"That was quick," he said.

"Yeah, I gave him a statement, but mostly I let the pictures do the talking. He even downloaded them onto his computer. Looks like there's no way he can weasel out of this now."

"Pali?" he said.

Our eyes met. I could tell we were both thinking the same thing. I yanked my cell phone out of my pocket and punched buttons until I got to the pictures screen.

CHAPTER 29.

Of course the pictures weren't there. The most recent photos on my phone were shots I'd taken of Steve in his Halloween costume. He was going to a classic movie party and he'd dressed up as Citizen Kane. He'd bulked up his middle by wrapping a towel under a 1940's-style shirt and he'd found a great-looking fedora and a little fake mustache. I thought he looked great, but people at the party mistook him for the ruthless banker in It's a Wonderful Life.

"We need to go back to the valley," I said to Ono. "Before they-"

"Hop in."

By the time we reached the park they'd pulled the gate shut across the parking lot entrance. We parked along the road and hiked up to the park. A park ranger was stationed at the trail leading in.

"Sorry, the park's closed for the rest of the day," he said as we approached.

"Why?" said Ono.

"We got a problem up at the 'Iao Needle. Seems some big dude leaned too hard on the guard rail and it gave way. Gotta get it re-welded."

"How long will that take?" I asked.

"Who knows? You know how it goes. Could take an hour, could take a week," he smiled and shot us a shaka sign.

"We're not going anywhere near the needle," Ono said. "We left something on one of the upper trails. It's kind of valuable and we need to get it."

"Sorry, brudda, no can do. This whole place kapu until we get a green light from the big boss."

I couldn't be sure, but his voice sounded a lot like one of the two guys we'd heard when we were hiding in the bushes up on the trail.

The walkie-talkie on his belt squawked, and he put it up to his ear. He said some stuff like, ten-four and roger that and then he turned back to us. "I'm real sorry guys, but you gotta go now. We're getting ready to do a sweep of the park, make sure everybody's out."

On the walk back to Ono's bus my cell phone chimed. I checked the caller ID-it was Bessie Yokamura. As much as I wanted to hear her whine and wheedle her way back into my good graces, I let it go to voicemail.

"Now what should we do?" I said to Ono.

"It's your party, you tell me."

"I need some time to think. Would you mind taking me back to my car at the police station?"

"No worries. I've done some of my best thinking in this bus. Maybe it'll work for you too."

By the time we got to the police station neither of us had come up with any brilliant ideas for recovering the evidence of Crystal's murder. Seeing the cop cars parked out front brought up ugly feelings of betrayal.

"How can that man live with himself?" I said.

"I gotta say, I've run into some questionable cops in my day, but this guy wins-hands down."

"It's mind-boggling to think Wong's in on this," I said, looking at the front door of the police station. "I mean, we're talking murder."

"Yeah, but we're also talking drugs. There's a boatload of money in drugs. On both sides. The government spends billions of tax dollars fighting the so-called drug war. And meanwhile, the drug traffickers are raking in a hundred times that selling their crap to willing buyers."

I leaned over and gave Ono a kiss on the cheek before opening my door. "Mahalo, for everything. I'll call you."

He frowned. "What? We spend the whole day chasing bad guys and now you're just gonna kick me to the curb? How about we grab some dinner tonight-maybe take your mind off what we saw today."

"My mind will never be far from what we saw until Crystal Wilson gets justice. I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly in the mood to go out."

"But you've still gotta eat. How about I bring some take-out over to your place?"

"You know, that'd be great."

I gave him directions to my house and then hopped down and went to my car. I drove up up to Pa'ia and parked in front of Farrah's store. I hadn't heard from her, so Beni probably still hadn't surfaced, but I wanted to clue her in on what we'd found up in the valley and what Wong had done when we reported it.

"What?" Farrah shrieked. "I can't believe this. You found that poor girl's body and the cops are in on getting her killed?"

"Looks like it," I said. "We've got to find Beni. He's a witness so he's our only hope. Tomorrow I'll contact Honolulu-the attorney general's office or state police or somebody over there-and see what they say. But I'll need Beni to confirm my story."

"I've put the word out all day here at the store. So far, nothing."

"Oh, guess who called me?"

"Hatch?" she said.

"Hardly. I think my Hatch days are over. I can't even imagine what he'll say when he hears how I spent my Sunday."

"You mean about you and Ono?"

"Take your pick-me and Ono, me finding Beni a safe haven, or me tromping through the woods looking for a dead girl murdered by drug scum. Any one of those things could be a deal breaker. Taken all together-well, it was nice knowing him."

"So, who called you?" Farrah said.

Just then my phone rang.

"Well, speak of the devil," I said looking at the caller ID. "It's Bessie Yokamura. Mind if I take this?"

Farrah grinned. "Go ahead. You deserve a laugh after what you've been through."

"Hey Pali," Bessie said in a cheery voice. "How's it going, girlfriend?"

"Not that great, Bessie. I'm still doing that hour-long commute to Lahaina every day. You know, what with gas prices and all, it's getting tough."

