4 Maui Macadamia Madness (11 page)

“You did what?” A
vein throbbed in Ethan’s temple.

April returned his
glare. “I brought her
tazer
. A girl needs to be able
to defend herself.”

“See, Ethan?” I
figured I ought to step in before he really blew up at his sister. “April and I
will be just fine. We’ll take our cell
phones,
you’ll
be waiting in the dining room, and if anything happens, which it won’t…” I
widened my eyes. “You’ll be right there to save us.” I flashed a grin.

“If
Manano
sees you snooping,” Joe stood. “And something else
happens,
you’ll only reaffirm his opinion that you are
somehow involved in these murders.”

“Don’t say that
about your cousin!” Aunt Eunice slapped him on the arm. “Summer wouldn’t hurt a
fly and you know it. I’ve half a mind to help her myself.”

Uncle Roy slipped an
arm around her ample waist.
“Not on our second honeymoon,
sweetheart.
No risk taking.”

“But it’s all right
for our baby?” She glared.

“We’re here, aren’t
we?” He waggled his eyebrows. “If it makes you feel better, we’ll ask some
questions at breakfast and supper. Can we eat now?”

Ethan glanced at his
watch. “We’d better hurry if we want served.”

We hurried outside
and to the dining room. April and I exchanged nervous smiles. Although she was
always willing to help me in my mystery-solving, I could tell she suffered from
a bit of trepidation. I did tend to land us in tight spots.

I reached over and
squeezed her hand. “I won’t do anything foolhardy. I promise.”

“Good.” She squeezed
back then slipped her arm through Joe’s.

It still amazed me
how someone so sweet could love my bullheaded cousin, but everyone deserved
love, I supposed.
Even Joe.

We all took our
seats toward the end of the long wooden table. I did my best not to fidget and
to wait until I had at least eaten half of my pancakes with mango salsa. I
didn’t want to appear too eager, nor did I want to miss speaking with the maids
while the other guests were occupied.

I motioned to April.
“I’m going to the ladies room. Would you like to go with me?”

“What? Are we in
Junior High?” Aunt Eunice rolled her eyes. “You can’t go to the bathroom
alone?”

I gave her a look
trying to tell her to be quiet. Had she forgotten so soon that we had a plan?
Shaking my head, I led April into the foyer. “Do you think the maids are in the
main building or one of the cottages?”

“Let’s take a walk.
My guess is a cottage. Most likely they take the opportunity of meal time to
clean undisturbed.”

With our arms
linked, we strolled down the flagstone walk and kept our eyes open for the
maid’s cart. Wonderful! It sat outside the cottage my family shared.

“We can go in with
the excuse of you looking for something.” I tugged April with me.
Please, God, let it be the maid who found
Mr. Jamison
.

The maid tucked
fresh sheet corners under the mattress. She turned with a smile. Thankfully,
she was the one I had seen the night of the murder. “I’ll be finished in just a
moment.”

“That’s okay. We’re
just,” I grabbed April’s camera off the dresser.
“Grabbing
this.”

How could I approach
the subject of Mr. Jamison?

She raised her
eyebrows. “May I be of service?”

“Well,
I, uh.”
I took a deep
breath. “You’re Malia, the one who found the man in his bathtub, right?”

“Yes.” Her shoulders
slumped. “I do not wish to talk about it.”

“Please.
Just a couple of questions.”
I motioned for her to sit.

Eyes filling, she
nodded and perched on the edge of the bed. “It was the most awful thing I’d
ever experienced. He was foaming at the
mouth,
his
lips were blue, eyes bulging…” She shuddered. “The night it happened, Mr.
Wahine
told us all to act as normal as possible so as to
set the guests at ease. It was so hard to smile.”

For someone who
didn’t want to talk, she seemed to have warmed up just fine. I forced my
stomach not to rebel.

April clutched her
stomach and plopped on the bed beside Malia.
“No more
description, please.”

“Did you notice
another box of nuts on the dresser?”

Malia raised a
confused face.
“Pardon?”

“Other than the box
of nuts spilled beside Mr. Jamison’s tub, did you see another one?”

“All I saw was the
box on the dresser and it was unopened. What are you saying? That there were
two complimentary boxes?” She stood and paced. “That’s impossible. Those gifts
are only accessible by employees of the
Wahine’s
.”
She withdrew a key from a hidden pocket in her floral uniform. “I must do an
inventory right away.”

I motioned to April
to follow. We’d hit pay dirt! If Malia found an extra box had been used, we
would know Mr. Jamison died at the hands of an employee. I couldn’t help but
grin. This case could be solved within the hour.

“I’m going to text
Ethan and let him know what we’re doing.” April pressed buttons on her cell phone.
“Otherwise, he might think he needs to rescue us.”

“Good thinking.” I
increased my pace to match the furious one of Malia. Once she thought there
might be a thief on the grounds, she sure had gotten over her despair at
finding a dead body mighty quick.

She led us through a
back door to the kitchen then into a pantry the size of my bedroom back home. I
glanced at the full shelves with envy. The island of Maui could be
self-sufficient from the amount of food stored there.

Stopping in front of
a towering shelf of little white and gold boxes, Malia consulted a clipboard
then started counting. She chewed her lip, and then counted again.

“Yes,” she said.
“There is a box missing.”

Triumph! Thank God
for meticulous inventory.

“This is
unacceptable.” Malia shook her head. “I need to report this right away.”

“We’ll come with
you.”

She stared at me.
“Why?”

“Because we alerted
you to the fact there might be one missing.” I gave her my most innocent look.
“This could be invaluable in the authorities solving the murder.”

