, for that matter, each other's. I'm sure you would love to make this out to be some sort of weird joint conspiracy, but it never happened, I'm sorry."

  So am I, Rachel thought. Sorry that we can't arr
est you on the spot and throw away the key.

  Regrettably, that was the situation they found themselves in. And Willa knew it. All they could do right now was let her know they were onto her and bide their time.

  Which, unfortunately, was playing right into her hands.

  * * *

  "Basically, like it or not, right now it's his word against hers," Seymour said ten minutes later. He was standing outside another interrogation room where Verlin Yashiro sat. Leila and Rachel were waiting to go in.

  "And Willa knows that all too well," muttered Rachel. "She's smart and cunning, if nothing else—and she has an ally in Verlin Yashiro."

  "They're playing us," Leila said. "More than likely, they're both involved in the murders of Joyce Yashiro and Parker Breslin." She was still reeling from the realization that Breslin's alibi was a suspect in another murder case and she had used her maiden name, perhaps to try to circumvent the connection.

  "Yeah, it looks that way," Seymour said. "Unfortunately, they also have alibis, shaky or not. And without something more to go on than Ray Hennesy's unsubstantiated allegation, we may have no choice but to cut Willa Takeyama loose."

  Leila sighed. Deep down inside, she knew they were right. A search warrant had been executed in searching Hennesy's residence, but they couldn't find the murder weapon used to pump three bullets into Parker Breslin. This only gave more credence to Hennesy's assertion that he was not the killer.

  Now was the time to see if Verlin Yashiro would crack under the pressure of two murders he may have been involved in.

  "We'll see if Yashiro tells a different tale than his girlfriend," Leila said.

  "I can't wait to get at him," Rachel added eagerly.

  "Neither can I," Leila said as they stepped inside the room. She wondered if either of them could break a man who seemed just as callous and calculating as Willa Takeyama.

  Rachel took a seat in front of Yashiro, while Leila sat to the side of him.

  After taking a breath, Rachel spoke first. "I'm Detective Lancaster. I'm investigating the murder of Parker Breslin—the ex-husband of your girlfriend, Willa Takeyama."

  Yashiro winced. "Yes, Willa and I are dating, but what does that have to do with her ex-husband's death?"

  Rachel rolled her eyes. "Duh—we believe that Willa got someone to murder Parker Breslin. First, she tried to recruit her last boyfriend, Ray Hennesy—offering him $20,000 to do the dirty deed. Once he refused, it only stands to reason that she would get someone else—like maybe a man already suspected of being involved in his own wife's murder. How am I doing so far?"

  His brows twitched. "It's ludicrous to suggest I had anything to do with Breslin's murder," he contended. "As for my wife, I have an alibi—"

  "I know, you were supposedly with Ms. Takeyama," Rachel said, cutting him off. "How convenient."

  Yashiro maintained his composure. "It's true. I've done nothing wrong being involved with Willa when my wife and I were no longer together. And Willa is divorced. Neither of us had any reason to want either of them dead."

  Leila listened patiently; sure that he was feeding them a pack of lies while trying to cover his ass and save his lover's ass at the same time.

  "Where were you when Parker Breslin was gunned down?" Rachel asked pointblank, reminding him of the day and time.

  As though fully prepared for the question, Yashiro responded without prelude: "I was in a meeting with a group of people at my company, the Aloha Architectural Group. And I can provide you with the names of everyone who was there to verify it."

  "You do that," she demanded. "And while you're at it, you can tell me who you and Willa Takeyama Breslin hired to knock off your wife and her ex-husband. Think you can do that for me?"

  "That's crazy!" Yashiro made a face. "I hired no one. Neither did Willa. You're grasping at straws and coming up short!"

  Rachel sighed and met Leila's eyes, as though conceding defeat. Leila faced Yashiro, determined not to allow him and his lover to get away with murder.

  "Seems like we keep meeting, Yashiro," she said humorlessly. "What's up with that?"

  He glared at her. "You tell me, Detective Kahana. Seems like you enjoy persecuting an innocent man—and an innocent woman, too!"

  Leila held his gaze, disregarding his claims of innocence. Still, she pretended to give him the benefit of the doubt by saying: "Believe me, I wish we didn't have to keep bringing you down here. Maybe you are totally blameless in the murder of your wife and have nothing to do with the murder of your lover's ex-husband. But put yourself in our shoes. The fact that you two are together and two people who were intimates of yours are dead...well, it just doesn't look good."

  "Maybe not, but that doesn't make either of us killers." Yashiro crossed his arms petulantly. "It's just the opposite. Willa and I just happened to make a connection under unfortunate circumstances. Neither of us could have known these terrible things would happen. We only want to put this entire ordeal behind us and get on with our lives—if you'll let us."

