A few more reports had been filed by parents whose sons had gone missing. Four more victims had been identified. All five were in their early 20s, three were Lualuna graduates, two McKinley High School. None were apparently employed, yet all seemed, according to their parents, to have money.
Chan knew in his gut that the Lualuna connection was no coincidence. If only the other parents had said that their children were friends with Jason Yu, it would have been enough for Chan to ask Captain Kauhane for a warrant. But none of the other parents named Jason Yu, and this ate at Chan.
“David,” said Yamamoto, “we’re getting nowhere with this.”
Chan looked across the desk to his partner. “Vic, you know me, I’m a real glass-half-full kind of guy. Trust me, we’re getting closer to something every moment. Let’s not forget to bring our cuffs with us the next time we go to Byung Yu’s house. With good fortune on our side, we’ll be slapping them on Jason and that charming father of his.”
Yamamoto had thought, since the death of Chan’s wife, Elaine, just over a year ago, that Chan had been anything but a glass-half-full kind of guy. Sometimes he felt as if Chan’s glass was always empty.
“David, why would we be slapping the cuffs on Byung Yu? I thought you said you don’t think he has anything to do with this?”
Chan sat back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. “Vic, on the one hand we have this local gang with eight dead members, at least one of whom knows Jason Yu, not to mention that three others graduated from Lualuna at the same time.”
“David, Lualuna graduates what, maybe three hundred students a year? You know how this island isn’t New York City. Plenty of kids from lots of schools know each other. Same for you, for me, same for anyone who grew up here. I don’t think the Lualuna connection is all that strong.”
“Oh, yes, it’s strong, Vic. Trust me. It’s filling up my glass.”
Yamamoto was able to shake his head at this statement because Chan was staring at the ceiling.
Chan continued. “On the other hand, we have the murder of Kathy Thurston, another Lualuna grad, four years younger than Jason Yu, granted. But if we can just push that connection, find someone who can link Jason with Kathy Thurston, my glass will be just about full.”
Captain Kauhane emerged from his office. “Guys,” he gestured to Chan and Yamamoto, “a word, please.”
The two followed their commander into his lair and sat as he closed the door.
“Well,” said Kauhane, “we just had the last three vics in that gang killing ID’d. Two of ‘um are twin brothers, Allen and Alden Halm. They’re also Lualuna grads. The last is a Kevin Won. Public school. Never graduated. Dropped out of O‘ahu Intermediate. Long juvie rap sheet. As far as we can tell, he’s the only one with anything. There’s not even a parking ticket with the others.”
“I wonder what they were involved in?” said Yamamoto. “David, if we’re guessing that Byung Yu didn’t off these guys, then it wasn’t drugs, prostitution, or gambling. For sure Yu would’ve killed them if they were messing with any of those.”
Chan asked Kauhane, “You think we have anything from forensics that might help us out?”
Kauhane picked up the forensics report and flipped through the pages. “Nothing of use that I can see,” he said.
Then he picked up the autopsy report from Henry Lee. “I wonder about this, guys?”
Kauhane passed the report to them. “Four of the men had automotive oil under their fingernails.”
“Very interesting,” said Chan. “So half of them were into cars to some extent. I wonder? Is that just your typical kind of guys and cars for fun thing, or is it guys and cars for some other reason? We’ve got that uptick in vehicle thefts you thought might be related, Captain. Is that it?”
Lanning Lee 