Noelle broke in. “I had a long talk with Andrea about two months ago, and I was almost floored by what she told me. She said both Pat and Ken were convinced Saul was in the partnership just for the money. Believe me, that is simply not true. Saul was even more excited about the invention and the future of the company than anyone else in the partnership. He wanted to see it work, and he never once looked on it as simply a profitable investment.”
Noelle paused, smiled wanly at her listeners, and continued. “I certainly dont blame anyone for thinking otherwise. If I couldnt figure out what hes thinking, I knew for sure no one else could.” As she was speaking, she placed her hand on Sauls. He was still looking thoroughly unhappy.
Pat and Ken both started to speak at the same time. Ken deferred to Pat. “Right from the first time I met Saul, I was convinced he was in it for the money. He seemed so matter of fact about it all, so concerned with just the legalities.” Ken nodded as Pat continued. “What I didnt realize was how Saul was as caught up with the law and the legal implications of what we wanted to do as I was with the invention itself. Thats why I thought he didnt care about what we were doing.”
Ken added, “Pat and I both have narrow work interests. Because what we were doing was complementary, we could talk to each other. Saul might just as well have been speaking Sanskrit when he started to tell us about patent rights, and contracts, and trade marks. We didnt know what he was talking about, and we didnt care to find out. Clayton, on the other hand, was interested in such things, and I can remember the two of them talking about it by the hour while I was programming and Pat was off working on the hardware. I guess Pat and I had the usual suspicion of the outsider. To make matters worse, we felt Saul and Clayton were close because they happened to speak the same language.”
It was Ruth who suddenly shifted the conversation to the gun. Laura could see the internal struggle Ruth was having. Her expressive face was a marked contrast to what the others had seen of secretive Saul.
“I was terribly upset when I heard Ken was charged with Claytons murder, but I was most upset when I heard about the gun.” She looked around the table at the others whose attention was riveted on her. “I knew Ken hadnt touched the gun in years. He didnt even know where it was. When I heard it was found at the scene of the crime, the only conclusion I could come to was it had been left there on purpose to implicate Ken…or me.”
“I can testify to how upset Ruth was,” Chet said.“What bothered me most was how Ruth, whos so open in every way, suddenly changed. I guess we were going through the same crisis Saul and Noelle were facing. But there is a difference. Mysteriousness is just not one of Ruths traits. And then was when I found out what Clayton was like and what hed done to Ruth. I was really insane with anger.”
Kay broke in. “It was what bothered me right from the first time I spoke to Ruth. I suddenly realized there were good reasons for people to want Clayton dead, some of those reasons having nothing to do with the business. The problem was getting someone on and off of Elima during the time available. Ruth and Chet both had the opportunity, but a lot of others did, too.”
Sid nodded. “When I interviewed Celia Lincoln, Claytons ex-wife, I found she had plenty of opportunity. She could have easily made the flight over and back. My problem at the time was motive. I couldnt see any reason why she should have wanted him dead. She seemed to be getting along with him fine. She didnt think much of him as a husband or lover, and she was quick to admit it, but otherwise she seemed to have no animosity toward him. Later, when Kay and I were able to check on Claytons will, we found he didnt have any. He wasnt rich. He carried no insurance on himself, and what little money he did have was going to go to his blood relatives which, of course, left out any ex-wives.”
Kay smiled. “In fact, Sid was ready to suspect Computech System's secretary. But we had even more trouble in finding a motive, there, so now we were back to Chet and Ruth.” She turned to the couple.“The big problem I still had was the gun. I couldnt figure out how you could have gotten it over here unless you knew well ahead of time Clayton was coming over. Otherwise, you would have had to send it over by small boat. Laura and I checked on the small boats coming over from Oahu on both Friday and Saturday. There werent any. Small craft warnings were up during the whole week. Sid even checked with some of the boaters down at the marina. They confirmed what we already knew. Nothing came in.”
Kay paused, looked around the table, then continued, “So we were back where wed started. The gun had to have come in by mail. The killer had to have known well ahead of time that Clayton was going to be here in order to send the gun by Express Mail. The killer needed to have had time to get here and to get back. Finally, the killer had to have a motive.”
“Theres no need to heighten the drama any further,” Pat said. “I killed Clayton.”
Chapter 25
Am I the only one who didnt know? wondered Laura, as she looked at the others around the table. Rather than surprise, the others around the table seemed to be all showing their relief. Qual was the only one other than Laura who looked startled by Pats statement, and Qual was the first one to break the silence following it.
“You must have known at least a day beforehand that Clayton was coming to Hawaii. ”
“Yes.” Pats voice lacked any emotion. He nodded. “It was then I made my plans to
kill him. Hed offered to buy me out. When I refused, he then approached me to squeeze
out either Saul or Ken. I laughed in his face. At the time, I thought for sure there was no
way possible for Clayton to convince either Saul or Ken to join the scheme, never mind
both of them. He then told me Saul had agreed already and how he planned to approach
Ken in Hawaii and talk him into going for his scheme. He said it was going to cost Ken a
bundle to move to Hawaii and he was sure Ken would go along since hed be needing the
money. It was then I began to believe him.”
