“I think it’s a possibility,” Terri said. “Plus you said that Mike had gotten involved with a Christian surfing group in Mexico, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“And you think maybe he was involved in smuggling some drugs back from there. It’s possible those Christian surfers got him thinking that what he was doing was wrong, and he tried to back out, go to the authorities.”
“This is very interesting,” I said. “So let me see if I can construct a scenario. Lucie’s this very determined girl who needs a lot of money to feed her habits-surfing and shopping foremost. She overcomes her Catholic upbringing to become a low-level drug dealer. She plans to go to Mexpipe, and makes arrangements to bring some crystal meth back-some of which I found in her apartment.”
“Makes sense so far,” Harry said.
“She knows Mike Pratt and knows he needs money, so she recruits him to help her. They come up with a scheme to smuggle the crystal back to the US in their surfboards.”
I stood up and started walking around. “But while they’re in Mexico, Mike hooks up with the Christian surfers, who make him see that what he’s doing is wrong. By the time he gets back to the States, he’s really upset-both on moral grounds, and because the board he loved is ruined.”
“Where does the Chinese guy fit in?” Harry asked. “Don’t forget the Chinese guy.”
“Ronnie was Lucie’s friend, right?” Terri asked. “Maybe she recruited him, too.”
“Okay, the three of them bring the crystal back from Mexico and turn at least some of it over to Lucie’s supplier. I found the rest behind her medicine cabinet.”
“Then there ought to be a money trail,” Harry said. “These guys weren’t sophisticated enough to cover their tracks. Maybe the supplier, but not Lucie, Mike or Ronnie. You could subpoena their bank records.”
I shook my head. “Not without some probable cause. Judges don’t sign subpoenas based on speculation.”
“I could check it out for you,” Harry said. “I already know how to get into your bank.”
“I’m still a cop, Harry, as you have already figured out. I can’t ask you to do that-and I can’t use anything you find in court.”
“Email me their names, addresses, anything you have,” Harry said. “That’s all you need to know. But you still haven’t established why the Chinese guy got killed. Just the haole and the Filipina.”
“Ronnie disappeared the same day Lucie was shot,” Terri said. “Maybe she confided in him. He was a smart computer guy, right? Maybe she was trying to atone for her sins by finding out who killed Mike, and she recruited Ronnie to help.”
“That’s as good a scenario as I can get for now,” I said. “Though there isn’t much I can do to prove any of it.”
“You need to find the supplier,” Harry said. “That’s the guy who has the motive. But I hope you’re not going to tell me you plan to buy some ice yourself. Because you’re not officially a cop up here and you could get yourself into a whole heap of trouble.”
“The idea did cross my mind,” I admitted. “But I met a guy who bought from Lucie. He must be buying somewhere else now that she’s dead.”
“That’s the guy who was supposed to meet you for dinner but cancelled?” Terri asked.
“Yeah. His name is Rik. He’s hard to get hold of because he works at Waimea Falls Park and he’s always having to cover for other guys’ shifts.”
“Or he’s dodging you,” Harry said. “Is he working today?”
I nodded. “I see a plan forming. You think we could take the kids over there this afternoon?”
“It’s a good diversion,” Terri said. “That way you kind of stumble on him. We can keep the kids busy while you talk to him.”
We agreed to head to the park after lunch, just as we were inundated by a flood of my nieces and nephews, and we gave up on the idea of talking any more then.
A Walk in the Park
It was almost two before we could break away a group of kids to head to Waimea Falls Park. Ashley and Jeffrey wanted to keep surfing, and Alec and Keoni wanted to stay in the water on their boogie boards. We left my parents, Lui and Liliha, and Haoa and Tatiana in a pleasant after-lunch stupor to look after them.
We took a couple of cars over to the park because of the need for so many car seats. I checked with the elderly Chinese woman who took our money and found that Rik, one of the nature guides, was somewhere in the gardens; unfortunately, she couldn’t be more specific. We all took the electric tram up to the falls, but instead of swimming we elected to walk around through the gardens. The four of us concentrated on showing the kids the flowers and the exotic birds, stopping at the country store to buy them candy.
It was as we were coming out of the store that we ran into Rik. It couldn’t have appeared more innocent, yet Rik was immediately suspicious. Fortunately, just as I said hello, Malia tugged on my pant leg and announced, “Uncle Kimo, I have to go bathroom.”
“Why don’t we all take a bathroom break,” Terri announced. She picked up Malia and took Ailina’s hand, while Arleen scooped up Brandon.
Harry, carrying Danny, said, “I saw the bathrooms over there. Kimo, you can wait here, we’ll all be right back.”
“So you had to miss dinner Friday night,” I said to Rik, as the entourage began its trek to the bathrooms.
“Yeah, we had a big party here, and a couple of us had to stay late to close up.” He looked around nervously. “I really should get back to work.”
“Why don’t I walk with you, and it’ll look like you’re showing me the park.” I put my hand on his shoulder and gently steered him toward one of the paths. He was painfully skinny, and I felt like there was almost no flesh between my hand and the bones of his shoulder.
“Look,” I said when we were out of earshot of the country store. “I know you used to buy your drugs from Lucie, and I’m not looking to jam you up. I just want to find out who killed her.”
Rik relaxed noticeably. “I want to help you.”
“Do you know where she got her supply?”
He shook his head. “I think she was afraid if I knew, I’d go direct.”
“Did she ever say anything to you about Mexico, about going to the Mexpipe competition, about maybe some of the crystal meth coming back with her?”
“I know she went,” he said. “And the drugs were really good down there. She told me I should go with her next year, that she could make it worth my while.”
“Was she having any supply problems that you know of? Anybody want her territory, anything like that?”
He shook his head. “We used to talk all the time. If she was having problems like that, she would have told me. As a matter of fact, things were going really well for her. She was on the verge of making a big deal, she said, and everything was going to be sweet after that.”
“A big drug deal?”
“I don’t think so. I think it was about real estate.”
That was a stumper to me. “Real estate?”
“She had her license, you know. I think it might have had something to do with that big project of Ari’s.”
I remembered talking about real estate with Ari at breakfast. “He said something about zoning problems on some big property. You think that was it?”
He shrugged. “I just remember worrying that if she went legit I wouldn’t be able to score from her. That’s what I was concerned about. You should talk to Ari about her.”
I stopped and took hold of his arm. “Look, I told you before that I’m not interested in jamming you up, and I’m not, but I’ve got to know one thing. Who took over Lucie’s customers?”
Rik’s body went rigid. His arm was so skinny I could feel the bone. He looked like he was ready to cry. I didn’t say anything more, though; I waited for him to speak. Finally, he said, “I cop in Honolulu, all right? Through my
