The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2

by John A. Broussard

  Hank looked grim.

  “Theres something else you might give some thought to, Hank.”

  “What now?”

  “Since there are no direct flights to Elima from the Mainland, the murderer and all his luggage had to go through security on the Mainland, and he had to change planes on Oahu and board again at the Interisland Terminal, which means another pass through the gates. The last time I went through security there, the beeper went off because of the metal hooks in my brassiere. So how did he get the gun here?”

  “Brassiere hooks?

  “Well, OK. So it was really the handcuffs I was carrying. The principles the same. He sure never carried the gun on at either San Francisco or Honolulu. Even luggage thats shipped through on the airlines these days is X-rayed.”

  “So howd he get it here? Thats the question.”

  “Uhuh. The question is, „How did the killer get here?”

  *** Computech Systems Inc.s quarters showed no signs a potential million -dollar industry was about to emerge from the facilities. But, then, Apple Computer started in a garage, Sid reflected.

  The oneroom office was located at the south end of San Joses main commercial district. The building was a converted warehouse, and Computech Systems occupied a cramped space on the second floor. There were two desks crowded into the small room. One was empty, the other was occupied by a brown-haired woman in her thirties. Though she didnt stand up when Sid entered, he estimated her height as at least six feet. She wore glasses, a non-descript hairstyle, no make-up, and strange, flowery, out-of-date clothes which Sid pictured as being the mark of a Christian fundamentalist.

  The unsmiling secretaryreceptionist acknowledged Sids card with a nod of the head and, with the same gesture, indicated the one chair provided for visitors. Her unresponsiveness left Sid uncertain as to how to proceed.

  “ Thank you for taking the call from my office,” he said. “Have you heard anything from Saul Epstein since I called you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Is it all right if I tape this interview?”

  She shrugged.

  Can she talk? Sid wondered to himself, and also wondered what the recording would be like if she couldnt.

  “As you know, my firm is representing Mr. Cole. Hes been charged with the murder of his partner, and Ive flown over from Hawaii to find out what I can about their relationship. Is there anything you can tell me about how they got along?”

  Again, she shook her head.

  I guess the secret is to ask her a question she cant answer by moving her head, Sid decided.

  “When did you come to work for Computech Systems?”

  For a moment, Sid felt even this question would not elicit a verbal response either, but he was curious to see what body movement it would trigger off.

  “Four years ago.”

  Sid waited, and the waiting worked.

  “Its never been anything but part time.”

  Sid decided saying nothing on his part was the only way to keep her talking.

  “My mothers an invalid, and I cant be away from her for more than a few hours at a time.”

  There was a pause.

  “So I come in for three or four hours in the morning.”

  Another short pause followed.

  “Monday through Saturday.”

  A much longer pause ensued.

  “The answering machine takes any messages.” She nodded toward the device on the corner of her desk. “I dont see much of the partners.”

  Sid tried nodding, which seemed to work even better than mere silence.

  “Mr. Epstein and Mr. Heinicke seldom come here. They live out of town.”

  Another nod from Sid.

  “Mr. Cole works at home. He comes in once or twice a week to pick up messages.”

  Sid nodded. It really does work, he thought.

  “The shop where Mr. Crosby works is at the other end of town, so I dont see much of him, either.”

  Another nod, a vigorous one, was followed by a long pause. Maybe I overdid it, Sid thought.

  “I didnt know the partners very well.”

  Now were just covering the same ground all over again. This time Sid settled for the slightest bowing of his head. This gesture seemed to have tapped a significant well of information. Several sentences emerged in a rush, crowding each other on their way out.

  “Theres one thing I can tell you. Mr. Cole is just the nicest person imaginable. He would never have done anything like that, Im sure. There was no reason why he would have wanted to. There must be something wrong with the police over there in Hawaii.”

