Mari's Notes: Sammy and Ilna, I thank my lucky stars for the two amazing friends I have in you. Your strength, talent and kindness simply blows me away.
Sammy, another incredible co-writing experience. And your finishing this after the two weeks you've had is a testament to your incredible talent and dedication. Xoxox
Sammy's notes: Mari & Ilna, I am in awe of your talents. Your friendship is a gift and I am thankful that I found both of you each and every day.
Sandy—In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt: Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.
To all the REAL Worlders—you guys are the absolute BEST! You make writing in this universe a pleasure. Your amazing support and enthusiasm along with all the reviews, tweets, emails and Tumblr comments prove what Mari, Ilna and I always say—our readers are THE BEST!
Liar Liar (1/2) Part 2 will be posted on Friday.
Rented Beach House
Diamond Head
Wednesday 8:45 A.M.
"What have we got?" Steve asked as he and Danny descended the stairs to the lower level of a sprawling Diamond Head mansion. As they reached the bottom they found the Medical Examiner standing in the doorway to an elaborately appointed media room, complete with a theater-sized movie screen which sat in front of three tiers of overstuffed leather recliners. Immediately inside the doorway was a fully stocked bar and refreshment area surrounded by several plush sofas and loveseats.
The overturned coffee table and several upended chairs, combined with the debris scattered around the room, was a clear indication there had been some sort of scuffle. Laying on the floor in front of one of the sofas, surrounded by several large pools of blood and what appeared to be a few carefully placed items, was the obviously dead body of a man.
"What the hell?" Danny asked.
"It appears as though the killer was leaving a message." Max Bergman stood from where he was squatting next to the doorframe, observing the room from a low angle. He and his team had arrived ten minutes earlier in response to a call from the HPD.
According to Duke, a housekeeper arriving for a day of work discovered the body and called 911 immediately. Since it was clear even from outside the room that the victim was deceased, and since Max knew immediately the staging of the scene would be important to helping find the killer, he and his team hung back and waited for Five-0 to arrive. "The housekeeper identified the victim as Federico Trice."
"The professional basketball player?" Danny asked as Chin joined the group in the doorway. "What's he doing in Hawaii during the season?"
"According to the housekeeper he's recovering from a recent knee surgery," Max answered. "This is his vacation home. He came here post-surgery to rest and relax. He arrived last week and was scheduled to return to the mainland to start rehabbing the knee next week."
Steve looked at Chin. "Let's find out how many people knew he was here."
"Will do," Chin said. "Kono is gonna interview the housekeeper if that's ok with you. Turns out they know each other from school so maybe she'll be more comfortable talking to a familiar face. She's pretty freaked out."
"Understandable," Steve nodded. "As soon as she feels up to it I'd like to start putting together a list of anyone who might have visited this guy since he's been on the island."
"I'll let Kono know," Chin said as he turned and headed back up the stairs, passing Catherine on her way down.
"If I had to hazard a guess I'd say Mr. Trice had some… issues concerning his love life." Max indicated what at first appeared to be random debris on the floor but with a little study was clearly something much more. "I'll let you photograph the evidence before I enter the room to examine the deceased."
"Hey, Steve, Duke said you guys were … wow, okay." Catherine stopped behind Steve and Danny, her eyes taking in the room and the victim.
"Yeah." Steve ran a hand through his hair. "Cath, I need you to get into the room and kneel up on that stool and get the best birds' eye shots you can." He handed Catherine a camera he'd borrowed from one of crime scene techs. "We need to memorialize all this evidence so Max and his team can get to work and get us a cause of death."
"I'm on it," Catherine said, stepping gingerly into the room and climbing onto a barstool. She took several general pictures of the area before beginning to carefully document the items surrounding the body.
"That's just … damn someone had an axe to grind." Catherine snapped several final shots then hopped down from the barstool and made her way back to Steve's side.
"Thanks, there was no way that stool would hold mine or Danny's weight." Steve turned to his partner. "Now that we have the pictures let's see if we can figure out who's sending a message about Mr. Trice and why."
They crossed to the body and for the first time were able to get a close look at its exact condition. Steve was no medical examiner but it seemed clear to him the man had been dead for at least a day or more. He was sprawled in front of a white couch, naked, with a carefully torn-out magazine ad covering his crotch.
