Murder in Honolulu: A Skye Delaney Mystery by R. Barri Flowers Page B

was excessive at the time of his death. The man I was
married to had always been able to carry his liquor. Now I strongly
suspected he had carried it way too far.
    Darlene put her glass on the table and
looked at me. "So what is it we need to talk about? Other than the
fact that the man we both married just happened to be at your house
when somebody decided to kill him." Her eyes shifted distrustfully
at me. "Maybe you can tell me what the hell Carter was doing there.
Or am I supposed to guess?"
    I tasted the martini and took a moment to
try and figure out if this woman was actually implying that I had
reversed the tables and was having an affair with Carter. I would
never have stooped to her level, but I let Darlene consider the
possibility just a while longer, fully aware I could be looking at
an accomplice to murder.
    I took a deep breath, then said levelly:
"Carter hired me as a private investigator—"
    Darlene's eyes widened and she licked her
lips. "Well, this ought to be interesting—"
    "Oh, it is," I assured her, and wet my
throat with more drink. "He suspected you were having an affair..."
I watched Carter's widow suddenly grow tense. "He wanted me to
verify it. At four o'clock on the day Carter died, I was supposed
to meet him at my office to tell him what I had learned in my
investigation. Only he never showed up. He must have decided to
meet me at my house. That's where I found him—"
    Darlene's eyes became slits. "That bastard!"
After sipping her drink, she asked accusingly: "So, what were you
going to tell my husband?"
    I un-crossed my legs and sat erect in the
chair. Looking her in the eye, I said: "Well, for starters, that
you were— are —having an affair..."
    She was silent, apparently fuming inside at
the thought that I had discovered her dirty little secret. Of
course, that wasn't the half of it.
    Darlene's nostrils flared. "It must have
been quite a perverse thrill for you—his ex-wife—to discover that I
was cheating on him just like he cheated on you."
    I sneered. "Don't flatter yourself. It was
strictly business on my end—nothing more." I had the feeling she
wasn't buying that, so I added: "To be perfectly honest, my
marriage to Carter was over long before you came into the
picture, for all intents and purposes—"
    I had managed to convince myself of that
when I looked back now.
    Darlene's brows contracted as she gave me a
look that wavered between uncertainty and edginess. She asked
cautiously: "And so you're here to tell me what? You think because
I was cheating on Carter, I had something to do with his
death?"
    "The thought crossed my mind," I replied
honestly.
    She set her jaw defiantly. "Well I'm sorry
to disappoint you, but you're wrong—at least about my being
responsible for Carter's death." She paused. "Okay, I won't deny
that I was having an affair...what's the point? But that doesn't
make me a murderer—" As if it made a difference, she added: "Not my
own husband...the father of my daughter—"
    I went back to the "doesn't make me a
murderer" part. "What does it make you?" I dared to ask, having my
own ideas.
    Darlene finished off her drink in one fell
swoop. "It makes me a normal, healthy woman who was damned sick and
tired of being rejected by a husband who was too critical, too
busy, and too womanizing!"
    Darlene caught my attention with those last
two words, and she knew it. "Are you saying Carter was having an
affair?"
    She peered at me. "Figure it out yourself.
You're the detective and former wife. Once an asshole,
always an asshole! He didn't know the meaning of the word faithful —certainly not with me, and obviously not with you.
I swear, I don't even know why he and I ever got married in the
first place—"
    I could think of two very good reasons. One
was the thrill of the chase, which clearly wasn't that thrilling
once Carter had caught and married Darlene. The other was the very
real possibility that Darlene was pregnant, which would have been
all the more reason for