by Dave Sypher
Nodding politely to the security guard monitoring the room, Shinju sat down at an empty terminal and began her searches.
She punched in Logan Thornton’s name first. As the owner of Tiger Dojo, he was the most likely target for a civil suit. Surprisingly, the only thing listed under Logan’s name was a child emancipation proceeding for one Griffin Thornton, the 16-year-old son of Logan and Trinity. The petition was dated five years prior.
Typing in Tiger Dojo next, she saw an old record wherein Tiger Dojo was sued for 'causing grievous bodily harm to a visitor’. The name on that suit was one Shinju didn’t recognize, Dana Cummings, so Shinju requested a copy.
Searching Dana Cummings, she turned up a failed civil suit against one Mykel Ingram, employee of Tiger Dojo. Shinju requested a copy of that record.
Searching Trinity Thornton’s name revealed nothing other than Griffin’s child emancipation.
Chase Landry hadn’t brought a suit against Tiger Dojo but had tried to sue the state of California, and failed, regarding the disappearance of Mitch. Given his conviction regarding a mythical beast being responsible for Mitch’s disappearance, Shinju wasn’t surprised that his suit had failed. She was surprised, however, to see that Chase hadn’t gone after either Tiger Dojo or Logan Thornton.
Last on Shinju’s list was Jenny Slater. Her name turned up a case brought against her for beating up a Sacramento man named Abraham Fletcher. Shinju requested that record.
Finalizing her purchases, including signing the restricted usage agreement, Shinju took the records back to her hotel room, stopping at a grocery store for snacks to keep on hand while she did her afternoon reading.
Remembering the missing person reports, Shinju started with those. They weren’t very helpful, only recording vitals including height, weight, age, close relatives, date last seen, and last seen by, which was a large list of names of members of Tiger Dojo. It did detail the clothing they were wearing at the time of their disappearance, of cargo pants, hiking boots, and a long-sleeve shirt for Logan, and jeans, boots, t-shirt, and light jacket for Trinity. Shinju felt fortunate that she’d discovered Griffin’s emancipation filing, or she would’ve wondered who he was and how he was related to the Thorntons.
Reading the legal papers, Shinju started with Dana Cummings. He had brought a suit against Mykel Ingram after getting into an argument and fistfight with him at Tiger Dojo. The fistfight had taken place outside, and Mr. Cummings alleged that Mykel had attacked him without provocation. However, numerous witnesses, including two people who weren’t affiliated with Tiger Dojo, said that it was Mr. Cummings who had taken a swing at Mykel after voicing a racial slur at him. After his failed civil suit against Mr. Ingram, Mr. Cummings had then tried to sue Tiger Dojo, which was thrown out by the judge in light of the multiple witness testimonies stating what had actually happened. The judge noted during the proceedings that the altercation had had nothing to do with Tiger Dojo since it was a racially-motivated hate crime and had taken place off the property, and Cummings’ complaint was dismissed.
Jenny Slater’s suit alleged she used her martial arts skills to beat up her boyfriend. Jenny had testified that she was on only her second date with Mr. Fletcher when he attempted to assault her, and she was forced to defend herself. She stated that Mr. Fletcher hadn’t stopped trying to assault her until she’d broken three of his ribs with two solid kicks to his lower chest and cracked his collarbone with repeated blows of her fist. Fletcher was suing for medical costs and pain and suffering. Since there were no witnesses to the assault, the suit had been settled out of court for undisclosed terms.
Moving finally to Griffin Thornton’s emancipation filing, Shinju read that their son claimed his parents were against him entering college early and simultaneously studying at high school and college. He also stated that they were adamantly against him getting his degree in Liberal Arts. He said that he was working in a restaurant and living with three other young men in a two-bedroom apartment and was well able to provide for himself, and that he was receiving the majority of his schooling for both high school and college remotely when he wasn’t working, so there were no conflicts in his schedule. The petition was uncontested by Logan and Trinity, and emancipation had been granted.
