Maui Mysteries - The Characters - Samuel Loftus

Samuel Loftus is a central character in Eyes of the Beholder. An accountant, who grows Bromeliads in his home garden (See pictures below cover), and has never done anything surprising in his entire life.

As for other characters, I’ll introduce Sam through the first interview Det. Sgt. Keone Boyd has with him. But this isn’t the first time they’ve come face-to-face. Keone saw Sam’s face when Sam’s Hummer crashed into his new sports car, and again in the hospital, when Sam awoke after the crash and told his wife Janet that she wasn’t his wife. The next morning, a protective doctor allows Keone fifteen minutes to interview Sam Loftus alone:

“Good morning, Mr. Loftus. I’m Sergeant Boyd of Maui PD. I have a couple questions for you about the accident yesterday.” He flipped open his ID and handed it to the man.

“Weren’t you in the first car I hit?” Sam replied returning the leather case.

“Yes, but that’s not why I’m here.” Or was it?

“I’m sorry about your beautiful car. It was a Morgan, wasn’t it?… My Uncle Bob had one of those. I think he loved it more than he did my Aunt Terry. A beautiful little car.”

“Sir, I only have a few minutes. Do you remember leaving for work yesterday morning?”

Loftus closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. “Yes. I walked out our front door and waved goodbye to Julie before driving off. Just like every morning.”

Keone noticed Sam said Julie, not Janet. He’d checked department records last night after he left the hospital. Janet Loftus was Sam’s legal wife.  “Was it a normal day at work?”

“Perfectly.” Again, Loftus closed his eyes. “I parked in my regular spot and walked up the stairs to my office. While I was opening the door, Lee Marder came by to ask me for a lift home. We joked about our jobs before I walked into my cubicle and started right to work.” 

“What happened on the drive home?"

“I was driving from Lahaina to Pukalani, just like I do every day. Lee and I were talking and listening to music when I had the strangest feeling.” 

“What sort of feeling?”

“I felt like I passed through a kind of barrier, like an invisible membrane, and heard a loud pop.”

“Was it just your body that passed through or the entire car?” As weird as this sounded, Keone acted as if passing through an invisible bubble was the most natural thing in the world.

“Good question. You know, I can only be certain about my body. The bubble seemed to surround me. I couldn’t see it, or if it touched Lee, so I asked him if he heard the pop.”

“What did he say?”

“Said he didn’t hear anything. That’s when I noticed everything was wrong.”

“What do you mean wrong?”

“We were on the wrong side of the road. I was sitting on the wrong side of the car. The road signs were unreadable. I swerved to the right-hand side of the road. But you were there...and all those other cars. There was nowhere to go. I tried to turn left around the corner, but started rolling over and over...” 

Keone looked into Sam’s eyes. “You say you swerved to the right.”

“Uh-huh. I discovered I was on the left-hand side of the road and moved over to the right.”

“I’d like you to close your eyes and imagine you’re back in the car, just before you hit the membrane.”

Keone watched Sam put out his hands and grasp an imaginary steering wheel.

“Okay you hit the membrane, now.”

Sam flinched.

“You realize you’re on the wrong side of the road and turn the wheel.”

Sam made a sharp turning motion with his hands. Keone noted he turned the wheel to the left, as he must have to enter the wrong lane. Not to the right as he’d claimed.

“And then you try to turn to miss me and the others?”

“Yes,” Sam said, jerking the imaginary steering wheel sharply to the right.

“What way did you just turn the wheel?”

“To the left, just like I told you.”

“You can open your eyes now.”

“Time’s up,” the nurse announced upon entering the room. “I must ask you to please leave.”

Though he refrained from commenting on the nurse’s edict, Keone made no effort to hurry. He just said, “That’s okay, we were wrapping up anyway. Thank you for your time, Mr. Loftus.”

Intrigued by the interaction, he paused outside the room. Who is Sam Loftus, really? What was he like before the crash? More important, was he criminally responsible for the crash?

About the Pictures:

The top picture is, of course the eBook cover showing the graphic artist’s conception of Sam Loftus. I must say, I was amazed at how much he looked the way I envisioned the character. The next two are of bromeliads, Sam’s favorite plants.