Ukulele Murder: A Nani Johnson Aloha Lagoon Mystery (Aloha Lagoon Mysteries Book 1)

by Leslie Langtry

  "Aloha!" Nick calls out as he walks up to the man.

  I watch as the two men lapse into what appears to be a comfortable discussion. Nick is really good at this. He's so comfortable in his own skin. I wonder if that's due to knowing who you come from and living in the same house for generations. There are no blank spaces in his family tree. He knows how they lived and what they wanted out of life. That's where his ease with people comes from, I'd bet.

  Binny is staring at me. "What's going on with you and Nick?"

  I tear my eyes away from the men to look at her. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean, you barely know the guy. You haven't really had a single date. In fact, you've only known him a couple of days."

  "Well, that's how all relationships start out. You get to know each other over time."

  "Yes." Binny waves my statement away. "But he's already devoted a lot of time to you. And he's not freaked out that you are a suspect in a murder case. And he volunteers to spend his whole weekend driving two women he's never met before around the island, interviewing suspects. Does that seem weird to you?"

  Yes, it seems weird. "Not really. Stranger things have happened."

  Does Binny think it's weird that a man is interested in me? That can't be it. No one is nicer than Binny, and she'd go out of her way to make me feel better. So why the third degree?

  My silence seems to upset her. "I'm not saying he isn't a total catch. I hope he is. I just want you to keep an open mind. Play devil's advocate."

  "Okay," I say. "I understand that. You're just looking out for me. And this whirlwind…whatever…isn't textbook dating 101. But he seems sincere."

  We look at Nick. He and Bob Reed are locked in a serious discussion. Did he get the man to open up? I feel the tingle of hope in my stomach.

  "All right." I turn to my friend. "I'll try to keep my eyes open. And I promise to find out more about him. But really, don't you and everyone else in Aloha Lagoon know all about the Woodfields? If he's a serial killer, wouldn't it have come out by now?"

  Binny gives in. "Just be careful. Promise me."

  I nod, but this train of thought is bothering me now. I don't know anything about Nick. On the other hand, I'd like to think I'm a good judge of character, and nothing seems out of line. Ugh. I do not need this right now. All these murders must be getting to Binny. After all, she can't remember a murder ever occurring in Aloha Lagoon—and she's lived here all her life.

  Why does my life have to be so complicated right now? In fact, why am I investigating these murders in the first place? The detective's list has five names. And the fact that Detective Ray hasn't arrested me yet must mean I'm not that much of a suspect, right?

  In fact, I decide that after today, I'm going to give up on this. Nick and I can go on a nice date. I can hit up the resort for Kua's and Leilani's gigs. Okay, that seems a little harsh. It's probably a bad idea to start shooting for their usual jobs.

  On the other hand, Pauli seemed pretty keen to work at the resort. Would he be there first thing in the morning to schmooze? If so, why shouldn't I give it a shot? What should I do?

  Nick walks back to us, shouting "mahalo" and waving at Bob Reed over his shoulder. Binny and I wait until he's right in front of us.

  "Let's get lunch," he says.

  "What did you find out?" I ask, but he cuts me off.

  "Not here. Come on."

  We drive about four blocks and end up at a cute little pizza place. Nick ushers us in, and we find a table. The suspense is killing me.

  "Tell us!" Binny explodes first.

  Nick grins. "Actually, I did rather well. You see those two girls over there?"

  We follow the direction of his finger and see two young women, both with blonde ponytails, wearing waitress aprons.

  "Yeah?" I ask. "So what?"

  "That is Elizabeth and Gina. Bob told me they work here. I figure it's better to make small talk here than to just show up at their home.”

  Binny pouts. "But that was going to be our interview."

  "He knows them?" I ask. "How did you find that out?"

  One of the blondes comes over and gets our orders. I try not to stare openly as Binny orders us a round of soft drinks and a large pepperoni pizza. The name tag says Gina. She smiles thinly before heading back to the kitchen.

  "I know that," Nick begins, "because Bob knew Leilani. And those two are her former roommates."

  Leilani had roommates? Human roommates? I guess I always thought she lived in a cave with rabid bats as her only friends.

