Chapter 4

I texted Aunt Fae about my plans to go to Hana as I bid Pua goodbye for the day. We locked up the post office at our usual closing time of four p.m. at the end of after another whirlwind of mail distribution.

I needed some exercise to unkink myself from the hectic pace of preholiday postal fun, so I decided to take the e-bike I kept plugged in and charged inside the shack. Once inside the K K office (aka the shack) again, I put my bathing suit on under my clothes for my planned trip to Koki Beach with Keone after I visited our new client.

Originally Keone's mom's transport, Ilima Kaihale had loaned her e-bike to me with the caveat that I wore a lurid yellow visibility vest and helmet with a flashing light on the top every time I took it out. With the Ugliest Vest and Helmet on, I was hard to miss even on the tortuously narrow jungle road between Ohia and the larger town of Hana, where Mrs. Scarborough lived.

I enjoyed the tropical-scented wind in my hair as the battery-assist bike whizzed along the narrow route with its overgrown shoulders. I dodged loose chickens, mynah birds, and the occasional fallen mango in the road. There were several scenic hairpin turns where I could feast my eyes on the ocean if the tourist drivers clogging the road weren't also doing so; when they were, we were all in danger.

I had the route memorized, though, so I soon made it to Hana and my phone's trusty GPS guided me to Mrs. Scarborough's house.

Viewing the older plantation style home tucked beneath a large old-growth monkeypod tree near the church in the middle of town, I discovered why my client thought her cat had to have been removed by a human: the yard was enclosed by a tall wooden fence topped by decorative, pointed finials.

No cat in the world could climb out of there on its own.

Lowering daylight cast shadows across the yard as I parked the e-bike out front. Mrs. Scarborough answered the door quickly, as if she"d been waiting anxiously behind it. Her white hair hung uncombed to her shoulders and her thin frame in a faded muumuu was hunched with worry. Dark circles underscored eyes reddened from tears.

"Have you found Lady?" she asked, her voice wobbly.

I shook my head. "Not yet, but I"m hoping my visit here will provide some new clues."

Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. She waved me inside listlessly. "Please, look around all you"d like. I just want my Lady home."

"May I see where Lady"s cat door was installed?"

"Of course."

The interior of the house was tidy but dated. Photos of happier times dotted shelves and side tables, their subjects" smiles in stark contrast to Mrs. Scarborough"s palpable despair.

The older woman led me through quiet halls and directed me to the back door of the kitchen, where a rectangular plastic flap had been cut into the lower panel of the door. I squatted and peered outside through the cat door. "Can I look around the garden?"

"Of course."

Just as Mrs. Scarborough had described, the garden was fully enclosed by the tall wooden fence I'd seen from the outside. A square of tufty grass in the center of the area was surrounded by weed-choked flowerbeds flush with the tall fence. "The gate is always kept closed," she said, pointing to a gate with a hasp. "And you can't open it from the outside unless you reach over the top and undo it."

"Maybe whoever took Lady entered through the house," I said.

Elvira Scarborough frowned. "I don't lock the front door. No one does in Hana. So I guess that's possible."

I examined the perimeter carefully but saw no fingerprints, scratches, or other evidence of tampering on the sturdy planks.

We spent close to an hour or so together as I asked her numerous questions. Had any repairs been done, had any unfamiliar people visited, was there anything out of the ordinary in her home in the past weeks?

Mrs. Scarborough shook her head each time, at a loss.

Finally, I gently steered our conversation to the upcoming holidays. "What were your plans before Lady disappeared?" Small talk seemed the kindest way to lift her spirits, if only temporarily.

She offered a wan smile. "We were going to trim the tree together and cuddle by the wood stove in the living room while we waited for her kittens to arrive. Now it doesn"t feel much like Christmas at all." Her eyes grew damp once more as she gazed at Lady"s favorite spot to sun on the back porch.

I thanked Mrs. Scarborough for her time and made my exit, feeling stumped. I could only hope Keone might turn up with something new over dinner to reinvigorate our investigation before the trail grew completely cold.