Page 45 of Deadly Sacrifice

“Not a big surprise.” Lei said. “Won’t his driver’s license be in that offering?” she asked TG, who had been carefully photographing the scene.

“If it’s like the others, yes. I’ll do the honors.” TG gently lifted the ti leaf bundle and carried it to where he’d spread out a white plastic cloth. TG unwrapped the bundle, his gloved hands careful and precise. Inside was a blood-smeared wallet. He flipped it open, revealing a driver’s license. He held it up.

David Steinbrenner.

Lei exhaled. “So it is him.”

TG held up a piece of the brick that looked the same as the others. “Consistent with the other scenes.”

Pono cursed under his breath, his large frame tense. “This makes him the third Kuleana executive to die. Whoever’s doing this is sending a very clear message. Wish we knew exactly what it was.”

“If we did, we might know the killer’s identity.” Lei stared at the body, the distant sound of the ocean crashing against the cliffs suddenly louder in her ears. Steinbrenner’s death had been meticulously planned, and the killer had chosen this sacred, ancient place for a reason. “Who found the body?” Lei asked the Hana police sergeant.

“That guy chatting with the firefighters,” Sammy said, pointing. Lei frowned—the witness was familiar. She knew this older man with a beard from a photo in the case file.

“That’s Randy Hollister, the photographer,” Pono said, a tone of surprise in his voice. “Katie and I interviewed him on Haleakala.”

“You take the lead with him, then,” Lei said, picking her way across the steep terrain.

The two of them approached the witness until Katie bounced past them toward the older man with an exuberant air—she seemed about to hug the photographer like a long-lost friend. “Randy! What are you doing here? Where’s Jeff?”

“Investigator McHenry!” Lei rapped out. “We’re about to interview this witness. Please remember that your role today is to observe.”

Katie fell back with a sheepish, “Sorry.” Pono then greeted the confused looking photographer and introduced Lei. “Tell us about what you found, Mr. Hollister.”

“Like I told the other guys, I got out here around ten in the morning, right after the Garden opened,” Hollister said. “I’m a regular at photogenic locations in Hana and am currently shooting images for a Maui calendar. Thisheiauis on my list of destinations. I posted it on my website ahead of time; I can share that with you, so you know I didn’t have anything to do with the murder.”

“Yes, please,” Pono said. “We will need your alibi.”

Hollister was sweating; his skin was pale and greasy. He had to know that being the first to call in two murders wasn’t a good look. The photographer applied himself to scrolling on his phone. Sunlight caught on the silver hairs of his beard. A moment later, he held up his device.

Lei and Pono moved in closer to look; each month on a website was filled with locations, and sure enough, thePi‘ilanihale Heiauwas listed for this week. “Send a link to my email,” Lei told him, and rattled off the address. A moment later, he’d completed that task.

“Anyway. I was taking pictures from down there,” Hollister said, pointing toward the ocean, “and saw this grayish, white patch on the rocks at the top of theheiauthat didn’t look right. I pulled out my telephoto lens and zoomed in, thought ‘oh, shit.’ I climbed up there, close enough to confirm it was another body. I never went up to the crime scene. Soon as I was sure, I went back to the office and told them. They made the calls.”

The Tropical Gardens director was standing nearby and confirmed the times the calls were made.

“Was anyone else in and out of here this morning?” Lei asked him.

“One couple in a jeep, one family in a convertible. No trucks or vans. And we don’t have a security camera,” the director said. “Everyone paid in cash, except the witness who used his card.”

“Any good-sized guys, alone?”

“Nope.”

“Do you inspect the grounds before you open in the morning?”

“We drive around, but we don’t hike all the trails. No one went down to theheiauthis morning, or last night before we closed. I have no idea how long the body’s been there.”

Lei thanked and dismissed him. Then she asked Randy Hollister to stop by the station later to give an official statement. “Where were you yesterday? We’re going to need to verify your movements from the time the victim went missing.”

“We’re also going to need a DNA sample and fingerprints from you,” Pono told Hollister. “To rule you out, especially since you were involved with the discovery of the other body.”

“No problem,” Hollister said. “Happy to help.”

Pono opened his crime kit and did the collection on the spot as Hollister recounted his movements and Lei took notes on them. She then turned to Katie and Pono. “Anything else you want to ask Mr. Hollister?”

“Nope,” Pono said. “We’ll talk further at the station when he comes in to go on record.”

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