  "Bob also said," Nick continues as he keeps his eyes on the two waitresses, "that he knew Kua."

  "He knew both of them too?" I marvel.

  Binny nods. "This isn't a big island, Nani. And it's even smaller if you move in certain circles…like surfers or musicians."

  "What did Bob say about Kua and Leilani?" I ask.

  Gina arrives and plunks down our drinks with some empty plates and napkins. She grins weakly at us before leaving again. I'm pretty sure she's hardly noticed us at all.

  "Do you think she's upset about Leilani's death?" Binny asks. That's so like her to be concerned about total strangers.

  "Bob says Kua played regularly in a bar not far from here whenever he was in town to surf. Bob likes music, so he would go hear him perform. Afterwards they'd hang out at the bar for a while. He liked Kua and has no idea who would want to kill him."

  "Huh. I guess Leilani and I are the only ones he wasn't nice to," I mumble.

  Nick continues. "Bob couldn't say enough about what a great guy Kua was. Our murdered uke player was very devoted to his mother. He worked every gig he ever got to pay for her nursing home. And he visited her every single day."

  "Really? That's so sad. Who's looking after his mother now?" I ask.

  Nick shook his head. "Bob didn't know. It's possible there are other family members on the island. Maybe they'll step up."

  Binny looks like she's going to burst into tears. "I want to send her flowers or something. Can we go to the funeral?"

  I nod. "I was planning on it. I read once that the murderer usually goes to the funerals of his victims. Gives them a little thrill."

  "That is horrible!" Binny gasps.

  "You realize that line of thinking could backfire for you," Nick says. "If you're a suspect and you show up, Detective Ray is going to wonder why."

  I shrug. "He thinks I knew them. Leilani led him to believe Kua and I were close. Besides, the whole island is probably going. So I'm going."

  Kua was nice to his mother. Well, of course he was! What did I think? That just because he didn't like me he was a soulless test-tube baby? Clearly he was liked by some people, like Bob.

  "Did he say if he suspected somebody?" I ask hopefully.

  Nick fidgets. He looks nervous. "Well, he did mention one person."

  I sat straight up. Bob had a suspect in mind! This would take the spotlight off of me!

  "Who? Who is it?"

  Nick sighs. "Kua told him he only had one enemy. You."

  "What?" I couldn't have heard that right. Did he say me?

  "Kua told Bob that he had a hostile relationship with only one person. A 'haole' ukulele pretender from the mainland."

  Yup. That sounds like me all right. Damn.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I slump in my chair, dejected. If Bob told Nick, a complete stranger, that he thinks I killed Kua, he'll certainly tell Detective Ray that. And if the detective shows him a picture of me, Bob will mention that we came around asking questions.

  I bury my face in my hands. "I'm so screwed."

  Binny pats me on the back. "Not necessarily. It's just hearsay. The police can't use that as evidence."

  I look up. Nick gives me a feeble smile. Totally screwed.

  "Look, Nani," Nick says. I love it when he says my name. Although, I'd rather hear it on the beach at sunset than deciding whether I should just order all my clothes in prison orange from here on out. "We still have these two to talk to
. Maybe they'll turn up something."

  "I don't get it." I shake my head. "Todd and Pauli don't seem to be suspects. Why did the detective have them on a list to investigate? And Bob will implicate me when Ray does meet with him. The detective warned me off of investigating on my own. Maybe I should just go home and wait for him to take me downtown."

  Nick rolls his eyes. "If Kua and Leilani were difficult with you, they had to have been that way with other people, right? And there's the Sea Dogs gang too. And I don't think we should rule Pauli out. That guy was definitely hiding something."

  Binny nods. "And those two waitresses are former roommates. Pauli said he only dated Leilani for a minute. He knew what a pain she was. If these two are former roomies, chances are she was horrible to them too."

  We are quiet for a few moments. Gina walks up and sets the pizza on the table. She gives us the same thin smile. Maybe that's just how she is? I shouldn't read anything into that. Still, how did Leilani end up with roommates that didn't kill her after a day or two? I wanted to murder her after seven seconds. Hmmm…I should keep that to myself.

