Chapter Two

Rita moved to calm the hysterical maid while Chris grabbed a nearby courtesy phone and called for help.

Rita and Chris suspected that the murderer was long gone, but it paid to be cautious, so Chris kept scanning their surroundings as he attempted to get the front desk. After several moments he heard, "Front desk, how can I help you?"

"This is Chris Lorenzo, staying in Penthouse 5. I need you to send for the ambulance and the police right now! It's an emergency! My wife and I came across a young woman's body on the path leading to the treetop restaurant. Get them down here as quick as you can!" Hanging up Chris moved to the woman's body.

Rita, still trying to calm the terror-stricken maid, watched as Chris checked the woman's pulse, but finding none, shook his head at her. After closer inspection it was clear the woman had been dead for quite some time. Chris backed away from the woman's body and began to treat it as a crime scene. All suspicious deaths were handled as a homicide until another cause of death was discovered.

Within minutes of Chris' call the manger of the resort, the head of hotel security, and Chris' friend John arrived on the scene. Chris saw his friend and quickly moved to intercept him.

John Martin, entrepreneur and owner of the Black Beach, asked with concern as he recognized his old friend. "Chris! What's going on? Did you find the body?"

Chris glanced briefly at Rita, and the maid, as he replied, "No, your employee was the first person to find the victim, but we arrived shortly after her."

John shook his head, "God, this wasn't the way I wanted us to be reunited."

"Me neither, John, me neither!" Chris agreed adding, "John, keep everybody away from here, okay. I have reason to believe this is a crime scene, and it must be protected."

Their conversation was interrupted by a gruff voice. "Who the hell are you to be giving orders?" Chris turned and noticed a man standing behind him.

John retorted, "Chris is a good friend and a guest! Plus he's a sergeant in the Palm Beach PD, O'Day."

O'Day responded with mock humility, "I'm sorry, sir, but it's my job."

Chris looked puzzled and his friend answered his unspoken question. "O'Day is my head of security." Chris nodded, and O'Day walked toward the body.

Suddenly, Rita appeared and told her husband, "I got the maid calmed down. It looks like the victim was strangled and beaten. It's quite possible she was raped."

Chris nodded at the information and then said, "Rita this is my friend, John Martin. John, this is my wife Rita."

John greeted Rita and remarked, "Lorenzo, you always had great taste in women, I'll give you that. You have a good man here, Rita."

Rita smiled back, "I know!" She sobered quickly and asked John, "Do you know this woman?"

John dropped his gaze for the first time to the lifeless body before him. He gasped and said slowly. "Yes, yes I know her she was-is," he corrected himself," my girlfriend, Linda Jensen."

Chris and Rita exchanged uneasy glances. There was much more going on than they first supposed. Chris knew that the local police would be here shortly and, as a result, he had little time to help his friend. The fact that he was intimately involved with the deceased would naturally make him a target for any investigator. Chris decided not to mince words. "When was the last time you saw Linda, John? And where were you last night?"

John looked at his friend in astonishment, he replied harshly, "It's been a few days. What are you trying to imply, Chris? What? Do you think I did this! I loved Linda more then life itself. How could you possibly believe I would or even could do it?"

Chris wasn't prepared for John's outburst but replied calmly, "It's not what I think, John, it's what the local police will think. We have very little time, John, the police won't be as nice in their questioning. Look," Chris held up his hands in appeal, attempting to pacify his upset friend. "I don't think you did it, but you can see how this will look. Your girlfriend is found murdered in your hotel! I'm trying to help, John, please! You need to start thinking about what might have happened to her last night and who might have had reason to kill her."

Rita added quietly, "Chris is right, John."

John looked at the young couple with resentment and said with sarcasm, "I thought you were my fiend Chris, but I see I was mistaken-you're just a cop!" John turned on his heel and left.

Chris turned toward his wife with a stricken look. Rita went to him and said, "Chris you had to ask. I'm sure John will forgive you once the shock wares off."

Chris stood dazed, "Maybe he's right, I'm his friend. It's not like we're back home and on the job."

Rita kept her voice calm as she asked, "Would you have asked the same question at home?"

"Yes, but that knowledge doesn't make me feel any better. I just lost a friend." Rita wasn't sure how to reply. She kissed him gently and was pleased when she got a slight smile from him.

Suddenly, the spell was broken by an unfamiliar voice. An Asian man, sharp featured, and a few years older than the young couple, took in the scene at a glance. What he saw did little to cheer him. No security, no patrolman, and two civilians! Little did the newcomer know that the two people before him were cast from the same mold. The new arrival introduced himself. "I'm Sergeant Yokahana, Honolulu Police Department, and who might you be?"

Chris and Rita went up to him, and Chris replied, showing his badge. "Sergeant Christopher Lorenzo of the Palm Beach Police Department, and this is my wife, and partner, Sergeant Rita Lance, also of the Palm Beach PD."

