Chapter 6 - Puzzled
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Danny quickly immersed himself in the wires as he attempted to figure out the tangled mess in front of him. The operation was delicate and the person who had built this bomb had purposely added trick wires and traps to guard against disarmament.
Lost in the mess of wires, Danny pondered his situation as he searched for the path that would defuse the situation.
Head in her hands, Jenny Sherman silently willed the phone on her desk to stop ringing. When a third shrill ring followed the first two, the frustrated secretary resigned herself to answering the phone. "Hawaii Five-O," Jenny said, her usual perkiness absent from her voice.
"Russell Smith from the Honolulu Advertiser…"
Before Smith could get another word in Jenny quickly cut in. "Five-O isn't currently giving any interviews nor do we have any information to release at this time."
"If you could put Williams on the phone…"
"Williams is unavailable. Aloha." Jenny slammed down the phone a little harder than she intended causing the aforementioned detective to arch an eyebrow in a questioning look as he placed a report on her desk. "The paper."
"Again?" Danny asked
Jenny nodded. "It's not just them. The media all want an update or your opinion of being quote 'passed over for the top job.' They have forgotten that a couple days ago were the loudest voices clamoring for you not to get the job?"
Danny shrugged. "They just want a juicy story, that's all."
"You think they could give us a few days of peace considering all that's happened," Jenny muttered.
"Not with the new boss flying in today they won't."
Sighing, Jenny looked the finalized report as Danny returned to his desk. She could hardly believe the pace everything had moved every since Danny had returned from the mainland. Steve's death…
Jenny forced back a lump in her throat. She had already shed her tears and the last thing her boys needed was a hysterical secretary to deal with. She was a professional and would continue to do her job even though the media was making things difficult. She needed to put McGarrett behind her and focus on preparing for the new boss's arrival.
The new boss was a man by the name of Alexander Zar. The official word was that he over twenty years experience with Atlanta Police Department as a detective, serving as the second-in-command of the department for the past seven years. The news on the coconut wireless was that he came highly recommended to the Governor from colleagues on the mainland.
In Jenny's opinion, Zar on paper looked to be a safe choice but she wondered how he would fit in with such a close knit unit. Chin had been a part of Five-O all thirteen years of its existence, Kono came on ten years ago, and Danny six and a half. That meant that is was a very long time since Five-O had experienced any turnover. Regardless of how good Zar turned out to be, this was going to continue to be a difficult time for all of them.
The front office door opened and Chin swept into the room. "I got a break."
Danny and Kono emerged from their cubicles as Chin explained, "One of my snitches paid off. The Jane Does are all tags."
Danny nodded to show that he heard; the knowledge that the dead girls were prostitutes only confirmed his suspicions.
"Finally!" Kono exclaimed.
Chin shot Kono an exasperated look. "I had to promise him a ticket to the mainland to get him to talk. There's a lot of pressure on people to be quiet right now."
"What did he say?" Danny asked.
"That he overheard two pimps complaining about the quality of the merchandise, saying they're getting too many fighters."
"Brothels or streets?"
"Brothels."
"Did you get an identity of the pimps?"
"No. He said it was too dark to see."
Danny nodded. "It's a start. You and Kono meet with HPD and get together all the information we have on known brothels in Chinatown. Let's see if we can figure out who's currently buying before another girl is murdered."
Watching, Danny, Chin, and Kono work their way through a case gave Jenny hope that Five-O would continue on. She hated to interrupt their discussion but the time showed that Danny needed to leave now if he wanted to meet Zar at the airport. "Danny, it's time."
Instantly, Danny's body language changed as the ease in which he addressed his co-workers disappeared and a mix of worry, pain, and responsibility crept into his face. "Wish me luck."
A loud ringing caused Jenny to miss any replies as she grabbed the phone and promised herself that she wouldn't snap at the reporter she was sure was on the other end of the line. However, the identity of the caller was a surprise but Jenny's joy at hearing the voice of Ben Kokua disappeared as he gave her a message.
