“You need to speak with Kate?” the second housekeeper said.
I nodded. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything. Maybe I was afraid I’d scare her off like I’d done with the first one.
“She is not here.”
The first woman whispered something to the second woman. Whatever she said, it didn’t sound like it was in English.
“Mattie want to know if you looking for work,” she said.
“No. I need to talk to Kate about something else.”
The first housekeeper seemed to catch the word ‘no’ and whispered to the other one again.
“Mattie say this is good job. No problem. We happy here.”
I smiled and nodded at Mattie. “Tell her I’m sure the Four Seasons Hotel Corporation appreciates her vote of support, and I’m sure she’s a valued employee. But I’m here to see Kate about a different matter.”
Both women looked flummoxed.
I bulled ahead. “Do either of you know Stella, the housekeeper who found the dead woman the other night?”
At the words ‘dead woman’ both women quickly did the sign of the cross.
So, it seemed Mattie understood some English, after all.
“We do not know about that,” said the second woman. “You talk to Kate.”
“Well, do you know what room the dead woman was staying in?”
The woman who’d spoken wrung her hands but didn’t answer. She lowered her eyes and stared at the floor. Mattie, taking the lead of her co-worker, did the same.
I thanked them for their time and headed back the way I’d come.
The guy at the front desk assured me the housekeeping supervisor was still on the property. “Do you want me to page her?”
“Mahalo, no. I’ll wait.”
***
I sat in the lobby seemingly engrossed in the latest issue of Town & Country magazine. Each time someone entered I’d slide the glossy publication in front of my face and peer above the pages to see if it was Kate. I hoped my goofy old lady get-up was disguise enough to confuse the local cops but I knew there was no way it would fool Detective Wong.
At noon, Kate appeared at my side.
“I hear you’re waiting to talk to me,” she said.
“I am.”
She glanced at the front desk. “Let’s go to my office.”
When we got to her office she used her key to get in and then she locked it back up once we were inside.
“Is everything okay?” I said.
She gave a derisive snort. “Hardly.”
“What I mean is, I see you’re locking your door. Are you concerned about your safety?”
“No, it’s not that. The corporate people will be here any time now and I don’t want to be caught unaware.”
“Ah, then I’d better get right to it. Were you able to talk to Stella?”
“Yes, she’s home. She’s still pretty upset.”
“Did you ask if we could talk to her?”
“Yes. She didn’t seem eager to do it, but she knows I’m covering for her. But why do you want to meet with her?”
“Okay, here’s my plan,” I said. “I’d like to interview Stella and then stand in for her when the Four Seasons suits show up. I’m pretty sure they won’t question my immigration status.”
“But why would you do that? You could get in a lot of trouble.”
“For what? Impersonating a foreigner? They’ll have no reason to doubt me if what I’m saying matches what Stella saw the night of the murders.”
“But I’m still wondering what’s in it for you?”
“It’s a long story, Kate. If you’ll go with me to Stella’s, I’ll tell you about it on the way over.”
We walked outside and I unlocked the Shelby. Kate took in my peculiar choice of ride and shot me a quizzical look but she didn’t say anything as she slid into the passenger seat.
“Buckle up,” I said. “This thing knows only one speed—warp.”
We shot out of the lot and down the driveway, turning heads as we went. I loved the feeling of power after a month of feeling utterly powerless. But I wasn’t so drunk on muscle that I’d let myself forget to take side streets. Wong probably had every cop on the six major Hawaiian Islands keeping an eye out for me.
***
“So what’s going on?” Kate said once she’d given me directions to Stella’s.
I told her as much as I could in the eight-minute ride. I was a friend of Tyler Benson, the primary suspect, and he’d named me as someone who could at least partially corroborate his alibi but I didn’t want to go in and give a statement until I was sure Tyler was innocent.
“I’m not following you. Why do you care if he’s guilty or innocent?”
“I care a lot. You see, I’m kind of in a bind with the police myself.”
“What’d you do?” She eyed me with the look you give a kid who’s just confessed to spending the afternoon in the principal’s office.
“I didn’t do anything. Well, not exactly. I mean, I can’t give you all the facts, but the gist of it is the federal government wants to move me from Lana’i to the mainland for my own protection. They’ve got the police looking for me. And since I don’t want to go until I’ve figured out whether Tyler’s guilty or innocent, I’m in hiding until I can figure it out.”
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t look convinced. “I’m assuming this move to the mainland has something to do with your deceased husband? Like he was in a top-secret military unit or something and there have been threats?”
Why did everyone assume my ‘husband’ was the only one with enough balls to get me in big-time trouble? “Yeah, something like that.”
“How horrible for you. So you think Stella can tell you if your Mr. Benson is guilty or not?”
“I think if she knows how to tell time she can.”
CHAPTER 23
We rode the final couple of blocks in silence before pulling up to a plantation-style house only a few streets over from my rental house. It was eerie how most all of the homes in Lana’i City looked the same. Each is essentially a square box with clapboard siding and a pitched roof. They usually have a front porch. There are three steps up to the porch level and then a front door smack dab in the middle with a window on each side. The main difference in the houses is the paint job. Some are white, some yellow, and some are distinct colors like spring green or aqua blue. The other distinguishing feature is the landscaping in the yards. Some houses boast elaborate gardens in full floral display while others get by with just a small patch of grass and one or two croton bushes.