  *** Ruth broke eye contact, but Kay knew this time Ruths shift of view had nothing to do with the truth or falsity of what she was saying. “Its been a small corner of Hell. When I look at Sarah, sometimes she reminds me of Ken. Other times, she looks so much like Clayton it hurts me right here.” Ruth put her fist against her stomach just below her rib cage. “Mostly, I try not to think about it,” she added.

  “ Did Ken talk about Clayton when he came over to see you and Sarah?” “Only to say Clayton was on Elima and he was going to go see him later in the day. Ken knew I despised Clayton, but he didnt know the real reason why. He just assumed it went back to when Clayton and I were living together. Ken was never one to pry.”

  They heard the front door open and the sound of a childs voice. The sound drove the pain from Ruths face. “Its Sarah. Chet picked her up at school.”

  The man and the young girl were holding hands, and she was chattering away excitedly to him. She stopped when she entered the front room and saw Kay.

  The man was tall, broad shouldered, dark, with heavy, rather handsome features.

  The child was slender and blonde. The spittin image of her mother, Kay thought. ***

  Since he was almost fifteen minutes early, Sid sat outside of the Crosbys apartment building and reviewed the notes he had taken at Computech Systems. As he looked over the half dozen lines he had written, he decided, There sure isnt much here, and not much more on the tape. The office is just a clearing house for messages so far as I can see.

  Ken had left his Hawaii hotel address with the receptionist on Thursday and she had put it on the answering machine. Any of the three other partners could have used their remotes to pick up the information. Presumably, Clayton Heinicke had actually done so.

  Sid came to the conclusion he had simply not asked the right questions. Looking up at the tall brown stucco building, he tried unsuccessfully to assure himself he would be asking the right questions here and the responses would be more informative. In reality, he was not optimistic. “I suppose I should just figure this flight to the Mainland was a trip to see my folks,” he concluded, as he got out of the car and headed for the apartment entrance.

  He felt quite differently after he had interviewed the Crosbys.

  Chapter 17

  Well, he kept himself busy on his last day, Corky thought as she examined the readout the hotel cashier gave her. Even without counting them, she could see there were at least two dozen calls in the list.

  It was getting close to five, and Corky decided to phone her husband at his electric shop to let him know she would not be home until seven or so. Id hate to have one of his good meals go to waste, she thought.

  “Alans Electric. Hello.”

  “Hi. Its me.”

  “Hi, Cork. Got another long evening ahead?”

  “Yeah. You guessed it. Dont put the rice on until I call you.”

  “Im bushed. I spent all afternoon fighting a burnt-out motor in Uchimas

  refrigeration unit. When it comes to buying new equipment, Stanley Uchima is just as tight with money as his old man was. Lets go out to dinner tonight. Where you at?” “The Malalani.”

  (Laughter) “Sure as hell were not gonna eat there.”

  “Too bad this isnt like back in the bad old days, when the restaurants used to give free meals to the cops so they wouldnt look the other way during a burglary.”r />
  “Ill drop by anyway, even if we have to go someplace where the menu matches our bank account. Where you gonna be?”

  “Ill be on the main lanai, watching the sunset.”

  “Great. An old married couple like us needs a little romance. Ill see you at sunset.”

  Corkys first interview of the afternoon had been with the waiter in the bar, and he confirmed her own guess. Heinicke had been wearing a business suit, while Cole looked like a typical, Silicon Valley tourist, right down to the Birkenstocks. The waiter had even remembered the T-shirt Ken had been wearing. “It had some kind of a saying across the front. „Positive something-orother.”

  While the waiter could not confirm there had not been a briefcase or package at the table, he had watched the two of them leave–much to his relief–and he was certain neither of them were carrying anything at the time.

  Shortly after the interview, Corky called Laura to ask about the T-shirt.

  “Yes,” Laura answered. “Ken has one which says, „Positrons are another matter.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Darned if I know. Its probably some mathematical in-joke. Do you want me to ask him?”

  “Uh-uh.” Corky grinned into the phone. “Hanks going to be pissed enough at the T- shirt without giving him a math lesson to go along with it.”

