Chapter Four: The Sound of a Breakthrough

Chin lit his pipe as he looked over his notes from his day's work. Smoke rose as he traced his finger down the list of names. All the alibis had checked out, but that was no surprise. They were all soft - friends, family members or employees of their suspects - he had hoped that by talking to the people in person, he would catch someone in a lie, but no break there. If any of these people were lying, he would have to confront them with evidence before they would change their story.

"Chin, you free?" a voice called out.

The detective poked his head outside and spotted Danny looking at him. "I may have something," the younger man said.

Finally! They needed a break. Grabbing his notebook and pipe, Chin walked over to his friend's cubicle. Immediately, he noticed that Danny's desk was uncharacteristically messy as it was covered with papers and spreadsheets, and one overturned empty coffee mug.

Handing over a piece of paper, Danny said, "Miller was right. I found a hidden bank account under the wife's name - her maiden name."

Chin chewed his pipe as he studied the page. "That's a lot of cash going in and out."

"Until it doesn't."

Chin's eyes traveled down the page until he noticed that around a month ago, the deposits of cash ceased. The withdrawals continued until about two weeks ago when the funds dipped to dangerously low numbers. "Until it doesn't," he repeated. "This matches what you and Steve saw at the hotel. The Larsons were having financial problems." Then pointing to the list of checks written, he asked, "Are all these companies all in construction, remodeling?"

"Yes, they are working to fix some of what Steve and I noticed at the resort, which makes sense. But it doesn't explain why the account was hidden."

Chin studied the account as he pondered the problem. The expenses made sense, but the deposits were all made in cash which further suggested that this was a secret account. Then getting an idea, he grabbed the phone and made a call to one of the companies on the list. Danny looked at him thoughtfully as he talked, but waited until he had hung up to speak. "What've you got, Chin?'

"Appearances. This is all about keeping up appearances. The Larsons are having problems and they don't want anyone to know it. The man I just spoke to told me about the job he was hired for. There are some necessary repairs that need to be made to the resort, but he was just hired to do some cosmetic touch ups."

"They want to look like everything is under control when in reality it's falling apart," Danny said with a grin. "Good work."

Chin pushed some papers to the side and sat down on Danny's desk, enjoying his pipe. "We have motive. But we need something to tie the family to the scene of the crime. Has Che gotten anywhere with the murder weapon?"

"He's identified it as a piano wire, but he's still trying to track down the brand."

Pretty sure he had spotted a grand piano at the Larsons', Chin was debating whether or not he could come up with a way to get a closer look at it without a warrant when Ben returned from his day's excursions.

"I may have something," Ben said as he grabbed a chair and joined the gathering in Danny's office. Quickly, he summed up his conversation with the Lanuola Tui. "After I left Ms. Tui, I interviewed a couple other local artists. Gabriel was well liked by many, but there was a vocal group who believed he was using his parents and his money to get all the good jobs. One artist admitted that a group of artists, including Tui, sent threatening notes to try and get him to leave the business."

"Do you know if Ms. Tui plays piano?" Danny asked.

"Yes, she does. Why?"

Danny explained Che's discovery, while Chin wondered how Ben would know something so personal. But come to think of it, his voice had wavered when he spoke about Tui. There was something there. Something Ben didn't want to talk about. Chin pushed it out of his mind; he trusted his friend. Ben was a good detective; he wouldn't hold back anything that would help them solve this case.

"But that's not all," Ben continued. "I managed to speak with Gabriel's mentor and teacher. Apparently, he was looking into selling his work. All of it."

Chin frowned. "Raising money for his family or a plan to get out of the business?"

"His mentor didn't know. But he did say that Gabriel was really torn over the decision. He didn't want to do it."

Danny sighed. "We're stuck. His family had motive, his rival had motive. We have the evidence to argue either circumstantially, but we can't just pick which story we like better and run with it."

"Right, Chin agreed, "And we all know what Steve's going to say when he walks through that door."

Ben nodded. "Find me the witness."

They had no case without her.

As if their conversation had summoned him, the detectives heard Steve greeting Jenny as he returned from a meeting with the Governor. Joining his men at their impromptu meeting, he asked. "What've you got?"

Chin and Ben looked to Danny who shrugged and gave the boss a summary of all they had discussed.