Stella’s house fell somewhere in the middle between the best and the worst on the block. It was painted light beige with dark green trim around the windows. We got out of the car and I could’ve sworn I saw a face disappear behind a pulled-aside shade.
“I’ll go first,” said Kate.
I followed her up the sidewalk. Out of the corner of my eye I spied a Maui County police cruiser turning the corner and slowly making its way down the street toward us.
“Kate, I’m sorry, but…” I nodded toward the police car and Kate stepped aside. I hopped up onto the porch ahead of her.
“Are you okay?” she said as I cowered behind a porch pillar. The cruiser slowly slid by the house. Kate turned and shot the cops a smile and a wave.
“You’re right, it looks like they’re out looking for somebody,” she said. “But don’t they know your car? It kind of stands out.”
“I borrowed it from a friend. I don’t have a car.”
“Oh.” She knocked on the front door and it was immediately opened by a short woman who looked a lot like the two housekeepers I’d met earlier in the hallway.
“Hello, Stella. Nice to see you again,” said Kate.
Stella shot Kate a tentative smile and stepped back to allow us to enter her home.
“Do you mind if I speak to Stella in Spanish?” Kate said to me. “Her native language is actually Tagalog but I’m a little rusty. We get along
pretty well in Spanish.”
“I took a couple semesters of Spanish in high school but I doubt if I’ll be able to understand you,” I said.
“No worries. I’ll translate.”
Stella gestured for us to sit on the sofa. She took off for the kitchen, which was in the same place as it was in my rental house. It was odd to see the same house with totally different furnishings. Even though Stella’s house was sparsely decorated, the hardwood floors gleamed and there wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen. I’d have to spend three hours getting my house that clean, maybe four.
Stella came back with a tea tray. She set it down and silently served us each a cup of tea. I was anxious to learn what I could about Deedee’s murder, but neither Kate nor Stella seemed in any big hurry to get on with it.
We sipped our tea.
Finally, after what seemed like five minutes, Kate posed a question to Stella in Spanish.
It must have been something about the murder because Stella’s face went from placid to stricken in the few seconds it took for Kate to finish the sentence.
Kate turned to me. “I asked her if she’s willing to answer some questions about the last night she worked at the Lodge,” she said.
Stella regained her composure and murmured her consent.
Kate asked Stella a question that seemed to confuse her and Stella asked for clarification. After a few minutes of back and forth, Kate turned back to me.
“You wanted me to ask if she remembers what time it was when she went into the room. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Well, she said she’s very certain of the time because she had a housekeeping trainee with her and she was trying to stay right on schedule.”
“And what time was it?” I asked. My palms were sweaty and I feel my pulse begin thumping in my neck again.
Kate asked Stella the question.
Even with my very limited exposure to Spanish I could clearly make out Stella’s answer: a las ocho. Eight o’clock.
***
I left Stella’s house armed with enough information that I felt ready to face the security guys from the Four Seasons. Kate said she’d get me a uniform. I felt confident I’d be able to convince them I was shell-shocked Stella, the maid who’d come upon the grisly murder scene.
“Thank you for doing this,” Kate said for about the tenth time as I emerged from her office wearing the beige aloha tunic and brown pants. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”
“No problem. You’ve already repaid me by helping me get the information from Stella. Now when I tell the cops that Tyler was with me at the time of the murders at least I’ll know I’m helping an innocent man.”
Kate showed me to a small conference room adjacent to the lobby. “Good luck,” she said before she opened the door. “I hope you realize how much I appreciate this.”
The Four Seasons security executives turned out to be two guys who looked like they’d just graduated from cop school. Black suits, white shirts, dark blue ties and shiny black lace-up shoes. They scowled as I entered. The duo didn’t appear to be at all thrilled about catching a case in Hawaii.
“Paul Treehorne from Four Seasons Asset Protection,” said the first guy as he stood up. He leaned across the conference table and stuck out his hand.
“And I’m Eric Latham. Also from Asset Protection,” said the second guy standing to mimic his partner.
I hesitated before shaking their hands. Normally, I would’ve grabbed their hands quickly and looked ‘em in the eye, the way I’d been taught in Homeland Security training. But I was impersonating a housekeeper. Grip and grin wouldn’t be her style. I kept my gaze focused downward as I limply grasped each man’s hand in turn.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Stella Marquez.” At the mention of my Hispanic-sounding name I noticed the two men exchange a glance. “Uh, I was married to a local man.”
“How long have you been employed here at the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele, Mrs. Marquez?” said Treehorne. He was perusing a file as he asked the question, so I was pretty sure he already knew the answer. He was checking if I did.
I took my time before answering any of their questions. And when we got to the part about the murder, I trotted out the little blinky-eye distress response I’d practiced for when people asked me about my recent widowhood.
