“Hey, these crumbs are new. Who’s been eating sembei in the car?” I teased.
“Souvenirs from the trip to the beach,” Uncle Hiroshi said. “Your father didn’t eat any. The criminals are simply Tsutomu and myself.”
“Is that true?” I asked, peering at my father.
He sighed. “I tried something Hawaiian-crack seed. And I also ate a container of pineapple while we were in traffic yesterday. Does that pass inspection?”
“Oh, leftover pineapple is what I’m smelling. Great.”
“What can we say? We need you to keep us neat and clean, Rei-chan,” Tom said from the front, chuckling. “But take a rest today.”
“I will rest, but I would like for us to take a short excursion later today or tomorrow. Hopefully, Uncle Yosh and anyone else can come along, too.”
“We can fit seven in the van,” my father said. “Eight, if Courtney’s coming. But where do you want to go?”
TO MY SURPRISE, Uncle Edwin’s car was parked in front of the townhouse when we pulled in. Without us home to open the Pineapple Plantation gate, he must have convinced another driver to let him in.
“Welcome home!” He emerged from his sedan as we piled out of the minivan. “Are you really sure you’re ready to come home? You gave us a scare!”
I murmured politely that yes, I was fine, all the while thinking, Did he want me to be in the hospital? His greeting was strange. I had never considered that Edwin would want me incapacitated, but I had been a major stumbling block in his efforts to get my family involved in his land scheme. And I’d been at his house only hours before I fell ill, though I couldn’t remember eating or drinking anything.
I was distracted by Courtney, who bounded out of the back seat and thrust forward a fancy shopping bag. Packed in it were a variety of gifts-a bouquet of torch ginger and helicona from their garden, a plastic container of the famous Okinawa donuts, and Courtney’s own dog-eared Harry Potter book, plus a copy of Hawaii Brides.
“I’m finished with both of them. You can keep it after you’re done,” she said.
“That’s sweet of you, because I just finished the mystery I was reading.” I reached out to hug Courtney, and she relaxed into my arms with a happy sigh. I finally understood why she was always reading bridal magazines and Harry Potter novels; she lived for fantasy, because nobody seemed to notice her. The reality of always playing second fiddle to a troublemaker had taken its toll.
Braden and Yoshitsune had emerged from the car, too. To my surprise, Braden was holding his grandfather’s arm. Uncle Hiroshi, my father, and Tom all looked at him approvingly. This was good Confucian behavior, indeed.
“Braden been doing so much with the pond, I decided to go for broke and help him with that last bit of shoveling. Like a fool, I twisted my ankle,” Yosh said, as if sensing everyone’s attention.
There was a flurry of questions and Tom went to examine the old man’s ankle, which he pronounced, in the end, was fortunately just a minor strain.
“And how are you, Braden?” I asked.
“Hanging in there.”
“I’m glad you’re all here, because I’ve got some big news. Perhaps we can all sit down on the lanai together, with a drink, and talk over what it means…”
“I have news, too!” Edwin said. “Hey, Courtney, you run inside with your cousin Tom and get everyone fixed up with drinks.”
“Did you find out who poisoned you?” Braden asked.
“Not yet, but apparently the health department is making the rounds,” I said.
The winds were blowing hard, so we used our drinking glasses on the corners of the photocopied maps and documents to keep them from blowing away. I thought that showing Edwin the signed military orders announcing the takeover of a portion of Pierce land in 1943 first, and then showing the series of maps, with and without government chain link fencing, would be stronger evidence than any words I could offer.
“So it’s not Pierce land. This is the proof,” Edwin said, as his finger traced a military boundary on an old map.
“The executives at Pierce Holdings may think that these forty acres along the water belong to them, but they don’t. And the beauty of the situation is that you don’t have to hire a lawyer to prove anything. The military’s got their own legal team who are alerted and apparently eager to save the land from development.”
“But will they give it back to us?” Yosh asked.
I searched for words to comfort my great-uncle, but there were none. “Even if we had a letter or deed, it wouldn’t matter. Michael explained to me that in times of national emergency, the military can seize property-”
“Or seize people.” Yosh’s voice was bitter.
“I’m so sorry, Uncle Yosh. If it’s any consolation, Mitsuo Kikuchi won’t be able to profit by building a restaurant complex in the special place where you lived-and I wonder whether the military might be agreeable to letting you move the actual cottage. I could help you renovate it as a little garden house. Maybe there’s room near your pond…”
“Enough.” Edwin’s voice came quick, and hard. “That place isn’t ours, it seems. Time to put away all thoughts of it, and who cares about making garden houses when my boy’s facing jail time?”
“Yes, certainly, there are much more serious things to discuss,” my father said, his voice consoling. “Please tell us how we can help, in this regard.”
“Well, I did what I should have done days ago, and fired the lawyer,” Edwin said. “I told Lisa Ping that I expected her to go to the police to try get the case dismissed. She said we need witnesses, sworn testimony, this that and the other. So I said thanks, and goodbye.”
“You shouldn’t have fired her!” I cried out. “Good lawyers don’t grow on trees.”
“She’s a lawyer who wouldn’t even try,” Edwin said. “That’s not the right attitude, you know? We need a real pro who’s a fighter.”
“Edwin, if Lisa Ping told you she can’t get the case dismissed before trial, it might be for legal reasons, not for lack of fight. After all, it’s a felony case-”
Edwin cut me off. “Oh, don’t worry about my business anymore. I’ll be getting an expert opinion quite soon.”
“Whose?” my father asked politely.
“Mr. Hugh Glendenning himself,” Edwin said, looking defiantly at me.
“Hugh Glendenning?” I’d been feeling well all morning, but now my stomach almost somersaulted back to the bad place where it had been.
“Yes, Hugh. This is the big news I came over to tell! I made a call to Tokyo and reached his office, and he took the call personally. He was very worried when he heard you were lying in the hospital maybe dying from poison.”
“You said what to him?” I’d been feeling well, but now my stomach was cramping.
“At the time, I didn’t know if you were going to live or die, so I thought he better know. He said he would fly out as fast as he could. You’re the main reason he’s coming, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind listening to the situation with Braden while he’s out here.”
Uncle Hiroshi, my father, and Tom only stared; I was sure they were as shocked as I was.
“I don’t believe it,” I said. “How could you do such a thing? You’ve tricked Hugh into helping you, just like you tricked us with your father’s birthday!”
“Rei-chan, please don’t make yourself sick again.” My father put a restraining hand on my arm, as if he thought I might strike Edwin.
“You can’t afford Hugh’s help; none of us can! He’s even more expensive than Lisa Ping, and I’m almost positive he’s not licensed to practice law in Hawaii.”
“Whatever the case, he’s flying in on JAL this afternoon. I offered to give him a ride from the airport to the hospital, but he said he’d already booked a driver. Gonna have to reach him somehow, tell him you’re not at Queen’s anymore.” Edwin pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket.