by Mary Deal
Det. Lio beat her to it. “Stop for now.” He made a motion for everyone to back away. “We need to get the forensics crew out here.”
The officer poked a bit more with the shovel tip. “Could just be an old blanket.”
Sara couldn't believe he'd said that. “No one buries old blankets without a reason.”
Chapter 48
Det. Lio ordered one of the officers to string yellow tape across the front fence and gate of Maleko's property.
The hole was dug more than two feet deep with nothing but two more teeny remnants found. If digging deeper would be necessary, a piece of machinery would have helped. Given the immediacy of the situation and the fact that machinery of any kind wouldn't make it past the glut of junk in the side yard, nor down the narrow walkway on the other side of the house, the officers had to laboriously continue with shovels. For the moment they could rest.
Forensics officers arrived within thirty minutes. They wore street clothes and appeared quite older than the patrol officers. Det. Lio introduced them to the group.
The more mature, over weight man with graying hair and a paunch was Oka; the younger, Hale. Both suited up under the overhang, pulling on white coveralls with hoods that had clear facemasks they could see through. They stepped into elasticized covers for their shoes and then tucked in their pants legs. They slipped into gloves. How stifling hot it would become in those suits. Frequent breaks would be necessary. The cover-up was to prevent themselves from contaminating a potential crime scene. The blanket could simply be something that lay on the ground and was eventually covered by dirt or, more likely since it lay deep, inadvertently buried during the construction of the back part of the house. It might be overkill if all they found was a blanket, which just might be something a pupule like Maleko might bury. However, protocol had to be followed.
Det. Lio stepped farther away from the hole and motioned the rest do the same.
All remained in the shade of the upper floor overhang on the far side of the area. Det. Lio leaned back against the rusted freezer and crossed his ankles. Officer Makamai joined him.
The forensic officers bent over looking at the remnants. Oka gingerly picked up the specimens with tweezers. He retrieved a plastic bag from the forensics kit and placed them inside. He laid the bag on the ground beside the kit. If nothing else came out of the hole but fabric remnants, no reason existed to bag and tag, so at this point, bagging was only a precaution.
Just as Hale bent to scoop a load from the bottom of the pit, Sara pointed. “Wait a minute. Dig a little more on that far side.”
Det. Lio looked where she pointed. “Did you see something?”
“That first remnant. It came out of the other side of the hole.”
“Get the dog over here.” Det. Lio motioned and stepped alongside the hole again. “She was digging straight down. Let's see if she detects anything on that side there.”
Birdie handed Oka Ka'imi's leash. “Find, girl.”
Ka'imi looked at Birdie as if asking why she had to prove what she already found. Ka'imi's expression seemed almost human.
Birdie pointed into the hole. “Find, girl.”
Oka kept a tight leash. Ka'imi finally leaned into the hole with her front legs while her hind legs and rump stuck up in the air. She began sniffing and pawing at the right side of the hole. Then she dropped all the way into the hole and pawed straight down in the middle, all the while sniffing. Her sitting down again was her message.
Something was definitely buried there in two locations side-by-side or just spread out a bit. Ka'imi could be detecting body scent on some old blankets under the top soil.
“Come, girl.” Birdie was handed back the leash and pulled Ka'imi toward her. Ka'imi stood wagging her tail. Minus a biscuit treat, she got a lot of petting. Ka'imi seemed happy with the attention and laid down at Birdie's feet.
Hale found the digging more difficult. He turned the shovel backwards and lifted it to pound and break up the hard clay but stopped in midair. “Whatever's buried down here could be damaged now.” He turned the shovel right side up and grunted, straining to push it through the hard pack. He scooped another load and threw it onto the loose pile at the side.
Something caught Sara's attention. It was another remnant.
Digging in the yard had been a total distraction from the voices and sounds coming from Kuamo'o Road.
Sara and Birdie walked to the front gate and watched officers measuring off and processing the accident scene. A crane had been brought in to lift that heavy truck off the sedan. The squeals of metal ripping was sickening as the truck and sedan were pulled apart.
