A Moonlit Murder Read online

  “Daddy, can I go look for coconuts?” Thérèse asked after a moment.

  “Sure, but what’s our rule?”

  The girl rolled her eyes. “Can go only two trees away and can’t get my feet wet.”

  “What does it mean if your feet get wet?” Melanie asked.

  “Means I too close to the water.”

  “I’m too close. Say that.”

  Another eye roll. “I’m too close to the water.”

  “Okay, good. And if you find one, bring it back and share it with us.”

  The girl bolted for the freedom of the beach, running to the first coconut palm. She made a lap around it, giving the area a thorough inspection before moving on to the next tree.

  “So, Valentine’s Day,” Melanie said while watching their daughter inspect the beach for coconuts. “Are we doing anything?”

  “Mom and Pop want to go to the Island Breeze.”

  “I meant us.”

  “I think the idea is that we all go together.”

  “That’ll be fun.” Melanie watched as Thérèse found another tree to inspect. “We haven’t been there since, gosh, last week.”

  “They like it there, it’s romantic, and it’s vegetarian. I don’t see how you can complain about a restaurant you own.”

  “We own, and I’m not complaining.” Now that the baby was asleep, Melanie reclined back, still keeping an eye on Thérèse as she roamed as far as she was allowed. “I just wish there was a way for the two of us to go to town and leave the rest of them behind. Just a few hours, you know? Go to the mall, see a movie, have coffee, anything.”

  “But you’d worry.”

  “But I’d worry.”

  “Why don’t we leave the kids with Trinh for one day? Mom and Pop could go off on their own, and so could we?” he asked. Trinh was Melanie’s lifelong best friend and next-door neighbor.

  “Her head’s in the clouds over maybe moving in with Harm. What to take, what to leave behind, if she should get a renter. Right now, I’m not so sure she’s any more trustworthy…”

  “Than my mother?”

  “Your words, not mine.”

  Melanie watched as Thérèse discovered the same little boat that Melanie had noticed the day before, beached now that the tide was out, but still tied to a palm.

  Josh cleared his throat. “Last night, when you went to the couch, you said…”

  “I meant it. Still do.”

  “There’s no way…”

  “Nope. Not till all three of you have had physicals by a qualified doctor. Plus, at least one of you needs to start paying a little closer attention to the kids.”

  “I pay attention to them,” he said.

  “Josh, where’s Thérèse right now?”

  He looked up. “Looking for coconuts, right?”

  “You had no idea where she was or how close to the water she’d gotten.”

  “Come on. We’re right here if anything should happen and there’re no waves today. How many times have you said the Pacific Ocean was your playground as a kid?”

  “Apparently, too many. The ocean might be a playground, but it can turn on you in a hurry. The ocean is one of the most dangerous things about living on an island.”

  “Getting back to the question at hand, there’s no chance for a little fun in the sack during a full moon on Valentine’s Day?” he moaned.

  She tried to hide her smile. “Jealous of your mom and dad?”

  “You think they’re…”

  “Of course!”

  “Right now?”

  “They don’t get the house to themselves any more often that we do, Josh.” Seeing Thérèse was enrapt with the little rowboat and nowhere near the water, Melanie reclined, hoping for a sense of relaxation to hit. “There’s always the seating hostess at the restaurant if you get lonely enough.”

  “She might have to wait. I can’t get the image of my parents out of my head.”

  “Just as a gentle warning, if you go anywhere near her, you’ll need hospitalization, not just a medical checkup. Understand?” she hissed.

  “Momma?”

  “Hi, Sweetie. Daddy and I were talking about where we’re not going for dinner tonight. Did you find any coconuts?”

  The girl shook her head. “Found a boat.”

  “I noticed that. Did you give it a name?”

  “Boats have names?”

  “Pretty sure. If you were a boat, wouldn’t you want a name?”

  Thérèse aimed a finger toward her mouth, a habit Melanie was trying to break her from. “I a girl, not a boat.”

  “No fingers in the mouth, please. Why don’t you go give the boat a close inspection and think of a name, okay?”

  “Okay. Momma?”

  “Yes?”

  “There’s two people sleeping in the boat.”

  Melanie sat up now that the argument about Josh’s interest in their restaurant’s evening hostess seemed over. “Maybe you should leave the boat alone so the people can sleep.”

  Thérèse stayed put at the foot of the beach blanket. “Momma?”

  “Don’t you want to play in the sand?” Melanie asked. Her mind was busy reloading with new ammunition for another argument with Josh.

  “Not weally. Made big one discobery.”

  “Oh? What’s that?”

  “Remember the kitties that were sleeping under the house and then we had the fumeral?”

  “Funeral, with an N. What about them?”

  “The people in the boat are sleeping just like the kitties were.”

  Both Melanie and Josh sat up at once. “What?”

  The girl winced. “They look kinda funny.”

  Melanie had her daughter sit down and gave her a juice box to drink before going to the rowboat. She didn’t need to see them to know they were dead, the smell was already getting that strong. Going to the boat, she felt for pulses at wrists and necks of both of them anyway.

  Finding two dead bodies in a beached rowboat wasn’t the only surprise she got.

