The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2

by John A. Broussard

  On the way out, Corky stopped at the front desk to pick up the readout from the operator.

  “Do you know the operator who took the call?” Corky asked the young Filipina who had handed her the paper.

  The operator nodded and smiled. “It was me. I was on late shift, Saturday.”

  “I dont suppose you remember taking the call, do you?” Corky asked, not too hopefully.

  The operator smiled and nodded again. “I remember the call, because when he ordered the drink he said he needed something to help him celebrate.”

  ***

  “DeMello here.”

  “Hi, Hank. Its Victorine at this end.”

  “The pm already? How come so quick.”

  “Its strictly a preliminary. Be sure to keep the fact it is in mind.”

  “Consider it kept.”

  “Our suspicions have been borne out. He died of a bullet wound.”

  “Gee, Clyde, we sure lucked out on our first guess.”

  “By now, youve undoubtedly examined the bullet, so you know more about the

  caliber than I do. It was heavy, thats for sure.”

  “It was a fortyfive, in case youre interested, but we had the caliber pretty well

  pinned down at the time.”

  “It went smack through the left ventricle on the way in. I couldnt have found a

  better spot for it myself. On its way out of the heart, the bullet tore it pretty much to

  shreds. Id guess the gun was no more than ten inches away when the gunman pulled the

  trigger.”

  “No indication of suicide?”

  “None. Im sure you didnt expect any. The gun was close but not close enough to be

  a self inflicted. The lack of any murder weapon at the scene makes suicide a rather

  remote possibility, dont you think?”

  Hank grunted.

  The pathologist sounded amused as he continued. “He was a reasonably healthy male

  with some atherosclerosis. Thats to be expected. He probably had another thirty years or

  so and one bypass ahead of him if he hadnt had this assist.”

  “Time?”

  “Death was instantaneous, and I mean instantaneous. It probably occurred some time

  before seventhirty Saturday night. Were going to have a tough time deciding the earliest

  it could have happened, but the latest would be no later than seven-thirty. Help any?” “Sure does. We got a fix on the victim at about five after seven. May be able to get

  closer than that. Even then it puts the death within thirtyminutes or so. Why couldnt you

  get any closer with a temperature check?”

  “By the time we got to it, the body was at room temperature, which means thirty-six

  hours or more in those air-conditioned rooms. Any idea when he had his last drink?” “Were guessing here. Room service delivered a drink to his room at six-fifty-five.

  Thats where we got the time fix. The drink was sitting on the bedside table and looked as

  though it had barely been touched. Earlier drink he had down at the bar was probably

  around six-thirty. Might have been five minutes or so later.”

  “The drink doesnt help much. The alcohol in his stomach indicates ingestion a half

  hour or so before death. So, if he finished the bar drink at 6:45, then it means he died

  around 7:15. I doubt were going to get much closer than that. So Ill guess the time isnt

  off by much more than ten or fifteen minutes. He wasnt drunk, by the way. He was

  probably mildly euphoric. Hed have been legal driving a car. Theres something else

  which might help. Find out what flight he was on coming over from the Mainland. You

  might call the airlines to see what they served and when they served it. It could be an

  additional check.”

  “Nope. The flight arrival wont help. He came in the previous day. Weve already

  checkedthe restaurants at the hotel and cant find out when or where he might have eaten

  earlier on the day he died.”

  “Well, if you do get the info, let me know. It could help me get closer, but when a

  body has been lying around for a day-and-ahalf, its absurd to talk about minutes.

  Somewhere between seven and seventhirty is going to be about the best I can do, Im

  afraid.”

  “No complaints. If you do as well on all my cases, Ill get the county council to give

  you a raise.”

  “If I did as well on all your cases, it would be a miracle, and if you ever got a raise

  for me out of the council, it would be another.”

  Chapter 10

  The setting had changed little from the night before. Sid was relaxing on the same lawn chair, and Sheena was back in her favorite spot on his chest. John Samuel, crouched low on his front paws with his hind end high and twitching, was stalking a dried leaf blowing across the lanai. Bluebeard had suddenly caught sight of something moving behind him and this had set him off into a frantic bout of tail chasing. Kay had been reading a mystery novel, but the rapidly darkening sky now made her put a bookmark in her place. She lowered the back of her chair.

  “ Sid?”

  “Huh?”

  “Do you think the argument the waiter described could have been a prelude to

  murder? ”

  “It didnt much sound like it. It just seemed to be a loud, businessmens quarrel.” He

  shrugged, and Sheena glared her displeasure at the disturbance.“On the other hand,

  businessmen and others have been known to commit murder without ever raising their

  voices. As far as I can see, it looks bad for Ken. He sounds convincing, but Id hate to

  have to pay money out on all the people whove convinced me they were innocent when

  they were really guilty.”

  “There is one thing in his favor, though.”

  “Whats that?”

  “The „Do Not Disturb sign.”

  “I dont get it.”

  “What would Ken have had to gain by putting the sign on the knob?” “Delay, I suppose. He could get back to his hotel and not have the body discovered

  before then.”

