Murder at Pope Investigations Read online

  “Isn’t that in the report HPD filed?”

  “It is. I’m just trying to help you get a visual.”

  I bobbed my head a bit and then responded. “I guess the body was maybe twenty feet away from the water. Perhaps a little less. It was low tide, but based on where he was lying, if it had been high tide, he would have been under water.”

  “Was the victim or the clothing covering the victim wet?”

  “It was. We’ve discussed this before. In fact, we had decided that while the man could have been dumped in the water, it was just as likely he was left on the beach and got wet during high tide. Is there a reason we are going over everything again?”

  “Now that we know that Vinnie wasn’t intentionally left for you to find, it opens the door to the idea that none of the men were intentionally left for you to find. I just want to go over everything again.”

  “Okay. Go on. I’ll tell you what I can.”

  “You said you woke up at first light. Do you remember if you heard anything? Could Sandy have heard anything? Was he restless?”

  I paused as I tried to think back to that morning. “I don’t remember hearing anything.” I nibbled on my lower lip as I thought about it. “I do think Sandy was already up and about when I awoke. I remember considering the option of sleeping in a bit since I hadn’t slept well that night, but it seemed like Sandy might need to go out, so I decided to just head down to the water and wake up that way.”

  “So if there had been a boat that dropped Evans on the beach, Sandy might have heard it?” Jason verified.

  “Sure, if there was one, he would most likely have heard something. He’s a dog. His hearing is a lot better than mine.”

  “And you first woke up at around five a.m.?”

  “Around then, yes.”

  “Did you notice marks on the beach that would indicate that a boat pulled up onto the sand? The marks could have been from a motorized boat, but Evans could also have been brought ashore via a kayak, canoe, outrigger, or any number of non-motorized vessels.’’

  “I didn’t notice. I wasn’t looking for evidence of a boat, so I can’t say for certain that marks weren’t visible. Shouldn’t that sort of thing be noted in your report?”

  Jason nodded. “It was noted that no evidence of a boat was found at the scene, but as I said, I’m just going over everything again.”

  “Yeah, I get it. If there wasn’t evidence of a boat, maybe the guy was washed up onto the beach during high tide or perhaps the guy was carried down to the beach from a vehicle. He was a big guy, but I don’t suppose it would be impossible to carry him the eighth of a mile or so required to get him from the road to where I found him.”

  The conversation paused as our food was delivered. Shredder had been listening intently but hadn’t said a word. I supposed he was honoring Jason’s role as moderator for this discussion. He was, after all, the one who had wanted to talk to me.

  After the server left, Jason picked up where he left off. “You said the beach was totally deserted when you arrived. You said the water was deserted as well. Is that normal for that particular beach and strip of water at sunrise on a Wednesday morning in June?”

  “Yes. The waves behind the condo aren’t great. Anyone who has to drive to get to a surf spot wouldn’t go there, so that stretch of sea is usually only occupied by those who live close enough to walk to that location.”

  “There are several houses close enough in addition to the condos,” Jason pointed out.

  “That’s true, and sometimes I run into someone, but on the morning in question I didn’t.”

  “Okay, close your eyes and try to picture the scene that greeted you that day. Did you notice anything at all unusual or out of place?”

  I did as Jason asked and closed my eyes. I tried to envision the scene that greeted me. When I came around the corner from the condos to approach the beach, I remembered seeing Sandy standing over the body. I called him back, and he came. When I arrived at the location where the body was laying, I told Sandy to stay back and then I knelt down and checked for a pulse. When I didn’t find one, I called Jason and then 911. I remembered feeling fear. I remembered looking around to see if there was anyone else in the area. Perhaps the killer was lurking and watching from behind the nearby grove of trees. Once it was confirmed that the police were on the way, I got up and looked around the area. Sandy wasn’t barking or growling which he would have been if someone was hiding nearby, so I was pretty sure the person who had dumped the victim on the sand, if the victim even had been dumped, was long gone.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I really don’t remember seeing or hearing anything that would explain how Walter Evans came to be on the beach that morning. The idea that he might have been dumped at sea and washed up on the beach isn’t a bad one. The way the tides in that area work, we have a lot of debris wash up on the beach. In fact, the gang from the condos and I try to spend at least one day a month simply picking up trash and other treasures brought to us by the tide.”

