"I hope there's a good reason for this, Mr. Burroughs," the slim, wiry general said tightly.
Burroughs jumped right in. "You already know about the Mori radiophone call, and the Jap Consulate burning its papers. What you don't know is mat Otto Kuhn, the German 'sleeper' agent, is working with Vice Consul Morimura, in an effort to pin the murder of Pearl Harada on an innocent man."
The general frowned, but with interest. This news perked Fielder's curiosity, as well. Short gestured to the booth, said, "Let's sit down-I'd like to hear this."
Burroughs and Sterling sat across from the general and the colonel. Both men seemed keenly attentive as the writer told them what Kuhn had admitted about the phone call, and that Morimura had flaunted his spying activities, right down to the powerful telescope in his private room at the Shuncho-ro.
Sterling said, "My office has clearly underestimated Morimura-he's put on a good front as a womanizer and buffoon. But it's apparent he's involved heavily in spying, though much of it may be legal."
"This is intriguing information, Mr. Burroughs," the general said, nodding thoughtfully. "But I as yet fail to see a reason for your sense of urgency…."
"Pearl Harada's uncle is on the FBI's list of dangerous Japanese-Americans here in Oahu. She may have been involved in something having to do with espionage, or overheard something." Burroughs turned to Fielder. "Wooch, that girl made a concerted effort to have me arrange a meeting between the two of you."
Fielder shrugged. "Of course-because she and my son wanted to get married…."
This was news to Short, who looked sharply at Fielder, who went on, faintly chagrined.
"My son and that girl knew I would forbid such a union, and she wanted to try to win me over."
"That's right," Burroughs said. "And we've been assuming that she was going to bat her eyes and sweet-talk you and just generally appeal to your basic goodness… but Wooch, what if she was going to prove herself to you by handing you sensitive information?" -
Fielder's eyes narrowed, and so did Short's.
"I spoke to that girl minutes before her murder," Burroughs said. "She was anxious to see you, Wooch, as soon as possible. She had a real sense of urgency about her, let me tell you … and somebody else had enough of a sense of urgency to murder her before she could talk to you."
Fielder seemed stunned, trying to absorb this.
"What do you think she knew?" the general asked.
"I can only guess," Burroughs said. "But if the Japs, through Morimura, are waking their sleeper agent… literally … and murder is being committed, right down to framing some poor fall guy … it must be something important. Something … urgent."
"It would certainly seem that Morimura and Kuhn are worth serious investigation." General Short turned to Fielder, who was after all his top intelligence man. "First thing Monday morning, I want you to meet with Agent Sterling and whoever's handling this murder case."
"That would be Detective John Jardine of the Prosecutor's Office," Burroughs told the general, "but do you really think you should wait until Monday?"
Short raised an eyebrow. "Morimura is a diplomat-with protected status. If he's been involved in illegal espionage, that status dissolves. Kuhn we can simply have arrested. Nevertheless, we need to tread slowly, carefully."
Burroughs leaned forward in the booth. "General Short, what if Pearl Harada had information indicating invasion was at hand?"
"Mr. Burroughs, war is at hand, unless these negotiations with the Japs start going someplace, quick… Washington indicates we could have hostile action at any moment."
"Well, then-"
"And I'm grateful to you, Mr. Burroughs, for this information indicating that espionage efforts here in Oahu are heating up."
The writer was shaking his head. "General, I'm not talking about war, I'm talking about invasion-a sneak attack. Your man Colonel Teske believed it would come by air at dawn on a Saturday or Sunday-when the Japs know they would have their best shot at rinding our ships in port and many men off duty, our guard dropped."
"Our 'guard' is never dropped, Mr. Burroughs," the general said, crisply, defensive irritation unmistakable in his tone. "War is coming but almost certainly not in Hawaii-I asked my chief of staff just yesterday what the odds were of that, and he told me, flatly, 'Zero.' "
Then Short was out of the booth, Fielder too, the general thanking the writer for his patriotism and his conscientiousness.
"This activity by Morimura and Kuhn is unquestionably pertinent," he told Burroughs and Sterling, who were still seated in the booth. "We're on alert against sabotage, espionage activities and subversion right now. When the Japs attack-whether it's the Philippines or Borneo-we'll have to be ready to handle a bloody uprising of their local fifth column."
And, after a few polite smiles and nods, General Walter Short and Colonel Kendall Fielder were off to rejoin their wives, who were listening to a trio of girls from the camp PX singing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."
"Hell, Ed," Sterling said, ashen, as the two walked out into the officers'-club parking lot in the still, crisp air, "if your hunch about invasion is correct, the general's antisabotage efforts could backfire tragically."
"How so?"
"Well, in this antisabotage alert he's implemented, Short's ordered ammo boxed up and locked, to prevent theft. And all the warplanes are disarmed and massed close together, in the middle of open tarmacs."
The writer's eyes popped. "Are you serious? That makes a perfect target for an enemy air raid!"
The FBI agent shrugged, glumly. "It's easier to guard the planes that way, Short says-against the 'fifth column' of local Jap saboteurs."
Burroughs shook his head. "And what I told him about Morimura probably only reinforced that notion."
As they headed out of Schofield in the black Ford, Burroughs said to Sterling, "We have to talk to Admiral Kimmel. We have to try him."
"That's probably not advisable…."
"Do you know where he is tonight?"
"I do," Sterling admitted. "A party at the Halekulani, given by Admiral Leary and his wife."
A number of the Navy's top brass lived at the Halekulani Hotel.
"Drop me at my car," Burroughs said, "and I'll meet you over there-in the lobby."
Just beyond Fort DeRussey, on the ocean side of Kalia Street, the Halekulani was a low-key, casually posh hotel whose buildings and cottages seemed interwoven with the Hawaiian landscape. The House Without a Key bar was named after Earl Derr Biggers' s first Charlie Chan mystery, a small resonance Burroughs might have savored, under less tense circumstances: John Jardine's late colleague on the Honolulu PD, Chang Apana, had been the basis for the fictional Chan.
Burroughs and the FBI agent found Admiral Kimmel in the company of Rear Admiral Draemel and Admiral Pye and their wives, sipping cocktails at a table under the big hau tree on the Halekulani terrace. A grouping of tables nearby made up a dinner party of around a dozen-all top brass and their wives … except, of course, for Husband Kimmel, whose wife was back on the mainland.
Sterling approached the stern, broad-browed admiral, apologizing for the intrusion, and politely asking for a few minutes of his time.
In the charming, pale pink, wicker-furnished lobby, standing near a huge window looking out on a seemingly impenetrable thickness of tropical garden, Burroughs and the FBI man laid out their cards for Admiral Kimmel. It took a while longer than the meeting with Short and Fielder, because Kimmel knew nothing of the Mori radiophone call, though he was aware of the Japanese Consulate burning their papers.
"That's only natural," the stately admiral said, a faint touch of Kentucky in his voice, "at a time like this."
"With war imminent, you mean?" Burroughs said.