Chapter 4

4

Elle and Aunt Fae reconvened over the list of auction items in one corner of the garage, clearly handing the search for the missing ornament over to us.

I approached Rita, who was fingering her crystal necklace nervously. “Rita,” I asked. “Can you think of anyone who might have had access to the garage last night?”

She shook her head. “Just me and Maile, and we were inside all evening. Oh, and the volunteer who helps with the night feeding for the cats, but she never comes into the house or garage.”

“We’ll need to talk to her too,” Keone said. “What’s her name?”

“Leilani Akana,” Rita supplied. “She usually comes by around 8 PM. I’ll send you her number.” She did so. Our phones pinged.

“Can we speak to Maile?” I asked. “She was very interested in the ornament.”

Rita’s face paled. “I don’t think she would—” she didn’t finish her sentence, instead hurried inside the house. “I’ll get her.”

As Elle, Aunt Fae and I continued to discuss possibilities, I noticed Keone stepping away, his phone in his hand again. This time, I couldn’t quell my curiosity.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

He started slightly, as if he’d forgotten we were there. “Uh, yeah. Just checking in with . . . a friend.”

I didn’t push. Now wasn’t the time, but I made a mental note to ask him about these mysterious calls when we were alone.

“Alright,” Keone said. “We need to expand our search. I’ll check to see if any of the neighboring houses have security cameras that might have caught something. Aunt Fae, maybe you and Elle can start calling the other volunteers who’ve been helping with the auction prep, see if anyone remembers anything unusual when they came by. Kat, you go in and talk to Rita and Maile.”

As everyone dispersed to their tasks, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was more than just a simple theft. The ornament was valuable, but it wasn’t something you could easily sell.

Something else might be going on here.

Entering Rita’s house from the garage, I called out for our hostess and her ward. “In here,” came Rita’s voice.

I went through a cluttered but comfortable living room and down a hall to a bedroom outfitted for a young girl with a fluffy four-poster bed. Maile sat back against the headboard, holding her kitten close. Her face looked stricken. “Aunty Rita thinks I stole the Queen’s Ornament,” Maile said. “But I didn’t. I promise.” Tears started in the girl’s big brown eyes. Suddenly she scrambled off the bed, the kitten in her arms, and crawled underneath it.

I remembered the first time I’d met Maile. She’d been hiding under a bed then, too. The kid had been through a lot. Who knew what kind of psychological issues might be going on that could contribute to an impulse to take the valuable ornament?

Rita and I exchanged a meaningful glance; I held a finger to my lips, then pointed to the girl’s jewelry box and closet. Rita gave a slight nod and spoke. “Maile. It’s okay. We’re not singling you out. We’re asking everyone who came by the house if they saw or heard anything.”

“I didn’t take it.” Maile’s muffled voice came from under the bed.

Meanwhile, I tiptoed across the carpeting, grateful that the bed’s long ruffle would keep Maile from seeing what I was up to as I peeked into her box—nothing there but a few simple bits of jewelry.

“Come on out, Maile. You can help us look,” I said, gesturing with my chin that Rita should check the closet once Maile was out of the room. “I’ll be the sheriff, and you can be my deputy.”

Eventually a tearstained Maile, Lilikoi in her arms, joined me. We went out into the garage and began looking through all the donations together. I pinned one of Ilima Kaihale’s coconut frond stars onto each of our chests. “Now we’re official sheriffs in charge of the search.”

Maile rolled her eyes but seemed to feel a little better. Not long after, Rita reappeared and communicated with a little headshake that she hadn’t found anything in the bedroom.

As the afternoon sun began to dip towards the horizon, casting long shadows across Rita’s cluttered garage, Elle, Aunt Fae, Keone, and I regrouped to share our findings—or lack thereof. The atmosphere was tense, a mix of frustration and worry etched on everyone’s faces.

Elle was the first to speak, her tablet balanced on her knee as she sat on an overturned crate. “I’ve contacted everyone on our volunteer list. No one saw anything suspicious, and nobody has any idea where the ornament might be.”

Aunt Fae nodded; her usual vibrant energy was subdued.

“The neighboring houses didn’t have any useful security footage either,” Keone said. “Nobody saw anyone or anything unusual. There was a lot of coming and going because of the donations, so anyone could have taken it.”

I leaned against a stack of boxes, feeling the weight of failure pressing on me. “We’ve turned this place upside down. If it was here, we would have found it by now.”

Rita wrung her hands, looking devastated. “I just can’t believe this happened under my roof. I feel terrible. I offered the garage as storage because I thought things would be safer here.”

“It’s not your fault, Rita,” Aunt Fae reassured her.

A heavy silence fell over the group. The missing ornament wasn’t just a valuable antique—it was a piece of Hawaiian history, a tangible link to the past. Its loss felt personal, a blow to our community.

And who was going to tell the Pahinuis it was missing? I had promised them I’d keep it safe—so it had to be me.

I felt sick with dread, but that had to be our next stop. Maybe they knew something more about the ornament they weren’t telling us. In any case, they deserved to know it was gone—and not to hear about the loss through the coconut wireless.

“Aunt Fae, you asked Keone and I to take on finding the ornament. We’re going to do that. You and Elle and Rita keep going with organizing as if it will be there, the star of the show. We’ll take it from here.” I spoke in my Secret Service crowd control voice; it projected a confidence I didn’t feel. I grabbed Keone’s hand. “Let’s go.”

We headed for his truck. Keone stepped closer to me, his voice low. “Where do we start?”

I opened the door and hopped inside. He did too. “Get us out of watching eyes,” I said, without moving my lips. “I don’t want Aunt Fae worrying. Or anyone else for that matter.”

He reversed the truck without a word. We drove down the quiet street.

I took a deep breath, my mind racing. “We start at the beginning, by going to the Pahinuis and telling them the ornament is missing. Then, we reconstruct everything that happened yesterday, minute by minute. And we follow every lead, no matter where it takes us.”

Mr. K slanted me a glance. “I’m going to need one of those stars on my chest if I’m going to get into this investigation properly.”

I was glad to have a reason to smile. I wasn’t looking forward to telling the Pahinuis their precious relic was gone.