Poe's First Law: A Murder on Maui Mystery

to take them all on at once?
“Samson, it’s okay. Let’s hear what the good detective has to say,” Mrs. Akamu said.
Samson stopped in his tracks. Then he walked back to Mrs. Akamu and stood beside her chair. He was loyal, I’ll give him that.
“Mr. Rutherford, imagine seeing you here,” Detective Parrish said.
“Hello, Detective,” I said.
Detective Parrish turned to Mele Akamu.
“Mele Akamu, you and Samson Opunui are under arrest for the murder of Eric Ellis,” Detective Parrish said.
He then proceeded to read them their Miranda rights as two of the uniformed officers moved toward them with handcuffs. One of the officers tried to yank Mele Akamu to her feet, only for Samson to level him with a punch to the throat that was so fast I barely saw it. One of the other officers pointed his gun at Samson, while two more restrained him and put him in handcuffs. What was Mele Akamu doing during this struggle? She was smiling.
Mele Akamu stood on her own and turned to Mara.
“Ms. Winters, please contact Ruben Dalton for me and let him know what’s happened. Please also tell him that I wish for you to officially join our legal team.”
“I will,” Mara said.
One of the officers, apparently learning the lesson of his co-worker, politely asked Mrs. Akamu to put her hands behind her back, which she did. He then placed her in handcuffs.
“Cuff him too,” Detective Parrish said, and he nodded at me.
“What are the charges?” Mara asked.
“Obstruction of justice,” Detective Parrish said, and he walked up to me. “I told you to stay away from my case. Maybe this will show you that I’m not playing games.”
I said nothing.
“That charge will never stick,” Mara said.
“Maybe not, but he’ll still have the pleasure of spending the night in jail.”
“I’ll have him out within the hour,” Mara said.
“Perhaps, but that won’t stop me from enjoying hauling his handcuffed ass to jail,” Detective Parrish said.
You may be wondering if the detective’s harsh words enraged me. They didn’t. A bully’s main desire is to get a reaction out of you, and I was determined not to provide that. Besides, I knew Mara was correct. The charges would be tossed, and it wasn’t like this was the first time I’d gone to jail. It probably wouldn’t be the last.
“I’ll see you shortly, Mr. Rutherford,” Mara said.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll also phone your wife.”
“No need. She’ll find out soon enough.”
The officer tugged at my restraints and practically dragged me back toward the house. I saw Samson in front of me. He was being handled even rougher than I was. The police allowed Mrs. Akamu to walk without keeping a hand on her.
The meeting with Mele Akamu had certainly not gone the way I expected it to. The question was, where did this little adventure go next?

14


My Protector
Unfortunately, I can’t give you a description of the music I listened to on the way from Maui’s upcountry to the police station. The officers refused my request to turn on the radio. Just kidding, I didn’t ask that.
I recognized one of the officers from previous cases of mine. I knew he had a couple of kids and I inquired as to how they were doing. He said they were well. All in all, it was about as pleasant of a drive to a booking as one can get.
As we pulled into the parking lot, I saw that Mara hadn’t followed my request and had instead phoned Alana. She was waiting for us outside the building. Our three vehicles pulled to a stop. Detective Parrish was in his own car. I was in another with two of the four officers. Mele Akamu and Samson were in the third car with the remaining officers.
Alana bypassed my car and headed straight for Detective Parrish. Fortunately, I heard the exchange since one of the cops pulled me out of the police car before she reached the detective.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Alana asked.
“This is a conflict of interest for you. I’m sure you know that.”
I won’t repeat what Alana said immediately after his comment. I will give you one clue. She told him where he could put his claim of a conflict of interest.
“He has the legal right to talk to whoever he wants,” she said.
“I don’t see it that way.”
Alana turned to the officer beside me.
“Release him,” she said.
The cop looked at Detective Parrish.
“Don’t even think about it,” Detective Parrish said.
Alana stepped closer to him.
“Listen to me, you smug asshole, you have no idea how difficult I can make things for you. Is this really the hill you want to die on?”
Detective Parrish didn’t immediately respond.
I started counting in my head. One, two, three, four.
“Release him,” Detective Parrish said.
I hadn’t thought I’d get past two.
The police officer, the one whose kids I’d asked about, whispered in my ear as he removed the handcuffs.
“Sorry about all this,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said.
Alana turned from Detective Parrish and walked up to me.
“I assume your car is still at Mele Akamu’s house.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go get it.”
We started to leave when Mele Akamu called out to Alana.
“Detective Hu.”
Alana stopped and turned to her.
“Yes, Mrs. Akamu.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet Mr. Rutherford’s wife. You’re everything I heard you were and then some.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Alana looked at Detective Parrish again. For a moment, I thought she was going to extend him the middle finger, maybe even the middle finger from both hands. She didn’t. Instead, she gave me a quick, “Let’s get out of here.”
We walked across the parking lot and climbed into her car. She didn’t say a word until we got onto Hana Highway.
“I can’t believe that guy. What in the world was he thinking?”
“Interesting question. I’ve been trying to figure out his angle since that coffee shop meeting,” I said.
“Come to any conclusions?”
“He reminds me a bit of a co-worker of mine from the architecture days. The guy always tried to establish dominance from the start. If you pushed back, then you became