“Pieces of eight, pieces of eight,” she chanted. “Tea in the treasure chest and don’t be late.”
He frowned. Was it possible she might know something about the treasure? Maybe she’d heard people talking so much about it that it had lodged in her mind and was coming out like this now. That had to be it. She would surely have told someone if she knew anything. He took a sip of tea. He wished she did know. It would make his job a lot easier.
Darkness had descended and it seemed even darker in the for-est. Ono closed the body bag, and several other men lifted the body onto a stretcher. “We’ve got everything all zipped up.” He grinned. He paused and stared at her from under dark eyebrows. “Watch your step, Pilgrim. Two killings in four days, and you’re around for both. I’m beginning to wonder about you.”
“Me?” She shook her head. “Two killings, you said. Are you sure Tony was murdered?”
He hesitated, his walrus mustache twitching. “Not totally, no. But the autopsy should come back shortly. And we found some drugs missing at the hospital, so we think they were stolen by someone who had access to it there. Did your mother know Tony well?” He slipped in the question with a studied casualness.
Leia put her hand to her mouth. “You surely wouldn’t suspect my mother. She had nothing to gain by Tony’s death. She knew him, yes, just as my whole family knew and loved him. You’re going in the wrong direction.”
He pretended to jog his head from side to side. “As long as I don’t get whiplash.” He smiled. “What can you tell me about Aberg Hans? You were there when he came into the dive shop.”
The tension in her shoulders eased. “He seemed mad enough to do anything. He told Tony he’d better back off or he would be sorry.”
He touched his lips with his forefinger. “But he has no access to the drugs as far as we know. Does your mother know Hans?”
“I doubt she’s ever met him. My mother is focused on her patients. She’s a healer, not a killer.”
“What about Tony’s wife? Any trouble there?”
She shook her head. “They were newlyweds and very happy. She’s going to have a baby.”
He raised his brows. “I hadn’t heard that. At least she’ll have a bit of him left.”
Leia gave him credit for a pinch of compassion. “I hope the baby will help heal the discord between her and Tony’s parents.” Too late she realized she should have kept her mouth shut.
He raised his brows. “Caught you, Pilgrim. She didn’t like Tony’s parents?”
“She liked them fine. They thought Tony married beneath him.”
“Did he?”
“Of course not! Candace may not have had the Italian pedigree they would have liked, but she loved Tony.”
“How did he meet her?”
“Dirk introduced them. She was on the island shooting a commercial. She’d been working as a receptionist for a security company when she got called for the job. It was filmed on a boat, and she knew Dirk from working with him on O’ahu. She put him in touch with the producer, and Tony captained the boat. It was love at first sight.” She smiled at the memory of Tony’s instant infatuation. Candace had been just as bad.
He put his notepad away. “That’s all for now. I’ll give you a call if I think of any more questions. Mahalo.” He nodded to Leia and Malia, then tromped off in the wake of the men bearing Koma from the clearing.
“Let’s get out of here.” Malia linked arms with Leia, and they followed the path back to their grandmother’s.
“How weird that he would ask questions about my mother.” Leia couldn’t get the detective’s suspicions out of her head.
“He has to ask those things. No one could seriously suspect your mother.” Malia’s voice was unconcerned.
As they approached the house, the sound of T?t?’s singing came to her ears. “Oh, no,” Leia groaned. “T?t? is having a bad day.” Ajax came to greet her, and she patted his head.
“Our parents are going to have to make a decision soon,” Malia said. “I’ve talked to my mother about having her live with us, but my father is against it. He and T?t? have been at odds so long, I think neither of them know how to mend the breach. He’s never forgiven her for giving the coffee plantation to Uncle Makoni.”
“Someone needs to bring her home to live with them,” Leia said. “I think it’s outrageous that Mama is so against it. She would hate to live in a home herself, so you’d think she would consider how T?t? feels.”
“I’ve tried talking to my dad too. He says my mother doesn’t have time to care for T?t?. I’ve offered to stay with T?t? during the day, but my father is against that as well. He says Uncle Makoni can do it.”
Even Malia’s family wasn’t perfect. Leia sometimes forgot that. “We could share the responsibility. Or maybe I could move in with T?t?.”