"What the hell," Steve asked as they examined the scene.
"If I had to guess … " Danny grimaced as he noticed a large pool of blood surrounding the man's hip. He was afraid of what they might find, or not find, when they lifted the ad from its position covering Trice's groin. "I'd say the killer was either a woman or was connected to a woman he is … or was … involved with. I mean … those send a pretty clear message." Danny pointed to the dozens of condoms scattered around the body.
Still in their wrappers.
"And why cover him with a magazine ad? No way that fell perfectly into that position. Someone put it there purposely," Steve said.
"Did you notice what the ad is for?" Catherine said as she joined the two men beside the body.
"Tritan condoms?" Danny winced as he looked at the brightly colored ad trumpeting the company's tag line, 'Wrap It Up'.
"I think that confirms your theory that this is related to his love life in some way," Catherine nodded as she scrolled through the images she'd taken, checking to make sure they had everything they needed in preparation for sending the pictures to Chin. "Wait … Steve … they spell something."
She watched Steve steel himself before he gloved up and knelt to lift the magazine ad. Considering the amount of blood he wasn't sure what to expect. "He's … all there." He relaxed a bit and stood. "Sorry, Cath, what?"
"The condoms." Catherine held up the camera for him and Danny to see. "The spell out two words, well the same word twice, see?"
The condoms had been specifically arranged.
From the birds-eye view, they could see the words 'Liar, Liar,' written around the body.
Five-0 Headquarters
Wednesday 1:00 P.M.
"Did you get anything?" Steve asked as Catherine approached the smart table where he, Danny and Chin were examining the pictures of the crime scene and waiting for Max's preliminary report on cause and time of death.
"A few things," Catherine said as she reached the table and inserted a thumb drive into one of its ports. "It seems Mr. Trice has a very active love life. He has four children by three different women. Though according to an interview he gave Sports Illustrated last year he has a good relationship with each of the women and pays regular, and quite generous, support for each of the kids."
"Still it's kind of hard to believe there are no hard feelings in a situation like that," Chin said doubtfully.
"It does seem unlikely," Catherine agreed. "But as far as I've been able to tell so far everything was going along smoothly until three months ago."
"What happened three months ago," Steve asked.
"A twenty-two year old NBA cheerleader named Crystal Vance sued Trice for child support claiming he's the father of her four month old daughter. He disputes that. There were some ugly accusations thrown around including a claim that Trice, his manager and his coach all attempted to pressure her into terminating the pregnancy."
"Those are some pretty strong accusations," Danny said.
"She also claims she was fired when she refused," Catherine said. "According to Crystal Vance's attorney they made every attempt to settle the matter out of court and keep it out of the press but when negotiations failed she was forced to file a lawsuit."
"What were the results of the court case?" Steve asked.
"I'm waiting for a call back from the attorneys involved but from what I can tell it looks like Trice submitted DNA for a paternity test last week and the case was scheduled to go to depositions as soon as he got back to New York."
"Ok, talk to all of the women involved if you can and try to get a feel for anyone other than Vance who might not have been quite as happy as they pretended to be," Steve said.
"I'm on it," Catherine extracted her thumb drive and turned to head back to her office.
"Chin, did Kono get anything from the housekeeper on who knew Trice was on the island and who's visited him since he arrived," Steve asked.
"She got a list of names. Mostly people from the mainland who flew in for a day or two but there were a few locals as well," Chin replied.
"Help her interview the people on that list. Find out if any of them had any hint of something bad that might be going on in Trice's life. Especially in the relationship department. Danny and I are gonna head over to the Ultimate Fitness center in Honolulu. Judging from some of the pictures around Trice's house he hangs out there. We're gonna talk to some people over there and see if anyone knows anything."
"Sounds good," Chin said. "I'll let you know when Max's preliminary report comes in."
"Thanks."
McGarrett/Rollins Residence
Friday 8:00 P.M.
Catherine brought a bowl of chips and two lemonades into the living room and, after placing them on the coffee table, settled next to Grace.
"Alright, I need lots of help, Grace. It's been years since I've needed cold weather gear. So let's start by spending my birthday present from your dad, okay?"
