Grigor stood up, examined his dressing and gave a satisfied nod. It was clean and tight. He would wipe the blood off the bathroom floor, dispose of the washcloth and towels and get dressed. Then find something to eat before boarding.

In twelve hours, he would be in Oahu. He could manage. The end was close.

Finding out who owned Guiding Star Marine Logistics was as easy for Kali and Natasha as clicking on its company website.

The site opened in English, but was available in Chinese, Russian and French. Based in Shanghai, China, with offices in Jilin City, Guiding Star was listed as being under the sole proprietorship of its founder, a man named Zhou Bohai.

The About drop-down offered a summary of Bohai’s family history and the company origins, which were essentially inseparable. Although Guiding Star had been established in 1986 as a marine freight venture, the Zhou family had proudly claimed its place as a regional shipping giant since the early nineteenth century, when the clan’s ancestral patriarch opened an overland trade route to Russia along a portion of the old Silk Road.

Natasha read silently along with Kali as she scrolled down the page, then scrolled back up to a family photograph at the top. According to the credit, it was taken in 2017. Bohai was a bald, jowly man of forty-five or fifty standing with a group of about a dozen relatives: his parents, his siblings and their spouses. The caption below the photo identified each family member and, parenthetically, their relationships to Bohai. On his left in the middle row was a thin, attractive woman about ten years his junior.

Kali tapped a finger to her image on the computer monitor.

“Do you see this woman? The caption names her as Deng Jing. Zhou Bohai’s sister,” she said. “She’s the owner of Seven Winds. The man to Jing’s right is her husband, Yannan.”

Natasha looked at her. “Wait, back up, head spinning,” she said. “The owner of the company that shipped the pipes CloudCable buys from China, Zhou Bohai, is the brother-in-law of the guy whose company makes them?”

Kali nodded yes. “Deng Yannan. Owner of Jinggu.”

“And Bohai’s sister and Yannan’s wife is Deng Jing, whose company got those twelve very suspect kitchen staffers from Jinggu?”

Kali nodded. “Seven Winds.”

“And Seven Winds sent that dirty dozen aboard the Stalwart. Where they were ridiculously approved by Grigor. Who was impersonating the ship’s boarding agent Stephen Gelfland. Who disappeared last year before the ship sailed and was never seen or heard from again. Kind of exactly like the Stalwart.”

Kali nodded again. “Guiding Star’s shipment of pipes left Shanghai several weeks before the Stalwart’s disappearance. Aboard the Xingyun Liwu. The Lucky Gift. The largest container ship in its fleet.”

“And the Lucky Gift docked at Honolulu Harbor yesterday.”

“Yes.”