  “The original police report did indicate that Evans had most likely been washed up onto the beach, but then we found the body of the nightclub owner and that led us to look at the deaths as related to each other and related to you. Since Vinnie Travano died for a reason having nothing to do with you, I am going to have to consider that Evans’ death might very well have been unrelated as well. If the body was placed on the beach, I would look at things much differently than I would if it randomly washed up on the beach which is why I am trying to nail down the method by which Evans ended up on the beach.”

  “I get it. I’m sorry, but I really don’t know how the guy ended up where he did.”

  I glanced at Shredder. He was frowning, but he still hadn’t said anything. If I had to guess, he was revisiting the theory he’d most recently settled on as well.

  Chapter 13

  After our lunch with Jason, Shredder and I headed back to the condo.

  “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that all the events we are looking might very well exist independently of the others,” I said. “If that turns out to be true, then we still have three answers to find: Who killed Walter Evans, who killed Ano Hanale, and what happened to Hoku Palakiko? I suppose there is also the question of who kidnapped me and put Dad in the hospital, bringing the total questions up to four, but since I ended up in a shed on an estate owned by Tatsuo, and the man we’d been hired to find was seen with him earlier in the day, I have to assume, at the very least, that Kinsley’s association with Tatsuo was related in some way to his wife’s disappearance, my kidnapping, and Dad’s stay in the hospital.”

  “I think that logic seems to fit what we know.”

  “In my mind, finding out what happened to Hoku Palakiko is the most urgent of the questions needing answers. I know it is likely that the woman is dead, but if there is even a slight chance she is still alive, we need to find her before it is too late.”

  Shredder suggested we grab cold drinks and find a place on the lanai. The area closest to the sea was located in the shade at this time of the day, so we pulled up lounge chairs, got comfortable, and settled in to brainstorm.

  “We know that Kinsley Palakiko was piloting the plane that delivered Tatsuo to the airport where he met with Spade, and it has been suggested that Palakiko met Spade at a poker game that both men attended on Friday evening. So I am going to go out on a limb, and say that at some point after that Friday night game, Spade introduced Palakiko to Tatsuo. I am going to assume that Palakiko realized that flying Tatsuo around was going to make him a lot of money in a relatively short amount of time.”

  “That makes sense,” I agreed. “But how did Hoku get wrapped up in this and what really happened on the day I was kidnapped?”

  “We know Hoku hired you to find her husband. Your dad was in possession of both the knowledge that Kinsley was working for Tatsuo and a photo of the men at the airport to prove it. You’ve already shared that he called Hoku to deliver the
news and then set up a meeting to discuss what steps she wanted him to take next. Assuming her phone was bugged, it stands to reason that Tatsuo or Spade, or someone associated with one or both of the men, could have overheard the discussion between your father and Hoku and decided to kidnap Hoku as a means of keeping her quiet about what she knew.”

  “If that were true, and it does make sense, why didn’t they kill Dad? Why didn’t they kill me? Dad and I both knew about the relationship between Tatsuo and Palakiko. It seems that if Tatsuo’s intent was to keep that relationship quiet, whoever was at the house when I arrived really should have killed us both.”

  Shredder leaned back in his chair. He put his feet on the railing in front of him. He swatted at a fly and then took a sip of his cola. “The fact that they let you live doesn’t fit what would otherwise be a pretty decent theory.”

  “The picture you’ve painted of Tatsuo makes it seem as if he is a very dangerous man who wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone who might get in his way.”

  “That is a factual statement.”

  “What about Spade? Is he as dangerous as Tatsuo?”

