I pushed down harder on the accelerator as I hit the upcountry’s curvy roads. The little car was quite adept at handling the hairpin turns, and it was always a thrill to push the roadster to its limits. I know, I know. That doesn’t sound very safe, but one must have a little bit of danger in one’s life.
I eventually parked my BMW convertible in the turnaround in front of the Akamu house and Samson Opunui opened the front door as I approached.
“Good morning, Samson. I’m glad to hear the charges were dropped,” I said.
“Thanks to you. I am in your debt, Mr. Rutherford.”
“You’re more than welcome, but you’re not in my debt.”
Samson nodded.
“Mrs. Akamu is in the back. I’ll take you to her.”
I followed Samson through the house. Everything was back in its proper place, unlike my last trip there. The elderly butler led me out the rear sliding glass door where I saw Mele Akamu sitting in her normal seat beside the fire pit. I thought she might rise to greet me after everything I’d done for her. I thought wrong.
“Mr. Rutherford is here to see you, ma’am,” Samson said.
“Thank you, Samson. You may leave us.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Mele Akamu waited for Samson to walk away. Why? I’m not sure.
“How may I be of service, Mrs. Akamu?” I asked.
“I want to continue your questioning. Ms. Winters is a good attorney, but there were a great number of questions she left unasked in the courtroom.”
“I disagree. She asked the appropriate number. You are free, after all.”
“Tell me, when did you realize it was Josh Parrish who’d murdered Eric Ellis and framed me?”
“It was something Stan Cross said. I didn’t really catch it at first, but it came to me later. He told me that no one in his line of work would have the patience to play such a long game against you. But it was the comment that he made about karma that did it. He mentioned something about you paying for your sins, even if it had been decades. I finally realized that he was talking about a specific event and then I remembered the conversation we had earlier about a hypothetical killing at sea. There was also the mystery as to why Detective Parrish came at me so hard in the beginning.”
“Perhaps he’s simply a man who likes to maintain the illusion that he’s in control,” Mrs. Akamu said.
“I thought so at first, but then he shifted gears and tried a different tactic. I realized he was playing a game, so I played one of my own.”
“Which was?”
“I pretended to back off and concede the race.”
“It worked.”
“I have something for you,” I said, and I handed Mele Akamu an eight-by-ten envelope I’d brought with me from the car.
She opened the envelope and looked at several incriminating photographs of Detective Parrish in bed with Tiana Wise.
“I hired an associate of mine to follow Detective Parrish for a few weeks before your trial started. She’s very adept at tailing people without them knowing,” I continued.
“She’s also quite the photographer. Does Josh Parrish’s wife know about his affair?”
“Not yet. I assumed you’d want to do the honors.”
“Thank you. I believe I will.”
“Tiana was in love with Detective Parrish. I suspect she would have done anything for him. She helped him set up Eric Ellis. I suspect she also helped convince Eric to turn against you.”
“You said she was in love with him. Has something changed?”
“Keep looking through the photos,” I said.
She continued to flip through the photographs until she got to the last one. It was an image of Tiana with a black eye and swollen lip.
“That photograph was taken by me. Her injuries were sustained on the same day of my appearance at your trial,” I continued.
“Josh Parrish’s handiwork, I presume.”
“I had the same thought, but Tiana refused to admit it. My wife has a copy of the photo and she’s on her way now to speak with Ms. Wise. She hopes to convince her to press assault charges.”
“Will the DA arrest Josh Parrish for what he did to Eric?”
“I don’t know. I gave them all the evidence I have. I put the odds at fifty-fifty,” I said.
“They protect their own. I wouldn’t be surprised if he walks.”
I didn’t reply.
“So, are you ever going to ask me if I did it?”
“Did what?” I asked.
“Killed Josh’s father, Ronan Huff.”
“Would you like me to ask you?”
She waved her hand, as if dismissing my question.
“No need, but here’s something you may not know. I hired Ronan years ago because of his wife. She and I were friends, and they were seeing hard times. Ronan was a good employee until he wasn’t.”
“You mean when he stole from you,” I said.
“Samson found out. I let Ronan go.”
“Forgive me, but I find that hard to believe.”
“You wouldn’t if you’d known the depth of my friendship with his wife. She died shortly after that incident. Ronan blamed her for what happened. He was convinced she’d told me about the theft.”
“You think he killed her? I thought she died in a car accident?”
“I had Samson look into it because I didn’t think the police would give it the attention it deserved. It was no accident. So, you can see the irony of Josh Parrish wanting to avenge the man who’d murdered his mother.”
“That’s why you had Ronan Huff killed,” I said.
“He murdered my friend, an innocent woman and a mother. He got what he deserved. Then his son grew up to become a murderer in his own right. Like father, like son.”
“Did you know that Detective Parrish was Ronan’s son?”
“No. If I had, he wouldn’t have been here to cause all of this mischief.”
“Does that mean what I think it does?” I asked.
“I’ll give the police the chance to do the right