“So, in your own words,” said Treehorne, “Can you give us a point-by-point account of what you saw and heard when you first entered the victim’s room?”
Ah, now we were getting down to it. I began to relay the story Stella relayed to Kate and me an hour earlier.
“I was with a new trainee, and I—”
“And the name of that trainee?” Latham interrupted. Treehorne shot him a peeved look, probably for breaking my flow.
“Uh, her name is Marta. Marta, um, Marquez.”
“But isn’t your last name Marquez?” Latham said, shooting Treehorne a triumphant look. “Do you both have the same surname?”
“Uh, no. I’m sorry. I’m kind of nervous here. Could I have a glass of water?” I wasn’t really that nervous and I didn’t need water, but I wanted to punish them for messing with me. I’d been a federal air marshal. I hadn’t been on the job for long, but it was long enough to know how to take control of an interview.
“Sure,” said Latham. He got up and left the room.
“Something’s not jiving for me here,” said Treehorne. “You’re working here at the Four Seasons as a maid but somehow you don’t strike me as the maid type.”
“Are you questioning my choice of livelihood?”
“I guess I am.”
“Is this a racial thing? I mean, are you questioning me working in housekeeping because I’m Caucasian? Because if you are, Mr. Treehorne, then I think we’re going to have to call in my union rep before this interview can continue. I won’t allow you to racially profile me without documenting your actions. And, I demand representation.”
Treehorne looked like he’d like to smack me. Latham came through the door with a large glass of water. Before he sat down, he quickly glanced from me to Treehorne and then back to me.
“Did I miss something?” Latham said.
I didn’t respond.
“No. Ms. Marquez was just waiting for you to return so she could get back to making her statement,” said Treehorne in a take-no-prisoners voice. “Isn’t that right, Mrs. Marquez?”
I didn’t say anything while I sipped from the glass of water. Then I got up and grabbed two tissues from a box on a nearby credenza. I carefully folded the tissues into a square and placed my water glass down on the improvised coaster.
“Water leaves rings on wood surfaces,” I said. “They’re very difficult to rub out.” Treehorne still looked like he was itching to do me bodily harm.
“Please continue, Ms. Marquez,” said Latham in a quiet voice. It’d become apparent that the good cop/bad cop thing was in play. And Latham had drawn the longer straw.
I looked at Latham, and only at Latham, as I told my tale. “I knocked on the door and announced we were from housekeeping. There was no answer, but that’s to be expected as it was around eight o’clock and our guests are often at dinner at that hour. I used my pass key to enter the suite. I went in first, and Marta followed me in. We didn’t see Miss Diamonte right away since in the suites the bed is in a separate room from the sitting area. We tidied up, and then I went into the bedroom to turn down the bed and leave a chocolate. That’s when I saw her. She was on the bed. I think she was wearing a Four Seasons bathrobe, but I’m not sure about that because once I saw the knife, and realized she was dead, my mind went blank. We both ran out into the hall and I pulled the fire alarm.”
“Why would you pull the fire alarm? Did you think there was a fire?” said Latham.
“No, I was in shock. I couldn’t think of what else to do.”
“And then you and Marta left before the police arrived.”
“Yes. I realize now that probably
wasn’t the best course of action. But we were both so stunned. We wanted to get as far away from the poor woman as we could.”
By this point, Treehorne looked like he’d eaten some bad fish. He scowled at me as if he was desperately trying to come up with a question that would prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I was a lying sack of kukae.
“How long would you estimate you were in the room, Ms. Marquez?’ said Latham.
“Two, maybe three minutes. It seemed like a lot longer afterwards, but that’s probably because I was so upset.”
“Have you been questioned by the police since Tuesday night?” Treehorne said, apparently giving up on his quest for the gotcha question.
“No, sir. I thought it would be best to wait until after I’d spoken with you.”
“That was probably wise,” said Latham.
Treehorne shot him some stink eye. “Well, sooner or later you’re going to have to talk to the authorities,” he said.
“I’m sure I will.”
The two guys exchanged a look.
“We’d like to thank you for coming in today,” said Latham, standing up. He handed me his business card. “If you think of anything else you think we should know, please call. It’s been our experience that sometimes witnesses remember important things later on.”
They left, but Treehorne came back a few seconds later and poked his head through the half-opened door. “Oh, and one more thing Mrs. Marquez. We’ll need to speak with Marta, the other housekeeper on duty with you that night. Seems no one’s seen her for the past couple of days. If you talk with her, would you advise her to contact us? We won’t be able to wrap up our investigation until we’ve met with her.”
He didn’t wait for me to answer before he stepped back out into the hallway and closed the door with an authoritative bam.
CHAPTER 24
As soon as the coast was clear I made my way back to Kate’s office. I listened at the door before knocking to see if I heard the security guys in there. It was quiet.
I knocked. “Come in, come in,” said Kate. She looked pretty smiley for a woman who’d probably spent the past hour pacing the tiny room. “How’d it go?”
Lana'i of the Tiger (The Islands of Aloha Mystery Series) Page 14
