Leilani and I drove to the police station, but the desk sergeant told us Jake wouldn't be able to have visitors for at least the next several hours. I gave him my number, and he said he'd call as soon as Jake was available.
"What next?" Leilani asked as we walked across the parking lot to my Jeep. Her face was scrunched up with worry. "I hate the idea of not even being able to talk with him."
"There isn't anything we can do here," I said. I knew my voice was beginning to shake, but things were starting to fall apart around me. "Let's go back to the office and work with Carly. She'll be getting there soon. I know Dorothy's the best at calming down a panicking bride, but maybe we can lend her a hand."
When we arrived back at the Wedding Center, Carly, Justin, and Aunt Audrey were at the conference table with Dorothy. Carly's face was puffy, and her eyes were bloodshot, but at least she'd stopped her apparent crying. All things considered, everyone seemed to be in a relatively good mood.
"Kristy," Aunt Audrey said, determination in her voice. "We've been chatting with Dorothy. She's been helping us put things into perspective. We can't change the horrible things that have happened this week, but now we're more determined than ever to see this wedding through."
I looked over at Carly. "Are you okay with everything?"
She nodded her head. "Yes," she said quietly. "Aunt Audrey's right. We need to do it, just like we've been planning."
I felt a wave of relief, knowing we'd dodged yet another bridal bullet. "Perfect," I said, mentally switching back into wedding planner mode. "The next event is the rehearsal tonight. We'll meet at five o'clock at the Overlook Chapel. We've scheduled an hour for that, and then we'll head over to Starlight on the Lagoon for cocktails and dinner. They're expecting us at six-fifteen."
"And tomorrow?" Carly asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't bring my schedule, and I honestly can't think right now."
"No worries," I said as I opened my tablet. "The ladies will meet for hair and makeup at the Hair Affair at noon. Everyone will get dressed here in the main building at three-thirty. There're separate lounges for the men and the women."
"What is the schedule for the ceremony?" Aunt Audrey asked. I could tell she was putting on a brave face for Carly.
"We'll meet at the Overlook Chapel for the first look ceremony at four-thirty." I then looked at Justin. "After you see your bride in her wedding dress for the first time, we'll start the formal group pictures. We'll start seating guests at five-thirty, and then we'll begin the procession at six-fifteen. We've timed the ceremony to coincide with the sunset."
"What about the weather tomorrow?" Carly asked nervously. "Will it rain?"
I gave her my best wedding-planner smile. "I've already checked the forecast," I said. "No rain, but there should be enough clouds to give us a spectacular sunset."
* * *
Once the bride, the groom, and Aunt Audrey had left, Leilani also took off to go to a class. I pulled out my tablet and busied myself by going through my standard pre-wedding checklists.
I checked on the flowers, the stationery, the DJ, the officiant, and everything else associated with the ceremony and the reception. After visiting our storage area and making several phone calls, everything seemed to be ready.
Then I stopped by the office of the resort's activities director, Juls Kekoa. I checked with her to make sure there weren't any last-minute issues with the venues or the catering. When she assured me everything was on track, I started to feel a little better.
The next stop on my list was the Overlook Chapel, a beautiful garden space on the far side of the resort where we'd be holding the ceremony. It sat on top of a small cliff that stood above the beach. With stunning views of the Pacific Ocean, it was the perfect place for an outdoor wedding.
Over the last few months, Nick Woodfield and the landscaping crew had worked to make the space more practical for weddings. They'd added an arbor-like alter and an overhead trellis, which was covered in bougainvillea and flowering clematis for shade.
As I passed the entrance to the main pool, on my way to the chapel, I heard someone calling my name. I looked over to see Victoria sitting on a barstool at the Hula Hut, the fun and always busy poolside bar with the palm-frond thatch roof. Once we made eye contact, she waved me over.
Victoria didn't look like she was dressed for a hike. Instead, she'd freshened her makeup, combed out her long blonde hair, and was wearing four-inch cobalt blue heels. She had the remains of a Shark Bite sitting on the bar in front of her.
"Kristy," she said, sounding a little frustrated. "Have you seen Derek?"
"The last time I saw him was at breakfast. He said he was going to do some sightseeing and shopping today." I again eyed her up and down. "Are you still going on a hike?"
"Oh, no," she said, now sounding evasive. "I decided I wasn't up for hiking today. I was supposed to go, um, shopping with Derek instead. He asked me to meet him here at the Hula Hut. But he should have been here like forty-five minutes ago."
Something about the anxious tone in her voice made it clear she thought something was wrong. I only hoped it wasn't more trouble, especially after the things we'd been learning about Orson and how much he hated Derek.
While Victoria was speaking, I noticed that Timo, the daytime bartender, was listening to our conversation. Knowing he was the biggest gossip at the resort, I stared at him, letting him know I could see what he was doing. He gave me his best innocent look, then wandered to the far side of the bar and started cleaning glassware.
