CHAPTER 46

After court, I picked up two cheeseburgers at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Waikiki and drove to Audra’s home in Ewa. We ate in silence at her dining room table, then she offered me a gin and tonic.

“What, no wine?”

She didn’t smile. She poured me a Bombay Sapphire and tonic and set it on the table. “So how’s your case going?”

“The state put on its first witness today, a seventy-two—”

“No, I mean your case. The prostitution charges.”

It was my turn to not smile. “You know it’s bullshit. I had no idea I was walking into a rub-and-tug. I went in for a massage to try to thwart the constant pain in the back of my neck.”

Audra shrugged. “Have you spoken to the prosecutor?”

“Of course not. Why would I do that?”

“It’s your first offense. They’ll probably offer you a plea to a petty misdemeanor and slap you with a five-hundred-dollar fine.”

“It’s already a petty misdemeanor. But that’s beside the point. I’m not pleading guilty to anything. I didn’t do anything.”

“What do you say to your clients when they tell you that?”

I almost told her that my clients were liars, that the truth was irrelevant, that trials were all about what could be proved. In my head, a thousand voices seemed to shout at me all at once, each of them protesting their innocence, just as I had to Audra a moment before.

“Look,” I said, massaging my temples, “can we talk about something else?”

“Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

“You.”

“What about me?”

“When you return to work, are you going back to the US Attorney’s Office?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t sure why I asked. What would have possibly changed her in the past two months? Did I think she was suddenly going to switch sides and ask to join my firm as an associate?

“Do you plan on staying in Hawaii?” I said.

“Yeah. How about you?”

I took a pull off my drink. “How about me, what?”

“Are you staying in Hawaii after Turi’s trial?”

“No,” I said, though I hadn’t given the matter much thought in recent weeks. But then, I’d made my decision to leave Honolulu when I decided to expose its entire police department, hadn’t I? I couldn’t stay here in the islands. Not if I wanted to live. Bullets are bad for my health.

“They finally broke ground on Water Landings,” she said after a few moments of awkward silence.

“Congratulations,” I said, my mind flashing on the brochure still sitting at home on my kitchen counter. “No more protesters?”

“Some. But most of them moved up to the North Shore. That’s where the next big fight is taking place.”

“The Waimea Valley project,” I said, leaning back. “Pamela Omphrey told me that if the governor caved on that issue and allowed development to go forward, she’d divorce him.”

Audra shrugged. “He may not be in office long enough to cave.”

I frowned. The governor remained seven points ahead with less than a month to go before the election. Of course, you couldn’t script October. Not in baseball, and certainly not in politics.

“What’s John Biel’s stance on the Waimea Valley project?” I finally said.

“He’s generally against any further development on the North Shore, but he’s been uncharacteristically quiet on the Waimea Valley project.”

“Who’s the developer on that project?”

“Who else? T. S. Duran Properties.” The name dripped off her tongue like sour milk. Meeting Tommy Duran in person had no doubt diminished some of the excitement surrounding her first home purchase. “So, is Detective Tatupu going to testify at Turi’s trial?”

“Not unless I can prove the corruption at the department independently. Then I have a shot at him. He won’t bury the HPD himself, but I get the feeling he’d be more than happy to put the final nail in the coffin.”

She shook her head as her mouth contorted into a frown. “How are you going to prove that Detective Bristol intended to kill Turi when there’s no physical evidence whatsoever to suggest that?”

“By showing the jury where that physical evidence went, and how.”

“You’re truly going to suggest to the jury that the police, one, removed a bullet casing from the scene; two, removed the vehicle that the bullet had lodged into and brainwashed the owner of that vehicle to say that vehicle never existed; and three, destroyed Bristol’s service weapon and handed over a false weapon to the defense so that it would look as though Bristol never fired a shot.”

I pursed my lips. “Among other things, yes.”

“Solely by crossing the lead detective on the case?” she said incredulously.

“That’s right.”

“And when is this scheduled to happen?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

Audra folded her hands and rested her chin on top of them.

“What are you thinking?” I said.

“I’m thinking I might actually leave the house tomorrow morning. This is going to be something to see.”

I took a hit off my gin and tonic, thinking about how much I hated gin.

“You wouldn’t mind my being there, would you?” she said.

“Just be sure to get to the courthouse early tomorrow morning,” I cautioned her as I stood to leave. “Or else you won’t get a seat.”