Like all of the other gawkers, Chan sat on the low stone wall across Pi‘ikoi watching the Pacific Insurance building turn into a rubble pile as the fire department made their way through it. The fire burned brightly in a few spots, so there was still plenty to see.
Chan felt a body push into a space on his left.
“So were you wondering if I was up in my office at 5:00 a.m. this morning, Lieutenant?”
Turning, he saw that it was Gi Yu.
“Ah, why no, Ms. Yu, I was just here watching the fire.”
She smiled. “You know that’s what arsonists always say, right?”
There was something different about her. And then it came to him. She wore no make-up. In fact, she looked a bit dressed down. Usually, she wore spiked heels so high that he could imagine the angle she’d take on a downhill ski run. No spikes today. It was Converse sneakers along with blue jeans and a sweatshirt. She looked very human.
“Admiring my attire, Lieutenant?”
“I’ve never seen you wearing glasses,” Chan remarked.
“Right. Contacts only. Oh well, you’re seeing me in my ‘Oh-my-God-my-office-building-is-on-fire-I’d-better-get-down-there’ outfit.”
Chan nodded. “So you were home when this broke out?”
Yu gave a look of mock surprise. “Doesn’t take you long to shift into police mode, does it? Not even a friendly hello.”
Although his attitude toward the sister of Jason Yu, daughter of Byung Yu, and granddaughter of Kang Yu had mellowed some as time went on and as Yu Enterprises did seem to be doing honest business, Chan could not quite shake his wariness about this woman. He did not smile.
“My apologies,” he said. “Good morning.”
“Great morning, you mean.” Yu smiled. “It’s not every day your office burns to the ground.”
Chan nodded. “No, no, that’s true. Any ideas about what happened?”
“Well, I know for certain that I didn’t burn up my own building for the insurance money.”
“Your building. You own the whole thing?”
“Yes, of course. You don’t get to the top two floors if you don’t. The best views always go to the owner.”
“So Pacific Insurance – what everyone calls the Pacific Insurance Building – is actually the Yu Enterprises Building.”
“You are correct, sir. Not only do we own the building, but I’m Chairwoman of the Board. You do know that we own Pacific Insurance now, right?”
Chan knew Gi Yu was wealthy, and was buying up the island in chunks, but every time he was reminded of just how much money she had, it somehow surprised him.
“So, you see,” Yu continued. “I’m probably not in it for the insurance.”
Chan thought about this. Why not? Why couldn’t this somehow be turned into an insurance scam of some kind? She was smart enough.
But he said, “Actually, I wasn’t thinking about that at all. I was more curious if you could think of what – other than that – might have happened.”
Gi Yu sat silently watching the last of the flames die. Then, “I suppose it could be faulty wiring, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps.”
“Or maybe some of my family’s old enemies were behind it.”
“Seriously?” Chan asked. “You mean as in trying to kill you?”
She laughed. “I was being facetious, David.”
Chan forgot that she’d begun calling him by his first name the last time they’d met for a powwow. He still couldn’t bring himself to call her Gi.
Changing the topic, Chan said. “Pacific Insurance wouldn’t by any chance employ an investigator named Jasimine Komine, would you?”
Yu shook her head. “I’ve never heard the name, but then again I’m not really hands-on with the company enough to know the names of all the employees. Why do you ask?”
The idea of telling her about his dream leaped to mind, then departed just as fast. “Oh, nothing really. I’d just thought I might have heard her name, I don’t know, maybe in regard to some fraudulent claims cases that ended up more serious, more matters for police department business.”
“I can ask about her if you like.”
This surprised Chan, her willingness to assist. “Oh, well, thank you, that would be, ah, good of you.”
Even using the word “good” in association with a Yu family member gave Chan pause.
“And while I’m on it,” said Chan, “you wouldn’t happen to know someone named Harry Wong?”
Yu rubbed her chin meditatively. “That one does sound familiar. Doesn’t he own some big restaurant in town? Lau Yee Chai or Wo Fat? Something well-known like those.”
Chan shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not either of those two, at least. Maybe one I don’t know as well.”
“And why are you asking about him?”
The idea flitted into view again and settled. Briefly, Chan gave her the most salient of details from his dream. The meeting with Harry Wong that didn’t happen. Chan’s being assaulted. And the woman who’d revived him. The part about Jasmine following him home, he left out.
“Huh,” said Yu. “That’s quite a vivid recall of the dream. I know I have dreams, but when I wake up, they’re gone. Even the good ones.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of a curse sometimes,” said Chan. “Some dreams, I wish I could forget.”
Yu turned to him. “Are we talking the psychic detective here? Dreaming about his cases. Solving them in his sleep as his subconscious unravels the mystery?”
Chan didn’t think of himself as psychic, by any means, but he didn’t want to admit how many times sleep and dreams did help him work through details of a case’s knotty problems.
“It’s odd,” he said. “Why did those two names come to mind, I wonder? Harry Wong. Jasmine Komine. I mean, I know Harrys, and I know Wongs, but no Harry Wong. And I know Komines. I don’t know any Jasmines, though.”
“Oh, I know a Jasmine,” said Yu. “Jasmine Thurston. She was a classmate of mine in high school at Lualuna Academy. Our group, five of us, we used to surf a lot together.”
This sent a chill down Chan’s spine. “Surf?”
“Yes, David. Surf. You know women can surf, right?”
“Well, yes, sure. I didn’t mean, well . . . ”
“Well . . . ?”
“Just that in my dream, this Jasmine looked like she could be a surfer. She had that kind of, uh, body.”
Yu smiled. “OooOooOoo. Spooky. Like The Twilight Zone.”
She laughed and patted him on the shoulder. Chan forced a smile.
“Anyway,” said Gi, “looks like they’ve got everything pretty much under control here.”
Just then they could hear an ambulance siren.
“Sounds close,” said Yu.
“Sounds like it’s coming right here,” said Chan.
The ambulance pulled up next to one of the fire engines and two paramedics jumped out.
“You think it’s a firefighter who’s injured?” asked Yu.
“Either that or they found someone in there,” said Chan.
The two got up and crossed Pi‘ikoi. Chan pulled out his badge as he shifted quickly into police department mode.
Lanning Lee 