An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Sara's stomach. The underside of the truck had caught on ripped metal from the sedan. As the crane lifted the truck higher, parts of the top of the sedan tore loose with it. The metal made a loud clattering noise when it detached from the truck underside and fell back onto the crushed sedan and then clattered to the pavement. Both the truck and the flattened sedan were lifted onto the backs of the tow trucks and covered with tarps. Someone with a beat out pickup had offered to help. Scattered pieces of broken surfboards, large loose fragments of metal, piles of shattered glass, and other debris were thrown into the back.
Firemen began removing the rain soaked absorbent blankets from the road and shoulders. The blankets probably soaked up more rain than spilled fuel. The HAZMAT crew began breaking out equipment preparing to test the soil. Samples would be needed to determine how far the fuel had spread. The soil would be tested for Benzene and TPH to assure there wasn't enough spilled that might seep into the island's fragile water system.
Many people could be affected by this one senseless act and now the aftermath too. Sara could only stand and watch. “I hope there wasn't a lot of spillage. HAZMAT would have to dig out the contaminated soil and replace it with fresh earth, a huge job.” She couldn't speculate as easily about the victims and how they might fare.
Sara and Birdie returned to the back yard, skirting away from the area where the forensics officers tediously dug. So many remnant pieces had been brought out. One officer suggested all should wear facemasks and handed them out.
Oka had been taking still photos of the area to keep track of progress made. Hale resumed digging on the right side of the hole where the remnants were found. He was deeper into the hard pack clay when he brought out another remnant, then yet another tiny piece. Sara strained to see the fabric, not knowing what to expect. Could it be left over garbage from the pineapple plantations that used to cover the area?
When the plantations were deserted and crops no longer grown, whatever was left, black plastic ground cover, broken equipment, clothing, and other materials, was simply covered over. Who knew what junk they may have buried just to be rid of it. Could this be just discarded material?
“Oh-oh.” The sound of Hale's voice carried a foreboding tone. He went down on a knee and worked something out of the ground with his fingers. He brought up a small item caked with red clay and held it up for all to see. “Looks to be a piece of bone.” He continued to pick sticky clay off the piece.
“Yah, he eat here.” Bao would be quick to offer information. “Barbeque many time.”
Birdie snickered. “Look around. He throws leftover bones in the yard and he doesn't even have a dog.”
The officers quickly glanced out into the yard to see rib bones which had been thrown askew during Maleko's recent barbeque when Hien had visited.
“He barbeque whole pig.” Bao gestured toward the large barbeque pit and waved his arms. “Smell all over valley.”
Officer Makamai put up a finger, calling for attention.“You saying he recently barbequed a whole pig?”
Bao paused. “Whole… not sure, but big barbeque. Make big smoke, big smell.”
Sara turned and glanced at the rusting freezer chest. She motioned to Officer Makamai with her eyes. Birdie saw the look and stepped away. Sara opened the lid. Smelly frosty air tumbled out as she flagged a
hand to clear it and peer inside. “Looks like he caught a pig.”
Officer Makamai leaned in for a closer look and then turned to the group. “An amateur too. He whacked it to pieces, but a half side of the carcass is still in here, not even wrapped.” He looked at Sara again and nodded once, sending a clear message that only he and Sara understood. And maybe Birdie.
The half-carcass could mean that Maleko was who skinned a whole wild pig and left the pelt as kapu up on the howling cliffs.
Sara paused a moment and let her nerves settle. If Maleko was who hung the pelt, that kapu was surely meant for her. So, too, was the message smeared in pig blood over the front of her house. The facts pertaining to who did what to her and why were beginning to sort themselves out.
A hush had fallen over the scene. Det. Lio had been apprised of the attempts on Sara's life. He glanced at her, showing an expression of intense determination.
