by Toby Neal
“See, but that’s why we need to watch the news. See what they’re saying about us.”
“I know Wendy’s just doing her job, but I just can’t warm up to that woman.”
“She’s a tough reporter, but you know she’s got a heart from how she stepped up for the Smiley Bandit.” The previous year, Lei and Watanabe had been in a race to uncover the identity of the same bold young thief—and that chase had led to unexpected consequences.
“I still don’t have to like her,” Lei insisted, remembering how Watanabe had enjoyed humiliating Lei on that investigation. “She loves implying law enforcement is incompetent.”
Stevens shrugged. “Whatever gets ratings. So what’s the inside scoop on your Haleakala body?”
“Asian John Doe. Some sort of bird hunter or collector. He had several dead native birds in a bag, which he’d caught by attracting them with recorded calls and a net. He was shot from a blind in a tree with a compound hunting bow. Died instantly.” Lei took another bite but found it hard to swallow, thinking of the birds. Even dead, they’d been bright and precious as jewels. “Phil Gregory has his work cut out for himself with a four-day old body, but at least the cause of death is pretty straightforward. Pono’s pretty sure he knows what species the birds were, but we’re having Hawaiian Bird Conservatory biologists identify them and the equipment the vic had on him tomorrow.”
“So what are you thinking? A poacher? Think he was shot by accident or on purpose?”
“Either could be true.” Lei summarized their three possible scenarios. “I just really wish I’d gone up to the preserve for some reason other than a crime scene. It’s an amazing place—Hawaii before people got to it.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “Take me up another time. We’ll do it together. Pretty soon we’ll have all the time in the world for weekend explorations.”
“Yeah, when the wedding is behind us. I can’t wait.” Lei couldn’t think of the wedding without a headache starting.
“Me neither. And don’t worry, I haven’t used up all my ideas yet, I’ve got a few I’m saving for the honeymoon.” He pulled her into his arms, snuggling her against him.
Lei’s phone buzzed. She grimaced, but picked up, mouthing “wedding plans” to Stevens as she got up and headed back toward the bedroom. “Tiare! How’s it going?”
Pono’s always-industrious wife, Tiare, had opened a wedding-planning business in addition to her nursing practice. She’d insisted on coordinating their wedding at no charge, when excited questions about Lei’s plans were met with a blank stare Lei employed for meth addicts—and, it turned out, wedding planners.
“Lei, everything’s a go. We have the beach park at Kanaha as the venue with the caterer doing the traditional mixed Hawaiian and Japanese menu you asked for. Fire and hula dancers from Pono’s cousin Shannie’s halau. Haku head lei for you and maile lei for Stevens. He already bought an aloha-wear outfit: white patterned shirt and black pants, which will look terrific with the green maile leaves of his lei. Photos by a very competent young photographer who’s willing to do more for less. Cake is ordered; booze is ordered. Marcella as maid of honor has purchased a dress in your chosen color, red.”
Lei interrupted the flow of words. “This sounds great. I don’t know what you need me for.”
Tiare gave an annoyed sigh. “The dress. Did you get one?”
Lei felt her stomach drop. “I haven’t had time.”
A long silence, then: “You had one thing to do, Lei. Just one. Get a dress. You have to get one, and I can’t do that for you.”
“Okay, I’ll find the time. I’ll pick something up.”
Another long silence. Lei rubbed her temples, imagining Tiare’s grimace and eye roll.
“I’m sorry, but it’s really hard to just ‘pick something up.’ Dresses have to be ordered,” Tiare said. “Fitted. Adjusted. And I guarantee, you won’t like what I pick out if I end up having to get it for you.”
“Okay. Got it. Wedding dress. Check,” Lei said, writing it in her Notes feature on her phone and setting it as an alarm. “I’ll get something going this week.”
“And how about the honeymoon?”
Lei had an answer for that, thank God. “Stevens is in charge of that, like I told you. He’s been on his phone a lot; won’t tell me a thing. I’m sure it’s in the works.”
