Three Puzzles

Two special events in Tonga bring Detective Chief Inspector Kuli Finau and anthropologist Dr Pip Carey together again. The National Centre is exhibiting a special display of fine-mats from the Palace Collection, to celebrate a royal marriage between Tonga and Samoa. The Pacific Cultural Arts Festival has also brought artists and performers from all the Pacific island nations to Nukualofa. With everyone so distracted by the festivities, Pip's studies among the local fakaleiti - the Tongan transgender community - must be put on hold. And Kuli's plans for an evening off are thwarted when a number of crimes are uncovered. First there is the attack on a police guard at the Centre exhibition and the theft of Mata-`a-Maui, a priceless fine-mat. Next, the body of a fakaleiti, Josafina, is found in the grounds of the Breakwater Motel, where the public bar is a known hangout for Tonga's seedier types. And then a palangi staying at the motel appears to have been murdered and his possessions taken. It's up to Kuli to solve all three puzzles - especially when the top brass is only interested in the theft of Mata-`a-Maui.This time Kuli turns to Pip, and her connections with the fakaleiti, for help with Josafina's death, while he and Detective Corporal Nusi focus on the other two cases. But when Pip has friends among the Samoans who seem to be involved in all three cases, it's impossible to keep the investigations apart - and Pip out of danger.