House of the Hanging Jade (15 page)

It was only a few minutes before several police officers began picking their way down the hill in front of the house. One used the radio on his shoulder as soon as he caught sight of the body lying on the rocks below.

The officers immediately sent Barbie and Liko and me back up to the house, where Marcus and Justine were just coming into the kitchen. Barbie had gone straight up to her room when we reached the house, and Liko went to the guesthouse. There were a million questions I wanted to ask him, but they would have to wait until the police had talked to all of us.

Marcus and Justine were full of questions for me. Who was it? What had happened? Did someone kill him? Had he been at the party? Were they in trouble? Did they have to talk to the police again? Where were their parents? When did it happen?

I told them as much as I dared, trying to spare them most of the details. Mostly I just had no answers for them. A detective came up to the house and asked the kids a few questions. When he had satisfied himself that they hadn't seen or heard anything, he let them go about their business. Marcus groaned. “Dad was supposed to take me surfing today. I guess that's out of the question.” He went to James's house instead. I drove Justine to a friend's house up the main road.

When I returned to the house a short while later, Lars had just arrived home from his early-morning errands. He was stalking into the house with a worried look on his face when he saw me.

“Kailani, what's going on here? Are the kids all right? Barbie sent me a text to come home right away, but didn't give me any details. So now I show up and there are police cars everywhere. What's going on?” he asked again.

I relayed the story, giving him all the information I had. He turned around and ran around the side of the house.

I stood on the lanai watching the officers and Lars down by the water. The police let Lars approach, but stopped him when he got to the police tape they had strung up around the area. They stood talking for several minutes before Lars turned around and headed back to the house. He walked up and joined me and together we watched the goings-on down by the water.

“I can't believe this,” he said, rubbing his temples. “First Doug, now Rutledge. Are the kids here?”

“No. I drove Justine to a friend's house. Marcus is at James's.”

“Thank you. Where's Barbie?”

“Upstairs.”

I returned to the kitchen, but heard shouting a moment later. It seemed to be coming from upstairs. I walked to the foot of the winding staircase leading to the luxurious master bedroom and listened. Sure enough, the shouting was coming from Lars and Barbie, and they didn't seem to care who could hear them. A police officer joined me at the foot of the stairs and started up. I turned to go back to the kitchen and by the time I reached the doorway the shouting had stopped.

Akela poked her head in the kitchen. “Why in the world are they fighting with the police here?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea. You'd think they'd keep their arguments a little quieter.”

Before long the police officer, accompanied by Lars and Barbie, came downstairs. The officer sat down with Lars on the lanai while Barbie came into the kitchen.

“Kailani, could you take some coffee out to them? I think they're going to be there a while.”

I took a large pot of coffee and several mugs to the table. Lars and the officer stopped talking while I was arranging the tray between them. Lars looked haggard and careworn. His tousled blond hair, which normally gave him a fun-loving surfer look, now just made him appear older and tired. The bags under his eyes were a dark gray. He certainly didn't look like the head of a popular clothing company. His authoritative air was gone, replaced with a look of defeat and sorrow.

Barbie was waiting for me in the kitchen. “Did you hear anything between Lars and the officer?” she asked.

“No. Why?”

“I just want to know how close they are to charging him with
something
. He can't just get away with this.”

“You know he did it?”

“Who else could have done it? He knew I was seeing Dr. Rutledge and he was jealous. Once they charge him with Dr. Rutledge's murder, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they charge him in Doug's death too.” She looked away, sniffling.

“I'm sorry, Barbie. Can I get you anything?” I didn't know what else to say.

“No, thanks.” She turned and went upstairs.

Lars and the officer talked for a long time. When the officer had finished questioning him, Lars went to his office. Akela was sent upstairs to summon Barbie. I went to the lanai to refill the coffee urn. When Barbie joined the officer, she looked confused.

“Have you charged Lars with anything?” she asked him.

“No, ma'am.”

“Why not?”

