Page 8 of Wired Target

The monitor for the upcoming meeting chimed with a call just as dapper Kendall Bix, President of Operations, pushed open the door and stepped inside.

“Perfect timing.”Bix held an electronic tablet under his arm as well as a manila folder; the company tried to be entirely paperless, but a paper trail always seemed to proliferate.At times, Sophie preferred the relative security of paper; old-school case files couldn’t be hacked.The client in the Moli Massacre case had asked for paper records only, and Sophie was interested to know why.

Her assistant Paula followed Bix in, pushing a cart loaded with refreshment supplies for the credenza.Meanwhile, Jones answered the incoming call from Headmaster Ka’ula.

Soon the three Security Solutions people were seated at the round table while Paula quietly worked in the background.

“We are able to liaise with the Honolulu Police Department, specifically Detective Marcus Kamuela, assigned to the Moli Massacre.”Sophie opened the meeting after greeting the headmaster, a self-important Hawaiian man she’d met on a previous case.“In return, we’re expected to share any and all evidence we gather on this crime with HPD.I’m hoping to hear in detail what inspired you to engage our services, Dr.Ka’ula.”

The middle-aged headmaster wore a perpetual frown and his dark brown eyes seemed to hide under a wedge of black brows.“What do you mean, share any and all evidence with HPD?”

Bix tapped the table with a pen.“Come now, Dr.Ka’ula.You asked us, in our original meeting, to see what we could find out from the police.Surely you didn’t think that was a one-way information street?Otherwise, we would just engage in our own investigation and get as far as we could with it confidentially—an entirely different process.”

Ka’ula’s full lips pursed.“I wanted to know what they know.”

“Of course,” Sophie said, stifling growing irritation.“But that’s not how cooperation works.On the outing we took with Detective Kamuela to the crime scene, I discovered possible evidence and I turned it over to the police per protocol.”

“You did what?”Ka’ula unbuttoned the top button of a dressy aloha shirt; his neck was mottled with angry color.“This is a disaster.”

“I’m sure you aren’t suggesting that we suppress evidence pertinent to the case,” Sophie said icily.“Especially something as important as a possible weapon used in the killings.”

Ka’ula groaned aloud.“Tell me what the hell you found.”

Sophie missed Pierre Raveaux acutely in that moment; Raveaux had been good at calming reactivity in clients.Raveaux was off the case, though, preparing to go to Bali to hunt for her mother, and Jones had been assigned to replace him.Jones had been silent thus far, but he was taking notes on a tiny laptop, tanned fingers flying.

Sophie described the tire iron and rusty machete that she and Raveaux had uncovered.“Bix has included photos in your confidential file.Would you like me to share them remotely?”

“No.I don’t want anything about the case to get out, anywhere.”

“I think it’s time you told us why you engaged this agency in the first place,” Bix inserted smoothly.“And clarify if you want us to continue to work with the police or conduct a private investigation on our own.”

Sophie glanced at Bix sharply.She’d called upon her personal relationship with Marcus Kamuela in order to get access to the case and its records.Withdrawing cooperation now would burn Marcus, and she likely wouldn’t be able to ask favors of him in the future.

But Ka’ula hung his head.“This can’t ever come back to me, or I’d be crucified by the parents and the board.”He scrubbed a hand over his face.“But I couldn’t sit on what I’d heard without doing something.All I ask is that you help mitigate the damage if the killers turn out to be our students.”

“Of course, Dr.Ka’ula.You’re our client.Your interests and confidentiality are our priority,” Bix soothed.

Jones bent over, making a gagging sound of contempt out of view of the camera.“Excuse me.I need some water.”The lanky ex-detective got up and went to the freshly restocked tea station on the credenza, reaching for the carafe.

Sophie liked Jones more in that moment than she had thus far.

“Ahem,” the headmaster harrumphed.“Three months ago, when the attack on the albatrosses happened, we heard rumors at the school.Different teachers overheard snippets of conversation and so on.They came to me.That’s why I reached out to you, worried about the—the crime.Then—since Ms.Smithson wasn’t available and I had confidence in her expertise—I rescinded the request for help.”

“Did you decide it wasn’t worth pursuing?”Bix asked gently.“That you didn’t have enough for an investigation?”

“No.Frankly, I was hoping the whole thing would blow over.But it didn’t.Instead, outrage built with the public.”Ka’ula shook his head mournfully.“I wanted Ms.Smithson because I trust her skill after another sensitive case we had with you folks.”He squinted into the camera as if searching for something.“Where’s Mr.Raveaux?He’s good.We worked well together.”

“Monsieur Raveaux is on another assignment,” Bix replied.“You met Lono Jones earlier.He will be taking Raveaux’s place as Sophie’s partner in the field.”

Jones set a mug of Thai tea, trailing a string with a tag, in front of Sophie.She gave him a quick smile of thanks.Jones resumed his seat and lifted his cup, marked with the Security Solutions logo, in a toast.“Pierre leaves some big shoes to fill, but I’ll do my best.”

“Dr.Ka’ula.Why don’t you tell us the rumors the teachers shared, specifically?”Sophie wrapped her fingers around the hot beverage to warm them.“And any social media leads you might have.I’m guessing that’s how the students were communicating.”

“Yes, indeed.”Ka’ula smoothed his shirtfront as if petting a nervous animal.“The rumors were that two of the students did the killing as—as a kind of hazing ritual.There’s a secret club they were being inducted into.That app with the disappearing photos was involved.”

Sophie named several apps with that feature, and Ka’ula nodded at the one that was most used by teenagers, a site where photos dissolved after being viewed.“Apparently pictures of the killings, and eggs that were taken and not destroyed, were posted to prove the task was completed.As time went by and the publicity became virulent against whoever had killed the birds, gossip went quiet on the subject.However, one of our security staff poses as a student on social media to monitor for cyberbullying and got a screenshot that might be evidence.I’ll send it to Ms.Smithson’s phone.”

“Can I get the identity and login information for the security agent’s student account?”Sophie asked.“Have your staffer give it over to me for the duration of the investigation, and I’ll use that to find out whatever I can.”

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