She narrowed her eyes. “Yes, money doesn’t grow on coconut trees, you know. We are not all rich Californians here on this island.”
We are not all rich back in California either, but that wasn’t a topic worth quibbling over.
The older woman gracefully pointed to the sofa. We sat down, thigh to thigh, looking as guilty as kids whispering during a church service.
The woman’s voice possessed a lilting quality that soothed as she welcomed us. “My name is Kiana. I am Keiki’s mother. It is kind of you to come here. You show the true aloha spirit.”
I smiled. Demonstrating aloha spirit sounded far better than ferreting out who killed her daughter.
My mother demonstrated her own aloha spirit. “We feel terrible about what happened to Keiki. I wanted to assure you that despite his arrest, my son had nothing to do with your daughter’s tragic death.”
A flicker of something darkened Kiana’s face, but it disappeared, and her countenance regained its former placid demeanor. It made me wonder if she agreed with our assumption that Dave did not kill her daughter. Was there something Keiki’s mother was hiding?
Kiana chose to discuss a less confrontational topic than her daughter’s murder. “Have you been able to enjoy our beautiful island?”
“We haven’t had time for much sightseeing although we’re taking the ATV ride at Waipi’o Valley tomorrow,” I replied. “Unfortunately, we only have two more days to investigate the murder before we fly home.”
“It won’t be easy finding Keiki’s killer in that amount of time,” Stan said.
Kiana placed long elegant fingers against her slender throat. “You are detectives in California?”
I exchanged looks with Mother and Stan.
“We’ve assisted the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department on several occasions,” I mumbled. Fortunately, no sheriff’s department representatives were present to debate that fact.
“You are helping the detectives here?” Kiana appeared confused, which was not at all surprising since we were equally confused at this point.
“Yes, we are.” The Hawaii police didn’t know we were assisting them, but that was a mere technicality. My brother’s freedom was at stake here. “We have some excellent leads so far, but we thought it would help to interview Keiki’s current boyfriend. Unfortunately we didn’t have a contact number for him.”
We didn’t have a contact name either, but this was no time to split hairs.
Kiana’s eyes clouded over. “My daughter used to date a fine young man named Joey. We hoped they would settle down and get married some day. Unfortunately, he died in an accident about a month ago. It was so sad for a young man to have his life cut short that way.”
Kiana addressed her husband who’d returned to the living room. “Victor has dealt with so much tragedy lately––at work and at home.”
Victor’s heavily lined face corroborated her statement. I tried to recall what work-related tragedy she referred to. “There was that horrible accident at Koffee Land when they were building the zip-line. Did you know the young man who died?”
“That was Joey,” Walea chimed in, “my sister’s former boyfriend.”
Chapter 34
Aha! The plot thickens. In fact, this plot was becoming thicker than poi.
“Oh, I missed the connection.” I looked at Victor. “So Keiki’s boyfriend worked for you?”
“No, no.” He shook his gray head vehemently. “I have nothing to do with the zip-line construction. That is Ritz’s crazy––,” he paused then started again. “I manage the coffee processing only.”
“Walea’s husband, Henry, is the contractor for the zip-line.” Kiana shifted her gaze to her stepdaughter. Her full lips tightened as she glanced at Walea.
Walea fidgeted as she met Kiana’s accusing stare. “It’s not Henry’s fault that Joey died. I am sure he jumped from the tower because Keiki broke his heart.”
“Are you saying your poor dead sister caused Joey’s death?” Kiana’s voice caught as she wrung her hands together.
“Heh, some sister,” Walea muttered.
Victor jumped up and stood in front of Walea. “You must not talk badly about your younger sister.”
“Are you kidding?” Walea leapt out of her chair. “That slut of a sister humiliated our entire family.” She stormed out of the room and down a hallway that appeared to lead to the rear of the house. Seconds later Walea emerged, purse in hand. Without another word, she left the house, the screen door banging shut behind her.