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I CAME BACK HOME AFTER class that evening to find a police cruiser in front of my house. Inside, Donnie sat at the dining room table with Detective Ka`imi Medeiros.
“Detective,” I said. “It’s, uh, great to see you? Would you like a cup of coffee?”
He shook his head.
“It’s about Davison,” Donnie said. He looked tired and drawn. I think most of Donnie’s prematurely gray hairs had Davison’s name on them. Anyone’s guess what Davison had done this time.
“Did you tell Detective Medeiros Davison left on Friday?” I set my bag down in my office nook and went into the kitchen for my usual glass of wine, but then, I thought better of it. I didn’t want Medeiros to think I was a lush. While I was in the kitchen, I noticed a frosty ice bucket sitting on the counter. A foil-wrapped cork protruded from the top. Donnie had been planning to celebrate something. Was it some kind of anniversary? I couldn’t think of anything. Whatever the occasion was supposed to be, this news about Davison had put a damper on it. I’d ask Donnie about the champagne after Medeiros was gone.
“Detective Medeiros wants you to call Davison,” Donnie said.
“He’s already back at school,” I said. “On the mainland. It’s six hours later there.”
“I realize that,” Medeiros said. “Usually goes better when they can talk to the mother.”
I came out into the dining room and sat down next to Donnie.
“When you say ‘the mother,’ you mean me?”
“This is about Randy Randolph,” Donnie said.
“Oh no.”
Medeiros explained his men had spoken to witnesses who had observed hostile interaction between Davison Gonsalves and the victim. Furthermore, Davison had been seen in the vicinity of Randolph’s apartment. I could see this was breaking Donnie’s heart.
“I think it’s too late to call the East Coast,” I said, to buy Donnie some time. “Maybe tomorrow would be better?”
“Don’t want to delay,” Medeiros said. “Better to do it now.”
“Does it have to be Molly?” Donnie asked. “Molly, Davison already knows you don’t think very highly of him. This is going to be hard for him.”
“What are you talking about? I’m very tolerant of Davison.”
“He told me what happened with the paper, in your class,” Donnie said.
“Ah. So he told you that he cheated? That he copied his entire paper from his friend and handed it in as his own?”
“He admitted he made a stupid mistake. And afterward, he could never get in your good books. He’s tried, Molly. He really has.”
I could tell this was new information for Detective Medeiros.
“Detective,” I said, “this was before I knew Donnie. Davison was a student in my class, where he uploaded a completely plagiarized paper. To a plagiarism detection website. Come on, that’s just insulting Geez. What a day. Did you hear about Crystal Phoenix?”
“What about her?” Donnie asked, although he didn’t seem very interested.
“She’s dead. A couple of hikers found her.”
Medeiros gave me a wary look.
“Where did you get that information, Professor?”
I remembered Pat wasn’t supposed to tell us anything.
“Oh, everyone’s talking about it on campus. Mahina State is such a gossipy place.”
“Professor, would you mind calling your stepson for us?”
I looked from Donnie to Detective Medeiros and back.
“I really don’t feel comfortable calling him.”
You can’t make me. And why should I? I should be celebrating with my husband right now, not spending my precious time wringing a confession out of my prodigal stepson.
Medeiros regarded me with a steady, calculating gaze.
“There was a body,” he said finally. “But it wasn’t Crystal Phoenix. Or Christine Roach, which was her birth name.”
“What?”
“The victim had Crystal Phoenix’s ID on her, which is how come we thought it was her. But when her former employers came in for ID her, it wasn’t the same girl.”
“It wasn’t Crystal? Who was it?”
“If I tell you, will you make the call?”
I had to hand it to Ka`imi Medeiros. He knew how to motivate me. I nodded yes.
“The victim’s name was Alison Boyd. She had been teaching yoga aboard the cruise ship. She visited the Laughing Lotus yoga studio the day before her death and had met the owners. They recognized her.”
“She must have had Crystal’s ID, though?”
“We think she borrowed it to get kama`aina discount at the shops. Not supposed to do it, but lotta people do.”
“So, what happened to her?”
“Probably just unfamiliar with the terrain. Big mistake to go out hiking by yourself here.”
“So, probably an accident,” I said.
“You ready to make the call, Professor?”
That was apparently the signal my stalling was over. Donnie gave me a faint nod as if to say, “Might as well get this over with.” He looked truly miserable.
I wasn’t so sure poor Alison Boyd really had gone out hiking by herself. If I was right, maybe Donnie’s life wouldn’t be ruined after all. I took my phone out of my bag and placed it on the table. The quilted turquoise case (chosen to match my Thunderbird’s paint job) looked frivolous and out of place, its little rhinestones glinting irreverently.
Medeiros produced a device that looked like a shiny black pack of gum and plugged it into my phone.
“Both one-party states,” Medeiros said, in response to my questioning look. “Your consent is sufficient. Please make the call on speaker.”