Homicide in Hawaii

by Susan Harper

  Pauline whipped out a notepad and pen from her little beach bag and tossed it Kendell’s way as she continued sorting through things. Kendell smirked and wrote down Mikey’s name and the reason why he was on their suspect list. Pauline waved her finger a bit as she spoke about her next suspect. “The most likely suspect, I would say, is Mr. Bane,” Pauline said. “He was completely in love with Makani, but after she started competing against him, he turned sour. And, from what I’ve found, things only got worse when Makani started seeing Nick. Bane hates Nick. There’s even one picture on Nick’s page of him with a black eye, and from the comments, it’s courtesy of Bane and a couple of his buddies. Bane did a night in jail for the tussle—jumped Nick after a night of drinking. And, from what Bane was saying last night, he’s not a fan of out-of-towners. His ex-girlfriend choosing an out-of-towner over him was probably a serious blow. Plus, she was his biggest competition for the surfing contest. And Bane has been missing since the luau. Maybe because he killed Makani and decided to ditch?”

  “It’s only been a few hours,” Kendell reminded Pauline. “There could be a number of reasons that Bane didn’t show up here today, even if it is his usual routine. Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet, but I do agree with you. After the way Bane acted last night, he’s definitely a suspect.”

  “What about Johnny?” Pauline suggested.

  “I mean, he was at the beach this morning where Makani was found, but he could have just come to surf,” Kendell said. “And he seemed pretty upset. But he did know she was going to be there since he was at the luau. And he was there at the scene of the crime. But I can’t think of a motive for him since he’s not even in the competition, and Ikaika said that the two of them were good friends.”

  “Write his name down anyway,” Pauline said. “He’s in Makani’s inner circle, and something tells me this wasn’t just some random act of violence.”

  “Agreed,” Kendell said. “Okay, who else?”

  “Well, as much as I don’t want to say it, shouldn’t the boyfriend be on the suspect list?” Pauline suggested.

  Kendell frowned. “I know Nick; he’s as delicate as a little flower. There is no way.”

  “I suppose that Nick was with us that morning, so the chances that he went to the beach, killed Makani, snuck back home without his parents or sister noticing, and then drove us to the scene of the crimes is…unlikely…” Pauline said. “You’re right. I don’t see how that would even be plausible. Just making sure we cover all of our bases. What about Ikaika? He was the host.”

  “I don’t know about him either.” Kendell shook her head, pushing her plate aside. “What would the motive be?”

  “I’m not sure, but he is a big guy. Definitely big enough to beam someone in the head with some sort of tool and kill them,” Pauline said.

  “Okay, but I’m putting him and Johnny at the bottom of our suspect list,” Kendell said. “There’s just no motive…not yet.”

  “Agreed,” Pauline said, then turned her phone around to show Kendell. “Let’s start by talking to Johnny. As one of Makani’s closer friends, he would probably be willing to tell us anything to help us find out what happened.”

  “Wait, what did you do?” Kendell asked, taking Pauline’s phone. There was a website pulled up for some sort of tour boat. “What’s this?”

  “Well, Johnny’s got a reputation around here for being the surfer who can’t stay on his board. He’s got some side jobs—bus driver for Ikaika, and he runs a tour boat. I just booked us a tour so that we can talk,” Pauline said.

  “Sweet,” Kendell said. “That actually sounds like a lot of fun, getting an ocean-side tour of Hawaii. We are on vacation, after all.”

  The two women thanked Ikaika for being so hospitable before heading out. They caught a bus, and later a cab, before arriving at the harbor where a rinky-dink ship christened the SS Johnny-Boy was docked. “What’s up, ladies!” Johnny called from the deck of the ship. “I thought I recognized those names on my booking list!”

  “Hey, Johnny,” Kendell said. “Yeah, we heard you did a boat tour?”

  “Oh, yeah, it’s going to be a blast!” Johnny said. “There’s a honeymooner couple who booked the same slot, but that’s it. So, it’s going to be pretty intimate of a tour today.”

