4 Kaua'i Me a River (16 page)

I
looked up at the door to Sunny’s but didn’t take another step.

“Anyway,”
Valentine went on. “I’m so glad I caught up with you. I had no idea you were already
here on Kaua'i. Since it appears you were the last person to see Peggy before
the accident I’m sure the police will want to talk to you. My advice is to not
say anything. Call me immediately. I can be there in twenty minutes.”

I
slowly made my way up the rest of the stairs and across the
lanai
. Through
the screen door I could see Sunny in the kitchen putting the dishes away.  She
was humming like she hadn’t a care in the world.

“Sunny,”
I said, coming into the house without knocking. “You heard about Peggy?”

She
nodded. I detected a faint glimmer of smugness in her eyes.

“Why
did you tell Valentine Fabares I’d pissed off Peggy?” I said.

“You
wouldn’t want me to lie, would you? And besides, that’s what I told the police when
they called earlier. I did you a favor by contacting Valentine. She said she’d
be willing to help if you were brought in for questioning.”

***

The
police arrived less than ten minutes later in an unmarked car. I went to the
window and watched a guy in plain clothes get out from the passenger side and
then his partner, a young woman, get out from the driver side.

I went
to the door and the woman spoke first. “We’re looking for Pali Moon. Is that
you?”

I
nodded.

“I’m
Detective Kiki Wong and this is my partner, Detective Dennis Akanu. We’re
investigating a fatal accident from last night and your name came up.”

I was
stunned.
Detective Wong
, really? I knew a detective on Maui named Glen Wong,
but Kiki Wong didn’t look anything like my Wong. Although they were both
clearly of Asian descent, Kiki was tiny, maybe ninety pounds. She was only
about five two, maybe five three. Glen Wong wasn’t a big man, but he was
average height and pretty buff. As far as I could see, if there was a familial
connection, it wasn’t a close one.

I
thought Kiki was dressed rather provocatively for a cop. She had on a deep
V-necked black tank top with a short-sleeved blue ‘cop shirt’ over it. The
shirt was unbuttoned and tied at her waist.

Detective
Wong appeared to be the kind of gal who would act impressed with my success in
martial arts and then challenge me to a fight and clean my clock. Her partner
was a middle-aged local guy who looked like he should’ve been teaching high
school math instead of investigating homicides and busting meth dealers.

I
opened the screen to let them in. “I really don’t have anything to say. I
didn’t even know about the accident until this morning.”

Sunny
came out of the kitchen. “
Aloha
, Kiki. Good to see you again, although
once again it’s under sad circumstances.”

Detective
Kiki Wong gave Sunny a tight smile. “Yes, Mrs. Wilkerson. Sad circumstances are
an unfortunate part of the job.”

She
turned to me. “We got a tip that Mrs. Margaret Chesterton was out here last
night talking to you before the accident.”

I
considered what Valentine had said about saying nothing, but then decided that
nipping this in the bud would be the better option. “Yes, Peggy came over last
night totally ‘
ona
, you know, drunk. She and I chatted for a couple of
minutes and then she left.”

Both detectives
gave me the cop squint. Then Wong went on, “So you allowed an intoxicated woman
to get in her car and drive away?”

“I,
uh.” I tried to come up with a good excuse, and Valentine’s words echoed. “You
know, I don’t think I want to talk about this anymore without my lawyer
present.”

 I
looked over at Sunny. She shrugged. Then she leaned in and whispered, “You want
me to get Valentine on the phone?”

“I
guess you better.”

***

The
cops were kind enough to give me a lift to the station. The back of the cop car
was like you see on TV, a slick vinyl bench seat and no door handles.  Through
the wire mesh separating the back from the front I could see all kinds of high-tech
stuff. They had a GPS screen, an on-board computer, dash-mounted camera; the
whole nine yards.

“Wow,
you guys are well-equipped,” I said. “The cops on Maui would love to have that
much hardware.”

Neither
cop turned to acknowledge me.

After
a few moments, Akanu said, “You ride in cop cars much on Maui?”

I
decided to shut up for the rest of the trip.

They
took me inside and brought me to an interview room. I’ve been in a few police
station interview rooms before. It’s not like I’m a habitual criminal or
anything; it just seems I’m a person that cops like to talk to.

Valentine
arrived minutes later. She and the detectives greeted each other. I felt like a
dog at the pound. Like I hadn’t done anything to deserve this, but now my fate
was in total strangers’ hands.

“Anyone
want coffee? How about some water?” Akanu played the gracious host while Wong
glared with her arms crossed. Valentine established the pecking order by
declining for us both. I could’ve gone for a Diet Pepsi but I didn’t want to
cross her.

 “Let’s
start from the top,” said Wong. “At what time did the victim arrive at your
premises?”

Oh
great. So now they were referring to Peggy Chesterton as ‘the victim’. I
glanced at Valentine and saw she’d picked up on it too.

“You
don’t have to answer that, Pali.”

“We’re
just trying to establish a timeline, here, Ms. Fabares. Nothing more.”

“My
client doesn’t wish to assist in establishing your timeline unless you plan to
charge her with something. What difference does it make what time Mrs.
Chesterton arrived?”

“Can I
answer?” I said.

“No,”
said Valentine. “You may not.”

I
leaned in and whispered in her ear. “I have no idea when she got there. I was
asleep on the sofa and when I woke up she was at the door. I don’t wear a watch
and I didn’t see a clock so I can honestly say I don’t know what time it was.”

“My
client doesn’t recall what time it was,” Valentine said. Not nearly as good an
answer as mine.

“Okay,”
said Wong. “Does your client
recall
if it was light outside or dark?”

There
was no way I could avoid answering that. I looked at Valentine.

“My
client doesn’t recall.”