"Have you tried his cell?" I asked, knowing she probably had, but trying to be helpful anyway.
"Several times," she said with a frown. "It seems to be turned off."
She was clearly agitated, and I wanted to calm her down, if I could. "Are you looking to buy anything in particular?" I asked. "There's a shop for almost anything you could want around here."
Victoria didn't respond. She simply stared into space, as if she was thinking about something else. Finally, she seemed to get a spark of an idea and turned to me.
"Have you seen Madeline lately?" she asked, confusion and suspicion in her voice.
I thought about it, then shook my head. "I haven't seen her since this morning when she was with you at breakfast. I thought she said she was going down to the beach today."
"That's what I understood as well," she said slowly.
As Victoria continued to think, she looked out over the swimmers in the pool and began to mutter to herself. "No, there's no way. How could she do it? It would be obvious. He'd have to know."
Suddenly her eyes opened wide. "Oh my god," Victoria wailed, like a kid who'd had her candy stolen. "She's been wearing a freaking hat since she came back from the salon yesterday afternoon."
"Okay," I said, now even more confused. "I remember the hat, the one with the daisy. It was cute."
"That witch!" Victoria exclaimed as she stood up and stomped out of the pool area. I could see she was making a beeline for the bungalows.
My cell phone rang with a number I now recognized as Aunt Audrey's. "Hello," I said as I answered it. From the sound of the waves in the background, I could hear she was somewhere near the beach.
"Kristy," she said. "Something rather strange has happened. I need to talk with you about it, right away."
Her voice sounded off, but fortunately, it didn't seem panicky. Still, I mentally sighed. I didn't know how many more problems I could cope with today.
"Of course," I said in my best wedding planner's voice. "Where can I meet you?"
"I'm at The Lava Pot," she said, still with the strange tone. "I'll wait for you."
As I started over to The Lava Pot, I noticed Detective Ray walking into the resort from the direction of the beach. He stopped at one of the showers to wash sand and bits of kelp off his sandals. I guessed he must have been at the murder scene.
When he saw me walking toward him, he let out a deep sigh. He then stopped under the shade of a cluster of coconut palms. I hurried up to him as he patiently waited for me.
"Detective Ray," I said, trying to keep the desperation from my voice. "I heard you arrested Jake for the murders. You must know he didn't have anything to do with either one."
"Kristy, I didn't arrest him for the murders," he said in his annoyingly flat, monotone voice. "I'm holding him for questioning. He hasn't been charged with anything, yet. Your wedding is tomorrow evening, correct?"
"That's right, six-fifteen at the Overlook Chapel."
"Whatever's going on here seems to have something to do with your group from California. If there's going to be more trouble, things will likely come to a head before then."
"But, I'm confused. If you think it might be someone in the wedding party, why arrest Jake?"
"It's for his protection, as well as everyone else's. Plus, if there's any more mischief, I'll at least know where Jake was."
I nodded my head to let him know I understood. Unfortunately, knowing Jake hadn't been charged didn't make me feel any better about the situation.
"Detective, let me tell you what I've found out since yesterday," I said. "It might help you figure out who actually committed the murders."
"Miss Piper," he said, sounding tired. "I've already asked you once not to meddle with my investigation."
"I'm not interfering," I protested. "But I am keeping my eyes open. Don't you want to know what I've learned?"
"Fine," he said as he pulled out his notebook and a pen. "The last time we talked, you believed Eddy Martin was the likely killer of Alex Adair. Is that still the case?"
"Well, no. Eddy and Roxanne both have alibis for last night. They were at The Lava Pot when the murder occurred. If the same person killed both men, it couldn't have been Eddy."
"How can you be sure Eddy Martin wasn't involved? Do you know when the man on the beach was killed?"
"I was also at the bar, a couple of tables away from them. And wasn't the time of death eight forty-five?"
Detective Ray's eyes opened wide. It was the first time I'd ever gotten some emotion from him.
"Huh, it seems that the time of the murder has become common knowledge," he said with a shake of his head.
I decided it was probably best not to tell him that he was the one who'd let out the time of the murder by talking in front of a teenager who was live-streaming the investigation.
"I'm now pretty sure Orson Cross is the person with the most motive to have killed Alex," I stated.
"And how do you figure that?"
"We already talked about how Orson almost got kicked out of school because Alex cheated off his English paper. I also told you how Alex was intimate with Lauren, who was Orson's girlfriend at the time."
"I remember," Detective Ray said, looking like he'd rather be anywhere other than standing here discussing the case with me. He flipped back two or three pages in his notebook. "When Orson Cross found out about the affair, you said it broke his heart."
"Well, that's not all. After college, Orson handed a brilliant idea over to a company Derek created. When Orson said he wanted some of the profits his idea was generating, Derek fired him, and Orson got nothing."
"So exactly how does that lead to Orson Cross murdering Alex Adair?"