  “Awesome!” Kendell exclaimed, holding a hand out to Pauline to help her on board.

  “Yeah, I’m glad,” Johnny said, waving the women on. “This is my last tour today. After what happened to Makani, I’m just not feeling it.”

  “I understand,” Pauline said.

  The ship was very tiny, but it was enough for a fast-paced tour around the islands. Kendell was ecstatic. The first thing Johnny did was pass out some wet suits for them to wear, which Kendell found a little strange, but she went with it. “Why would we need wetsuits?” she whispered to Pauline. “We’re already wearing bathing suits?”

  “Just go with it,” Pauline said, attempting to wiggle herself into the suit. The honeymooner couple arrived, giddy as ever, and wiggled themselves into their suits as well.

  “You don’t look like the thrill-seeker type,” the young man said to Pauline.

  “I think I can handle a tour around the islands,” Pauline insisted, and the couple laughed like she was making some sort of joke.

  “Weird,” Kendell said under her breath.

  Johnny drove the small boat out into the ocean at full speed, and Kendell laughed as sea water spewed past them. There was loud, Hawaiian music playing over the boat’s loud speakers. The views were fantastic. Kendell snapped a photo of herself and Pauline, one of the volcano’s smoldering in the distance. “This is awesome,” Kendell said, grinning. When the boat started to slow down, it was then that Kendell noticed something very strange. “Um… Pauline… Why is there a giant cage on the side of the ship?”

  “All righty, ladies, and sir, are you folks ready?” Johnny called.

  Kendell’s heart started racing as she watched Johnny throw a bucket of dead, bloody fish over the side of the ship. “Pauline,” Kendell whispered. “What kind of tour is this?”

  “Sharks!” Pauline yelped as they looked over the side, a bunch of shark fins popping up everywhere they looked.

  Johnny was going through a step-by-step instruction on what they were going to do, how to work the snorkeling equipment, and where an emergency call button would alert him if anyone had a panic attack and they needed to abort. Kendell felt as though she was already having a panic attack as Pauline jumped up, eager as ever, and muttered, “You only live once, dear.”

  “Did you know this was a swimming with the sharks experience?” Kendell hissed.

  “No, I’m just as surprised as you,” Pauline assured. “Honest! But we’re definitely doing it.”

  Kendell could not believe how easily she had been talked into this. The next thing she knew, she was decked out in snorkeling gear, inside a metal cage, being dropped into shark-infested waters. As horrifying as it was, Kendell was in absolute awe. The clear water. The sea creatures. The coral wreaths. The underwater hills and valleys. And, of course, the sharks swarming around them. At first, her heart beat rapidly whenever one came near. But they were so peaceful. It was an awe-inspiring moment of absolute natural beauty.

  When they were finally pulled back to the top, Kendell felt almost disappointed it was over. The honeymooners spoke excitedly with Pauline about the experience, and Kendell just smiled. As Johnny drove the ship back to harbor, Kendell asked to know more about Makani. “A humanitarian by every definition of the word,” Johnny said.

  “How do you mean?”

  “A big social justice warrior,” Johnny explained. “Now, Makani was a sweetheart, loved everybody, but she’s made a few enemies in her day.”

  “Really?” Kendell asked, finding it hard to imagine Makani making enemies.

  “Well, after she started to kind of become a local surfing legend, she started using her position to her advantage. She used her platform as a profession
al surfer, which basically amounts to celebrity status around here, to talk about things that she was passionate about—poverty, pollution, wildlife preservation, and about a thousand other causes.”

  “Sounds like Makani had a lot of projects,” Kendell said.

  “Too many to keep up with,” Johnny said with a laugh. “She was branding herself as a person for change. Her latest thing was about holding politicians accountable. Regardless of whether or not it was someone she voted for, she wanted to make sure local politicians stayed true to their campaign promises. It drove her insane. I can’t tell you how many times she’s started protest rallies and demonstrations against local politicians. Eventually, they started calling it harassment. In fact, our local mayor has a restraining order against her.”