“We haven't completed our investigation, ma'am.” He indicated to Barbie that she should sit in the chair opposite him and he began to question her. I returned to the kitchen. Lars came in just a short while later, looking for food.

I took a tray to his office, where he sat staring toward the ocean.

“Thanks, Kailani. I don't know how I'm supposed to get any work done in this house. It's been one crisis after another lately.”

“Why don't you take your laptop and go somewhere else? A change of scenery might help you.”

He scratched his chin. “Maybe. I don't know where to go.”

“There's a bar in Hawi that's quiet—the green one right on the main road.”

“I know the one you mean. I think you're right. I'll go there.”

Lars left after obtaining permission from the police. Barbie went to work after she was questioned. No doubt she would have plenty of questions to answer at the office, where the staff and Dr. Rutledge's patients would be looking for answers.

Lars returned later that afternoon. He came looking for me in the kitchen.

“Kailani, I ran into someone at that bar who said he's a friend of yours.” My heart sank. Geoffrey.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Said his name was Geoffrey. Do you know him?”

I nodded. “He came here from Washington right after I did and he's been stalking me since then,” I blurted out. I hadn't meant to tell Lars about him.

“He's been stalking you?” he asked, his eyes wide.

“You could say that. He wants us to get back together and I've been trying to avoid him. But he's not getting the hint,” I added ruefully.

“Have you told the police?”

“No, it's not like that. I can handle him,” I answered breezily, hoping he didn't hear the uncertainty in my voice.

He looked at me doubtfully. “Let me know if you need any help with him.”

“Thank you.”

He went to his office and I started preparing dinner, which was to be a mainland-style Hawaiian pizza—homemade pizza dough topped with marinara sauce, ham, pineapple pieces, and fresh local mushrooms. I made a salad to go with the pizza. No one really wanted dinner, they said, but everyone ate some of it.

Barbie ate her meal late, after she came home from work. She paired her pizza and salad with a huge glass of red wine.

“I needed this tonight,” she said with a sigh as I cleared the dishes from the table. “It was nonstop questions at work today. Questions from the nurses, the techs, the office staff, the other doctors, the patients, everyone. I'm exhausted.” She paused. “Thanks again for your help this morning, Kailani. I appreciate it. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there to go down to the water with me. I couldn't think clearly.”

“You're welcome,” I answered. “I'm just glad I was around to help.”

“Were the police here all day?”

“No, they left after you went to work.”

“I wonder what will happen next.”

“Lars said they have to wait for the autopsy report before doing anything else.”

“That makes sense.” She pushed away from the table and went upstairs.

I cleaned the kitchen and put out the things I would need for breakfast the next morning. I was walking out to the lanai with a glass of wine for myself when I heard Liko and Marcus at the table. I stood nearby to listen.

“Were you here when they found the body?” Marcus asked him.

“Yeah. Your mom came to get me and I went down to the water with her and Kailani.”

“How did he die?”

“We don't know yet.”

“I asked Kailani and she didn't know, either.”

“That's right. We have to wait for the autopsy. Then we'll know how he died.”

“Did you know him?”

“Not really. I knew who he was, though.”

“Do you think someone killed him like Dr. Doug?”

“I don't know, brah. We'll have to wait and see. I hope not.”

The two of them got to work on Marcus's math assignment. I hated to listen when they didn't know I was there, but I wanted to make sure that Liko didn't say anything to Marcus that he didn't need to know.

I had my wine at the small table on the other side of the kitchen rather than disturb them at the dining table. I wanted some time to myself to think. My alone time had been horribly interrupted earlier that morning—had it really been just twelve hours ago that Dr. Rutledge's body had been found?—and I wanted to sort through some of the thoughts and emotions reeling around in my mind.

First, I still didn't know who had sent me the shark teeth. I wondered whether I was ever going to find out.

