I went back to my office. Some woman was waiting. I was anxious to get to the bottom of Kama and Eugene’s murders but for this effort I might get paid.
“Can I help you?”
She took off her sunglasses. I felt like Svengali had just hypnotized me, and I was ready to squawk like a chicken or pretend I was naked.
“I’m waiting for Mr. Kalahiki,” she said, all cool.
“He’s dead,” I squawked.
Those eyes twisted into a look of alarm.
“Dead? Please don’t tell me my husband caught him following him.”
“Who’s your husband?”
“Joey Soto,” she said.
“Joey Soto?” I said, not wanting to let on he was dead. “Why do you think he would’ve killed Joey?”
She scoffed. “Joey’s a hothead. If he knew I’d hired Mister Kalahiki to follow him, he’d be capable of killing him.”
“Has Joey given you any clue that’s he’s offed my partner?”
“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen that cheating bastard in three days. I was hoping Mr. Kakahiki might shed some light on his whereabouts.”
I decided to do some shedding. “Your husband’s dead too, Ma’am. He was killed yesterday. Some broad throttled him over on the windward side.”
There were no waterworks. She scoffed again like her husband was something she’d found on the bottom of her shoe.
“The windward side? Was he selling stolen cars?”
I sat up. “Missus Soto, your husband’s a car thief?”
“A car thief and a cheater. Two strikes. Well, there must have been a third strike, right? He’s out.” She laughed.
Lanning Lee 