Chapter 5

Steve and Danny entered the lobby of the Halekulani Hotel to find Mamo Alohilani waiting to direct them to the small security office behind the reception desk where Jadon had sent up camp to watch tapes of the comings and goings both before and after the murder.

"You haven't been home yet?" Steve asked the exhausted looking maitre d'.

"Not yet," Mano replied. "I gave my statement to the police already but I wanted to be here in case there's anything else I can do. Mr. Easton was a very nice man. I can't get the picture of him lying there covered in blood out of my head." His usually stoic voice cracked slightly. "I'm not sure I'd be able to sleep if I went home anyway."

"We're gonna do everything we can to find out who did this," Steve promised.

Mamo nodded silently as he led them across the lobby.

"What have you got?" Steve asked as they entered the cramped room to find Jadon seated in front of a small bank of monitors. Several empty coffee cups and a half-eaten breakfast sandwich on the table beside him were the only obvious signs he'd been there all night. His energy level was high as usual.

"This is from an hour after the guests were cleared to leave," Jadon said, indicating the tape currently paused on the first monitor. "It's the parking lot outside the kitchen entrance."

He rolled the tape. Steve and Danny watched closely as Duke quietly entered the office behind them.

"See. Right there." Jadon stopped the tape and pointed to the bottom left of the screen. "I'm sure not a fashion expert but that looks like a long white dress that lady is stuffing in the trunk of her car. Who treats an expensive gown like that? I checked the statement the server gave and she matches the general description of the person Richard Easton handed a key to."

"She definitely seems to be in a hurry," Danny noted.

"I checked the make and model of the car and it isn't a match for any of the guests registered at the hotel," Jadon said. "But if I do this …" He zoomed in. "I can just make out a partial license plate number."

"That's really good work," Steve said.

"I agree," Duke said, causing Jadon to startle.

"Sargeant Lukela. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come in," he said.

"I just wanted to check in and see how you were getting on," Duke replied. "This has been a long shift for you."

"I'm fine," Jadon insisted.

"Let's get on that partial plate and see if we can identify this woman," Steve said. "We need to talk to her as soon as possible."

"I can do that," Jadon said, then looked at Duke. "Unless I'm needed elsewhere."

"You've been doing great work on this." Duke smiled. "I'm happy for you to keep going if you feel up to it."

"Same here," Steve and Danny said in unison.

"I feel up to it." Jadon beamed. "As long as the coffee holds out."

The team spent the morning and afternoon trying to narrow down the list of Richard Easton's potential enemies and interviewing every guest at the party who had thrown up even a little red flag.

In the late afternoon Catherine called to let them know that, over the strong objections of his doctors, Jacob Marcus was out of surgery and wanted to talk to them. Half an hour later they were standing beside the bed of the weak but clearly determined man.

"It all happened so fast," he explained. "I was feeling tired after a long day of meetings so I decided to grab a cup of coffee before heading to the party. I came out of the store and before I could get back to my car some guy grabbed me and pulled me behind the building. Before I even had time to react I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. Next thing I remember I was in the ER."

"Did you recognize the man?" Danny asked.

Jacob Marcus shook his head. "He was tall. Taller than me. And well built. He had on sunglasses and a baseball hat."

"Did he say anything?" Steve wanted to get as much information as possible before the doctor's inevitably came in to cut off the interview. "Did you notice a suspicious looking vehicle in the parking lot when you pulled in?"

Jacob shook his head. "I should have been paying closer attention but I was just focused on getting to the party. I knew Cara would be worried if I was too late."

"Can you think of any reason why someone would attack you and your brother in law?" Steve asked. "Anyone with a personal grudge. Or a business one."

Jacob shifted slightly in bed to find a more comfortable position. "I can't think of anyone who would hate us this much."

"We understand you and Mr. Easton had been having a disagreement over a business matter," Steve said.

"It wasn't that serious," Jacob said. "I spent the last six months working with one of our subsidiaries on a new software program that we were planning to roll out across the entire company. It would have streamlined our operations and improved efficiency at every level. We were a few days away from completion and Richard changed his mind and shut down the entire project."

Jacob began to cough and his wife gently lifted a glass of water to his lips so he could take a sip.

Danny scribbled a few notes. "Did he say why?"

"No." Jacob squeezed his wife's hand. "He just said he had his reasons. Even after one of the software developers filed suit he said he'd handle it. Victor Marsh can give you all the details. He's the one who was heading up the project."

Jacob's eyes began to drift closed.

"That's enough for now," Steve said. "We appreciate you talking to us. You've been very helpful. Get some rest and let us know if you think of anything else."

"We saw you on TV," Kono teased as Steve and Danny entered the bullpen. She knew how much Steve hated doing press conferences, especially in the early stages of the case, and decided to try and lighten the mood. "You did great. Only growled twice."

"That the microphones picked up," Danny snarked.

"I'll never understand taking a break from actually trying to solve a case to talk about trying to solve a case," Steve grumbled. "Speaking of … "

"I talked to my contacts at SEC," Kono said. "They did receive a complaint from Winston PetroChem. They're looking into it but on the surface it just looks like a run of the mill business dispute. Nothing worth killing over."

"What about the other lawsuits?" Steve asked.

"We've managed to talk to most of the people who have active cases and they all say the same thing," Chin reported. "Their lawyers are handling it. Just normal course of business. The only one we haven't been able to reach is Jim Haleapani. He's the software developer that got fired last month. He's been all over social media talking about how the Eastons are trying to steal his program and how they won't get away with it. We've been trying to track him down but no luck so far."

Steve's phone rang and after glancing at the screen he swiped to connect the call. "What have you got, Jadon?"

"I've got an ID on the car. It's registered to an Eleanor Marsh. She lives on Diamond Head. She has a husband named Victor who's listed as co-owner of the car."

"That's the second time I've heard the name Marsh today," Steve said. "That can't be a coincidence."

"Her and her husband were on the guest list for the party last night," Jadon said. "I'm not sure if either of them made statements before they left. I can check if you want."

"That'd be great, Jadon. Thanks." Steve said. "Meanwhile, text me her information and we'll go have a talk with her."

"Will do."

Steve hung up and said, "Let's run the names Victor and Eleanor Marsh and see what comes up."

"Isn't Victor Marsh the guy Jacob Marcus said was in charge of the software project?" Danny asked.

"He sure is," Steve said as his phone buzzed again with another incoming call.

"McGarrett."

He listened for a few seconds then said, "Send him up."

As he slid his phone back into his pocket he said, "Looks like we can stop looking for Jim Haleapani. He just walked in and said he wants to make a statement. He said he knows who killed Richard Easton."

TBC on Wednesday

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