“Damn white of ya,” I said, smiling at Beatrice, whose mouth didn’t return the smile, though her eyes did; and I gestured again, for all of them to sit, and, finally, they did.
The geisha brought my coffee, and filled Thalia and Isabel’s coffee cups; Beatrice had turned hers over. Then the kimono cutie stayed around to take our breakfast order. I went for the fluffy eggs with bacon while Isabel and Thalia decided to share a big fruit plate. The waitress seemed confused as to whether to take Beatrice’s order, and Beatrice wasn’t helping by sitting there as mute and expressionless as Diamond Head itself.
“Are you having anything?” I asked her.
“No thank you,” she said. “I’m just along.”
“You mean like a dog?”
This immediately made everybody uncomfortable, except me, of course.
“Well, if you expect me to feed you under the table,” I said, “forget about it. You don’t like coffee? Get her some, what? Juice? Tea?”
“Tea,” Beatrice said softly. Her eyes were smiling again.
“And why don’t you bring us a basket of goodies we can all share,” I suggested to the waitress. “You know, muffins and what-have-you.”
“Pineapple muffins?” the geisha asked.
“Anything without pineapple,” I said with a wince.
That seemed to amuse all the women, and I sipped my coffee and said, “I’m glad you girls could make it this morning.”
“I’m going to stop by the desk,” Isabel said, beaming, “and see about my suite.”
“I talked to C.D. this morning,” I said. “It’s all arranged. They have a key waiting for you.”
“Swell,” she said, hands folded, smile dimpling that sweet face. It was pretty clear I had a date tonight. A hot one.
“It’s lovely here,” Thalia commented, rather distantly, the black lenses of her sunglasses looking out on the blues and grays and whites of that vista whose horizon you had to work to make out. Wind whipped the arcs of her dark blonde hair.
“Would you like to wait till after breakfast?” I asked.
She turned the big black eyes of her glasses my way; the rest of her face held no more expression than they did. “Wait till after breakfast for what?”
“Well, I need to ask you some things. Didn’t Isabel mention the reason for my invitation?”
A single eyebrow arched above a black lens. “You and Mr. Darrow already questioned me, yesterday.”
I nodded. “And he’ll question you again, and again, as will Mr. Leisure. And they’ll have their agenda, and I have mine.”
“And what, Mr. Heller,” she asked crisply, “is yours?”
Isabel, the breeze making her headful of blonde curls seem to shimmer, frowned in concern and touched her cousin’s wrist. “Don’t be mad at Nate. He’s trying to help.”
“She’s right,” I said. “But I’m not a lawyer, I’m an investigator. And it’s my job to go over details, looking for the places where the prosecution can make hay.”
Thalia shifted in her wicker chair; the surf was whispering and her monotone barely rose above it. “I don’t understand. This trial isn’t about me. It’s about Tommie, and Mother…”
She’d said much the same thing to Darrow.
I sipped my coffee. “This case begins and ends with you, Thalia…may I call you Thalia? And please call me Nate, or Nathan, whichever you prefer.”
She said nothing; her baby face remained as blank as the black lenses. Isabel seemed uneasy. Beatrice had long ago disappeared into herself; she was just along.
Thalia took a deep breath. “Mr. Heller…Nate. Surely you can understand that I’m not anxious to go into court and tell this story again. I hope that’s not the road you and Mr. Darrow intend to go down.”
“Oh but it is. It’s the only way a jury can be made to understand what motivated your husband.”
She leaned forward; it was getting eerie, staring into those black circles. “Wasn’t the Ala Moana trial enough? You know, many women hesitate to report a case of assault because of the awful publicity and the ordeal of a trial. But I felt it was my duty to protect other women and girls….”
Isabel patted her cousin’s hand again. “You did the right thing, Thalo.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t bear to think that some other girl might have to go through what I did,” she said, “at the hands of those brutes. From a personal standpoint, the punishment of these creatures was secondary to just getting them off the street—only the ordeal of that trial didn’t accomplish that, did it?”
“My investigation may,” I said.
She cocked her head. “How do you mean?”
I shrugged. “If I can gather enough new evidence, they’ll be put away.”
Her laugh was throaty and humorless. “Oh, wonderful! Another trial, after this one! When will this end? No one who hasn’t undergone such an experience can possibly imagine the strain upon not just the victim, but their family….”
“Isn’t that why we’re here?” I suggested.
“I would imagine you’re here because of money,” she snapped.
“Thalo!” Isabel said.
“I know,” she said resignedly, and sighed. “I know. Your Nate is only trying to help. Well, if going to court again, and testifying as to the details of that terrible night, will help my family…and save other girls from similar horrifying experiences…then I feel the end will justify the means.”
I might have pointed out that the end justifying the means was the kind of thinking that got her hubby and mumsy in such hot water; but since she seemed to have just talked herself into cooperating with me, I let it pass.
“Good,” I said. “Now—I was up late last night…” I took out my notebook, thumbing to the right page. “…going over the court transcripts and various statements you made…. Please understand that I’m only asking questions that the prosecution is likely to bring up.”
“Go ahead, Mr. Heller.” She forced a smile. “Nate.”
“Normally,” I said, “a witness’s recollections decrease geometrically with the passage of time. But your memory, about this unfortunate event, seems only to improve.”
Her mouth twitched, as if it were trying to decide whether to frown or smile; it did neither. “My recollection of the ‘unfortunate event’ is all too clear, I’m afraid. I suppose you’re referring to the statements I made that night, or rather in the early morning hours that followed….”
“Yes,” I said. “You were questioned by an Inspector Jardine, also a cop named Furtado, and of course Inspector Mclntosh, within hours of the assault. And several other cops, as well. You even spoke to the nurse at the emergency hospital, a Nurse Fawcett….”
“That’s right. What of it?”
“Well, you told these various cops, and Nurse Fawcett, that you couldn’t identify your assailants. That it was too dark. But you thought that maybe you could identify them by voice.”
Thalia said nothing; her Kewpie doll mouth was pursed as if to blow me a kiss. Somehow I didn’t think she had that in mind.
“Yet now your recollections include physical descriptions of the assailants, down to the clothes they were wearing.”
“I’m telling the truth, Mr. Heller. As I recall it now.”
“Make it Nate.” I took another sip of the coffee; it was a strong, bitter brew. “You also said, initially, that you were convinced the boys were Hawaiian, as opposed to Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, or whatever. You said you recognized the way they spoke as Hawaiian.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “They were all colored, weren’t they?”
“But only Kahahawai and Ahakuelo were Hawaiian, and two of the boys were Japanese and the last one Chinese.”
Another throaty laugh. “And you can tell the difference?”