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LEI

Back in her cubicle, Lei got organized. Katie had definitely provided some new direction with the case, not only with her research on the kapu system, but by identifying a larger group of professionals associated with the Kuleana project in Iao Valley. After notifying Pono of the new leads and putting him to work setting up interviews with the peripheral team members of Kuleana, Lei told Stevens and the Captain of her plan.

Filling up her water bottle and grabbing an apple from the break room, Lei got into her truck. In the mood for something less crowded, she then took the ‘backside’ road through Waihee as she headed out to Helen Steinbrenner’s house in Kapalua.

“Might as well clear my head.” Lei was so seldom in her truck alone for any extended period that it was a real pleasure to put on her favorite classic rock playlist and roll down her windows to take in the views of sea, sky, cliffs, and wild countryside as she drove. Intentionally emptying her mind might make room for more insights.

It was after five when she arrived at the Steinbrenners’ home. The gate was open, as it had been on her last visit, and Lei frowned at the sight. She parked and knocked on the door; in a moment, it swung open.

“Detective, hello. Thanks for texting me. I was able to cancel dinner plans with a friend to make time to talk with you,” Helen said. “Please come in.”

They walked through the house and sat on the back lanai, watching the sunset turn the skies to the west afire with orange and pink captured in the clouds snagged on the peaks of the West Maui Mountains.

“Can I offer you anything? Iced tea, water?”

“No thanks, I’m good. I wanted to follow up on a few things that have come to light since we talked,” Lei said. “How are you holding up?”

“I was okay until I heard the news about that awful website on the news. Just the thought of it made me ill. I hope the media has the discretion not to show the pictures.” Helen sat abruptly and reached for the box of tissues, still on the coffee table from Lei’s visit with Katie. “It’s too horrible.”

“I’m so sorry. So far they’re behaving themselves, and the site has been removed. Have the press been bothering you?”

Helen dabbed her eyes. “I had David’s administrative assistant reroute all incoming calls to the company offices on the mainland. The people who need to get in touch with me personally have my cell phone number.”

“That’s good. Now what about my previous question?” Lei was a little surprised at how much she genuinely cared about this woman. “How are you holding up?”

Helen sighed and leaned back, crossing her legs. Her natural beauty shone as her face was bare of makeup and she wore a simple cotton muumuu . “I’m surviving. It’s still so hard to believe David’s gone. I spend time on the phone with my therapist every day, and my sister will be here soon. She’s staying long enough to help me pack everything up to move back to California. This is a lovely island, but Maui has lost its charm for me.”

“I can understand that. Meanwhile, you should keep your gate closed and locked at all times. We could also have an officer do extra drive-bys.”

A sad smile crossed Helen’s face. “That won’t be necessary. I didn’t have anything to do with the development. I’m afraid I’m just the trophy widow.” She looked out to the golden light on the mountains. “This is such a beautiful place. Horror doesn’t belong here.”

“I agree. I love my island, and I’m doing what I can to make it safe for all its people,” Lei said. “Now. Are you ready to tackle some questions?”

“Please, go ahead.”

“We’re going to be interviewing all the people who were involved with the Kuleana project, even peripherally.” Lei pulled out a picture from a manila folder she’d brought in—an 8x10 enlargement of the picture that was in the newspaper. She handed it over. “Do you remember this?” she asked.

“I do. It was the night the company had a big dinner to announce the project here. They rented the whole luau down in Lahaina, flew in all the bigwigs, invited important people here on the island. This looks like the picture that was in the newspaper,” Helen said.

Lei had printed out several of the photos Katie had used to identify the extended group members, and she pulled the one with the whole group out of the cluster and slid it over to Helen. “Do you know these people?”

“Yes. I met them at the kickoff party, which is where these photos were taken.”

“Can you identify them by name?”

Helen took her time but named Goodwin, Kleftes, Wilkinson, Noble, and Nettle. The others she shook her head over. “I met them at the party and saw them here and there but can’t remember their names.”

Lei nodded. “Okay. How did your husband feel about these people on the team? Did he have any issues with them?”

“Not that I knew of. I did get the feeling he was pretty annoyed with Roger.” Helen pointed to the tall man with salt-and-pepper hair. “Roger was an anthropology expert or something. Was supposed to be helping with the locals. You know.” Helen shot Lei an embarrassed glance. “Smoothing things over culturally. Handling any environmental issues. Well, Roger was always asking more money for this or that survey, poll, or marketing attempt.”

“I see.” Lei made a note; Helen had identified the trumped-up “cultural expert” that was actually a con man, according to Katie. Her pulse picked up. This guy might have motive. It was thin, but something. “Can you remember anything specific Roger Nettle did that your husband complained about?”