  “Hes not stupid, Sid. No one was going to go into a locked room at that time of

  night, with or without the sign. Even if they had, whod have thought to call him to check

  if he was in his room? So why spend any more time near the room than absolutely

  necessary? He was clearly there at six-fortyfive or so. He doesnt deny it. Besides, Im

  sure he knows enough about autopsies to realize the time of death would be pretty clearly

  established around then, even if the body wasnt discovered for twenty-four hours or so.

  So he knew the sign wouldnt have helped him as far as time was concerned.” Sid was amused. “Youre just trying to convince yourself Kens not guilty.” The red sun had slipped behind a bank of clouds on the western horizon leaving

  behind rays of darkening yellow and pink. Every second the shades and colors changed.

  Sid watched Kays face as its tone shifted with the rapidly changing light. “Maybe youre right,” she said.

  “Not only that,” Sid continued, “but your theory has to explain why any killer would

  have put the sign there. If Ken didnt have any reason too, why should anyone else have

  had a reason for doing so? I think the most likely explanation has nothing to do with the

  murder. Clayton just put it there himself.”

  “At seven oclock at night? Seems pretty unlikely. He hadnt eaten dinner yet, so he

  was bound to be going out again soon.”

  Sid shrugged again, and Sheena got up in disgust and moved off to the more stable

  surface of the lanai floor. “The „Do Not Disturb sign is still a mighty slender reed to

  cling to.”

 
; “I know.” After a moment of silence, Kay added,“For Lauras sake I sure hope Ken

  didnt kill Clayton.”

  “You dont sound too hopeful.”

  “Im not. I guess I am trying to convince myself he isnt guilty, but its not easy.” “If it isnt easy for you, just think how tough it must be for Laura.”

  ***

  “If Cole is telling the truth, the scenario runs something like this.” Corky was reading a summary from her note pad to Hank, who was leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling.

  “ Cole and Heinicke went up to 333 at six-forty-five. According to Cole, he spent about ten minutes there. At three minutes after seven, Heinicke called room service. The drink arrived at about seven-oseven…maybe before, but not much before. Room service was the last one to see Heinicke alive, except for the murderer of course. Which means sometime in the next twenty minutes, someone shot Heinicke, most probably two or three minutes after room service left.”

  “Lets run through it again,” Hank said. “I thought he got his drink at six fifty-five.” “Uh-uh. Room service was guessing. The readout says seven-o-three, and their clocks right on the nose. I checked it against mine, and Im allowing four minutes for the drink to arrive.”

  “Hows the time when Heinicke and Cole got to the room established?”

  “Thats Coles estimate, and the waiters estimate of when they left the bar. Hes the one who served them at The Palm Court.”

  “Thats entirely Coles estimate as to when he left Heinickes room?”

  “Yeah. Its based on his report he went down the elevator and stood at the rail on the lanai watching the setting sun. It was just going down. I checked on sunset time, and it was six-fifty-nine.”

  “So, even if he left the room when he said, he could have gone back up, knocked at the door and killed Heinicke when he opened it.”

  Corky nodded. “From where the body was lying, a shooting at the opened doorway makes a lot more sense than thinking Cole was in the room when room service came by with the drink. Whoever did kill Heinicke was almost sure to have been standing in the doorway or just outside the door.”

  “What makes you think he was killed so soon after room service dropped off the drink.”

  “Because it was barely touched, if at all. Heinicke might have put it down for a minute or so, but if he was thirsty enough to pay those outrageous room-service rates, he wouldnt have been likely to just leave it sitting around.”

  “So someone probably did the shooting just after room service left.” Hank rolled the idea around in his mind. “Maybe just waiting nearby until he heard room service leave.”

  “Possibly, but we still have the problem of the gunshot to deal with.”

  Hank looked unhappy, as he checked his notes.“Damn! The accountants convention cleared out Sunday afternoon, and most of them went to Oahu and caught evening flights back to the mainland. They had just about all the rooms on the floor. Any luck yet running any of them down?”

  “Some of the gawkers when we got there were from the same floor, but from way down the hall. None of them had a room there on Saturday. Room 331, on one side, was empty at the time. I did find the guy who was in the room on the other side, number 335, but I had no luck with him. He was eating dinner at seven on Saturday and didnt get back to his room until almost nine. Were still calling around. It will probably be the same thing with all of them.

  “Seven in the evening in a hotel is probably the lowest time of the day for actual room occupancy, and it was a light occupancy day anyway. People are out to dinner or off some place else. If someone had heard a gunshot, and a forty-five makes one hell of a lot of noise, Im sure the hotel desk would have gotten a call. What I cant understand is, even if were wrong and the killing occurred in the room with the door closed, it would still have been a tremendous bang. I know those rooms are heavily insulated for sound, but Hank, a forty-five in a closed hotel room…it must have been deafening. You know what they sound like on the range.”

  Hank was still frowning when he reached for the ringing phone.

  Corky was checking back through her notes when she realized that Hank had jumped up from his chair.

  “Lets go, Corky. Weve got the answer to the noise problem. That was Captain Pascual. Theyve just found an automatic at the hotel. Its a forty-five with a silencer attached to it.”

