Chapter 14: Never Trust Anyone Whose Name Rhymes with 'Ick.'
"No," Chin protested. "Mick Harnett just saved Kono. He can't be the arsonist."
"Maybe he's one of those guys who causes danger in order to be a hero," Ioki suggested.
"Maybe." Chin didn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it.
"I know how you feel, Chin," Steve said heavily. "I can't believe it either. I like Mick, but I've been fooled before."
Danny thought of his old Jersey partner Rick Peterson, who'd kidnapped Danny's daughter, and Steve's old Navy buddy Nick Taylor who'd tried to kill him. Danny snorted in wry amusement. In big letters, he wrote, "Never trust anyone whose name rhymes with 'ick.'"
"Let's go pick him up," Steve said heavily.
Danny threw his pen at him again. Chin shook his head and Grace came in carefully carrying Danny's dinner tray, reminding Steve that he had another obligation tonight.
"We've had a long day," Chin said. "Ioki and I will pick him up and put him on ice until tomorrow."
"Stew," Danny agreed.
Steve nodded. "OK, it won't hurt to let him sweat overnight." He brightened his voice deliberately. "Say goodnight to Danno, Grace. You and I have a sleepover to go to."
"Yay! Can we watch a Disney movie?"
Steve promised they'd pick one up at Danny's house when they collected her clothes. She could watch it after she finished her homework. Danny gave a thumbs-up to the plan.
Danny's visitors left, with Grace the only cheerful one. Danny sighed and began to eat his soft food, though he didn't really have much appetite.
-50-
Chin thought Harnett looked genuinely shocked when he and Ioki collected him from his home. Two small boys clung to their pregnant mother who fought back tears for their sake.
Harnett's eyes begged Chin not to handcuff him in front of his boys. Chin remembered Kono's rescue and nodded.
"It's OK, boys. The police just need the benefit of my vast experience. There's a bad man out there and Five-0 needs my help to catch him," Mick told his sons. "You be good and I'll see you tomorrow night."
The boys cheered right up because their dad never lied to them. They went back to their homework, allowing their mother to show her fears. "Mick?"
"Don't worry, sweetheart. I haven't done anything wrong. We have to trust Five-0 to prove that." He kissed her forehead and went quietly to the back of Ioki's patrol car.
-50-
Grace enjoyed her sleepover at Steve's, but it was spoiled for the commander knowing that Mick Harnett was sitting in a jail cell. He didn't let the girl see that, however.
It felt like a long night for a lot of people, but morning came eventually.
-50-
"He's supposed to limit his talking," Nurse Julie said firmly. She would be off shift as soon as she laid down the ground rules for this oversized visitor and got Danny's release papers.
"Yes, ma'am." The small, gray-haired woman reminded Kamekona of his grandmother.
"Don't let him get started on any long story," she said severely.
Kamekona was terrified of his grandmother. "Yes, ma'am."
Though he towered over the nurse, the big man slumped his shoulders in submission and agreed with everything she said.
When she finally released him, Kamekona slinked into Danny's room where the detective was eating scrambled eggs, applesauce and oatmeal for breakfast.
Kamekona wiped genuine sweat from his brow. "That woman is a terror, brah!"
Danny smirked. "I like her," he said quietly. He had been taken off oxygen and had permission to speak, if he was cautious and didn't strain his voice. No long stories and no yelling.
"No ranting," Steve had texted him, after Danny texted the good news to Grace.
"Don't give me a reason," Danny retorted by text.
After messaging Grace, "Danno loves you," Danny texted Kamekona, asking him to pick him up at the hospital.
"You need a ride, brah? Where's McGarrett?"
"Working."
Kamekona looked wounded. "Hey, I got to work, too."
Danny snorted. It was too early for the shrimp truck to be open and all the prep work was done by the Hawaiian's many relatives.
"You'd be insulted if I called someone else, nosy," Danny answered.
Kamekona grinned. He loved gossip. He was an unabashed snoop, which is why he was such a good informant.
"So, tell me all the dirt, brah," he said.
Danny grinned back and clutched his throat, reminding his big friend that he wasn't supposed to talk.
