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“Very fu
“You could call Avis, try to upgrade.”
“It’s not worth the effort. I’ve got a case back in North Carolina, so I’ll probably head out in a day or two.”
“You just arrived.”
“I’ve been here ten days.”
“What about the case you’re working with Perry?”
“Cases.”
While we walked, I told him about the second shark vic, the traction pinhole, and the partial ankle tattoo.
“Perry should get a hit on one or the other,” Da
“I think so. And with no more remains, there’s nothing else I can do.”
“Your work here is done.”
“My work here is done. After we look at Luis Alvarez’s photos.”
I noticed Da
“Growing a beard?” I asked.
“Giving it a shot.” His chin hitched up and twisted from side to side. “What do you think?”
“A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
The chin dropped.
We were in the corridor leading to the CIL wing when Gus Dimitriadus appeared in the lobby on the far side of the glass, arms hugging a cardboard box to his chest. A potted palm projected from one side, a trophy of some sort from the other.
Dimitriadus was frowning. Shocker.
Da
Dimitriadus’s head came up. His frown morphed to a full-blown scowl.
“Need help?” Da
“You’ve done enough.”
“Look, this doesn’t have to be pers—”
“Really? Doesn’t it?”
What a prick, I thought, and immediately felt bad. After all, the guy had just gotten ca
“If you have more boxes, we’d be happy to—”
“I’ll bet you would.” Dimitriadus cut me off.
I looked into his eyes.
And saw pure hatred directed my way.
Wordlessly, Da
As he moved through the door, Dimitriadus put out one elbow and jabbed my chest. Hard.
Taken off guard, I stumbled backward.
“Jackass,” Da
“I’m fine.”
“The jerk did that on purpose.”
“He’s venting,” I said. “I’m an easy target.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“The man just lost his job.”
“He’ll lose his nuts if he tries another move like that.”
Sir Da
While Da
The old black-and-whites were as I recalled.
I glanced only briefly at the head and shoulders portrait of Private Alvarez in uniform. No smile. No use.
I picked up the shot of nine sweaty soldiers dressed in sleeve-rolled fatigues and studied the man with the name Alvarez scrawled in ink across his chest.
Excitement fizzed through me.
Alvarez’s face was turned from the lens, as though he’d been distracted just as the shutter clicked. He wasn’t smiling, but, surprised, perhaps curious or frightened, had unconsciously drawn back his lips.
Revealing most of his upper front teeth.
I was searching for a magnifier when Da
“Any luck?” He set two steaming mugs on his desk.
“Maybe. Where’s your hand lens?”
“Let’s use one of the Luxos.”
We hurried into the lab.
Da
And there it was. A bu
“Hee-haw!”
“Hee-haw!”
We bumped hips like jocks bump chests in an end zone.
“Our computer geeks will magnify the image so that the tooth is one-to-one with the fragment of sparkle you found. Then they can do a superimposition. Given the circumstances of the Huey crash, the fact that the biological profile fits Alvarez perfectly, and the dental evidence, the ID should be solid.”
“And you can try sequencing mitochondrial DNA, assuming a maternal relative can be found.”
“We can indeed.”
Beyond the glass wall that sealed off the lab I noticed Dimitriadus cross the lobby carrying another cardboard box. This one appeared heavy, probably books. When he’d disappeared from sight, Da
The coffee was now tepid. We sipped it anyway.
“So Alvarez was found shortly after the crash and buried in North Carolina as Spider Lowery,” I said. “Lapasa was found eight months later, in the same general area, with Spider Lowery’s dog tag. Since Lowery was already ID’ed, Lapasa went to Tan Son Nhut as an unknown, then to CIL-THAI, finally here.”
“And, thanks to us, Luis and Xander are both going home.”
“As is Spider,” I said.
“Well-done.” Da
We clinked mugs.
Sipped.
But was it? The loose ends bugged me.
“I can understand the mix-up with Alvarez and Lowery. But why was Lapasa wearing Spider’s dog tag?”
“Good question.”
“And was Lapasa on that chopper? If so, why?”
“Technically that’s two questions.”
“And how did Spider end up in Quebec?”
“We’ve got a foursome! But you forget the most intriguing question of all.”
I gave Da
“How did we let each other slip away?”
“Come on, Da
“Perhaps I am too.”
Whoa!
“You love your wife.”
“Madly,” he said. “That’s a problem.”
There was a beat of embarrassed silence. Then, “Just kidding.” Big goofy smile. “I keep thinking about my conversation with Nickie Lapasa.” Da
“If the rumors about organized crime are true, my initial hunch was probably dead-on.”
“Probably.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“You know what?” Pointing the pen at me. “I’m going to do it anyway.”
“Do what?”
“A DNA comparison.”
“Where will you get a family sample for comparison?”
“I’ll think of something.” One finger tapped a temple, just as it had outside the Lanikai house upon our arrival. “I’ve got an arrival ceremony this afternoon, but right after that, I’m on it like fat on bacon.”
Sunday, Monday, happy days!
I checked my BlackBerry.
Hadley Perry.
Not wanting to dampen Da
While worming through stacks of books and papers, I noticed a shadow cross the tile beyond the open office door.
In the corridor, I looked left and right. Empty.
Had someone been eavesdropping? Dimitriadus? If not, who? Why?
Perry’s news blew the issue right out of my head.
“LÔ JUST CALLED. HE FOUND A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD MALE WHO broke his left tibia and fibula back in two thousand three. Francis Kealoha. The kid spent time as an in-patient at The Queen’s Medical Center.”
“In traction?”
“Yes, ma’am. The pins were removed the following year.”
“The guy’s quick.”
“The Queen’s is Hawaii’s only designated trauma center, so Lô started there, put the screws to some chick to do a database search using our suggested parameters. Kealoha’s record popped right out.”
“Did Lô contact the family?”
“The mother died in oh-seven, father’s been out of the picture for years. But he managed to track down a sister. Gloria. A real piece of work. Gloria said the last time she talked to or saw her brother was three years back. She thinks.”
“Did Lô learn of any associates, anyone who might have noticed that Kealoha had disappeared?”