Wedding Day Dead: A Murder on Maui Mystery (27 page)

“Has it been stressful?” I asked.

“Has what been stressful?”

“Wondering if you’d gotten away with it.”

“Gotten away with what?”

Daphne smiled, and I knew the game was on.

“Makani was a weak guy. I hate to say that since he’s not here to defend himself anymore. That was how you managed to talk him into it, isn’t it? But it’s also why you had to go with him. You couldn’t count on him to follow through with it on his own.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

“You really should have asked me to continue the investigation. If you had, I probably never would have tied you to it.”

“How do you think I’m tied to it?” she asked.

“You’ve got your hands all over it. I don’t think there was one element you personally didn’t oversee.”

“Did you stop by for a wine tasting before you came here because you must be drunk or something?”

I smiled. Part of me really liked this lady. I appreciated intelligence and a good sense of humor, but who doesn’t?

“Peter Bell didn’t impress me as a dumb guy. If he was going to shake someone down for the murder of Panos, it had to be someone with money. Makani doesn’t scream money to anyone. Then there’s Kalena. She knew or at least she suspected,” I said.

“You’ve been talking to Kalena? What does she think she knows?”

“About you and Panos, of course. Aaron Tench knew too. After our conversation with Kalena, we stopped by Tench’s house. He was a lot harder to get to talk. That’s the thing about loyalty. Even though he wanted Panos out of his life, he was still loyal to Panos’ memory. He eventually described an evening the three of you had. You went out drinking and stumbled back to your house. At some point in the night, Tench woke up and you weren’t in the bed, so he went looking for you. He found you on top of Panos.”

Daphne laughed.

“Let me get this straight. You’re accusing Panos and me of having an affair?” she asked.

“It was the reason Tench broke up with you. He was so worried he’d run into you or Panos that he even moved to the other side of the island. He refused to talk to either of you, despite Panos calling him over and over again. I was a little confused at first because Tench knew so many details about Panos, such as Hani’s pregnancy, and then Tench told me that Panos would e-mail him all the time, trying to get Tench to change his mind about cutting him out of his life. He told Tench all those details about himself and his problems. I suspect it was to garner sympathy from Tench. Kalena also confirmed your affair to us. She heard you the morning of the wedding rehearsal. I believe the quote was, ‘You think you’re going to keep screwing me after you get married.’ You didn’t use the word ‘screwing’ though.”

Daphne said nothing.

“You also told him he promised you something. What was it? I’m guessing he promised he wouldn’t marry Hani,” I said.

“You came all the way here to repeat some lie the maid and my bitter ex-boyfriend told you. Kind of sad, Poe.”

“I really don’t care that you were sleeping with Panos. It’s none of my business, but I do care that you tried to frame Alana’s sister. The police report said there was no sign of forced entry at Hani’s house, but someone had to have gotten in that house to plant the flashlight. I was pretty mad at myself for not figuring that out sooner. You had a key, or it might be better to say Panos had a key. Since you two lived together, it wasn’t hard to get your hands on it. Maybe you even secretly made a copy. You simply drove over to her house when she was staying with Alana, let yourself in, and then left the flashlight in the garage for the police to find. It was overkill, though, wasn’t it? The flashlight was so obviously planted, and it made me realize someone other than Makani was also involved. He never would have framed Hani. He loved her too much, but you couldn’t resist the urge to take out an enemy. Why didn’t you just toss the flashlight in the ocean with the knife? Did you really hate Hani that much?”

“I think the pressure of this case has gotten to you. You’re creating these bizarre theories that no one in their right mind would believe.”

“Maybe, but here’s what the police will believe. Makani didn’t just confess the crime on video. He also told his brother Kai. Except his confession to Kai was much more elaborate. He said you helped him.”

“Nothing but Kai’s word against mine.”