Steve looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "Gentlemen, it appears we have one solution to this mess: find me the witness."

Chin purposely didn't look at Danny or Ben until the door to Steve's office was firmly shut. Once safe, the three friends broke out into simultaneous laughter. They knew each other and their boss too well.

Danny breathed in the outside air as he stood in line for his dinner; he had spent a long day stuck in the office pouring over information and the work day, for Five-O, wasn't over yet. Around him locals and tourists mingled on the palace lawn. After purchasing a hot dog, he found Steve sitting under a tree with a sandwich in hand. The older man raised an eyebrow as he looked at his friend's dinner. "You're really going to eat that?"

Danny shrugged as he sat down. "It's food and I'm hungry." Unwrapping his dog, he grinned as he heard the sound of children playing behind him. Suddenly, a high pitched screech filled the air. Danny winced. The little girl did not sound happy at all even as he heard her parents trying to shush her. Trying to make the best of what was quickly turning into an awkward situation, he joked, "And I thought little girls were made of sugar and spice and everything nice."

Steve's brow furrowed. "That kid's a boy."

Instead of following Steve's gaze, Danny looked at his boss. His face was thoughtful. Danny knew that look. Steve had just figured out something important, something big. "We've been making assumptions, Danno."

Danny immediately took a big bite of his dog. He suspected that his time to sit down and enjoy his meal was rapidly coming to an end.

Steve rose and began to pace, his sandwich forgotten on the ground. "The scream our mystery witness made was high pitched. We've been searching for a woman who doesn't exist."

"So our witness is a man?"

"Yes, and I think I know who." Then without another word, Steve turned and walked briskly back toward the palace.

Danny took one last look at his rest of his hot dog, shoved the rest in his mouth, jumped to his feet and began chewing on the run. Dinnertime was definitely over.

Mark Iona was shaking as he was escorted into the Five-O offices. Just when he thought this whole horrible business could be put behind him, the older Hawaiian sergeant had shown up with an interpreter and had insisted that he go with them. It had been made clear that refusing wasn't an option. The question now was what did they know and what did they think he knew?

The door opened and Mark straightened as he stepped inside. He had to remain calm. But it was hard. Standing in front of his desk made McGarrett appear taller and more imposing than when he had seen him walking around the gardens. The interpreter moved so that she stood to the detective's right as McGarrett gestured toward the chair. "Take a seat. Now, I understand you told my detective that you saw nothing the morning Mr. Larson was murdered."

"Yes."

"Mr. Iona, I understand you cannot hear, but I was wondering, can you speak?"

Not sure what McGarrett was getting at he replied truthfully, "I can voice, but I'm told it doesn't sound like hearing people do."

"Could you voice for me now?"

Mark shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'd rather not. It's embarrassing." He learned a long time ago not to voice around people he didn't know. They usually laughed or looked at him strangley. He didn't need more reminders that he wasn't like everyone else.

Steve smiled gently. "You don't have to, but if could let me hear what your voice sounds like, it would be a big help."

Realizing what McGarrett was searching for, he said, "You want to know if I was the person who screamed."

McGarrett met his gaze and his facial expression switched from friendly to serious. "Yes, I do."

Mark didn't reply. He told himself he wouldn't get involved; surely, the cops didn't need his testimony to figure it out. The idea of telling his story in courtroom terrified him.

McGarrett didn't give him long to think as he pressed on, "Mark, the investigation is at a dead end. We have suspects but we can't prove who murdered Gabriel without evidence. We know you were there. You left a bush only partially pruned before you ran. If you don't tell me what you saw, Gabriel's murderer will walk free."

Mark shuddered at that thought. For he remembered Gabriel. He remembered his smile and he always waved whenever their paths had crossed. The artist deserved better than this.

"You screamed, voiced as you say, when you saw the murder. A natural reaction, one you couldn't control. We assumed we were looking for a woman. But your voice has always been high-pitched, hasn't it?"

Gathering his courage Mark answered, "Yes, it's because I lost my hearing when I was young - the mumps - so my voice still sounds like it did when I was two."

"What happened before you screamed?"

"I saw her kill him. "

And as Mark told the detective everything, all the details of that horrible morning, the heavy weight of guilt and fear he had been carrying around suddenly didn't feel like so great a burden. It appeared that helping the victim to rest in peace was the best way to find peace for himself.