My Kind of Town
Big news
>> 2002 Wilder
While Dr. Laurie Tang showered, HPD Detective Sherlock Gomes sipped green tea and went over his plans for the day. The morning news was on but just background noise until Mina Minimoto reported in astonished tones that the AWOL Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz-Bishop-Kamaka had scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. at the Capitol.
Gomes shared her astonishment. That was one hour later than the time he was scheduled to pick up the senator, take him to the airport and put him on a plane to a drug rehab center in Portland.
>> State Capitol
While Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz-Bishop-Kamaka practiced his speech and his secretary Grace Ah Sun ran copies to be distributed to the media, Machiavelli Wang read the morning's papers. There was no news about a dead detective. But knowing Salvatore Innuendo, there might only be a missing person report. Machiavelli had no doubt that Gomes was discreetly dead and disposed of.
Machiavelli heard the TV guys arriving in the outer office, setting up lights and microphones. He could also hear the buzz, the one unique to a gathering of press hounds when they know they're on the verge of a big story.
The minutes sped too fast for the senator. He'd gotten a good night's sleep and had breakfast, but you don't escape a three-day binge on ice, buds and Bud with your brain exactly tip-top. A shower, a fresh suit and some makeup could make him look good for the cameras. Getting the right words to come out of his mouth was another thing. Fortunately the story he had to memorize was so bizarre, it made an indelible imprint on his brain. He began to believe it and make it his own. And he trusted Machiavelli's vague comment that "everything's taken care of" with Sherlock Gomes.
And then the senator was being introduced to the assembled media and explaining that he hadn't gone AWOL from the campaign for governor, but in fact had been "detained against my will by a group of Native Hawaiian terrorists for three days" and that he still expected to win tomorrow's Democratic primary. And he explained how the terrorists threatened him with physical harm for three days, badgering him with their anger.
"I can tell you honestly, I endured this ordeal only through my faith in God and the power of aloha," he said a moment before the color ran out of his face. "Oh God ..." he added in a whisper.
The eyes of the media followed his to the back of the room as Sherlock Gomes pushed open the door and walked toward the podium, followed by four uniformed police officers.
"Senator, you're under arrest."
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin
with weekly summaries on Sunday.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com