"Where are you now, Griffin?” Shinju Googled his name, coming up with high school and college graduation pictures, but no other mentions of the young man; no social media accounts, no tags in the social media posts of others, nothing. "Okay, that’s suspicious. Why did Griffin drop off the grid? I need to ask Cassandra about this.”
Calling her employer, she was blunt. "Where is Griffin Thornton, and why wasn’t I told about the missing couple’s son?”
"Griff? He’s a non-issue. He moved out years ago, and Trin told me they didn’t have much contact. Griff was angry about not being allowed to study for both high school and college courses at the same time, and went out, got a job, a bed in a shared apartment, and filed for emancipation as soon as he had everything lined up. I do remember Trin saying that Griff was throwing his education away by choosing Liberal Arts as his major. They wanted him to get his degree in business, which would at least be useful, and hoped he would’ve chosen something more specific according to his academic testing, but Griff wouldn’t hear it.”
"Just how angry was Griff? Angry enough to murder his parents?”
"Oh shit,” Cassandra said. "You know, I really don’t know. Trin said she and Logan ended up not contesting his emancipation, saying it was better to just let him go and learn his own lessons in life if he refused to take their advice and support.”
"That sounds like a possible motive to me. Do you know where your nephew is living now?”
"No. I haven’t seen or heard from him in about six years. He didn’t even thank me for his last birthday card.”
"Was your relationship with him strained as well?”
"I wouldn’t define it as strained. He’d sometimes come and stay with us while Logan and Trin took the dojo kids to their retreat, and he never got into trouble with us when he was staying here. That’s why I was surprised when he cut off all contact. I can almost see why he cut off contact with Logan and Trin, but to never come back, not even to visit us, that hurt.”
"Maybe he didn’t want you revealing anything about his life to his parents?”
"That could be it,” Cassandra agreed. "He was a fairly private person even when he lived at home. He would booby trap his room to keep his parents out.”
"What kind of booby traps?”
"Rocks or thumbtacks on the floor, furniture placed just behind the door, so if you tried to open it too quickly it would rebound and likely hit you. I felt it was more prank stuff than intended to hurt.”
Thinking of how painful stepping on thumbtacks would be, Shinju formed a different opinion, but kept it to herself.
"Do you have his last known address and phone number?”
"Sure. Give me a second,” Cassandra went to get Griff’s information for her.
"Thanks,” Shinju told Cassandra. "If you hear from Griff, please let me know immediately, okay? I don’t care what time of day or night, please contact me.”
Chapter eleven
Dialing Griff’s number, Shinju was surprised when a woman answered with a terse, "Yeah.”
Hearing the woman’s almost belligerent tone, Shinju decided to be circumspect. "Hi, I’m looking for Griffin Thornton, and I was given this number as his contact number. Is he there?”
"He ain’t here, and this ain’t his phone no more. He gave it to me.”
"Do you know where I can find him?”
"You his girlfriend?”
"No. I’m just a friend of his, and I need to get in touch with him.”
"Last I heard, he was living on the levee.”
"Do you have that address?”
"There ain’t no addresses on his part of the levee. He been sleeping in a tent with the other homeless. That’s why he gave me his phone. He don’t need no phone when he ain
’t got no house.”
"Thank you. I will go and look for him in the homeless camp.”
"You find him, you call me, okay? He still owes me a stack, so you tell him that giving me his phone don’t make us square.”
"What’s your name?”
"Miranda Wilcox, but people call me Mira. You see GT, you tell him Mira needs to talk to him, okay?”
"I will, Mira. Thank you for the information.”
Hanging up the phone, Shinju made notes. "Spoke to one Miranda Wilcox, AKA Mira, who now owns Griffin Thornton’s cell phone. She said his nickname is GT, not Griff, which is what his family calls him. She says Griff is now homeless and living along the local levee. She claims that Griff owes her a thousand dollars and that I’m supposed to tell him to contact her if I find him. I’m going to call Cassandra and ask her how to find the homeless camp before going out.”
