Tahoe Ice Grave by Todd Borg

Author:Todd Borg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, detective, tahoe, owen mckenna
Publisher: Todd Borg

TWENTY-ONE

We drove from the arid south side of Kauai up to the wet north side. The change in vegetation from sparse and dry to lush and wet was matched by the sky. At Jasper’s the afternoon sun was intense in a blue sky. In Princeville the sky was overcast and a light drizzle called for wipers and turning on the headlights.

Thos’s townhouse was on a beautiful stretch of grass and garden adjacent to one of the famous Princeville golf courses. An end unit with a view of fairways and mountains beyond, it had a lush elegance that, for many prospective owners, no doubt more than made up for the reduced sunshine of the north side of the island. We parked on an immaculate blacktop drive and Street let us in with the key.

The inside of Thos’s home was excessively neat. “This place looks more like a show unit than a place where someone lived,” I said.

“Cleaning service,” Street said. “You can see the vacuum tracks on the carpet. I think they’ve come through since Thos was here. Even a fastidious guy isn’t this clean.”

We took a quick look through the downstairs. There was a large living room with black leather furniture and an entertainment system against one wall. Another wall was glass with a patio outside. The décor of the kitchen was modern, with stainless steel kitchen appliances. Upstairs were two bedrooms. The smaller back bedroom had a double bed, a dresser, and a bookcase made of polished black wood, dramatic against the off-white carpet. To one side was a chair, upholstered in black leather. The larger front bedroom with a view of the golf course was Thos’s office. A wrap-around desk, multiple filing cabinets, copier, fax, computer and color laser printer nearly filled the space.

“What can I do to help?” Street asked.

“I’m going to poke around in his computer and look for Thos’s email friend. If he has a phone index, you might look for the friends that Jasper mentioned. Or look in the phone book.”

“Donny Kyono, Tom Rypel and Caesar somebody, right?”

“Yeah. And Brian Malone, the manager of Pacific Blue Wines. Maybe poke around through his desk drawers, too, and see if you find anything that hints of trouble or stress or bad financial decisions.”

Street went to work, methodically searching Thos’s office and, eventually, the rest of the townhouse, while I tried to make a methodical search of his computer. Next to the monitor was a stack of new Zip disks and I put one in to make copies of anything potentially useful.

I started with his email program. Fortunately, he’d set it up to remember his password so I had access.

There were 137 emails in his inbox. They dated from three days before his death, presumably the last time he left Kauai. I started at the beginning and opened them one by one.

The majority came from an online discussion group affiliated with a wine-making trade group. Scanning them quickly, I saw a wide breadth of issues and concerns

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