  Shredder paused and then answered. “As we’ve discussed, Tatsuo has a reputation for killing anyone who gets in his way, but Spade is more of a middle man. I’m not saying he wouldn’t kill, or that he hasn’t already, but he doesn’t have a reputation for killing without discretion.”

  “What if it was Spade who came to the Palakiko home on the day I was kidnapped? It actually makes more sense that it would be him, or one of his men. After all, we had seen Tatsuo fly away just hours before the incident. I have no idea where he was off to, but it seems that if he intended to stay on the island, the Dillingham Airfield was as good a place as any to transfer to ground transportation.”

  “So if it was Spade and not Tatsuo who is responsible for Mrs. Palakiko’s disappearance, your kidnapping, and your father’s injury, he may have been more likely to let you live once you and your father stumbled onto the situation.”

  I shrugged. “It does explain why we aren’t dead. I don’t know why I ended up chained to a shed on Tatsuo’s property if it was Spade who kidnapped me in the first place, but I do know that the woman Spade married is actually very nice. Yes, she is the type to be impressed with money and prestige, which is probably what attracted her to Spade in the first place, but I just don’t see her marrying someone who is a total creep. And then there’s McCarthy.”

  “McCarthy?”

  “He is a retired cop and a friend of Dad’s. He likes to gamble and would be the sort to overlook illegal activity to a point if offered the chance to attend a private game at a luxury estate, but if Spade was the sort to kill people on a whim, I don’t see McCarthy overlooking that.”

  “Maybe we should have a chat with this McCarthy, and see what he has to say.”

  I nodded. “I’ll set it up.”

  Luckily, McCarthy was home and willing to let us stop by. Once again, Shredder drove my Jeep since I couldn’t drive with my feet the way they were, and he didn’t seem to have a car. McCarthy lived in a modest house in a nice neighborhood with tree-lined streets. His classic 1968 Mustang was freshly polished and in the drive. If I had to bet, he had just returned from somewhere and planned to go out again, because most of the time, he kept Jezebel in the garage where the sun couldn’t fade her cherry red paint.

  “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me,” I said after McCarthy answered the door. “This is my friend, Shredder. He lives in the same condo complex I do.”

  “Happy to meet you,” McCarthy shook Shredder’s hand. “Have we met before?”

  “I don’t think so,” Shredder replied.

  He frowned. “Maybe not. My memory and my eyesight are going these days.” He stepped aside. “Come on in. We’ll head out to the lanai to chat. Can I get you some iced tea?”

  Shredder and I both agreed that we’d like some.

  “So how can I help you today?” McCarthy asked, after bringing out tall icy glasses.

  “We wanted to ask some additional questions about Spade,” I answered. I filled McCarthy in on the circumstances surrounding Spade, Tatsuo, Kinsley and Hoku Palakiko, and how we thought they might relate to my kidnapping, Dad’s injury, and Hoku’s disappearance. I pretty much told him everything except how Shredder fit into the whole thing. McCarthy didn’t ask why I was working with the man, so I didn’t offer an explanation. “I guess at this point, we want to know more about Spade. I know that you know the man casually and have been invited to play poker at his home from time to time. Does he strike you as the type to engage in illegal activity or to indiscriminately kill those who get in his way?”

  “Engage in illegal activity, yes. Kill those who get in his way, no. Spade is all about the money, and he is more than willing to engage in business relationships that fall outside the boundaries set by those who govern such things. He is a big guy, and he has an intimidating way about him. I think this serves him well doing what he does. If you are asking if he would arrange for Palakiko to provide air service to Tatsuo, absolutely. But if you are asking if he would then turn around and kill the man’s wife, I would have to say no. Tatsuo, on the other hand, well… that is another story.”

  “So if, as we suspect, Tatsuo found out that I had seen him at the airport with Spade, and that Dad knew about the meetup as well and had told Hoku, it is reasonable to suspect that Tatsuo might send Spade to clean up the mess if he was indeed somewhere other than Hawaii as we suspect?”

