Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery

her, but she wouldn’t answer. She sent me a text message. She asked me to stop calling and not to text her either.”
“You asked her about the wedding, though, didn’t you?”
“I did. She didn’t respond. I don’t think she’s going through with it. I asked you here because I don’t know what to do. There are over one hundred guests coming. They need to be informed if the wedding is off,” Yuto said.
You may be wondering why Yuto seemed more worried about the guests than his relationship with his fiancée. I didn’t believe he was, but the man is a general manager. It’s in his DNA to make sure things run smoothly.
“There’s no need to concern yourself with the guests right now. You can get the word out quickly and you can do it the morning of, if it comes to that. I’m not convinced it will.”
“I appreciate your optimism, but I feel it may be misplaced.”
“Alana is with Hani and their mother this morning. I’m sure I’ll find out later today what Hani is thinking. I’ll slip you the information,” I said.
“You would do that for me?”
“Alana will understand. She’s your friend too.”
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I did what I did,” Yuto said.
“The question crossed my mind a few times.”
“Before I answer that, can I ask you a personal question?”
“Of course.”
“Does Alana ever talk about her father?”
“When we first started dating, I asked her about her parents. That’s when I learned that he’d abandoned them, but she hasn’t really brought him up since then. She said she’d gotten over it.”
“Do you believe that?”
“No, I don’t. But I also know Alana. She buried it deep. His absence isn’t important to her anymore.”
“Hani isn’t the same. I can’t tell you how many times she spoke about wanting to see her father again. That was one of her complaints about Douglas. She constantly accused him of being an absentee father like hers was.”
“That’s ridiculous. Foxx sees Ava all the time. He also completely supports her financially. I’m one of the few people who knows what he pays Hani. The truth is that she wouldn’t even have to work if she didn’t want to. Foxx’s payments are beyond generous,” I said.
“I’ve come to realize that my earlier negative opinions of Douglas were heavily influenced by Hani.”
“Foxx is a good guy. He may not have handled his relationship with Hani well, especially the way it ended. But he’s not the villain in this story. Neither is Hani. They’re simply two people who broke up and couldn’t get along.”
“He showed me a lot of kindness after what happened at the party. I was surprised.”
“You shouldn’t have been.”
“I know that now.”
“You said Hani wanted to see her father again. Did she ever try finding him?” I asked.
“I encouraged her to do it several times. She said she didn’t have the courage. As we got closer to the wedding, she told me how sad she was that her father wouldn’t be there to walk her down the aisle.”
“Hani really said that?”
“At least three or four times. That’s why I went looking for him. I knew his name and I knew his family had a successful business. It took me less than a minute to find him online.”
“What did you say when you contacted him?” I asked.
“I sent him a long email. I explained who I was and why I was reaching out to him. We emailed each other several times. Then we finally spoke on the phone. It’s my fault that he came to the party. He didn’t want to reintroduce himself to them that way, but I thought Hani would be thrilled that he would be at the wedding. She’d told me it was what she wanted.”
I’ve never claimed to be the wisest fellow, but there are several truths I’ve learned over the years. One of them is that you can’t always believe people when they say they want something. In fact, I’d wager that you should disbelieve them most of the time. If they wanted something, I mean truly wanted it, then they’d find a way to get it themselves.
“Have you spoken with Sora since the party?” I asked.
“I spoke with him this morning at breakfast.”
“He’s a guest here at the hotel, isn’t he?”
“Yes, I booked him a suite once he agreed to come.”
“He told me last night that he’ll be here on the island for another two weeks. Is that still correct?”
“I don’t know. When we spoke this morning, it sounded like he was going to change his flight and head back to Japan early,” Yuto said.
“That makes sense.”
“Is there something else you can do for me?”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Can you let Alana know I’m sorry for any hurt that I caused her? I intend to apologize to her in person, but I assume I’m the last person she wants to see right now.”
“I’ll let her know. Alana knows your heart, Yuto. She understands you’re a good person.”
“Thank you. I would have been honored to have you as a brother-in-law. I’m sorry it hasn’t worked out.”
“Don’t give up hope. The fat lady hasn’t sung yet,” I said.
“The fat lady?”
“Sorry, it’s probably not polite to use that phrase anymore, but it generally means that the show isn’t over until the woman of above-average weight appears on the opera stage to sing the final song. The point is, until you hear from Hani herself, I wouldn’t assume anything.”
Yuto didn’t respond.
“I do have one question,” I continued. “What do you think of Sora Hu? Does he seem sorry for what he did?”
“He does. He thanked me for opening the door to a possible reunion with Hani and Alana. You should have seen the look on his face when I picked him up at the airport. It had been over thirty years since he’d been on Maui. All he wants to do is repair his relationship with his children.”
I nodded.
“Thank you again for coming here, I appreciate your friendship.”
“You’re welcome, Yuto. I’ll let you know if