McGarrett had known the woman only in passing. The elderly woman had always been near or around the Iolani Palace ever since he had been Chief of Hawaii's State Police Unit Five-0. McGarrett would find her at the Palace every morning, and many times she was still there when he left late in the evenings. Aloha's were always exchanged with each other. She had told him her name was May. She never gave a last name and for some reason, McGarrett never asked her. Many times McGarrett would have interesting conversations with the woman. She always seemed to know what was going on all over the Islands.

Standing next to her coffin, McGarrett thought back to the day he found her on the steps of the Palace. He had just pulled into his parking spot that morning. Getting out, he walked towards the bottom of the steps, there he saw what he thought was a person sleeping near the doors. Going over to the sleeping person, he bent down to wake them gently.

It was May, the elderly woman. Rigor mortise had already set in so he knew she had died sometime during the night. Lowering his head, he said a prayer for her. He walked back to his car and called dispatch to have them contact Doctor Bergman, the coroner. He then returned to this noble lady to sit by her side until they came to take her away.

During the time it took to arrange for her burial, McGarrett had attempted to find anyone who might have been related to her or might have known her. McGarrett didn't want her to have a burial like those whose bodies have gone unclaimed. He wanted a more dignified burial for her. So he paid for the services out of his own money. Lingering after the service was over, he watched as the casket was lowered into its final resting-place and then as the dirt filled the void. The headstone simply stated the only name he new her as, May, and the date of her death. Before he left, McGarrett laid a lei of Maile leaves on the headstone. Turning, he walked back to his car.

*****

When McGarrett returned to the office, after the funeral, Jenny noticed how distant he seemed as he passed her desk before entering his office. Getting up, she got a cup of coffee and knocked on the door before entering his office with it. There she found McGarrett standing out on the lanai looking out at the park in front. Jenny knew he was looking at the bench, under the tree, where the elderly woman had always been this time of day.

"Coffee boss?" she asked him. Jenny had seen the elderly woman several times but she had never met her. McGarrett had told her many times that he had seen this woman all over the Island. On several occasions, he mentioned that he wondered where the woman lived and how she always seemed to be in the park early in the mornings or sometimes very late into the night.

"Thanks Jenny. Have I ever said how I appreciate the things you do for us around the office?" he said as he turned towards her. Taking the cup, he walked back into the office with her.

"You've mentioned it a few times. Did you ever find anyone related to her?" Jenny said, referring to the deceased woman.

"No. We've not been able to find anyone yet. We haven't even been able to find where she was living. It's beginning to look like she was all alone in this world, Jenny."

"You were there for her though, so she did have someone who knew her in the end."

"Yes, I was. You never got to know her did you?" McGarrett asked.

"No, not really. I do remember seeing her in the park a lot, but I never said anything to her in passing. I guess I was in to much of a hurry to take the time to say Hi or anything." Jenny was sorry she hadn't taken the time to say good morning or something.

Her boss had never really mentioned anything to anyone about the woman while she was alive. No one in the office had given the elderly woman much thought until her death. The person most moved by her death was now suffering in his normal silence.

McGarrett put his cup down on the desk as he sat down in his chair. Picking up the file on the desk and leaned back in his chair, McGarrett said, "Have Danno and Chin come in when they arrive, Jenny."

"I will, boss," hesitating before she left the office, "Are you OK?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm fine," McGarrett told her. "And Jenny…thanks for caring."

"You're welcome boss," Jenny said smiling as she left the office.

*****

Dan Williams and Chin Ho Kelley came into McGarrett's office twenty minutes later. They took a seat in the chairs in front of the desk. They had been checking some of their sources for any leads on the identity of the elderly woman.

"Have you found anything gentlemen?" McGarrett asked his men.

"A possible, Steve. I checked with the banks around here. One of the tellers thinks she recognizes her picture. She doesn't have an account with the bank, but comes in every so often to cash her Social Security check. She remembers seeing an address on Kahuio Street, but she's not sure if that's where she lives or just picks up her mail," Dan told him. "She also said that she remembers the woman once mentioned that it was her birthday a few months back and when she asked how old she was, she said she was 104 years old this year."

"That's the approximate age Doc figured her to be, give or take a few years," Chin Ho said looking at the notes he had written. "I've checked with a few doctors and hospitals around here and they remember her also. I've been able to get an address on Kahuio Street. I thought you'd like to check it out yourself, Steve."

Sitting forward in his chair, McGarrett wrote down the address. "Did anyone have a full name for her?" he asked both detectives.

"No, none of my sources has a name other then May," Dan told him.

Chin Ho shook his head in agreement, "None of the medical records showed any more then a first name either. When I asked them why only a first name, they said she wouldn't give it to them and since it isn't really needed for treatment, they just left it at that. They figured there wasn't very many women her age around here, so they didn't persist in getting it from her."

"OK, thanks. I'll take it from here," McGarrett said. Sitting back in his chair, McGarrett could easily see this elderly woman not telling the doctors what her last name was. McGarrett was eager to go to the address Dan had found. Here was a possible lead to the elderly woman he had known of for years but never really knew.

"You want me to go with you Steve?" Dan asked. He could see that Steve was very saddened at the passing of the woman. Dan knew she had died of old age. No violent crime had taken her life. In a way Dan was glad. If she had met her death by violence, Dan didn't want to think of how angry his friend would be until the killer was caught.

"No, I want to do this alone. But thanks for caring enough to ask," McGarrett said as he got out of the chair and walked once more out to the lanai. He was remembering the first time he had seen her. He hadn't really paid her any attention then, as he had just taken over the responsibilities of his new job here and was unfamiliar with the people or the area yet.