  “Yes, that is a reasonable theory. And I suspect that Spade would oblige up to a point. I could see him detaining Palakiko’s wife and possibly even using her as leverage if Palakiko began to balk at doing what he was being asked to do. I would believe a story where he knocked your father out and tied you up in a shed. He may even have turned you over to Tatsuo’s men. But I very much doubt that he would have been the one to actually kill anyone. There may be a fine line between aiding in a murder and committing a murder, but it is my belief it is a line he maintains.”

  Okay, I suppose that explained how everything could have gone down like Shredder and I theorized. “What about Walter Evans? He was also a pilot, only he ended up dead. He seems to have been the one who was initially hired by Tatsuo to provide illegal transport. Do you think Tatsuo might have also been the one to kill him?”

  “I don’t think Tatsuo has spent time on the islands in quite some time. Maybe he has popped in for a meeting here and there like the one you witnessed taking place at the airport, but I’m sure he hasn’t spent any more time on the island than that. I doubt he killed Evans, but he might have had him killed. The man has resources which would allow him to have pretty much anyone who got in his way killed, and he doesn’t seem to have the patience for anyone who doesn’t do their job.”

  Something occurred to me. “What do you know about a woman named Samantha Jones? She told Shredder that she was the one responsible for recruiting Evans to fly for Tatsuo. If Evans bailed on Tatsuo, do you think Jones would eliminate him if Tatsuo told her to do so?”

  “Sure. I think that is very likely.”

  Chapter 14

  Shredder and I headed to the Dolphin Bay Resort to see if we could track down Samantha Jones. Having a hunch that she was the one to have killed Evans in order to save face with Tatsuo wasn’t the same as having proof. I doubted that Jones would come right out and admit it even if she had been the one to kill Evans, but Shredder wanted to try to get a better feel for the woman by following up on the conversation they’d had the previous evening. Once again, he asked me to wait for him while he went to her room, and once again, I obliged. Not only had Shredder been trained in interrogation techniques, but he was a good looking and charming guy who seemed to naturally have a way with the female portion of the population. Deciding to wait on the currently closed patio of the beachside bar, I grabbed a lounge chair and called Luke. It had been quite a while since we’d connected, and I really did want to discuss the visit he kept dangling over m
y head.

  “Luke?” I greeted him when he answered after the first ring. “I really wasn’t expecting you to answer.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I know I owe you a return call and planned to make some time this morning. How are you?”

  “I’m okay.” I decided not to bring up all the ways I really wasn’t okay. Why worry him when there was absolutely nothing he could do to help. “It’s been a busy month at Pope Investigations, and I’ve been working a lot of hours. How are things in Texas?”

  Luke paused.

  “You aren’t going to make it to the islands as you planned.”

  “I want to. I really do. I even bought airline tickets for mid-July, but my sister is expecting another baby in July, and she asked me if I would accompany the cattle from both ranches to the auction so her husband could take some time off to be with her and the baby.”

  “I didn’t realize your sister was pregnant. Congratulations on a new niece or nephew.”

  “I’m sorry. I thought I told you about the baby. She is very excited, as is my brother-in-law. Anyway, it looks like I am going to have to put the trip off for another month, maybe two.”

  I swallowed hard. “I understand. Your family really needs you right now. How is your mom doing?”

  “Not well. She is really taking my dad’s death hard. I guess that is natural. They had been married for almost fifty years. I know that grief takes time, and I am doing everything I can to help her through this, but I feel totally out of my depth most of the time.”

  “I’m sure you are doing what you can, and it isn’t all on you. You do have two sisters and two brothers.”

  “I know. And they do what they can. Of course, they have their own lives and their own ranches to see to. I’m not really sure what is going to happen in the long run with Dad’s ranch if I don’t stay. I’ve talked to my brothers about it, and they have a few ideas if we decide to combine herds and consolidate things.”