Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery

and Mele Akamu?” I asked.
“There was one argument I overheard. The same day that Eric went missing, he got into some heated exchange on the phone with someone. I asked him about it afterward, but he told me not to worry about it. He said it would blow over.”
“Did he tell you the person’s name?” Foxx asked.
“No, but I heard him say Stan on the phone.”
“No last name?” Foxx asked.
“No, just Stan, and I don’t know anyone by that name,” she said.
“And you have no idea what the argument was about? Did they mention money or anything like that?” I asked.
“No, I definitely didn’t hear anything about money. I would have remembered that.”
“Did you hear Eric say Tavii or Mele’s name to this person?” Foxx asked.
“No, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what it was about. Eric raised his voice a few times during the call. He usually didn’t do that.”
“Other than members of the Akamu family and this Stan person, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Eric?” I asked.
“No, there was no one.”
“Thanks, Ms. Ito. We appreciate your time,” I said.
“Do you really think you can prove Mele Akamu killed Eric after all of these years?” she asked.
“We’re going to do our best to find who killed him,” I said.
“What do you mean? We already know it was Mele Akamu.”
“It certainly might have been, but we still have to find the evidence,” I said.
We stood and Gracie walked us to the door. We thanked her again and made our way back to Foxx’s SUV.
“How do you think that went?” Foxx asked as we climbed into his vehicle.
“We got one new lead out of that interview,” I said.
He put the SUV in reverse and backed out of the parking space. Then he pulled onto the road and we started the drive back to Harry’s.
“Yeah, but a pretty thin one at that. Some guy named Stan, but she had no idea what they were talking about. Do you believe her?”
“Partially. If she was eavesdropping enough to hear the name, then she must have heard something else.”
“Especially if Eric raised his voice. She said he hardly did that.”
“Whatever she heard, it was important enough for her to remember that phone conversation and that name five years later,” I said.
“What do we do now? How in the world do we track down this Stan guy?”
“There might be one person who knows.”
“Mele Akamu?”
“I think it’s time I see her again. She wanted an update. Perhaps I should give it to her in person,” I said.
“Are you going to confront her about her lies?”
“Why not?”
“What about this Samson guy? You want me to come along?”
“I appreciate the offer, but she won’t hurt me.”
“How are you so sure?”
“For whatever reason, she’s decided that I entertain her.”
“Okay, but what if she grows tired of the show?” Foxx asked.
“That’s a possibility. We’re still only in act one, though. We have a long way to go.”
Foxx said nothing.
“What did you think of her statement when she said that Eric had changed and that he wanted out of the game?” I asked.
“It contradicted what Lee Walters told us. He said Eric wanted them to go into business for themselves. Sounds to me like Eric was still very much going to be in the game if he got his way.”
“Do you think people are capable of change?”
“You don’t?” Foxx asked.
“No, I don’t.”
“I’m surprised to hear you say that.”
“Why?”
“Because you of all people should know people can change. Look at you. The guy I knew in Virginia would never go back to someone like Mele Akamu and call her a liar.”
“Does that mean the new me is reckless?” I asked.
“Not reckless. Definitely more daring, but not reckless. I have a theory about that.”
I laughed.
“I’d love to hear this.”
“The way I see it, once you landed a woman who looked like Alana, you realized anything was possible,” Foxx said.
“I can’t argue with that.”
“No, buddy boy, you can’t argue with the truth. And just think, you owe all that confidence to me.”
“How do you figure?”
“Because you never would have stepped foot on this island if I hadn’t practically dragged you out here.”
I didn’t reply. Why? Because Foxx was right again.

12


The Father-In-Law
After getting back to Harry’s, Foxx invited me inside to talk more about the case and our interview with Gracie Ito. It felt good to be able to bounce thoughts off of someone else since I usually worked alone.
We’d been at the bar for about thirty minutes when an elderly Japanese man entered. You guessed it. It was Sora Hu. He spotted us in the back-corner booth a few seconds later and walked over.
“Good afternoon.”
“Mr. Hu,” Foxx said.
I nodded.
“Might I have a seat?” he asked.
“Actually, Mr. Hu, I made a promise to Alana that I wouldn’t get involved,” I said.
“I understand, but I was actually here to see Mr. Foxx.”
That was interesting, I thought, and I chided myself for assuming he’d come to Harry’s for me. One could have interpreted his comment as a request for me to leave. I decided to contradict myself for the hundredth time in the past few days, and I slid over so he could sit beside me.
Sora Hu paused a moment. Then he sat down.
“Yuto told me you both owned this bar. He also said Mr. Foxx is here most days,” Sora said.
“You wanted to see the father of your granddaughter,” I guessed.
“That’s right. Yuto never sent me a photo of Ava. I think he believed that should be left to her mother to send,” Sora said.
“That’s admirable. As Ava’s father, I think I also have that right,” Foxx said, and he slipped his phone out of his pocket.
He found a photo of Ava and handed Sora the phone.
“That’s a photo of us taken last Halloween,” Foxx continued.
“She’s adorable,” Sora said.
“Thank you,” Foxx said.
“She looks just like Hani at that age. They could be twins.”
“Poe frequently reminds me of how lucky I am that Ava doesn’t look like me,” Foxx said.
“She got