Murder in Honolulu: A Skye Delaney Mystery Read Online Free Page B

creased in the center. "One of
the advantages of being independently wealthy is that you can
afford hired help," he bragged. "Darlene has made an art form of
it. Usually the only time I can get her to live up to her
responsibilities of being a mother is when she wants
something."
    A sad statement, I thought, if true. "Have
you confronted her about your suspicions?"
    He paused. "Yes."
    "And?"
    "And she denies it." He curled one side of
his mouth into a sneer. "She says I'm jealous, paranoid, and way
off base."
    I had never known Carter to be jealous or
paranoid in our marriage, probably because I gave him no reason to
be. On the other hand, the word possessiveness did come to
mind.
    "Well, where does Darlene claim she's been
when she goes out?" I asked.
    "Shopping or at a girlfriend's."
    "What makes you think she's lying?"
    He scowled. "She never shows me anything she
bought during the times in question, though she never has any
trouble doing so the rest of the time whenever she decides to run
up the charge cards." He sighed. "As for friends, I've never known
Darlene to have any female—"
    We were interrupted by the untimely,
irritating presence of a giant whitefly that invaded my office and
seemed to take particular delight in watching us squirm. It finally
had the decency to land in a most appropriate spot. I kept an
insect swatter in my desk drawer for such routine occasions and
didn't hesitate to use it when I thought I could nail the
critter.
    "Don't move!" I ordered Carter, who had
apparently lost sight of the insect. Fortunately, I knew exactly
where it had landed. I raised the swatter, took two looping steps,
and lowered the boom right between Carter's legs.
    Bull's-eye!
    Or right on the money, pun intended.
    Carter buckled, more from sheer
embarrassment than anything else.
    "Oops," I said, and managed to suppress a
giggle. It felt better than I could have expected. "Let me clean
that nasty little creature off you..."
    I yanked a couple of tissues from the box I
kept on the desk and scooped up the victim's remains.
    Carter grimaced. "Dammit, Skye! Couldn't you
have waited for it to land somewhere else? This suit cost me a
pretty penny!" He grabbed two tissues to finish wiping his
pants—which turned into smearing what was left more than anything
else.
    "So have them professionally cleaned," I
uttered half sympathetically, "and send me the bill." I made a
feeble attempt at justification. "Sometimes they just won't leave
on their own. Sorry."
    "Yeah, I'll bet you are," he grumbled, and
now seemed to find humor in it himself. "I suppose I had that one
coming—long overdue." He chuckled. I smiled, but kept my mouth
shut. "At least it was that poor bastard," he said, glancing at the
wastebasket, "who got the worst of it."
    The incident appeared to break the tension
in the room that had been palpable. A moment later, it was back to
the business at hand.
    I asked: "Do you have a picture of your
wife?"
    I had never had the pleasure (or lack of,
was probably more like it) of meeting or laying eyes on his former
mistress, having chosen to spare myself the indignity.
    Carter removed a five-by-seven picture from
his suit coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a wedding
photograph of him and his bride.
    "It was all I could find," he said guiltily.
"We haven't taken many pictures—"
    I hated to admit it, but Carter's former
mistress and current wife was beautiful. It wasn't surprising
really. If nothing else, Carter Delaney definitely had an eye for
attractive women, present company included. It was the fact that he
couldn't seem to settle for one woman at a time that pissed me off.
At least it had back in the day.
    Darlene Delaney looked at least ten years
Carter's junior and she was several inches shorter. She had short
blonde hair, blue eyes, and a shapely body in what looked like a
very expensive wedding gown. Or certainly much more than what I
paid for mine. Whether I chose to acknowledge it or not, Carter and
Darlene were