Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
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Twenty Blue Devils
Aaron Elkins
Copyright (C) 1997 by Aaron Elkins
Published by E-Reads. All rights reserved.
www.ereads.com
Acknowledgments
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As usual, Gideon Oliver needed plenty of help getting into and out of trouble.
Marcus Walkinshaw, M.D., Elan Plastic Surgery Center, Seattle, Mardie Lane, Supervisory Park Ranger, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and Steve E. Studhalter, Special Agent, Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, were all very generous in sharing their expertise.
On the forensic side, Professor Charles F Merbs of Arizona State University dipped into his case file to come up with some intriguing tidbits about the human capitulum fibulae, and Dr. Arthur Washburn, adjunct faculty, Temple University and the University of Delaware, was invaluable in helping me get rid of the body (so to speak).
On-site research on various French matters was conducted by my friend Astri Baillargeon.
And finally, my thanks to Peter Larsen, Master Roaster, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Misha Sperka, Farmer- Owner, Old Hawaii Coffee Farm, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, for inviting me behind the scenes of the fragrant and fascinating world of coffee-growing and production.
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Chapter 1
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Dear Madame Pele,
Last year me and my husband visited Hawaii for our 20th anniversary and stayed overnight at Volcanoe House. Well, the next morning, we took one of the bus rides around the park and when we had a stop we picked up these pieces of lavarock even though the driver told us we better not because of the Curse. But we couldn't imagine that a little rock could bring us so much BAD LUCK!
BOY, WERE WE WRONG!!!!! The curse started coming true before we even got home! Our luggage got sent to Hong Kong (instead of Chicago) and it took a month to get our things back. Since then, things have went from bad to worst. We have had illness, death, and financial destruction one right after the other. Nobody can believe so many terrible things could happen to one family. Just in the last few months our cat got run over, our porch developed dry rot which cost $2,500 to repair, and my husbands 88 year old father fell off a roof which he should never have been standing on in the first place and died of a rupture.
Then the other day I was going through some things and ran across this lavarock from our trip and I suddenly realized that the legend must be true!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure it gets back to the volcanoe!!! We're sorry and we apologize for not believing. We hope now that Madame Pele and us and our family can find the peace we all so desperately need! I beg you to grant this request and send me a note in the enclosed envelope that it has been done.
Sincerely yours,
(Mrs.) Doris Root
408 Howard Avenue
Winnetka, Il 60093