“Well, ask him. Make sure. Also, I have a large vacation rental booked with room for your dad, your aunty Rosario, your grandfather, and Stevens’s mother and brother. But you should call them too, and make sure they are all set with their travel arrangements.”
Lei felt sweat beading on her upper lip as she added that item to her list of to-dos.
“And who do you want to have for your hair and makeup?”
“Oh. I can do that myself.”
A deafening silence. Lei rubbed the hammered white-gold pendant that Stevens had given her, which she wore on a chain around her neck, and shut her eyes. She knew Tiare meant well and was probably right. “Who do you think I should call?” Lei asked meekly. “Maybe I will need a little help.”
“Lei, it’s the pictures. I mean, pictures of your wedding are forever. So you want to look your best, and frankly, sometimes your hair…”
“Yeah, I know.” Lei pulled a curl and it extended, springing back into the welter of curls drying after the shower. She’d forgot to put in gel. Stevens came to the door, cocking an eyebrow at her, looking tasty in nothing but his boxers. He gestured to the door.
“Going home,” he mouthed. She nodded.
“I’m sure I could use someone to help with my hair at least.”
“Okay. Well, call these ladies.” Tiare rattled off a couple of numbers. “They really need to get a look at you to appreciate the challenge.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Lei hung up, feeling hopeless and overwhelmed. She padded back into the living room, where Stevens was shrugging into his shirt. She burrowed into his arms, pressing her face against his neck.
“You love me, right?” she asked, her voice muffled.
“God help me, you know I do.”
“Well, I’m incompetent as a woman. I forgot to even look for a wedding dress, and it’s only two weeks away.”
“You’re more than enough woman for me.” His hands had begun to wander, waking up her barely dormant nerve endings all over again. “I don’t care if you wear a burlap sack or show up naked, as long as you don’t leave me standing up there by myself.”
Lei was in no mood for joking or being distracted.
“I need a dress. And someone to do my hair, and probably makeup too. Also, Tiare wants us to call the family members who are coming, make sure their arrangements are all good. For you, it’s your mom and brother.” Lei hadn’t met either of them yet. “And she wants to know if the honeymoon is under control.”
“You don’t need to worry about the honeymoon. I’ve got that in hand. You know, the wedding isn’t really for us. It’s for the friends and family who need to witness this miracle.” He tugged a curl off her forehead, let go. Did it again. She batted at his hand.
“Really? Because it seems like it should be for us.”
“Well, if it were, all I’d need to do is stand with you and promise to have and to hold you.” He kissed her, a tender stamp on the lips, looking into her tilted brown eyes, smoothing one of her straight brows with a thumb. “In sickness and in health. For richer, for poorer. Until death do us part.” He kissed her firmly after each vow, and she kept her eyes on his, wrapped in his arms, her favorite place in the world.
“Then can we just do that and call ourselves married?” she whispered. “Because I will have you and hold you, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until death do us part.”
Blue eyes looked into brown for a long time, and then Stevens sighed. “Not gonna cut it. You still need a wedding dress.”
Stevens left for his apartment, always a wrench, and one that Lei knew would end after the wedding. It really was going to be a passag
e for them, and she was appreciating that more and more. She turned off the exterior lights as the Bronco pulled away, then armed the house and checked all her locks by force of habit. Did her bathroom business and climbed into bed, Keiki ensconced at her feet.
She tossed and turned but couldn’t sleep, worries about the mythical dress cluttering her mind. Finally, she picked up her phone beside the bed, still attached to the recharge cord, and called her best friend, probably sound asleep right now on Oahu.
Special Agent Marcella Scott picked up, her voice thick. “This better be good.”
“I need a dress for the wedding.”
“What?” Marcella was coming fully awake. “Please tell me you’re kidding.” Marcella, effortlessly stylish, daughter of an Italian fashion-plate mother and a couture shoe importer father, was clearly horrified. “It’s in two weeks. I’ve just had my final fittings for my maid of honor dress.”
