Dead Before A Rival Read online

  Dolph was a short, slender individual, indistinguishable at a distance from the hundreds of Filipinos working the cane fields under the hot, tropical sun of Hawaii. The tell-tale singsong of his English marked him as a first generation immigrant, but the quality of his speech indicated he was well educated, either in his homeland or in the country of his adoption. The way in which he fielded Kay’s questions further showed he had an intelligence to match his education.

  It became increasingly evident the menial position Dolph occupied was far below his intellectual capabilities. Whether he remained in the job because Joanna paid generously, or because he suffered from the common prejudice that Filipinos were meant to be manual and domestic workers, Kay could not determine. The interview with Dolph left Kay with the conviction he would be a worthy opponent on the witness stand.

  “On the day I was on the Jomark,” Kay said, as she worked her way away from the Honolulu excursion, “did Marshal drink more or less than usual.”

  “I served him one drink, but Marshal regularly serves himself. I’m afraid I couldn’t say.”

  “Did he act any differently that day?”

  Dolph shook his head.

  “I noticed he spent considerable time in Bart’s company. Was that typical?” As Kay moved into newer territory she watched Dolph’s impassive face. A flicker of wariness moved across Dolph’s eyes. Kay was sure he knew where she was heading.

  “I really couldn’t say.”

  Seeing Dolph was not going to be led blindly into talking about Bart rather than Marshal, Kay rejected the careful approach she had planned and plunged into the subject which Hank wanted her to explore. “Do you have any idea who might have wanted to kill Bart Cain?”

  “There were people who didn’t like him. Whether or not they disliked him enough to kill him, I couldn’t say.”

  “What did you think of Bart?”

  For the first time, Dolph actually smiled. “He was not my favorite person, but I had no reason to wish him any harm.”

  “Do you know how to scuba-dive?”

  Dolph’s smile broadened, and he broke into a short laugh. “My father is an exporter of tropical fish from the Philippines. I was diving when I was ten.”

  That takes care of that, Kay thought, and shifted to a seemingly different topic.

  “Did you know Fe Cabanting before she came aboard the Jomark?” Kay sensed Dolph had anticipated the question and had carefully rehearsed his answer.

  “Yes. Her parents were friends of my parents back in our barrio in the Philippines. I met her briefly when I came to Hawaii three years ago.”

  “What was the nature of your relationship with her?” Kay was surprised Dolph was making no protest at her questions. He must be assuming if he doesn’t answer me, he’ll have to answer to Hank, she decided but, then, he’ll probably have to answer to Hank anyway.

  The reply to her question was carefully phrased. “Our parents had been hoping we would marry. I suppose that, in the past, this would have been considered an arranged marriage. Neither Fe nor I would have accepted such coercion.”

  “I take it the two of you do not intend to marry?”

  Dolph again smiled, “That is correct.”

  “Was it your idea or hers?”

  “It was a mutual decision.”

  “My husband overheard an exchange between you and Fe in Illocano. The two of you sounded somewhat angry. What was the gist of the conversation?”

  The response was quick. “I told her her parents would have been unhappy to see her the way she was there.”

  “What was her answer?”

  Dolph’s face became impassive. “She said, ‘It’s none of your damn business.’”

  Kay tried to connect Dolph’s relationship with Fe to Bart’s obvious interest in the young Filipina, but Dolph successfully parried the questions, declaring he was so busy carrying out his duties he was unaware of any socializing taking place. Deciding she had made about all the headway possible under the circumstances, Kay stood up and thanked him for being so cooperative, knowing he was well aware of the irony in her expression.

  What she thought would be her last question opened up an entirely new topic. “You didn’t see anyone tampering with Bart’s diving gear, by any chance? Another thought struck her as she asked the question, and she added, “Or anyone carrying around a spare bottle of air?”

  Dolph shook his head. “Not on that trip. When we were in Honolulu and I was cleaning the staterooms, I saw a diving bottle in one of the staterooms—Dr. Rouse’s.”

