by Kay Hadashi
***
After explaining the problem to the bus company man who answered, she was finally making some progress.
“Lost and found is at the Kalihi Transit Center. You know how to get here?”
“I know it,” she said. “Everything from the accident the other day is there?”
“I got two big boxes yesterday from that accident. Most of it is gone. Better hurry, before nothing’s left!”
The #1 bus went to Kalihi Station after making a trip through downtown. There were several other people there waiting in line, either to buy bus passes or to check lost and found. When she had her turn, she spent her fifty-dollar bill on the next month’s bus pass, before asking to check the lost and found.
“What’d you lose?” the little clerk asked. She had been working there for as long as Maile had been buying bus passes and taking the bus. She was also one of the skiniest people Maile had ever seen.
“I called earlier about things from that bus crash.”
“You were in the bus?” The Japanese lady looked Maile up and down, her eyes stopped on the bandages she still wore. “Yeah, musta been. You’re in worse shape than the bus.”
Maile was given the box of leftovers from the bus accident. All that was in there were a few articles of clothing and a broken cell phone, none of it hers. She gave the cardboard box back.
“I lost a wooden box.”
“What it look like?” the lady asked.
“Brown, about half the size of a shoebox.”
“Nothing else about it?”
“It had something etched on it, like a little coat of arms symbol.”
The lady went to the back and returned a moment later. She had the box clutched in both hands. “This looked too important for the wrong person to take. All that other stuff, just junk. Glad to get rid of old clothes. This seemed special.”
She pushed it across the counter to Maile.
“Yep, it sure is.”
“We’ve been trying to figure out what’s inside.”
“So am I.” Maile put it in her bag for the return trip home. “Great mystery of my life to wonder what’s inside.”
“Why you want it so bad then?”
“Because it’s caused too much trouble for too many people, and I’m making sure that trouble comes to an end.”
Maile didn’t go straight home, but to the Manoa House. Not stopping in at her mother’s cottage in the back, she let herself in the old missionary home. She went straight to the library room where she spent so much of her time whenever she visited.
In the room were several large cabinets of old documents, maps, and artwork that dated back to the pre-missionary historical days of the Hawaiian Islands. She wasted no time in finding the drawer she wanted. It was one of the few locking drawers, and getting the set of keys from the desk, she opened it.
It was the only drawer that didn’t contain sacred artifacts or something that had belonged to the royal family. She wasn’t going to allow something that had so much conflict attached to it to reside in the same space as things of her heritage. Inside this drawer were large chunks of obsidian from Haleakala, and partly finished hand tools made from it.
She gave the box a shake, and something rattled slightly. She decided to forego discovering what was inside, that Ota had the evidence he needed to put Oscar Swenberg in prison.
She looked at the box again, at the tight seam that went around, the small hole for the key, and the blurry logo image. Nothing good could come from opening the thing.
Scooting things around, she made a space for the Swenberg’s wood box, closed the drawer, and locked it again.
“Takes care of that.”
***
Thanks for reading “Dead at Diamond Head”. We hope you’ve enjoyed it.
Next in the Maile Spencer Mystery Series is “Honey of a Hurricane”.
Maile isn’t quite finished yet with Honey What’s Her Name, nor with Detective Ota, Officer Turner, or even with her cellblock nemesis, Kitty. Join all of them on a yacht cruise into trouble when a hurricane hits Honolulu at the worst time possible!
More from Kay Hadashi
Maile Spencer Honolulu Tour Guide Mysteries
AWOL at Ala Moana
Baffled at the Beach
Coffee in the Canal
Dead on Diamond Head
Honey of a Hurricane
Malice in the Palace
And more!
The June Kato Intrigue Series
Kimono Suicide
Stalking Silk
Yakuza Lover
Deadly Contact
Orchids and Ice
Broken Protocol
The Island Breeze Series
Island Breeze
Honolulu Hostage
Maui Time
Big Island Business
Adrift
Molokai Madness
Ghost of a Chance
The Melanie Kato Adventure Series
Away
Faith
Risk
Quest
Mission
Secrets
Future
Kahuna
Directive
Nano
The Maui Mystery Series
A Wave of Murder
A Hole in One Murder
A Moonlit Murder
A Spa Full of Murder
A Down to Earth Murder
A Haunted Murder
A Plan for Murder
A Misfortunate Murder
A Quest for Murder
A Game of Murder
The Honolulu Thriller Series
Interisland Flight
Kama’aina Revenge
Tropical Revenge
Waikiki Threat
Rainforest Rescue
www.kayhadashi.com
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