The Lava Witch, page 15
She turned to Walter. “I can’t believe we got nothing from her after her lawyer friend showed up—just the usual warning that if we weren’t going to charge her with something, we’d do well to leave her alone.”
“I believe his threat was police harassment.”
“That’s what it was.” She watched as Gloria reached out to the man standing beside her, laughing as though the search of the building was of no interest. “I didn’t like her much before, and I don’t like her at all now.”
“I don’t like this building,” said Walter, looking around at the stark spaces. “Feels cold and unfriendly.”
On the other side of the lobby, O’Connor and Byron Coolidge were standing together. Kali and Walter turned to watch them. When the search warrant had been presented and O’Connor was summoned to the desk, he’d bellowed about injustice and interruptions, but appeared—at least for the moment—to be entirely out of steam. He kept his back to Kali, and she could see that his hands were shoved into the pockets of his lab coat. Byron seemed far less distressed as he stood quietly, watching the activity around him with interest.
“You recognize most of these people?” asked Walter.
Kali nodded. “We’ve talked to all of them, concentrating on the ones connected to O’Connor and his team.” She did a quick head count. “There are only thirty people here, almost all of whom know nothing about Maya Holmes.”
“That doesn’t seem like much of a staff for a place this size. I would have expected a couple hundred, at least.”
“I wonder,” said Kali. She pulled out her phone and called Hara. “Can you check something for me?” she asked. “See if you can find out if CMMR is in any kind of financial trouble—if people have been let go, laid off, anything like that.”
Walter waited until she ended the call. “Didn’t you say that one of these people complained that their funding was in question?” he asked.
“Yes. That was Byron Coolidge. He seemed more concerned about that than the fact that a woman he worked with had been tortured and killed.”
She looked over at him. His appearance was as untidy as when she’d last encountered him. He seemed to feel her stare, and suddenly looked toward her. Meeting her eyes, he smiled briefly and raised his hand in a half wave. There was an immediate reaction from O’Connor, who said something critical. The words were indistinguishable, but the meaning was clear. Chastised, Byron immediately turned away and gazed out of the window.
“That O’Connor guy’s a real jerk,” said Walter, who had seen the exchange.
“They both are, in my opinion,” said Kali. “Self-involved. But I’d bet anything that if you asked either one, they’d claim that their work is for the benefit of the entire human species.”
From the corridor on the far side of the security turnstile, Kali could see several uniformed officers approaching, followed by a number of other people, some of whom were dressed in hazmat suits.
“They sent a big search team up here from Wailuku,” said Walter. “You think they’ve found anything?”
“I think we’re about to find out. Why don’t you go and talk to them while I keep an eye on these people?”
He left, walking toward the turnstile, where he was met by an officer. Their conversation was brief, and Walter returned a minute later. Kali only needed to see the expression on his face to know that nothing had turned up during the search.
“Nada,” he said. “Not even anything that looked remotely like a code violation.” He looked around the room. “We can go ahead and let these people back in.”
After the last of the search team filed out of the building, Kali signaled to the guard that he could allow the CMMR employees to reenter the secure areas. She watched as they made their way through the gate, chattering excitedly. Byron went through on his own, but O’Connor came striding angrily across the lobby, halting in front of Kali.
“Are you finally satisfied?” he asked. His face was distorted with fury. “As soon as word of this gets out, I’m done. Finished. No one will touch us. My lab will be the laughingstock of the entire scientific community, and I have you to thank for that. You can be certain I’ll take this to the highest possible office. I hope you lose your job. You certainly aren’t very good at it.”
He spun on his heel and headed toward his office. They were watching him stomp away, and didn’t notice Gloria trailing in behind the last of the people who had been waiting outside. She stopped next to Kali.
“Nicely done,” said Gloria. She waved her arms around. “As far as disruption goes, I’ve really got to hand it to you. This was a monumentally effective way to piss off O’Connor and make sure nothing gets done for however many days it takes for people to stop talking about it.”
“Am I supposed to say you’re welcome?” asked Kali.
“Unnecessary,” said Gloria. “Let’s say I’ve already inferred it from your posture.” She smirked. “Sucks to be wrong, doesn’t it?”
“Interesting that you take such pleasure in the failure of others,” said Kali, her voice mild.
“Yeah, I’ve had more than one therapist tell me the same thing.” She turned away to follow the others. “See ya,” she said. She winked at Kali. “Let me know when this is all over if you want to grab lunch or have a drink.”
“Look at you,” said Walter when Gloria was out of earshot. “You’ve got offers for dates all over the place. I think Icelandic Thor is a better fit, though. Plus he’s a hell of a lot easier to get along with. That little redhead is cute, but she’s also kind of scary.”
“Scary enough to be involved with murder?”
“If I was a betting man, which you know I’m not, my answer would be a great big yes.”
* * *
Hara was waiting for Kali at the station.
“This is kind of interesting,” he said. He held out several printed pages to her, then looked down at his notebook. “The actual building where CMMR is housed is owned by a conglomerate. The board of directors is made up of people in various science fields, but Davos O’Connor is listed as the director, and has been from the very beginning.”
