The Pearl Harbor Murders by Max Allan Collins

Terry."
    Hully knew the band member who had spoken: Taro 'Terry" Mizuha, the only Japanese in the group other than Pearl.
    "I don't know, Jim," Mizuha said; shaking his head. A slender, almost pretty young man—a guitar player—he really looked devastated. "I just don't know...."
    "I've asked Sally Suziki to fill in on vocals—she was singing with the Kealoha Trio at the Halekulani, but they recently broke up."
    "She'll do fine," somebody said numbly.
    "She's no Pearl," somebody else said.
    "She'll do fine," Kaupiko affirmed. "And I've got Sammy Amaulu, trombone player from the Surfriders—they're not gigging tonight. Sammy can fill in, but just this once."
    Somebody asked, "Are we gonna rehearse with these fill-ins?"
    “Today at three—any objections?"
    There were none, and Kaupiko seemed about to adjourn the informal meeting, when Hully strolled up and said, "What do you guys think about Harry?"
    About half of them had been getting up out of their chairs; all of them had wide-eyed, sucker-punched expressions.
    Kaupiko, still in the director's position on the bandstand, turned and looked down and said, "Hiya, Hully—heard you and your old man found Pearl, and nabbed Harry."
    "It was mostly Dad's doing.... I just wondered what you guys thought, you know, about whether Harry did it or not."
    One of the guys, a Filipino whose name Hully didn't know, a sax player, asked, "I thought your father caught him red-handed."
    "Red-handed in that he had blood on his hand... but maybe it got there 'cause he was trying to help her, or check the pulse in her neck. I just thought you guys should know that Harry denied killing Pearl—he could probably use some support about now. Somebody ought to go downtown and make sure he's got a good lawyer."
    "Sounds like he'll need one," Kaupiko said.
    "No question about that. But I thought maybe you fellas ... his friends ... would like to know that I, for one, found his story convincing."
    "I can't believe Harry'd hurt a fly," Jack Wong said. He was also a sax player.
    "He was crazy about Pearl," somebody else chimed in.
    "Most people think his loving her is a motive," Hully said. "I'd just like to know if any of you guys ever saw Harry act violent—ever behave like a hothead, blow his top over anything."
    Nobody said anything; everybody was sitting down again, and the band members exchanged glances, often shaking their heads.
    Hully stood with hands on his hips. "How about Harry saying anything about Bill Fielder muscling in on him? Did Harry ever have a shouting match with Pearl, over that or anything else?"
    No one said a word.
    Hully searched the cheerless faces. "I'm not a cop ... I'm just a friend of Harry's, who wants to make sure he doesn't get a raw deal outta this."
    "Harry hardly ever raises his voice," Wong said. "That's his problem—we'd be playing at the Royal Hawaiian right now, with the following we got, if he was more aggressive."
    Wong's fellow band members were nodding.
    "Okay, guys," Hully said, easily. "Listen, I'll be over at my bungalow, for a while, if anybody wants to share anything, one to one, man to man. Okay?"
    More nods.
    Hully turned and headed out, to the tune of chairs getting pushed back and murmuring among the members.
    Kaupiko caught up with him about halfway across the dance floor, taking Hully by the arm. "Let's talk," the trumpet player said, and nodded toward the courtyard, which the dining room opened onto.
    The rock garden at the center had a little waterfall which made just enough noise to give them some additional privacy.
    "Are you investigating Pearl's murder?" Kaupiko asked, his expression thoughtful.
    "Not officially," Hully said. "But I think there's at least a possibliity that Harry Kamana is innocent, and I don't see the police going down that path."
    "And if Harry's innocent, somebody else is ..."
    "The word is 'guilty,' Jim. Yes." Hully rocked back on bis heels. "How many of the band live here at the Niumalu?"
    The round-faced musician