Chapter 4: The Lay Of The Land
Kono and Chin arrived on the Big Island with Lou, Max, Charlie and Toast, and were greeted at their gate by their counterparts with the HPD. They were shuffled through the airport and off to the office that they would be working out of until the ship left port on the Big Island and moved on through the island belt. Eventually they would end up on their own island but if they could keep this case to the ship and the Big Island, that would be ideal for their situation.
Danny's idea of the perpetrator fleeing the ship was a possibility but a greater possibility was that the perp would stay on course until the cruise was over, or if they were on contract, until the contract was finished. Kono and Chin would monitor the port of call on the day in port, meeting the ship in the morning and remaining with it, under cover, until it left once more. There was much to do before it arrived as Toast was working to wire their people and the first port before he was planted on the ship to follow the investigation from there.
"My first undercover," he commented nervously as he tested micro cameras and sensors. "Well aside for that one time in the sweat shop..."
"You'll have Charlie to help you, and Steve and Danny are already working things out. You'll be all right," Kono said optimistically, "and really, it's not much of an undercover. The passengers will likely be no wiser, but the crew will know you're not who you say you are and by extension, so will the killer, if our assumptions are correct."
"Not making it better Kono!" Toast cried out nervously.
"You're going on to assist Steve and Danny. The only true undercover will be Lou," Chin jumped in. "I'm more concerned about Lou being a believable addition to the crew, and server in the dining room."
"Are you saying I don't know how to be a server?" Lou took offence to the comment. "That's how I put myself through college, and hell, I was damn good at it!"
"I'm saying these crews go through rigorous training because these ships are world renowned for their service. You had better be a quick study while still working undercover for us," Chin added.
"I've got this. You worry about the perp if he run," Lou huffed.
"I don't have to worry, I have Kono," Chin retorted proudly.
Danny walked around the ship until darkness fell. He moved everywhere he could get access to as a civilian. He learned the decks and the dining halls, he found bars and ballrooms, and saw many people at work in the open and in the shadows, to keep everything moving smoothly. He moved through the luxury shops and the library. He found the gym and was surprised to not see Steve already there and working out. Walking from the bow to the stern and seeing nothing but water around him, Danny was reminded of how he first felt when he moved to Hawaii. He felt isolated, believed he'd be without challenge to fulfil his work ethic. He felt so far out of his comfort zone that the abyss actually called to him, but he had reasons to live and now he remembered those reasons.
Overall Danny wanted to know his surroundings and he wanted to know them on his own terms. He hated to be told how things were and wanted to make up his own mind. The same had been said for the islands when he moved in, and yes, he hated them because he hated the reasons for uprooting his life, but he needed to figure things out for himself and as much as he protested and hadn't wanted to take on this case he knew it was his job as Steve's partner to be there. And, just like the island had proved to be not so bad, so too was this floating monstrosity.
Danny picked up a beer on one of the upper decks before walking the length of the ship once more. He returned to the cabin after having discarded the beer bottle and found Steve on the balcony with the passenger manifests and a whole bucket filled with more beer.
"That's not very professional," Danny scolded and took the other deck chair and fell into it.
"I'm just getting into character," Steve said with a shrug. "Have you gotten your bearings yet?"
Danny nodded as he looked out to sea, "I know my way around if that is what you are asking," he answered and accepted the bottle that Steve offered to him.
"Find anything interesting?" Steve asked.
"Not really, did you?" Danny answered with another question.
"Oh come on, Daniel, you went exploring, tell me what you liked about the ship," Steve pressed his friend for details.
"They have a mini-putt," Danny said with a shrug, "and a gym, and a casino. I counted like six pools, a dozen bars or clubs and a family style restaurant that we will be visiting before this case is over, because it smelled amazing when I walked by."
"I'm game for about anything at this point, to get into character of course," Steve said.
"Oh yes, of course," Danny laughed and then grew serious again. "The passengers go on in the oblivion of their vacation, buying the excuse the crew has given to them. There are a lot of children, a lot of beautiful young people, and somewhere amongst them is a killer but no one stuck out."
"Going through the manifests, nothing jumped out at me either but I'm sure Toast will see them all very differently. They don't need to keep in depth records on these ships - where a person is from, how long they've been sailing, or if they have done this before. That doesn't help us, nor does it give us any motive," Steve explained.
"There is nothing about them in there. We just need to be patient and get our people on it. I'm sure Toast, Charlie, Max and Lou will put us on the right path," Danny said. "I have a feeling this was a very personal case. It's just a hunch, of course, and I don't have the evidence to back it up, but that's what our friends are coming onboard to find for us," he explained. "Until then, what more is there to do but to get into character?"
"Heaven forbid we might enjoy ourselves," Steve laughed. "And your hunches are usually right, so we have to explore them. We'll have Toast go in depth with the Westbrooks as soon as we see him."
"Nothing better to do at this point," Danny sighed again.
"You hungry?" Steve asked as he stretched.
"I could eat, or I could handle a little time in the bar or casino, or even the club," Danny answered.
"You wanna pick up now?" Steve asked teasingly.
"No, but this is my last hoorah, remembers. Shouldn't we tie one on to stay in character?" Danny asked. "Who knows maybe we'll find you a single hottie."
"It will get us out of his room and I haven't had a chance to explore yet. Let's do it. Let's tie one on tonight," Steve said and accepted the challenge.
"All right, but you had better change into something more vacation-y. You look too serious in that," Danny mocked his partner's usual khakis and t-shirt combo.
"Oh, I'll look the part. Don't you worry about a thing," Steve said and rushed back into the room.
"Come on Jersey, you'd better keep up," Danny said to himself and followed his partner back into the state room to change and get into character.