“Okay.”

April and I
high-fived each other as soon as Malia turned her back to us. I couldn’t wait
to see the look on
Manano’s
face when we solved the
murders.

Once we figured out
what had happened to Mr. Jamison, we could move on to Mrs. Aldrich. Although
the methods were different, I knew the two deaths were related.

Somehow, I needed to
figure out how to find out whether Mrs. Aldrich was actually poisoned, since
everyone in the world but me knew she couldn’t actually be electrocuted. Maybe
I could have April wheedle Joe into finding out. He’d do anything for his
‘girl’.

We stopped in front
of French doors covered with gauzy fabric. Malia knocked.

“Come in.”

Malia pushed open
the door and led the way inside a room with a teak wood desk and walls of books.
I felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

“Mr.
Wahine
? I have found a discrepancy in our inventory I think
you should be made aware of.” Malia twisted her hands in the folds of her
dress. Her face paled.

“Yes?” He frowned.

Was it possible the
gentle teddy bear-of-a-man was more like a grizzly bear?

“There is a box of
nuts missing.”

He shrugged and
turned back to the papers on his desk. “Maybe one of my children took it. They
enjoy the chocolate.”

How could I let him
know Ethan and I were in Mr. Jamison’s room without being prosecuted for
trespassing?

“Mrs.
Banning!”
As if he just
noticed me, his smile returned. “May I help you?”

“No, we just
accompanied Malia here. She seemed shaken up. We’ll all be leaving now. Thank
you.” I put my arms around the other girls’ shoulders and ushered them from the
room. “He doesn’t seem concerned about the missing box.”

“He is.” Malia
plopped on a nearby wicker bench. “He is fanatic about knowing where everything
is at all times. He tends to blow when a towel is missing, much less expensive
nuts.” She covered her face. “Oh, he’ll think I’m trying to cover up the fact I
took them.”

I sat next to her.
“No, he won’t. Not with me and April having gone with you. He has to keep up
appearances.” He did a really good job, too. Everyone was convinced the portly
man was a jolly Hawaiian version of Santa Claus.

“I shouldn’t be
speaking ill of my employer.” Malia stood. “He is only stressed because the Bed
and Breakfast is in danger.”

“In
danger?”
I looked at
April.

“Someone told me,
they want to build a fancy resort here. I must go.” Malia scampered away like
she was a mouse and us the cats.

“We need to find out
what kind of business Mr. Jamison was in.”

April nodded.
“My guess—development.”

The door opened and
Mr.
Wahine
joined us. He startled, almost dropping
the ledger in his hand.
“Ladies?”

“We were just
leaving.” I dropped my gaze to the book in his hand. Did it show more red
tallies than black?

“No hurry. Other
than our private quarters, the
Wahine
Bed and
Breakfast is home to guests. Aloha.” He disappeared through a door across the
hall.

Was I to assume
closed doors were private quarters? I eyed the library, office, whatever he had
just come out of. “Did he tell us which
were his family’s
private quarters
?”

April smiled. “He neglected
that piece of important information.”

“Then we return
tonight and search this desk.”

Chapter
Thirteen

Ethan rubbed his chin as I filled him in on what Malia had told us. I
liked the fact he didn’t shave everyday while on the island. It gave him a
rugged, outdoorsy look.

“I can see why
someone might want Jamison dead, if he was trying to get the
Wahine’s
to give up their hotel, but why kill Mrs.
Aldrich?”

“That’s what we need
to find out.” I scooted closer to him on the sofa. “April and I are going back
to investigate his office after everyone is asleep.”

“I’m not sure…”

“We haven’t come to
any harm yet.” I leaned back to see his face. “Has Joe said anything to you
about how Mrs. Aldrich actually died? I’m sure he knows.”

Ethan sighed. “She
was poisoned. He wasn’t able to get
Manano
to tell
him what
kind of poison, though, so don’t
ask.”

“Is there a storage
building close by?
Somewhere the
Wahine’s
keep gardening tools?”
I’d be willing to bet my favorite red stilettos
that there was poison hidden on the grounds. “I bet Mrs. Aldrich found out
something she shouldn’t.” I laid my check on his broad chest.

“You mean she nosed
around, asked questions, and went where she didn’t belong.”

“Most
likely.”

“Like you.”

“Well…I…” He had me
there. “I’ll be careful, I promise. I have no desire to be locked into a trunk,
shot at, or chased through a carnival funhouse ever again. I’m being very low
key this time.”

He
laughed,
his chest rumbling under my ear. “Sure, you are.”

“Stop.”
I gave him a playful slap on the arm. “What
could possibly go wrong?”

“You really want me
to answer that?”

“No.” As careful as
I planned on being, things did tend to go wrong for me. But, as long as I told
Ethan and Joe where I would be, things should be just fine. “What do you want
to do until supper?”

“How does a walk on
the beach sound? We’re on our honeymoon, you know.
Can’t have
you spending all your time with my sister.
We could find a secluded
spot, watch the wind surfers, and make out.”

I stood and held out
my hand. “A walk on the beach sounds perfect.”

###

I stood outside our cottage and breathed deep of the salt-and-seaweed
laden air. Closing my eyes, I made out the sound of the waves slapping the
shore. I still felt warm and fuzzy from necking with my husband. We had decided
to forgo supper, staying in our cottage and ordering room service instead.
Ethan’s love kept me fortified and gave me courage. A warm breeze kissed my
face as tenderly as Ethan had minutes before. I almost had second thoughts
about leaving him alone for an hour or two.