  ***

  “C’mon, Kay,” Laura said as they got into the car in front of Cliffhouse, “I know you saw something significant in the address book. I’ll bet it’s even more interesting than Dolph’s story about the air tank in David Rouse’s stateroom.”

  “It’s interesting all right,” Kay replied as she started up the car and headed down the long gravel driveway, “but I’m not sure how significant it is. To begin with, Marshal’s ex is now living in New York. The Honolulu address was crossed off.”

  Laura smiled. “I’m sure there was more there than his ex-wife’s change of address. I’ll bet you found an unexpected address.”

  “Not one but two. “Fe Cabanting’s name kind of stood out.”

  Laura shrugged. “That’s interesting, but not terribly unexpected. I imagine Fe’s name shows up in a lot of men’s address books.”

  Kay looked over at her companion. “If that one doesn’t impress you, try this one for size: David Rouse’s wife.”

  Laura let out a soft whistle. “Now that is interesting, though I can’t see much significance to it. After all, she’s in Florida.”

  Kay nodded. “Yup. The Florida address was there, all right. Right next to it was a Honolulu phone number, and it looked as though Marshall had just recently put it in.”

  “That,” Laura said, “just has to be significant.”

  ***

  Laura and Kay had similar reactions as they met Fe at the entrance to the plantation office. She looks even better with clothes on than with clothes off, Kay concluded, while realizing Sid might not have agreed with her opinion.

  Fe was wearing a dark slack suit which somehow seemed to make her dark skin so much richer looking. Her hair was pulled back severely and made up into a bun. Again, she wore no makeup, and her only jewelry consisted of silver studs in her pierced ears and a silver band on the third finger of her right hand. Where many women tried unsuccessfully to look beautiful, Fe seemed to be trying to look plain and failing miserably in her efforts. Her delicate features were merely emphasized by the severity of her hairstyle. The simple lines of her tailored clothes accentuated the narrow waist and the swell of her breasts. Kay was admiring. Laura was envious.

  Kay introduced Laura, and the three of them headed for a small Filipino restaurant located near the plantation office. Popular with the office workers, the cafe was crowded. They had to wait about five minutes or so for an empty booth. When the food arrived, Kay was not too sure which of the two meals ordered by her companions was less appetizing. Fe had a small, whole fish on a nest of greens which Kay recognized as fiddle-heads—young fern shoots.

  Laura had ordered a loco moco, a favorite dish of the islands—a dish which consisted of a large scoop of rice with hamburger and a fried egg on top, slathered over with gravy. Having caught the expression on Kay’s face as she placed the order, Laura smiled and said, “If it’s made right, it can be great.” Kay had settled for a vegetable soup she ordinarily found to be quite passable on the few occasions when she had eaten in a Filipino restaurant.

  None of the three said much as they attacked their lunch. “It was made right,” Laura commented.

  “Just like home,” Fe said with a grin as she broke the fish in half and picked away at the bones with her teeth and fingers.

  Kay, in turn, was pleased with her soup and said so.

  Over their after-lunch coffee, the talk turned to the cruise. Since Fe had not been on the
Honolulu trip, Kay and Laura made no pretense of asking her about Marshal’s drinking habits.

  “How long have you known Jeffrey Bentley?” Kay asked.

  Fe smiled. “He told me he used to go out with you many years ago.”

  Oh, oh! Kay thought, One of those. She’s going to evade every question.

  “It was a brief affair,” Kay said, watching Fe closely. “Jeff was a pretty heavy drinker back then.”

  Guess I can be evasive, too, Kay reflected.

  “He’s very nice. He doesn’t do much drinking anymore. None at all. He doesn’t even smoke.”

  “I guess what I remember best about him,” Kay continued, “was he wasn’t possessive. That’s a rather unusual quality in men.”

  Fe nodded, presumably in agreement. Kay was not too sure which of the two statements Fe was agreeing with and decided double barreled questions were not the best ones to ask of this witness.

  “I noticed Bart was especially interested in you (Which man aboard wasn’t, Kay was thinking, as she spoke). How did Jeff react to that?”

  Fe’s evasions had a touch of uneasiness in them as she shrugged and said, “He didn’t seem to mind.”

