Ollie was completely confused. "Corky? Him? He's an old friend. We play poker together."
I was deliberately vague. "He seems representative of the community."
"Oh, he is, he is," Ollie said. "His family is very prominent in Maui history. Still--"
"And influential?
Ollie shook his head angrily. "You're barking up the wrong tree. He won't sell his land. That land's been in the Collins' family since Hawaii had kings and queens."
"Sometimes some public protesters are privately holding out for a better price," I suggested.
Ollie thought of something else. "His wife, too. Saundra loves that land as much as he does. She'll take a shotgun to you if she finds out you're with the federal government."
I pretended his wife was a new wrinkle. "How long have they been married?"
"Almost twenty-five years. They got two boys. Fine boys. Hell, both grown men actually."
"How does Corky get along with his wife? Any chance they'll be separated or get divorced?"
"None that I can see. If they quarrel, who knows? Not in public, anyway. Of course that ranch of his is a half-mile back from the highway."
"Your bank handles estate planning, right? Are they rich?"
Ollie tried computing: "Let's see. That ranch of his. Three thousand acres of land. His processing plant. Some commercial property in town, too. Refrigerated warehouses and some loading docks. His total estate if he croaked this minute?" He tried finding a final sum. "Oh, maybe two million."
"Does he throw his money around?"
Ollie snickered. "Corky's so cheap, he'd fuck his wife, then go to the whorehouse, just so he's got his ten bucks worth."
"Who handles his insurance?"
Ollie began flipping through his Rolodex. "Stu Phillips. I've got his number around here somewhere."
I stood. "Just his address. I might not get there right away. You've been most helpful, Mister Salazar--"
Ollie stood and shook my hand. "Call me Ollie!"
I left then. But even before I reached my Mustang, I knew Ollie Salazar was on the phone, his eyes wide, his mouth flapping away. Some people you can trust just like that.
A sign out on Front Street said: "Stu Phillips Insurance."
I took the staircase that led upstairs to the second floor. Within minutes, I sat across from and was talking to Stu Phillips, who was only too happy to help out a government man.
I said, "How about insurance, Mister Phillips? Does he have adequate coverage?"
"I don't think so. Corky's an optimist who believes nothing bad will ever happen to him."
"How about his wife?"
"Saundra? Oh, she's got adequate coverage. I got him to do that much at least. He'd be lost without her. She's some special lady."
Later Corky and I were offshore and onboard Corky's forty footer. The stern read: "SAUNDRA II." I kept myself busy surveying the waters around us.
Corky was pissed. "How come you've been checking into my background?"
"There's a guy over there with binoculars."
Corky brushed aside that as no threat. "He's just a fisherman. He's watching the seabirds feeding. That's where the big fish congregate to eat the little fish."
"Let me explain some things to you, pal. You want your wife whacked. Well, before we agree, I have to see how you fit into the deal. I have to look you over, understand you. We don't do a thing unless I know every why and wherefore along the way."
"What doesn't make sense--"
I interrupted him. "And we've decided. I'll do it."
Corky was taken aback. "Are you gonna guarantee my alibi?"
"That's the only way I work."
"When will she die?"
I had a cold smile. "It'll surprise even you."
Corky was jubilant. "Whoa boy! You sure had me going there!" He laughed with glee, and he sounded as raucous as a seagull. His voice made me wince.
"It'll cost you, too, pal. Fifty grand."
Corky made a razzberry. "Ten's all I got."
"You'll get the rest. And I get it all ahead of time."
"I'm not paying all of it beforehand."
"Afraid I'll skip on you?"
"Yes. Twenty-five grand."
"Fifty grand up front."
"I got twenty-five grand in cash." Corky hesitated. I could see his mind counting the coins in his pocket. "I'll go along with fifty grand if you get half before and the other half when everything stays buried." He added a caveat. "If she stays buried, I mean, if we hear nothing other than her death was accidental, or done by persons unknown, then I can give you the balance as soon as probate's over. That way you don't set me up. Or turn me in, either."
"How do I know you'll pay me?"
"You'll kill me if I don't."
"You got that right. But you pay the first half just before I go do it."