Danny was halfway out the door when Jenny stood up and hollered, "Danny, wait! HPD found a body of a teenage girl in an alley. She's Chinese and has needle marks in her arm."
The detective quickly re-entered the room. "Do you have the address?"
"Here," Jenny replied as she headed Danny a piece of paper.
"Chin, Kono, let's go," Danny ordered as he headed back towards the open door.
Jenny hurried after the detectives. "What about Zar? He's expecting you to meet him at the airport."
Danny thought things over for a few moments before deciding. "Radio Duke Lukela and ask him to cover for me. He can explain what happened and if Zar is as experienced as they say he is he'll understand."
Steve made his way up the gangplank of a cargo ship with a heavy and large box in his arms, muscles that he hadn't know existed ached from the hard labor. Steve knew that he was going to sleep soundly tonight.
Or as soundly as he could in foreign city with danger all around him.
Once Steve reached the cargo hold, he passed his load off to another worker and headed back for another box. He was on his third day of work and it was every bit as hard labor as Yi promised. Steve would just have to tough it out, because this position was already starting to pay off.
Steve was still surprised at the ease in which he had gotten the job as a cargo loader. His story was accepted with only a few questions and he was firmly told if he was found drunk on the job he'd find himself without work before being told to start the next day. His co-workers, once they saw that he could handle the work, accepted John Francis as one of them without comment.
That was probably the hardest part of this undercover position. Steve didn't think it was wise to continue to use his first name as there couldn't be too many Caucasians named Steve in Singapore so he introduced himself by his middle name, John, and hoped that he wouldn't forget who he was supposed to be.
Stepping out onto the dock, Steve around and silently took note of the people around him. It wasn't odd for the dock to be full of people but it was odd that there were a decent number of people idling around. These men screamed thugs to Steve's cop-trained mind and since they weren't molesting the passersby, he figured that they were guarding something, but what was the question.
One step at time. That was the benefit of being dead; no one was expecting to hear from him so Steve could take as long as he needed too to find the answers he wanted. And this time no one was going to get in his way.
The scene was not one that would ever end up on a postcard: a dingy alley covered in trash, used needles, and the body of a teenage girl.
Officer Ben Kokua, a detective for HPD, stood beside Danny and reported in. "The victim has no identification. We found a needle with heroin in it next to the body. Doc says she died something last night and the preliminary cause of death is an overdose." Then closing his notebook, Ben added, "Just like the others."
Danny nodded to show that he heard his friend and then stepped carefully to try and avoid the worst of the filth as he knelt beside the body and looked at the girl. She was young, too young, and as thin as a rail, wearing only in a thin cotton dress. A single glance at her left arm was all Danny needed to find the spot where the drug that had taken her life had entered the body.
"Only one mark," Chin noted as he and Kono joined the kneeling detective.
"Four girls dead under identical circumstances is too many for everyone to be an accidental overdose," Danny mused as he also found the lack of other needle marks suspicious. "These girls either meant to end their own lives or someone helped them do it."
"Doesn't matter," Kono declared, "it's still murder."
Personally, Danny agreed. Even if the girls had taken their own lives it was as a result of those who exploited them and made their lives into such a living hell that death would have seemed like the only way out. The law, however, wouldn't see it that way. But if they could connect these girls with the pimps and the people who supplied them there were other charges they could bring against the perps.
Rising to his feet, Danny took charge of the scene. "We'll have to see what Doc says. He should be able to tell exactly how she died and possibly give us a clue as to where she came from. Kono, work with the lab boys; I want to know if there was anyone else in this alley last night and if there are any signs of a struggle. Chin, canvass the neighborhood; see if anyone heard or something. I doubt they'll say anything but it's worth a shot."
As Chin and Kono went off to begin their tasks, Danny took another look at the body. He was about to the call the attendants to take the body away when mark on the girl's right ankle caught his attention. Looking closer, Danny could tell that it was a small tattoo of a rat, an odd choice for a teenage girl but, more importantly, a disturbing choice for what it possibly implied.
Emotions that Danny had under sharp control threatened to break loose as the detective made a connection that, if could be supported by further evidence, would completely change everything he thought he knew about this case.