“Was that when you decided to mail the gun to Napua?” Kay asked. Pat nodded. “Once I knew Clayton was coming over, it seemed like the perfect time
and place to kill him, and to get away with the killing. As soon as I found out Laura lived
here, I figured Ken would come here and this is where Clayton would look him up.
Actually, I almost messed up badly with the mailing. I never took into account the fact
most post offices close at noon on Saturday. It was just luck there were new hours at the
Napua Post office to go with the new building. I just barely made it in time to pick up the
gun at four-thirty. A smile flickered across his face. “In case youre wondering, Saul can
tell you where Wolfgang Rutherford came from.”
Saul picked up the story. “Pat saw the ID card on the sidewalk in downtown San Jose
several months ago. We were going to lunch. It was an old card, and the company had
gone out of business. We laughed at the photo. I made some comment about all ID photos
making people look bad. The name stuck in my mind because it was such a strange one.
Pat put it in his pocket. He said something about helping out with the litter problem.” “Id intended to throw it away, but never did,” Pat said. “When I started to plan the
killing, it occurred to me that Id need some false identification to pick up the package.
Thats when I remembered seeing the card still sitting in a drawer, so I used the name on
the package. Then I just slipped the ID into my wallet before Andrea and I left the house
to go to the hospital.”
He turned and looked at Ken. “I know you want to know about the gun. Ruth gave it
to me when we were packing. She said she had no use for it, and she knew you didnt
want it. At the time I thought of it as a collectors item, more than anything else. It never
even occurred to me you had it registered.
�
�In fact, the only reason I used it rather than one of my own target pistols, which also
arent registered by the way, is the only silencer I could find in San Francisco was made
for that particular model. From what you told me, your father picked the gun up during
World War Two, so I just assumed the police would never be able to find out who owned
it. I was horrified when I discovered theyd traced it back to you, and I cursed myself
because I hadnt thrown it out into the Pacific instead of just dumping it into the hotel
pool.”
Ruth broke in. “I didnt know what to do when I heard about the gun. I knew then
Pat had to be the killer. I didnt want Ken to be convicted, of course. On the other hand, I
didnt want Pat to be charged because I knew what his being arrested would do to
Andrea.”
Chet reached out and took her hand. “Ruth and I talked it over. We decided to wait
until the trial. Neither of us could believe Ken would be convicted, but if it looked like he
might, Ruth was going to tell you folks who had the gun last.”
Pats voice once more began to show emotion as he went back to his narrative.
“Right up to the minute I pulled the trigger I had doubts. Saul had been so darn nice to
me, I kept asking myself if he could possibly do such a thing to me. Hed even paid the
last two monstrous hospital bills we had. Then I got to thinking maybe it was conscience
money.
“How I could ever have believed Ken would agree to squeeze me out just baffles me
now. I think what did it finally, was the look on Claytons face when he opened the hotel
door. He looked horrified when he saw the gun, then he looked up at me and
grinned…which did it. As soon as I killed him, I fell apart. Id intended to take his wallet
to make it look like a robbery, but I didnt have the guts to touch him. I just pulled the
„Do Not Disturb sign around to the outside knob, shut the door and took off. Then I
pulled the really stupid stunt of dropping the gun into the dolphin pool.”
“The sign puzzled me for the longest while,” Kay said. “Then it finally occurred to
me that whoever did put it on the knob wasnt familiar with Hawaii hotels. Theres no
going to the rooms in the evening and turning down the sheets here. Its all done in the
afternoon.”
“I did it just to be sure Id have enough time to get on the plane and back to
Honolulu before someone discovered the body.”
“Werent you cutting it kind of close?” Kay asked. “Why did you wait so long before
going to the Malalani?”
“I did go to the Malalani, right from the post office, but I missed Clayton who
apparently had gone out to supper. He still wasnt there at six-fifteen when I called him
on a hotel phone.”
Ken broke in. “He was in the bar with me then.”
Pat seemed not to hear.“I had to have time to get back to the airport, and I was
getting desperate. When I saw how short the time was getting since I couldnt catch
Clayton in his room, I ran a taxi down somewhere around seven and told him Id be right
back. I dashed into the lobby, called Claytons room again and caught him in, finally. I
didnt talk to him. I just hung up and raced up to the room. As it was, I just barely caught
the seven-thirty flight, and then only because the takeoff was delayed.”
“How did you find out where Clayton was staying?” Qual asked.
“I knew hed be at the swankiest hotel in Napua. Clayton always travelled first
class.”
“You also called him from Honolulu, didnt you?” Kay asked.
Pat nodded and looked puzzled. “How did you know?”