Calling Cassandra, she explained, "Griff’s phone now belongs to a friend of his who said that he hangs out along the levee in a homeless camp. Where would I find that homeless camp?”
"You’re not saying Griff’s homeless are you?”
"No,” Shinju was reluctant to tell Cassandra what Mira had claimed in case it wasn’t true. "I’m just letting you know I have a lead on his whereabouts, and I’d like to go and talk to him, see if he has any insight into what may have happened to his parents.”
"Oh.” Cassandra gave her directions, warning her, "But you better take something with you.”
"Like what?”
"Sandwiches are good. Hand out a few of those and then ask if anyone’s seen Griff. They’ll assume you’re friends and let you know if they’ve seen him.”
"How do you know this?”
"Arya came home from preschool and told me she’d heard from another of the kids on the playground that her father always takes food out to the homeless when he’s got something to ask them.”
"Out of the mouths of babes,” Shinju said. "Thanks for the advice. I’ll do that, and I’ll let you know what I find out about Griff.”
Stopping at the grocery store, Shinju bought a half dozen sandwiches. Thinking that that would not be enough, she bought large jars of peanut butter and jelly along with bread, a plastic silverware set, and napkins.
Locating the homeless encampment, she parked nearby. Taking the food and supplies with her, she walked into the camp.
Several people ran at the sight of her, stopping when she asked, "Are you hungry? I’ve got sandwiches.”
A young boy was the first to approach her, snatching half of one of the sandwiches she’d bought. His trust opened the floodgates, and Shinju was soon surrounded by people with their hands out. Most of them were men, but there were some women, and some families.
Many of them thanked her for the food she gave them, but the others would just hold out their hands, get their food, and walk off.
Once all the bread was gone, Shinju handed the remaining peanut butter and jelly to a woman with two children clutching at her legs. She and her children were reasonably clean, though their clothing was heavily wrinkled.
"Why’d you do that?” One of the women asked her.
"I was hoping to find a friend of mine, GT,” Shinju used his street name. "Have you seen him lately?”
"Good old GT. He started out doing what you’re doing before he needed to move in with us. I haven’t seen him in almost a month, maybe. Martin and his family took over his tent when it became apparent that GT wasn’t coming back. If you see him, tell him Alicia says hi.”
"Do you think anyone here knows where he went?”
"Nah. We talk a lot in the early evenings, and everyone’s been saying they don’t know where GT went. If you see her, you can ask Mira where he went. Those two were pretty close.”
"Mira Wilcox?” Shinju was surprised.
"Oh, you know her, too? Yeah, she’s spent a few nights down here with us a few months ago, left saying she’s got her eye on an abandoned building we can all move into this winter because it will be too cold here on the levee. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her around for a few weeks either. I know she and Griff shared some time. I sure hope she’s gonna come back and let us know where that building is, because the damn government keeps filling in our dugouts. We need them to keep ourselves warm and dry in bad weather, but those fuckers keep chasing us off and filling them in.”
The woman walked off muttering, and Shinju realized she had either emotional or mental problems or possibly a little bit of both that made it difficult for her to live a normal life.
Leaving the camp, she went back to her hotel and began pacing the room while talking to herself. "Griff had apparently fallen on desperate times a few months ago, so desperate that he joined the homeless in their camp along the levee. Now, as of about a month ago, he’s vanished. Mira Wilcox claims he gave her his phone. I wonder.”
Doing a search on Miranda Wilcox turned up a prison record for felony possession of an illegal substance along with a secondary charge of theft.
Another thought hit her, and she called up Cassandra again.
"Do you know who stands to inherit Logan and Trinity’s estate should they not be found?”
"Griff would, of course,” Cassandra replied immediately, then, "Oh! You don’t think?”
"I’m afraid I have to consider that possibility,” Shinju told the now distraught woman. "I imagine that the Tiger Dojo business is worth quite a bit of money, and Griff has been apparently hanging out with at least one known criminal.”
"Oh my God,” Cassandra said, "That’s terrible. Have you found Griff, then?”
