Jewel of the Pacific (27 page)

Rafe caught up his dinner jacket and smiled.

He thought of the evening ahead. He was attending the queen’s ball for the legislature for two reasons. First, Eden would be there. He had asked Great-aunt Nora to bring her and keep his request under lock and key. He could have gone to Kea Lani before now, but he’d decided against it. She had probably expected him to go there after that cynical fiasco at Hawaiiana.

Then, there was the surprising news that Oliver Hunnewell was in Honolulu, and would be there tonight. That was curious. With his father, Thaddeus, one of the most dedicated of the men hoping for the removal of the monarchy, why would his son be invited to the queen’s festivity? Neither Ainsworth nor Hunnewell senior were invited. Rafe held a seat in the legislature, which accounted for his presence, but why Oliver?

He frowned. Just whose interests was Oliver serving—the British, Liliuokalani, or his father Thaddeus Hunnewell?

Zachary burst into the room carrying his dinner clothes over his arm. He dropped them on the chair and turned to Rafe. Something more important than clothing churned in his troubled mind. Rafe took one look at his tense features and knew it would be a rough evening.

“I’ve been
the
clever hound on the trail of
the
fox.”

Rafe tried not to smile since Zach was so profoundly serious.
The
fox could be none other than Silas.

“This time I’ve got the information on him,” Zach went on. “And I’m going to use it. Right in the
Gazette
.” He held up last week’s edition and tapped a headline that seemed unrelated to anything that could trouble him.

“Sounds interesting,” Rafe said smoothly. “Lay it all on the table.”

Zachary’s eyes fairly glimmered as he glanced toward the other door as though cautious that someone—Silas himself?—might have an ear at a keyhole.

“Witchcraft,” Zach stated bluntly, but in a low voice.

This was so unexpected that Rafe just stared at him. Zach must have thought he didn’t believe him because he nodded his sleek blond head. “Yes, you heard me. Witchcraft. That’s what it boils down to in the political pot.”

“Witchcraft,” Rafe said. He folded his arms.

“Exactly.”

“Silas practices witchcraft,” Rafe said slowly. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“He might. He wouldn’t need to, though. But he might.”

Rafe straightened, hands on hips. “Zach—sit down. Start from the beginning. Ling? Bring us whatever you have in the kitchen, will you?”

Ling was gaping at Zachary.

Rafe sighed. “Ling?”

“Tea,” Ling announced. “I have tea in kitchen. Bring from Chinatown.”

“On second thought, better order coffee from the café.”

Ling started off, but loitered at the door, until he noticed Rafe watching him. Then he went to order the coffee from the café at the hotel garden.

Zach had drawn a wicker chair to the table near the lanai. Leaning toward Rafe he said in a low voice, “I’ve got the story that will put the
Gazette
at the top of the Honolulu papers.”

Rafe had heard this before. “Not without Nora’s approval, and Ainsworth won’t appreciate an attack on the Derringtons.”

“I’ll need to convince Nora to let me flame the headlines. If anything will help the sales and save the
Gazette
, the scandal being operated in Iolani Palace should do the trick.”

Rafe already knew Silas was involved with the gambling cartel. Silas had admitted as much several months back. But what had this to do with Iolani Palace? Maybe Zach had stumbled onto something.

Concerning Silas and the gamblers from Louisiana, Rafe had kept the knowledge quiet for only one reason—to give Ambrose time to try and win Silas away from the cartel to bow the knee to Christ the Redeemer. Not only was the cartel corrupt, but it could also be a danger to Silas, who probably knew enough to put others at risk of being unmasked for their involvement. Was this what Zach was trying to explain? What any of this might have to do with witchcraft, however, was a puzzle.

“We know the syndicate is involved with members of the legislature,” Rafe said. “Maybe with Liliuokalani. Thurston is sure of it, though I’m not convinced yet. The syndicate wants both gambling and opium bills introduced, passed, and handed over by a cabinet member for her signature before she dismisses the legislature in September.”