“He left a message with your answering phone,” Kay said, “then tried to get in touch
with you over and over again, just getting your recorded message. His last call was at
three-thirty, just about the time your plane was landing in Honolulu. The only
explanation I could see for his not continuing to call you was that shortly after threethirty you picked up his message by remote, after you landed in Honolulu. His message
also gave you his hotel phone number, since he undoubtedly left it on your answering
phone. Thats when you called him.”
“I called him, all right. You should have heard him gloat over the phone,” Pat went
on. “He said Ken had agreed to buying me out. Even so he still tried to work on me. It
should have made me suspicious, made me suspect the deal was far from closed. Im sure
my phone call left him with the feeling I was willing to bargain. I didnt disabuse him of
the notion, and I didnt tell him I was in Hawaii.”
Ken shook his head. “Thats why Clayton seemed so sure of himself. He was
absolutely convinced he had Saul in his pocket, and was only trying to get in touch with
him to confirm the deal. Now he figured he had you for sure.”
Pats eyes were filled with pain. “Everything went wrong. Andrea suspected what Id
done. She left me a note at the house where I was sure to find it after she died. In it she
told me shed called me Saturday, and of course I wasnt home like I claimed Id been. In
the note, she asked me to confess to save Ken. I guess that bothered me almost worse
than anything else, how she could have thought I would have allowed Ken to be
convicted.”
Pat looked at the horrified eyes around the table. “No. She didnt commit suicide.
Not really. The doctor says she skipped taking her medicine, but I dont think thats what
did it. She just gave up. I think it was easy for her to do that. In looking back at it, I think
she was holding on through all the agony and pain only because of me. After she found
out what Id done, there didnt seem to be much point in hanging on any more. I should
have known it, because the doctor told me she hadnt responded at all to the previous two
treatments. She just decided to die.”
*** It was after all the good-byes had been said: after Ruth and Chet and Sarah had been seen off at the airport; after a long talk with Pat to make arrangements for his surrender to the police; after deciding with Saul and Noelle their being there would be a great boost for Pat; and after Ken had made it a point to say his thank-yous to Qual, Sid and Kay, Ken and Laura finally found themselves alone in the office
Ken was still astonished by the days events, which had been crowned by a big hug he had received from Leilani. Sitting across the desk from Laura, he watched her as she quickly skimmed through the papers in her in-basket. She looked up and smiled. “I just want to be sure Im not leaving any dead horses behind.”
“Im starving,” Ken said. “I think this is the first time Ive felt this way since I left Clayton at the Malalani. Speaking of the Malalani, can I take you there tonight, nonDutch?”
“ No way,” Laura said.“Im taking you there, non-Dutch. Ive already made a reservation for us.”
“Thats funny,” Ken said. “There was nothing in your ad about you being bossy.”
“I told you I have a shadowy past.”
Their reservation was an early one, and there were few diners at the restaurant when they arrived. The dour-looking headwaiter recognized Laura immediately and greeted both of them with a smile.
When it became evident he was going to be their waiter, Ken asked Laura,“How do you rate? The red carpets really out for you here.”
“Qual was his sons attorney in a rather nasty case. The headwaiter has never forgotten what Qual did for him and his son. It looked pretty hopeless, but Qual did a bang up job at the tri
al. The jury found the son innocent. From what I hear, hes now a professional architect.”
“I guess there are a lot of rewards to being an attorney, after all.” The conversation slowed to a standstill as the two hungry diners devoured the carefully prepared food. It was coffee and tea time before they came back to the events of the day and of the immediate past.
Laura posed a part question, part statement.“You suspected Ruth right from the beginning, didnt you?”
Ken nodded. “Right from the moment Lieutenant DeMello dumped my automatic out on his desk. So far as I knew, Ruth was the one who had the gun last. She had more than enough motive. I never had the complete story about the nature of her mental illness, but I knew it was directly related to her treatment at Claytons hands. Even though I was sure she would never have killed him if shed been in her right mind, I had visions of a recurrence of the illness which could have led to her doing it.”
“What made you decide it was Pat, instead?”
“Finding out he helped pack up Ruths belongings. His being the killer made much more sense, once I knew he could have gotten the gun. I didnt tell you at the time, but when I decided for sure it was Pat, I called Ruth, and she confirmed my suspicions. We agreed not to do anything about it unless I came to trial.”
Laura flared up. “Well, damn you, anyway! Here, I was almost convinced youd done it, and you didnt give me the one piece of information which would have convinced me otherwise.”
Ken grinned. “You look even prettier when your eyes are flashing. You know why I didnt tell you. As an attorney, you would have immediately insisted on passing the information on to the prosecutor and having him drop the charge against me. I wasnt about to throw Pat and Andrea to the wolves.”
“But you must have felt Pat was framing you.”
“I had plenty of problems with that. I couldnt figure out why he used my gun and then left it someplace where it could be found. It was one of the first questions I asked him before when we conferenced at your office.”
The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2 Page 16