"No fair! You got me here under false pretenses," Kamekona protested.
Danny grinned wider. "Got an assignment for you," he offered.
He handed Kamekona his clipboard. He'd written down all the information he had on the chemicals used to start the school fires.
"Chin's been trying to track down the source of the chemicals," Danny said. "It's not a legal source, that's for sure, and no robberies have been reported, so I wondered if you might know an other-than-legal source."
"For potassium and phosphorus? Not the usual kind of 'chemicals' I hear about," Kamekona answered. "But for the kamali'i — the children — I'll ask around."
"Thanks," Danny said, as Nurse Julie came in with his paperwork.
-50-
After he dropped Grace off at school, Steve met his sadly depleted Five-0 task force (Chin) at Aloha Hardware in Waikiki.
Kenny Harrison was the college student cashier who had waited on the man who bought the fire truck and the nails. Steve hoped to get confirmation of Harnett's guilt (actually, he hoped otherwise) but Kenny couldn't help much.
"He was about as tall as you," the student told Steve.
"And …" Steve coaxed.
The kid just looked confused.
"Was he black, white, Asian…" Chin prompted.
"Oh! White, he was definitely white." Kenny was happy to help. He honestly wanted to help, but he hadn't studied his customer. That would have been creepy.
"Good, what about his hair color?" Chin asked.
The kid shrugged. "Dude, he was wearing a yellow rain poncho and a floppy hat and big old sunglasses." He illustrated the size of the glasses, putting his hands over his eyes so they covered half his face.
"And you didn't find that odd?" Steve said in exasperation.
Kenny looked at him as if he was simple. "Nooooo," he said, drawing out the word. "Because it was raining pretty hard, but the sun was still real bright. He looked like he fit in, really."
"Is there anything else you can remember, anything at all," Chin asked, repressing a sigh.
Kenny thought, really trying to remember the meaningless transaction a week ago.
"I thought he was a tourist, until I saw the driver's license," he said.
"Because of the poncho?"
"Yeah and …" The kid's face brightened. "And because of the accent. He had a little bit of an accent. Western. Texas, I think!" The boy was triumphant.
Steve was depressed. Harnett had a Texas accent.
Chin held out his tablet with pictures for Kenny examine. In exchange for a couple of harmless quotes about his injured friends, Chin had acquired unaired news film of the Station 68 firefighters at Beretania Elementary. He showed it to Kenny. The turnout coats and helmets were just as concealing as a poncho and rain hat.
"Can you tell if one of these men is your customer?"
Kenny obediently watched the footage three times before he threw up his hands. "Dude, they all look alike!"
-50-
Chin had to admit that to the untrained eye, it was true. Gratz had sandy blond hair in a buzz cut, Harnett and Captain James had brown hair, a little longer but neatly cut. Bacadi's hair was black. But none of that could be seen under a floppy hat. All had brown or hazel eyes, nothing striking.
The four Caucasian firemen on B Shift were within three inches of height and within ten pounds of weight. Their builds were different, but rain ponchos were deceptive. Gratz, the shortest and heaviest, was built like a bull with powerful shoulders and a thick neck. He had a hunched, aggressive stride, much like a boxer going into the ring. He had a tattoo "Hot Stuff" across his knuckles, but Kenny couldn't say yes or no about that.
Harnett, an Army brat, had spent many of his formative years in Texas during his father's two tours at Fort Hood. A trace of that accent tended to come out when he was stressed. He walked with long strides as if roaming the range, but a poncho swishing around your legs tended to change your stride anyway.
Soft-spoken Bacadi walked as light and graceful as a cat. His skin tone was more olive than the others, indicating his Mediterranean heritage, but all the firemen were well tanned — hardly unusual in Hawaii!
Captain James was a no-nonsense man with a brisk stride and a crisp manner of speech. He had a burn scar on the side of his neck, but the hat could have concealed it.
Chin sighed. No one trained in observation could mistake any of the men for each other, even at a distance. But Kenny was a math major, not a cop. He didn't have a clue, so neither did Five-0.