Read Livin' Lahaina Loca for Free Online Page B

while he leaned in and peered into the back seat.
    “Is
this the hair you’re talking about?” he said pointing at the ponytail, as if I
had a backseat piled with various clumps of disembodied hair.
    “Yes,
and it’s the same color as the woman who’s gone missing.”
    “Huh.
And you think this indicates foul play?”
    “No
one’s heard from her for almost two days now.” 
    He
stared at the pavement and rubbed a hand across his mouth as if deep in
thought. “It’s not against the law to cut your hair, you know, Ms. Moon. I
guess you could claim this as littering or improper disposal of waste, but I
don’t really see a crime here.”
    “There’s
a woman with hair just like this who’s been missing for two days ,
Detective. Oh, and check this out:  someone keyed my car. It probably
happened when they put the hair in there.”
    He
ran his finger along the deep scratch that ran the full length of my car.
“Yeah, that’s a pretty deep scratch. You’re going to need to get that
professionally buffed out. It may require a whole new paint job.” He turned and
shot me a smile. “If you’re looking for a police report to file an insurance
claim, just say so. No skin off my nose. But don’t worry about the hair. It was
Halloween night—in Lahaina. We arrested seven people down there, mostly drunk
and disorderly. We caught a couple of guys urinating in public; even had a
minor stabbing incident outside the Bubba Gump’s. Guy used a dinner fork, can
you believe that?”  
    He
stared at me, I stared back.
    “Okay,
fine. I guess that’s it then,” I said. I reached for the driver door handle.
    “Don’t
go just yet,” he said. “Let me bag this hair. You mind hanging out here for
another couple of minutes? I need to go inside and grab an evidence bag.”
    As
soon as he was out of sight I looked at my watch. It was already
seven-forty-five on the West Coast. I pulled out my cell phone and called my
potential client. I got her voicemail.
    Hi! This is Trish. Buddy proposed! If you want to
leave congratulations or a fabulous message, wait for the beep. And if you’re
Susan, get over it. He picked me, not you. Ha, ha! Bye-ee!
    I
doubted I could come up with a message on the fly that Trish might consider fabulous ,
so I just left my name and number and then launched into a short commercial
message about my business, ‘Let’s Get Maui’d.’  I told her we were the
perfect choice for conducting her nuptials in Maui— you bring the dream, we
bring the team , yada, yada. I was nearly finished when my phone peeped the
low battery warning. I hurriedly ended the call with a sincere-sounding note of
congratulations, even though everyone in the world knows you’re supposed to
congratulate the groom, not the bride. But Trish’s voicemail greeting had
tipped me off she probably wasn’t going to be a stickler for the finer points
of wedding etiquette.
    Wong
returned clutching a wad of evidence-gathering paraphernalia, including a
couple of monster-sized plastic baggies, a pair of latex gloves, and a black
felt pen. He snapped on the gloves and eased the ponytail off the seat and into
one of the bags. Then he scribbled a few notations on the bag and sealed it.
    “We’ll
be in touch,” he said.
    “That’s
it? Don’t you want to write down my statement?”
    “I’ve
got what I need, Ms. Moon.” He started to walk away, then turned back around.
“Were you in Lahaina Town last night?”
    “Yes,
I already told you I was. That’s where my car was parked when I found the
hair.”
     “And
you were down on Front Street?”
    “Yes,
I already said that too.”
    “Drinking?”
    “No,
I was looking for the missing girl—uh, woman—the bridesmaid.”
    “It
was Halloween, you know.”
     “Yes,
detective, I’m well aware it was Halloween.”
    “A
night for pranks and practical jokes.”
    “I’m
not the joking type, detective.”
    “No,
Ms. Moon, you probably aren’t. But if I know anything, it’s that