Even though Carter's murder had been solved, I still had some lingering questions that needed answered. And Liam Pratt seemed like the one person who might be able to help me fill in the blanks. He knew about the relationship between Edwin Axelrod and Kazuo Pelekai and may have discovered Axelrod's affair with Darlene. I wondered what else he had uncovered that could possibly connect Carter's death to the others and Ramirez's suicide to the alleged suicide of Axelrod.
I dropped by the offices of the Honolulu Press, where Liam worked, hoping to catch him there. I walked up to the front desk in the lobby.
"How can I help you?" a twenty-something Polynesian receptionist asked.
"I'm looking for Liam Pratt," I told her. "Can you tell me where his office is?"
"Yes, I can tell you, but you won't find him there," she said. "Liam's on assignment. You just missed him."
Oh, hell, I thought. When I finally do want to see him, he makes himself scarce.
"Can you tell me where he is?" I asked. "It's important..."
She studied me the way a jealous woman might, almost making me wonder if Liam was bedding the pretty young woman.
"My name's Skye Delaney," I said, deciding to put my cards at least partially on the table. "I'm a private investigator. Liam and I have been working together on a case..." I considered this to be true in a roundabout way, even if he didn't know it yet.
She gave me a thoughtful look. "Oh yeah, I read about you and all the crazy stuff that's been going on at your house."
"Yes, definitely crazy," I told her, but I wasn't looking to turn this into some girl chat right now.
She seemed to read my mind. "Well, I'm not sure exactly where Liam is, but I can give you his cell number, if you don't already have it."
Actually, I did and told her so.
After I got back into my car, I phoned Liam Pratt, putting him on speakerphone.
He answered on the first ring. "Skye," he said, as if we were longtime buddies. "Believe it or not, I was just thinking about you."
"Oh really," I said. I didn't even want to imagine the exact nature of those thoughts. I recalled our last meeting and the mild flirting that seemed to be going on, more his way than mine.
"That so hard to believe?" he asked. Background noise suggested he too was driving.
"Actually, no," I admitted, considering the source.
"It's not what you think," Liam said mysteriously. "I was hoping we could talk. Guess you felt the same way..."
"Maybe I did," I conceded, as he now had my full attention. "Why don't you go first?"
"All right," he said. "I've been doing some digging into these recent deaths that appear to be connected to Carter Delaney and, to tell you the truth, I'm not really satisfied with the official findings—" Liam paused as if gathering his thoughts. "I found a common thread between Delaney, Edwin Axelrod, and Antonio Ramirez that I think is worth checking into."
"I'm listening..." I told him.
He continued. "A man named Trevor Baldwin worked for Delaney and, most recently, Axelrod, as a driver, bodyguard, and all around errand boy," Liam informed me. "According to my sources, Baldwin is a forty-five-year-old Persian Gulf War vet who carries some psychological baggage from his tour of duty and a bitter divorce. Delaney allegedly fired him for stealing money. Although he was no longer employed by Axelrod, a witness saw Baldwin coming from the building the day Axelrod was killed."
"Interesting," I said, while remaining skeptical that this information was tied to Axelrod's death. The police had not labeled Baldwin as a suspect in Axelrod's death nor had they indicated that Baldwin had any connection to Carter's murder. "But what does that prove, other than Trevor Baldwin couldn't hold onto a job and he may have visited the building that day?"
"For one, it gives us someone—besides those already noted—who could've had it in for either man," Liam answered equably. "But here's where it gets even more interesting. I had my man on the force run Baldwin's name through the system. He spent time in the joint for attempted murder. And guess who he roomed with for a while?"
"Adam Ramirez," I replied. It seemed to fit when I put the pieces together.
"Bingo!" Liam yelled into the phone. "Antonio Ramirez's brother. Doesn't that strike you as just a little bit too coincidental?"
"How about a lot too coincidental," I told him, as the improbable connections raced through my mind. "Frankly, it does seem almost too weird to be true."
"I know," Liam concurred, "but the facts speak for themselves. I found out that Baldwin was also charged once with breaking and entering, but it never went to trial after the victim mysteriously disappeared. I admit that one thing may have absolutely nothing to do with the other in these scenarios and happenings. But, when you put it all together, it could be that Trevor Baldwin is a ticking time bomb on the loose..."
"Even if I were to believe that Baldwin is a threat to society and may have killed Axelrod," I said, "Antonio Ramirez's DNA was a positive match to blood found on my dog when he bit someone in my house the day Carter was killed. There was no indication that Ramirez had a partner in crime or was there to stage his suicide."
"So maybe Baldwin did a damned good job to make it appear that way," Liam speculated. "Stranger things have happened."
It seemed like this case had been full of strange twists and turns, I thought. So why not another?
"Are you on your way to talk to Baldwin?" I asked Liam, conceding that this turn of events could be much more than a wild goose chase.
"Not exactly," he said. "The man's been hard to track down. Seems like he never stays in the same place too long." Liam cleared his throat. "However, I've got a lead on a woman who supposedly knows Baldwin. I'm on my way to see her right now. Her name is Natsuko Sasaki. I think you know her..."
My heart skipped a beat in that moment of shock. Natsuko Sasaki, my mind repeated as if I'd heard him incorrectly. My housekeeper!
What did she know about any of this? I wondered. Was Trevor Baldwin Natsuko's boyfriend, in spite of her supposedly strong anti male sentiments? I refused to believe that she could possibly have had anything to do with Carter's death.
At least not until I heard it from her. Natsuko's apartment was not far. I preferred to discuss this face to face with her, while hoping that Liam was way off base.
"And what was it you called to talk to me about, Skye?" he asked, snapping me out of my trance.
I told him, which amounted to the same reason he had called me. But now there were new players involved in what had become an increasingly complicated and potentially dangerous game of life and death.
I finished with: "I'll meet you at Natsuko's..."