  “When Marshal’s new trial comes up, we’ll be using character witnesses. How well do you know Marshal Dalquist?”

  Fe’s uneasiness seemed to increase. She said nothing for a moment, but locked eyes with her questioner. Afterwards, both Kay and Laura expressed the notion Fe was weighing the question carefully, trying to decide just how much the interrogator already knew. Evidently, she had decided Kay really didn’t know much.

  “I never met him before the boat trip.”

  Not having Fe on the witness stand, Kay decided not to press the issue. She knew the young Filipina would not budge from her position unless Kay could clearly demonstrate she knew Fe’s position was untenable. Kay had no such knowledge. Fe’s name in Marshal’s address book really meant little, and certainly could not be considered proof Fe had met Marshal prior to the boat cruise.

  In answer to the question, “Do you know how to scuba dive?” the answer was a shrug of the shoulders and an upward gesture with the palms of her hands.

  The enigmatic reply to Kay’s question irked Laura into joining into the interrogation. “Have you heard Bart’s gear was tampered with, and his death wasn’t an accident?”

  Is she an actress with talents to go with her looks, Kay thought, watching Fe’s reaction to Laura’s questions, or is this really news to her?”

  Fe’s eyes had opened wide. Her irises were so dark it was difficult to determine whether or not the pupils had enlarged and invaded them. “How terrible!”

  Assuming she had caught Fe off balance, Kay struck off into a direction she hoped would keep her tottering. “What did Dolph say to you in Illocano when you were lying next to Jeff on the rear deck?”

  Momentarily, the guard dropped completely, and Fe’s answer was a marked contrast to her cool parrying of the earlier questions. Her dark-skinned face flushed. The memory of the brief conversation made her lapse into the more familiar grammatical structure of her childhood language. “That stupid. He call me a naked whore!”

  Kay said nothing, hoping the resistance had been permanently broken and the stumble might lead to collapse. The tactic failed. Fe’s face quickly recovered its earlier composure, and she took another sip of her coffee. Kay nodded almost imperceptibly to Laura, who decided to try a slightly different approach.

  “We spoke to Dolph just a short while ago. He claims he said something quite different to you.”

  Fe thought about it, then shrugged to show how little she cared for anything Dolph might have said.

  “Fe,” Kay picked up the interrogation again. “We’re working with the police. If there’s anything you can do to help us find out who might have killed Bart, it’s important for you to tell us.”

  The reaction was another shrug, what seemed to be a flicker of amusement in the dark eyes peering over the edge of the coffee cup, and body language indicating Fe was bringing the interview to a close.

  Neither Laura nor Kay had any further success in their questioning. The party broke up on a cold note. Fe might have enjoyed the lunch, but she made it clear she had not appreciated the company.

  ***

  A quick phone call had decided all of the investigators to meet after work at five in the offices of Smith, Chu, Yoshinobu and Correa. The attorneys brought some of their chairs out into the large reception room and the four of them, plus Hank, Corky and Leilani sat around in a circle.

  Kay commented to Hank, “I hope Toni holds up supper for you.”

  “She’s used to being married to a policeman. So she specializes in meals that can be held over for an hour or more, just in case.”

  Leilani spoke up. “John Pak has standing orders not to start the rice until I call him.”

  Qual laughed. “I guess I have Craig trained, too. Whenever he has any one of his special gourmet meals planned, he always checks with me to make sure I get there right on time. I knew I’d be late today, so he has everything prepared ahead of time, ready to go on the minute I step through the door.”

  “How about Alan, Corky? Is he going to stew around waiting for you to break out the frozen dinners?” Kay asked, knowing Alan had not moved in with Corky because of her cooking talents.

  “He’s much more likely to be making stew than stewing. We’ll just have to have a crowd out to try the Alan Honda Stew Special. I’ve told him he should quit wasting his time repairing electrical equipment and open a restaurant instead. My mouth’s watering just thinking about his delicious stew, but I don’t have to rush off. The longer the stew stews, the better it is.”