Second, there still had been no arrest in the murder of Dr. Doug. What did that mean? Were the police any closer to finding out who did it? Barbie was apparently convinced Lars had done it, but I continued to believe—possibly for my own sanity—that a stranger had been on the property and had been surprised by Dr. Doug while trying to rob the house. The police had talked to Lars several times but hadn't arrested him, so they probably didn't have the evidence they needed to charge him. Yet.

Third, there were only a handful of people who knew Barbie and Dr. Rutledge had been together during the party. Only someone with that knowledge could have killed him. But I was getting ahead of myself. It was possible that no one killed Dr. Rutledge—that he fell into the water and drowned in a tragic accident. Unlike Dr. Doug.

Finally, there was Geoffrey. I hadn't heard from him in a few days, but now that I knew he was hanging around the bar in Hawi, I figured it wouldn't be long before he appeared again.

I was right.

T
he next morning the police were back. They had follow-up questions for Liko and Barbie and me. They talked to Barbie first. I took a cup of coffee out to her on the lanai.

“But I don't understand why you haven't made an arrest yet,” she was saying. “It should be very simple. Aren't there fingerprints on Dr. Rutledge's body?”

“We're still working on that. In the meantime, we have a few more questions for you.” I poured Barbie's coffee and returned to the kitchen.

My phone rang. I looked at the screen and sighed. Geoffrey again.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Kailani, it's me. Geoffrey.”

“I know.” I refused to start any conversation with him, so I waited for him to speak.

“How's Liko?”

I had to stop that line of questioning right away. “Enough, Geoffrey. It's none of your business.”

“So. I ran into someone you know yesterday.”

“Uh-huh?”

“Your boss.”

“Oh?”

“Didn't he tell you?”

“No, he didn't mention it.” Why let Geoffrey think he was a topic of conversation?

“Oh. I told him to give you my love. He didn't say anything?”

“No.” He certainly hadn't relayed
that
message, for which I was thankful.

“You busy today?”

“Yes. Very.”

“What are you doing?”

“Working. I have to clean the kitchen cupboards and check all the spices for freshness.” Since he owned a restaurant himself, I knew he could appreciate that sort of work, though I had no intention of doing either.

“Can that wait?”

“No, it really can't. Mrs. Jorgensen asked me to do it today.” It was getting surprisingly easy to lie to Geoffrey, even though I didn't like doing it.

“Can I come over? Just for a few minutes? I have something to ask you.”

“What do you want? Just ask me on the phone.”

“I'd rather ask you in person.”

“Well, I'm sorry, but it'll have to be some other time.”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“I heard you were attacked by a shark.”

“How did you hear that?” I asked sharply.

“This is a small town. Word gets around.”

A thought struck me suddenly. I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before. “Geoffrey, did you move out of Kona? Are you staying in Hawi now?”

A little chuckle. “Yes. I felt I should be closer to you.”

A chill trickled down my spine and I shuddered. I didn't know how to deal with this. I thought briefly of the police right in the house—I could ask them what to do. But I didn't want to go to the police. It seemed an overreaction to an ex-boyfriend staying nearby.

“I'm afraid I don't get up to Hawi much,” I told him. “I have so much to keep me busy here that I don't really have time for anything else.”

“I'll just have to come to you, then.” And he hung up.

A little knot of anxiety began to build in my chest. I busied myself cleaning up the remainder of breakfast and decided that cleaning out the kitchen cupboards and going through the spices wasn't such a bad idea, after all. I needed to stay busy, to stay away from my room, where there was nothing to do but allow my thoughts to overwhelm me with fear and indecision. I got out the stepladder and started hauling down the contents of the higher cupboards first. One of the detectives poked his head into the kitchen doorway.

“Miss? Could I ask you a few more questions, please?”

I followed him out to the lanai, where we sat opposite each other. He asked me to tell him one more time what I had seen the previous morning. I went through the facts mechanically, all the time worrying about Geoffrey.

“Miss? Is there anything you haven't told me?”

I looked at him, startled. “No. Why?”