Oka was handed the bone and stepped back, gently cleaning the piece. Sara leaned over his shoulder and observed that the bone was pocked but, overall, hadn't deteriorated much. Finally, Oka gingerly held it up between a thumb and forefinger for all to see. “It's a phalange of a human finger. Definitely too big to be a child's bone.”
Chapter 49
“Okay, let's dig.” Det. Lio paced nervously, looking sad and angry as a flood of feeling traipsed across his face. “We need to bring up what's left of this poor soul.”
Oka and Hale repositioned their face masks. Anytime human remains were unearthed, it could bring with it a plethora of bacteria and assorted germs. Oka handed off a couple additional facemasks to two officers who walked over from the accident scene.
No one would hazard a guess about who could be buried under Maleko's picnic table. Several people remained listed as missing on Kauai over the years. To bury someone under an area that received a lot of foot traffic would assure the ground was packed. No one would suspect a person could be buried right where Maleko and his friends ate many of their meals, played ukuleles and partied.
How might Hien take it when he learned he had enjoyed a barbeque over a grave. For Thanh's sake, it might be a lesson in curbing Hien's flair for danger. Then again, it might only incite it. Maybe he even knew about it.
The digging continued on the right side of the hole. Uniformed officers, wearing only particulate masks and gloves, pitched in. Soon, bones of a human hand and wrist were laid bare. The bones needed to be kept intact where they lay until all were exposed. Their position could tell a lot about how and why the body was put into the ground. The tacky red clay assured the bones would stay in place. Progress was slow. Two more officers had suited up in white and knelt on hands and knees around the hole working with small hand tools to nudge the moist clay and expose more of the remains.
Sometimes down on his knees, Oka continued to supervise and take photographs at all stages.
Soon, Hale stood. “Let's lay tarps before we go any farther.” At least the tarps would help the diggers stay a little cleaner.
The tarps were brought from the trunk of Oka's car and spread down into the hole. Hale positioned himself on his knees inside the hole to resume separating sticky clay as more and more small bones became visible. “This might be the left arm.” He straightened and stretched his back and shoulders, while giving others a chance to see. Then he scratched away a little more clay. “Pieces of metal… more fabric…”
Oka walked behind the hole and half stooped, peering in. “We need to determine if the arm is laying upward or downward?”
Hale dug a bit more. Several more small bones were exposed. “More wrist bones here. Wait a sec…” He dug a little deeper. “Looks like the thumb bone is on the top of the rest.” He looked closer, dug a bit more. “The thumb bones are on top of the rest of the hand bones. This is the left hand and arm.”
“Then stop.”
Everyone knew why. If the left hand lay on that side of the hole with the thumb bone on top, it meant the remains connected to that arm lay just beneath the surface at the center of the hole where the officers crouched while working on the side edge. They were stooping on top of the rest of the remains.
Birdie stepped forward. “I knew it!” She pointed. “Ka'imi scratched straight down. She caught the scent. She knew it!” She knelt and gave her beloved pet another huge hug while Ka'imi lapped at her face.
The forensics officers gauged where the body lay according to the position of the arm and hand bones. The periphery of the hole would be widened and lengthened. In an effort to keep the skeleton together as it lay, further digging would be accomplished with small hand tools only.
Det. Lio was on the phone. When he finished, he turned to the group. “We've never had anything like this on Kauai. I notified the Chief.”
“Oh, great.” An officer threw his hands in the air. “Now reporters will get hold of this before we can finish the investigation.”
“No.” Det. Lio gave them a warning gesture with a finger slice across his throat. “Chief said to keep this under wraps.”
“But we'll have to file reports by the end of shift.”
“So, you have two to three hours left to bring up those bones.”
Birdie went home to feed Ka'imi. She returned pulling a beach cooler filled with chilled bottles of water and Gatorade that she kept stocked in her fridge in the garage. Also included and welcomed were snacks of cookies, small cakes, and a few rolls of musubi. Normally the police did not accept favors but the men had been digging for nearly two hours and the sun beat down with a vengeance. The officers were grateful for the fluids and relished the island treat of rice and meat wrapped in seaweed.
