Maui Mysteries - The Characters - Leroy Marder and Keone’s Car

So far, I’ve introduced you primarily to main characters in the story. But no story would be complete without supporting characters. One of my favorites in this story is Leroy (call me Lee) Marder. Lee is good friend of Sam Loftus and is actually in the car with him when he has his accident.

As for other characters, I’ll introduce Lee through the first interview Det. Sgt. Keone Boyd has with him. Keone has just burst into the Maui Memorial Hospital Emergency room when he here’s a voice from a nearby cubicle.

A conversation coming from the cubicle caught his attention.

“…He tried to swerve back at the light to miss all the cars. But the Hummer started bouncing down the road sideways. I didn’t know whether to shit or go blind. I saw the front half of the car headed for the left turn lane. That first car in line was sure a beaut’. It looked brand new. My half of the windshield was pointed right at the driver… I’ll never forget the look on his face… Next thing I knew I woke up here.”

Keone pulled the curtain aside to find a man of about sixty propped up on the bed. A grey-haired, no-nonsense nurse that Keone knew well from previous visits to the ER was cleaning abrasions on the man’s face, chest, and arms with disinfectant.

He identified himself, flashed his badge, and flipped open his notebook. “You’re Mr. Marder—Mr. Leroy Marder?”

“That’s me. But call me Lee, okay?”

“You were riding in the car with Mr. Loftus when the accident occurred. Is that correct?”

“Yes, I was. Scariest damn thing I ever saw.”

“Could you tell me exactly what happened?”

“Well, like I was telling this lovely young lady here, we left work at four-thirty, like we always do on Aloha Fridays. Most of the trip from Lahaina was as normal as could be. Sam had his usual Friday CD playing. He has a different CD for each day of the week. This one started with the Aloha Friday song. You know:

It’s Aloha Friday, No work ‘til Monday, Doot de doo,De doot de doot de doot de doot de doo.”

“Yes, I know the song. What happened next?”

“He played some Bruddah Iz, some Keola Beamer, some Kealiʻi Reichel—”

“No, I mean when did the drive get…less normal?”

“Oh, right. When we passed the harbor entrance, just before that big old restaurant... uh... used to be called Buzz’s, everything got wonky.”

“Wonky?”

“Well, this thing happened, then Old Sammy swerved into the wrong lane. I call him Old Sammy cause he’s so much younger than me, get it?”

“You say he swerved?”

“Yeah, but when he saw all them cars at the signal, lined up in his lane, he tried to swerve back to miss ‘em. His big old Hummer had too much mojo and started to roll. Damned if we didn’t end up hitting both lanes.”

“What thing happened?”

“Huh?”

“Before he swerved the first time, you said ‘this thing happened.’”

“I'm not exactly sure, because it only happened to Sammy.”

“Did he say anything?”

“Sorta cringed at first. Then he said he was on the wrong side of the road, which he wasn’t. Then he swerved into the wrong lane.”

“Did he say anything else, Mr. Marder? Think carefully.”

“Y’ know, now that you mention it, right after he cringed, he asked me, ‘Did you hear that pop?’”

“Did you?”

“No, not a sound.”

“Can you remember anything else?”

“Well, Sam said, ‘Did you hear that pop?’ Then he started talking weird like.”

“What did he say?”

“Uh… something about a soap bubble. Then he swore and said, ‘Everything’s changed. I’m on the wrong side of the road!’ Then he swerved onto the wrong side and.... Hey. Weren’t you the guy in the first car we hit?”

Keone nodded.

“Your face was the last thing I saw before I woke up here. Thank God you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, Mr. Marder, here’s my card. If you think of anything else, give me a call.”

Marder studied the card. “A detective? Boy, is Sammy screwed.”

About the pictures:

In earlier postings, I’ve mentioned that Keone was driving a brand new Morgan Roadster. A number of folks have asked what such a vehicle looks like. So, I’ve included a picture of a version of his car. Of course, his was Sport Green and was driven by a six-foot-seven-inch, two-hundred-seventy pound Hawaiian and not two teddy bears, but it was this model.

In February of 2020, I was fortunate enough to participate in the 2020 WriterCon Cruise. It was great experience and offered the amazing coinicidence of having an actual Morgan Roadster on the promenade deck. I had to take a picture.

Also a brief comment on the first picture. It is not Leroy Marder, but it might as well be. The character and speech pattern of Leroy was based on my good friend Doug McLellan, who managed the property where our condominium was located and convinced me to get out and play golf on one of Maui’s pretiest golf courses. I know he looks at my website and I’m looking forward to a call from him about this picture.

Aloha Doug and Mahalo for all the great times!