Wired Sentinel: Episode 5

Sophie studies the latest plumeria...

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Episode 5:

“But why would the burglars take this kind of risk and…not steal anything?” Raveaux gestured around the King’s Suite with elegant hands, his movements encompassing the Victorian furnishings, the heavy koa wood furniture, a crystal chandelier that had witnessed the last days of Hawaiian independence. Sunlight streamed through tall windows, illuminating dust motes that danced like spirits of the past. “They didn’t even take those.” He gestured to the mantelpiece.

Sophie studied the silver candlesticks resting on the raised shelf—nineteenth-century pieces that could fetch considerable sums on the black market. They were undisturbed, their surfaces still bearing the careful polish of the palace preservation staff. Above them hung a portrait of King David Kalākaua, the “Merrie Monarch,” his eyes seeming to follow her movements with an expression both regal and melancholic.

“The whole thing is bizarre,” Marcus said, watching as Sophie photographed the plumeria from every angle. The flower lay against the deep burgundy of the carpet like a fallen star. The morning light revealed subtle variations in its coloring—not pure white as she’d first thought, but touched with the faintest lemon yellow, like sun on sand.

Sophie pulled on latex gloves with practiced efficiency, the familiar snap of rubber against skin grounding her in the present even as the room’s history pressed in from all sides. She carefully lifted the flower, noting how it had been placed with deliberate precision at the exact center of the room, equidistant from all four walls. Someone had cared about the presentation.