  Corky went on with an explanation of what she had been doing. “Whatever you do, dont tell Hank I told you. Hes already convinced Im soft in the head and soft on crime.”

  The latter part of the afternoon Corky had spent hunting down other employees. None remembered seeing Cole either in the halls, on the lanai, or out on the parking lot. Finishing up with the same negative results at the information booth near the entrance to the hotel, she looked across the open lobby and spotted Alan at the lanai rail talking to a couple of people. Corky was amused at Alans irrepressibly outgoing qualities. It never mattered where he went or where he was, he always managed to strike up a conversation with whoever happened to be in the vicinity.

  He introduced her to Mr. and Mrs. Westerdahl. “These folks live in one of the condos. They come up here regular to see the sunset. Mr. Westerdahl says he saw the green flash here three nights in a row. I told him three nights in a row must be some kind of a record, because theres usually low clouds on the horizon covering up the setting sun.”

  “We havent been up here for quite a while,” Mr. Westerdahl, a dignified gray-haired man, said. “We took a quick trip to the Mainland to visit the children and grandchildren. Our grandson was having his fifth birthday and we promised him wed be there for it. Hes growing like a weed.”

  Corkys response was automatic, and as she asked the question, she recognized the futility of it. “You werent here when the man was murdered in his hotel room, by any chance?” Corky could see Alan was curious about the questioning but said nothing.

  “Wasnt that terrible?” the grandmotherly Mrs. Westerdahl said. “We didnt even hear about it until we got to Los Angeles. Our son saw a small item about it in the paper.”

  “What day did you leave here?” Corky asked, a small doubt cast upon her conviction of futility.

  “Sunday morning,” Mr. Westerdahl said, “just the day before the murder.”

  “Im certainly glad we werent here when it happened,” Mrs. Westerdahl added fervently.

  “Did you by any chance come here the night before you left?”

  “You mean on Saturday?” Alec Westerdahl asked, and before Corky could reply, added, “We never miss a day when were here. Do you ever notice that, even when it rains, the western horizon has clear patches, usually just broken clouds. Even if you cant see a green flash, the sunsets are always spectacular. We try to decide what the clouds look like. Youd be surprised at what you can see up there…animals, and mountains, and space ships.”

  Corky curbed her impatience. “You didnt by some chance see a blond man, about thirty, medium build, shorts, sandals, T-shirt, standing out here the last night you were here?”

  “Why of course we did,” Mrs. Westerdahl said.“I said to Alec at the time, „Hes going to catch his death of cold in this wind. We were bundled up like Eskimos with our mainland jackets.” She smiled, and added. “Guess weve finally become Hawaiians. When we first came here from Idaho, we couldnt believe how warm it was. Now, the minute a breeze comes up we put on a sweater.”

  “What did he do?”

  “What did he do?” Alec repeated the question, then said, “Why, he did what we did. He watched the beautiful sunset. Afterwards he took off toward the parking lot.” He nodded in the direction away from the hotel.

  *** I should never have become a lawyer, Sid thought as he introduced himself to Pat and Andrea. I just cant get over forming first impressions which are damn near impossible for me to shake off afterwards. His first impressions of the Crosbys had been a favorable one. Pat was a slender, blond individual with serious gray eyes. Andrea was the smiling one. She was pretty, though thin. Her face seemed strangely puffy and out of place on her slight body. Sid soon concluded it was the effect of the chemical or radiation treatment she was receiving for her illness.

  All three begin to talk at once. The two men deferred to Andrea. “Mr. Chu, I know Ken didnt kill Clayton.”

  After getting their permission to tape the interview, Sid insisted on moving on to first names. He began by making it clear how more than Andreas firm conviction of Kens innocence would be necessary to convince the jury. “We do need character witnesses. Would you be able to come to Hawaii to testify?”

  “I certainly could,” Pat said, “butAndrea wouldnt be able to make the trip.”

  “Its only a few hours away,” Andrea protested to Pat. “I could schedule my treatments to allow me to get away for a couple of days.”

