Carol Clark - Burned

He laid the box on the bed and noticed that a tiny piece of the wrapping paper near where it was taped was white. Part of a hula girl’s lei had come off and was stuck to a piece of the tape. How appropriate, Ned thought. Is this an indication that someone was tampering with the box? He pulled off the wrapping and lifted the cover. He gasped. Inside were two shell leis that looked as if they cost about a dollar each.

“Who did this?” Ned exclaimed. “Was it Glenn?” What can I do? he thought frantically. What can I do? Ask him if he took the leis I stole and put them in Will’s office? Maybe he wasn’t the one. Maybe someone followed me today and saw that I handed the bag to the bellman. But how did they get the package? Anything could have happened. And there’s absolutely nothing I can do! Am I being set up?

Ned went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He grabbed a towel and held it up to his skin, closing his eyes as if that would provide a barrier from all his cares and woes. But when he opened his eyes and put down the towel, his reflection in the mirror looked grim. “And I still have to deal with Will’s parents tomorrow,” he reminded himself. “If I get out of this one, I’m going on the straight and narrow. And I have to get out of this one. I have to.” He quickly brushed his teeth and then hurried out the door, craving the relief he’d feel after his first sip of a double scotch.

T he first officers at the scene checked out the area outside of Will’s office. Nothing had been dropped in the grass. There didn’t seem to be any visible footprints.

“Do you have any idea who could have done this?” one of them asked Will.

“I wish I did.”

When Mike Darnell walked into the office a few minutes later, he was shocked to see Regan. He smiled at her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m helping Will out,” Regan answered.

“Well, this is some story. It went out over the police scanner. There are lots of reporters outside who would like to talk to you, Will.”

Will looked weary. “What am I supposed to say?”

“Some people think this whole thing might have been a prank to drum up publicity for tomorrow night’s auction.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I agree. Especially since Jimmy could have been killed today. I just spoke with him. He’s one happy guy, although he has an Excedrin headache. He asked me to keep these leis under lock and key until tomorrow night.”

“Believe me,” Will said, “I don’t want to be responsible for them. Take them with you. Bring them back in an armored car right before the auction. It’ll make my life a whole lot easier.”

“Mike, who called this in?” Regan asked.

“We don’t know. The call was made on one of those temporary cell phones where you buy a certain amount of minutes and then throw them out.”

“So whoever did it is obviously someone who planned in advance and didn’t want his calls traced.”

“That’s right.”

“It just doesn’t make sense.”

“None of this has made sense,” Mike commented. “Hey, Will, how many people around here wore yellow today?”

Will rolled his eyes. “Hundreds.”

The phone on Will’s desk rang. “It must be important if Janet put it through,” he noted as he answered it. It was his wife, Kim, calling from the airplane.

While Will was on the phone, Regan talked quietly to Mike Darnell. “I know that what I’m about to ask you has nothing to do with all this, but Jack told me that if I got something to you with someone’s fingerprints on it, you could-”

“I can. Jack called me after he talked to you. You want to check out this guy your friend is seeing?”

“Yes. It might be silly. But I just have a feeling about him…”

“No problem. If you get me something tomorrow morning, I’ll take care of it right away.” Mike looked over at the screen door. “So whoever deposited these leis in here just opened the door, then ran off. The question is, why would they risk stealing them if they’re just going to hand them over?”

Will had just hung up the phone. “Someone is out to ruin the good name of this resort,” he answered Mike. “I asked Regan to look into it this weekend and see what she could find out. People who say this is a publicity prank don’t realize that this kind of publicity is bad for the hotel. Are we happy that the leis are back and at least one of them will still be auctioned? Yes. But with an employee drowning the other day wearing the lei that was stolen from the museum, and now after it’s stolen again it ends up back here, it all doesn’t look or sound good. People are going to be afraid to set foot in this place. They’re going to think the Waikiki Waters is cursed just like the royal leis.” Will threw up his hands.

Mike looked at him thoughtfully. “I understand.”

“Now I’m really afraid of what might happen at the ball tomorrow night,” Will continued. “If someone goes to all the trouble to fool around with these leis like this, who knows what else they might try.”

“I’ll get some undercover guys to come to the ball to keep an eye on things.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Will said. “I’ll be glad when these leis are gone for good. But until then I have to worry about the security of the hotel guests and my employees.”

Mike turned to Regan. “And you thought you were coming here for a vacation?”

Regan smiled and shrugged.

“I’m heading out,” Mike declared. “Call me if you need me, Regan. Will, do you want to talk to the reporters outside?”

“Do you really have to ask?”

“Then I’ll make a statement that the leis are back, and we’re investigating.”

When Mike left the room, Will shut the door behind him. He sat back down at his desk and rubbed his eyes. “Regan, you know that guy?”

“He’s a friend of my fiancé’s. I met him when we were out last night.”

“You’re not going to tell him that I was the one who gave Dorinda the lei the night she died, are you?”

“No. That’s client privilege.”

Will sighed. “I have to pick up my wife at the airport. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled by all the news I have to share with her.”

“First I’d like to tell you about what I found at Dorinda’s apartment.”

“Should I cover my ears?”

“It’s not bad for you personally.”

“Miracles will never cease.” Will clenched his hands together and looked up at the ceiling as if in prayer.

“Dorinda had a file, which I have in my bag here. It’s marked ‘Prospective Dirt.’ It contains a few pictures, newspaper articles, and the last will and testament of Sal Hawkins.”

“Sal Hawkins?” Will asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

“He left a million dollars to the Praise the Rain Club I told you about. Ned, whom I introduced you to before, took a couple of them surfing today. The tours are run by the two older ladies who are twins. They’re the group Otis was just talking about.”

“Did you say one million dollars?” Regan asked.

“Yes.”

Regan quickly produced the file. She opened it and pulled out the will. “It says here he left ten million dollars.”

“Ten million?” Will was aghast. “To spend on trips to Hawaii?”

“Apparently so.”

“And they’re always poor-mouthing.”

“It sounds as if they might be lying to the people in their group about how much money there is. Those weird people I met at the bar said their tour directors were cheap. Dorinda was certainly onto something with them. How long are they here?”

“Until Monday.”

Next Regan showed him a picture of Steve. “This guy has been making a play for Kit. He’s in this file, which doesn’t bode well. What can you tell me about him?”