Page 29 of Wired Justice

Chapter Seventeen

Sophieunslung her backpack in the quiet computer lab of the South Hilo Police Department. She looked around at a row of aged desktops that made up the station’s tech workspace. “These appear to be at least ten years old.”

“That’s right.” Kamani Freitan had had a shower but didn’t look any more rested than yesterday. She rubbed bloodshot eyes. “Good thing you brought your own equipment.” She pointed to a coil of blue internet cable. “That’s what you really came for.”

“Exactly.” Sophie unrolled the cable and plugged it into her laptop. “Anything new on the Julie Weathersby situation? Did Webb and Rayme give you any pertinent information?” She opened her laptop at an empty workstation on the long table.

“They both stuck to the story that they dropped Weathersby off on the side of the road. Wong and I put them in a cell overnight to think about things. When the officers searched their squat out in Oceanview, they didn’t find anything that clearly belonged to Weathersby. There were some items that seemed like they might have been stolen from tourists, though. Expensive sunglasses. Phones. Some camera gear.” Freitan shook her head. “Those two are nasty.”

“I agree. I look forward to being able to determine if they might be associated with other missing persons.” Sophie didn’t want to describe how DAVID worked. Permission for her software to rifle through the police department’s databases was not going to be given, no matter how many confidentiality agreements she signed. She’d have to disguise how she obtained any data she procured through DAVID’s searches when she presented her findings to the detectives.

Freitan departed. Sophie plugged in headphones. She queued up some of her favorite classical music, cracked her knuckles, and dove into the wired world.

DAVID easily penetrated the police department firewalls, and soon she was surfing through reams of data on the missing persons situation on the Big Island.

There were too many cases. Sophie set the parameters for a time frame within the last five years. She input filters screening out cases that had been solved due to runaways, kidnappings, misunderstandings, and more.

She needed to know what bodies were turning up, and being matched to missing people. She started a new search on unidentified bodies. These turned out to be few and far between, though she was able to eliminate another layer of disappearances by reconciling them with recovered corpses.

She still ended up with close to a hundred people who had gone missing in the last five years.

Sophie shivered, looking at the number.

But it didn’t have to be a serial. This area attracted people who wanted to disappear. Perhaps some were just using the Big Island as a launching pad to the rest of their lives, as she was. In addition, there was a booming underground drug trade here that caught many in its undertow.

She needed to find a recognizable trend. She introduced filters and keywords screening for age, marital status, ethnicity, socioeconomic status.

Patterns began appearing, emerging like snowflakes only to melt under the scrutiny of her analysis.

Someone touched her on the shoulder. Sophie jumped, yanking her headphones off and thrusting back in her chair.

Wong stepped back, his square face earnest. “Whoa. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I’m sorry. I get so deep in concentration that I lose track of where I am,” Sophie said.

Indeed, her body felt stiff and her muscles had locked up. She glanced at the clock on the far wall. Two hours had passed. She had only two more before Jake returned. Her gaze dropped to her phone, just as it dinged. “Want me to bring some lunch?” Jake had included a photo of a sandwich with layers of ingredients. “Never mind. I got you a BLT.”

“Freitan sent me to check on you. See if you had anything to share, or needed anything.” Wong eyed her laptop’s screen curiously.

Sophie closed the unit. “Unfortunately, I am not ready to share any data yet. I only have a few more hours to work here today before my partner and I have an appointment.” It felt strange to refer to a meeting with an unknown confidential informant in a community park by such a formal title. “I will let you both know as soon as I have anything of interest.”

Wong leaned his hip against the table. “I’m not sure what you’re looking for. Something to do with missing persons, you said?”

Sophie stood up and stretched her arms overhead, thankful she always wore easy-movement clothing. She hinged at the waist and set her palms on the floor, stretching her hamstrings and back.

“Yes. I’m running statistics on the numbers and situations related to missing persons cases on the Big Island. This was sparked by our investigation into Julie Weathersby’s disappearance and then discovering that there are so many lost in a relatively small area.” Sophie straightened up and eyed Wong, taking his measure. The short, wiry Hawaiian Chinese detective had the kind of toned-down personality that didn’t get much attention in the shadow of his flamboyant partner. That didn’t mean that Wong wasn’t a sharp investigator; Sophie had already noticed how observant he was, and what a good foil for Freitan. Sophie had sometimes experienced that the quiet investigators were the ones who really got results. “Still waters run deep,” Marcella would say, a colloquialism that made sense.

“I’m glad someone is taking the time to look at the big picture,” Wong said, meeting her gaze with intelligent dark eyes. “We are always so busy chasing each case that I have often worried we are losing sight of the forest for the trees.”

That was a good saying too.Sophie nodded. “Focusing on the sand grains rather than the beach.”

“Right. We’re going to get some lunch. Do you want to come?”

“No, my partner is bringing me a sandwich, I believe. I have to get all I can done before that meeting this afternoon. But I look forward to a . . . rain check.” She was gratified that she had come up with the phrase, though that one made little sense at all. She needed to Google its origin. Wong turned to leave, and she touched his elbow. “Is there anything you can tell me about the body dump I found? About that family?”

Wong’s expression went serious as his brows lowered and lips folded together. “The family was in Witness Protection under the cover name of Jones. They had hiked out to watch the lava at Kalapana much as you did—witnesses reported seeing them at the active lava site where you told us you spent the night. Somehow the killer coerced the family into walking to the kipuka, where they were executed. The Marshals think it was a professional hired by the organized crime outfit they were hiding from. We have uncovered photos and video of their execution being circulated on the dark web and being used as a lesson of what happens if you go against this outfit.”

Sophie’s pulse picked up. “Who in your department knows how to search the dark web?”

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