  I dig in, plucking a steaming, greasy slice of pizza and plopping it onto my plate. It's good. Really good. In fact, it's probably the best pizza I've ever had here in Hawaii. My friends must feel the same way, because they are tearing into it too. I hadn't realized how hungry the fear of a lifetime in jail could make you. I guess I'll be packing on the pounds from here on out. In college you have the "freshman fifteen" when it comes to weight gain. What do you call it in prison? The "felon fifteen"?

  "That is the best pizza ever!" Binny moans as she throws her napkin on her empty plate.

  Nick nods. "I didn't even know this place existed. How could I not know that?"

  I shake my head. "You guys don't have a clue. Don't get me wrong. You do seafood and fruit and barbecue great and all, but you can't do pizza. Until now."

  Binny throws a napkin at me, and Nick rolls his eyes. It feels so good to have people to hang out with instead of babysitting my mother at home. What's Mom going to do if I go to jail? She could live on the money Dad left for a while, and maybe Vera would keep an eye on her, but is that enough? I made a mental note to ask Nick—if things go south, can Mom stay with them?

  "It's the sauce." We look up to see Gina talking to us. "Vito, that's the owner, he's from New Jersey. It's his mother's secret recipe." Her voice is flat, lifeless, and limp.

  Nick stands. "Excuse me." He pulls his cell from his pocket. "I've got to make a call."

  I watch him leave. To my surprise, Elizabeth joins us. And that's when I realize we are the only people in the restaurant.

  "Sit down!" Binny urges the women with one of her dazzling smiles. "You have a moment. Take a load off."

  The two waitresses look at each other, shrug, and sit. It can't be this easy, can it? Now all I have to do is get them to confess that they murdered Leilani. That shouldn't be too hard. These two look like they have the combined intelligence of a wet napkin.

  "When did this place open?" Binny asks. Her smile is disarming, even on women.

  From a distance, Gina and Elizabeth look like each other. Same height, build, and dishwater-blonde hair in a ponytail. But close up, I can see there are differences. While Gina has the palest blue eyes I've ever seen, Elizabeth's were brown, like mine. Elizabeth has full lips and plump cheeks. Gina is gaunt—almost as if she's aged too soon. Something I can understand if she lived with Leilani.

  "Vito moved here six months ago," Gina says. "But we just opened last month."

  "Did you move here with the restaurant?" I ask, hoping the question sounds normal. To be perfectly honest, these two are kind of creeping me out with their bland expressions.

  This time Elizabeth speaks. "No. We've lived here about ten years. Before that we worked in Honolulu."

  "Oh," I say. "So you're roommates?"

  Gina and Elizabeth don't speak but do shrug at the exact same time. I kind of wish I had a cross or Bible or something in case they turned out to be demons.

  "Well, I love the pizza! Do you have some flyers?" Binny asks. "We can take them home and let people know about this place."

  "I'll get them," Gina says but doesn't move. It's like watching a toy run out of battery power. I suspect she won't move until she has to.

  "Where are you from?" Elizabeth asks, startling me with her sudden initiative. Her manner is just as dull as Gina's. They're kind of reminding me of the twins from The Shining. Nani, come play with us…

  "Aloha Lagoon." Binny smiles. Clever girl. She's gotten us to a point where we can get into the reason we are really here.

  The women exchange a very long, curious look. At least, that's what I think it is. For all I know, they could be swapping recipes telepathically.

  "Aloha Lagoon? Really?" Gina asks, but there's an edge to her voice.

  "Yes," I say. "Have you been there?"

  Once again, the two women look at each other. I wonder if they communicate telepathically.

  "Leilani O'Flanagan was murdered there the other day," Gina says. "Did you know her?"

  I nod. "Professionally only. She was a colleague of mine."

  Gina and Elizabeth stand, their chairs flying backward. Gina points at me, her face a mask of horror. Whoa. We've gone from The Shining to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

  "You're that evil musician!" she screams. I half expect aliens to appear to replace me with a pod version.

  "What?" Evil? Seriously? Seems a little harsh since they just met me.