"Excuse me, let me through," a loud voice boomed from behind the police barrier.
Danny turned, placed on hand on his .38 and moved to intercept the man who was intruding on his crime scene but before Danny could speak Duke stepped forward and said, "Danny, this is Alexander Zar. When I told him that Five-O was called out to case he insisted on coming out to meet you. Mr. Zar, this is Dan Williams."
Instantly Danny's demeanor changed as he reached out to shake Zar's hand while studying the man who Governor Jameson picked to be the head of Five-O. Zar was only slightly taller than Danny but with Kono's build and bulk. He had brown hair that was starting to bald and a thick mustache. His eyes had a perceiving quality to them and Danny knew that the man was also studying him. From look of his eyes to the way he carried his weight, Danny could tell that Zar was an experienced cop. "Good to meet you, Sir."
Letting go of Danny's hand, Zar quickly surveyed the scene. "What's going on?"
Danny quickly repeated the report that Ben had given him earlier. Zar's face was emotionless as he asked, "Why was Five-O called in?"
"There been a string of suspicious deaths of Chinese teenage girls dying in circumstances identical to this one.
Zar didn't look impressed. "When I has hired I was told that Five-O focused only on the most serious cases which in most units would not include investigating a prostitute who overdosed herself on drugs."
All too aware that the nearby HPD officers were listening in and that coconut wireless would have word of a disagreement with the new boss spread across the entire force in a matter of minutes, Danny lowered his voice and tried to convince the boss of the importance of them taking this case. "Sir, there is a strong possibility that this girl was murdered."
"Five-O doesn't need to be wasting time on a whore," Zar stated in a normal tone of voice, seemingly oblivious to Danny's desire to keep the conversation private. "Our attention should be on bringing in the crime lords who run the prostitution rings."
Desperate, Danny knew he couldn't back down, not after the connection he had just made. "Sir, I'll explain more later but it is imperative that Five-O take this case.
Shaking his head, Zar remained firm. "I don't see the need of it. Come with me back to the office and bring me up to date on your pertinent cases."
Not believing the words coming out of Zar's mouth, Danny had to force down a wave of anger as he said, "No."
Zar looked taken aback at Danny's reply. "That was an order, Williams."
"Until you are sworn in you don't have the authority to stop me," Danny shot back, no longer caring what anyone else heard.
Shocked but also armed with the knowledge that Danny was right, Zar simply turned and walked briskly out of the alley. As Zar stormed away, Danny shot a desperate glance at Duke for the older man to make sure that Zar was taken wherever he needed to go. He would deal with the consequences of their disagreement later.
Ignoring the glances HPD was sending his way, Danny gestured for Ben, Chin, and Kono to join him. "We need to move quickly. There are things I'd like to know before we're ordered off the case."
"Danny, I'm not sure this is wise," Ben stated. "He's your boss; you're going to have to work with him. Do really want to start off by using technicalities to disobey him?"
"Wait," Danny hollered to the attendants where about the load the body into the wagon. Then Danny pulled off the sheet and directed his friends' attention to the body. "Look her left ankle."
"It's a rat," Kono said.
When neither Kono nor Chin commented further, Danny said softly, "The rat threatens the lion."
"It can't be," Chin whispered as Kono's face paled and Ben looked even more confused.
"Those words were what convinced Steve that he needed to go to the Lion City and find the rat," Danny explained. "Our Jane Doe could be directly connected to what Steve was investigating in Singapore when he died."
"That's a big leap of logic," Ben argued.
"Both Kaye and Black mentioned that a new smuggling operation was being set up. If this same tattoo is on the other bodies then I think we know that this wasn't just some made up plot to get Steve to a place where he could be killed; we're dealing with human trafficking operation."
"Can we convince Zar of dat?"
"I don't know, Kono," Danny answered truthfully. "I hope so. Ben, if not I will need you to officially take over this case."
"Of course."
There was nothing more to say. Everyone understood the consequences of what had just happened and every one of them was willing to take the risk if it brought them one step closer to understanding why Steve had died. So the detectives worked quickly and effectively until they got a call to report back to the office; Alexander Zar had just been sworn in as the head of Hawaii Five-O.