Grace nodded. "I made a list." She held up her notebook and Catherine couldn't help but smile. "You need at least two sweaters and a jacket, like a warm ski one, and a hat and scarf and gloves. Waterproof ones and then a cute pair."
She regarded Catherine's bare feet.
"Do you have boots? Not like cool boots, snow boots?"
"Nope." Catherine grinned. "I have what you call cool boots and combat boots, that's about it. I haven't been stationed anywhere cold long enough to buy any."
Grace placed her pad on the table next to the laptop. "Okay, jacket first. My mom always says to shop outerwear first. Then we'll move on to the other things."
Grace clearly had a plan and Catherine was happy to let her have fun with the whole experience. She was excited for the trip to New Jersey and to see Nonna and meet a few more of Danny's relatives, and so was Steve. But Gracie was excited in the way only a twelve year old girl could be. She was positively bouncing with joy at the thought of them all being together in New Jersey for the holidays.
Catherine laid the gift card Danny had given her for her birthday on top of Grace's list and typed in the web address. Title Nine's site popped up on the screen.
"Jackets first; let's see what they have." Catherine adjusted the laptop so they could both see the screen clearly. She planned to put Danny's generous birthday gift toward her jacket purchase.
"Here, Grace, look at these." The page showed all weather ski jackets. Catherine hadn't shopped for a winter coat in years and her clearest memories were of shapeless, bulky monstrosities meant for playing outdoors during the brutal Midwest winters of her youth, so she was pleasantly surprised to see that the jackets on the site were quite stylish with fitted contours and zippered sleeves.
"This one comes in grey and purple." Grace's eyes twinkled with mirth as she pointed to the exact jacket Catherine's had been drawn to immediately. "If you pick this one you have to get purple!"
"I like that one," Catherine said sincerely as she surveyed the other coats on the page and saw nothing she liked better. "I'm gonna get it."
She added it to the online shopping bag just as Steve came down the stairs.
"Hey Gracie," his tired face brightened at the sight of his beloved niece. He accepted her hug with a smile and kissed the top of her head. "Thanks, I needed a Gracie hug about now."
He moved to the couch and leaned down to place a quick kiss on Catherine's lips. "Trice's agent and the lawyer who was representing him in the child support case landed about an hour ago. Danny and I want to interview them right away. Since all of the women involved have strong alibis we need to talk to the people closest to Trice and find out who else might have wanted him dead in such a … " Steve glanced at Gracie, "specific and graphic way."
"Be careful," Catherine said. "Let me know if you find anything."
"Gracie, your dad and I are going back out," Steve turned to his niece. "He said you can either hang out here with Catherine or she can drop you at Linda and Josie's house later."
Grace turned to Catherine. "Can I stay? I know you're tired 'cause you and Auntie Kono did the last shift, so we can go to sleep early. But if I stay we can finish shopping for New Jersey."
Catherine smiled. "Of course you can stay. You have stuff here anyway and tomorrow's Saturday so you don't need a uniform. We'll get you dropped off in the morning, so let's finish shopping."
Grace nodded and smiled. "Yea! Okay, I promise we'll go to sleep by ten, Uncle Steve. Danno says you have to sleep to be alert. I won't let Auntie Cath go to bed too late, promise."
"I'll hold you to that." Steve grinned but Catherine could see the weariness in his eyes. "Hear that, Catherine? Gracie's enforcing curfew tonight, not the other way around."
"Got it." She winked at Grace and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Alright, let's do this. What's next? Boots?"
Grace spun the laptop toward Steve. "Yeah. But first, show Uncle Steve. I told her to buy the purple jacket, 'cause you think she looks pretty in purple."
"I think she looks beautiful in every color." Steve glanced at Catherine and she smiled her thanks, "But you're absolutely right about the purple. How'd you get to be so perceptive?"
"Must be nature and nurture," Grace answered matter-of-factly.
"Really?" Steve's grin reached his eyes this time.
"Yes. We just did a unit on genetics. Danno's a great detective and I'm his daughter so that's nature; and because most of us take on some traits of the people who help raise us, you guys are nurture!"
Grace didn't catch the look that passed between Steve and Catherine at her words. She was simply stating what she considered a fact. She considered them family. She knew Steve and Catherine loved her as much as she loved them, but her twelve year old psyche was years away from knowing the effect the words 'help raise us' had on her Uncle Steve.
