While driving back to HQ Chin's eyes focus on the road like a sniper watches his target. Kanji gazes at the back of the seat that his daughter rests in while Kono, feeling a mouse knowing the cat is just around the corner, rests her head against the window. When they finally reach HQ, the trio silently shuffles inside the building. Kono ignores her father's wishful looks by refusing to even meet his eyes until they reach the interrogation room and Chin sits him down in the cold, metal chair in the middle of the room. When she does, the ice in her eyes almost melts the old man.
"What do you know about Logan Hert?" Kono begins.
Kanji stares into his daughter's eyes and then snaps, "Nothing! I know nothing! I have given you more than enough patience, young lady! What kind of a daughter locks up their father in cuffs and interrogates him like a criminal?"
"What kind of a father throws away his child and replaces her with some half-haole substitute? Everything I do to you, you have brought upon yourself," she seethes, "Now answer our questions or else be prepared assault charges!"
Chin puts his hand on his cousin's shoulder and begins calmly, "You say do don't know Logan Hert, then tell me why you were at his company's warehouse?"
Kanji sighs, "She is my wife. Once the boys told me about Irene, I booked a flight and began running my own private investigation. I already knew about her meeting her little pen-pal, and after a little looking into who he really is, I concluded that he had nothing to do with it. One of the boys had mentioned to me that you guys were looking into our past," he nods towards Kono as he says this, "so I thought back to the Crane trials, and when I found out Hert was on the island, I went to the place that would most likely be a hide out."
"There were tons of cases," Kono questions, "How did you remember Hert?"
Kanji laughs, "He was eccentric! Desperate to keep his daughter at home with him. I remember him sending every one of us constant letters and calling nonstop to try to get us to rally around an unwinnable cause." Kono spins on her heels and walks out of the room. Chin follows after her with concern written on his face.
"Cuz, what's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing," she curtly replies, "This is a waste of time. All I've gotten from his ramblings is that he was able to do our job with a laptop just as fast as us with the best tech money could buy, and that he didn't even try to fight for me. Let's go do something that will actually give us some results." She starts to walk away, but Chin remains, looking pensive. Kono notices this and stomps back over to him. "What are you doing?" she asks.
He sighs, "You know, you're not going to like what I am about to say, but hear me out. I think we need to have Kanji consult."
She screams, "What? No! Cuz!"
"Kono, wait!" Chin reasons, "He was able to identify him with nothing but an old laptop. He knows a lot more about Irene than we do, and that makes him useful. If we let him help, the sooner we can put them on a plane back to the mainland." She opens her mouth to retort, but nothing comes out. She shifts uncomfortably from side to side. Chin rests his and on his shoulder and says sympathetically, "I'm not going to make you work with him if you don't want to. I'm just saying that it might go by faster if we do." Kono looks into her cousin's eyes, silently pleading with him, but his calm gaze remains constant and unwavering.
Having lost the silent battle, Kono drops her head and relents, murmuring, "Fine, I'll work with him. But I'm not riding with him or talking to him, unless I have to."
"Fine," Chin agrees, "You go up and tell Danny, Steve, and Grover. I'll go brief the asset." Without another comment, Kono barrels towards the elevator with fists clenched. "I am never going to live this one down," Chin sighs to himself.
A now teenage girl walks along the beach with her board in her hand, brushing her long hair out of her eyes while the wind tries to thwart her attempts. The smile on her face couldn't be wiped off if someone tried. She runs up to a shaggy-haired boy and wraps her arms around him.
"Hey!" he laughs, "Looks like someone is in a good mood!"
She releases him and looks up into his eyes and whispers, "They're coming." She studies his reaction, and ignores the uncertainty in his eyes. Rather gazing on the broad smile that has creeped across his face. She continues, "Their plane is going to land on Monday, so I can show them around the island and still have two days to practice up before the tournament."
"Wow, uh, when did you find this out?" he asks with a questioning tone.
"Last night!" she sings, "He called me over the phone to tell me the news!" She jumps up with joy and ends up landing on her friend's foot. He laughs and picks up her surfboard she droped when first seeing him. Then he wraps his arm around her and they walk to his jeep.
Without looking at her he sighs, "Kono, are you sure this will be a good idea? I mean, I feel fine about your dad, but those Colorado haoles I'm not so sure about."
She chuckles, "A: your'e a haole and have no right to call other people such. B: It's been almost eight years. I mean, I'm turning eighteen next week. I think I can take them."
"Yeah, okay, but if they so much touch a hair on your head, they will have to deal with me!" he counters.
She rolls her eyes and says, "Fine, you and all of my other friends, and cousins, and aunts, and uncles. They'll be on my land this time. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."
Kono ignores her father's glares from across the Smart Table, Chin pretends not to notice it, and the others stand awkwardly in between.
"So, we found Hert's prints at the scene, but there is no way of knowing if that was from work or not." Chin begins, "Surgo, what else do you have on him?" Chin ignores Kono's death grip on the table as he looks at her father.
He explains, "Well I had done some preliminary research on him, but aside from that, I do not know much. I assume you've already checked his house?"
"Yeah, and he had pictures of every victim of Doctor Crane in his room, and they were personal pictures, like yearbook and birthday party pictures," Grover says with disgust, "Your daughter was pictured on his bedside table." Kono shoots him a death glare that is promptly ignored.
Kanji continues, "So, there is only one other place that I can think of that would work. There was this guy named Matt Burns that keeps popping up in pictures from Hert's social media junk. They meet at the same bar up in Waikiki for drinks on a regular basis. Burns was convicted of assault on his ex-wife, which he claimed never happened, despite solid evidence, witnesses, and whatnot. The guy is a major nut job. Something told me that he could be a likely accomplice and would stow Hert away if asked to. I was going to go to his adress if the warehouse didn't work out."
Danny muses, "I think we should go pay Mr. Burns a visit.