Death by Trial and Error (A Legal Suspense Short) (7 page)

Now was one of those times as Naku pushed
aside his life as a private investigator in favor of a good romp in
the sack.

The ringing of his cell phone put a crimp in
that. He tried to ignore it, as did his lover.

"Don't answer it," Gayle pleaded. "Remember,
this is your day off—and mine."

For a moment, Naku found her incredible
powers of persuasion too much to ignore as she claimed his lips
with her own.

But the damned phone ringing persisted.
Against his better judgment, he decided he better answer it. He
pried their mouths apart and hoisted his muscular
six-foot-three-inch body from the bed. Seeing the disappointment in
Gayle's face, he said, "Don't worry. Whoever it is, I'll get rid of
them."

"You better," she said, pouting.

He dug the cell phone out of his jeans that
had ended up on the floor. The caller was his secretary, Vanna.

"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time,"
she said.

Naku gazed at his lover, ready and waiting.
"As a matter of fact, you did."

"Sorry, but there's a lady here, a Ms.
Higuchi, who—"

He cut her off. "It's my day off. She can
come back tomorrow."

"Well, the thing is, she insisted on seeing
you
today
," Vanna told him. "She said it can't wait."

Higuchi
. The name had a ring of
familiarity to it, and not because it was common on the Hawaiian
Islands. He remembered now. A week ago, a Suzette Higuchi-Bordeau
was shot to death in Pukalani. The shooter was still at large.
Coincidence?

"She says she was referred to you," Vanna
said. "She seems really desperate."

He glanced at Gayle, who seemed a bit
desperate herself to finish where they left off. But since he was
in the business of private detective work and prided himself on
never turning down a paying customer, he felt he should at least
see what this potential one wanted of him.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," he told
Vanna.

"I'll pass that along," she said happily.

Naku disconnected and turned to his bed mate.
"I have to go," he said regrettably.

She frowned. "Why am I not surprised?"

"It's work." He ran a hand through his long
dark hair. "I'll make it up to you. I promise."

She sprang out of bed, her large breasts
bouncing, and her tight ass barely moving. "Don't bother!"

He watched as she started to get dressed.
"Where are you going?"

"To work!"

"But I thought you had the day off..."

Gayle sneered. "Yeah, and I thought you did
too."

Naku was speechless, but understood that
their little tit for tat was pretty much par for the course in
their relationship. She was pissed at him now, but by the time she
got back in town, that would likely pass and they could resume
whatever it was they had going on.

For now, he had to take things for what they
were between them and get to his office.

* * *

He beat Gayle out the door of her small
plantation house in Napilihau, located in West Maui, and got into
his Subaru Forester for the short drive to Lahaina, the most
populated area of Maui County during the peak tourist season. As a
third generation Native Hawaiian, Eddie Naku was happy to carry the
torch of his ancestors in being a free spirit and respecting the
land. At thirty-six, he had given up a career as a homicide
detective for the Maui Police Department two years ago in favor of
being his own boss and solving cases that sometimes required
working the edges of the law.

Though Maui wasn't exactly New York City or
Honolulu for that matter, when it came to criminal activity, there
were still enough lawbreakers and other types of investigative work
to keep him busy. When that failed, he was more than happy to
indulge in his other passions, which included drinking, working
out, riding horses, reading thriller fiction, and women. Gayle flew
the international routes, mostly to and from Japan, Singapore, New
Zealand, and Australia. He had no idea when she'd be back and she
was probably in no hurry to see him, but neither of them made any
promises to one another, so they could go whichever way the wind
guided them.

His thoughts turned to the woman who had
taken him away from Gayle at the worst possible time. What was her
story? Who referred her to him and why was she so damned intent on
seeing him this afternoon?

He'd find out soon enough. He pulled onto
Keawe Street and parked in his customary spot in front of his
office. Painted on the window were the words: Eddie Naku
Investigations.

