“I don’t know, but he was really stuck. And he couldn’t breathe. Then he saw the stars and followed them out. Can we call him and make sure he’s okay?”
“Sure.” They reached the safety of the house. Leia locked the door behind them and rushed toward the phone on the wall in the kitchen. Her hands trembled as she dialed Bane’s cell number. When she got only his voice mail, something inside cracked and broke. She’d visualized digging up the roots of the love she’d had for Bane just like the Hawai’i Invasive Species Council worked at digging out fountain grass. Her efforts hadn’t done any more good than theirs.
Leia picked up the slipper she’d kicked off. “I lost my slipper,” she said.
“We’re following the trail of the slippers? Is that anything like bread crumbs?” Detective Ono guffawed, and the other two policemen laughed.
Ono’s laughter struck an incongruous chord in Leia. The situation was too serious for jokes. She exchanged a glance with Malia, who hovered protectively near her elbow.
He must have caught their expressions, because he sobered and took out a notepad. “Did you see or hear anything before or after the shooting?”
Leia thought for a moment, hoping to dredge up some small memory that would help. She finally shook her head. “Nothing unusual. Normal bird noises, the wind in the trees, that kind of thing. I heard a funny sound from in front of me that I know now was the gun firing. Then Koma slumped. It took me a few seconds to figure out what had happened.” She stooped to retrieve her second slipper and put them both on.
“Why were you together? Where were you going?”
She hesitated. Should she talk about the treasure? Ono caught her delay and turned a questioning gaze toward her. He needed to know, she decided, just in case it was connected to Tony’s death as well. “Koma claimed he was the caretaker of the treasure from the Spanish galleon Tony was searching for. I thought he was delusional, especially when he talked about seeing Ku.” She told him about her find at the cabin. “But maybe he really did know something, and he was killed for it.”
Ono shook his head. “For what purpose? If he knew where the treasure was, wouldn’t the killer want Koma to tell him?”
Some sleuth she was. “I guess you’re right.” She stopped. “His body is in the middle of the clearing.” She didn’t want to go in there again.
Ono held up a hand and took out his gun. “I’ll handle this, Pilgrim,” he said in a bad John Wayne imitation.
What a goofball. Leia found a log and started to sit down. “Not there,” Malia said. “The haiku trees are too close.”
The hairy ovaries of the haiku flowers made her break out in hives, so Leia was grateful her cousin had been quick to point out the danger. Leia nodded and selected another log. Malia joined her. Insects buzzed around her in a pleasant background noise that made the horror of the day’s events fade a bit. “I wish I could have reached Bane.”
“He’ll call. You know how spotty cell-phone coverage is on the island.” Malia reached down and plucked a blossom. “The way you long for him now says a lot.”
Leia didn’t answer. Bane’s strength and levelheaded assessment would be welcome about now, and that was the only reason she wanted him. She could see Ono through the brush as he knelt around Koma’s body and examined the ground for evidence. Now that she thought about it, the shooter had to have been standing near where she now sat. She rose and began to study the foliage on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Malia asked.
“I thought the shooter might have dropped something.” A glint of white caught her eye, and she saw three cigarette butts under a huge anthurium leaf. She started to pick them up, then thought better of it. Detective Ono would want to retrieve them to save any DNA on them. She called to him, and he joined her and Malia.
He knelt beside the butts and picked them up with gloved fingers, then dropped them into a paper bag. “Good job, Pilgrim,” he said, still in John Wayne mode. “I’ll have them tested for DNA. Whoever dropped them was standing right here.” He pointed out an area where the foliage had been flattened. “This is recent.”
Leia glanced around, a feeling of unease running along her back. Did the man just now leave, or was he still out there watching to see what they’d found? She moved to a nearby bush, startling a mynah bird. The bird squawked and dropped something from its beak. She caught a bright flash of metal. She knelt, and the bird dropped the trinket and flew away with an indignant squawk.
“What is it?” Ono stooped to join her.
Leia didn’t touch it. “I think it’s a watch. The band is broken.”
Ono picked it up with his gloved hand and turned it over. “A common Casio. Kmart sells them by the thousands.” He squinted. “Though this one has the initials JR on the back.”
“Why would a cheap watch be engraved?”
Ono’s grin was sly. “Maybe a girl thought she could impress him with an engraved gift.”