Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery

was going to be a problem. Our consensus by the end of the drive to Kahului was that Yuto had bought a new sportscar for Hani. There was no agreement on Detective Parrish.
We found the jewelry store where Lee Walters worked. It was in a small section of shops and eating establishments. Foxx parked the SUV in the back of the lot, and we climbed outside.
“How do you want to handle this?” Foxx asked.
“Let’s just be upfront about it. He may not even know yet that Eric Ellis’ remains were found.”
The body’s discovery had made the local news, but the police hadn’t released Eric’s name.
We entered the shop and saw an elderly couple being helped by a female salesperson. Before we made it to the middle of the store, a short, thin man with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail approached us. He was dressed in a tan silk shirt and dark pants.
“Hello, gentlemen. Can I help you find anything in particular?”
“Yes, we’re looking for Lee Walters,” I said.
“You found him.”
“Mr. Walters, we’d like to talk to you about Eric Ellis,” I said.
His warm salesman’s smile vanished.
“I don’t know anyone by that name,” he said.
“Sure, you do,” Foxx said. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
“I have nothing to say. I just told you that I don’t know him.”
“Mr. Walters, are you aware that the police found Eric Ellis’ remains recently?” I asked.
Lee said nothing, and I could tell from the look in his eyes that he hadn’t heard the news.
“We understand you were good friends with him. We want your help in finding who killed him,” Foxx said.
“Are you guys cops?”
“No, we’re private investigators,” I said.
“Who hired you? Gracie?”
“No, we were hired by Mele Akamu,” I said.
“Mele Akamu? Now I know you’re lying.”
“Why would that make us liars?” Foxx asked.
“Because Mele Akamu would be the last person who’d want to be looking into Eric’s death. She’s the one who killed him.”
He’d said the phrase, “She’s the one who killed him,” much louder than he’d probably realized. The elderly couple at the other end of the store turned and stared at us.
“Perhaps we should have this conversation outside,” I suggested.
“No, let’s go back to my office. More privacy there,” he said.
We followed Lee Walters through the store and into an office behind the sales counter. We had a seat in front of his desk. Lee shut the door and then walked to the other side of the desk and sat down.
“You said the cops found Eric’s body. Where was it?” Lee asked.
“North Maui. A dog walker found it in a shallow grave,” I said.
“How was he killed?”
“Gunshot to the back of the head,” Foxx said.
“Poor bastard. He didn’t even have a chance.”
“What was your relationship with Eric?” I asked.
“We were best friends since childhood. We both grew up dirt poor, but we didn’t know any better.”
“How did you end up working for Mele Akamu?” Foxx asked.
“She hired us when we were kids. We’d deliver things for her on our bikes. No one stops to think two poor kids are carrying anything valuable. As we got older, she started giving us more and more responsibility.”
“Mele Akamu told me that Eric knew a lot of details about her business, things she wouldn’t want to get out,” I said.
“Sure, he did. I did too.”
“Can you tell us what changed? What made Eric turn on her?” Foxx asked.
“She paid us peanuts when we were kids, but it didn’t matter to us. We had nothing in our pockets before, so to have some money, even if it was just a little, was a big deal for us. Here’s the thing, though, when you start out at the bottom of an organization, it’s damn near impossible to get to the top of it, especially if your last name isn’t Akamu.”
“It’s a family business and she made it clear you weren’t going anywhere,” I guessed.
“She didn’t have to. It was obvious. Eric got tired of it. He approached me about getting out. He tried to convince me that we should do our own thing.”
“When you say, ‘do your own thing,’ does that mean you’d have been in direct competition with Mele Akamu?” Foxx asked.
“Yeah, and that’s why I told Eric I wasn’t interested. That’s a surefire way to end up dead.”
“Only he didn’t listen to you,” I said.
“No, he didn’t. Word eventually got back to Mele. I don’t know how Eric thought it wouldn’t. So, she did what she always did, and she sent Samson to find him.”
“What happened then?” Foxx asked.
“Samson sent the message. He beat Eric so badly that he should have been in the hospital.”
“You saw this?” I asked.
“Yeah, I was the one who found him on his living room floor. I started to dial 911 but then Eric told me not to. He said he didn’t want the ER doctors contacting the police. I stayed with him the rest of the day until Gracie came back. Then I left. That was the last time I ever saw Eric.”
“You’ve mentioned the name Gracie twice. Was that his girlfriend or wife?” I asked.
“Her full name is Gracie Ito. She was his girlfriend.”
“Is she still on Maui?” Foxx asked.
“Yeah, I talk to her from time to time.”
“What did Gracie think when Eric disappeared?” I asked.
“The same thing that I did. She thought he fled the island after his beating. She was upset that he didn’t take her with him. Then she became convinced that Mele Akamu had him killed. I didn’t believe it, not at first.”
“Why not?” Foxx asked.
“Because why would Mele Akamu have Eric worked over by Samson, only to go back and kill him later,” I answered for Lee.
“That’s exactly what I thought, but then I figured out what it was. It was Tavii.”
“Why Tavii?” Foxx asked.
“Because Eric couldn’t stand him and Tavii knew that. He lobbied his grandmother for years to get rid of Eric.”
“Why didn’t Eric like him?” I asked.
“Because Tavii is lazy and worthless, but he was still going to