Chapter 7

Dr. Malia Nama, the ornithologist in charge of the Hana Bird Refuge, was petite with long dark hair she wore down her back in a braid as thick as a man's wrist. Brown eyes sparkled behind round, wire-rimmed glasses as she gestured to the row of cages against one wall. "As you can see, we're nursing these birds back to health. We've put out a call to anyone finding an injured bird on this side of the island that we'll come pick it up and try to rehabilitate it."

The room Keone and I stood in the next day smelled strongly of guano, even though the cages appeared clean. I walked over, and the various seabirds inside, already against the back of their cages, tried to retreat further. "They seem so miserable."

"They are." Dr. Nama came to stand beside me next to one of the cages. "That's an ?A?o, or Newell's shearwater. It flew into one of the phone lines on the Hana Highway and got tangled." The bird's dark eyes gleamed in the dim light against her gray plumage set off by a white underbelly. The scientist pointed to the bird's wrapped leg and a close-cropped wing. "These birds are not used to humans, let alone being confined. But she's eating, and that's good. This breed is endemic to the Hawaiian islands, so while not on the endangered list, we watch their populations closely here on Maui since most of them live on Kauai."

"Do they nest out here?" Keone asked, joining them. "And are cats a problem for them?"

"Cats are absolutely a problem for shearwaters. The birds nest in burrows on the ground," Dr. Nama said. "The ?A?o was formerly a much more common bird with a wider breeding distribution throughout the Hawaiian chain. They have declined due to habitat loss and predation by introduced species such as cats, mongooses, rats, and barn owls." She pointed to the bird in question in her cage. "Young birds in particular are attracted to the lights of urban areas at night and many have collisions with power lines and buildings, like this female here. She is lucky to be alive."

I frowned. "Is there anything that can be done about that?"

"That's why the county has installed low-wattage, yellow lights along the highways. That's the best we can do, other than petition brightly lit events, like football games and such, to dim as soon as they're done with the lights."

"What do you do to protect the nests? And what do you do to monitor them?"

"Fences are our greatest friends in that particular effort." Dr. Nama pointed to a fluffy gray chick about the size of a grapefruit, huddled near a lightbulb in its cage. "See this sweet baby? One of our interns was monitoring its nest via video. He was able to save it from a cat that was carrying it off, but it was injured so we're keeping it here until it matures."

Interesting as this was, we needed to stay focused on our case, which involved missing cats, not birds. "Tell us more about what you do to deal with the predators."

"Well, inside the Refuge boundaries we trap them. Mongooses we release in the wild, away from the birds' nesting areas. Rats we euthanize. We don't do anything about the owls. And cats? We drive them to the Humane Society in Kahului. They are euthanized when they're not adoptable."

I shivered, thinking of Tiki. She would not have been adoptable under normal circumstances.

Dr. Nama eyed me, apparently noticing this. "There are also no-kill shelters on the island, but they prefer to focus on helping domesticated cats they can rehome."

"So what about those domestic cats? Ones with collars and owners. Do you ever catch them?" Keone asked, clearly steering us back to Lady's disappearance.

"Domesticated cats don't tend to wander so far out, all the way to the rugged areas where native birds are living. If they did, and we captured them, we'd still take them to the Humane Society so that their owners could find them there. The normal process with tame cats is to spay or neuter, rehome them if possible, and if not, return them to their community area." Dr. Nama sighed, turning her gaze to the cages of captive birds. "I don't like to see any animal harmed, but my concern is for our feathered friends. They are more vulnerable, and certainly rarer, than the cats on this island."

A man in a Hana Bird Refuge tee came in, carrying a cardboard box. "Hey, Dave." She turned to us. "This is our University of Hawaii intern, Dave."

Dave was a geeky-looking young guy with a large Adam's apple under a scruffy neck beard. He nodded as he set down a box that looked heavy on a pile of others.

"These two private eyes are looking for a missing cat. Seen any loose ones around our surveillance nest areas lately?" Dr. Nama asked him.

"Nope. And those ferals better not come around," Dave said. "I've got no love for bird killers." He patted a hip. "I'm armed against predators of our nesting area."

My attention sharpened on the Refuge's college intern, taking in hiking boots beneath combat style camouflage work pants covered with pockets that bulged with unknown tools. Nerdy as Dave was, he also appeared competent and strong. "Armed, how?"

"With the trusty childhood menace that I've finally found a good use for." Dave took a serious looking Y-shaped slingshot with a rubber strap out of his back pocket. "Scares off mongooses too."

Dr. Nama shook her head. "We'd prefer to trap and move the predators. You know that, Dave. A slingshot's only temporary."

