“We lost him,” said Kauhane. “I want Agent Daniel to take a look at the corpse and see if he recognizes him.”
“I have him in ICU still. Are you thinking it might be dangerous for Daniel to come here?”
“Yes,” said Chan. “These people might be crawling all over Queen’s waiting to see if Daniel will show up. How about can you get him to the morgue?”
“We can do that,” said Kauhane, “but we have to be careful no one follows us out of here and over there. If they’re watching us, that is.”
Chan contemplated the problem. What, he wondered, would be the best way to sneak a body out of the hospital?
“I got it, Del. Can you check to see if any of the ORs have back exits? We could make it look like he needs another operation. We rush him in there like it’s an emergency, and then we take him out the back into a van.”
“I’ll check,” said Del. “You head over to the morgue. If there’s no OR with a back door, I’ll figure out something and let you know. One way or another, meet you there.”
Chan hung up and turned to Daniel. “Sean, that guy, he’s dead. We want you to take a look at the body, but not at the hospital — in case there are others there watching for you. We’re going to sneak him to the morgue somehow, and I’m going to get you in there.”
Daniel nodded. The two headed out the front door, jumped in Chan’s car, and proceeded to the morgue in Māpunapuna. Chan had Daniel wait in the car.
Inside, Chan found both the head coroner, Hank Lee, and Kathy Sakaguchi.
“David, wow,” said Kathy, “is everything okay?”
“Yes yes, I didn’t want to let you folks know I was coming.”
“Why’s that?” asked Hank Lee.
“Hank, did Kathy fill you in on what happened yesterday.”
Kathy said, “No, David, I didn’t. I didn’t know if you wanted anyone to know anything about all of this.”
Hank Lee looked confused. Chan, having worked with Lee for decades, trusted him completely. He told him about what had happened.
“Geez, David, that’s crazy,” said Hank. “I’m glad you’re alive.”
Chan smiled. “Thanks, Hank, me too.”
“Me too,” said Kathy, patting Chan on the back.
The touch of her hand — Chan had to keep focused.
Hank Lee asked, “So he’s at your house?”
Chan lowered his voice, even though it was obvious there was no one else there. “He’s outside in my car?”
“Whoa,” said Kathy. “Why’d you bring him here?”
“Whoever that guy is, he died. We need Daniel to ID him if he can. Going to Queen’s seemed too risky, you know, in case people were watching for a chance to get at him. Captain Kauhane’s going to bring him here. We think we figured out a way to sneak him out of there. I don’t know yet if it’ll work, or if he’ll have to work out something else.”
“So,” said Hank Lee, “we’re waiting to hear something from Del?”
“If we don’t,” said Chan, “that means Plan A worked and he’ll be showing up. If there’s a problem, he’ll call here.”
“Are we going to get your guest in here?” asked Hank Lee.
“We’ll be right back,” said Chan.
Out in the parking lot, Chan beckoned for Daniel to come in. He followed Chan inside. After he’d met Hank Lee, he surveyed the place.
“Again,” said Daniel, “I have to say that I’m glad I was able to walk in here rather than be wheeled in.”
Just then the phone rang. It was Del Kauhane.
“No ORs with back doors,” said Kauhane. “But I have a Plan B. Jimmy Doi’s coming over to shoot some photos of him. It’s not great, maybe, not seeing him in the flesh, but hopefully the photos will be a good enough substitute.”
Jimmy Doi served as the photographer for the forensics team. Chan wondered how long it would take him to develop the photos. “I wonder,” said Chan, “should Daniel and I wait here? How long will it take? Maybe I should keep him moving around. Maybe just take him home.”
“Up to you,” said Kauhane. “But to me, the morgue seems safe enough for now.”
Chan explained Plan B to the other three.
“I like it,” said Daniel. “With all this steel, the place feels a bit like a fortress. I think we’d have the drop on anyone who came through either the front or the back door. I’ll watch the front, David. You take the back.”
Chan liked that idea. A lot. The back door was right there on the side of the bank of refrigerator units. He could talk to Hank, and, more importantly, he could talk to Kathy while she worked on the dead.
Lanning Lee 