  It was all Leila could do not to burst out laughing from the absurdity of it all. She had to give him credit, along with Willa Takeyama—they were good. Both were practiced storytellers and had managed to stick to their guns, as though believing they were above reproach at the end of the day. But this façade did not work with her and would only last so long before it broke down like a sand castle.

  Just as she was about to grill him some more, the door burst open. A thirty-something, attractive Hawaiian woman stormed in, glaring at them.

  "Don't say anything else!" she ordered Yashiro, then said to the detectives: "I'm Diane Arakaki, Mr. Yashiro's attorney."

  Yashiro reacted, while taking her advice and keeping quiet.

  "Ms. Arakaki," Leila acknowledged, glancing at Rachel, while wondering who had contacted the attorney. Perhaps it was Willa Takeyama so she could keep Yashiro from saying something that might implicate one of them in the murders of Joyce Yashiro and Parker Breslin.

  Diane flashed Leila a sharp look. "Talking to my client without representation is not cool, Detectives. Not too smart either."

  Leila begged to differ. "Your client came here voluntarily," she told her. "We had some questions for him and he never asked for an attorney."

  "Be that as it may, his attorney is here now," she hissed. "Unless you plan to arrest my client, this meeting is over."

  Rachel frowned. "Mr. Yashiro is free to go. But I wouldn't go very far. It's good to know you've got a lawyer. You're going to need her before this is over."

  Yashiro stood and cracked a grin, as if to say: Catch me if you can.

  Leila accepted the silent challenge. She was determined to see to it that justice was served in the death of his wife and his lover's ex-husband no matter how long it took to wipe that smug look off Yashiro's face.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  That evening, Leila took a walk on the beach barefoot, enjoying the feel of the sand between her toes. She was happy to step back from the pressures of the job to enjoy a simple pleasure and take in the beauty of nature all around her. In spite of the unsavory elements of life on Maui, it was a place she wouldn't trade for the world, with all the good things it had to offer. As a Native Hawaiian, she was committed to being part of the culture and following the legacy of her father, grandfather, and those who came before them.

  When she got back to her house, Leila took a shower and then sat down with a glass of red wine. She was just about to read a couple of chapters of a novel when her cell phone rang. She saw that it was Eddie Naku seeking a video chat. Had he learned something about Maxwell Kishimoto that might derail their potential romance before it even started?

  She took a sip of wine and accepted the call, watching as his face appeared on the small screen. "Hey," she said.

  "Hey," Naku said, grinning. "Hope I didn't catch you at a bad time?"

  "You didn't." She smiled eagerly. "So, I take it you checked out Maxwell?"

  "Yeah, I did."

  "What
did you find out?" Leila wondered if she really wanted to know.

  Naku paused. "I learned quite a bit about him. You already know Kishimoto is clean as far as his criminal record. Well, that extends to the rest of his life too. He came to the United States from Japan with his parents when he was five. He's been a successful restaurateur in San Francisco, Houston, Honolulu, and now Maui. He's never been married and has no children that have surfaced. He's got a ranch up in the West Maui Mountains. Let's see, what else... He rides horses and plays tennis. I can keep digging, if you want, but I'd say he's got a lot of good things going for him. If you want to pursue—"

  She flashed her teeth. "I think that's enough. I'll take it from here. Mahalo."

  "Anytime," Naku said.

  Leila wondered if he really meant that. Not that it mattered. She wasn't interested in taking advantage of his private detective skills any more than she already had.

  "Catch you later," she told him, before disconnecting.

  Tasting her wine, Leila wondered briefly if she could ever return to the private sector and put her skills to use as a private investigator like Naku had. It didn't seem very likely. When she turned in her gun and badge, there were other less hazardous pursuits that came to mind, such as putting a greater focus on her art.

  Her thoughts turned to Maxwell Kishimoto. So he checked out as a decent guy with no skeletons waiting to come out of the closet. What was there not to like? Moreover, he seemed to like her.

  All that was left was to build up the courage to call him. It was a tall task for an old fashioned girl who still preferred to be pursued.

  * * *

  Jonny Chung went to the bar called Moonlights on Hana Highway in Paia to meet covertly with drug dealer Shichiro Gutierrez. But Gutierrez was late, pissing him off. Chung noticed Renee Bradley, the hot journalist he'd once bedded and was currently feeding information. She was sitting at a table with several tequila shots in front of her.

  Since he had a little time to kill, Chung went over to her table and sat down. "Need some company?"

  Renee looked surprised to see him. "Actually, I'm waiting for someone."