Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery

did I blow it?” Foxx asked.
“Hani, of course. That could have been you marrying her next week, but thank God for small miracles,” Ms. Hu said.
“You can say that again,” Foxx said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ms. Hu asked.
“It means exactly what you think it means. I dodged a major bullet when I ended things with your daughter,” Foxx said.
“How dare you,” Ms. Hu said.
“Let’s take it down a few notches, both of you. This is supposed to be a celebration,” I said.
“Poe’s exactly right. It’s a celebration that I won’t have you as a mother-in-law,” Foxx said.
Ms. Hu was about to reply when Yuto suddenly appeared at the back gate.
“Attention everyone. Can I have everyone’s attention?” Yuto asked.
The crowd grew silent. Yuto stayed by the gate instead of walking closer to the partygoers, which I found a bit odd.
“First, I’d like to thank everyone for coming. Your presence means a lot to us and we can’t wait to see you a week from today when Hani and I officially tie the knot,” Yuto said.
The crowd broke out into applause. I looked to Hani. She was still standing beside Alana.
“Hani, you’ve made me the happiest man in the world, and I wanted to return the favor. I’ve brought someone here and I know you’ll be thrilled to see him again after all of this time,” Yuto continued.
He turned from the crowd and signaled the mystery person to appear. Yuto stepped away from the gate and a Japanese man around sixty-five years old walked into the backyard.
“Oh my God,” Ms. Hu said.
I turned to her and saw her eyes roll up into her head. She fainted and I managed to catch her right before her head struck the concrete patio.
“Why did you have to be so fast in catching her?” Foxx whispered to me.
“I couldn’t let her hit the ground.”
“Who do you think that is?”
“I have no idea,” I said.
I picked up the unconscious Ms. Hu and carried her into the house past a confused Hani and curious partygoers who watched and murmured to each other. Alana hurried up to me as I placed her mother on the sofa in our living room.
“What happened?” Alana asked.
“A combination of too much bourbon and the shock of seeing whoever that was,” I said.
“Is Mom all right?” Hani asked from the open sliding glass door.
“She’ll be fine,” I said.
Hani stepped into the house and walked over to Alana.
Yuto followed Hani inside and rushed over to Ms. Hu to check on her.
“Do you know who that man is?” Hani asked.
Alana didn’t answer her. Instead, she looked past Hani to the older, Japanese man who was standing where Hani had been a second before.
“Is your mother okay?” the man asked Alana.
“She’ll be fine,” I said a second time.
“Who are you?” Hani asked.
“He’s our father,” Alana said.
“What the BLANK!” Hani yelled.
Mr. Hu stepped inside the living room.
“What are you doing here?” Alana asked.
“Yuto found me. He wanted to surprise Hani,” Alana’s father said.
Hani started to sway as well, and she steadied herself by grabbing the back of a chair. Yuto came to her aid.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
He put his arm on her shoulder, but Hani shoved it away.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
Alana scowled at her father.
“You’re just going to pop back into our lives and do it at a party? Why not jump out of a damn cake?” Alana asked.
“You’re right. I should have done it another way, but this is how Yuto wanted it,” he said.
“Now you’re going to blame Yuto for your bad judgment?” Alana asked.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” Yuto said.
“Shut up, Yuto. No one asked for you to talk,” Hani said.
“I understand how mad you are, Alana,” her father said.
“No, I don’t think you do,” Alana said.
“Perhaps you should leave, Mr. Hu,” I said.
“Yes, I think you’re right,” he said, but he didn’t immediately leave. Instead, he looked at both Alana and Hani for a few more moments. “Yuto has told me so much about you both. You don’t know how happy I am that you’ve grown into such amazing women.”
“Does my husband need to show you the door or can you find it on your own?” Alana asked.
“Come on, Mr. Hu. Let me walk you out,” I said.
“As you wish.”
I led Mr. Hu through the kitchen and out through the door that led to the open garage.
“Did Yuto drive you here?” I asked.
“Yes, but I can call a taxi to get back to the hotel.” He paused a moment. Then he asked, “You’re Edgar Rutherford, is that right?”
“Yes, I’m married to Alana.”
“Yuto told me a lot about you too. Thank you for loving my daughter and taking such good care of her.”
“We take care of each other,” I said.
Mr. Hu nodded.
“I’m here on Maui for another two weeks. Please let Alana and Hani know that I’d love to talk to them if they change their mind.”
“I will.”
Yuto’s surprise had been a train wreck of biblical proportions and I feared this might be the end of his relationship with Hani.
By the time I walked back into the house, Ms. Hu was coming around, or at least pretending to come around. You may have found her fainting spell a bit of an exaggeration on my part. It wasn’t. I told you the truth about what happened.
That said, I wasn’t entirely sure she’d really fainted. Her body hadn’t been as limp as I’d expected it to be. Did that mean she’d faked it as a way of not dealing with the reappearance of her ex-husband? It was a possibility.
You may also be wondering why Alana recognized her father and Hani didn’t. Hani was quite young when her father abandoned his family and went back to Japan. Alana is a few years older than Hani, old enough to have remembered what their father looked like.
“Are you all right, Mom?” Alana asked.
“What happened?” Ms. Hu asked.
“You fainted. Poe caught you,” Alana said.
“Why did I faint?” Ms. Hu asked.
Her ridiculous question convinced me