Naku stepped inside the dusty,
beige-carpeted, white walled place that was divided into three
sections: a small waiting area; the office of his dependable
secretary, Vanna Dandridge; and his own office. He observed the
attractive, slim, long blonde-haired Hawaiian woman in her
mid-thirties sitting in the waiting area. She was nicely dressed in
a blue dress with high-heeled sandals.

As he met her bold, brown eyes, she stood
up.

"I'm Eddie Naku," he introduced himself.

Before she could speak, Vanna bounded out of
her office. "You're finally here," she said. "Good."

He grinned while giving her the once over.
Vanna was forty, twice divorced, and not bad on the eyes. She was
petite and wore her crimson hair in a bob. She had just moved to
Maui from Honolulu at the same time he opened up his private
investigation business. The timing had worked out well for both of
them.

He looked back at the other woman.

"This is—" Vanna started to say.

"Kathryn Higuchi," the woman finished.

Naku extended his arm to shake her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Higuchi."

She proffered a small hand with perfectly
manicured nails and they shook. He tried to read her, as he'd done
so many other potential clients, but failed miserably.

"Why don't we step into my office so you can
tell me why you're here?"

She nodded and he waved Vanna off with eye
contact, as if to say he'd take it from there.

His office was pretty nondescript: wooden
desk, leather chair, laptop, printer, flat panel television, two
stacking guest chairs, and a window with a view of the street.

He invited her to have a seat and he did the
same, opting to sit beside her rather than at his desk.

"So how can I help you?" he asked evenly.

"I'd like to hire you."

"To do what?"

"Find out who murdered my sister—" She
paused. "Suzette Higuchi-Bordeau. She was shot to death last
Friday."

He nodded. "I heard about that and I'm sorry
for your loss. But it's an ongoing police investigation."

She frowned. "I don't want to wait until the
police get around to solving the crime, if they ever do."

"I can appreciate that you want answers
quickly," he told her, "but it doesn't always work that way."

Kathryn frowned. "My sister and I were very
close. She didn't deserve to die that way. I need answers. And I
think you can give them to me. Money is no object. Please..."

Naku had always had a hard time turning down
a pretty face where money was not an issue in paying his fees. It
was even more difficult when she was as striking as this one.
However, he usually refrained from working on active police cases,
so as not to bump heads with his former colleagues.

Of course, there were always exceptions to
the rule. Maybe this would be one.

"Tell me about your sister and what you know,
if anything, about her death."

He listened as she described Suzette
Higuchi-Bordeau as the unhappy wife of a prominent Maui attorney,
Patrick Bordeau, and the shooting that took her life and seriously
wounded a man named Tucker Matsumoto. Three men were taken into
custody briefly in connection with the crime, but were released for
lack of evidence.

"There's not much else I can tell you, other
than I believe my sister was set up the night she was murdered,"
Kathryn finished.

Naku regarded her with curiosity. "I take it
you have someone in mind who set your sister up?"

She met his eyes sharply. "Yes, her husband,
Patrick—"

Naku recalled reading that the husband lawyer
had previously represented two of the men who were taken into
custody, and he was also the current attorney for Tucker Matsumoto.
Though it was strange for sure, it hardly meant that Bordeau was
behind his wife's murder. At the same time, the spouse was often
the first suspect in such cases, which surely the police were
looking into.

"What makes you think Bordeau had anything to
do with this?" Naku asked.

Kathryn sighed. "He may not have been the one
to pull the trigger, and even that's suspect, but he certainly had
a very good motive for wanting her dead. Suzette often confided in
me about what was going on in her life. Patrick's been involved in
a gunrunning scheme, which brought in a good deal of money and just
as much debt. He had a life insurance policy on Suzette for half a
million dollars—an amount that would probably cover his
obligations, and then some, if she were out of the picture. I also
know that Patrick was having an affair with another woman and
Suzette wanted out of the marriage. She was prepared to blow his
whole arms trafficking operation wide open, ruining his career and
likely sending him to prison."