  “Maybe that’s what I need to do,” Laura broke in. “Find a man who likes to cook.”

  Kay’s eyebrows went up, “It seems to me I’ve heard somewhere our prosecuting attorney is no slouch when it comes to pushing pots and pans around the stove top.”

  With a broad grin, Laura said, “Emil did say he had something special on for tonight, and he invited me over. He’s having a late conference over a case. He won’t be starting to cook until after seven. So I have plenty of time.”

  When the laughter subsided, Kay turned to Sid, “You aren’t really involved in this case, Sid. Why don’t you dash over to the apartment, feed the cats and get supper ready, so I can feel at home in this crowd.”

  Chapter 13

  Hank was the first one to move along to the case. “We didn’t get any closer to a solution today. Everybody is acting suspicious. My money is on Rouse. When I saw the big tank of laughing gas he has in his office, it damn near cinched it for me. Nitrous oxide is not exactly a common household item. All he would have needed was a hose with the right fittings to fill one of those scuba bottles. The pressure in his tank is plenty high enough to do that.”

  Laura and Kay looked at each other. Kay spoke for both of them. “What we found out today should do your heart good then, Hank—providing you’re really set on Rouse. Dolph says he saw a scuba bottle in Rouse’s stateroom when they were over in Honolulu. He also says Rouse didn’t have any diving equipment on board, either on the earlier trip or the one we were on.”

  Laura broke in. “I’m not all sure about Dolph. Kay pushed him pretty hard. He didn’t give much, but he knows he’s a suspect. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to shift the blame to someone else. Besides, he probably knows more about diving than anyone else on the Jomark.” Laura proceeded to describe what they had discovered about Dolph’s diving background.

  Hank had sat up when he heard about the out-of-place bottle. “Yes, but the bottle in Rouse’s room fits. There would have been plenty of time to switch bottles on the Honolulu trip, but not much on the last cruise. According to Captain Silva, Bart didn’t use his equipment again until the cruise to Cook Reef.”

  “What bothers me,” Kay said, “is why Rouse went along on this cruise if he planted the bottle on the previous trip. He knew Bart was going to do
some diving. Rouse isn’t dumb. He might never have even come under suspicion if he’d stayed home. And why would a dentist use nitrous oxide to kill anyone? Surely David knows laughing gas would point right at him since he was on the boat when Bart drowned.”

  “What bothers me even more,” Laura said, “is his leaving the bottle sitting around where anyone could see it. It just doesn’t make sense. I agree with Kay. I’ve only met David Rouse once, but he sure didn’t strike me as being stupid. Yet here we’ve got a series of dumb actions on his part, the worse one being leaving the murder weapon out in the open.”

  “Maybe Dolph’s telling only half the truth,” Corky suggested. “He might have been rummaging around Rouse’s room, but isn’t about to admit it. Instead of it being out in the open like Dolph said, it may have been hidden away someplace.”

  Hank nodded in agreement. “That’s probably the answer. As far as I’m concerned, Rouse is our man. We still don’t have enough on him to pull him in, but I’m going to talk to the prosecuting attorney tomorrow and see what he thinks. Better yet, Laura, you’re going to see Emil tonight. Break the news to him. He might have some ideas about how much more evidence we need before we bring in charges.”

  Qual whistled his doubt and shook his head, removing his bifocals and rubbing his forehead in a nervous gesture. “You’re moving awfully fast, Hank. If Rouse were my client, I’d have him out on his own recognizance in hours. I might even get the charge dismissed out of hand. You really don’t have much to go on. Besides, he’s not only Kay’s dentist, he’s mine too. I’ve known him for years, and a less likely candidate to be a murderer I’ve seldom encountered.”

  The three other attorneys nodded in agreement. Hank grinned. “At this stage, I’m glad to see you aren’t representing him. Anyhow, I don’t plan to move until I get the OK from the prosecutor. If it isn’t Rouse, does anyone have anybody else in mind?”

  “If it isn’t Rouse, Dolph sure looks like the best possibility,” Kay said. “But if he did it out of jealousy, Jeff would seem to have been the more likely target.”