“I know. I just—well, I hate those boutique places. I get overwhelmed. I went in a couple and walked right back out. Then I sort of blocked it out of my mind. But Tiare says I have to get something. She can’t do it for me.” Lei put her fingers over her eyes, pressed. She wanted to cry. She’d had just a couple of things to do and she hadn’t done them.
Stevens and his love, his vows, and his burlap sack or nakedness didn’t help a bit.
“Calm down,” Marcella said. “Let me get up, get on my computer. I wish you’d told me this a hell of a lot sooner.”
“I’m sorry. This is all you have to do as my maid of honor. I promise.”
“Okay. Calm down,” Marcella said again, and Lei wasn’t sure she was telling it to Lei or to herself. “What we need is a custom place, have them whip something up for you. I’ve heard of someone who does good custom gowns on Maui. Let me make some calls, and I’ll get back to you with the next steps.”
“But I don’t even know what I want!” Lei wailed. “I don’t know what will look good on me!”
“I do,” Marcella said. “You have an awesome tight body, but you’re a little slim in the hips with small boobs. You should wear something simple in a really good fabric most women couldn’t pull off. I have some ideas.”
And indeed she sounded like she did, and was excited about it too.
“It can’t be too sexy. I’d feel weird,” Lei said, thinking of how uncomfortable she’d feel being stared at and photographed in something low-cut. On the other hand, something tight and heavy like a Hawaiian-style holoku gown didn’t feel right either. “Thank you, Marcella. I mean really, thank you. If you get this figured out for me, I’ll buy you that new weapon you’ve been wanting—that antique Italian pistol you were telling me about.”
Marcella laughed. “You can’t afford it, and neither can I, which is why it’s a collector’s item. If I do this, and I will, I’ll have bragging rights forever as the woman who helped Leilani Rosario Texeira be the most gorgeous woman in the world on her wedding day.”
Lei felt tears build behind her eyelids. “You’re a good friend.” She sniffed. “Why is everything about this whole thing so emotional?”
“It’s a wedding, girlfriend. They’re always cryfests, so just roll with it. Where’ve you been, under a rock all these years?”
“I guess. I’ve never even been to one.”
“Cultural philistine.” Marcella’s voice was warm with affection. “You had a deprived childhood and have been a workaholic. But it’s time to turn all that around. You and Stevens deserve to be happy. You’ve had enough heartbreak.”
“True. Most of it my fault.” Lei got up and went to the bathroom, blew her nose. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You can pay me back when it’s my turn.” Marcella had been seriously dating an HPD detective for close to a year, and Lei wouldn’t be surprised if her friend turned up with a ring on her finger.
“Of course, but you’ll never do something like forget to order your wedding dress. And shoes! Oh my God!” Lei smacked her own forehead.
“Hey, it’s at the beach, right? You can go barefoot. Just bring something for afterward.”
“Oh good. Wasn’t sure of the protocol on that.” Lei got back in bed. “At least Stevens will be with me all the time after the wedding. It’s so hard saying goodbye to him. Every time it’s hard, these days.”
“Why aren’t you guys living together? Remind me again.” Marcella had been in on their bumpy romance from the beginning.
“I just got to like my space when I was in Honolulu. I thought it would give us something to look forward to, keep things—I don’t know—before and after. And besides, Keiki needs a yard, and his place didn’t have one.” The big Rottie raised her head off the end of the bed at the sound of her name, eyes questioning. Lei patted the bed beside her and Keiki crawled up. She stroked the dog’s big broad head.
“So I’ll call you tomorrow with where and when you should go for the fitting. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“Okay, I won’t.” Marcella would handle it, and was so much more qualified to do so. Lei decided to obey her and put it out of her mind. “So, on another topic, I caught an interesting case today.” She filled Marcella in on the John Doe in the national park jungle. “We think he was poaching.”
“Holy crap. That’s low, poaching endangered birds!”
“Yeah, and who knows. I might need to do an official consult with you because I suspect he’s a Chinese national. He had some weird equipment on him, none of it American made.”