  *** “Ive got a court appearance this morning, Ken, but I should be thro ugh early,” Laura said over the phone. “Can you come by at noon? We can go to lunch together.”

  Laura checked through her briefcase. As she was leaving she saw, out of the corner of her eye, a disapproving Leilani whod overheard the conversation and was now shaking her head.

  Having just come out of her office, Kay also took in Leilanis performance. “Dont be so harsh on Laura,” she said, after Laura had gone.

  “I warned her,” Leilani said emphatically.

  “Do you think Ken actually did do the killing?”

  “Of course not. But it doesnt mean he couldnt be convicted for it. Youve heard all the stories Qual tells about innocent people being sent to prison.”

  “Why, Leilani! Thats the first time Ive ever heard you make a snap judgment about a stranger. Youve hardly met him, and here you insist you know he didnt kill his partner.”

  “I just know. Thats all. Hes much too nice a man. Maybe he wouldnt be such a bad husband for Laura, after all.”

  Kays eyes opened wide. “This, I cant believe.”

  Chapter 11

  Captain Pascual, carrying a brown paper sack, met them in the lobby. “Hi Manny,” Hank said, as he reached for the bag. “Quick work. Here I was thinking wed have to scour the premises looking for the gun, and you come up with it before we could even get our act together.”

  “Whatever you do,” Captain Pascual said in a low voice, “dont take it out in the hotel. Old Hook Nose would have my hide if he thought we were flashing guns around where the guests could see them. Hes already cross-haired. Any minute I expect him to blame the murder on bad security.”

  Hank grinned.“If I leave it in the bag and he sees me, hell think Im a wino carrying a pint around. Which might be even worse publicity for the hotel.” Hank glanced in the sack to see a large automatic, equipped with a silencer, in a second, clear plastic bag. “Its the right caliber, all right. This is the first silencer Ive ever seen on this island,” Hank added. “In fact, the only time Ive ever handled one was way back in my police school days in Honolulu. No wonder I couldnt figure out how the gun could have been fired without being heard. I suppose in Mafia country, the police would have automatically assumed a silencer was involved.”

  Captain Pascual nodded. “Maybe the big time gangsters have decided to move in.”

  “Sure as hell hope not,” Hank said. Then, examining the plastic bag more closely, commented, “Guns all wet. Whered you find it? In the fish pond?”

  “Uhuh. It was in the dolphin pool. Lets go see Dina Prather. Shes the one who trains the dolphins.”

  “Was she the one who found it?”

  Captain Pascual turned his head to look at Hank and grinned as they walked through the archway to the pool.“Ill let Dina give you all the details about how the gun was found.”

  The dolphin pool was a controversial part of the Malalani Resort. Some marine scientists insisted the dolphins were in an unnatural environment and were suffering as a result. Other marine scientists claimed there were no such adverse effects, and insisted the pool actually provided an ideal and much needed setting for closer study of the animals. A major source of contention was the dolphin-human contact occurring in the pool. Tourists, for a fee, were allowed to play, or attempt to play, with the sea mammals. There was no agreement concerning the effects of these contacts. The controversy was still raging, as was indicated by the frequent letters to the Elima Chronicle on both sides of the issue.

  When the three of them arrived at the pool, the creatures at the center of the controv
ersy–six of them–were swimming in unison to the surface, rising up, rolling forward, diving and exposing their fins high out of the water, surfacing, and then repeating the performance. A dozen hotel guests were watching the frolicking animals.

  Lieutenant DeMello was duly appreciative of the curvaceous Prather in her abbreviated swimsuit. He knew Corky was watching him and would be ready to comment on any signs he was unduly influenced by the sight of all this lovely flesh. The thought made him adopt an official look of sternness and an unnaturally gruff tone during his questioning.

  “Could you tell me when you found the automatic?”

  Dina didnt seem to notice either the look or the tone, but merely nodded as she answered, “It was just about an hour ago, but I wasnt the one who found it. Alice did.”

  “Alice?”

  Dina walked over to the edge of the pool and the dolphins swung over in her direction. Six heads broke the surface. “Thats her in front. Shes the one with the scar just above and behind her left eye. She surfaced with the gun in her mouth and pointed it right at a tourist who was in the pool at the time.”

  Dina tried unsuccessfully to suppress a giggle. “It was an older woman. I think she got a lot older real fast. At first, I couldnt make out what it was Alice had in her mouth. When I did see what she had, I dove in. Boy, was that ever a mistake! Alice and the others decided to play keep-away when they found out I wanted the gun, and I knew Id be no match for them if they continued the game. So I called to Larry, my assistant, and told him to break out the fish. Even Alice can be conned by a meal. She dropped the gun and I picked it up from the bottom. I called Captain Pascual as soon as I got out.”

  “Nice to have it,” Hank said, “Im grateful to Alice for finding it, but it would have been a lot nicer if shed just let you know where it was so we could see where it had been dropped in the first place.”

  “Thats no problem. Give it back to me and Ill get her to show you where she found it.”