Chapter 2

Catherine stopped to talk to the hotel's manager and after a brief exchange, led the family members of the victim into the unoccupied office of the banquet manager and sat them down. A few seconds later Mamo tapped lightly on the door before entering with a tray containing bottles of cold water and several boxes of tissues.

"If there's anything at all I can do," he told Richard Easton's freshly-minted widow, "Please don't hesitate to let me know."

Kristen Easton nodded, still unable to find any words after witnessing the horrific death of her husband.

"Thank you, Mamo," Catherine said. She was familiar with the maitre d' from the many events she'd attended at the Halekulani hotel since she joined the governor's staff. "I'm sure someone will be talking to you soon about anything you might have seen tonight."

"I'll do anything I possibly can to help," Mamo assured her.

After seeing Mamo out, and sending a quick text to Steve to let him know where she and the Eastons had landed, Catherine turned her attention to the overwrought family. Richard Easton Sr. was seated on the office's couch comforting his wife and daughter in law while his daughter stood close by, seemingly at a loss for what to do next.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Catherine began. "Richard was an amazing man. The community has suffered a great loss, though it's nothing compared to what you all have suffered. I understand that answering questions is the last thing you want to do at a time like this, but in order for us to find who did this and bring them to justice we need to act as quickly as possible."

Richard Easton, known to his family and close friends as Rick, wrapped one arm around his wife and one around his daughter in law. He'd removed his own shirt and tuxedo jacket which were stained with his son's blood and was wearing a chef's coat borrowed from the kitchen. "We understand. No one wants the animal who did this caught worse than we do. How can we help?"

Catherine smiled softly at him. From the quick rundown she'd gotten from the first officers on the scene Richard Sr. gave his blood soaked son CPR right up until the moment the paramedics arrived, unwilling to even entertain the idea he couldn't be saved. And now that the worst had happened, she could tell he was determined to be a rock for his family and help shepherd them through this impossibly difficult time. She made a mental note to tell the victim's support officer who would be assigned to the family to keep a special eye on Richard Sr. She knew from personal experience how destructive it could be for a person to push down their own grief in order to support others.

"Did any of you observe anything unusual tonight, especially around Richard?" She asked in a calm even tone. "Anything at all. Did he have an argument with anyone? Was anyone around him acting strangely?"

"Oh, Catherine," Libby Easton, the victim's mother sobbed, "It was dreadful! I was talking to Graham Conners and his wife by the bar and we heard a scream." She paused, overcome by the memory of that moment in time that flooded her mind involuntarily."There was something about the scream." Her voice trembled. "I'd never heard anything like it." She took a deep breath. Determined to push through. To find the monster who took her oldest son away from her. "I turned towards it and saw my Richard collapse. There was so much blood… on his shirt and on the floor…my poor boy." She buried her head in her hands as her husband wrapped her in an embrace. "Who would do something like this?"

Catherine squeezed her hand supportively. "That's what we're going to find out." She turned to Kristen Easton. "Did you notice anyone acting suspiciously, maybe even before you got here?"

The woman shook her head and swiped at mascara-covered cheeks. She and Richard Easton had been a real love match. When the oldest son of one of the island's most influential families began dating a young reporter for the local news station it set some tongues wagging. More than a few people thought she was only interested in the Easton fortune. But nothing could have been further from the truth.

She'd integrated into the island's society world, but only because she knew how important it was to her husband. And how much good work they could do together. Truth be told she'd have been just as happy living in a small apartment with him struggling to meet the bills. As long as they were doing it together she knew she'd be happy.

"No. Everyone was enjoying the party. I was greeting guests on the far side of the room just before …" she broke into wracking sobs.

"Richard did seem a little tense," his sister Cara noted, "I noticed it as soon as I arrived. I asked him if something was wrong and he said he could handle it, not to worry, we'd talk about it later." She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. "I took him at his word. Now I wish I'd pressed harder."

"This isn't your fault," Catherine said.

"It's just … things have been a bit strained between us lately," Cara admitted.

"Strained?" Catherine asked. "How so?"

"Richard and my husband Jacob had a disagreement about a potential business deal," Cara explained. "It was nothing serious really. Just two very men with very strong opinions butting heads. I felt trapped in the middle."

"Richard understood that," His father said. "He would never have let a business disagreement poison a family relationship." Richard Sr. turned to Catherine. "It's a very complicated thing when you're part of a family business."

"I'm sure it is," Catherine said.

"I was just about to tell Richard that Jacob had agreed to drop his support of the deal as long as Richard agreed to revisit it later after some of the rough edges have been smoothed out. Before I could mention it though, Maeve Tucker arrived. Richard asked me to go and talk to her. She's a valued business partner and needs a little extra attention. So I went did. Next thing I knew…" she turned her hands over, and back, looking at the remnants of the blood she hadn't been able to completely wash away after attempting CPR, and gasped a breath. "My brother was on the floor, bleeding. We're very… " she choked out a sob, "we were very close…I can't believe he's gone. Please find out who did this. Please."

"We'll do everything we can," Catherine promised.

"Thank you," Cara said as she struggled to pull herself together,

Catherine looked around the room. She didn't want to derail the investigation chasing rumors of family discord but she couldn't help but notice Caras's husband wasn't with them. "Was Jacob at the party tonight?" she asked.

"He's coming late," Cara replied. "He was on the big island for a meeting this afternoon and it ran late. He called me and told me not to wait and that he'd meet me here."

"But he hasn't arrived yet?" Catherine asked.

Cara shook her head. "I've been calling him but his phone is going straight to voicemail."

"We'll see if we can track him down," Catherine said. She certainly wasn't jumping to any conclusions but a missing brother-in-law who was in a business dispute with the victim certainly raised a few red flags. "I'm sure he'll want to be with the family at a time like this."

TBC on Wednesday

Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with: Add me, please! in the subject line. Or just drop us a line to say hi! We love hearing from our readers.