Death in the Orchid Garden Read Free

realizing that he’d frequented a Washington, D.C., tanning salon before reaching Kauai. In the candlelight, the tan was even more enhanced. But what was even more compelling were his satyrlike, amber-colored eyes, which danced with excitement as he talked. He was so caught up in telling them about his hike up Shipwreck Rock that he could hardly eat, contented instead to sip his mai tai during pauses to catch his breath. Apparently, he’d gone up the rock while Louise was in the lagoon meeting her “sea monster.” She was bemused by the thought of someone who was afraid of heights arriving in Hawaii and immediately ascending a cliff.
    She and John and the Corbins had been placed at a prime table under the stars. Lighted torches helped them see their dinners. Marty and Steffi were shiny faced and dressed in bright resort clothes. Big people already, the clothes made them look even bigger. Marty was in a shirt embossed with palm trees and Steffi in a sleeveless gown festooned with cockatoos, bamboo stalks, and hibiscus. Louise, feeling almost dowdy in her beige outfit, realized that the first thing the Corbins had done on arrival was to hit the trendy shops in the vast marble-and-carpet halls of Kauai-by-the-Sea. The clothes were quite in character, thought Louise, for Marty was talented, flamboyant, and sometimes over-the-top. His wife was just as colorful. Equally in character was the drink they’d both ordered, called a “Lava Flow,” a creamy pina colada with a dramatic swirl of red crushed strawberries running through it.
    â€œSo that’s the skinny on that big old cliff out there,” said her producer.
    â€œYep, Shipwreck Rock. I wouldn’t have done it, but the concierge told me it’s a pussy-cat of a climb and it was,” enthused John. “There are a few volcanic rocks to clamber over midway up the trail—you’re on all fours then. But man , what a view when you reach the top—you can see for miles. And it gives you this feeling—”
    Marty waggled his brown-haired head and laughed. “—that it might all collapse and you’d fall into the ocean?”
    Faintly rebuked, Louise’s enthusiastic cohost turned his amber eyes to her. “Louise, you’ll love it. We’ll go up there tomorrow, okay?”
    â€œI’d love to.” She thought about telling them about the monk seal on the beach, but decided not to take attention from John’s story.
    Marty said, “Glad you enjoyed your climb, John. That’s what we’re here for—relaxation—part of it, anyway. Maybe we’ll listen in on this botany conference—anyway, you can, Lou, you plant maven, you.” He grinned at her. “We’ll just swim and relax . . .”
    â€œAnd shop,” added Steffi, turning her big, dark eyes Louise’s way. “Louise, when will you be free tomorrow to shop? We need to go to Koloa, and we’ll stop at the Poi Pu Shopping Center on the way.”
    Unlike some women, Louise thought of shopping as a punishment, not a pleasure. But she said, “I’ll be free in the afternoon.” Steffi was a good-hearted woman whom Louise didn’t know that well, but enjoyed on those occasions when they did get together. She didn’t envy Steffi for having to live with Marty, for not only was her producer temperamental, but he hadn’t always been true to his marriage vows.
    â€œYou ladies go off any time you get a chance,” said Marty, “but first, let’s get down ’n dirty and review what we came here for. So we’re going to the National Garden.”
    â€œNational Tropical Botanical Garden, it’s called,” Louise said. “Or you could shorten it to NTBG.”
    Marty waved a big hand. “Yeah, whatever.” They’d already been given a heads-up about the shoot from the PBS associate producer from KHET-TV in Honolulu; he’d scouted the site for them.