"OK, Steve. Let us know if we can help out anymore," Dan said as they left the office.

McGarrett stayed on the lanai for ten minutes more before going back into his office. There he took the piece of paper with the address and put it into his pocket as he left the office.

*****

McGarrett pulled his car to the side of the road as he arrived at the address. The building was old, but been kept up. There were about twenty apartments in the building. Locating the manager's apartment, he knocked on the door. A young woman answered.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" she asked through the screen door.

McGarrett pulled his wallet out that held his badge, opening it he showed it to the woman. "I'm Steve McGarrett, from Hawaii Five-0. I'll like to ask you some questions about an elderly woman who lived here."

"You found May?" she said opening the screened door. She stepped outside, letting the door bang behind her as it closed.

Startled a little by the question, he put his wallet away before pulling out the picture of May and asked her, "You know this woman?" He gave the picture to the woman to look at. McGarrett knew he had found someone who knew the elderly woman.

"Yes! That's May. She's been gone for several days. I was getting worried. Do you know where she is?" the woman said as she handed the picture back to him.

"I'm sorry," McGarrett said, "but she passed away six days ago. I found her on the steps of the Iolani Palace last Friday morning. My department has been trying to locate any relatives or anyone who might have known her."

"She didn't have any family, Mr. McGarrett. Her husband and only son were killed during World War Two. She didn't have any daughters or any other living relatives that I know of. She was alone when she moved into here," the woman said. Tears were starting to running down her face.

"I'm sorry…what is your name?"

"Kathy Bernstein, Katie for short. How did she die, Mr. McGarrett?" Katie asked, tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now.

"She apparently, sat down on the steps to rest when her heart just gave out. The doctor said she didn't feel any pain. She just went to sleep and that's when she died." McGarrett opened the screen door to her apartment to guide Katie back inside so she could sit down. Sitting down on the sofa next to the chair, McGarrett leaned forward and put his hand on her knee in sympathy. "Did she have any friends?" he asked softly.

"No. No close friends that I know of, but she was friendly to everyone she met. She had mentioned that she knew of you since you first came to the Islands, but she didn't really have any, what you would call, close friends. May like to walk every where. She said that's how she kept in shape. She never did learn how to drive. May claimed that driving made time go to fast and she wanted to live every moment to the fullest."

"How did she get all over the Island then? I've seen her a couple of times in the North Shore area and then over at Makapu'u. Did people give her rides at those times?"

"No, Mr. McGarrett, she rode The Bus when she had to get somewhere far. But she never would accept a ride from anyone. I think cars might have scared her to much to ride in one."

"The apartment where she lived, may I see? I'd like to find out more about her."

"Ah, sure. Hold on, I'll get the key," Katie said getting up and going into the kitchen. She took a key off the key rack near the refrigerator and walked through the opened door being held by McGarrett. "She had the apartment just two apartments away from me, here on the main floor of the building," she said as she stopped in from of the apartment door. Opening the door, she stepped inside followed closely by McGarrett.

Going over to the chair in the living room, Katie picked up a picture of a man and a young boy holding up a fish he had caught. "This was her husband and son. They both died in the Pearl Harbor attack. She said she was injured during the attack also, but she never did say how badly." Katie handed the picture to McGarrett. There were several pictures on the wall of people. They were old and yellow, but you could still make out the features of the people in them.

McGarrett looked at the picture for awhile and at the ones on the wall. He then went over to the old roll top desk and opened it. The items in the desk were all in order. The letters there addressed to a Mrs. May Louise Kawaipunahele. McGarrett looked into some of the drawers. There he came across a wedding license dating to 1887, it stated her age then as twenty-one. There was also a family Bible in the desk. It showed her being born in 1866, which means she was indeed 104 years old when she died.

"What will become of her things here now Mr. McGarrett? If there are no living relatives, who do we give these things too?" Katie asked him.

McGarrett couldn't answer right then; he was fighting the tears cascading down his face. Shaking his head, he walked over to the bedroom where this elderly woman had spent many a lonely night.

McGarrett thought back to how many times May had said hello to him when they passed each other these many years back. Never did he really think about her, but he remembered how she had sent him flowers whenever he had been injured bad enough to spend time in the hospital. She never brought them directly to his room, but would ask one of the nurses to deliver them. He remember once when a nurse had asked him if she was his mother. He told her no, but she was someone who had always said Hi whenever they met.

"I'm pretty sure it will be OK for you to take care of the items here for her however you wish. I'd like to take this picture, the Bible and the wedding license back with me. I'm going to have the information here put on her grave stone. Do you know where her husband and son were buried?"

"No, she never said. Is it mentioned in the Bible there?" Katie asked, pointing to the Bible in McGarrett's hand.

Glancing quickly through the Bible, "No. I can't see any information on it in here. She's buried up at the Holy Cross Cemetery if you want to see it."

Not speaking for a moment, Katie was wondering through the apartment looking at the few items May owned. Katie stopped when she was in the small kitchen. She remembered the Christmas cookies May always brought her and her husband as a gift. Shaking her head lightly again, she wept a new. How she was going to miss the chats she had with May.

Walking back into the living room, she walked over to the door. "OK, I'll take care of her other things here. Thank you so much for the information of where she is buried. I'll have my husband take me over there when he gets home from work," Katie said as she closed the door to the apartment after they left it.

"Thank you, for showing me the apartment and letting me have these items," McGarrett said as he walked over to his car. Before starting the car, McGarrett sat there watching Katie as she walked back to her apartment door. Another tear ran down his face, he didn't wipe it away though. Starting the car, he waved to Katie before he drove off.

Before McGarrett turned to leave he said once more, "Aloha, my Lady, Aloha."

Pau