Page 34 of Talk Story

“Hello everyone,” she said. “I’m here to have a word with my cousins.”

10

“We came for the journal,” Victor Chang said. “Hannah Chang’s journal. And it’s got nothing to do with you, Pua.”

“Nonsense. She was my grandmother too,” Pua snapped.

“I have a legitimate claim on it as a family document, and I’m here to get it from Mrs. Yamamoto,” he persisted, still calm—but with a glint in his eye that reminded me he was a cutthroat businessman—and a Chang, after all.

“Your grandmother gave it to Pearl, not you, Mr. Chang,” I said. I needed a way to de-escalate the situation and ensure Pearl’s safety; if Madison had put away her gun, I would too. I ostentatiously slid my weapon back into its holster and clicked the snap shut, maintaining eye contact with Victor.

Pearl had finished her origami; another crane. She made thousands of them and gave them as good luck gifts at weddings and baby showers. Apparently she was stockpiling for the Apocalypse this time; the box she stored them in was overflowing. “You might want to speak to your grandmother yourself about why she gave me the journal,” Pearl said. “Hannah was fully in her right mind when she came to see me, and she gave me the journal to, and I quote, “right a great wrong” that was done her brother. She made her intentions clear. She chose what happened to that journal—and thus, the archive her brother hid.” She set the origami crane on the side table with deliberate care.

“The journal contains information that belongs to our family,” Victor said. “Information that could damage legitimate business interests.”

“And it contains your grandmother’s account of the choices she made,” Pearl said. “Including a detailed account of what happened to her younger brother, Ikaika Moku, in 1961.” Her gaze moved to Madison. “It makes for disturbing reading.”

“Where is the journal now?” Madison asked—and nope, her lips hardly moved—and neither did the rest of her face.

“It’s safe,” I said. “With copies made and distributed.” Partly true; Lei had the journal in evidence. It was wishful thinking about the copies. “Meanwhile, you’ve got bigger fish to fry. There’s an ongoing investigation that is scrutinizing your business.” I hoped I wasn’t jumping the gun in warning him, but I didn’t see how he could prevent Lei’s raid.

Both Changs stared at me. Finally Victor spoke. “You’re mistaken; there’s nothing to find.” He shook his head sorrowfully. “What a shame to waste county resources.”

“Victor.” Pua spoke up from the doorway. “I need you to hear me about something.”

Madison rolled her eyes. “Oh, Cousin Pua. Always the second-class citizen with a chip on her shoulder.”

“Nobody’s talking to you, Chinese Barbie,” Pearl snapped. “Take your toys and go back to the day care.”

“Pua,” Victor said. “Let’s keep this civil. After all, we’re family, even if we don’t always see eye to eye.” He smiled the way a shark does—like it’s coming close to take a bite.

“You have a habit of listening to words and not meaning,” Pua said. “I need you to really listen this time.”

Outside the windows: the shushing of the sea, the trade winds in the trees, the faint sound of lawn maintenance going on somewhere in the Heritage Garden. I’d rather listen to those things than this, but here I was anyway. I braced internally—and so did Victor, by the sucking-a-lime expression he wore.

“All right, Pua, have your say.” Victor picked up his Panama hat and twirled it in his hands. “I’m listening.”

“The decree tracing ownership of Awawakapu back to the monarchy is real,” Pua said. “The authentication is already in process. Whatever you’ve been hoping to do—you can’t make it go away. It’s in the hands of lawyers and law enforcement. Soon, the Valley is going to be protected. Your development will fail. You cannot stop it.”

The silence on Victor’s end had the quality of a man recalculating.

“Maybe. But you don’t understand what’s in those archives still hidden in the caves,” he said. “They have to stay hidden.”

“I understand enough,” Pua said.

“If those documents become part of the public record . . .” he swallowed . . . “our family’s land position is going to⁠—”

“We don’t know anything yet,” she said. “And that archive is still lost. I’m not disagreeing that it’s a good thing for the Changs at the moment that it hasn’t been discovered. But meanwhile, Victor, you employed men to kidnap, assault, and abandon a respected archaeologist to die of thirst in a deserted warehouse. You stole artifacts from a protected site. You vandalized Pearl Yamamoto’s garden.” She kept her voice level. “Whatever the archive might reveal about our family’s past, your behavior in the last six months is on you. You made those choices. You.” She spared a glance for Madison. “With your daughter aiding and abetting.”

Madison snorted and turned away, having none of it. “There’s no proof of any of those accusations, Pua.”

Pearl went on to folding her next crane, imperturbable. “We’re building a solid case,” I said, though I was still pretty worried about several aspects of it. Didn’t matter; none of the Changs paid any attention to me.

“Uncle Raymond said you had become difficult,” Victor said, narrowing his eyes at Pua. “Disloyal.”

“Uncle Raymond can jump off the Ohia Pier for all I care,” Pua said.

I decided to make use of the moment to try to herd these cats toward the law enforcement corral. “Victor. Madison. Come to the Hana Police Department with me,” I said. “Turn yourselves in. It will go a long way toward lowering the charges that will be coming against you.”