“That’s it, all right,” Zach said eagerly. “Several men are here in Honolulu from Louisiana. Silas is working with them. And they’re working with the Chinese kingpin.”

“How do you know that?” Rafe pressed.

Zach looked sheepish. “I’ve followed Silas a few times since we returned from San Francisco.”

“And what did you discover—that he went to a Chinese gambling house in Iwilei?”

“Right. Or Rat Alley, as some call the area. It was the same house I trailed him to in the past. That night, for instance, when I was bashed in the head in Hunnewell’s garden, I’d followed him there. There were several men representing the cartel. They all had the same Southern accent Silas has. I even heard one of them mention New Orleans and some place called Gretna, Lu-ze-an-a, was the way he pronounced it.”

“Interesting, Zach, and good work on your part,” Rafe said, though he knew of the men and the kingpin’s gambling joint.

“Spying on the men from Louisiana is one thing, but the home turf of the opium kingpin is another. It’s a risky undertaking—too risky. We think Sen Fong was the number two man in the opium smuggling. He became a follower of Christ and was murdered to keep the cartel undercover. We found him with a knife through his heart in the garden at Hawaiiana. I still believe he came there to inform on the big kahunas calling the orders.”

“You’re right,” Zach admitted. “The marshal hasn’t been able to bring anyone to trial for the murder either.”

“There’s a strong chance he won’t, or can’t. The Chinese cartel operates undercover as a law among themselves.”

Zachary gave a shake of his head. “The more I dig into the gambling and opium trade, the deeper the tunnel gets.”

“I suspect it leads all the way to China,” Rafe said. “Even San Francisco. That tunnel is well connected. The cartels are as intertwined as two snakes. I suspect the lottery representatives from Louisiana came here either to expand in the Islands, or to take over from those already here. It’s my guess they’d rather strike a compromise with the Chinese opium kingpin, and keep the lucrative business of the casinos for themselves.”

Zach’s eyes glimmered. “And that isn’t all. One time when I followed Silas I had better luck seeing the person he went there to meet. It was Oliver Hunnewell.”

The connection to Oliver captured Rafe’s interest; it made sense to him. If Oliver was working to get the lottery signed into law, then the timing was right for him to show up in Honolulu on the verge of the queen pushing underhandedly to get the bill through the legislature.

This might be the connection he’d been looking for. He must move with caution, though.

“The cartel has a witch on their payroll,” Zach said with a smirk. “I haven’t been able to dig up much on her, however.”

“A fortune-teller, though they all hatch from the same egg. I can tell you a little about her.”

“You know?” Zach asked surprised.

“I’ve been suspicious for months. I first saw her here in the hotel lobby with a man. Whether he’s her husband or an associate is unclear. I inquired about her at the hotel office, and her name is Wolf. She’s a wolf all right, in sheep’s clothing, pulling the wool over Liliuokalani’s eyes with her trickery.”

“And Silas knows about her,” Zach insisted. “Oliver mentioned her to him. I heard him speak of ‘the witch.’”

“I’m sure he was just being sarcastic. She claims to be a tarot card reader. But whether she calls herself a fortune-teller, soothsayer, or
kahuna
, it’s all the same where the Scriptures come down. It’s an evil deception, and forbidden.”

Zach nodded. “So if she’s listening to this tarot card woman, Wolf, what does that say about the queen’s spiritual discernment?”

“We don’t know her that well, but I suspect someone in her inner circle does know her well enough to take advantage of this as means to deceive her and get her to make certain political moves.”

“Who would that be? It wouldn’t be Oliver. He has no easy access,” Zach said.

“And Silas even less.”

“You’re right,” Zach said grudgingly. “Silas isn’t that important to the queen, and he doesn’t know enough to pass things on to the tarot card reader.”

“So it has to be someone at Iolani who at least has access,” Rafe said. “He or she must be trusted by Liliuokalani, and must know some of her schedule and her agenda. If those making decisions on Hawaiian affairs of government are going to be guided through tarot cards, then someone who knows enough of what’s going on with the queen has to inform this Wolf woman how to interpret as she flips her deck of cards.”

