My Kind of Town
The depth of evil
>> Pearl Harbor BrigLt. Garvey Tanonaka sat down across the table, arranged a yellow legal tablet and a thick folder. He turned on a small tape recorder, stated his name, said Commander Chuck Ryan was also present, indicated the date, time and location. "We are here with Ms. Lily Ah Sun. Now, Ms. Ah Sun, how long have you known Muhammed Resurreccion?"
"I just met him today."
"I see."
Was it his tone or the green fluorescent lighting that made Lily feel queasy? Or the way he opened the folder? Wanting to be helpful and show her patriotism, she plunged ahead without prompting. "He came to my home. But I left shortly after he arrived, maybe 30 minutes. Later I got a call on my cell that he was taking Rosalita and Elizabeth to the Arizona Memorial."
"Any impressions of Mr. Resurreccion?"
"Yes, I didn't like that he left his driver parked in a van in the hot sun while he came inside. That's not the way I treat Rosalita." Her maid. Tanonaka made a note in the yellow pad.
"Other than that, with me and Rosalita and Elizabeth, he was very polite. Well-spoken, well-dressed. I mean, he looked like a successful Filipino businessman. I was totally shocked when I saw on TV that he was the one behind the flower bomb."
"Really?"
Lily had to bite her tongue. Little Ms. Smart Mouth was about to erupt. "Yes! I just can't believe he'd use Rosalita and Elizabeth and risk their lives!"
"Mm." Another note in the pad. "And today was the first time you've spoken with him?"
Lily didn't like the sound of that either. "Yes," she said uncertainly. Tanonaka pulled a copy of a Verizon bill from his folder. "That is not what your long-distance bill from December 2000 shows, Ms. Ah Sun. I see three calls made to a number in the Philippines listed to Mr. Resurreccion."
"That's impossible!" But then she remembered. "Can I see the number?"
Tanonaka handed her the bill, three lines highlighted in bright yellow. "That's the agency!"
"Agency?" As in spy agency?
"The domestic service agency. My friend Rayna told me about it, that's where she got her yardman. When I called, they said they had a young widow who wanted to work in Hawaii. Although when I asked Rosalita about it later, she said she didn't care where she went as long as it was in America."
Suddenly comprehending the depth of Muhammed's evil, Lily turned to Ryan and sounded as if she'd just had the wind knocked out. "Chuck, don't you see? He was planning this for over a year!"
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