“Why
don’t you ask your client if she’d like to answer before you answer for her?”

“Because
this is a waste of time. My client has no knowledge of anything regarding Mrs.
Chesterton’s tragic automobile accident.”

“Your
client has already told us that Mrs. Chesterton appeared to be impaired when
she left the premises.”

Valentine
said, “Peggy Chesterton had a severe drinking problem when she was younger. But
she’d been clean and sober for years, maybe decades. It wouldn’t have taken
more than a couple glasses of wine for her to appear more impaired than she
probably was. But regardless, my client has no medical or police training to
allow her to ascertain a person’s blood alcohol content.”

I was
baffled by the logic, but I’d put my trust in Valentine’s lawyering so I kept
quiet.

“True,”
said Wong. “But regardless of her BAC, if she appeared impaired, she was most
probably impaired.”

Detective
Akanu maintained a zen-like smile but his eyes bore into mine as if he was
trying to fit me for glasses.

The
two detectives exchanged a look and then Wong got up and left. After a half-minute
of silence Akanu spoke up. “You know, all she’s trying to do here is get to the
bottom of this. No one’s accusing anyone of anything. But when a respected
citizen such as Mrs. Chesterton runs off the road and into a tree for no
apparent reason, we like to find out what happened.”

The
guy sounded like Dr. Phil. And, like a guest on the Dr. Phil Show, I really
wanted to tell him my story.

Valentine
said, “Detective Akanu, I respect you’re just doing your job. But I’m doing
mine. My client has nothing to say.”

Akanu
got up and left. I turned to say something to Valentine but she pointed to the
camera in the corner. I folded my hands on the table and stared at the mirror
on the other side of the room. Twenty minutes later we were told we were free
to go.

We
walked outside and I said, “Why won’t you let me tell them the truth?”

“Because
they will use it against you.”

“But I
don’t know anything.”

Valentine
turned on me. “Look,” she said. “Don’t you
ever
disregard my
instructions again. I told you to say
nothing
. I’m doing my best to
distance you from this. From now on, do exactly what I say. It’s your only way out.”

Not
much of a vote of confidence.

She asked
if I wanted a ride to Sunny’s and I nodded.

“I
don’t have anything to wear to court tomorrow. Do you know of a shop in Kapa’a
that’s open today?”

“I’d
rather you didn’t leave the compound. Why don’t you see if you can borrow
something from your step-mother?”

We
pulled out onto the highway and I said, “Do you think I had anything to do with
Peggy Chesterton’s death?”

“I
don’t know and I don’t want to know,” she said.

Nope,
not much of a vote of confidence at all.

***

When
we got to Sunny’s I called Farrah. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk very long
this morning. I didn’t get a chance to ask you how things are going with Moke.”

“Oh, Moke’s
great. In fact, in a few minutes Hatch is taking us all down to the beach. We’re
gonna dip his little feet in the ocean for the very first time. I wish you could
be here.”

 What?
Hatch was helping Farrah bond with Moke? He’d done a complete about-face since Friday
when he’d been ranting about child endangerment and kidnapping.

“Oops.
Sorry Pali, but I’ve gotta run,” she said. “Hatch is out there blowing the horn
and I still have to pack the diaper bag. I tell ya, Pali, this mother stuff
isn’t for wusses.” She trilled an
aloha
and hung up.

CHAPTER 20

Sunny
buzzed Valentine through the gate but I asked to be dropped off at the
ohana
rather than the main house. I wasn’t in the mood to give Sunny a play-by-play
of what’d happened at the police station. I was afraid she’d enjoy it too much.
Instead, I went into the guest house and crashed on the sofa. I awoke to the
phone ringing. It was Sunny, asking me if I’d like to join her for dinner. I didn’t
feel hungry, but I was going to have to hit her up for something to wear to
court so I accepted.

“I’m
not a great cook,” she said as I came in. “But your dad didn’t mind. We ate out
a lot and he was mostly a steak and rice guy. He bought himself a fancy grill
and got a rice cooker for me and we were good to go.”

She
seemed awfully chipper under the circumstances. I told her about Valentine not
allowing me to defend myself. I also told her about Valentine’s seeming lack of
faith in my innocence.

“Oh,
don’t worry about it,” she said. “Valentine’s a worry wart. Goes with the territory,
I guess. She used to drive your father nuts with her nit-picking and her ‘sign
this’ and ‘initial that.’ When we got married and he told her he wanted to sign
everything over to me as community property I thought she’d have a heart
attack. She didn’t want him to leave me a dime.”

I
asked if she’d mind loaning me something to wear to court and she invited me into
the master bedroom. I felt uncomfortable looking at the king-size bed set against
the wall. It was much too intimate a reminder of her relationship with my father.

She
went into a walk-in closet and came out with a beautifully-tailored deep green linen
sheath. “How about this? It will go great with your eyes.”

“Oh,
wow. That’s really nice. But what will you wear?”

She
flicked a finger for me to join her in the closet. The room was as nearly as big
as her kitchen, with fancy shelving and shoe racks. It even had a center island
with drawers and a granite top. I stood slack-jawed, staring at row upon row of
dresses, blouses, skirts, and pants. All were grouped by color. Her shoe
collection took up an entire wall.

“I
think I’ll be able to find something. Now, how about shoes?” She looked down at
my
rubba slippas
. “What are you? About a seven?”

I
nodded. She handed me a pair of taupe-colored sandals that probably cost more
than the Kelly Blue Book on my car.

“
Mahalo
.
I’ll get this dress cleaned and send it back.”

“Oh
puh-leeze. Keep it. Since Phil bought me all this, half of it is yours now anyway.”
She laughed but it made me almost as uncomfortable as staring at the bed.