"No. The homeless say he was going down there pretty regularly several months before he began living there himself, but now they haven’t seen him in about a month. A woman I spoke to, named Mira, said she hasn’t seen him in about the same amount of time. Is her name familiar to you?”
"Mira? No. Like I said, Griff cut off contact with us when he cut off contact with his parents, so I don’t know anything about his life.”
"Unfortunately, with no one who’s recently associated with him having seen him in about a month and his parents also missing, I think you need to file a missing persons report on him, as you’re his closest living relative.”
"Damn, damn, damn,” Cassandra swore, sniffling. "I’ll do it right away. Is there anything else you have to report?”
"I’ve spoken to some of the people who were present when your sister and brother-in-law went missing and turned up a possible lead in San Francisco. I’ll be driving down there tomorrow to speak with the head manager of that Tiger Dojo, to get her thoughts on the disappearance.”
"I didn’t realize so much travel would be necessary. Do you need additional travel expenses?”
"No, thank you,” Shinju reassured her. "My fees cover travel, lodging, and any other expenses I may incur. I’ll let you know if I learn anything useful in San Francisco.”
Chapter twelve
Jenny Slater wasn’t what Shinju was expecting, not even after reading about her altercation with her erstwhile date, Abraham Fletcher. She was tall, and while she wasn’t fat, she was what Shinju would consider sturdy, with a fairly straight waist, slim hips, and long legs. Her brown curly hair made her look younger, though the lines in the corners of her eyes and on her forehead made Shinju guess she was probably in her early to mid forties.
"Seth told me you were coming, Ms. Fujiwara,” Jenny smiled. "I’m not sure what I can do to help you find Logan and his wife, but ask me any questions you’d like.”
"How long have you been associated with Tiger Dojo?”
"As a student or as a manager?”
"Both.”
"I started as a student as soon as the dojo opened ten years ago. After I earned my black belt, my former job was downsized, and I mentioned it when Logan was here teaching a class. He said he didn’t like all the driving back and forth, so he offered me the head managerial position that I’ve had ever since; and that’s nearly seven years now.”
"Grayse Ingram, the daughter of Mykel, who you probably know is the head manager of the Sacramento dojo, said she overheard Logan talking with you on the phone, telling you to calm down and that you two would talk the next time he came to San Francisco shortly before he disappeared.” This was a gamble, as Grayse hadn’t said she’d heard whether it was Jenny Slater or not on the phone.
Jenny’s face flushed, and she pressed her lips together. "If you’re implying that I had anything to do with this...,” her fists clenched, and Shinju took a step back. She was learning street fighting, but she was certain that someone with Jenny’s skills could wipe the floor with her if she chose to do so.
"I’m not implying anything,” Shinju raised a quelling hand. "I merely would like to know what you two were talking about. I’m looking for insight into Logan’s thought processes shortly before he and his wife went missing. Is your dojo having any problems with any of its students, teachers, workers, or family members of students?”
"Oh,” Jenny unclenched her teeth. "Well, when you get access to his phone messages, you’ll find this out anyway. The reason I went off on Logan is because I learned that while I’ve been managing one of his secondary dojos the longest, I’m being paid the least. I was pissed off because I’m the only woman managing one of his places, and I thought he was above all that sexist crap about paying women only seventy percent of what men make.” She held up a hand before continuing. "I’m actually making eighty-five percent of what the others are making, which is more equitable, but I have seniority, and I feel I should be making more than the others. He said it was an oversight on his part, not giving me sufficient raises to put me in the top spot and keep me there, and he said he’d immediately increase my pay. However, I want it to be retroactive for the three years I know I’ve been underpaid. This dojo is profitable enough that Logan can easily cover the discrepancy, and he said we’d discuss it the next time he was in San Francisco. And now he’s missing. But, I have to tell you, Ms. Fujiwara, you should keep in mind that it’s against my interests to have something happen to Logan before he dealt with my complaint about unequal pay. And while I’m seeing more money in my checks, now that he’s gone missing, I don’t think I’ll ever get the retroactive pay I deserve.”