“We understand why you’re doing this. We understand what Tavii is like,” Foxx said.
“How could you possibly know that?” she asked.
“We were on that yacht with him a while back,” Foxx said, referring to our previous case, the one I called Rich and Dead.
“You were part of those gambling parties?” she asked.
“Yes, and we saw how Tavii is. The man is reckless and foolish. I can’t begin to imagine what it was like to be married to him,” I said.
“You have no idea.”
“He couldn’t have been that way from the start,” I said.
“He wasn’t, at least I didn’t think he was. It wasn’t until years later that I realized I just wasn’t seeing him for who he really was.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. I’m guilty of that myself,” Foxx said.
“Add me to that list,” I said.
If you’ve read Aloha Means Goodbye, then you know exactly who I was talking about. The woman’s name was Dorothy and she left me for a used car salesman, although I believe I mentioned that in the first chapter of this tale.
“He thought I didn’t know about the affairs, but I did,” Oleen said.
“We know why you stayed with him. What were you going to do? You gave the guy everything. He promised to take care of you, but he ended up holding that deal against you. It was a blackmail scheme of sorts. Do what I say. Put up with my garbage or I’ll leave you with nothing,” I said.
“You know more than I thought you did,” she said.
“We need you to come forward and tell the police that you didn’t really see Mele Akamu shoot Eric Ellis,” I said.
“I can’t do that. You don’t know what Stan would do to me.”
“What do you stand to get in a divorce from Tavii?” I asked.
“Nothing. I get nothing. Mele Akamu made sure of that.”
“She made you sign a prenuptial agreement?” Foxx asked.
“Yes, drawn up by that crook of a lawyer of hers, Ruben Dalton,” Oleen said.
“I have just one more question. Did you really see Mele Akamu and Samson murder Eric?” I asked.
“What difference does it make? They probably did it, even if I didn’t see it,” Oleen said.
“You’ve gotten yourself into a big mess, but we’re going to help you get out of it,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because we want to discover the truth and you’re going to help us with that,” I said.
“Why would I be interested in helping that woman? She’s treated me like garbage ever since I met her.”
“You have more leverage than you think. You have the winning hand against Mele Akamu and your husband. You just made a mistake in how you played that hand,” I said.
“What would you have had me do? Threaten Mele Akamu? I would have disappeared and ended up at the bottom of the ocean,” she said.
“Let us talk to Tavii for you. We’ll make him give you half of everything,” I said.
“How can you do that?”
“We can be very persuasive when we need to be,” Foxx said.
“And what do I do in return?”
“You go to the police and tell them the truth,” I said.
“No, I’m not doing that until I get my money from Tavii,” she said.
“You never answered my earlier question. Did you really see them shoot Eric Ellis?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t. That doesn’t mean they didn’t do it, though.”
“We’ll be in touch soon. Give us a couple of days to convince Tavii to see things your way,” I said.
She said nothing.
Foxx and I turned from her and exited the apartment. We were almost to our vehicles when he looked at me.
“Well, she admitted it, but it’s ultimately her word against ours that she said it.”
“Not quite.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and stopped the recording app. I moved the cursor to the last minute of the recording and hit play.
“You go to the police and tell them the truth,” I said on the recording.
“No, I’m not doing that until I get my money from Tavii,” she said.
“You never answered my earlier question. Did you really see them shoot Eric Ellis?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t. That doesn’t mean they didn’t do it, though.”
I stopped the recording.
“What made you think to record our conversation with her?” Foxx asked.
“I bluffed Bret Hardy when I told him I was recording my interview with him when I didn’t. That made me realize I needed to capture this one in case we got lucky. I started the recording app when you pulled up to the house.”
“So we don’t need her to admit anything to the police. We have proof of her lie.”
“True, but I still want to help her,” I said.
“So do it. Tavii is a jerk.”
20
You Give Lawyers a Bad Name
I said goodbye to Foxx and climbed back into my roadster. It had been a long day and I was anxious to get home. There was a swimming pool with spectacular views with my name on it and I was ready to take a dip. Still, I thought there was one more call I needed to make first. I slipped my phone out of my pocket and dialed Mara’s number.
“Hello, Mr. Rutherford. I was just about to call you.”
“What did you need?”
“An update on your investigation. As you probably guessed, the judge denied Mele Akamu and Samson Opunui bail. I’m about to leave for a meeting with their attorney.”
“How’s that going by the way?” I asked.
Mara sighed.
“Not well. It’s obvious that he doesn’t agree with Mrs. Akamu’s desire to have me on the legal team. The man is used to working alone.”
“Yes, but her wish has to count for something.”
“True, but I suspect she only asked me to further entice you to take her case. I’m sure he assumes the same thing.”
“Is it possible for me to give you that update in person? I’d like to speak with Ruben Dalton as well.”
“Of course. I’ll text you his address in Kahului. His office isn’t that far from mine.”
“I’m in Kihei now. I’ll
