Moped of love

Kona Weathers, driving his father's Camry with Kalapana on the CD player, was just a few blocks from delivering Su Lik to HPD Detective Sherlock Gomes and what appeared to be a growing convention at Officer Quinn Ah Sun's home.

Actually, Kona knew, it was Sun's wife's house, purchased from profits of Ola Essences and the Honolulu Soap Co. What a score, Kona thought, find a wife who's great looking and rich. Sheesh. As a college student looking forward to a career in law enforcement, he wasn't planning on ending up a millionaire. Rich wife sounded good.

Su Lik, with a beautiful face and more curves on a petite frame than he was used to, was merely beautiful. Like him, she was broke. She worked as a waitress at Fook Yuen, had earlier called a friend to fill in for her today.

Lu Wi had been her boyfriend of six months, she told him on the drive out from Moiliili. She hoped to marry him, but when he admitted that he worked as a house boy for Te-Wu, and that after all the regular agents were arrested he intended to carry out their orders to kill the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa, plus a child whose head was glowing like a living Buddha's, she fell out of love.

"That's good," Kona said, rather too honestly.

"Actually, I only kind of fall out of love. I still care. Lu Wi is good man, but Communists make him blind. Maybe I talk to him one more time, maybe he see then."

"Maybe ... "

"Oh! Stop! Moped! Lu Wi's, I think!"

"What?" Kona said, slowing and pulling over.

Su Lik jumped out of the car when it was still moving, raced 30 yards back to where a purple moped was chained to a light pole adjacent to a bus stop.

Kona followed, dialing Sherlock Gomes' cell.

"This is Lu Wi's moped!" she exclaimed. "See here?"

"Don't touch it -- fingerprints."

She pointed to the gas tank where an artist had painted in gold a heart, inside which were several Chinese characters. "It say, Lu Wi and Su Lik forever long life prosperous."

She looked away, wiped at a tear, remembering happier times when she rode on the back of the moped, arms wrapped around her Lu Wi, Lu Wai.

Kona called Gomes with the news.

"Tell you what," Gomes instructed, "why don't you just drive through the neighborhood, see if she spots our guy. He can't be far."

As a matter of fact, he was half a block away, kneeling between two cars parked on the street, wondering who the guy was with his Su Lik, and why they were out here.