Page 26 of Deadly Sacrifice

“Right on,” Pono said. “Talk when we’re done. ” The ranger nodded and exited.

Katie sat in a chair across from the young guy, and Pono across from the older man. She took out her tablet and held it up. "Do you mind if I record our conversation? It will help us with our investigation and potentially avoid you having to be brought back to the station for interviews."

Both men nodded, and Katie said, “State your names for the record, please.”

"My name is Jeff Brian." The younger man had navy-blue eyes behind metal-framed glasses and light brown hair in a fashionable cut. Dark stubble along his jaw added definition to what her friend Diana would have called a 'baby face,’ but he had brawny, sun-browned arms that hinted at a nice body hidden by the table.

"And I'm Randy Hollister," the older man said. "We’re both photographers. I brought Jeff up to photograph some different aspects of the crater today. We decided to start with the view off of Halemau?u Trail."

"When did you arrive at the lookout?” Pono asked, a pencil out to write in the old-school spiral notebook he carried for notetaking.

Randy did most of the talking, describing the times and series of events leading to the dispatching of his drone and the identification of a body. “It was Jeff who actually spotted the dead man. You should ask him more about that,” Randy concluded.

"I think Randy pretty much covered it. Did you have any questions for us, Investigator McHenry?" Jeff asked.

Katie liked the way ‘Investigator McHenry’ sounded. "Yes, as a matter of fact. What made you decide there was something odd about the seated man when you glimpsed him through your camera?”

"I think it was his stillness more than anything," Jeff said. "The body was faced away from us, and I could only see his legs. But the fact that he didn’t move, coupled with bare legs and feet, told me there was something wrong.” He shook his head slightly. "And this wasn’t the first time I saw something strange when I was out on a photography jaunt. Yesterday I was at La Perouse Bay. I saw something odd there, too. Suspicious.”

Katie jerked as if she had been zapped with a loose wire—had he seen Goodwin’s murder?Pono shot her a quelling glance and leaned toward the young man. "Tell us about that."

“Well, I went out there on the lava before dawn . . . when it was dark. I wanted to photograph the sunrise and some other attractions I had been told about by Randy here. While I was out there, as the sun rose, I saw someone on the lava was acting very strangely. I shot a few pictures of them poking around a rock outcropping.”

Katie’s eyes widened as she met Pono’s gaze—Jeff might have caught Goodwin’s killer at work! "Can we see them? Your photos?” She asked.

"Sorry. I don’t have them here. I downloaded them off my camera and they’re on my computer for editing. But I got shots of a person with long dark hair in a ponytail. Looked big but might have been a woman; the clothing was too baggy for me to tell. He/she was doing something behind a lava rock and then hurried off afterward. They were too far away from me to make out much detail. I would have gone out and checked to see what they were up to, but I wanted to wrap up my hike and go paddle out at the Cove in Kihei with my standup paddleboard. Get cooled off."

Katie grinned. "You SUP? So do I! Isn’t it a great way to enjoy the ocean?"

"Sure is." Was she imagining things, or was there an appreciative glint in Jeff’s eye?

"We are going to need those photographs," Pono said, the seriousness in his tone erasing their smiles. "As soon as possible, in fact. Investigator McHenry, why don’t you accompany Mr. Brian to his residence and get them for us?"

"That could be a problem. Jeff rode up to the crater with me," Randy said. "I’ll have to give him a ride back down to Pukalani Superette where he left his Jeep, unless you guys have some other way for him to get home."

"I can ride with the witnesses down the mountain," Katie volunteered quickly. "If that’s OK with you, Detective Kaihale."

"That would work," Pono said. "I need to get Ranger Mahili’s statement as well, so I can stay and do that if you can get a ride down the mountain with them.”

“That’s assuming you are not the actual killers," Katie said, and everyone chuckled politely.

18

KATIE

Pono slungan arm over Katie’s shoulders like a protective big brother as they faced the two photographers. “We know you two are clean with no record—or I wouldn’t let our best online investigator ride shotgun with you,” Pono said.

"Online investigator?" Jeff’s eyebrows flew up. "That’s my field, in a way. I’m a programmer." He addressed his remark to Katie.

“Oh yeah?” Katie smiled.

"Sounds like you will have lots to talk about. Why don’t you get to it? I want you back at the station analyzing those photos by the time I return," Pono told Katie.

“I’ll do my best.” Katie kept her eyes on her tablet so her excitement wouldn’t show; not only was this Jeff guy good looking, but they had a lot in common. Plus, she might be the first one on the team to look at an actual picture of the killer! She was so excited it was hard not to bounce on the seat after she climbed into the back seat of a large extended cab truck.

The older photographer, Randy, drove carefully down the volcano, focusing on the road, as Katie and Jeff talked computers and then photography.

"When did you get into taking pictures?” Katie asked.

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