4 Maui Macadamia Madness by Cynthia Hickey Page A

resembled a tomato.
    “What did I do now?”
I headed for the tiny kitchen for a glass of water.
    “You and Ethan were
seen going into Jamison’s cottage.” Joe crossed his arms. “You put my friend up
to this, didn’t you?”
    “Wait a minute—”
Ethan stood.
    Joe held up a hand.
“It’s okay, buddy. I know my cousin, and she can be quite enticing when she
wants to be.”
    I cocked my head and
decided not to respond to his outrageous accusations. Instead, I guzzled my
drink like I didn’t have a care in the world and silently rejoiced at April’s
warning look toward Joe.
    “Who saw us?” Ethan
frowned.
    “I did.”
    “Well, if it was
you, what’s the big deal?” Ethan plopped back to the sofa.
    “The deal,
sweetheart…” I took my time moseying my way over to the group. “Is that my
cousin likes to be dramatic. He spends his time being nosey and is stung by the
fact that we actually gained entrance. Obviously he tried and didn’t. Isn’t
that right, Joe?”
    His face darkened to
the point I thought he might have a stroke.
    “He’s too big to fit
through the window and wouldn’t think about asking April to help.” I patted his
shoulder on my way to balance on the arm of the sofa next to Ethan. “Well?”
    “You’re right. Partially. I chose not to break and enter when I discovered
the front door locked.” He pouted. “How do you get away with that type of
behavior?”
    “Lucky, I guess.” I
tossed him a grin. “Besides, I now have Ethan’s help.”
    Joe sighed. “Did you
find anything?”
    “Just the curious
fact that apparently Mr. Jamison had two boxes of nuts in his room. One is
still sitting on the dresser.” I sat my glass on the coffee table with a
flourish, enjoying the fact of having ‘got one up’ on Joe. Neither
one of us really knows when things got so competitive between us and while I know Joe would die for me and me the same for him, life wouldn’t be the
same if we weren’t trying to outdo each other. “And a really mean email from
someone called antiresortbuilder who seems to have a
grudge against the late Mr. Jamison.”
    “Y’all did good .” Joe rubbed his chin. “Now, we need to decide the next
step. You also need to lay low. The last thing you want is to be arrested.”
    It wouldn’t be the
first time. “We thought I’d try getting information out of the maid.”
    “How do you plan on
doing that?” Uncle Roy snagged a banana from the fruit basket. “You need to be
subtle. You can’t just prance up to the girl and say, ‘Hey, heard you found the
body.’”
    “I know that.
Besides, Camilla found the body, but maids often know everything that goes on
in a place.” I twirled my hair “We’re suddenly going to be low on towels.”

 

 
    Chapter
Twelve
    “Do you know who the maid is?” Joe asked.
    “A
young, pretty Hawaiian girl in a muumuu.” I grabbed my purse.
    “They both are young
and pretty and wear muumuus.”
    “Two
maids?” I’d only seen one
on the night they found Jamison. “Do you have names?”
    “They’re sisters.
Malia and Micah, I think. Twins. Also, depending on
the number of guests, sometimes Camilla helps the maids out.” Joe reached for
an apple. “Are we going to breakfast? They stop serving in thirty minutes, and
I’m starving.”
    “In
a minute. Why would the
cops lie about the cause of Mrs. Aldrich’s death?” I kept my gaze focused on
Joe. No way was I allowing him to give me a mundane answer.
    He sighed. “To keep certain pertinent information out of the press.” He
crossed his arms. “If only the killer knows the truth, the authorities can weed
out the thrill seekers and story tellers.”
    “Did you know from
the beginning they were lying ?”
    “Yes.” He looked at
me as if I were stupid. “Nobody dies from a hair dryer in the bath, unless the
house is not up to code.” He chomped his apple.
    Apparently
‘everyone’ was smarter than me. I grabbed my purse from the counter. “If I’m
not