Molokai Reef (11 page)

“
Let’s
close up the boat and see what’s ashore.” Gybe
instructed. “I think the county seat is in Wailuku on the
north side of the island. We need to check the bus schedule.”

“
Why
didn’t we sail to the north side?”

“
We’d
have to anchor in Kahului – next town over from Wailuku. Nasty
northern swells have a direct roll into its anchorage. I’ve
been there when the swells surge through the harbor entrance. The
boat rolled, pitched, and I was too close to a lee shore. If that
weren’t bad enough, there isn’t a secure site to land the
dinghy.”

In
the winter, he explained, ocean swells created by storms far away in
the North Pacific batter the north and northwest facing shores of the
islands. Just the opposite occurs in the summer with storm swells
arriving from the south and southwest.

Because
the southern swells travel farther, the biggest swells were the
northern swells that arrive in winter. A wave prediction system
alerted surfers and warned beach-going tourists.

As
they motored ashore, Gybe scanned the anchored and moored vessels.
Subconsciously he was identifying each one and looking for
acquaintances. Something about one of the larger sailboats caught
his eye. The glare from the background sun prevented him from
further identification.

Unlike
Kaunakakai, there wasn’t a dinghy dock at Mala Wharf. Instead,
bow painters and stern lines laced the dinghies between the catwalk
next to the launch ramp and the rocks that formed the wharf. This
technique kept the boats from bashing into either rocks or catwalk
when the waves rushed into the area.

After
securing the dinghy, they walked across the street to the Lahaina
Cannery Mall. Inside, an information booth attendant told them that
they could catch the Route 5 bus in the morning. That bus would take
them to Wailuku, the county seat.

“
OK,
that’s done. Let’s head into Safeway. I need supplies.
Neither grocery store in Kaunakakai offers much of a selection.”

Thirty
minutes later, with nearly a full grocery cart, Gybe and Kara left
the store. “I need to stop in here for a minute.” Kara
walked towards the Long’s Drug Store.

After
loading the dinghy with the supplies, Gybe started the outboard and
pointed the small boat towards
Ferrity
. Again, the one
sailboat caught his eye, but because they had purchased perishables,
he opted to return directly to the boat.

17

From
the bilge, in a specially made wine rack, Gybe transferred a bottle
of Australian white wine to the reefer. It replaced the bottle he
had just opened. Into two wineglasses, etched with the silhouette of
an old brigantine, Gybe poured the chilled white wine. Handing a
glass to Kara, he pointed her to the fixing’s for a salad and
then went above where he lit off the barbecue grill, mounted on the
aft rail.

In
their last upstream struggle, two salmon steaks, fresh from a fish
farm, appeared from the reefer and landed on the grill.

The
sun was an outstretched fist above the horizon, notched between the
stern of
Ferrity
and the fading southern coastline of
Moloka‘i, when they sat down to eat. The wind had calmed and
the boat rocked gently in the seas.

Gybe
preferred anchorages to slips. He didn’t do the God thing, but
he knew when to appreciate the moment. Tropical breeze, grilling
aromas, wine glass, Kara,
Ferrity
’s motion, Kara’s
body, sun’s descent, far horizon – filled tonight’s
sensual inventory.

“
Gybe,
this is fantastic. I’ve known you for two days. The first
night and morning, we anchored off Kaunakakai. Last night, we sipped
brandy while watching stars. Now you bring me to another anchorage
off Maui. Beautiful sunsets, incredible night sky, terrific food,
and drink.”

Gybe
nodded. Careful, he reminded himself, he wasn’t looking for a
full time mate.

“
There
ought to be a law against the way you live. Think what would happen
if everyone went back to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.”

Gybe
and Kara slept in the berth formed by the v-shape of the forward
hull. Their heads were aft and their feet joined at the bottom of
the vee. Above them, struts held the hatch open so they could look
up at the night sky.

Their
lovemaking had been gentler tonight. After dinner, Gybe opened the
second bottle of wine. They drank and talked about the stars in the
sky, about Gybe’s life on the boat, and about Kara’s
dreams.

Asleep
in the v-berth, Gybe dreamed of sailing the Aleutian Islands of
Alaska. He planned to leave Hawai‘i in the spring, sailing
west along the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to Midway Island. At
Midway, he would turn north towards Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island.
After a visit in Dutch Harbor, he would sail along the coastline
until he reached Southeast Alaska where he hoped to find a slip for
the winter in Sitka. A travel guide for Southeastern Alaska had
warned of the rainy season, which ran from January first through
December thirty-first. In his dream, raindrops fell on his face.
The intensity of the drops increased until they awakened him.

The
drops were real. Gybe sat up and closed the hatch. Within moments,
a squall was dumping buckets of rain. He left the berth and secured
the other hatches. The dodger, a Conestoga wagon looking affair kept
the rain from falling through the companionway’s main hatch.
Gybe stood under the dodger and surveyed the storm. From landmarks,
he determined that
Ferrity
was secure on her anchor.

The
squall brought a strong offshore breeze that swung
Ferrity
so
that her bow pointed ashore. The rain came down hard. Kara nuzzled
against his back and asked if everything was all right.

“
Fine.
Looks like we are in for a heavy rain, though.”

They
returned to the bunk and quickly fell asleep. In Gybe’s mind,
there was nothing sweeter than falling asleep with the heavy
raindrops pounding on the cabintop three feet above his head.

18

The
next morning, Kara made coffee while Gybe went up on deck and walked
around the boat. The rain had stopped, but not before dumping
several inches of fresh water. Reddish brown seawater surrounded
Ferrity
. More than five inches of water rested in the
inflatable dinghy, yet there was no danger of her sinking. Even full
of water, the boat would float.

