Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery

be handed the keys to the kingdom. That’s what really pushed Eric over the edge. Tavii had what Eric wanted and no amount of hard work was going to ever pay off, no matter how long we stayed there.”
“Did Mele Akamu suspect that you were in on it with Eric?” Foxx asked.
“If she did, I wouldn’t be alive today. But it wasn’t like she was ever going to let me close to her business again. She got rid of me and that’s how I ended up in this BLANKING place.”
For new readers, I usually omit the offending words so as not to upset delicate people. I once had a man threaten to sue me because he almost died while reading one of my mystery tales, which is ironic since they’re always about death. Apparently, he was eating a ham sandwich when he came across a naughty word that made him gulp. This also had the unfortunate result of him getting a piece of ham lodged in his throat. Fortunately for him, his wife was nearby, and she applied the Heimlich maneuver. He did mention in the bottom of his threatening email that he enjoyed the story, but he only gave me one star on Amazon since I’d almost gotten him killed.
“If Tavii was the one to convince his grandmother to get rid of Eric, do you think he might have been the one to kill him?” Foxx asked.
“No chance. Tavii would never have the balls to do it himself.”
“Would he have gone behind his grandmother’s back and hired someone else to do it?” I asked.
“Doubtful. Again, he’s terrified of her. I don’t think he’d risk it, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t help change her mind about Eric.”
“Hypothetically speaking, if Mele didn’t kill Eric, who did?” Foxx asked.
“There’s no one I can think of. Eric didn’t have a beef with anyone but the Akamu family.”
“Is there any chance we can get Gracie’s contact information from you?” I asked.
“Yeah, sure. I know she’ll be willing to help you catch Eric’s killer any way she can.”
Lee wrote Gracie’s information on a notepad with his jewelry store’s name and logo at the top. He tore off the piece of paper and handed it to Foxx. We both thanked him for his time and exited the store.
Foxx turned to me as we climbed into his SUV.
“I don’t know, pal. He made a convincing argument as to why it was Mele Akamu who did this.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t explain why she’d hire me to find Eric’s killer if she was behind it,” I said.
“What about that comment he made about finding Eric on the living room floor after that Samson guy beat the hell out of him? Didn’t you tell me that Mele Akamu said that Samson couldn’t find him?”
“She obviously lied about that,” I said.
“In your experience, if a client lies about one thing, do they lie about everything else?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Did you buy his argument that Tavii might have had something to do with it?”
“It’s possible. Tavii does seem like a sniveling weasel. But Lee also said that Tavii would be too scared to go behind his grandmother’s back.”
“Only we know that’s not true from our own experiences with Tavii.”
“Sure, it’s not true now, but it might have been true back then,” I said.
“When do you want to see this Gracie person?”
“I need to be getting home now. Alana wants me to help prep for this party, so maybe we can try to see Gracie tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. Hey, you want to put any money down on whether or not Hani likes this surprise gift?” Foxx asked.
“She’ll like it. I feel pretty confident about that.”
I couldn’t have been more wrong.

8
The Party
My dog, Maui, is usually a happy-go-lucky fellow, content to lounge in the sun, go on long walks, and eat treats whenever they’re offered. Nevertheless, he shows a different personality whenever someone he doesn’t know comes to the house. Long story made short, there was no way I could have him in the house for Yuto’s party since I had no desire to pay off any lawsuits when he inevitably latched onto someone’s ankle.
The morning of the big event, I hooked him up to his harness and walked him down to Foxx’s house. Maui lived in that house for the first few years we were together, so he knew the lay of the land and felt comfortable there. Foxx was home since he’d decided to take the day off from Harry’s, so he kept Maui company while I helped Alana prep for the party. Is it weird that I’d want someone to keep my dog company? If you’re a dog person, then you’ll understand.
Our house was designed for entertaining, which was kind of ironic since we rarely did it. The first floor has a large, open layout, and the back wall is basically one giant window looking out to the ocean.
The company Hani hired to provide the food and drinks for the event installed a temporary bar on the patio, not far from the swimming pool. They also set up a tent in the yard, under which two long tables of food would be available to the guests. The final touch was a three-piece jazz band for live music. I’m sure you can guess that was my contribution to the party.
Alana’s best friend, Raine, was the first to arrive, which was by design. Alana wanted her help making sure everything was exactly in the right place. You may be wondering why she didn’t rely on me for that. There’s an easy answer to that question. She doesn’t trust my style when it comes to entertaining, not that she should. I’m not exactly a sophisticated guy. If I’d been placed in charge, I would have put a couple of coolers on the patio and filled them with beer. Of course, there was the jazz band I just mentioned, so I’m not a completely hopeless case.
Alana’s mother was the next person to arrive, which for some