  Before Pat could respond to her protests, Sid broke in, “It may not be at all necessary. The trial is a couple of months away and, with luck, we may be able to prove his innocence before then. Lets let it ride for now.”

  The phone rang. After answering, Pat passed it on to Sid.

  “Hi Sid. This is Qual. Im glad you sent us your schedule.”

  “Whats up?”

  “Corky was in, and she brought up something interesting. See if you can find out whether or not Ken knew Heinicke was coming over here.”

  “I see what shes getting at. Good for her. I suppose shes thinking he did.”

  “Hank does. Corkys not a believer. I think shed like nothing better than to prove Ken didnt do the killing, mainly because of Laura I imagine, but also because Hank is so sure Ken is the murderer.”

  “OK. Ill check.”

  “Theres one other item. Laura couldnt find out at this end who helped Ruth to move to Hawaii. It wasnt her boyfriend, and it wasnt Ken. For what its worth, Laura reports Ken got really unhappy when the question was asked. So the ball is back in your court.”

  “Right. It makes sense he would be.”

  “Hows the interview going?”

  “I just started.”

  “Ill let you get back to it then. Give me a call as soon as you can afterwards. Im trying to pull some of these loose ends together.”

  “Hows Kay doing?”

  “OK, it seems. She just called a few minutes ago to give me Pats number. Ruth had it. Kay says shell get back in touch as soon as shes finished with her interviews.”

  “Sorry for the interruption,” Sid said, going back to his own interviews. “Where were we?”

  “We were talking about character witnesses,” Pat said. “Ill definitely be there.”

  “Maybe you can do more than that. Were you aware Ken was going to Hawaii?”

  “Sure. We kidded him about it. You know. The penpal business.”

  “I thought it was sweet,” Andrea chimed in.

  “Whos we?”

  Pat answered the question. “Clayton, Saul Epstein and his wife, Noelle, and Andrea and me. We were all here the night before he left. Lets see. It was a Thursday. Andrea and Noelle are m
atchmakers at heart. I think they were the ones who convinced Ken to go see Laura.”

  “Did you know where he was staying?”

  “Sure. He told us, and he also left his address with our receptionist.”

  “Did you know Clayton flew to Hawaii later the same day?” Sid watched the couple closely as he asked the question.

  Andrea shook her head. Pat simply said,“No.” Sid tried to evaluate the answers, but could not even begin to guess at whether or not he was being told the truth.

  “Do you think Ken knew Clayton was going to fly too?”

  While Pat considered the question, Andrea said, “I dont see how he could have. Im quite sure Ken didnt decide to go to Hawaii until after wed talked about it for a while, and Clayton said nothing about going. In fact, Noelle and I were the ones who convinced Ken to go. We liked Lauras letter and, like I said, we are both matchmakers at heart.”

  “When was that?”

  “It was a few days before. He didnt make up his mind finally until Thursday. Hed called Laura and, if he needed any more encouragement, the phone call did it. He left here to pick up a change of clothes at his apartment, and was going up to San Francisco to stay overnight and to catch the first plane out Friday morning. Clayton stayed here much longer, didnt he Pat? I went to bed early because I was getting tired.”

  Pat nodded. “Clayton and I talkeduntil almost one in the morning, so I dont see how Ken could have known about Clayton going to Hawaii too.”

  “Might Clayton have called Kens hotel in San Francisco?”

  “I dont see how he would have known which one it was. Ken never said anything about it while he was here.”

  “Ken might possibly have called Clayton at his home.”

  “It wouldnt have done him much good if he had. Clayton had a new girlfriend. Wed speculated about who it might be, but none of us knew who it was. He did say when he left he was spending the night with her.”

  “Youre sure you have no idea who she is?”

  “Absolutely none. Clayton was never forthcoming about his personal life. The only reason he mentioned the woman at all was because he said he wasnt about to drive all the way to Carmel that time of morning. Thats where he lived,” Pat added in explanation.