“Hi, Selma. Never better. How’s it going back home?”
“Nothing unusual. We’re still digging through any records that would shed some light on the phantom destroyer, but so far it’s a dead end.”
“That’s frustrating. It sounds like if it weren’t for the survivors, nobody would know the ship ever existed.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it before. Then again, there’s no way of knowing how much of that period’s history is anywhere near complete, because if the Japanese did this with other boats, they’d already be lost forever, as far as we’re concerned.”
“Well, if you have the time, I have another project for you.”
“I live for new projects,” she said, only half joking.
“This one involves giants and the Japanese.”
“I can’t wait to hear the punch line.”
Sam smiled to himself. “I think we touched on it before, but now I’m serious. There are persistent legends on the island about giants that live in the mountain caves, showing themselves only when raiding remote villages or abducting people.”
“I see,” she said, her tone flat.
“I know it’s far-fetched, but the part of the legend that interests me is the constant reference to a network of caves that supposedly runs the length of Guadalcanal and is used by the giants to traverse the island.”
Selma took a deep breath. “What, exactly, do you want me to research?”
“See if you can find the earliest references to giants in accounts of the Solomons and then work forward. And I’m also very interested in any map or description of the cave system. I know that’s a long shot, which is why I think you may have better luck leading with the giant legend rather than the caves. My bet is that nobody’s ever done much exploration, if any.”
“Right. Giants and caves. You also mentioned the Japanese?”
“Yes. I want everything you can find relating to the last days of the occupation.”
“Didn’t we already cover that with the evacuation?”
“No. I’m most interested in the time frame from October to February, before the evacuation began.”
“Care to narrow the search for me? Anything in particular you’re looking for?”
Sam told her about Nauru’s account. “I want to see if there’s any mention of slave labor or secret experiments. Even unsubstantiated accounts or rumors. I’m hoping you can come up with something because our link to the past is on his deathbed and I don’t think there’s going to be anything more forthcoming from him.”
Selma was quiet for a few moments. “What did you say the name of this commander was?”
“I didn’t. Why?”
“It may be nothing. But a colonel on Guadalcanal . . .”
“Selma, what is it?”
“I was just thinking that there couldn’t have been dozens of them. I mean, we’re talking about a total force of only a few thousand men at the end.”
“Right. But how does that help us?”
“When I researched the survivors of the destroyer that sank, I remember one of them was a high-ranking officer. Army. I’ll have to go back, but I think it was a colonel. Hang on just a second and let me pull up the file.”
Sam could hear the sound of keys clicking in the background in a flurry of activity and then Selma came back on the line.
“I knew it. Here it is. A Colonel Kumasaka was rescued, along with four seamen.”
“On a ship bound straight for Tokyo, best as we can figure.”
“Right. It could just be a coincidence . . .”