"Well then, I'm gonna make your day, sista. I've decided to reconsider the lease on your old shop space in our Pa'ia building. I got to thinking-weddings are very important to our native culture. Hawaiians have always respected lineage through marriage as an integral part of the warp and woof in the weave of our social fabric."

"I don't know, Bessie. As much as I hate that commute, I know how much you want your tourist office. By the way, how's that coming along?"

"Oh, it's going good-great, actually. Lots of interest. In fact, looks I'm going to need an even larger place in town. I'm calling you because I want to give you first dibs on your old space-before I put the word out to the many other interested parties who've contacted me."

"Hmm, I don't know. Even though it's a long drive, I'm getting really good rent down in Lahaina. It's a sublet, you know."

"How much are you paying?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, hardly anything. But that's not the big issue, of course."

"What's more important than the rent price?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe working above a fish restaurant is preferable to working above sacred ancestor bones."

After a beat the line went dead.

"She hung up on me," I said to Farrah.

"Huh, imagine that. You serious about staying down in Lahaina?"

"No way. But she's gotta know everyone in town's heard about that heiau being under here." We both looked down as if we could look right through the floorboards and see the pile of stones and bones. "It's gonna be impossible to rent that space to anyone from Pa'ia."

"Or pretty much anyone on the island," Farrah said. She picked a copy of the Sunday Edition of The Maui News from the stack on the counter. The headline read, 'Ancient Human Bones Uncovered in Pa'ia.'

"Wow, I wonder who tipped them off," I said.

"Yeah," said Farrah. "I wonder."

"Can I see it?"

"The heiau? Sure."

She pulled a key from a nail under the counter and grabbed a flashlight hanging by the back door. "Follow me. I'm getting to be a pretty good tour guide."

She unlocked the door to my old shop and as I went in my heart squeezed in my chest. I loved the place. It didn't smell like it had when I'd worked there. The fire and the water from the fire fight had pretty much ruined all the floors and walls. Everything had been stripped down and replaced with new. But the windows were where they should be, and the mahogany door out to Baldwin Street was still there. How many times had I sat at my desk, staring out those windows trying to come up with the perfect attendant's gifts or puzzling over a complicated seating chart for a rehearsal dinner?

Farrah stood quietly by while I wallowed in my reverie. I looked over at her and she lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I said. "Where are the iwi?"

She crossed the room and dragged aside a three by five piece of plywood that covered a large hole in the floor.

"Down here." She flicked on the flashlight and shined it down into the crawlspace.

It took my eyes a minute to focus. Then I saw it: a pile of lava stones-maybe twenty or thirty-with a half-dozen bleached bones at the base.

"There you have it," she said. "I told Bessie to get a kahuna to come over and check it out but she refused. Said it would just make things worse-you know, people talking and all."

"Lucky for you," I said.

She shot me a quizzical look.

"Farrah."

"Yeah, Pali?"

"Anything you want to tell me?"

"I miss you being here."

"Yeah, and I miss you. So, what kind of bones are those?"

"Pua'a-pig. From that luau down on Ka'anapali Beach. I asked your sifu's brother who works there to save me some and he did."

"You were able to fool the historical society with a stack of volcano rocks and some pig bones?"

"Pretty pathetic, huh?" she said.

"No, pretty damn smart." I gave her a hug. "I probably should go."

"It kind of creeps me out that Beni just vanished," she said as she moved the plywood back into position. "You don't think he's gonna end up like Crystal, do you? I mean, he's a weird little dude, but he's Doug Kanekoa's cousin."

"When I get home I'll call Sifu Doug and tell him to get in touch with James. No way James should be talking to the cops after what happened today. Hopefully I'll be able to convince someone in Honolulu to come over here. Until then, James needs to think of a way to protect his client."

"Assuming his client ever shows up again."

I went out the front door and Farrah locked up behind me. I noticed a plain white Ford Fairlane parked across the street. There were two guys inside. I trotted over to see if either of them was Wong, but as soon as I approached, they took off.

I got in my car and headed for home. Even though I was still smiling from seeing Farrah's artful heiau hoax, inside I felt like I'd swallowed a sack of cement. I was knock-down tired. I'd been only five when my Auntie Mana told me my mother had died. At first I didn't believe her. For a week I did all kinds of superstitious things: I told myself if I ate all my dinner in less than ten minutes then mama would come back; or if I was nice to my little brother and gave him a long piggy-back ride in the back yard, mama would come to the window and smile at me.

It didn't work back then, and nothing I did now would erase the overwhelming sense of loss I felt at seeing Crystal's body. A beautiful young woman had been brutally executed by thugs who were still at large. My hometown police were hell bent on covering it up. And the only witness to the crime was in the wind-or worse. I choked up and my eyes started leaking as I drove home.

Damn, I hated feeling so helpless.

CHAPTER 30.

When I turned the corner to my block, a white Ford Fairlane was parked in front of my house. I pulled around back and came in through the kitchen door. There were voices coming from the living room, so I went to check.