Banana Split (34 page)

Sadie tightened her mouth, not liking the way he ordered her around, and yet she really did feel horrible for making things more complicated for Charlie. “I don’t know how I’d end up seeing him again,” she said. “I’m not planning to go back to Kalaheo, and he doesn’t have anyone who will bring him back out here.”

“Well,” Mr. Olie said, scooting to the edge of the futon, “he seems to keep showing up in your path, so if it happens again, call me.”

Sadie wasn’t comfortable making him any promises, so she skirted a direct answer. “Do you have a card so I can call you directly?”

“Not with me, but I’ll give you my cell number.”

Sadie went to the kitchen for the notebook and pen, then took her time returning to the living room; she could hear him struggling to get off the couch. It was quite low, but she didn’t want to embarrass him, and she knew he wouldn’t accept her help. When she reentered the room, he was standing. He handed her the empty water glass. She was glad to see that the short rest seemed to have helped him and would have asked if he were okay except she was tired of being snapped at. He gave her his number, and she wrote it down in the notebook next to her interview notes.

“Will you call me if you find him?” she asked.

“How do I do that? You don’t have a phone.”

“My friend has one,” Sadie said. “Let me give you her number.”

“I left my phone in the car,” he said, waving away the idea.

“I’ll write her number down for you.”

He grunted. Not interested.

“Well, we were about to go to Lihue to get me a new phone,” Sadie said. “So you should be able to call me within the hour.”

He grunted again, and she clenched her jaw as she followed him to the front door. She nearly apologized again, but stopped herself. She’d apologized enough and still didn’t know what else she could have done. She had reached her limit and done all she could. And yet . . . here she was talking to Kiki and promising to call Mr. Olie if Charlie showed up for some reason.

“What are you going to do now?” Sadie asked.

“Prepare my argument for the judge,” he said. “We’ve got an emergency hearing set up for Monday morning, and I need everything in place before then. Of course, if Charlie doesn’t show up, it will all be for nothing.”

Sadie opened the front door for him, but he paused on the threshold. “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said, reaching in to the pocket of his buttoned-up shirt, plaid instead of floral, which seemed a little out of place on an island where practically everyone wore a Hawaiian shirt. “CeeCee gave me this when I told her I didn’t think Charlie believed Noelani had died.” He handed Sadie a small purple envelope the size of a thank-you card. “She said she found this in his room a few days ago—under his pillow. She hadn’t seen it before, but I think it supports the theory that Noelani threw in the towel one way or another. Poor kid. I’ll need the note back, but I gotta get going if I’m gonna talk to Janet before she leaves for the day.”

Sadie thought he should go home and rest—the day had obviously taken a lot out of him—but wasn’t about to say so.

He didn’t even say good-bye after handing her the note, just lumbered to his car.

After she watched him drive off, she looked at the lavender envelope in her hand. Charlie’s name was written across the front along with a small, hand-drawn flower. Inside the small envelope was a slightly smaller note card. It had white flowers on the front of the lavender card—an odd choice to give to an eleven-year-old boy. Sadie closed the front door and headed back to the kitchen where she sat down and opened the card.

Dear Charlie,

I know it’s hard to understand why I would have to leave, but I can’t be the mom I should be. I can’t take care of you, but I want you to have a happy life. I love you so much, and I know that you’ll be safe now. I’m sorry for not being a good mom and for not saying good-bye. Be a good boy and trust in God to make all things right.

Love,

Mom

When she finished reading, Sadie took a shaky breath and read it again. When she finished the second time, however, she felt more confused than ever. What did this mean? Was it a suicide note? Who would give a suicide note to their child? She thought back to the things Charlie had said and wondered if he’d interpreted it to mean his mom was just going away—leaving him with CeeCee. That fit better with what Pastor Darryl had told her except that Noelani had wound up dead in the ocean.

What if Noelani had planned to leave, but then something happened and she’d ended up dead? But then why had she bought the coffee? And why leave work in the middle of her shift and say it was because of Charlie?

She looked at the flower drawn next to Charlie’s name and wondered why it reminded her of the mural she’d seen on the wall of the church kitchen.

“Can I come in now?”

Sadie looked up at Gayle, who was peeking through the sliding glass door.

“I’m sorry,” she said, coming to her feet. “I got distracted.”

“No worries,” Gayle said, though she was obviously annoyed as she wiped the sweat from her face. She frowned at her now-wet hand and moved to the sink. “What did the fat man want that was too sensitive for me to hear?”

After Gayle had dried her hands, Sadie handed her the note card and explained what Mr. Olie had told her about Nat and CeeCee. “Why would Noelani give this to her son?” Sadie asked after Gayle read the note. “I can’t think of any reason a mother would think that was a good idea.”

“Other than letting him down gently,” Gayle said. “But, yeah, that doesn’t fit. She didn’t leave, she died. And if she was suicidal, why announce that to your kid?”

“I can’t help but wonder when Charlie got this note.”

“What do you mean?” Gayle asked.

“He’d just had a visitation with his mother—a visitation his mom was so excited about that she risked upsetting her boss and making things difficult for her coworkers to make sure it happened. Why go to all that trouble and then send him a suicide note?” Sadie looked at the envelope in her hand. “And this wasn’t mailed. Unless it came in another envelope, I suppose. But then CeeCee would probably have seen it and not have discovered it under his pillow.”