Lost in the mess of wires, Danny pondered his situation as he searched for the path that would defuse the situation.
Head in her hands, Jenny Sherman silently willed the phone on her desk to stop ringing. When a third shrill ring followed the first two, the frustrated secretary resigned herself to answering the phone. "Hawaii Five-O," Jenny said, her usual perkiness absent from her voice.
"Russell Smith from the Honolulu Advertiser…"
Before Smith could get another word in Jenny quickly cut in. "Five-O isn't currently giving any interviews nor do we have any information to release at this time."
"If you could put Williams on the phone…"
"Williams is unavailable. Aloha." Jenny slammed down the phone a little harder than she intended causing the aforementioned detective to arch an eyebrow in a questioning look as he placed a report on her desk. "The paper."
"Again?" Danny asked
Jenny nodded. "It's not just them. The media all want an update or your opinion of being quote 'passed over for the top job.' They have forgotten that a couple days ago were the loudest voices clamoring for you not to get the job?"
Danny shrugged. "They just want a juicy story, that's all."
"You think they could give us a few days of peace considering all that's happened," Jenny muttered.
"Not with the new boss flying in today they won't."
Sighing, Jenny looked the finalized report as Danny returned to his desk. She could hardly believe the pace everything had moved every since Danny had returned from the mainland. Steve's death…
Jenny forced back a lump in her throat. She had already shed her tears and the last thing her boys needed was a hysterical secretary to deal with. She was a professional and would continue to do her job even though the media was making things difficult. She needed to put McGarrett behind her and focus on preparing for the new boss's arrival.
The new boss was a man by the name of Alexander Zar. The official word was that he over twenty years experience with Atlanta Police Department as a detective, serving as the second-in-command of the department for the past seven years. The news on the coconut wireless was that he came highly recommended to the Governor from colleagues on the mainland.
In Jenny's opinion, Zar on paper looked to be a safe choice but she wondered how he would fit in with such a close knit unit. Chin had been a part of Five-O all thirteen years of its existence, Kono came on ten years ago, and Danny six and a half. That meant that is was a very long time since Five-O had experienced any turnover. Regardless of how good Zar turned out to be, this was going to continue to be a difficult time for all of them.
The front office door opened and Chin swept into the room. "I got a break."
Danny and Kono emerged from their cubicles as Chin explained, "One of my snitches paid off. The Jane Does are all tags."
Danny nodded to show that he heard; the knowledge that the dead girls were prostitutes only confirmed his suspicions.
"Finally!" Kono exclaimed.
Chin shot Kono an exasperated look. "I had to promise him a ticket to the mainland to get him to talk. There's a lot of pressure on people to be quiet right now."
"What did he say?" Danny asked.
"That he overheard two pimps complaining about the quality of the merchandise, saying they're getting too many fighters."
"Brothels or streets?"
"Brothels."
"Did you get an identity of the pimps?"
"No. He said it was too dark to see."
Danny nodded. "It's a start. You and Kono meet with HPD and get together all the information we have on known brothels in Chinatown. Let's see if we can figure out who's currently buying before another girl is murdered."
Watching, Danny, Chin, and Kono work their way through a case gave Jenny hope that Five-O would continue on. She hated to interrupt their discussion but the time showed that Danny needed to leave now if he wanted to meet Zar at the airport. "Danny, it's time."
Instantly, Danny's body language changed as the ease in which he addressed his co-workers disappeared and a mix of worry, pain, and responsibility crept into his face. "Wish me luck."
A loud ringing caused Jenny to miss any replies as she grabbed the phone and promised herself that she wouldn't snap at the reporter she was sure was on the other end of the line. However, the identity of the caller was a surprise but Jenny's joy at hearing the voice of Ben Kokua disappeared as he gave her a message.
Danny was halfway out the door when Jenny stood up and hollered, "Danny, wait! HPD found a body of a teenage girl in an alley. She's Chinese and has needle marks in her arm."
