Page 51 of Wired Strong

Ka`ula opened a heavy teak door at the end, ominously labeled Headmaster, and led them inside his office. A large, burly Hawaiian man in a school logo shirt with “Security” emblazoned upon it, stood with his arms crossed against one wall.

Ka`ula’s desk was a monolith of native koa hardwood taking up one side of the room. A chair was parked in front of it where he doubtless met with errant employees and misbehaving students. Raveaux could see only the shiny black hair and narrow shoulders of a teenage boy as he entered—but his brows drew together.The embezzler wasn’t supposed to be a student!

Ka`ula went around his desk and seated himself. “Help yourself to chairs and join us, please. Conrad, this is investigator Pierre Raveaux and investigator Hermione Leede. They have been conducting a private audit for our school.”

Raveaux went to a stack of plastic chairs against the wall, and removed two of them, one for himself and one for Leede. Raveaux sat on one side of the boy, Leede on the other.

Ka`ula dismissed the security guard, and the man exited and closed the door.

Ka`ula removed a tech pad, and thumbed to an audio and video app. “The school needs a record of this interview for legal reasons,” he said, and set the device in an adjustable display holder, pointed in such a direction that it captured Conrad’s crossed arms and sullen face, along with Leede and Raveaux. Ka`ula rolled his office chair forward into the range of the video camera as well.

He stated the date, time, and location, looking into the little red dot of the camera. “This is the interview of Conrad Kanekoa, aged sixteen, a junior student at Kama`aina Schools. Members present include Ms. Hermione Leede, investigator, Monsieur Pierre Raveaux, investigator, and myself, Dr. Stuart Ka`ula, Headmaster for the school. This interview is being conducted to determine if Conrad may have been tampering with our school computer system.” Now that the formalities had been stated, Ka`ula sat back, weaving his fingers together and setting them over his stomach. “Conrad was using the computer accessed by our tamperer. Let’s begin with that.”

As he took in the teen seated beside them, Raveaux mentally composed his future case notes. Conrad Kanekoa wore the standard black polo shirt with the school’s emblem, Bermuda shorts, black socks and tennis shoes. The boy had his hair cut short in a style that must be school regulation, because it didn’t seem to match the leather bracelet he wore on one wrist and a shark’s tooth pendant on a cord around his neck. He kept his eyes down and his arms crossed on his chest. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”

Ka`ula spoke from across the desk. “We don’t know what you did wrong, either. Why don’t you tell us what you were doing on that computer lab unit?”

“I was just doing some searches for charities.”

Raveaux felt that sensation that he sometimes got on an investigation: a sense of something coming into focus. He made a note on his phone:charities as motive?

Ka`ula continued with his interrogation. “We had that computer under surveillance. You were doing something that involved keystrokes that were more than just a search.”

The boy looked up, and his brown eyes were wide with anger. “Don’t I have any rights?”

Ka`ula smiled dourly. “No, you don’t. Not on our school campus, or on our school computers. You were perfectly aware of what you were doing because you used a VPN and were using incognito mode.”

Conrad lowered his gaze, and tightened his arms across his stomach. “I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said again.

Leede held up a hand. “You must be wondering what we’re doing here.”

Conrad slanted her a side-eye, but didn’t reply.

Leede went on. “We’re with a company called Security Solutions, and we have been investigating a problem in the Kama`aina Schools’ bookkeeping. I am a forensic accountant and spent my career with Scotland Yard as an investigator.” Spoken in her precise British accent, she sounded quite intriguing. “I wonder if you can help us.”

Ka`ula drew his brows down, opening his mouth to object to Leede’s openness approach, but Raveaux caught his eye and gave a slight negative shake of his head, indicating to let Leede continue.

Leede leaned forward. “Conrad. May I call you Conrad?” The boy nodded. “Conrad, I have been a forensic investigator for many years, and seldom have I encountered such a clever and effective way of siphoning money as what was developed to skim from the Kama`aina Schools’ general account. Whoever designed this system was very skilled. Our entire team has been stumped for weeks trying to figure it out.”

An exaggeration, but Raveaux could appreciate where she was going. He felt that twitch at his mouth again: Heri Leede definitely made him want to smile.

“I nevah know no’ting about dat,” the boy tried to maintain his surly attitude, but Raveaux heard the slight inflection of pride underneath his pidgin English bluster.

“Well, now that I’ve shared what we’re here about, I wonder if we could enlist your help?”

Conrad gave a slight nod, and Leede went on. “What we were able to determine was that this person used the very same unit that you did in the school computer lab. We were looking for an adult, someone who was on the board perhaps, maybe a teacher who got fired, someone who might have had a bone to pick with Kama`aina Schools. That’s why we had the computer monitored for anyone who might be using it. Might you have any ideas on how we could capture this computer mastermind?” Leede slid her cat eye glasses down her nose and batted her pretty blue eyes at the boy. “Do you know anything about hacking?”

Conrad darted a look at Ka`ula behind his desk. “Maybe.”

Raveaux thought quickly. “Dr. Ka`ula, I find myself in need of the men’s room. Would you mind showing me the facilities?”

Ka`ula opened his mouth to object, but once again, Raveaux signaled him, and the headmaster got the message. “All right. We might as well grab a cup of coffee, too. Can we get you anything, Ms. Leede?” He bustled around the side of the desk.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she said.

Raveaux stood as well. “Call me on my cell if the kid gives you any trouble,” he told Leede gruffly. The two men exited the room and shut the door behind them.

Raveaux patted Ka`ula’s shoulder once they were in the hall. “Ms. Leede could get a clam to open and give up its pearl. Don’t you worry, she’ll get the boy talking,”

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