Shattered Palms (Lei Crime Series) (19 page)

“
His research really does sound important,” Lei said, thinking of the difference it would make to be able to breed birds against malaria. Just the idea opened up interesting challenges.

“
Be that as it may. This case is a double murder, and we need someone to charge. Go check the fax machine for the agreement.”

A few minutes later, Lei and Pono returned to the interview room. Lei turned the
recording equipment back on, and Shimoda scanned the document before passing it to Kingston for his signature. Pulling the contract back to their side of the table, Lei eyed Kingston.

“
Start talking. How did you come to be in Jacobsen’s house, and what do you know about his death?” Lei asked.

“Cam told me he shot
Jacobsen by accident—just saw movement from one of the blinds and nailed him before he realized what he’d hit.” Kingston ran his fingers nervously through the bushy growth on his chin.

“Cam? Dr. Cameron Rinker with Hawaiian Bird Conserva
tory?” Lei’s eyebrows rose in surprise. She resisted looking over at Pono. She tried to recall the sandy-blond scientist’s innocuous face and couldn’t.

“That’s right.”

“Well, Jacobsen’s body buried in the ginger grove was no accident. What do you know about that?” Lei asked.

“After I’d dodged the deportation a second time and was back in the woods, Cam called me on the sat phone and said there was an emergency. I hiked down and met him at the Maile Trail. That’s when he told me what happened with Jacobsen. He had the body in the truck bed, and we took Jacobsen out of the truck and up the trail and buried him. Cam’s idea was to ditch the bow he’d shot Jacobsen with. When I got to the house and saw all Jacobsen’s bows had been taken, I realized he might also be framing Jacobsen for shooting the poachers.”

“So that’s when you knew Rinker had shot the poachers?”

“He never said he’d done that. I just guessed. All he ever said was that I could use Jacobsen’s house when I needed to get
Internet and take a shower, since it was empty and it was going to look like Jacobsen had shot the poachers and fled. He had my research laptop; he took it from my lab when I was out in the field, and he put it in Jacobsen’s house. Said it was to keep it from getting destroyed by the damp. I didn’t believe him, but I had to go to Jacobsen’s house to get it.”

“So let’s recap. You can basically only testify that Rinker contacted you about accidentally shooting Jacobsen. You’re only speculating he shot the poachers. You suspected Rinker was setting you up when he took your laptop and left it at Jacobsen’s house. Why didn’t you come to us?” Lei asked.

“I just needed a little more time for my work,” Kingston said pleadingly. “Just another week or two. I needed that laptop. I’m almost ready to publish this research, and I was hoping to be able to finish. I planned to call in Jacobsen’s body and my suspicions as soon as my paper was done. If I did it sooner, you’d arrest or deport me and so much work would be lost. But when I heard Lieutenant Texeira pounding on the door at Jacobsen’s house, I realized Cam had set me up too.”

A long pause. Lei tried to picture the series of events. It felt wrong, like a smoke screen. Shimoda gazed at her, inscrutable. Lei narrowed her eyes at the agitated scientist.

“This is all about as clear as mud. Why don’t we back up a minute to the beginning? Tell us how your relationship with Dr. Cameron Rinker began.”

“
It all started with my work with Dr. Biswandi at University of Hawaii. I thought I was onto something, but she wouldn’t let me pursue my hypothesis, so I approached the Hawaiian Bird Conservatory. Dr. Snelling also refused permission to extend my visa and continue with my project, but Dr. Cam Rinker, as the staff biologist, thought I had a good theory and signed my proposal to study the birds and stay on the conservation lands after my internship with University of Hawaii ended. He knew all about me being up there camping out, and he’d come out and help me on the weekends. He provided food and the lab supplies I needed.”

“
Where was this lab located?”

“
It’s a simple plastic structure. I’ll show you. Anyway, one day when I was out there working, Cam came out to my lab with my supplies. He was really agitated, said something had upset him on the way and he wouldn’t talk about it. A few days later, I smelled the body of the first poacher and saw what it was, but I was too scared to approach it or report it because I knew I was up there illegally and I worried I would be implicated.”

“
So why didn’t you tell us all of this when we first brought you in?” Lei asked.

“
I didn’t say anything because I wanted to find a way to get back up to continue my research. I was able to continue while you were investigating the shooting of the first poacher, and I didn’t know Cam had shot that man for sure, or I would have been more forthcoming earlier. Time went on; then I spotted a second poacher. I told Cam about him, and then you guys captured me.”

“
You should have come clean about all this the first time we questioned you,” Lei said. “If the accusations you’ve made about Dr. Rinker are true, Jacobsen might not have been killed.”

“
I know that now. Cam was protecting me. He hadn’t told anyone about our arrangement. I know how dedicated to the birds he is—but it never occurred to me until later that he was the one shooting the poachers. The thing you have to know is, we kept our bows with us all the time in case we came across any ungulates in the forest. After the first time I almost got caught by Lieutenant Texeira here, I realized what a precarious position I was in. I buried my bow and disposed of my arrows, so when you guys did find me with the dog, I didn’t have them. I didn’t want to get charged—I just wanted to stay in the forest and finish my work.”

“
So to clarify: You suspect Rinker of shooting the poachers,” Pono said.

“
Yes. But he never said he did, and I never had any reason to suspect him except that he was upset that one day. Don’t even know if that was the day the first poacher was shot.”

Lei and Pono glanced
at each other.

“
So, according to you, you’ve done nothing wrong but dodge getting deported and help bury a body?” Lei put some steel in her voice.

“
I know it was wrong to dodge the deportation, but the research is more important than my visa. It was also wrong to help bury Jacobsen’s body. But I was scared—first of being deported and charged, then of Cam and what he’d do to me if I went to the authorities.”