  Chapter Three

  “What were their names? Gubler and Steinhoefler? Something like that.” She scanned the boat, looking for a weapon, which was silly, since she had no clue as to the manner of their deaths. Then she saw her next surprise. Reaching to grab it, she pulled her hand back. “Is that Bignose?”

  Confused, she went back to the family beach blanket to get her phone.

  “Everything okay?” Josh asked.

  “Not even close,” she said, scrolling for a number in her phone memory.

  “What is it? A drowning victim?”

  Melanie glanced at her daughter, who was paying closer attention than what she had hoped. “Two. And I’m not sure what happened.”

  “Momma, are we gonna have a fumer…funeral?”

  “Not today, Sweetie, but somebody will in Iowa.”

  “Iowa? What are you talking about?” Josh asked.

  “They’re a couple I met yesterday, not far from here. At least I think it’s the same couple.” When her call was answered, she stepped away to talk privately. “Detective Nakatani, this is Melanie Kato. I have some work for you.”

  “As much as I’d love to help remodel your new store, I have to pass, Mayor Kato.”

  “This is more of an official police nature. Are you working today?”

  “Believe it or not, I actually take days off occasionally. Unfortunately, today is not one of them. What’s up? Somebody park on top of a line in a parking lot?”

  “Maybe a little more serious than that.” She was back at the rowboat by then, keeping a few steps away. “I’ve just discovered two dead bodies at the beach.”

  “How dead? CPR dead or gathering flies dead?”

  “Buzzing flies dead. They’re tourists.”

  “If they’re drowning vics, call the paramedics and have an officer sent to…”

  “They didn’t drown, at least not visibly. Their clothes are dry and hair combed. They almost look as though they died of natural cause
s.”

  “An elderly couple that had heart attacks together is heartbreaking, but not something for a detective to get involved with. At least, not right away.”

  “The thing is they’re not elderly, maybe even younger than me, and seem fit. I met them yesterday, and…”

  “Ah, yes. Somehow, I knew you’d be personally involved. Okay, where are they?”

  She told him the location at the Ka’anapali beach near the Napili Winds Resort.

  “Well, you know the drill. Keep people back from the scene and don’t touch anything. Does anybody else know?” he asked.

  “You’re the first person I called. There are a few people starting to gather to see what’s going on. Should I chase them away?”

  “Don’t bother trying. That just makes them even more curious. But do me a favor, if you can. Try snapping pictures of the crowd without them noticing. And if anyone asks what happened, start a conversation with them. Introduce yourself, and try and get their name.”

  Melanie turned away from the small crowd that had formed and hushed her voice. “The perpetrator returning to the scene of the crime? Is that a real thing?”

  “It’s real often enough. I’ve already sent a patrol car and a crime scene vehicle to manage things. I’ll be there in a while. And Mayor?”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t leave the scene. I’ll need to talk to you, also.”

  Melanie didn’t have to wait long before an officer was there unwinding yellow crime scene tape from one palm tree to another, isolating the scene with the rowboat right in the middle. Just as she was giving her witness statement to the officer, the resort manager came out.

  “Mayor, good to see you again,” Tony Richards said. He looked her up and down. At six feet tall and athletic, with an Air Force Search and Rescue tattoo on her chest, and still wearing only her bikini top and shorts, there was a lot to see on Melanie. “Is this a county council meeting being conducted?”

  “Official police investigation, Sir,” the cop said.

  His remark was exactly what she expected from the overly officious man. Melanie had known the man since he had worked as a resort concierge many years before, when she was a housekeeper there while in high school. She knew she often intimidated men because of her stature, but because he was shorter than the average man, he always seemed especially unsettled around her. He compensated for that by making snarky remarks in difficult situations. With Tony, it was always a game of power, him trying to grab whatever he could. Indoors, it was lifts in his shoes and expensive ‘power’ clothing. Right then at the beach, he remained angled up the slope of beach sand to appear taller.

  But they shared a secret, something neither was willing to let the world know about.

  “I wish it was a council meeting, Tony. Unfortunately, there’s been a death, Two, in fact.”

  He took a step back. “That’s why the police are here?”

  Melanie put her hands on her hips and glared. “Yes, Tony, that’s why there’s yellow crime scene tape everywhere, three police officers are interviewing potential witnesses, and the crime scene truck is here. It’s one of those ‘No, duh’ moments in life.”

  “No reason for the sarcasm, Melanie.”

  “No reason for the snark about this being a council meeting.”

  “This is resort property, not yours. Don’t push your luck,” he shot back.

  “Or what? You can’t have me fired, and you can’t ban me from a public beach.”

  “As I’ve already pointed out, this is resort property, which makes it private property. Once I decide you’re trespassing, I’ll have one of these officers arrest you.”

  She stepped over to face him close up. “And like I always explain to you when you’re in one of your moods, all beaches in Hawaii are public, even the one in front of your…the Napili Winds Resort. By law, all resorts need to provide public access to all beach areas. And also by law, resort property is to the point of the common high tide line, or to the end of maintained resort landscaping adjacent to the beach area. Want me to point out where your crabgrass meets public sand?”