Catherine knew Steve better than anyone ever had, often better than he knew himself, and the look of elation that passed over his face as his eyes moistened made her breath hitch a little.
She hugged Grace and said, "You're absolutely right, Sweetheart, but that brilliant mind," she tapped Grace's forehead and the girl grinned, "is one hundred percent your own."
By the time her eyes locked with Steve's he'd composed himself and was smiling happily, conveying his thanks for the distraction with a nod.
"Catherine's right, Gracie," he said. "But, if you do decide to be the world's best detective, after Annapolis and a stellar naval career, of course," Uncle and niece exchanged a chuckle, "make sure Danno knows that idea was one hundred percent yours, too." He winked. "I've gotta go."
He kissed Grace and Catherine and ran a hand over Cammie's head.
"I'll text you if anything breaks. If not I should be home by one the latest." He glanced at the dog.
"Cammie, don't let them run amok."
By the time Grace turned back to the laptop, the door was closing behind Steve. "Ohh," she pointed to the screen. "I love these boots. You're size seven and a half, right?"
"You know my shoe size?" Catherine selected a pair of Slim Stomper Boots and added them to the cart.
"I looked." Grace grinned. "When we were going through that last batch of clothes to look for tops that might fit me before you donated them. I need to know how long till we're the same shoe size."
"Ah, good work, Detective Williams number two; that means I can borrow your shoes when we are,
right?" Catherine poked her gently in the ribs and they giggled together. "Now, let's get this finished. I think there's some ice cream calling our names."
"Chocolate mint with chocolate sauce?" Gracie's eyes lit.
"Chocolate mint with chocolate sauce." Catherine pointed to the screen. "I'm gonna get two of these sweaters." She added a Henley top in black and another warm sweater in jewel tones to the cart, and at Grace's suggestion of 'cute socks', she added six pairs of warm, colorful ones and a purple and black hat and gloves. Just for fun she selected a green knit dress that was warm and sporty but nice enough to wear with tights for a casual dinner out.
"You need waterproof gloves, too," Grace reminded her.
"I have Navy issues, those are waterproof. I think I'm good. But ..." Catherine added the checkout info and hit send, "Let's get your Uncle Steve a couple of sweaters, some heavier weight pants and extra socks." She grinned. "Otherwise, he's gonna spend the week dressed in cold weather gear like he's on a mission." She navigated to LL Bean. "These guys have free shipping."
Catherine chose two sweaters and a Sherpa fleece lined pullover.
"In blue, Auntie Cath," Grace said. " 'cause Nonna said it's a good color for him."
Catherine smiled and added a six pack of wool socks, a pair of lined jeans and a couple of pairs of warm pants for Steve. After she was finished she clicked through to the girls' section.
By the time they were done shopping it was 9:00 P.M. and Catherine felt that between what she and Steve already had to layer with, his navy issue cold weather gear and what she'd bought, they were set for their visit to New Jersey. She also ordered a sweater for Grace that coordinated with the one she ordered for herself and a hat and glove set in pink and purple.
Just as she snapped the laptop closed her cell rang. Seeing Steve's image she said to Grace,
"Sweetheart, run and get the ice cream out for me? You know where everything is."
When Grace nodded and started off with Cammie behind her, Catherine swiped the phone and said, "Hey, what's up?"
"I just wanted you to know we got a bunch of names from the agent and the attorney we want to follow up on. Looks like it's gonna be a late night."
Sherman Dentistry
Honolulu
Monday 9:45 A.M.
Steve and Danny covered their noses as they entered the office of a local dentist who had been found dead by his office manager.
"What is that awful smell?" Danny asked as he covered the lower half of his face with his sleeve to keep from gagging.
"Manure," Max said from his position crouching next to the body. "I recommend nose plugs. There are some extras in the van if you'd like to use them."
"Thanks," Steve said. "I think we might take you up on that."
"Can you please go get some nose plugs for the Commander and Detective Williams," Max asked his assistant. "And perhaps it would be a good idea to bring extras for the rest of the Five-0 team when they arrive."
As Max's assistant darted from the room with a grateful smile Danny glanced around and saw multiple piles of what appeared to be very fresh manure. In addition, there were smears on the walls, the dental chair and the equipment tray Danny was sure were the vile smelling excrement as well. "How did cow manure get into a dental office?"