“Good points,” Gayle said, handing the note back to Sadie.

“I don’t think Noelani had anything to do with this note,” Sadie said, replacing it inside the envelope. She questioned her confidence in that belief but realized that’s what she truly thought. “She’d worked so hard in his best interest that to end it with something like this just does not fit for me.”

“Who else would send it?”

“Bets said she thought it would be better for Charlie to believe his mother had left and that if her body hadn’t been found, that’s what everyone would have believed.”

“Why would she say that?” Gayle said, looking slightly horrified.

“Exactly.” Sadie waved the note again. “Noelani lived with Bets and Pastor Darryl for months. What are the chances there’s a handwriting sample lying around their apartment somewhere?”

“You think Bets could mimic Noelani’s handwriting?”

“The only person she needed to fool was Charlie. What eleven-year-old boy pays close enough attention to his mother’s handwriting to be able to tell a forgery?” She pointed at the flower on the front of the envelope. “And Bets is an artist. She painted an amazing mural on the wall of the church with flowers that, if I’m remembering correctly, look an awful lot like this.”

Gayle spoke slowly. “If she sent this, she didn’t think Noelani was coming back.”

Sadie held her eyes before nodding slightly.

“Oh my gosh,” Gayle said, her face paling. “Bets killed her. That’s how she knew Noelani wasn’t coming back.”

“Maybe,” Sadie said, trying to rein in the thoughts she could see spiraling in Gayle’s eyes. “Assuming she
did
write the note and assuming Charlie
did
receive it between the time his mother disappeared and when I found her body. There are a lot of details we need to figure out before we can make that kind of accusation.”

“I want to just drive over there and put this in her face, force a confession,” Gayle said.

“I understand,” Sadie said with a smile. She could relate. “But she’s not going anywhere, and the police are involved so we don’t need to act rashly. We do, however, need to find Charlie and connect this note to Bets’s painting, if we can. Every bit of connection we find makes our case that much stronger. We don’t want to get too antsy and miss an opportunity to line up the facts.”

Gayle nodded slowly. “But what if Bets is the one who broke into your motel room? If she wrote that”—she pointed at the note—“then there’s a very good reason for her to want to scare you off.”

“You’re catching on quick,” Sadie said, feeling the bubbly rise of excitement that was unfamiliar and comfortable at the same time. “And I guess I need to go get a phone.”

“Finally,” Gayle said, bringing her hands together as if in prayer. “I told you so!”

“I know, I know,” Sadie said. “But it better not take very long. While we don’t need to rush into this, we do have a lot to figure out.”

“Yes, sir,” Gayle said, snapping her heels together and saluting. “I’ll follow your lead from here on out.” She cut her fingers away sharply, making Sadie laugh.

“Let me put some stuff together, and we can go. I’ve got some other muumuus if you want to change. Mainland clothes can be really uncomfortable here on the island.” She looked pointedly at Gayle’s long pants and polyester shirt that would most certainly get sticky and overly hot.

Gayle eyed the pink-and-blue muumuu Sadie had been wearing all day and shook her head. “No offense, but I can’t imagine wearing a nightgown in public.”

Sadie shrugged. “I felt the same way at first, but remember you’re in a different world here. While we’re out, pay attention to how many women are wearing them.”

Chapter 37

Forty-five minutes later, Sadie had her old SIM card in a new phone. It wasn’t the same model as Sadie’s old phone—they didn’t have them in stock—and she frowned as she pushed buttons on the touch screen, trying to figure out how to use the menu. “I hate learning new electronics,” she said. “I think I just set a weird ring tone.” She tried to get back to where she’d been, but ended up turning on the camera instead and exiting back to the main menu. So overwhelming to be an old dog learning new tricks.

“At least people can get in touch with you now,” Gayle said. “And the guy set up your e-mail for you. That’s a bonus since your laptop is out of commission.”

“Yeah,” Sadie said as she finally figured out how to call her voice mail.

She was curious to hear if Mr. Olie was more polite in his voice mail than in person.

He wasn’t. He told her she shouldn’t have gone to the police and to call him back immediately. She deleted the message and was about to exit her voice mail when the robotic voice that wasn’t supposed to sound robotic said “Next message.”

There was a pause. “Uh, hi, this is Charlie. You said you would help, and so I saw you at the motel after the church. K. Bye.”

Sadie immediately pushed the button to hear the message again.

“Listen to this,” she said when it finished, but she couldn’t figure out how to put the phone on speaker. With a growl, she told Gayle what Charlie had said.

“How’d he get your number?” Gayle asked as they approached Puhi, passing the flower stand where Nat had said he’d lost Charlie on Tuesday.

“I left it with CeeCee,” Sadie said. “But I also gave it to Nat. I told Nat I wanted to help Charlie—I never told Charlie that.”

“He was listening?”

“He’s sneaky,” Sadie said, then hurried to add, “and adorable.” She found the log of recent calls and dialed the number Charlie had called from, but it rang and rang. On an impulse, she texted the number to Shawn and asked if he’d do a reverse lookup on it for her; he had an app on his phone that made it a thirty-second job. “Charlie’s had a hard life. I hope he can stay with CeeCee. I can’t imagine him having to start all over again with someone new.”