"Getting them to run off is better than nothing if we can't catch ‘em," Dave said unrepentantly, and left.

Keone hurried after the guy, presumably to get his contact info or ask him more questions—and I was glad that my partner had taken the initiative on that. So far, we were working well together to cover all the bases.

I watched the fluffy gray chick with its big, awkward feet snuggle closer to the lightbulb. The poor thing was so little and helpless. "I can see how the birds are at risk from cats. But you also mentioned mongooses and barn owls as enemies."

"Yes. Mongooses in particular are a problem here on this island. That's why the shearwaters and other endangered ocean birds are gaining numbers on Kauai more than Maui and other islands. Kauai has no mongooses. They do have owls, but also not as many as we do."

"Hmm. Well, we're here because we're looking for a missing domesticated cat," I said. I scanned the room with its steel tables, microscopes, and computers, looking for—I didn't know what. Lady Sapphire clearly wasn't on the premises, nor likely had she ever been; but what about Tiki? "We've heard of a lot of feral cats suddenly going missing, as well as the domestic one we're hired to find. Have you captured any wild cats recently?"

"Happy to tell you we have not," Dr. Nama said. "We weren't able to catch the feral that grabbed this poor chick even. Short of trapping them using food, they're incredibly hard to capture."

I didn't know what to feel: happy that the cat got away from being caught and eventually put down? Or sad that the feline was still on the loose, trying to eat helpless endangered baby birds?

Either option sucked.

Dr. Nama must have seen the conflict on my face because she said, "It's a complicated issue, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, but coming here to the Refuge has helped me understand the situation better. Thank you for that." I dug in my pocket and took out the card Keone and I had made up with K K Investigations' logo on it and a work phone number, a burner cell I had agreed to lug around and keep charged for the business. I also handed over the missing cat flyer. "Here's our contact card and more info about Lady Sapphire, the cat we're looking for. If you could let your staff and volunteers know, we'd appreciate it."

"Of course. Thanks for coming in and taking the time to get to know what we do here, as well," Dr. Nama said graciously.

"I'm so glad I did. Now I know who to call if I ever see a bird in trouble."

Dr. Nama smiled and walked me to the front room of the little converted cottage where the Refuge's facility was located on the outskirts of Hana town.

Standing on the porch, Keone was staring at a bulletin board covered with informational flyers. He turned to me; his face was impassive and his brown eyes serious. There was no sign of Dave the intern. "Thanks for meeting with us, Dr. Nama."

"Please, call me Malia," she said, with a warm smile for my boyfriend. "I'll see you in the water."

"In the water? You must surf," I said.

"Sure do. That's how Keone and I met."

"Great. I'm learning, and I have a whole new respect for the sport." I forced a smile, suppressing a twinge of jealousy. Dr. Nama had a lot going on that I didn't—most especially, she shared Keone's heritage and culture. "Give us a call if you hear anything. Not just about Lady Sapphire, but any cats being captured."

"Will do," she said.

But as we went down the cottage's creaky wooden front steps, I wasn't sure the ornithologist would reach out. She had good reasons to want feral cats to disappear. I was glad I understood those reasons better, but I couldn't help thinking of Tiki in one of the square wire animal traps I'd glimpsed near the Refuge's rear door.

I waited until we were driving away, with me behind the wheel of the Ford SUV I'd nicknamed Sharkey, to broach the subject to Mr. K. "Do you think Dr. Nama will let us know if she comes across someone trapping cats?"

"Probably." Keone shrugged. "I'm more worried about that intern, Dave. Dave Finkelstein is his full name. I got his info in case we need to talk to him more. He's a University of Hawaii grad student in environmental biology, and he hates the feral cats. Makes no bones about it."

"Not good," I agreed. Tiki's distinctive, expressive face filled my mind. My cat's disappearance had made the situation personal. "I get why Bird People aren't fans after this, though. I'm beginning to see what a complex situation this is."

"Yep, it's Bird People versus Cat People. Speaking of the latter, I've set up a meeting for us in Kahului at the island's main no-kill cat shelter. We can share our info about Lady Sapphire and hear the other side of the story from a hard-core Cat Person, the retired vet in charge of The Cat Shelter."

"Sounds good. We need to grocery shop in town, anyway. Auntie's running out of baking ingredients. I'll get a list from her before we go." Kahului, Maui's biggest town, was a solid two hours away on a narrow winding road—but restocking food supplies was best done there as selection and prices were high of necessity at the tiny stores in Hana and Ohia. "Let's stop by my place before we go."

"And I can grab a few more of those gingerbread cookies," Mr. K said. "Fuel for the road."

I was on board with that grand idea, and also eager to find out the Cat People's side of the story.