“You’re absolutely right. So then …” Zach sounded a little disappointed. “Silas is a low-level.” He frowned. “Even so, he’s in with the cartel. And so is Oliver.”

So
, Rafe thought,
my suspicions were right all along. The gambling syndicate—and probably the opium dealers—are preying on the queen’s vulnerability by influencing her through a soothsayer. When men worship at the altar of greed it motivates the human heart to have no moral boundaries. The tarot card woman is just one more false teacher leading foolish people down the wrong path
.

“I must say,” Zach said thoughtfully, “I’m disappointed in the queen. She must be spiritually naïve. If she knew the Scriptures, she would never allow that fortune-teller to waste her time.”

“That’s one reason men like Thurston and others want a republic rather than a monarchy. If we don’t have wise leadership we need the right to vote them out. With royalty, you’re stuck with the family for generations. All Europe is a picture of what happens when a royal family must rule.”

And just how much was Silas involved in this new ruse?

It’s time to talk to Silas
, Rafe decided. And it would be wise to have Ambrose there when he did.

Rafe thought of the ball. Tonight Oliver would be at Iolani Palace. Was it a coincidence? Or was he coming to meet someone … perhaps the individual who had information for the “Wolf”?

Rafe gripped Zach’s shoulder. “Zach, you’ve been a big help. I believe you’ve put me on the right track with the information on Oliver. He’ll lead me straight to the person tricking the queen to trust the card readings.” He smiled. “Maybe you should seek the office of marshal, or start your own private detective agency.”

Zachary flushed at the compliment. For the first time he was speechless.

Rafe laughed and pushed him toward his dinner clothes. “C’mon, Zach, we’ve a lot of work to do tonight!”

T
he sky behind the feathery boughs of the jacaranda trees was turning from a greenish-blue to lemon and crimson, and the air was sweet with the scent of flowering blooms. The Derrington coach bringing Eden, Zachary, and Great-aunt Nora to the queen’s ball rolled smoothly along King Street toward Iolani Palace.

Eden smiled at her great-aunt, proud that she looked so sedate and trim in her dark satin gown. Why Nora had never married in her youth remained a mystery. She had never explained, and no one in the family seemed to know, including Ainsworth.

Nora’s reputation as a royalist and friend of the queen allowed for Zachary’s presence as their male escort, even though Great-aunt Nora suspected her “dear boy’s” interest in attending hinged on his personal investigative activity for the
Gazette.

“It’s true I have my suspicions about tonight, Aunt Nora,” Zachary confessed, seated across from her and Eden. “I’m admitting to my masquerade as a good and loyal supporter of Liliuokalani.”

“Rubbish, dear boy. Keep in mind we are all royalists here tonight. Away with useless suspicions! There will be no spying on Liliuokalani.” She poked her cane into his chest from across the seat.

“You see what it has come to, Eden?” he jested. “The lady is resorting to threats and physical abuse. Seriously, Aunt! Don’t you realize some of the strongest proponents of annexation are members of this legislature? They’ve come to dine and dance to the music of the Royal Hawaiian Band, not to support Liliuokalani in her wish to burn the ’87 Constitution.”

“You sound suspicious yourself as a secret annexationist. Be that as it may, I didn’t arrange for you to accompany Eden and me here tonight to spy on the queen.”

“The
Gazette
would be wiser to allow latitude for more serious undercover work on the queen and her loyalists than printing what kinds of fruits she had for luncheon, or what charitable potluck she went to on Friday afternoon. The
Gazette
must print the truth, Aunt Nora. Otherwise why have a newspaper? Might as well print fairy tales and hand them out on King Street … let’s see, how about ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’? Sounds like Honolulu politics.” He laughed cynically.

“By all means print the truth. Let the aftermath fall where it may. I’ve no interest in covering up the
truth.
But this razzle-dazzle rhetoric coming from the ‘Thurston Party,’” she said disparagingly of the Reform Party and its main annexationist, Lorrin Thurston, “is outright poppycock against Liliuokalani.”