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My Kind of Town

by Don Chapman

Tuesday, October 16, 2001


Race you to the water

>> Ala Wai Boulevard

A sliver of new moon hovered low in the sky as HPD Detective Sherlock Gomes drove from his home in Kaimuki to Ala Moana beach park. Gomes had never been so nervous before an interview, and it had nothing to do with talking with Dr. Laurie Tang. It had everything to do with the swim goggles on the front seat of his gold Barracuda. When he phoned Dr. Tang last night, she suggested they meet at Ala Moana, where she would be swimming. And Gomes said he was training for a triathlon, and as long as she was going to Ala Moana for a swim, Gomes would too. Problem was, while Gomes was a good runner and strong on the bike, he swam like a chunk of lava. He was hoping he could get a pointer or two from Dr. Tang.

If he only knew about the man on a moped speeding down Atkinson Drive toward Ala Moana at that moment, Gomes would have been worried about more than drowning.

>> Ward Avenue

The green tea was kicking in now, but it was the thought of getting in the water again that excited Dr. Laurie Tang. OK, and she was nervous about talking with a police detective. Stopped for the light at Kapiolani, the top down on her Mercedes SLK 2000, Laurie knew why Sherlock Gomes needed to talk with her. She'd seen enough cop shows, and Laurie was, afterall, the girlfriend of Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz-Bishop-Kamaka. But there was very little she could tell Gomes. Donovan had been out of touch for three days, until he called late last night. Maybe, she thought, Gomes could fill in some of her questions about Donovan.

>> Atkinson Drive

Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz-Bishop-Kamaka wore mirrored shades and a Dodgers cap pulled down low. Waiting for the light at Ala Moana Boulevard, he nervously revved the motor of Serena's mo-ped, as if that would make the light change faster. He had to be the first to arrive. When Laurie and Gomes showed up, he had to be in the water, with the mask and snorkel covering his face.

Fortunately, Laurie was a creature of habit. When the clock hit 6:30 a.m., Laurie was in the water. Donovan glanced at his watch -- 6:20 -- revved the motor again. Nervously he adjusted the backpack he wore. The beauty of his plan was that his weapon would blend in perfectly at the beach. Just another swimmer. But he had to be in the water before Laurie and Gomes hit the beach.

The light changed and he zipped through the intersection into the park.




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



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