Page 29 of Deadly Sacrifice

“Better, yes. Digital images have metadata attached to them. Typically that includes the date and time the picture was taken, the type of camera and lens used, and the camera settings for the image. In high-end cameras, the photographer can set the camera to add their name, copyright information, even GPS coordinates.” Katie swung the monitor a bit more toward Lei. “See this? I’m trying to clarify the image. We might be looking right at the killer.”

Lei leaned forward to inspect the photo Katie was working on. “Could be a man or a woman because the clothes are baggy. There’s a long ponytail, though. Dark hair. What more can you do with the image?”

“I’ve got a software program that does digital interpretation and enhancement, so I can try to sharpen and clarify the pictures. Maybe we can generate a good face shot from one of these. Then we can run that through a law enforcement facial recognition program.”

“And the software?”

“Oh, good! I thought you were never going to ask. You’re going to love this,” Katie said. “I now have a free license for some software, including Photoshop and this one, which is called Lightroom. It’s for processing pictures. The name is a play on ‘darkroom.’ And I did say it was free, didn’t I?”

Lei laughed. “You’re catching on. No pirating, hacking, or illegal scraping on my watch. I’ll look forward to what you come up with from the witness’s photos.”

“Speaking of.” Katie folded her hands into a prayer position and batted her eyes. “Jeff Brian, the witness, is a cutie like I said, and he asked if we could get together outside of work. Can I? Pretty please? I’ve been looking for someone, and we’ve got a lot in common.”

Lei gazed at her intern. “I’m not going to answer that. I want you to. Think about it, Katie. Imagine what could go wrong with dating a witness on an active murder investigation.”

“Dang it.” Katie dropped the prayer hands and curled into a picture of dejection. “Just my luck.”

“Maybe when the investigation’s over and your witness is a hundred percent cleared of any involvement.” Lei felt bad for Katie. “Meanwhile, how about that brick we were talking about in the team meeting. I need to know what you know because we found another one with the Haleakala body.” Lei filled Katie in briefly on the discovery. “The MO seems consistent with the Goodwin murder. I want to know what the killer is saying with that brick.”

“Yes. I pulled together some searches right after the meeting.” Katie leaned forward, intent, pulling up the information. “There are several construction projects going up right now with artificial, locally made faux bricks on their supply list.”

“Now that you have the second victim’s name, Jonas Kleftes, can you do a cross-reference for any real estate or construction projects he and Goodwin might have been working on together? I also need a full background on Kleftes. Give me his next of kin, first. Pono and I have to do a death notification.”

“I’m on it.” Katie said, typing rapidly.

Fatigue hit Lei suddenly, and she yawned. “Wow, it’s been a day, and it’s not over yet.” She stood up and walked to the counter, washing her mug at the sink, and rehanging it.

When she turned back, Katie seemed to have disappeared into the blue glow of her screen. Her slim body sat upright, her fingers moved, her eyes flicked back and forth—but otherwise she seemed gone to another world.

Once again Lei was reminded of her friend Sophie Smithson, a virtuoso on computer. Sophie would find a lot to like in Katie.

Katie popped her headphones off abruptly. “Oh good, you’re still here. I found a few connections between our victims.”

“That was fast.” Lei came back to sit down. “Let me get one of these other computers up and input this into the case file.”

“Already done. Got that open there.” Katie pointed to one of her three monitors. “Kleftes did real estate venture capital, she did real estate law. They’ve literally worked on hundreds of projects together. They’re both in Rotary, they both support the arts, and they’re both in the same hiking club on the island.” Katie paused and smacked her forehead with her palm. “Or, I mean, were. And did. You know.”

“Were any of those real estate projects controversial? Angry clients, anything like that?” Lei drummed her fingers on the keyboard in front of her for something to do.

“For sure. Most of them. Development gets people riled up. Everyone is either for it or against it, so any project can turn into a political nightmare. You know, the land rapers versus the tree huggers, the little guy getting squeezed out.”

“Do they share any current projects, or anything that’s in litigation?”

“I’ll have a list for you in the morning. Meanwhile . . .” Katie pushed a button, and Lei’s phone dinged with an incoming message. “That’s the contact info for Jonas Kleftes’s next of kin, and his home address.”

“I’d invite you to come, but I think you can do more to help us find the killer from here,” Lei said, standing up. “One more question: what does that saying on your mug mean?”

“GOAT stands for ‘Greatest Of All Time.’ IYKYK means ‘If You Know You Know.’”

Lei chuckled. “Learn something new every day. Katie’s Cave might just be the brain center of this operation.”

“Yes!” Katie shot her arms up, two fingers out on each hand in a victory sign. “The faster we wrap this up, the faster I can go out with that cute photog programmer.”

20

LEI

“I needyou to drive when we go do the death notification,” Lei told Pono when she reached their shared cubicle. “I’m trashed after the trip to the crater and manhandling that gurney with the body on it over the lava. Not to mention Katie making my head spin down in the Cave. I need a little break and some coffee to kick in before we do the home visit for Jonas Kleftes.”

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