The Story of Oleander
Chapter 2
Jayna tried to collect her thoughts on Alexander Gordon as best as she could, without allowing her grief to get the better of her. Alex was three years older than she, and six months younger than Danno. In fact, Alex reminded Jayna of Steve McGarrett's second-in-command. Like Danno, Alex was intelligent, loyal, dedicated, and trustworthy, but knew when to let his emotions out. He was as devoted to his role as John Manicote's assistant district attorney as Danno was to being Steve's assistant. She could only imagine how Alex's death affected Manicote. Steve was shaken up, though he tried his best not to show it. The voices emanating from inside Steve's office were loud enough so everyone could hear just what both men thought. …
"There's no way he'd want to kill himself, Steve, no way on this earth!" Manicote protested. "I knew him very well. He was like a son to me." Manicote, trying not to let tears show, walked to the bookshelf that was situated near the door, with the painting of The Great Tea Race of 1866 hanging over it. He sighed in frustration, rubbing his forehead. Staring at the painting, John could almost hear the waves crashing, violently, rocking the Taeping furiously. He could understand the waves' rage. Turning bck to Steve's he said, "But the autopsy says clearly that Alex ingested Phenobarbital and alcohol, and the quantities of both were so great that it killed him. There was no evidence of foul play at all. I don't want to believe the evidence, but there isn't any conceivable way to get around it." He slammed the back of his hand onto his other palm.
Throughout the entire time his friend spoke, Steve maintained a calm, collected façade, though inside he burned with the desire to speak out as emotionally as Manicote did. It wouldn't help for both of them to be fired up.
"John, Felix Gordon knows full-well that his son died as a result of overdosing on barbiturates and liquor, but he is certain that someone made his son take those lethal dosages," he pointed out.
"Are you telling me that Felix Gordon suspects that his son was drugged unconscious, and then someone shoved all those pills down his throat, then washed them down with half a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon?" Manicote asked, exasperated. He was not really angry at Steve, but angry at the the whole turn of events. The Alex Gordon he knew was not the Alex Gordon who killed himself, yet there was no explanation at which they could arrive to tell them what ended the young man's life - other than suicide, which John did not want to accept, but the facts said otherwise.
"Exactly!" Steve said, "and Danno and I are going to meet with Doc Bergman this afternoon to find out. I was reading over Det. Nishimura's report. He wrote that there were glasses with liquor residue in them. One of the glasses also had lipstick on the rim – meaning Alex had a lady friend over. Che tested them and found that both bad contained bourbon – the kind that was in that empty bottle of Kentucky bourbon that was found in his kitchen. The residue on the glasses matched the remaining bourbon in the bottle."
"And no one in that building saw a woman whom they did not recognize as living there going in or coming out, and one of Alex's neighbors says she saw him enter the building from the parking lot sometime after seven-fifteen, alone, so when did this woman arrive, when did she leave, and how is it not even one person saw her?"
"That is what we're going to find out," Steve promised.