  “Yikes,” Kendell said.

  “She’s just a person who cared a lot,” Johnny said, “about a lot of things. She especially cared about keeping elected officials in check.”

  Kendell thanked Johnny for the information, and she added to their list of suspects…literally every politician living on Oahu.

  6

  “Sharks!” Brandon yelped as Pauline showed off an underwater photograph of herself and Kendell in the underwater cage.

  “Yeah,” Kendell said, slightly annoyed despite the fun she’d had on the misadventure. “Pauline failed to mention that the tour included a dive into shark-infested waters. I didn’t know Johnny had an underwater camera snapping pictures of us. Pauline bought, like, five photos.”

  “I can’t believe you two swam with sharks,” Brandon said, smirking. He had been waiting for them in the hotel room with Dot when they had arrived back at the resort, and Pauline had been eager to show off the photographs.

  “I can’t believe the website wasn’t much clearer about what all we were going to do on the boat,” Pauline said.

  “I went and looked. It’s pretty clear, had you been paying attention,” Kendell said, shaking her head. “You are a nut.”

  “Yes, I am aware,” Pauline said and plopped herself down on the sofa beside Brandon. She bent down and picked up Dot; the little dog was standing up on her back legs, gently pawing at her owner for attention.

  “So, did you two manage to find anything out about Makani?” Brandon asked hopefully.

  “We found out that she had more enemies than people would like to admit. She was well-liked, but the local officials around here were not a fan. Too much of a social justice warrior. She liked to hold politicians accountable for their campaign promises, and that sort of behavior was not well-received by some.”

  “Yes, what a shame that people are asked to keep their promises,” Brandon said, shaking his head. “So, she did have enemies.”

  “None who would have known she was at that beach that morning,” Kendell said.

  “You still think someone from the luau is the guilty party?” Pauline asked.

  “I think so,” Kendell said. “Someone must have overheard her saying she was going to catch some early morning waves, and they met her out there and killed her. We can still look into some politicians she might have rubbed the wrong way, but I’m pretty convinced it was a surfer or someone at the luau.”

  “I agree,” Pauline said, turning to Brandon. “How is your brother doing?”

  “Not great,” Brandon admitted. “He was totally in love, you know?” Brandon sighed heavily. “Listen, I hope you two are actually going to be enjoying your vacation instead of spending all your time looking into this. I don’t want you to ruin your trip because of this.”

  “Oh, I do intend to enjoy my vacation,” Pauline assured him. “We already got a lovely ocean-side tour, hung out at a luau, and tomorrow, I’m going to visit the Pearl Harbor memorial!”

  “Ooh, really?” Kendell asked.

  “I do hope you will join me,” Pauline said. “I’m going tomorrow evening. We’ll have plenty of time to fit in some other adventures in the morning, but I’m going to spend the rest of the day relaxing.”

  “I agree,” Kendell said. “I think I’m going to get myself another swimsuit.”

  “There are a bunch of cute ones in the resort’s gift shops,” Pauline said.

  “Well, while you two are shopping, I’m going to head out,” Brandon said. “I think I need to be with Nick right now, so I’m going to go hang out with the family for a bit.”

  “I understand,” Kendell said. “We’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Thanks,” Brandon said, and he left.

  “So, now that Brandon’s gone, who do you think is responsible?” Pauline asked.

  “Honestly? Bane,” Kendell said. “I called Ikaika to ask if Bane has shown, and he said no one has seen him since the luau. He also said it’s not usual for Bane to just drop out like this. Especially so close to a surfing competition.”

  “He might have run,” Pauline said, shaking her head. “We should definitely look more into him.”

  “That’s going to be difficult if we can’t find him,” Kendell said. “Anyway, let’s head to the gift shop. I really want a new swimsuit because I’m going to hit up the beach and take a nap on a towel!”

  The two women headed down, did a little suit shopping, and Kendell picked herself out a fairly conservative two-piece, yellow with blue polka dots. “Cute,” she decided and headed back to her room to change. Their large suite had its own washer, so she tossed all the dirty clothes she had been stuffing in her suitcase since London along with her teal one-piece before heading down to the beach. Pauline elected to remain in the hotel room to take a snooze with Dot.