  “How long is this going to take?” he demanded.

  “How should I know? I’m here as a witness.”

  Saving her from starting a new fight with an old nemesis was Detective Nakatani coming toward them, dressed in his usual khaki pants and aloha shirt with a subdued blue print. There was the slight bulge beneath the untucked shirt, belying his holstered pistol. He already had a sweat going when he got to them.

  “Now, who are you?” Tony hissed at the detective.

  Melanie and the detective smiled greetings to each other, before Nakatani turned his attention on the resort manager. Taking out his credential wallet, he displayed his Maui Police Department identification. “Detective Nakatani. I’m here to investigate the deaths of these victims.”

  “Why is a detective investigating heatstroke or heart attacks?”

  “Who said anything about heatstroke?” Melanie asked.

  “Mister Richards, what do you know about this situation?” Nakatani asked.

  “Nothing. Isn’t that how people die on the beach? Too much alcohol and hot sun?”

  “Too much booze from your resort,” Melanie said.

  Detective Nakatani gave a subtle wave for her to calm down and told both of them to remain where they were. He went to the small rowboat and watched as crime scene technicians went about their work, collecting fingerprints from the victims, taking photographs, scanning dark corners of the boat with a strong light.

  “Exactly why do you think they died from natural causes?” Nakatani asked Tony when he returned.

  “How else could they have died? Tourists not accustomed to the humidity of the tropics. That’s a no-brainer.”

  Melanie looked away, wondering what the fallout of a snide remark to the police detective would be.

  “Well, anybody with a brain would understand other places in the world are humid. Mayor Kato, you’re a doctor. Do those two show any signs of heatstroke?”

  “With heatstroke, their faces would’ve turned red, but blanched back to ashen in death. They would’ve been sweaty, but that could’ve evaporated. It just depends on how long ago they died. But to me, and I’m no expert on post-morbidity facial expressions, but I’d think they would have faces that showed some suffering had gone on before death, if it was truly heatstroke. With just a glance at their body habitus, they look to be very low risk for heatstroke, especially if they died during the cooler hours of the night.”

  “Heart attacks, then.”

  Melanie shook her head. “Once again, somebody that had just died from a heart attack would have the expression of pain and anguish on their face. They don’t. They almost look as though they died rather suddenly. They just don’t fit the image of heart attack victims.”

  “Look, I’m no expert on dead people,” Tony said.

  “Probably not, but here comes one right now,” Nakatani said, nodding his head at the coroner’s vehicle just showing up. Dr. Benson, the county coroner, got out of the passenger side.

  Nakatani apprized Benson of the situation with the two bodies in the rowboat and let him get started on his part of the investigation.

  “Mister Richards, do you have a business card for me?” the detective asked. Once he got one, he smiled in a dismissive way. “Mister Richards, have you seen on TV how cops tell someone not to leave town? Well, that applies to you. Please stay on the island.”

  The resort manager left in a huff, striding down the paved path that wound through the landscaped grounds, both Melanie and Detective Nakatani watching. At one point, he left the path to take a shortcut across the vast lawn but stopped short when he discovered the grass was wet. Stepping back onto the path, he used a handkerchief to wipe the moisture from his leather loafers.

  “Interesting fellow,” Nakatani said, making a few notes in his pad.

  “You have no idea.” Melanie waited until he stopped writing. “May I go? My
family seems to be getting restless.”

  “Not quite yet. Go through again how you came to find the vics. And as usual, start from the beginning and provide as many details as you can.”

  After Melanie went through the story of how Thérèse had first seen the bodies and reported back about them, they called her over. The girl played shy, clinging to Melanie’s leg, trying to hide behind her. A finger was dangerously close to her mouth, which Melanie pulled away.

  “Thérèse, you remember Detective Nakatani, don’t you?”

  Remaining where she was, the girl stuck her hand out. “Hello, Sir. Very nice to meet you.”

  Crouching down to her level, he gently shook her hand. “You’ve always been very polite when we’ve met before. I just have two questions for you and then you and your mommy can go home. Can you answer them for me?”

  “Okay.”

  “When you saw the two people in the boat, did you touch them at all?”

  She shook her head. “Not nice to wake people unless it’s time to get up.”

  “Did you take anything out of the boat?”

  Again, she shook her head. “Wrong to take other people’s stuff.”

  “That’s exactly right,” he said. “You’re a good girl, aren’t you?”

  “That’s three questions, Sir. You said only two.”

  “Sweetie, go tell Daddy to start packing up everything so we can go home,” Melanie said, sending her daughter away. “Anything else, Detective?”

  “Did you notice anything unusual about the contents of the boat, Mayor?”

  “Other than dead honeymooners?”

  “Anything else?”

  “Only the teddy bear. And that’s the strange thing,” she said.

  “How?”

  “You’re not going to like this, but I’m sure that was our bear only yesterday.” She tried smiling at him but it didn’t work. Nor could she think of any explanation as to how the couple got the bear. “A while back, someone came to my clinic and dropped off that bear when I wasn’t there. The receptionist kept it at her desk until the next day and gave it to me then.”

  “Why did someone give you a stuffed toy?” he asked.