Where was the intermittent rain? Where were the trade winds? At a time when cooler temperatures would be welcomed, all was calm. Nothing moved. The air was stagnant. The guys suited up were surely suffering. Inside those protective plastic face masks, sweat poured over the officers' faces. No one complained but they did take breaks.
Det. Lio received another call and didn't say much, looked disgruntled, and then hung up. It seemed everyone waited to hear what he had learned.
“That driver who bailed, they may have lost him in the backwoods.” Det. Lio thumbed in the direction of the forest behind the Wailua Homesteads. “Seems a couple of ladies a few blocks on the other side of the highway have a dog in forensic training. They're going to take the animal out with the officers.”
Most likely the police had already learned the identity of the owner of the truck and meant to keep it a under wraps till he was caught.
Two uniformed officers sweat profusely in the enclosed area under the house. One asked Sara and Birdie for permission to remove their shirts. This was nothing new to Sara. She threw up her hands in permission. Given the urgency of the situation, seeing men with bare chests seemed hardly anything to ask permission about, but she also understood the nature and training of the officers. This was Kauai, after all, where locals accepted that you did whatever it took to do the job right. Nothing was more important than the situation at hand.
Neither was Sara about to leave because a couple of officers half stripped and she did notice that these men were muscular and fit. She smiled at Birdie who flicked her eyebrows. The officers' uniform pants carried a thick coating of red dust and mud but none of them would be removing their trousers. She and Birdie shifted stances to see between the crew as they resumed working the scene.
Sara accepted a paper napkin from Birdie, then dabbed at her forehead and the back of her neck. She dusted her chin guard and found her chin still sore. It reminded her to look down at her bandaged knee. The sagging bandage held red dirt smears. A couple of streaks of black mold crossed her legs. She must have picked up the filthy scum when she stood beside the refrigerator or when casting aside some Thunbergia vines. She might look a mess but wasn't leaving.
The hunches she voiced in private to these officers was playing out. Each of her suspicions played into the next. She had been right all along but couldn't simply tell everyon
e for fear of the meanings being misconstrued. She was no cop and didn't wish to be seen as a know-it-all. She was thankful that Office Makamai trusted her judgment. A deep sadness crept over her. What she knew shouldn't have happened. Now she needed to be a part of solving the mystery of who was buried in a very confused young man's yard and nothing could send her away.
Chapter 50
Chief Akoni, wearing his uniform, arrived driving himself in a plain car, most likely intending to keep the disquieting news quiet as long as he could. He, too, had a big paunch and held his belly with both hands as he ducked under the yellow tape. Entering the back yard scene, he made a visual sweep of the area, then greeted Det. Lio first. “Been getting reports on the accident.” He jerked his head backward toward the intersection and then gestured toward the hole in the ground. “Fill me in on this, Lio.”
Det. Lio summarized the situation. The Chief stood back and watched the digging.
Finally, the entire left arm bones were exposed, with some metal pieces and fabric remnants clearly visible. Hale identified a cross-hatch pattern in pieces of what seemed to be threads that hadn't been eaten away by the busy underground inhabitants. “You know what this is, people?” He extracted and held up a small fragment with tweezers. “It's from a lauhala bag. Some of the lining is here too.”
In The islands, strips of the long narrow hala tree leaves are woven into floor mats, wall hangings, beach bags, sun hats, and many other usable items. In this case, it was a woman's purse. Sara had recently purchased one herself. The purse found was bug eaten, the metal handle rusted. Not much of the natural fiber was left. What showed were the black and rotted center veins from the strands of the long resilient leaves. The contents of the purse revealed make up containers, a gold ball point pen, which had not tarnished, a rusted spiral end of a small notebook, at least a dozen coins, and some undecipherable items. The way this person was buried with her personal items suggested a dislike of the victim and that the perpetrator meant to do away with anything connected to the person.
