Chapter 1

I

Jazz music emanated from the record player, filling the room with its upbeat ambiance as the girl in the green dressing gown went about her nightly beauty regimen. She had just washed off the last bit of the face mask that had been hardening on her face for the past fifteen minutes, and then sat down to brush out the ebony tufts of hair that covered her head and fell about her oval face. The music shifted from the cheerful beat of a saxophone to the subdued tinkling of piano keys as she combed out the last knot and applied a dime-sized amount of styling cream to her silky mane. She rose from the vanity, applying some moisturizer to her face with her fingertips, then went into the living room.

The sun had set over Honolulu, and all she could see now were the lights from the apartments in neighboring buildings and the red, blue, yellow, and pink lights down below from the downtown area, signaling that the city's nightlife was about to come alive. She drew the blinds and went to the couch. The doorbell rang before she could sit down.

She was annoyed, not expecting visitors at this hour. Her slippers made little noise as she traipsed on the thick carpet to the front door. She was not the least startled by the face that greeted her, but she was not pleased to see it.

"Oh, you," said. "All right … come in. Don't make a scene." She closed the door and led her visitor into the living room. "I'd offer you a drink, but I know you're not staying long.…" She strutted further away, then turned around. Her smug tone gave way to fear in seconds. She stared wide-eyed at the other person, her bottom jaw dropping open in horror.

"No, no! Put that away!" she creamed, thrusting her hand forward with her palm facing the visitor. "What are you doing? … Stop!" She turned and ran into the bedroom.

There wasn't even time to slam the door and lock it. A second set of feet chased her inside, and the next sound to be heard was the girl's scream – a blood-curdling shrill – and then silence. A few minutes later, the water turned on in the bathroom, ran for a few minutes, then was turned off. The visitor shuffled out of the bedroom to the front door, stealthily opening it, slowly stopping in the doorway to see if anyone else was about, then walked out and closed door shut behind them.

In the bedroom, the girl lay on the bed, dead. The green dressing gown was now brown, soaked in her blood which gushed from several stab wounds. As the last few minutes of her life ebbed away, her blood continued to run down the white comforter in rivulets. In the living room, the jazz record continued to play.

II

Police officers walked about the apartment, gathering what evidence, questioning the neighbors, the landlord; and making sure none of the neighbors or reporters got into the apartment and compromised the crime scene. The flash from the crime scene photographer's camera illuminated each inch of the apartment as it was being captured on film. He quickly ran out of the way as Officer Danny Williams and his boss, Steve McGarrett, chief of Hawaii Five-O, entered the living room.

"The deceased's name is Barbara Heiland, age twenty-seven. She worked as a secretary for the Pogue Manufacturing Company in Pearl City. She was also a part-time model for the May Company store on Bishop Street," Danny, or Danno, as Steve and the other detectives affectionately called him, read aloud from a small notebook. "Single, lived alone, family on the Big Island."

"You got all that so fast?" Steve asked Danno, astounded.

"The landlord was a lot of help." Danno pointed to a gray-haired man of medium height who was in the middle of describing his late night activities to a uniform officer who was trying hard to hide his boredom.

"Then the late night movie came on, and I made myself some cocoa, which I do every night, then I went back and sat in front of the TV. I drank the cocoa and fell asleep and didn't wake up until the movie was nearly over. My wife had already gone to bed. We didn't hear or see anything, not till this morning. One of the girls in the other apartment – Sheila – works with Barbara and they carpool together. She went to her place to get her and she opened the front door … it wasn't locked. She went in and … you know the rest."

Sheila, Danno told his boss, was Sheila Vansaun, Barbara Heiland's friend and co-worker who lived in the same building, but on a different floor. She was in a neighbor's apartment, being questioned by HPD. Steve and his partner went into the bedroom. Barbara lay stretched out the on the bed. Her left side facing the door and her head tilted towards the right. Her eyes were closed, as though she was still in a deep sleep. Her arms were outstretched, and her legs dangled off the edge of the bed from the knees down. Her raven hair was strewn about both sides of her head, and there was blood over her face, neck, arms, chest, and stomach, and all around her on the bedsheets, some of which having trickled to off the comforter and onto the ground. She was wearing what appeared to be a filmy nightgown, the original color of which was obliterated by the blood. Her left hand was clenched, and Che Fong, the forensic scientist, tried carefully to pry her fingers loose and find out what those fingers held.

He was successful. It was a button – an ordinary, round pink button with a bit of matching pink thread still clinging to one of its holes. Che motioned for the photographer to come around and take a picture of the button in her palm. After the flash went off, Che retrieved the button and put it into an evidence bag.

"It may lead to something," Che said to Steve, holding the bag for the top cop to see. Steve eyed it curiously.

"Let me know the minute you find out," Steve said. "It may narrow the suspect pool considerably." The pink button was not the standard flat, nearly transparent baby pink used in men's dress shirts, but an opaque dark pink with a concave center and the edges rounded out, like a thick crust on a pizza. Steve's hobby of painting and collecting paintings enabled him to discern and describe colors that specifically. Such a style and color would not be used in men's clothing.

