A few minutes later, we were at the door of Akiko Higashi. According to Natsuko, she lived with her three-month-old daughter Eva, and Trevor Baldwin was reportedly the father. Liam and I were both eager to talk to Akiko, each having our own agenda with a common goal of getting to the truth, which increasingly seemed to center around Trevor Baldwin.
We knocked on the door several times before it was finally opened. It took me maybe two seconds to recognize the face before me. She was the receptionist at the Manoa Aloha Clinic on Punahou Street that I visited as a possible place where Carter's killer might have gone for treatment after being bitten by Ollie.
Immediately I began speculating... Could Trevor Baldwin have shown up at the clinic to get medicine or bandages from his girlfriend so he could treat Ramirez's wounds from Ollie's bite? If so, Akiko could have easily made sure there was no record of it. And it likely would have gone unnoticed by the busy doctor on duty.
Akiko stood there in her bare feet wearing a blue tank top and cut-off jeans. It was clear from her expression that the recognition was mutual. She was cradling a baby, who looked at me with mild curiosity.
Akiko stared, but waited for me to speak first. I glanced at Liam, who was still clueless, and back again.
"Are you Akiko?" I asked, though I had little doubt.
"Yes," she confirmed.
"My name's Skye Delaney," I told her. "I think we met once before at the Manoa Aloha Clinic."
She gave a slow nod of acknowledgement, and Liam raised a brow.
"I'm a private investigator. And this is Liam Pratt, a reporter with the Honolulu Press. We're looking for Trevor Baldwin."
Akiko assessed us uneasily, then said: "He isn't here."
I took her at her word, taking the opportunity to find out what we could before confronting Baldwin.
"Do you mind if we come in for a few minutes?" I asked.
She fluttered her lashes. "What for?"
"Baldwin might be in a lot of trouble," Liam told her. "And you could be, too. The police will likely be coming your way next. I think the smart thing would be to talk to us first—"
I could see why Liam had gone into reporting. He had a way of getting his point across and making you feel as though he was on your side.
It worked, as Akiko Higashi invited us in.
Her apartment was a carbon copy of Natsuko's. Only it was less tidy, more furnished, and reeked of marijuana.
"You want to sit down?" Akiko asked nervously.
We sat on an old sofa, while Akiko, still holding her baby, remained standing.
I sighed and then got right to the point. "Natsuko's my housekeeper. But I'm sure you know that—"
"Yes," Akiko admitted. "What did she tell you?"
"Enough to know that you and your boyfriend—Trevor Baldwin—may have used Natsuko to get information about me, my dog, and my house that could have led to multiple murders starting with the murder of Carter Delaney."
Akiko's eyes grew with fear. "I didn't have anything to do with any murders—"
I wasn't so sure about that. "You might have to prove your innocence to the police," I told her.
She kissed her baby fretfully. "I never expected any trouble. Trevor told me he worked for Carter Delaney and that it was Carter who wanted him to learn some basic stuff about you. No one was supposed to get hurt—"
"But more than a few people did get hurt," I said. "And not just the dead." I glanced over at Liam and he took the lead.
He asked Akiko: "Did you know that Baldwin spent time in prison for attempted murder?"
"No," she said. "He never told me that."
"Yeah, there are probably a lot of things he didn't tell you," Liam said, "like the fact that he was fired by Carter Delaney for stealing and was once a cellmate of Adam Ramirez."
The baby started to wail. "You made her cry," Akiko said, rocking her gently.
I gave Liam a "cool it" look, though he was only trying to clue her in as to the type of man she had let into her life and what he was capable of. The reality was that there was still no proof that Trevor Baldwin was a brutal killer or that Antonio Ramirez had not acted alone in Carter's murder and the others. Right now, Akiko was the one person who could make the pieces of the puzzle fit for the police to take it seriously.
I tried a different angle with her once the baby was quiet again. "Did Trevor ever come to you at the clinic for medicine or dressing to treat an injury or a dog bite?"
The question seemed to throw her for a moment. Holding her daughter close to her chest, Akiko answered slowly: "Yes, he said a dog had bitten his friend and he needed my help. I gave him what he wanted."
I couldn't help but think again of Akiko's words: "No one was supposed to get hurt." If Baldwin was behind the deaths, I thought, then he clearly had every intention of hurting certain people and didn't give a damn who he had to walk over to achieve his lethal objectives.
I gave Akiko the weight of my stare, and demanded: "Where can we find Trevor Baldwin now?"
"I don't know," she said in a shaky voice. "We stopped seeing each other right after—"
"Get smart for once in your life, Akiko," barked Liam. "We both know that Baldwin still comes to you whenever he wants some action. If this man's who I think he is, he's already killed at least three people and certainly won't have any qualms about killing another, especially if he feels threatened by someone who may know too much about him—"
Realizing that she had no other options as Liam's harsh message hit home, Akiko gave us an address for Trevor Baldwin. I wasn't really interested in seeing her go down with him. Like me, she had no doubt been taken in by a smooth talking man whose charms would come back to haunt her.
"One other thing," I told her, "if you hear from Baldwin, be smart and don't mention our little conversation or otherwise tip him off. It could be a matter of life and death—yours."
We left her on that note and now had to hope we could find Trevor Baldwin before he either skipped town or decided to target someone else for death.