“Not really. There’s that payment to Kai you made to keep his mouth shut. I assume he wasn’t as greedy as Peter Bell. His tastes aren’t quite as large. He closed his surf shop after you left. Word was there just was not enough business, which makes sense to me. Had you ever been to his shop? It’s tucked in the back of this depressing little strip mall. No one could see it from the road. Here’s the interesting thing, though. Kai bought a new car despite having just closed his struggling shop. So Kai gets a car. Kalena gets a car. Where’s all this money coming from? I imagine you considered killing Kai too. You knew you couldn’t trust him. He’s too much of a hothead, but it wouldn’t make sense to anyone to pin that death on Makani. He wouldn’t kill his own brother. The guy was practically his full-time bodyguard. Peter Bell is another story, though. You weren’t about to give him anything, especially since you knew he had a gambling problem. It would only be a matter of time before he came back demanding another payment. He’d be like an albatross hanging around your neck for the rest of your life.”

“It’s my understanding Peter Bell was killed during a robbery,” she said. “It had nothing to do with Panos’ death.”

“A robbery where a three-thousand-dollar watch is left out in the open? No, the only thing that was stolen from Peter was the laptop where he had the security footage of your car driving Makani to the marina to kill Panos.”

Daphne laughed.

“I drove Makani to the marina? And how would I even know he was there?”

“Because that’s where he always went after you two fought. He knew you were furious with him, so after he left Shae’s apartment, he drove straight to the marina.”

I saw the look of confusion on Daphne’s face.

“That’s right. While you were talking Makani into killing Panos, Panos was having sex with Shae at her apartment. Did you even know about Shae?” I asked.

Daphne said nothing.

“It was easy to get Makani riled up. Panos had just humiliated him at the party, and you probably convinced Makani he could be with Hani again after Panos was gone. The guy was desperate to get her back. He’d do anything, especially kill the guy she was about to marry.”

“You have no proof of anything,” she said.

“No proof ? I have video of your car at the marina. I recognized it, and I barely know you. Peter Bell surely knew your car too. It must have been fairly easy for him to put it all together. Did you actually think Peter Bell made only one copy of the security footage? He might have had a serious gambling problem, but he wasn’t stupid. He made a second copy that he mailed to his sister. She lives in Seattle by the way. It was fairly easy for me to track her down. She was out of the country for several weeks on a business trip. That’s why she was late opening the package he mailed. He specifically mentions you in a note.”

I wondered if this would be the time Daphne jumped out of her chair and attacked me, but to her credit, she remained calm.

“I’m not wearing a wire,” I said.

I stood and lifted up my shirt.

“I also turned off my phone. You can see for yourself.”

I reached into my pocket and removed my phone. I placed it on the table in front of us. Daphne hesitated a moment, and then leaned forward and pressed the button on the bottom of the phone to confirm it was off. I sat back down.

Daphne stood and walked over to the door. At first, I thought she was leaving the room, but she simply closed the door and walked back to her chair.

“So what now?” she asked.

She sat down and crossed her legs like she was some high-powered executive in a business negotiation.

“I go to the police, and you get arrested,” I said. “By the way, why not pay Kai to kill Peter Bell? Why do it yourself ?”

“It wasn’t my intention to bring Kai in at all. But I should have realized that little shit Makani would blab.”

“Do you feel no remorse for killing Peter?”

“Why should I? He tried to blackmail me.”

Daphne laughed.

“You should have seen the look on his face. I opened the briefcase, and he expected to see stacks of money. Instead, he saw a gun.”

“Clever. You have a flair for the dramatic,” I said.

“Let’s cut to the chase. Name your price.”

“My price?” I asked.

“You just said you haven’t gone to the police. I assume that’s because you’re following in the footsteps of Peter Bell. How much do you want?”

“Funny you should mention Peter Bell. I take it that’s your not-so-subtle hint of how I’ll end up should I cross you.”

“I would never threaten you, Poe. I actually like you. I just wish you’d taken me up on my offer of having a little fun on Maui. Why didn’t you? Was it your commitment to Alana?”

“Something like that,” I said. “Did you actually love Panos?”

“My feelings for him are none of your business,” she said.

“Understandable. It’s just my curiosity getting the better of me. I really was wondering what he promised you.”

I turned to the wall behind me.

“Did you get enough?” I yelled.