  "You tortured that poor, sweet, innocent soul!" Elizabeth shrieks. She is also now pointing at me.

  Did she just refer to Leilani, the screaming psycho, as sweet and innocent? These two are crazy. They've gone from zero to harpy in two seconds.

  "You're Nani!" Gina says my name as if it tastes bad. "We know all about you!"

  "I don't understand," I start, but Elizabeth cuts me off.

  "You teased and bullied our poor Leilani! And you killed her too!"

  I teased and bullied a woman who once referred to my playing as the sound of a garbage disposal in its death throes?

  "I did not!" I stand now, my face flushed with anger. "And Leilani was the bully! She treated me like dirt. She liked to pick fights with me and the other musicians."

  My words might as well be in Dutch, because the two creepy waitresses shake their heads violently, refusing to listen.

  "Get out of here!" Gina hisses.

  "I hope you get the death penalty!" Elizabeth cries.

  We're out the door and back into the sunshine before we can even pay our bill. Binny turns back to do so, but Elizabeth locks the door, and Gina turns the Open sign to Closed. I grab Binny's arm and pull her toward me. Not only do they not deserve to get paid, but I kind of think my life might be in danger here, in Vito's parking lot.

  "What happened?" Nick asks.

  "Well"—I shift from one foot to the other—"we talked to them. And it didn't go well."

  Binny and I climb into the car. From the window I see Gina writing down our license plate number. Great. When Detective Ray does interview them, Gina and Elizabeth will probably tell them I attacked them with a meat cleaver. To be honest, I really wanted to.

  "I think we might be in trouble," I say. "And I'm afraid this is the last time we'll ever have that fabulous pizza. It might be the last time I have any pizza, if those two testify against me."

  Binny fills Nick in on the conversation as I stare out the window. These women loved Leilani. How is that possible? The woman was evil and nasty, but either they loved those qualities in her or I'm the only target she ever had. My mind races back to all the arguments I'd ever had with the woman. I couldn't call them conversations. The words exchanged weren't civil.

  Did I cause her hostility somehow? I couldn't remember ever picking a fight with her, Kua, or anyone. Other people had to have had bad experiences with her. Pauli didn't date her long. Alohalani—the only other ukulele musician on the island now—understo
od how difficult she was.

  I took in a deep breath and let out a sigh. No way was I imagining it. The only thing difficult to believe is that anyone got along with Kua and Leilani. And I need proof that they were rotten. I have to talk to someone who agrees with me.

  "I think our next step is to interview Alohalani," I speak up. "He knows what those two were really like."

  Nick and Binny are strangely silent.

  "What?" I ask. "What is it?"

  "It's just that…what I mean is…I don't mean to question you…" Binny fumbles.

  Uh-oh. I have a bad idea where this is going.

  "We're not questioning you," Nick eases. "Not really. But I think I need to point out that there are people who have a false impression of you and think you killed Kua and Leilani."

  "You two don't think that I…"

  "No!" Binny interrupts. "I'm sure those two were horrible people. We're just saying that it looks bad for you."

  Nick nods. "This is something we need to be aware of. Something we need to counteract if we are going to prove you innocent."

  Nick and Binny are right. When Detective Ray ever gets around to investigating the names on that list, he's going to come to the conclusion that I am the murderer. I have motive. I've been seen arguing with the two on several occasions. The alleged murder weapon is missing from my home. All signs point to me.

  I'm starting to believe that I did it.

  "Head home," I tell them as I rub my pounding head. "I need to sleep on this."

  "Okay," Binny soothes. "We'll talk tomorrow."

  "You're going out of town tomorrow, and Nick is going to work."

  "What are you going to do?" Nick asks.

  "I'm going to go see the only other ukulele performer left on Kauai. I'm going to see Alohalani."

  And I'm going to make him agree with me. If he doesn't, clearly I'm from another dimension, and I should turn myself in. At this point it's the only thing I can do.

  Mom is asleep when I get home. I do the dishes and put away laundry before going to bed. As I lay there, I think about Kua and Leilani. Somehow the two of them have managed to implicate me from the great beyond. It's a nice trick because I seriously doubt either one of them made it to heaven.