  Kendell headed out to the beach the resort rested on, laying out her towel and just enjoying a little bit of sun after coating herself in a thick layer of sunscreen. She snapped a photo of herself and sent it to Jack, hoping he would appreciate the two-piece shot. She hoped the flirty photo might help make a little peace.

  That was about when Kendell fell asleep. Between the sun, the gentle waves, and the distant chatter of tourists, she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Bad idea for a ginger. When she woke up, her entire front side was burned red. “Ow!” she yelped as she sat up. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” She stood, snatching up her beach bag, phone, and towel. She wrapped her towel around herself and hurried up the beach back to the hotel. She realized she had to have been asleep for over an hour.

  When she reached the suite, she could hear Pauline snoring from her room and decided not to wake her. She went to her room, made her way to the bathroom, and when she saw herself in the mirror, she felt distressed. “I look like a tomato!” she moaned and leaned forward, looking at her face in the mirror. “All my freckles have morphed together!”

  She called the hotel staff, asking for some aloe or any sort of sunburn relief. She knew by now this was something she needed to treat quickly. The cream the staff brought up for her worked wonderfully, but she knew she was going to be red for a while. After examining herself a bit more in the mirror, she felt foolish to see how white her back was and how red her front was. There was a perfect line on either side, splitting the two skin tones perfectly. She shook her head, imagining what Pauline would say to her when she woke up.

  After coating herself in aloe, she checked her phone. Of course, she had a string of texts from Jack.

  Cute bathing suit, babe!

  Wish I could see it in person.

  Why aren’t you texting me back?

  Did you fall asleep on the beach? You’re going to burn.

  When are you coming home?

  Are you going to keep travelling and never come home or something?

  Hello?

  Babe?

  When are you coming home?

  How long will you be in Hawaii?

  Where are you going next – are you coming home?

  Kendell shook her head, finding it hard to believe how many messages she had from him. She sent him a photo of her burnt face, telling him she’d fallen asleep. They texted back and forth for a bit, and he was a little less obno
xious than he had been when she was in London or in Nairobi. Lil must have gotten a hold of him, Kendell thought, smiling. Lil was always quick to whip up on their significant others if they weren’t treating anyone in their group of friends right. She was the mama bear of the group.

  Through his texts, he seemed honestly interested in what she was doing, and he took the time to playfully pick at her about falling asleep on the beach and missing his panicky texts. He offered up an apology about being so obnoxious with her wanting to take some time for herself, and he even went as far as to tell her that he hoped she was having a fun, relaxing time. He asked about this strange old lady, Pauline, he had heard about, and Kendell shared some of the adventures she’d had with Pauline. Frankly, it was one of the most refreshing conversations they’d had in a while, even if it was just through text messaging.

  Kendell felt somewhat satisfied knowing that Jack had chilled out some, but she could still sense his agitation. She wished she knew what was bothering him so much about her taking a little time for herself. It had been incredibly last minute, and it was more than just a weekend trip. She was planning on being gone a whole month. Maybe he was just clingier than she thought? She shook it off and headed out to the living room, where she found Pauline in pajamas with a plate of food in her lap and a large rolling tray filled with even more food beside her. Kendell laughed slightly at the sight. Pauline certainly looked comfortable.

  “Whatcha doing, Pauline?” Kendell sang.

  “I ordered room service,” she said, smirking. “I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I ordered four different dinners. I got a little excited because everything looked so yummy. I tend to get really hungry when menus have pictures. They make everything look so good in those pictures, and the room service menu I had them bring up was just full of pictures! Oh my goodness, you must try this salmon cooked in pineapple juice. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but my goodness!”

  Kendell laughed and grabbed herself a plate, filling it up with different dishes. She giggled at how ridiculous Pauline could be at times. It was incredible that she had found such a good friend in someone so different from herself.