Yokahana's eyebrow went up slightly, but that was his only reaction. He said in reply, "Well, Sergeants, you're pretty far from home. What brought you to my islands?"

Rita replied putting away her own ID, "We're on our honeymoon and staying at the resort." Yokohana absorbed this information but looked away distractedly as he noticed the local uniformed police officers at last arriving on the scene.

"Wait here, please," he turned and walked over to the officers. He had a very animated conversation with them for several seconds. Rita and Chris watched in silence. They were trying to stay out of the way, but their professional curiosity got the better of them, and they soon found themselves examining the body, and the surrounding area.

"And next time," Yokahana said to the officers in closing, "there's a homicide you better get to it a hell of a lot faster then you did for this one!" He turned away and moved back to Chris and Rita who were standing over the body. His first reaction was irritation that his witnesses were examining the body. Was everybody going to work against me, he wondered? But his vexation softened as he watched them. They clearly knew how to work a crime scene. He cleared his throat. Rita and Chris looked up and moved away from the body.

Chris knew from his own experience that detectives could be as territorial as wolves when it came to a crime scene, so he hesitated before saying. "I think the girl was killed between 2:00 and 6:00 this morning."

"What would make you say that?" Yokanana asked.

"Well," Chris explained, "Rita and I returned to our room around 10:30 and obviously the body was not here then. The hotel was having a luau last night at the restaurant up the path, and it didn't end until at least 1:00 am. This is the only way back to the hotel; somebody would have seen the body." Yokanana nodded but remained silent.

Rita announced, moving back to the body, "I bet she was killed some place else too. I also think you'll find that she worked as a waitress or hostess. At first, I thought the cause of death was strangulation, but now I'm not so sure. "

"Based on what?" Yokanana asked as he looked at the body.

Rita didn't answer. "Do you have a pair of latex gloves?"

Yokanana stared hard at Rita but handed over a pair of latex gloves anyway. Rita carefully examined the woman's clothes and finally moved to her neck.

"She has bruises on her neck, but they look old and don't seem to be the cause of death, but the ME will have to verify that. Wait a moment," Rita brushed the woman's long blonde hair aside and found a thin incision at the base of her skull. "I think I found the cause of death. She was stabbed in the back of the neck by a thin and very sharp knife."

Yokanana checked the incision. "Must have severed her spinal cord. You were saying something about her being a waitress or hostess?"

Rita nodded, "Well, look at her clothes, short black skirt and white blouse; it looks like a uniform to me. Plus her clothes are saturated with cigarette smoke, and there are alcohol stains on her skirt and blouse."

"So," Yokanana demanded, "what does that prove? She might have been at a night club. She's an attractive woman. Someone may have just spilled their drink on her by accident, it happens."

"No the stains are on the sides of her body. The pattern gives the impression that something was covering the front of her skirt and blouse," Rita explained.

"Like she was wearing an apron," Chris suggested, "that would fit with her being a waitress."

Yokanana studied the stains and whistled softly, "I'd have missed that, but I think you're right. Well I'm very impressed, Sergeants. You don't happen to know her name, do you?"

Chris glanced from Rita to Yokanana and said, "As a matter of fact I do, her name is Linda Jensen. Her boyfriend is John Martin, the owner of this resort, and a friend of mine."

For the first time since he meet Chris and Rita Yokahana's eyes went cold, and he grew suspicious. But his suspicions didn't jive with his gut feelings about the couple before him. He was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, provided they explained themselves. He gazed judiciously at Chris and waited.

"I know how this must look, but I'm not trying to protect John. Right now, I'm the last person he wants to see!" Chris said.

"What do you mean?" Yokahana asked.

"We went to college together, he was older than me, but we lost track of each other. He owed me a favor, and I told him he could repay it by setting up our honeymoon. Without his help, there was no way we could have stayed here. We're expecting a baby and money is tight. Sounds like a good motive to help him, right?"

Yokahana nodded but his face gave away nothing, and he waited to hear more. "So we came, and we've enjoyed ourselves so far. John was away on business, and the first time we saw each other was this morning when we found the body. We were going to breakfast when we came upon the dead woman. I called for help, and John arrived with his staff. When he told us the identity of the woman, I became concerned and asked him where he was last night. He refused to say and made it clear that our friendship was over."

"Sgt. Yokahana," Rita said, "I know you don't trust us right now, and I don't blame you. I'm sorry we didn't come right out and tell you. Check out our records if you like, but we're on your side. We're trying to help! I have to sit down and get something to eat. If you need to talk to us you know where we'll be, but right now, I must think of my baby. It was nice to meet you."

Yokahana gazed at Rita and took her hand saying, "It was nice to meet you as well. I'll probably have more questions for you later."

"Sure. No problem.," Chris said shaking his hand. Yokahana watched them walk away. The coroner walked up to him to give a preliminary report, but even as he listened, his thoughts kept returning to the young couple he'd just met.