Free Wings in the Dark by Michael Murphy Page B

the Pacific. “What do you know about the other members of the group?”
    “They were all business rivals. Marcus Taylor is a grower and Lyle Benedict runs a shipping line, but they set aside their differences for the good of Hawaii’s future. Though if you think either might’ve been involved in Mr. Kalua’s murder, Taylor left for Los Angeles two weeks ago and isn’t expected back for another month. The paper said Benedict is on a fishing trip to Molokai. They’ll be back in time for Miss Earhart’s flight, but neither could’ve pulled the trigger.”
    Perhaps they financed a hit against their business rival—but with a financial stake in Amelia’s flight, neither would’ve wanted Kalua shot in her hangar.
    Laura came into the room, wearing a smirk, and closed the door behind her. She set the flashlight on the desk and handed me a black book. “You were right, darling. Men do keep secrets in their offices. At least this one did.”
    As Billy glanced over my shoulder, I flipped through the pages of Hank Kalua’s appointment calendar. The kid was standing too close and a whiff of spearmint hit me.
    “Do you mind?”
    Billy stepped back. “Just trying to help.”
    The book contained names, dates, phone numbers, the works. I glanced up from the pages to Laura. “Why don’t you save me some time and tell me what caused your grin?”
    Laura flipped to another page and pointed to a man’s handwriting, presumably Kalua’s. “Three weeks ago Kalua entered a brief note. ‘Dinner with Fanny,’ next to a phone number.”
    Could the dinner date really be Amelia’s grease-monkey mechanic?
    Billy glanced at the book. “That’s Fanny Chandler’s phone number.”
    How did Billy know?
    It was as if Billy read my mind. “Mr. Putnam often has me place a call for him.”
    That made sense.
    Billy acted more shocked than Laura and me. “Why would Fanny Chandler be in Hank Kalua’s appointment calendar?”
    Was the kid really that green? “Maybe he called to offer her a deal on pineapples.”
    Understanding swept over Billy’s face. He dropped into the chair like he’d been knocked over by the news. “You think they were…were fooling around?”
    Laura burst out laughing. “Yes, Billy. It seems Mr. Kalua, the family man, had been seeing Amelia Earhart’s friend, fellow flyer, and mechanic.”
    “Fanny.” Billy shook his head.
    The pages after that entry showed the same phone number and a couple of places where Kalua had initialed
FC
. “This is damn explosive.”
    “I’m thinking we should be going.” Billy checked his watch. “What happens if someone shows up at the front door?”
    I shrugged. “We jump out the window, I guess.”
    “It’s three stories!” He peered out the window. “There is a fire escape.”
    I never entered somewhere I was uninvited without an escape plan. I’d noticed the fire escape from the alley. “Well, there you go.”
    I flipped through the book. Laura might have solved the case. Had Hank Kalua come to the hangar to see his lover, Fanny?
    Laura leaned closer to me and gazed at the open book. Her perfume smelled a hell of a lot better than Billy’s spearmint. “Darling, if Kalua arranged to meet Fanny at the hangar, do you think he was breaking things off? Or perhaps she was. Something didn’t go well, she shot him and ran to her car. When George showed up, she couldn’t drive off, so she came in as if she’d just arrived.”
    We needed to talk to Fanny. “Sex, a woman scorned, and a bullet to the heart.”
    Laura’s eyes widened. “Jake Donovan. Blackie Doyle returns!”
    There was a chance the idea of Kalua and Fanny was fiction. I ran a hand over my forehead. “I wonder whether Amelia or Putnam knew Fanny was having a relationship with Kalua.”
    Billy shook his head. “No one did, or would have suspected. I mean, I never saw her without her mechanic’s coveralls on.”
    I smiled. “But you wanted to?”
    Billy blushed. “I didn’t mean it that way. And