The detective quickly re-entered the room. "Do you have the address?"
"Here," Jenny replied as she headed Danny a piece of paper.
"Chin, Kono, let's go," Danny ordered as he headed back towards the open door.
Jenny hurried after the detectives. "What about Zar? He's expecting you to meet him at the airport."
Danny thought things over for a few moments before deciding. "Radio Duke Lukela and ask him to cover for me. He can explain what happened and if Zar is as experienced as they say he is he'll understand."
Steve made his way up the gangplank of a cargo ship with a heavy and large box in his arms, muscles that he hadn't know existed ached from the hard labor. Steve knew that he was going to sleep soundly tonight.
Or as soundly as he could in foreign city with danger all around him.
Once Steve reached the cargo hold, he passed his load off to another worker and headed back for another box. He was on his third day of work and it was every bit as hard labor as Yi promised. Steve would just have to tough it out, because this position was already starting to pay off.
Steve was still surprised at the ease in which he had gotten the job as a cargo loader. His story was accepted with only a few questions and he was firmly told if he was found drunk on the job he'd find himself without work before being told to start the next day. His co-workers, once they saw that he could handle the work, accepted John Francis as one of them without comment.
That was probably the hardest part of this undercover position. Steve didn't think it was wise to continue to use his first name as there couldn't be too many Caucasians named Steve in Singapore so he introduced himself by his middle name, John, and hoped that he wouldn't forget who he was supposed to be.
Stepping out onto the dock, Steve around and silently took note of the people around him. It wasn't odd for the dock to be full of people but it was odd that there were a decent number of people idling around. These men screamed thugs to Steve's cop-trained mind and since they weren't molesting the passersby, he figured that they were guarding something, but what was the question.
One step at time. That was the benefit of being dead; no one was expecting to hear from him so Steve could take as long as he needed too to find the answers he wanted. And this time no one was going to get in his way.
The scene was not one that would ever end up on a postcard: a dingy alley covered in trash, used needles, and the body of a teenage girl.
Officer Ben Kokua, a detective for HPD, stood beside Danny and reported in. "The victim has no identification. We found a needle with heroin in it next to the body. Doc says she died something last night and the preliminary cause of death is an overdose." Then closing his notebook, Ben added, "Just like the others."
Danny nodded to show that he heard his friend and then stepped carefully to try and avoid the worst of the filth as he knelt beside the body and looked at the girl. She was young, too young, and as thin as a rail, wearing only in a thin cotton dress. A single glance at her left arm was all Danny needed to find the spot where the drug that had taken her life had entered the body.
"Only one mark," Chin noted as he and Kono joined the kneeling detective.
"Four girls dead under identical circumstances is too many for everyone to be an accidental overdose," Danny mused as he also found the lack of other needle marks suspicious. "These girls either meant to end their own lives or someone helped them do it."
"Doesn't matter," Kono declared, "it's still murder."
Personally, Danny agreed. Even if the girls had taken their own lives it was as a result of those who exploited them and made their lives into such a living hell that death would have seemed like the only way out. The law, however, wouldn't see it that way. But if they could connect these girls with the pimps and the people who supplied them there were other charges they could bring against the perps.
Rising to his feet, Danny took charge of the scene. "We'll have to see what Doc says. He should be able to tell exactly how she died and possibly give us a clue as to where she came from. Kono, work with the lab boys; I want to know if there was anyone else in this alley last night and if there are any signs of a struggle. Chin, canvass the neighborhood; see if anyone heard or something. I doubt they'll say anything but it's worth a shot."
As Chin and Kono went off to begin their tasks, Danny took another look at the body. He was about to the call the attendants to take the body away when mark on the girl's right ankle caught his attention. Looking closer, Danny could tell that it was a small tattoo of a rat, an odd choice for a teenage girl but, more importantly, a disturbing choice for what it possibly implied.
Emotions that Danny had under sharp control threatened to break loose as the detective made a connection that, if could be supported by further evidence, would completely change everything he thought he knew about this case.
"Excuse me, let me through," a loud voice boomed from behind the police barrier.
