Page 24 of Talk Story

“Well, they say it’s a small island,” I said, and yawned again.

“I’ll see if he’s free to come out and search with us tomorrow,” Pali said. “Let me know if that equipment comes in and we can all ride together.”

“Sounds good.” I said my goodbyes and left.

Hopping into Sharkey, my tummy full of Lani’s delicious cooking, I was definitely out of energy for driving further to Hana to eat leftovers with Keone; he’d just have to understand the case came first right now.

I frowned as I fired up Sharkey, mulling it over. “I apologized,” I said aloud. “I’m keeping you informed. Don’t be a baby, Mr. K.” Tiki, asleep in her carrier in the back seat, woke up enough to give a distinctly negative mew, as if defending Keone. “And don’t you pipe in, Tiki. This is none of your business.”

She emitted what could only be described as a snort.

The surveillance equipment never arrived the next day, and I was too busy with postal service business to catch Pua up with the latest on the case—which was fine, we didn’t need our resident Gossip Queen passing on anything at the moment.

Keone never so much as texted me; not a good sign—but I wasn’t going to indulge his masculine hissy fit with feminine blandishments, so I didn’t send any messages to him, either.

Later in the day, I got a message from Pali that his mentor, Dr. Emerson, couldn’t be found and he was pretty concerned about it. I suggested he notify Officer Malia Peahi—and I passed on her contact info.

Lei Texeira arrived as I was locking up the post office—I’d let Pua go home early to make up for my various absences this week, so I didn’t have to indulge her perennial curiosity as I gestured to my favorite homicide detective to enter. I locked the front doors behind her. “Now here’s a surprise! Great to see you, Lei. Let’s go take a load off in the K & K office and I’ll bring you up to speed with the latest happenings.”

“Perfect. My lieutenant is letting me support Malia on this case as I have time, and I could sure use a cup of coffee.”

“At four p.m.?” I cocked an eyebrow as I unlocked the door of the shack.

“Girl, you have no idea the day I’ve had.” Lei did appear a little haggard around the eyes. “And after this, I’ve got to do that awful drive all the way home.”

“Aunt Fae and I would be happy to have you spend the night,” I said. “Think about it.” I opened the door and Tweedledee and Tweedledum chirped a greeting. “Have a seat and I’ll fire up a pot of coffee.”

Once that was done, I turned to address Lei. “I was going to go out to Sacred Valley with Pali Moku to hunt for some hidden documents that have come to our attention—but only if the surveillance equipment I ordered came in, and it didn’t. Pali’s worried because he can’t get hold of his archaeology mentor, a Dr. Emerson. So we’re waiting another day to follow up on some stuff we found out last night.”

“Oh yeah? I was at Hana PD catching up with Malia Peahi, and she had lots to tell me. I thought I was up to speed,” Lei frowned.

“Pearl Yamamoto gave me more last night. There’s an antique journal involved; I’ve got it in my safe at the house in New Ohia for safekeeping.” Enough coffee had brewed to make a cup so I stopped the pot for a minute and filled a mug for Lei.

She grabbed it with both hands and sipped rapidly, her eyes closed. Finally she set the mug down. “Tell me the scoop,” she said, pulling her dog-eared notebook out of her back pocket. “This case seems to be evolving faster than we can keep up with it.”

“Truth. I’m not sure how Pali’s archaeology professor is related to the family mentioned in the archive we’re looking for in the lava caves, but once I meet him, I’ll ask,” I said. I told her about the meeting last night with Pearl, and the information contained in the journal. “Based on what Hannah Chang said about the families, and what Sophie’s financial research showed about the Cook Islands shell company being linked to Chang Development’s capital, there could be some important connections.”

“Hmm.” Lei made a few notes, then picked up her coffee again. “I’ve had an interest in the history of Hawaiian land ownership for a while, so I’m aware of the Emersons—one of the original missionary families. They arrived in the islands in the 1820s and, over the following decades, accumulated land holdings across multiple islands through means that ranged from legal to technically legal to a category best described as taking advantage. Some branches of the family had been genuinely reformist. Others had been—something else. The current generation is diversified into real estate, private equity, and ranching.” She sipped the coffee, her gaze on the geckos as they stalked a moth near the ceiling light. “If the Emersons are the silent money behind Chang’s operation, and if this royal decree deeds land that Emerson interests have been profiting from for a hundred and thirty years . . .”

“Then the archive isn’t just a problem for Victor Chang,” I said. “It’s a problem for another influential group, too.”

“And don’t forget the Santos family. Seems like the vandalism and petroglyph thefts might be about more than one local developer trying to ram a project through.” Lei was quiet for a moment. Outside, birds were going through their late afternoon routine: mynahs loud and quarrelsome in the parking lot, doves making their low, cooing sound from the roof. The trade winds were down today, the air still. Evening was approaching, a time of day on Maui when the air feels like a loving hand on the back of your neck.

Tiki, who had been left safely at home with Aunt Fae this morning, suddenly popped her head around the doorjamb of the bathroom. She had a hidden egress and exit into the shack I had discovered when she disappeared some time ago.

“Meerow,” she announced loudly.

Lei rolled her eyes. “I wondered when that cat was going to appear.”

Tiki pushed the bathroom door ajar and pranced over to hop up and sit between us on a chair, assuming the bossy yet regal posture she took on when a situation required feline oversight. She reached a hind leg up to scratch her one ear.

“Hey, Tiki,” Lei said. “How’s my favorite disruptor cat?”

Tiki twitched her tail, blinked once at Lei, then gazed at me expectantly.

Apparently it was my turn to speak; I was nothing if not obedient to my cat. I cleared my throat. “It would be useful to talk to Pali’s mentor, Nainoa Emerson. He’s someone who can translate the cave inscriptions,” I said. “Maybe the carvings can corroborate what’s in this archive Pearl told us about from the journal. I should talk with Pali about this.”

“Tell me more about Dr. Emerson,” Lei said, making little circles on her notepad.