“You seem rather preoccupied.” He was practically giving me the opening I needed to tell him about Geoffrey. But I didn't do it. I was so afraid that he'd think I was just being silly that I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

“I'm just thinking about all that happened yesterday, I guess,” was all I managed to say.

“You'll let me know if you think of anything else?” he asked, sliding his business card across the table to me.

“Yes, I will.”

The officer, Detective Alana, left and I took his card and put it into one of the drawers in the kitchen. Then I spent the next several hours rearranging the cupboards, throwing away any foods that had expired, and making lists of replacement items. I stopped shortly before lunch.

Lars came into the kitchen as I climbed down from the stepladder, wiping hair out of my eyes.

“Kailani, a friend of mine gave me this as a ‘gift',” he said, making air quotes with his fingers. “I have no idea what it is.” He hefted a cooler bag onto the counter.

I unzipped the bag and looked inside hesitantly. But I was pleased when I saw what was in it.

“It's
tako
!” I cried.

He looked into the plastic bag I was holding open. “It doesn't look like any taco I've ever seen.”

“No, not that kind of taco.
Tako
is the Japanese word for
he'e
, or Hawaiian squid. It makes wonderful
poke
.”

“You don't have to use it. The man who gave it to me loves to fish, so I assume he caught it. It looks gross.”

“I grew up eating it. It's really very good. It's all mind over matter—you have to taste it without thinking about what it is. Would you like
tako poke
for lunch? Or dinner?”

“All right, I guess,” he said gamely. “How long does it take? I'm starving.”

“I really should braise it before I make the
poke
, so that would take a couple hours and I could serve it for dinner. Or I could simmer it for just twenty minutes and you can have it for lunch.”

“Either way, it's going to be cooked, right?”

I laughed. “Right.”

“Why don't you just make it for lunch? It looks like there won't be enough for all of us at dinner, and I doubt the kids would eat that, anyway.”

I simmered the squid while I prepared the onions, green onions, shoyu, ginger, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and Hawaiian salt. Lars came into the kitchen again as I was getting ready to cut the squid into small pieces.

“Can I help you with that?”

I must not have concealed my surprise very well, because he started laughing. “I like to cook, you know. It's just that Barbie doesn't let me. She wants us to have a chef, so I don't argue about it.”

“I didn't know that. Of course you can help. I've prepared the other ingredients, so right now it's just a matter of dicing the squid and mixing everything together.”

He looked around the kitchen. “Got tongs?” He washed his hands while I got out the tongs, then he took the squid out of the water and let it drain over the sink for a few moments, then set it on a cutting board. “You'll have to show me where to cut the squid, because I've never seen
tako poke
before.”

I stood in front of him and carefully ran the knife through the fish on the board. I showed him how small to make the pieces as he looked over my shoulder. His hand brushed against the small of my back and I stiffened, feeling a tiny flutter in the pit of my stomach. He pulled his hand away and offered to take the knife so he could cut the rest of the squid.

“Sure,” I said, moving aside so he could stand where I had been. I stood next to him and watched as he deftly sliced the
tako
. He glanced at me once and I smiled at him as he folded the
tako
gently into the ingredients I had already put in a bowl.

“Are you going to have some?” he asked.

“I'd love to try it, if it's all right with you.”

“Sure. Grab a couple of bowls and we can eat on the lanai.”

We sat across from each other at the table, much as I had done earlier with the detective. I waited to eat my squid until he tried his. Lars speared a piece of
tako
and lifted the fork to his mouth. He took a bite and chewed slowly.

“What do you think?” I asked eagerly.

“It's pretty good,” he said. “It doesn't taste like I thought it would.”

“The fresher seafood is, the less it tastes like fish,” I noted. I picked up my chopsticks and tasted the
tako
. It was delicious.

“Do you always use chopsticks?”

“Not for all foods, but always with
poke
.”

“You'll have to teach me how to use them. I'd like to learn.”

“It's easy once you get the hang of it,” I told him. “I've been using them since I was little. My mother is Japanese.”