“That isn’t really indicative of anything. Most stuff is made in China these days.”
“Well, still. I just have a feeling.”
“More will be revealed on your murder, but wait for my call about meeting with the dress designer. I’m making a list as we speak, and hopefully one of them can take you on short notice.”
“I’m counting on it—and for you to know what the dress should look like.”
“Not a problem. I have just the thing in mind. You called the right Italian FBI agent, baby. I’m on a mission now.”
Chapter Six
Lei and Pono stood outside the doors to the morgue. Maui Memorial’s morgue wasn’t as bad as some, but Lei always needed a moment to gather her fortitude for the smells and sights that lay before them—not so much because they were disgusting (though that was part of it), but because of the association they would always have with one of the most traumatic moments Lei had experienced in her adult life—identifying the body of a close friend.
Pono had been with her.
He reached over and squeezed her arm just above the elbow. “Gregory keeps it pretty clean in there,” he said. She nodded and followed him as he hit the pneumatic door with its lever bar. Leslie Tanaka, Dr. Gregory’s assistant, was working on a body across the room and hardly looked up, muttering something into a voice recorder. The ME was wearing an aloha shirt done in lurid rainbows. His rubber apron had a smiley face on it, and while Lei could objectively appreciate the attempt to lighten the atmosphere, the blood spatter on the design made her grimace.
“Hey there, detectives,” Dr. Gregory said, hosing down a slab with a flexible steel hose attached to a metal arm above the table. “Here about your Haleakala John Doe?”
“Yeah. Wondering if you have anything for us. Feeling no great need to see the body,” Pono said.
“Probably wise, as four-day-old decomp doesn’t really improve with time. But I do have something for you. Follow me.”
He led them to his office corner and punched up a list, ran his finger down the screen and hit another button, opening a file on their most recent murder case, labeled john doe asian waikamoi.
Lei pointed to the screen. “We found an ID at his hotel. Xu Chang.”
“Good.” Gregory retitled the case, and Lei checked her phone, dictating the case number to him.
“So I ran his prints,” Gregory said. “Not in the system. Given the Chinese writing on some of the implements he was carrying, I sent the prints over to Interpol. I have
n’t heard anything back yet.” He toggled through various gory photos of the body and the autopsy process. “Cause of death was a single arrow. Extraordinarily well aimed. Arrows are often badly placed, and people can take a while to die by this method—but this one hit the vic in the heart from behind and dropped the man like a rock.”
“Anything else interesting about the body?”
“Well, the vic appears to be around age forty-five, and dental was consistent with foreign dentistry—in other words, his teeth were in bad shape and they were pulled when they rotted, which tells me he grew up somewhere poor and possibly undeveloped. Could be China; could be somewhere else. I also have an interest in the native birds on Maui and the conservation movement. Thanks for sending me copies of the bird photos. A real shame.” Gregory toggled to the series of photos of the birds Lei had forwarded him.
“This isn’t the same as a full necropsy, mind you. Just an idea to see how they might have died. What’s sad is that these birds died of dehydration in the bag, from what I can tell by looking at the photos. Their eye sockets are sunken, as if the liquid in their tissues was lost.”
Lei looked at the photos of the birds, feeling a pang of sorrow at the sight of their bent heads and tiny, curled claws. “This one was the Maui Parrotbill, or Kiwikiu.” He tapped his computer screen, pointing to the green one with the hooked bill and the band of yellow. “Critically endangered; only five hundred of them in existence.”
Gregory’s pink lips worked, and he took his magnifiers off and wiped them vigorously on a towel hanging off a hook on the corner of his desk. “The one with the crest, the Akohekohe, is also very rare. In any case, it’s a real shame whoever shot this man didn’t go check what was in the bag.”
“That’s so sad.” Lei’s words felt inadequate to express the magnitude of loss.
“A man also died, but I have to say, I’m more upset about the birds, because at this point humans are definitely not endangered.”
“So do you have any information on the arrow?” Pono asked. “And can we have it?”