“
So you’re afraid of Rinker.”

“
Definitely. He has a way of looking at you, like he really means what he’s saying—and he’s told me nothing matters but the birds. I believe he weighs a human life as less than one of the birds. Don’t get me wrong—I love the birds. I’ve risked everything to continue this research. But I’d never kill someone over them.”

“
No, but you’d help drag the body of an innocent young ranger into the forest, bury him where he’d never be found, and allow him to be framed for murder,” Lei said, feeling anger flash heat her cheeks and chest. She imagined how she looked: eyes glaring, skin patchy red. It didn’t matter—Jacobsen hadn’t deserved what happened to him. Lei saw remorse and regret in Kingston’s expression for the first time as color leached out from purple hollows under his eyes, and he covered his face with his hands.

“
I’m so sorry,” he muttered. “This has all gotten so crazy.”

“
I think you have enough for now,” Shimoda said.

“
Yes. We still have some loose ends to tie up. But we are not releasing Kingston. He’s going to be in our custody for a full twenty-four hours, and then we’re going to find something to charge him with,” Lei said. They stood up.

“Hold on. We just signed an agreement,” Shimoda said, his brows snapping together.

“Yeah—but your client’s too much of a flight and safety risk to let out of our custody, so we’re going to charge him with visa violation, trespassing, and whatever else we can think of that we didn’t list on your agreement, to keep him locked up,” Pono said. “All we have at this point is your client’s word that any of this is true, and we need to pick up Dr. Rinker to verify the story. Go ahead and take it up with the district attorney, if you don’t like it.”

“
You can bet I will,” Shimoda said, and his narrowed eyes promised a fight as Lei and Pono left him and his client alone.

Lei and Pono took one of the squad cars to go pick up Rinker at his house in Haiku. Even well after dark, time was of the essence. If Rinker somehow became aware they were looking for him, he could disappear.

“
He shouldn’t have any idea we’re coming,” Lei said, unfolding the arrest warrant they’d just received for Cameron Rinker, PhD. “As long as the news hasn’t released the story on the body we just found, he should be thinking we’re still chasing Jacobsen and have no idea we’re onto him and Kingston.”

“
I hope it will be that easy,” Pono said, rubbing his mustache. A backup unit followed them at Captain Omura’s insistence, but no one had their siren or lights on, and Lei had requested radio silence. If Rinker was monitoring the police band, he wouldn’t be aware of their approach.

“
A lot of people have died for these birds,” Lei said. “Be a shame if Kingston’s research really would have helped them.”

“
It should still be published. I can’t see why not,” Pono said.

“
Well, we have no idea if he might be deported. If he is, we’ll have a hassle getting him back to testify against Rinker.” Lei fiddled with her medallion, frowning.

“
Eh, no worries. We’ve got this bird freak. I’m sure once we get Rinker in custody, we can find some physical evidence tying him to Jacobsen’s murder, if not the poachers,” Pono said.

The cruisers swerved back and forth to stay in the narrow lanes of the back roads as t
hey wound up into the jungled beauty of Haiku, smothering and dense in the dark. Lei kept an eye on the GPS for Rinker’s address, and they turned into a narrow mud driveway, bumping up a rocky, slippery slope to pull up in front of a dingy house.

Several trucks were parked i
n front, and light spilled out into the darkness through a screen door. Lei jumped out with the backup officers and was right out in front as they sprinted up onto the porch and pounded on the door.

“
Police! Open up!”

A
worn-looking woman in her sixties, hair to her waist, came to the door. She wore a tank top and a pair of tie-dyed Lycra pants.

“
What’s this about?” the woman exclaimed, eyes wide.

“
Cameron Rinker. Where is he?” Pono asked, pulling the door open and marching in.

“
Cam Rinker? He hasn’t lived with us for months,” the woman said, hand to her throat.

They searched the
house and the small, surrounding illegal rental units on the property, everything from a yurt to an old school bus having been made into rental space, and finally Lei circled back to the woman who’d answered the door. “So when did you last see Cameron Rinker?” she asked.

“
At least six months ago. He rented one of our units, but not for a while now,” the woman said.

Lei and Pono dismissed the backup unit
. “Went off the grid, I bet,” Lei told them.

Pono backed p
erilously down the slippery driveway as Lei hung on to the sissy handle. “Drop me off at my house,” she said, glancing at the dashboard clock. It was eleven p.m. She had only until four p.m. the next day, and with the case taking this turn, they’d need every minute of it. “We’ll get back on this early tomorrow.”

“
I’ll call in a ‘be on lookout’ for Rinker and his known vehicle,” Pono said, “but I’m guessing he decided to make it harder for us to find him once he killed someone. Putting out a BOLO might alert him that we’re looking for him. He could be monitoring the police band.”

“
We can just put it out via fax to the commanding officers. Any of our people might be able to bring him in if they come across him. Let’s do the BOLO and hope someone scoops him up. Otherwise, I’m guessing the easiest way to pick him up is going to be through the Hawaiian Bird Conservatory and his job there. I bet he shows up for work tomorrow.”

T
hey called in the BOLO, and Pono drove her to her cottage nearby. Keiki barked and leaped frantically at the gate of the dark little house, and Lei realized she’d been hoping Stevens would be waiting for her, the house alight, food cooking. Her shoulders sagged. Her eyes felt gritty, her stomach hollow, and her ribs ached.

Pono patted her shoulder. “I won’t remind that you could be on your honeymoon right now.”

“Thanks, partner, for the support.” Lei got out and slammed the door. Her heartache and disappointment made her voice hard, even as she knew her hope had been unreasonable. “See you bright and early tomorrow. Be prepared to work until the last minute.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Pono said, and roared off.