"Those are certainly some compelling reasons
for killing one's spouse," Naku acknowledged, having seen intimates
murdered for far less. "Have you told the police any of this?"

"Yes, of course I did. They basically
dismissed it as insufficient or hearsay."

He agreed, but also understood that such
things would not likely be made public, even to family, until the
case could be made one way or the other. Still, something told him
that there was more to the story.

"So I take it there's no love lost between
you and Bordeau."

She wrinkled her nose. "Why would you say
that?"

"Call it instincts."

She paused. "I never thought he was good
enough for my sister," she admitted. "Patrick is a control freak
and never treated Suzette right. I think he's more than capable of
killing her, if he thought he could get away with it."

"We'll see about that," Naku said, keeping an
open mind.

"Does that mean you'll take the case?"
Kathryn pressed. "I don't want my sister's death to end up as
another unsolved homicide while her killer runs free."

Naku didn't have to give it much thought at
this point. Since the police hadn't made any arrests yet, and the
case was still open, why not look into it. Also, there was
something about Kathryn Higuchi that piqued his interest and made
him want to keep the connection alive.

"My fee is five hundred dollars an hour, plus
any unusual expenses I incur in the course of the investigation,"
he told her, in the event she had any second thoughts. "I typically
require a five thousand dollar retainer to take on a case that
looks like it could take a while."

"As I said, I have no problem with your fees,
if it means getting to the bottom of why my sister lost her
life."

Naku knew he couldn't guarantee results, but
he told her sincerely, "I'll do my best to find the answers you're
looking for."

Kathryn pulled out her checkbook and wrote a
check, handing it to him. "That should cover a week and any added
expenses."

"Indeed," Naku told her after gazing at the
check. "Mahalo."

"Thank you for taking the case," she told
him, then dug in her handbag and pulled out a card containing her
address and cell phone number. "Please keep me informed as to what
you learn."

"I will," he promised, meeting her lovely
eyes.

She stood. "I better go."

Naku rose and walked her to the outer door,
when curiosity got the better of him. "By the way, who referred you
to me anyway?" He would be sure to thank the person.

Kathryn looked him straight in the eye. "Why
it was Lieutenant Ortega of the Maui Police Department."

Naku nodded with a smile. He and Ortega had
worked together during his days on the force and were on good
terms. Still, it wasn't every day that the man sent business his
way. Why?

He showed Kathryn out just as Vanna stepped
out of her office. "Looks like we've got ourselves a client," she
said.

"Yeah, I'd say so," Naku responded.

"And she's a hot lady too," Vanna said with a
wink. "I hope you'll be able to concentrate on the
investigation."

He grinned, conceding that Kathryn was
definitely his type. But then, so was Gayle. He wasn't too picky
about women, as long as they were energetic and fun loving.

However, Kathryn Higuchi had hired him to do
a job and that had to come first.

"I think I can manage," he said, "with your
help of course."

"That's what you pay me for," she said
dryly.

"You can earn your keep by getting me
everything you can find regarding Suzette Higuchi-Bordeau's murder
as well as the lady herself."

"Will do." She looked at him. "What are you
going to do now?"

"I think I'll pay Lieutenant Ortega a visit
to see if he can fill in some blanks for me," Naku told her
thoughtfully.

Chapter Two

The Maui Police Department was located in
Wailuku, the county seat of Maui County. Eddie Naku felt at home
and a little weird at the same time as he made his way through the
corridors, speaking briefly with ex-colleagues, en route to the
office of Lieutenant Paul Ortega.

He came to a halt as homicide detective Leila
Kahana blocked his path.

"What brings you back here, Naku?" she
asked.

He grinned, recalling their brief fling back
in the day, before both wisely realized they weren't right for each
other. "I came to see Lieutenant Ortega," he told her.

"Oh?" Her lashes fluttered. "Anything I might
be interested in?"