"I can't be sure without running further tests," Max said, "but I believe we're dealing with horse manure. Not cow manure."
"There's a difference?" Danny asked disgustedly.
"There's a big difference, Detective," Max said. "Horse manure is composed mostly of … "
"Okay, okay," Danny cut him off. "Spare me the science lecture. What I'm saying is that I don't think the important question is so much which animal the manure came from as why did someone bring it to a murder scene."
"Well then, that's a different matter," Max nodded. "The former is a question that requires my expertise. That latter requires yours."
Danny looked at Steve in frustration. "Can you help me here?"
"Let's step out into the reception area till we get those nose plugs. I think we'll be able to concentrate a little better when we're not dealing with the smell."
"You don't have to ask me twice," Danny said as he headed for the outer office.
"We'll give you a little time," Steve said to Max. "Let us know if you need anything."
Reception Area
Monday 10:30 A.M.
"Something about the very specific staging feels … " Danny started.
"Familiar?" Steve finished his sentence.
"Yeah," Danny agreed.
"Do you think this is related to the Trice case?" Steve asked. "What's the link?"
"I don't know," Danny conceded. "On the surface it doesn't seem like there is one. But there's something unnervingly similar about the two crime scenes."
"It's worth looking into," Steve shrugged.
"Oh this guy was apparently a real prince," Kono said angrily as she and Catherine approached Steve and Danny.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked, slightly taken aback by the tone of Kono's words.
"The woman who discovered the body, Renee Simmons, was hired three months ago. She didn't know it until after she accepted the job but apparently the woman who held the position before her, who was here from day one and helped build the practice I might add, was fired a short time after she was diagnosed with a serious illness."
"What?" Steve said incredulously.
"That can't even be legal," Danny chimed in.
Catherine picked up the story. "Dr. Ralph Sherman, that's the victim's name," she practically growled, "fired his previous office manager, Patricia Kendrick, two weeks after she underwent surgery to treat cervical cancer."
"That's the reason he gave for firing her?" Danny asked, his own anger rising to match Kono and Catherine's.
"He didn't have to give a reason. Hawaii is an at will state," Catherine pointed out testily.
"There was nothing anyone could have done to touch him," Kono said disgustedly. "Except that this guy was a special brand of stupid. He sent an email to another employee, the dental hygienist, explaining that he fired Ms. Kendrick because he was afraid her treatments would cause her to take … let me get the quote right … too many sick days."
"You're right … a real prince," Steve spat out.
"Oh it gets better," Catherine said. "Patricia Kendrick is the single parent and sole support of an eight year old daughter."
"How can someone get away with something like that?" Danny asked heatedly.
"Unfortunately it happens more often than you think but this time the written email cooked the guy's goose. The hygienist passed it on to Ms. Kendrick then posted it online. It went viral. People were outraged … including many of Sherman's patients," Kono said triumphantly.
"Good," Steve said unapologetically. "So what happened?"
"There was some sort of settlement but we don't know the exact details. We're reaching out to Patricia Kendrick now," Catherine said.
"While you're waiting to interview her can you check and see if there was any connection at all between this guy and Federico Trice?" Steve asked.
"You think the cases are connected?" Kono looked confused.
Max's assistant crossed the reception area and handed several pairs of nose plugs to Steve who said, "Thanks," before handing a set each to Danny, Kono and Catherine. "Let's go look at the staging but trust me, you're gonna wanna use these."
Catherine and Kono looked at each other quizzically but took Steve at his word and inserted the plugs. They walked back down the hallway to the office where Max was still examining the body.
Wow," Kono said. Even with the nose plugs in some of the pungent aroma seeped into her nostrils.
Catherine grimaced slightly as she stepped into the office and began to look around at the staging.
There was definitely something familiar about it.
She stepped around Max to examine the room from a different angle and her eyes fell on some smears on the back of the door.
"Hey guys," she said, "take a look at this."
Danny, Steve and Kono entered the room and Catherine closed the door to fully expose the smears on the interior side.
"Well, now we know they're connected," Steve said as he looked at the manure smeared on the door clearly spelling out two words.
'Liar, Liar'.
END CHAPTER 1
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