My Kind of Town
The Honolulu Soap Co.: Sunday digest
Pearl Harbor Brig
Lt. Garvey Tanonaka turned on a small tape recorder. "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? "He came to my home. But I left shortly after he arrived. Later I got a call 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."
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 businessman. I was totally shocked when I saw on TV that he was the one who planted the bomb."
"Mm." Another note in the pad. "And today was the first time you've spoken with him?"
"Yes," she said. 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."
"Can I see the number?"
Tanonaka handed her the bill.
"That's the agency!"
"Agency?" As in spy agency?
"The domestic agency! A friend told me about it. That's where she got her yardman."
Suddenly comprehending the depth of Muhammed's evil, Lily said, "Chuck, don't you see? He was planning this for over a year!"
2002 Wilder
Salvatore Innuendo parked his Nissan near the elevator, where Sherlock Gomes would have to pass. He watched Gomes and lowered the driver's window, raised a blowgun to his lips.Gomes glanced his way, but Innuendo didn't flinch. The tint was too dark to see inside. Innuendo looked for a neck shot. So many blood vessels there, it was nearly instant death. Innuendo inhaled and heard a jarring, rattling sound.
Followed by a boisterous "Eh, babooze!"
Innuendo lowered the blowgun. Two young caterers spilled from the elevator pushing a cart.
Their sudden appearance had two immediate effects.
Innuendo went to Plan B.
Gomes assumed that Dr. Laurie Tang had catered dinner. Which would explain the other car that arrived just before he did and gave her condo number to security.
Gomes stepped in the elevator, saw a guy exiting a Nissan and jogging toward him, waving. Gomes pushed the open-door button. "No hurry," he said. "Which floor?"
"Fifteen."
That was two of them.
Pearl Harbor Brig
It would take some time and some checking, Commander Chuck Ryan said, but he and Lt. Tanonaka were satisfied that Lily was telling the truth."Lily, you helped us connect the dots," Ryan said. "This could help us shut down a bunch of would-be terrorists before they have a chance to strike."
"What about Rosalita?" Her maid, the widow of Muhammed's cousin. "You don't suspect her?"
"It's pretty obvious that Muhammed was willing to give up Rosalita and her daughter, as well as his driver, the woman you met. Besides, as Catholics, Rosalita and her daughter hardly fit the profile of an Islamic suicide bomber."
Lily worried that the trauma of the bombing -- which followed the rape attempt on Rosalita the night before -- would be too much for Rosalita and Elizabeth. But when Chuck opened the door to another room, she heard Elizabeth laughing from the back of a man on his hands and knees, while Rosalita and the driver, Wilhemina, watched and laughed. Chuck introduced Lily to Lt. Martin Luther Washington and explained he was the one who threw the bomb overboard.
Ryan, after driving the women back to Lily's car, called Fawn and asked if she was up for a late dinner. She was. Lily, Rosalita and Elizabeth would stay up half the night talking about the day. Marty Washington was ready to resume his Hawaiian vacation. Wilhemina asked if he needed company. Marty said he'd be delighted.
2002 Wilder
Looking at Gomes, Salvatore Innuendo did a double-take."I saw you in the paper, you on top of that sub at Ala Moana!"
"You saw that, huh?"
"Yeah, incredible!"
The door opened on the 15th floor, both men stepped off.
Gomes stopped in front of 1527.
"Is this your home?"
"My friend's," Gomes said as Laurie answered the door.
"I'm Al," Innuendo lied and shook Gomes' hand. "Nice to meet you." Then Laurie's. The whole time looking past them inside the condo. A small foyer. A kitchen opening to the left. Bedroom to the right. "Have a nice evening."
He continued down the hall, heard the door close. At the end of the hall he checked the fire door, found it unlocked from the other side.
He took the elevator back to the garage, waved at the security guard as he drove out. Half a block away he turned into a condo. With binoculars, the corner bedroom would give him a perfect view of Laurie Tang's condo.
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