“Did you learn to cook when you were little?”

“Yes. I've been cooking since I was old enough to hold a spoon. I always helped my parents in their bakery.”

“Can you show me how to use the chopsticks now?” He pushed his bowl across the table next to where I sat and came around and sat beside me. I went to the kitchen to get him a clean pair. I showed him how and where to hold them in his fingers. Then I took his fingers in mine and showed him exactly how to move them to get the ends of the chopsticks to come together to grasp a piece of food. Lars handled them clumsily, but laughed and didn't seem to mind. He insisted on trying again and again until he could lift a piece of
tako
from the bowl to his mouth without dropping it.

“This is great!” he laughed. “I can't believe I never learned how to use these until now!” He looked at me. “This was fun. Thanks for letting me make the
poke
and for teaching me how to use chopsticks.”

“No problem. I'm glad you enjoyed it.” His icy blue eyes held mine for just a moment. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again.

He returned to his office and I went back to reorganizing the kitchen. It was almost time for the kids to come home from school when I heard a noise behind me. I whirled around, startled, thinking Marcus and Justine were home early.

It was Geoffrey. “Hi, Kailani.”

“How did you get in here?” I demanded.

“Walked onto the lanai from the water-side of the house. It was pretty easy. This place is wide open.”

“What do you want?”

“I was just wondering what you were doing. I see you're cleaning the kitchen cupboards, just like you said you would.”

“You're not supposed to be here,” I told him. “You need to leave.”

“Aren't you allowed to have visitors?”

“I don't like to take advantage of the Jorgensens' generosity by inviting people into their home.”

“You didn't invite me, so you won't get in trouble.”

“That's exactly the problem, Geoffrey—I didn't invite you. I'm afraid you're going to have to leave.”

He moved closer and put his hand on my arm and squeezed. Hard. “Let go of me, Geoffrey.”

“I really miss you, Kailani. Can't you just come up to Hawi for dinner one night?”

“No. I don't want to see you again. In fact, why don't you just move back to Washington? I'm sure you're needed at the restaurant.”

“Nah. I'm in talks to sell it, anyway. I'm thinking of perhaps investing in one here. On the Big Island.” I should have known he would do something like that.

He still gripped my arm. I shook it loose and glared at him. “Geoffrey, I want you to get out of this house. Right now. If you don't, I'll scream and everyone will know you're here.”

“Don't you want everyone to meet me?”

“No. Now go away. And don't call me anymore, and don't text me, and don't visit me, and don't visit my parents. Just leave me alone. Forget you ever knew me.”

“You'll regret this, Kailani.”

“The only thing I regret is ever having met you in the first place. Now go.”

Just then, the front door opened and I could hear Marcus and Justine talking. Thank goodness. Geoffrey let go of my arm and left quickly the same way he had come in. I found it very unsettling that he had been able to get into the house without anyone else knowing he was there. I put on a happy face for Marcus and Justine as they walked into the kitchen.

I was able to keep Geoffrey's visit at arm's length from my thoughts over the next several hours. I had to finish organizing and cleaning out the kitchen cupboards, and then I prepared and served dinner to Lars and the kids. Barbie was working late again, and I was glad because it kept me busy longer; I served her meal when she got home after everyone else had eaten.

But once the kitchen had been cleaned and the dishes were done and the breakfast preparations completed for the following day, I had nothing to think about but Geoffrey and his behavior, which seemed to be escalating to a higher level. I no longer felt guilty for lying to him about Liko. It was looking more and more like I might need Liko's help to convince Geoffrey to go away and stay away.

As I sat in my den thumbing through cookbooks, there was a knock at the door. I stiffened, suddenly afraid that Geoffrey had come back.

“Who is it?” I asked quietly.

“Liko.”

A visceral feeling of relief cascaded over me and I opened the door to let him in. He took one look at my face and asked, “What's wrong?”

“Is it that obvious?” I asked with a halfhearted laugh.