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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Lono’s reward
>> Around Oahu
It was amazing, HPD Detective Sherlock Gomes thought, how thorough the hunt club had been at the Rockin' Pikake Ranch. The crime scene guys found zero evidence that 20 people had ever been imprisoned here and hunted. It was all contained in the truck that served first as prison, later as morgue.
So Lono Oka'aina was soon bunking down in his own bed again, but a bachelor rancher no more. Raydean Gonsalves bunked with him. The next day she gave her two-week notice at Fujioka's Market, and it was a sad day for everyone, but her future lay with Lono and the ranch. Over the years she would work side-by-side with him. She would get her hands dirty, the 'aina under her fingernails, and in so doing make it her own. Together they would create first a thriving stable and later a growing family, and the Rockin' Pikake would pass to another generation of Oka'aina.
But that would come later. Now, as Gomes prepared to leave the ranch, there was one loose thread remaining.
"Seven of those beauties are yours," he said, nodding to where a dozen horses grazed in a pasture back of the house. "The others were brought in by club members. I've seen how you are with those animals, Mr. Oka'aina. You have a way with horses. Tell you what, HPD is going to seize the members' horses and leave them in your care. Privately I'll talk to the chief, have the mayor do a proclamation giving them to you as reward for helping to break up the club." The new stable was off to a very good start.
Gomes headed back to town via Kaneohe, opening up the '71 Barracuda and letting it run. Arriving at Queen's, he spoke with Shauny Nakamura, then with Imelda Iglesia, the Manila street kid who was nabbed by the one they called Tex. When the INS announced it intended to deport Imelda the governor stepped in, and when word spread through the Filipino community that she was an orphan a prominent physician adopted her.
Back at HPD headquarters, Gomes tried to keep his mind off Dr. Laurie Tang as he started on the paperwork. This is what he'd be doing for the next few days -- the ugly side of police work. He was just finishing up for the day, anxious to get to Laurie's condo when the chief called, asked him to come up to the fifth floor. When the chief explained the case he was assigning to Gomes, the detective said, "Holy cow!"
"No," the chief said. "That's a Hindu thing. These are Buddhists."
Note to readers: This week we're tying up loose ends from the two previous books, "The Honolulu Soap Company" and "Hunt Club." On Monday, June 9 we begin the third, "False Teeth."
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com