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After leaving the Coopers, Derek drives around the next corner and pulls over to check his phone. There’s an email from the PI.
“He’s spinning the same story he told Hudson: seeking to contact Selkie Moon on a private matter requiring her urgent attention.”
“Delete.” If only my Andrew problem was that easy to fix. But I’ve forgotten what Derek suggested earlier.
“I think I need to answer it, Selkie. And control his next move. Make it look like I’m good for more gossip – while we think of a better plan than just blowing him off.”
He dials the number in the email and talks while he drives.
“Derek from the Surreal Deal. You want to get in touch with Selkie Moon? Weird name and she keeps changing it. That might make her hard to find, brah.” I realise Derek is hamming it up because he thinks this guy isn’t local.
“Don’t worry. I find people. Do you know where she is?”
“Not really.” He grins at me. “On the run from something, by the looks. I met her in a bar where every guy was buying her a drink. After she told me she could type, I thought she meant all ten fingers and offered her a job. Glad to see the back of her, if you must know.”
The PI’s answer is dry. “Her last known whereabouts would help. It’s important.” Then he adds, “Brah.”
“OK. I think she was couch-surfing but she’s moved on. Let me ring around and see if I can get a line on her for you. Give me a few hours.”
“Thanks. Appreciate it.”
“I do a bit of investigating myself. Return the favour sometime.”
In just a few minutes Derek has flipped the threat and we’re laughing. It’s a lesson in not playing the victim.
Arriving in Honolulu, we walk to the Lava Flow. Over Tropical Itches we hatch a plan for his next call later tonight.
Then after ordering our second drinks, we return to the ‘surreal deal’ of the day: Sage. Derek was getting the croquet kit when we were discussing the wehe ceremony, so I bring him up to date on the possibilities about Audrey.
“After Sage mentioned her gran dying, Lolana got thinking. If Sage heard Rosemary’s two names spoken by her gran, she could have created an imaginary friend. No spirit of Roxie, no unfinished business. Just a girl with two names to remind her of her gran.”
“That fits with my observations,” he says. “When I watched Sage concocting her own rules for the croquet – and making everyone play them – she reminded me of another five-year-old. A bossy one.”
Shit. I wonder why that didn’t occur to me. “Roxie.”
“Did the wehe process morph the two little girls into one? Or –”
“– was there only ever one?”
Like a child playing all the characters in a play, did Sage breathe life into Roxie?
“Once upon a time,” Derek says, “a very wise woman told me something: ‘Invisible friends are not ghosts’.”
As Gracie said, we’ll never know. Thank heavens for two fresh glasses of Tropical Itch.
*
Back at the office, we’re well-lubricated when Derek makes his second call. “Look, brah. This is gossip. I’m worried it could be a snipe hunt. They’re a serious time suck.”
“Don’t worry. My brief is to follow all leads and long shots.”
Derek smirks at me. “Well, I’ll leave you to judge this information. The people I spoke to don’t want to talk to you. Selkie Moon slept on their couch for a while, after something happened to her hotel reservation. It was a temporary arrangement and she’s got an appetite! They wanted their couch and their fridge back, so they told her about live-in housekeepers. There are places in Honolulu, but the outer islands can be a better bet. My friends got the impression she’s hiding, so she might have skipped town.”
After the PI thanks him and hangs up, I throw my arms around Derek’s neck. “Did you just send Andrew’s expenses down a rabbit hole – and give his PI a Christmas present?”
“Pretty much. The search for poor Selkie could take him a few weeks. If she took a cash job – they still happen – Selkie might have another name. So I think he’ll ring around venues that advertise live-in positions and sift through possible candidates with Australian accents, then fly in to check.”
I can’t stop grinning. It feels like another ending.
It’s been a very big day.
*
Derek comes into the office on Monday and waits till pau hana to deliver a surprise. He’s decided to close the Surreal Deal.
“After witnessing Lolana in action,” he says, “I got thinking. As a medical psychologist, she’s a class act with training and experience in exorcisms – or psychological pantomimes – and the wisdom to know the difference. It reminded me big time, I’m an amateur. Without her involvement, I could have created real harm for Sage with my bumbling.” He drops his voice. “If I’m honest, you ran rings around me too.”
“DD, we’ve been working as a team, each with roles to play.” Does this mean the end of our teamwork? “I just happened to be a five-year-old in disguise, and that’s what Sage needed. One of those coincidences you’re so fond of.” He chuckles. “And without your support, Andrew would be running rings around me.
“Are you sure about this? You love the Surreal Deal. I’ve seen the way your eyes light up. It’s more than OK to be an amateur who cares. Sometimes that’s what people are looking for, a good listener – and you’re the best.”
“Mahalo, Selkie. To be frank it’s gotten to be a burden. Not everyone appreciates my unpaid investigations. And without the expectations of people with hauntings, I’m free to explore any phenomena that interest me. I’ll keep collecting ghost stories – with no strings attached.”
It’s another excuse for cocktails.