Danny turned, placed on hand on his .38 and moved to intercept the man who was intruding on his crime scene but before Danny could speak Duke stepped forward and said, "Danny, this is Alexander Zar. When I told him that Five-O was called out to case he insisted on coming out to meet you. Mr. Zar, this is Dan Williams."
Instantly Danny's demeanor changed as he reached out to shake Zar's hand while studying the man who Governor Jameson picked to be the head of Five-O. Zar was only slightly taller than Danny but with Kono's build and bulk. He had brown hair that was starting to bald and a thick mustache. His eyes had a perceiving quality to them and Danny knew that the man was also studying him. From look of his eyes to the way he carried his weight, Danny could tell that Zar was an experienced cop. "Good to meet you, Sir."
Letting go of Danny's hand, Zar quickly surveyed the scene. "What's going on?"
Danny quickly repeated the report that Ben had given him earlier. Zar's face was emotionless as he asked, "Why was Five-O called in?"
"There been a string of suspicious deaths of Chinese teenage girls dying in circumstances identical to this one.
Zar didn't look impressed. "When I has hired I was told that Five-O focused only on the most serious cases which in most units would not include investigating a prostitute who overdosed herself on drugs."
All too aware that the nearby HPD officers were listening in and that coconut wireless would have word of a disagreement with the new boss spread across the entire force in a matter of minutes, Danny lowered his voice and tried to convince the boss of the importance of them taking this case. "Sir, there is a strong possibility that this girl was murdered."
"Five-O doesn't need to be wasting time on a whore," Zar stated in a normal tone of voice, seemingly oblivious to Danny's desire to keep the conversation private. "Our attention should be on bringing in the crime lords who run the prostitution rings."
Desperate, Danny knew he couldn't back down, not after the connection he had just made. "Sir, I'll explain more later but it is imperative that Five-O take this case.
Shaking his head, Zar remained firm. "I don't see the need of it. Come with me back to the office and bring me up to date on your pertinent cases."
Not believing the words coming out of Zar's mouth, Danny had to force down a wave of anger as he said, "No."
Zar looked taken aback at Danny's reply. "That was an order, Williams."
"Until you are sworn in you don't have the authority to stop me," Danny shot back, no longer caring what anyone else heard.
Shocked but also armed with the knowledge that Danny was right, Zar simply turned and walked briskly out of the alley. As Zar stormed away, Danny shot a desperate glance at Duke for the older man to make sure that Zar was taken wherever he needed to go. He would deal with the consequences of their disagreement later.
Ignoring the glances HPD was sending his way, Danny gestured for Ben, Chin, and Kono to join him. "We need to move quickly. There are things I'd like to know before we're ordered off the case."
"Danny, I'm not sure this is wise," Ben stated. "He's your boss; you're going to have to work with him. Do really want to start off by using technicalities to disobey him?"
"Wait," Danny hollered to the attendants where about the load the body into the wagon. Then Danny pulled off the sheet and directed his friends' attention to the body. "Look her left ankle."
"It's a rat," Kono said.
When neither Kono nor Chin commented further, Danny said softly, "The rat threatens the lion."
"It can't be," Chin whispered as Kono's face paled and Ben looked even more confused.
"Those words were what convinced Steve that he needed to go to the Lion City and find the rat," Danny explained. "Our Jane Doe could be directly connected to what Steve was investigating in Singapore when he died."
"That's a big leap of logic," Ben argued.
"Both Kaye and Black mentioned that a new smuggling operation was being set up. If this same tattoo is on the other bodies then I think we know that this wasn't just some made up plot to get Steve to a place where he could be killed; we're dealing with human trafficking operation."
"Can we convince Zar of dat?"
"I don't know, Kono," Danny answered truthfully. "I hope so. Ben, if not I will need you to officially take over this case."
"Of course."
There was nothing more to say. Everyone understood the consequences of what had just happened and every one of them was willing to take the risk if it brought them one step closer to understanding why Steve had died. So the detectives worked quickly and effectively until they got a call to report back to the office; Alexander Zar had just been sworn in as the head of Hawaii Five-O.