"When Orson started seeing lawyers to take Derek to court over stealing his idea, Derek sent Alex over to Orson's house. Alex hit him in the face as a warning."
"Do you have any proof that Derek sent Alex to assault Orson?"
"No, it's speculation, but it seems to be common knowledge within the wedding party."
"And do you have a motive for Orson killing the man on the beach last night?"
"Eduardo Castellani? No, I haven't heard anything about that one yet."
"Miss Piper," Detective Ray said, sounding tired and frustrated. "Please stop interfering with my investigation. All you're doing is giving everyone practice at answering the questions I might want to ask them later on. That doesn't help anyone but the murderer."
* * *
I made my way over to The Lava Pot, where I found Aunt Audrey perched on one of the barstools, holding the remains of a Lava Flow. She had the haunted and drawn face I've come to associate with someone who's heard some bad news. With everything else that had happened over the last few days, I felt a fresh sense of dread creep over me.
"Hi," I said as I sat on an empty barstool next to her.
Casey Dalton, the cute English bartender, slid another Lava Flow across the counter to Aunt Audrey.
"Kristy? Your usual?" he asked with his beautiful accent. I shook my head, and he shrugged as if to say, suit yourself. He then walked to the end of the bar and started chatting with his wife, Samantha.
"How are you doing?" I asked as Aunt Audrey picked up her fresh drink and started sucking it down through the straw.
She looked at me, but it took a second for her eyes to focus. The Lava Flow I'd seen in her hands when I'd walked in must not have been her first.
"Oh, Kristy," she said, her words slurring slightly. "I just talked with Detective Ray. He gave me the most remarkable news."
"Really?" I asked.
As far as I knew, Detective Ray's news was usually bad. I'd never heard him share any information that was remarkable. I had a sudden, horrible thought. "Oh, no. Was it something about your necklace?"
Aunt Audrey nodded her head. "The appraisal came back, and he showed it to me."
"What did he find out? Did somebody switch out the diamonds with fakes?"
"Not exactly," she said with a slow shake of her head. "The detective received an appraisal from a place called Liko's Jewelry. All of the diamonds and rubies are genuine and of excellent quality. The total value of the necklace was estimated to be two hundred and ninety-five thousand dollars."
"Wow, that's a lot of money. But why the surprise? Were you expecting it to be higher?"
Aunt Audrey glanced around the bar to make sure no one she knew was there, then she leaned toward me and spoke in a low tone.
"The necklace I brought to Hawaii was a fake. The last time it was appraised, it came in at a little under two thousand dollars, and most of that was simply from the gold."
"Okay, would you like to tell me about it?"
"There isn't a lot to tell. When my husband first bought the necklace, it was appraised for fifty-two thousand dollars, which was a little over what we'd paid for it. But about ten years ago, I noticed my necklace had changed."
"Really? What changed? The necklace I saw you wearing the other night looked gorgeous."
"Oh, it was still beautiful, but I'd been wearing it for thirty years by that time, and it simply felt wrong. I also noticed the color of some of the rubies seemed to be slightly off."
"That must have spooked you. What did you do?"
"I had it re-appraised by the same jeweler who'd performed the original assessment. He informed me that every stone in the necklace was now nothing more than a high-quality imitation."
"Do you have any idea who took it or when it happened?"
She nodded and took a long sip of her latest Lava Flow.
"I'm sure it was switched during a party I had for Carly and her friends from the university during their senior year. I think I once told you I held a party for them every spring. I ended up filing a claim with the insurance company."
"And they paid off the claim?"
"They did. Every penny of the most current appraisal, which at the time was a little under two hundred thousand dollars. I put that money into a managed brokerage account for Carly. It's what paid for this week in Hawaii, and the rest will go toward the down payment of her house."
"Did the police investigate Carly's friends?"
Aunt Audrey's face softened. "Well, I'm afraid I might have been a little vague with the detectives in Palo Alto about when I thought the necklace was stolen. I didn't want to ruin Carly's life by accusing her closest friends of being thieves."
"But still, you're talking about the people here, in the wedding party?"
Aunt Carly nodded her head. "I'm pretty sure that someone Carly invited to the wedding took it."
"But if it was ten years ago, why would someone go through the trouble of stealing the fake and returning the real one?"
"I've been trying to figure that out myself. Maybe they've felt guilty for all these years and decided to return it."
I voiced another thought. "Does Carly know the necklace you brought to Hawaii was a fake?"
Aunt Audrey shook her head slowly. "I'd planned on telling her after she'd worn it down the aisle at the ceremony. As I've told you before, the piece holds many fond memories for Carly and me. I knew she'd get a good laugh when she found out the necklace had paid for both the wedding and her house."
"But now that it's real?"
"It doesn't matter. Carly will get all my jewelry after I pass, so it doesn't worry me if she gets the nicest piece first. I can live with that. But I'll show her the new appraisal so she can properly take care of it."