Sheila Vansaun sat in the living room of Mr. and Mrs. Kimura, next door neighbors of Barbara Heiland. After she found the body, she ran to their apartment. They were the ones who called HPD. Duke dotted his last i and crossed his last t, then nodded to Steve and Danno as they entered. She sat on the edge of the couch, wrapping her arms around her stomach, leaning forward as though she was trying to keep warm. She wore a powder blue sheath that ended a few inches above her knees and was sleeveless. Her arms showed that she spent much time in the sun.

"Miss Vansaun, Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams of Five-O." Duke introduced her to the two detectives. "This is Sheila Vansaun, Barbara's friend and co-worker."

"Thanks, Duke," Steve said as Duke made his exit. Sheila slowly turned her head to look at the detectives, but they were met with vacant eyes. Sheila was the opposite of Barbara Heiland in certain aspects. She was in her mid twenties, a blonde the shade of cornsilk, her hair piled high on her head and held together by an abundance of hair spray and bobby pins. Her eyelids were covered in a grayish blue cream eye shadow and her lashlines were outlined with thick black eyeliner. False lashes covered in layers of mascara cloaked her eyelashes. Her face was covered in translucent liquid makeup and powder, with a dusting of an earthy-colored blush at her temples and upper cheekbones. A pale pink lipstick coated her lips. It was a well put-together look, symbolic of the current trend in makeup but, to Steve, it was overkill.

Her jewelry were stainless steel, teardrop-shaped earrings with a lone blue stone in the center, necklace made of matching stones that wrapped around her throat, a matching bracelet on her right wrist, and the diamond engagement ring set in a silver band. It was to Danno's dismay but to Steve's delight. He had a bad feeling about Sheila, and it was just as well that she was another man's problem and would not become his second-in-command's.

"Miss Vansaun," Steve began, "I know you gave your statement to Sgt. Lukela, but can you please explain to us what happened when you found Barbara?"

Sheila looked afraid, and he didn't blame her. It's unnerving to find a dead body, especially that of your friend, but the fear Sheila showed was different, Steve sensed. She was on edge, afraid of someone – someone whose name they did not know and could not see. The girl's face had the outwardly appearance of a poker player's – emotionless and straight – but there was fear in her eyes and in her voice. Steve knew it would take them longer to crack her surface.

"We take the bus together. We usually leave here at eight-thirty. I came to get her … I … I knocked on her door …" Sheila slowly turned her head and looked at the carpet. "It wasn't locked. I thought it was strange."

"Did you knock or call out to her?" asked Steve.

Sheila nodded. "I did. I knocked and called out to her – after I rang the bell. There was still no answer. I rattled the knob and saw it was open. I opened the door, but I didn't go in. …"

"Did you see anything?" asked Danno.

Sheila still didn't look at the men, but this time at the wall. "No, there was no one around … It was so quiet … I called out to Barbara again, and she didn't answer … I walked into the living room. I didn't think anything had happened. I know I shouldn't have. It wasn't like her to not be there. We had to go to work. I went into the kitchen first. She wasn't there. I noticed the bedroom door was open, and I went in …" The fear came back into her eyes, intensified. "The blood was everywhere. I didn't think it was her. It couldn't be her!"

"What did you do next?" Steve asked.

"I ran out of there. I came here and told them to call the police." She clutched at the hem of her skirt.

"How long have you lived here?" Steve asked.

"Two years, since I started working with Barbara," she answered.

"Did she ever mention if someone was bothering her – an ex-boyfriend or a co-worker, maybe?" Steve asked.

Sheila shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Barbara wasn't dating anyone that I know of and she got along with everyone she worked with."

"Was Barbara expecting anyone that night?" Danno asked.

"She didn't say," Sheila answered. "I was out that evening, with my fiancé."

"What's his name?" Steve asked.

"Richard Schulman," she replied. Duke would have gotten the same information, including his contact information, but they asked her for it again, just to be sure.

"1126 Grant Avenue, Apartment 2B," she answered. Her composure was returning, and Steve continued with the questioning.

"Where did you and Richard go last night?" Steve asked.

"We were at the Skylight Room, inside the Outrigger," she answered. The Skylight Room was a nightclub inside the Pacific Outrigger Hotel on Kalakaua Avenue. It wouldn't be too hard to check if they were there.

Another uniform came into the room and whispered to Steve. "Be right back," he told his assistant. Steve left Danno to continue questioning Sheila while the uniform led him back into Barbara's apartment.

"We found something," Chin Ho Kelly, one of Steve's most trusted aids, told him. Chin held up a ring. It was inside a plastic evidence bag. "It's got the initials MAB on the inside and there's more."

Det. Ken Nishimura of the HPD came forward, holding an open photo album. "There's a picture of the victim, with Judge Brandin."

Steve examined the photo, which looked like it was taken at a cocktail party. There was Barbara Heiland with her arm around Judge Robert Brandin, whose wife, Steve remembered, was named Margaret Annaliese. Though had never seen the gold band before, seeing Barbara next to Judge Brandin in that picture and knowing whose initials those might be made him make the connection."Margaret Annaliese Brandin," he said aloud.