Daphne was confused by me yelling toward the intercom in the room, but a second later, the door opened, and Alana walked in with two California police officers. I apologize for not mentioning Alana was on the flight with me, as well as the drive to the winery, but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

“Arrest her,” Alana said.

The two police officers walked over to Daphne. They hauled her to her feet.

“By the way, Daphne, there was no other video. Peter Bell was an only child,” I said.

I could see the fury building behind Daphne’s eyes.

“I wasn’t wired, but I employed a little trick Kalena taught me. She maneuvered the talk button on the intercom so it would stay depressed. Alana and these two police officers were in the other room recording our entire conversation.”

“It came through loud and clear,” Alana said.

“You son of a bitch,” Daphne said.

She struggled to get to me.

“Don’t feel that bad. They had enough to arrest you on the payment to Kai. I just wanted to make sure you went down for the murder of Peter Bell too.”

Panos’ mother entered the room.

“I think your trust fund just got canceled, Daphne” I said.

“It’s all lies,” Daphne told her aunt.

Mrs. Laskaris said nothing. She just turned away from Daphne and walked out of the room. In full disclosure, I’d already called Mrs. Laskaris before my arrival. I told her everything, including the sexual affair between Panos and Daphne. It gave me no pleasure to reveal these secrets about her beloved son, but I didn’t know how else to justify Daphne’s jealousy of the other women, especially Hani, and how that jealousy and anger eventually led to her arranging the murder of Panos. Mrs. Laskaris was also integral in catching her niece’s potential confession on audio. She arranged for the butler to bring me to the sitting room, and she rigged the intercom to permanently broadcast to the other room where Alana and the police were hiding. Mrs. Laskaris also suggested we hide a second recording device under the table in the sitting room in case the audio didn’t come in clear over the intercom. I appreciated her willingness to help, as well as her ability to not immediately confront Daphne before I had an opportunity to try to drag a confession out of her.

Alana and I watched the two police officers escort Daphne away in handcuffs.

“Nice work,” Alana said.

“Thanks. I didn’t think I was going to get it out of her.”

“She was dying to tell you. She’s too arrogant not to.”

“Want to change our flight? Stay a few days in wine country?” I asked.

“Love to. Let’s do it. What was that about you and her having a little fun by the way?”

“That? That was nothing.”

Alana looked at me like she didn’t believe me, and then decided to drop it.

Before we left the winery, we walked about a hundred yards behind the house where Panos and his father were buried side by side. There were several large trees around the small family cemetery. Mrs. Laskaris was there.

“I asked you to find my son’s killer. You did that. Thank you,” she said.

“For what it’s worth, she didn’t kill him,” I said.

“No, but she lured the one who did there. It’s the same thing in my book. I always knew she loved him.”

“I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.”

“Daphne came to live with us when she was just fourteen years old. Panos was fifteen. It was the first time they had met because their fathers had been feuding for so long. A couple of years after she moved here, I caught her and Panos together. I was furious, of course, and I forbade them to be together that way. But I thought it was mostly teenagers experimenting. I had no idea it was still going on. Panos had many flaws, but I loved him.”

“We know,” Alana said.

“What will happen now?” Mrs. Laskaris asked.

“Daphne will be extradited back to Maui where she’ll stand trial for killing Peter Bell and being an accessory to the murder of Panos.”

Mrs. Laskaris nodded.

We stayed by the gravesite for several more minutes, and then we said goodbye to her.

XXIV

Job Offers and Sailing Lessons

A
lana and I spent our limited time in wine country touring two or three wineries per day. We did wine tastings and had picnics outside. We changed our flight a second time and hung out in San Francisco for a few days after that. We did the usual tourist thing, including walking around Fisherman’s Wharf, driving down Lombard Street, and touring Alcatraz. We even walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. I thought the strong winds might blow us away, but you couldn’t beat the view. It was a nice last-minute vacation, and I was more than grateful that Alana’s department gave her the time off.

I got my cast removed a few days after my return to Maui. My arm still felt weak. I could have sworn it was a bit smaller than the other, but I was glad to have that annoying hunk of plastic removed.