“Where do they get their money?”
“It looks like direct funding for specific projects. Wealthy patrons of the sciences, mostly. A few who have part-time homes on Maui, but a lot of people in New York, California, Asia, and Europe. Several of them have big media connections, and there are a lot of newspaper articles and magazine features that focus on these people and provide them with an outlet to tell everyone about how the things they’re developing will have a great impact on the environment.”
“Any political ties?”
Hara frowned. “No, ma’am. Not that I’ve been able to tell, but a lot of prominent people like to keep that kind of thing to themselves, don’t they?”
“They do. Makes it easier to play whatever side of an issue is most convenient or beneficial at any given moment.”
“I was able to get through to someone who was listed as a former member of the board, but stepped down last year. A lady named Helena Freher who inherited a bunch of money from her family. They were in the boating industry. Big container boats.”
“And? Did she have anything interesting to say?”
Hara nodded. “Well, she seems to really hate Dr. O’Connor.” He looked down at his notes. “What she said exactly is that he ‘wastes money, has no respect for deadlines, and has atrocious table manners.’ ”
Kali smiled. “Did she say they’ve been able to monetize any of the research coming out of CMMR?”
“No, she wouldn’t say. But she made it clear she wasn’t impressed with any of their work so far, and that she wasn’t the only one of the board who held that opinion.”
“Okay. Thank you—that’s all helpful. Seems like O’Connor may be under some pressure to come up with something clever to appease the board, or to inspire the benefactors to keep writing checks.”
“Is that motive, ma’am?”
“Yes,” she said. “That’s exactly what it is.”
CHAPTER 25
It had been a long and difficult day. Beneath the scanty shelter of the soaked fronds of a towering coconut palm in the station parking lot, Kali sat in the Jeep and watched the wind and rain beat against the windscreen. In her mind, she kept replaying her encounter at the lab with Vance and Byron, knowing that there was something amiss with the story she’d been fed.
She slipped the Jeep into gear and was just preparing to back out when she saw Walter bolt through the front door of the station, holding his phone aloft in one hand while being followed closely by Hara and several other officers. Her phone buzzed at nearly the same time as she saw them exit the building, and she glanced at the screen, tensing as Walter’s number came up.
Hara dashed toward his cruiser. She watched, apprehensive, as Walter made a beeline for the Jeep, calling to her against the wind.
“Kali! Wait up!”
She rolled down her window as he ran up. He stood there, his hands grasping the edge of the glass.
“Island Market,” he gasped. “Leave the Jeep here and come with me. We need sirens.” He pulled at her door, agitated. “Come on! It’s George. A customer just made an emergency call—said someone’s tried to blow up the store with George inside.”
She was already out of the Jeep and on the ground, running beside Walter as they moved toward his car. Hara’s siren wailed in warning as he passed them and pulled onto the main road. They reached the cruiser and climbed in, following Hara. The two cars raced toward the store. Kali could already hear the corresponding fire and ambulance sirens converging in the same direction. She was enveloped by a sense of dread.
“What did the caller say?” she asked, snapping her seat belt into place as the police car sped around a line of traffic halted on the road.
“Said something that sounded like bomb,” Walter responded, his voice terse. “Then there was a blast, and we lost the connection.”
They drove in anxious silence, listening to the scanner for more details of what had taken place. The road was slick with rain, and leaves blown onto the asphalt surface made their high speed more dangerous. The dispatcher was relaying the few available details: mixed reports of fire and a possible explosive device. As they drew closer, they could see black smoke billowing through the rain, fusing with the dark, low sky.
The first two fire engines, tasked with fire suppression, had already arrived by the time Walter and Kali pulled in. They could see that the fire truck transporting the crew had also reached the scene. The hydrant at the edge of the parking area had been tapped, and the fire officer in charge of the incident was setting up a command post. As the firefighters were pulling on their protective gear, Kali recognized many of the names displayed along the bottom edge of the backs of their black bunker gear. The protective uniforms were trimmed with reflective, fluorescent yellow-green bands that had once stood out against the darker clothing when they were new, but had become worn and dulled by repeated exposure to soot. She felt her heart race at the thought of the danger they faced—danger they were all too well aware of, but had nevertheless chosen to confront, regardless of the risk to themselves.
Walter swung the car into the parking lot next to an ambulance and left to find the fire chief while Kali joined Hara, who was directing traffic and creating an access lane for the emergency vehicles. Despite the weather, a crowd of onlookers was already gathering. Kali instructed Hara to carry on with traffic while she did her best to deal with the spectators.
Behind her, she heard the clamor of activity, and tried to concentrate on keeping people back from the scene while she searched for a glimpse of George. She was unable to spot him among the increasing number of people congregated along the roadway and in the parking area. Her worry turned to panic.
