03 - Three Odd Balls by Cindy Blackburn Read Free Book Online

tee-shirt is drying in my bathroom.”
    I was asking if there happened to be any Advil in that bathroom when we heard the sirens. A minute later two people, who I assumed were the Hawaiian cops, rounded the corner of Seagull’s Roost. They were followed by a very nervous Buster, who was wringing his hands and sputtering inanities about how he did not understand how something like this could have happened.
    Wilson welcomed them onto the porch, and as everyone filed into the bungalow, he issued yet another warning to us poor slobs down in the sand. “Stay!” he repeated. I saluted, and he disappeared through the doorway.
    I cleared my throat. “So, let me get this straight,” I said. “The two of you were lounging on the bed together, drinking Pele’s Melees at two a.m., and some guy just happened to walk in and die right in front of you?”
    “That’s right,” Mother said. “But I do believe it was closer to two thirty. And it wasn’t some guy. It was Davy Atwell.”
    “Davy!?” I shrieked.
    Chris shook his head at me. “You didn’t notice?”
    No, I did not. I said something about the body being face down. “To be honest, I tried my best not to look.”
    “I don’t blame you,” Mother said. “It’s a bloody mess, isn’t it?”
    “In more ways than one,” Chris mumbled, his eyes fixed on Seagull’s Roost. “I bet I watched him mix his last batch of drinks ever,” he said. “I bet I was the last person he ever talked to.”
    “What did you talk about?” I asked.
    “He wanted to know which bungalow to charge for the drinks. I told him yours and Dad’s.”
    ***
    “Let me get this straight,” the Hawaiian cop asked me. “You just happened to be outside your mother’s cabin when David Atwell dropped dead? Because you just happened to be taking a midnight stroll.” Captain Vega pointed at my pajamas. “In that outfit.”
    “It was closer to two thirty,” I corrected him.
    “What were you doing wandering around at that hour?”
    “Insomnia,” I said. “I’m jetlagged since we just got here this afternoon.” I re-calculated. “Umm, yesterday afternoon.”
    And what a difference a day makes, I thought to myself as I glanced around. Our once sleepy little resort was now swarming with cops. Up in the parking area scads of them were combing the pavement, flashlights in hand. Captain Vega and I were outside The Big House, sitting at a table on the patio. And other cops, some uniformed, some not, dotted all the other tables. Each of them was babysitting one of us.
    My mother, Chris, and Wilson had already been interrogated. And Louise, the two Hoochie Coochies, and Buster were waiting their turns after Vega got through with me. Apparently Bee Bee was the only resident of the Wakilulani Gardens not under suspicion.
    “Your walk?” Vega reminded me.
    “I ventured out after the storm.”
    “And while you just happened to be prowling around, did you see or hear anything out of the ordinary?”
    “No,” I said firmly. “The wind was howling, and the waves were crashing. Considering the hour, I just assumed I was alone.” I pointed to my attire. “Hence the pajamas.”
    Vega waited for more.
    “Really,” I said. “I didn’t notice anything unusual until I saw my mother.”
    “She’s unusual, alright.”
    I folded my arms and glared. “My mother is amazing.”
    “And your amazing mother just happened to know you’d be outside her bungalow? So she just happened to step out to her porch to tell you about the murder?”
    I stopped glaring. “Okay, so I know it’s hard to believe, but you have to understand Tessie. She has this incredible intuition. Especially when it comes to me.”
    “What was your incredible mother doing in bed with Christopher Rye? You got an explanation for that?”
    “They were getting to know each other.” I heard what I had just said and sat up straight. “But it wasn’t like that!”
    “Well then, what was it like? They were drinking, and they were both