“Roger Nettle. He went by ‘Kahuna.’” Helen’s voice dripped contempt. “What a poser. What is it they say in Texas: ‘Big hat, no cattle?’ That’s him. Knows all the right words but there’s no substance behind them. Ask him a question and he’ll nod, really serious, and say, ‘Great point. Let me get back to you on that.’ I can’t imagine why they hired him in the first place, much less kept him on the job. I always wondered if he had some dirt on someone—David, or one of the others—and used that to stay employed. I asked David; he called Roger a ‘necessary evil’ but wouldn’t say more.”

“Dirt. You mean like blackmail?” Lei asked.

“Yes, exactly. Why would the group keep paying someone who’s incompetent?”

“Interesting,” Lei said. “Anything more specific?”

“No. Like I’ve said, David tried to keep the office outside our home.”

“And what about this guy?” Lei pointed to Wilkinson. “What did David think about him?”

“Oh, Bill.” Helen’s full lips tightened but all she said was, “David told me he was a good tech guy.”

“We got the originals from the photographer of the event, and my investigator was going through them and found this photo.” Lei handed over another enlarged picture—the one that showed Helen, her husband, and Bill Wilkinson with his hand on Helen’s behind. Lei watched Helen’s face closely.

The widow gazed at the picture a moment; then, she sagged visibly, the hand holding the picture settling to her lap. She glanced at Lei. “What do you want to know?”

“I wanted to get your take,” Lei said. “It looks like this guy Bill has his hand on your butt. We’re just trying to clarify what was going on.”

“Bill Wilkinson can’t keep his hands to himself.”

“Did you say anything to him, or to your husband about it?”

Helen stared out the window again at the mountains, where purple shadows had gathered in the folds of the land as the light faded. “When we first came to Maui, I didn’t know anyone on the island, but I’m used to that. We’ve lived temporarily in three different places since our marriage, a couple of years each time.” She shook her head. “Since the wedding, we’ve spent more time in rental homes than in our own home in California. And it was exciting at first. A new place to explore, new adventures to be had. That faded though, because David is always gone—sorry, was always gone—many hours every day. Plus a lot of late nights and the occasional weekend business trip. Sometimes there were other spouses around, alone like I was, and we’d form a wives’ club, our own little adventuring and support group—but I’ve been alone a lot.”

“Okay, but this guy . . .” Lei prompted.

“It’s not a short story,” Helen said. “Bear with me. David . . . was a very virile man. I gave him everything he seemed to want in the bedroom, but he had some unusual tastes and a roving eye. I don’t do S instead, he’d make fun of Bill and tease me about the crush Bill had on me.” Helen sighed. “Bill is probably forty years old, and still plays video games.”

“Tech geek. I know the kind you mean,” Lei said.

“Bill was a contractor, part of the support team, but I got the feeling that he really wanted to be part of that inner circle that was made up of my husband, Cheryl, Kleftes and Noble. Those with a real stake in the project.” She stood up. “I’m going to fix a drink. Sure you don’t want anything?”

“I’m good.”

Helen went into the kitchen, pulled a bottle of chardonnay out of the refrigerator door, filled a long-stemmed glass to the brim, and returned with it in hand. “Bill started calling me. I was going through one of my bleaker periods, and it was nice to think someone was interested in me. He’s a big guy—tall, broad shoulders—and he was making the bald thing work. He’d flirt with me on the phone, say these outrageous things. That he knew how to satisfy me, that he’d make my life wonderful. Stuff like that.

“One evening, four or five months ago, there was another big networking company dinner down by the shore. A hundred people or so. I got a little drunk, and he and I went for a walk. It seemed innocent at the time. That path along the shoreline in Wailea, you know the one? It has some great views, and some nice, secluded places. Bill pulled me behind some trees and started kissing me. I let him at first, but then he started feeling me up, and I said no. Finally, I told him to stop and slapped his hands. He apologized, said he got carried away.

“He called me the next day, declared his eternal love, and wanted to know what it would take for me to be his girl. That’s what he said, swear to God: ‘be my girl.’ I told him that I was flattered, but that I was married, and nothing was going to change that. He quit calling after that.”

Helen drank a large gulp of wine and set the glass down a little hard; wine splashed on her hand. “That’s my sordid little story. That picture was taken almost a year ago. Before I told him to stop calling me.”

“Okay. Thank you again for your time. I should be going; I’ve got a long drive home. How much longer will you be on the island?” Lei asked.

“At least a week. We need to pack up the house. I’m doing David’s funeral in California after I get back there. I’ll let you know when we’ll be leaving.”

“Thank you again. This was very helpful.” Helen followed Lei to the door and Lei pointed to the open gate. “Keep that thing closed, okay? At least until we have someone in custody.”

“Thanks, I will.”

Lei waved goodbye as she drove out onto the street and was glad to see the gate glide closed behind her vehicle as she drove away.