A ladder had been set up along the front section of the roof, near a space where smoke was rolling from a broken window. As Kali stood with her back to the growing crowd, arms outstretched, she watched as members of the fire crew made their way into the front of the store near the checkout area, while others began to ascend the ladder at the end of the store, past the window. One of them, a man she knew by name, was carrying a chainsaw, and as soon as the crew had reached their position on the roof, the sound of the saw’s engine roared to life. The firefighter who wielded it began to cut a hole in the roof above the space where the smoke was seeping out. She knew they were attempting to provide a larger vent to give the flames an egress that would help prevent them from moving into the duct space between the ceiling and the roof.
A sudden cry erupted from below, near where the store’s glass doors had once stood, and Kali’s heart lurched as she saw two firefighters, their faces obscured by respirators, jog from the space with an inert figure carried between them. The ambulance crew was waiting nearby, and the figure was transferred quickly to a stretcher and wheeled rapidly toward the open rear doors of the ambulance. From where Kali stood, she could clearly see the white helmet of the fire chief and Walter standing next to him. As the stretcher was taken from the building, Walter followed, striding along in its wake. Kali watched as the stretcher was hooked on and lifted into the ambulance. When the vehicle failed to immediately activate its siren and pull out of the parking area, she felt a new, far more intense sense of alarm descend upon her.
Through the melee, she kept Walter in her sights. He was leaning against the rear of the ambulance, engaged in conversation with one of the paramedics. As she watched, he seemed to relax. A few moments later, she saw him nod to the paramedic. He turned away from the ambulance as it began to pull out and walked toward her, wiping the rain from his face with the back of his hand. As he passed the crowd, an elderly woman who had been standing on one side, alone and away from the other people watching, dashed away from the throng and ran toward him. She grasped him by the arm and began to gesture wildly, pointing at the store, then back to the ambulance. Walter listened, then turned and pointed at Kali. She saw the woman nod in acknowledgment, and a moment later, both the woman and Walter had joined her.
“George is stable,” Walter said. “Hurt, and he has some burns, but word is he’ll be fine. I’ll fill you in on the details in a minute, but first, this is Mrs. Bailey. She was here when the fire broke out. I want you to hear what she has to say.”
“Yes,” said the woman, clearly agitated. “George had just closed up early. I had checked out and was almost at my car with my groceries when I saw a motorcycle come careening up to the front of the store. A man jumped off and smashed the window glass with something, then I saw him throw an object inside and jump back onto the motorcycle. A few seconds went by, and then I heard an explosion. I didn’t see the fire right away, but when I ran around to the doors, there were flames all along the aisle where all the cleaning supplies are. I tried to get back inside, but I couldn’t get close because it was so hot. I knew George was in there, but I couldn’t see him. When I left with my groceries, he was sitting at the counter, closing up his till.” She had tears streaming down her face. “I couldn’t do anything to help! Oh, I do hope he’ll be okay. I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to him.”
Kali looked at the woman, estimating her to be in her late seventies or early eighties. Her disheveled hair was mostly white, pulled away from her lined face. Kali could see that her blouse was singed, and that the backs of her hands were red and irritated. She was soaked from the rain.
“You called 911, which was exactly the right thing to do,” Kali said in a kind, grateful voice.
“No,” said the woman, her distress overwhelming her. “George is my friend. I should have searched inside to find him. I should have saved him.”
“He’s being looked after right now,” said Walter. Gently, he put his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “You’ll be able to talk to him soon. I know how grateful he’ll be that you were here and were able to help. If not for you, it might have been some time before anyone noticed the fire and called to report it. By then, things might have been much, much worse. You did a good thing today.”
This didn’t seem to mollify the woman. She hung her head, as if ashamed. “I always wondered what I would do if I was in a situation where it was up to me to save someone. I always imagined that I would become a superhero and save the day.”
“I think that’s exactly what you did,” said Kali. She looked around. The crowd had become larger, despite the downpour. She heard Hara, his voice carrying above the din, instructing a group of people with their cell phone cameras pointed at the fire to back away from the scene and give the rescue teams the space they needed. His voice carried an authority she hadn’t heard in it before, and even in the midst of the turmoil unfolding around her, she felt a surge of pride.
“We need to have your hands looked at. But first, if you can, I’d like you to tell Detective Mhoe everything you just told me—everything you can remember, from the moment you became aware of the motorcycle pulling up at the store. Anything at all—what color it was, who you saw. Any little detail.”
The woman looked up at Kali. “It was a black motorcycle. A sporty kind, but not new, I don’t think. It looked shiny, but it was wet from the rain. I was between the front door and the parking area, and I don’t think the driver even saw me. Maybe he just didn’t care that there was a pedestrian there, but he was driving way too fast and not staying in the parking lane, and I jumped back because I was afraid he might hit me.”
Kali listened, imaging the scene in her mind.
“What happened next?” she asked.
The woman turned back toward the store, where the fire crew was doing its best to dampen the flames still issuing from within.
“Then it slammed to a stop, and the driver put his kickstand down and jumped off. It was definitely a man. He had something in his hand, and he smashed the glass of the front window on the far corner of the store, there, where all the smoke is. I saw him throw something inside, then he got back on his motorcycle. I thought he must have thrown a bomb. I just couldn’t process it. Then I heard what sounded like an explosion coming from inside, and the smoke just poured out through the broken part of the glass.”