Gybe
stepped over the lifeline and hopped into the dink where he removed
the drain plug. The rainwater in the dinghy was higher than sea
level. The buoyancy of the tubes would drain the dinghy
automatically.

After
coffee and breakfast, Gybe and Kara motored ashore and caught the bus
to Wailuku. They got off the bus in front of the county courthouse.
“Let’s find the coroner first.” Gybe suggested.
“I hope he will talk with us.”

At
the coroner’s office, they introduced themselves to the
receptionist and asked to speak to the coroner. Gybe smooth-talked
his way into Dr. Abraham’s office.

“
I
can’t release the details of the autopsy yet,” explained
the coroner.

“
I’m
sure you can’t. But, you do know that Kara’s friend
Susan, Susan Combs, has been indicted for the murders. Yesterday,
the police chief told the press that as far as he was concerned the
case is closed. Later in the press conference, the Prosecuting
Attorney felt that he had more than enough evidence.”

“
Yes,
but …”

Gybe
interrupted the examiner. “We could bring an attorney back
with us and get the full report. You would really help us now if you
could answer a few questions.”

The
coroner, no friend of the prosecutor, agreed. He informed them that
both victims had drowned although there were bruises and scrapes
about their chest, back, and under their arms. Both victims were
nude and their bodies were thirty feet underwater. Time of death was
between 9:00 p.m. and midnight.

“
With
the scrapes and bruises, it sounds like the victims fought the
killer. On TV, they always find DNA evidence under the fingernails.”

“
Not
in this case. Thirty-six hours under water. The crabs and other
scavengers had eaten the fingertips.”

Gybe
stymied a shudder as he visualized crabs gnawing on other appendages.

“
How
were the bodies held down? We’ve heard rumors of concrete
overshoes.” He knew, of course, since he had found the bodies.
However, he wanted to hear the coroner’s answer and to watch
Kara’s reaction.

The
coroner stalled, studied the ceiling. Gybe met Kara’s eyes
with a wait signal. The second hand on the wall clock climbed from
the bottom of the clock to the top before the coroner continued.
“I’ll deny this if you try to quote me. It’s in
the report which as you say, Susan’s attorney will receive.”
He hesitated. “Each victim’s head was enclosed in
concrete.”

No
one spoke for several seconds. Then Kara blurted. “My god,
you’re saying they drowned in concrete?”

“
Not
what I said.” The coroner replied. As an experienced
courtroom witness, he chose his words carefully.

The
doctor explained that he had found cardboard residue on the outside
of the “concrete helmets” as he called them. He
theorized the killer had placed a box, something similar to the box
that copier paper comes in, over the head of each victim. Before
pouring the concrete, the killer had fitted each victim with a dive
mask and snorkel.

“
This
allowed them to continue breathing as the box filled with concrete.
As long as they remained calm, they could breathe air as the concrete
hardened.”

“
Calm?”
Gybe thought. “Someone places a box over your head and starts
filling it with concrete – it would be hard to imagine a
pleasant outcome!”

The
doctor shrugged. “When the killer finished, the victims wore a
concrete block on their heads. They were still alive because there
were hollow cavities in the concrete around the neck area. These
cavities formed when the tissue collapsed after death. If the
victims were dead when the concrete was curing, then these cavities
wouldn’t be there.”

“
After
the concrete hardened and the box was removed, I believe that the
victims could still see their killer. The killer positioned the
boxes or forms so that the faceplate of the dive mask was clear of
the concrete. And as I said, they could still breathe through the
snorkel. Talking was impossible, but they would have been able to
hear muted sounds through the snorkel tube.

Kara,
still grasping at the horror summarized. “You mean doctor,
each victim was aware of what was happening and could see their
murderer through the masks?”

“
That’s
correct.”

Gybe
inquired about the weight of each block. The coroner revealed that
the man’s block weighed eighteen pounds while the woman’s
weighed twenty pounds. He didn’t know if this was significant
but he noted it in his green spiral notebook.

“
Anything
special about the concrete? Any way to trace it?”

From
the doctor’s hesitation, Gybe knew that there was something
unique about the concrete. The doctor was still thinking when Gybe
asked, “Doc, you’re silence has answered the question.
If the concrete was unusual, then it narrows the field of suspects.
The prosecutor won’t be able to hide this.”

“
The
concrete contained an additive called
Mellose
.
It’s a viscose agent based on under water Cellulose –
Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose. As I understand it, the product is
a self-leveling agent that increases viscosity of flowing concrete.
Something to do with concrete that is used underwater.”

“
What
does it look like?” Gybe asked.

“
From
the company’s Web site, it is sold in powder form.”

Gybe
scratched in his notebook for a few moments. “Is that why the
concrete is so light? A cubic foot weighs around one-fifty as I
recall.”

The
coroner smirked. “What line of work did you say you were in?
Gybe – is it?”

“
I
didn’t. I’m a writer. Yes, it’s Gybe.”

The
coroner glanced at the ceiling for a moment. “What kind of a
name is Gybe?”

“
It’s
Hindu for the one who breaks horses. Now about the concrete?”

“
You’re
right about concrete. Beyond the
Mellose
,
the killer added Styrofoam packing peanuts to the concrete. Before
you ask, the woman’s weighed more than the man’s because
she had a smaller head. Ergo, more concrete to fill the box.”

Kara
and Gybe absorbed the information before Gybe changed the subject
away from the concrete helmets.

“
Were
the victims using any drugs?”

“
Only
small amounts of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Hardly
anything to note in today’s society.”

“
Other
than the
Mellose
that might
tie underwater construction, was there any other physical evidence to
tie Susan to the victims?”