Playing Catch-Up
Steve Goodenow is one of those Private Investigators that… Looks the part. Tall. Bearded. A calm intensity to his gaze. That last part — the gaze — belies the fact that, in his previous life, he was a school teacher. Indeed, it’s the schoolteacher piece that often shows up. He’s adept at maintaining his cool. Knows he’s being graded. Comes with the job. In this case, he hoped to find Scotty Mackay despite all the chaff thrown up by his father. After all, Hawaii is nothing but islands. You can’t get far.
Not surprisingly, Goodenow was one of the last people to jump into this melee. A missing kid is a problem. A missing kid who’s been “escaped” to Hawaii is even worse. The Alaskans needed local assistance. And, as is often the case, it was the attorney-to-attorney connection that broke the stalemate. As in Robert Wagstaff, Scotty’s Alaska attorney, found a Hawaiian counterpart named Brook Hart. And Wagstaff was swinging a hammer: Neil Mackay had been found in violation of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. All signs pointed to a resolution that lived in Hawaii.
So… Enter Hart, attorney at law, Honolulu, Hawaii… With Goodenow now at his side, assisting in the dirty work of finding a kid being dragged along by a highly errant father. If you need to know Goodenow’s role, it was all in his company name: Lawyer’s Aid, Inc. Along with his investigator father — a retired FBI agent who had, for the time being, his own P.I. outfit — Steve Goodenow was among the top dogs in Hawaii investigative circles. Even so, some people had to ask:
Mr. Kaufman (Neil Mackay's L.A. Attorney): At whose authority were you relying... to act as an investigator?
THE WITNESS (Goodenow): By Brook Hart's authority.
DEPOSITION OF STEVEN GOODENOW, May 8, 1978
The Wedgie
I’m getting a little ahead of myself here, but Kaufman — as Neil Mackay’s latest counsel of record — was trying to put a wedge between them… To put Goodenow on an island (no pun). He was implying that Goodenow’s expenditures were way out of line (he was owed about $50,000 plus invested expenses at that point, so it was highly germane). No surprise, Neil Mackay didn’t want to be on the hook for those monies, even though he was the proximate cause of this entire mess.
And understand this, too: Kaufman’s inquiries came despite ethical rules requiring Goodenow to report out everything he learned to all comers, even if it harmed his client’s case. So win-win for Mackay? Valuable info at no cost? Perhaps Goodenow had been too modest: he characteristically downplayed his actual job… It’s All Overblown, he once told the local press. No glamorous TV scenes. Or hot sports cars. No guns or fistfights. No high speed chases through the streets of Honolulu. Just basic pay, ranging from $25 to $40 an hour (1980s dollars), plus expenses.
Most of the things we do are too dull to put on TV.
Steve Goodenow, Honolulu Advertiser, August 12, 1982
Boy, was he wrong. The case of the missing boy from Alaska was bigger than most folks expected. For one, Neil Mackay’s superior resources — dude was rich — were there for all to see. He and the boy could be anywhere. In fact, before long, Goodenow was hiring investigators, right and left. Remember that bit where Mackay and company were ducking in and out of Waikiki condos? Result: Goodenow ended up hiring more bodies. And what about the wild goose chase that took them to the Island of Kauai where, according to very unreliable sources, Neil Mackay had escaped with Scotty? Yep, same-same, using off-duty police officers. This was turning out to be nothing more — or less — than a “wearing out your shoes” investigation: Lots of work, no immediate results.
Slim Prospects. What’s Next?
To add to the misery, Alaska had probably taken too long to react. Neil and Scotty left Alaska on December 11, 1977. It took two months — until February 15, 1978 — for Alaska to get its Uniform Child Custody Act together. By the time local cops arrived at Mackay’s condo, their suspects were gone. The last time Scotty was seen? February 20. Damage done…
Next up: the desperation move. What Goodenow did was so obvious it… almost looked stupid. Except he got a front page splash and an almost immediate bite.
(Actual story appeared at Lower Right, this page)
Goodenow got a call the very next day. A Sunday, no less. It came from Michael Fluetsch, a Majuro-based Bank of America bank manager who had just arrived in Hawaii to vacation with his family. After reading the prominently placed news story, he realized that both he and his wife had seen Scotty — with his dad. Had encountered them, in fact, only the day before, noting that “I believe it was at the residence of a man by the name of Mr. Richard C-O-T-T-I-N-G.” [1] Bingo. (Half Bingo?)
But, hey, here’s the reality check: Majuro is fricking small, Mr. Neil Mackay, Esq. It only seems big on your brain map.
The Chase: On To Saipan
The thing about small places, though, is that… news. travels. fast. Bad news is hypersonic. For that, there’s nothing better than keeping surprises at bay. First thing out, Goodenow hired a Trust Territory attorney: being prepared was paramount. No Surprises Allowed. THAT meant landing in Guam at 6:00 a.m. and then a side trip to Saipan, where they hoped to get an overarching judgment from the Highest Court in the Territory. All this was taking place, moreover, before they really knew what they were up against. Which, of course, included the reality that each of the five jurisdictions in the Trust Territories were very jealous of each other — particularly as it came to their own autonomy.
Still Goodenow had a fighter at his side, someone familiar with these atolls and islands. A young Chamorro lawyer named Ramon G. Villagomez.
One Good Thing
As they landed in Guam, Goodenow and Villagomez learned one good thing: based on flight monitoring in both Guam and Honolulu, they were confident it was impossible for Scotty to have gone much further. To do so required taking an Air Nauru plane. And that route required a passport, which all sources told them he lacked. [2]
[1] Reporter’s Transcript, In the Matter of: Neil (Scotty) P. Mackay, a male minor. March 16, 1978. Hon. Robert A. Hefner, Presiding. In other contemporaneous accounts, Goodenow makes no mention of where in Majuro Fluetsch and his wife encountered Scotty.
[2] There was evidence that Neil Mackay had tried to apply for Scotty’s passport, but federal authorities blocked him, even before they left Hawaii.
The Book: Kill Brother, Kill Sister
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Copyright Leland E. Hale (2026)