Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery

Hani’s looks but Foxx’s personality,” I said.
“You think so?” Foxx asked.
“You don’t?” I asked.
Sora smiled and he handed Foxx his phone back.
“Yuto told me you two were good friends.”
“What else did he say?’ Foxx asked.
“That you and he didn’t get along for a while but that your relationship had taken a positive turn recently,” Sora said.
“That’s right. I guess it has,” Foxx said.
Sora turned to me.
“So, Alana asked you not to see me.”
“You have to admit your sudden appearance has caught everyone off-guard,” I said.
“As I was afraid it might. I thought there was a better way to handle it, but Yuto insisted. I’m certainly not blaming him. He’s done so much for me.”
“He also said you’re leaving earlier than expected for Japan,” I said.
“I’ve decided against that in the hope that Alana and Hani may change their minds.”
“I hope you’re not here to ask one of us to help with that,” I said.
“No, I wanted to meet Ava’s father and thank him for taking care of her. I already got the chance to thank you for doing the same with Alana.”
“Why did you leave them? I can’t imagine ever doing that to Ava,” Foxx said.
“I’m not the same man I was. That’s not an excuse. What I did can never be forgiven. Luana and I got married way too young and Alana was born before we knew it. My family was against the marriage. They didn’t approve of Luana because she isn’t Japanese.”
It was an ironic statement, I thought, mainly because Ms. Hu had expressed to me recently that she didn’t approve of me because I wasn’t Japanese or Hawaiian.
“You were still together for several years. You must have loved her,” I said.
“I did, but I started drinking because of the pressure my family was putting on me. My drinking got worse, which only made things more difficult between Luana and me.”
“She started to resent you because your family didn’t like her,” Foxx guessed.
“Yes, which was more than understandable. She felt I didn’t do enough to stand up for her. The fighting got worse between us.”
“And that’s when it got physical?” I asked.
“Luana told you about that?”
“A while back. I was surprised she confided in me,” I said.
“You don’t have a good relationship with Luana?” Sora asked.
Foxx laughed.
“You could say that,” he said.
“That’s unfortunate. I would have thought she’d understand the importance of the parents supporting the marriage.”
“She must have been absent the day that lesson was taught,” Foxx said.
“To answer your question, Mr. Rutherford, I struck Luana once when I was intoxicated. The truth is that I don’t even remember doing it. She told me about it the next morning and asked me to leave. I did. I went back to Japan with the intention of returning to Maui once I got myself clean. It took several months, but when I thought that I was ready to reestablish contact with my family, I felt too ashamed. As the years went by, it became harder and harder.”
I didn’t respond, nor did Foxx. What were we going to say? The man had just admitted to striking his wife or at least being told that he’d done so. There was no excuse for that in my book.
Sora reached into his shirt pocket and removed a business card, which he handed to me.
“This has my personal contact information. Yuto already has one. He said he would give it to Hani. Perhaps you can give this card to Alana should she change her mind.”
Sora slid out of the booth and stood.
“You both seem like fine young men.”
“Not so young anymore,” Foxx said.
Sora smiled.
“It was a pleasure to speak with you both. If we don’t see each other again, I wish you tremendous happiness.”
He turned and walked out of the bar.
“What do you think of that?” Foxx asked.
“I don’t know what to think.”
“He doesn’t seem the type to have done what he did.”
“I know.”
“So, he’s either a changed man or he’s pulling the wool over our eyes.”
“What was that you said earlier today? You believe people can change?” I asked.
“Yeah, but how do you know the guy really did? It would be a hell of a thing for Hani and Alana to open up to their father again, only for him to hurt them a second time.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Are you going to tell Alana he came by, especially after she told you to stay out of it?” Foxx asked.
“I have to tell her. I can’t keep something like that a secret.”
“Good luck, buddy. Let me know when you do that so I can stay here at Harry’s.”
“I don’t blame you one bit.”
I said goodbye to Foxx and made the short drive back to Kaanapali. I’d been at home for about an hour when Alana got back. As soon as she walked through the door, I could tell she was in a foul mood.
“Keeping secrets from me again?” she asked, and she tossed her car keys on the kitchen counter.
I searched my mind for how she might have learned about her father’s meeting with me. I didn’t think Foxx would have told her, so my brain turned up an empty list of tattletales.
“I’m not sure what to say. Who told you?” I asked.
Alana got this confused look on her face.
Then she asked, “What are you talking about? Josh Parrish told me.”
“Josh?”
“You know, about your little meeting with him at the coffee shop. Why didn’t you say anything about it?” she asked, and she walked into the living room and sat on the sofa beside me.
“It was when you were deep into the wedding planning. I didn’t want to be a distraction. Besides, it didn’t seem that big of a deal.”
“Not a big deal? He said he told you to butt out of his case.”
“If I had a dollar for every time someone told me to butt out,” I said.
“It was a bit of a surprise that he’d act like that.”
“How so?”
“I’ve known Josh for a long time. He didn’t strike me as the type to