Two Weeks Ago
It was almost five o'clock and she was excited to heat the waves in a few minutes. She hastily typed the last few paragraphs in her case report when Steve walked out of his office to get a fresh cup of coffee from the espresso machine followed by Chin and Danny who seemed to be explaining something that Steve apparently didn't agree on. Kono could see the lines on his forehead and the annoyance in his eyes as he gestured his point to them.
"Why is that our case? Homicide is HPD's job. They need assistance, why not the BAU? They are in a better position to assist in a homicide investigation," said Steve.
"You don't understand. They don't have the right agent for this undercover operation that's why the Captain is requesting if you would be so kind to let…"
"She is not properly trained for this. I don't want my agent's life put in jeopardy," said Steve firmly.
"Come on. How different is it to catch a murderer from catching crooks that set bombs or sell drugs? Let this be a part of her training," piped in Danny.
"Why her? There are women in HPD and in FBI," protested Steve.
Danny looked at him incredulously. "It's a beauty contest. Face of Hawaii. Not just anyone can enter that. It has to be believable. Can you send someone forty to do that undercover operation? Or someone let's say not physically endowed for it?"
Damn it. He knew they were right. There was only one agent with the face and the body to be in that beauty contest. He wasn't thrilled to lend her to a murder investigation but he knew that he had to. Someday they too might need a helping hand in an investigation and he wouldn't want the other departments to close their doors.
Steve knew when he was defeated. "Alright fine. Kono goes undercover but tell the Captain, only if our squad is in on the investigation as well. I am not letting my agent place her life in jeopardy without us backing her up."
Kono was about to leave the building with her tote bag in hand, ready to face the waves with her pink surfboard when she heard Steve calling her name. Although she knew he wasn't thrilled to give her the assignment, he didn't give her a chance to decline either.
He proceeded to explain the specs of the case and her coming duties for the next couple of weeks.
"A week ago Sandra Pullin, last year's Ms. Waikiki was found stabbed to death in her bathtub. Her face completely lacerated. It appeared to be a personal crime to the HPD because of the laceration but then yesterday another beauty queen was found, a Ms. Honolulu University who also incidentally is a cosmetics model for an international brand of make up. This time she was killed through a blunt force trauma on the head while in the SPA."
"Do you think both cases are related?" asked Kono.
"Yes, HPD thinks so. They were killed by a different M.O. but both bear lacerations on their faces and through an investigation, it was discovered that both women signed up for the country's most prestigious pageant Face of Hawaii. So we want to investigate on the premise that it is a work of a serial killer," explained Steve.
"Your name has been given to the registration and the pre-pageant will start the day after tomorrow. The candidates are billeted at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. I will secure a room in that hotel so that in case you may need immediate back up or may need to discuss the case we can meet there. Either Chin, Danny or myself will be there in the morning or will be there at night."
"The murderer may or may not be a part of the pageant committee but we must find out if anyone of them has any connection to the two contestants."
"I'll do what I can, boss," reassured Kono.
"We'll see you at the hotel. Pretend you do not know any one of us, alright."
"Once we catch the murderer, I can drop out of the pageant right?" asked Kono.
"Why, don't you want to take a shot of being Face of Hawaii?" joked Danny.
"Very funny Danny. It never crossed my mind to be a beauty queen. I don't think I even stand a chance." said Kono.
"Wanna bet?" said Danny with a grin.
"Nah. She's just fishing for complement," laughed Chin.
"Stop it you guys. You're making fun of me," laughed Kono.
"Stop it! This is no laughing matter. I'm worried for Kono," said Steve.
"Loosen up, Steve. Everything will be fine. We'll catch the murderer with a baited hook."