The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2

by John A. Broussard

  “What have you been doing about them?” Kay asked. “ Nothing. I just keep hoping the one I'm having will be the last one. Even when I'm convinced it won't be, I've been too terrified to go to a doctor. I can't go far from the apartment. I can feel one coming on as I get further and further away from here.”

  “ You need a psychologist,” Laura said, “and I know a good one. Two good ones in fact. They're a husband and wife team working at the Napua Medical Center. I'm sure one or the other of them would be happy to come to the apartment. Do you want me to call and ask?”

  Margaret was struggling to sit upright. “I know I'm going to have to get help. Noel and I are so new here, I wasn't sure where to start looking. I'd really appreciate having those names. I can do the calling.”

  By this time Corky had returned. Seeing Margaret sitting up, Corky smiled at her. “You gave us quite a start,” she said. “I was convinced someone else was in here who'd done something to you.”

  “I wish it had been that,” Margaret said. “At least then, I'd know what I was afraid of.” Corky said, “It's kind of late for introductions, but better late than never,” she said, introducing Margaret to the attorneys. “We'd like to hear your version of the killing of last Saturday if you think you're up to it. I'd like to tape it, but only if you feel up to it and if it's OK with you.”

  Margaret gave a weak smile and nodded. She passed her hand over her hair, saying, “I'm pretty much recovered. Maybe for another week. It goes away almost as quickly as it comes.” Her voice kept its forlorn quality as she recounted what had happened at the elevator. Corky looked back at her notes of the previous week while Margaret went over the story again. Corky found there was little difference in Margaret's two accounts.

  “I'm afraid I'm not much help,” Margaret continued. “It was almost as frightening as one of my attacks.”

  “When will your husband be back?” Kay asked, still concerned about her. “ He should be coming home by the end of next week. He's an astronomer and does a lot of traveling to the big observatories in Spain and Arizona. He's in Chile right now. I'm hoping he'll be able to do most of his work over on the Big Island now they have so many telescopes there.”

  Kay switched back to the scene at the elevator. “Wasn't your daughter with you?” she asked. Margaret nodded. “She's in school right now.” She looked at her watch. “She'll be home by three-thirty, if you want to talk to her. I was afraid she'd have nightmares from what happened, but she's amazingly resilientmuch more so than I am. She mentioned the terrible scene once or twice over the weekend, but it just doesn't seem to have had much of an impact on her, thank goodness.”

  “Could one of us come back tomorrow or the next day to talk to her?” Kay asked.

  “Surely.” Corky checked her watch. “Noon. Time to meet Alan in the coffee shop.”

  Chapter 10

  Skinny didn't fit his nickname, which must have been left over from his school days. The part Portuguese, part Filipino was tall and of average build, and turned out to be a remote relative of both Corky's and Laura's. Kay, who had been born in Honolulu, and Alan, who came from Florida, commented aloud on the universality of kinship on a small island. “I'll bet Leilani is related to you too,” Kay said to Skinny.

  “ Leilani Pak?” Skinny asked.“Sure thing. Her grandmother was a Vierra, and she was my grandfather's aunt.” The rest of the group around the table broke into laughter at the new kin who had been uncovered and the rapidity with which even remote relatives were identified.

  “I had to promise Skinny a lunch to get him out here,” Alan said, breaking into the laughter.

  “I'll pick up the tab, Alan. Or, really, Wayne will. He's the one we're doing this for.” Alan was about to speak when Skinny shrugged, saying “It wasn't any problem for me. I was due to come out in two weeks. The department won't complain if I make the inspection a few days early, even if Norman doesn't seem to be exactly happy about my showing up today.”

  Corky looked a question at her husband. Alan seemed puzzled as well, and said, “I don't know what's eating Kurohara. He looked like he'd seen a ghost when Skinny and I showed up.” He shook his head and repeated, “I don't know what's eating him.” Then he added, “Whatever it was, it made him generous. Here I thought I was going to have to pay for Skinny's lunch, and Kurohara told us to put both of ours on his bill, so Wayne can save on that.”

  “ Business must have picked up overnight,” Corky commented, “because he was sure crying the blues when I last talked to him about how he's doing. The one thing which doesn't seem to have changed is how the subject of elevators makes him even more nervous than he usually is.”

  After they had picked up their food trays and settled down at one of the larger tables, Kay looked around and commented. “Your informant gave you a bum steer, Corky. Didn't she say Norman ate here every day on the dot of twelve. I don't see him anywhere.”

  Corky also swept her gaze around the room. “I guess that's something else I'd better verify before I leave today. At the least, I'd better get some independent witnesses who saw him here.”

  It was during lunch when Corky mentioned the keys Anton had been carrying at the time of his death. She placed the unidentified one on the table as she was speaking. Alan picked it up and said, “It sure could be an apartment key. With ten apartments to the floor and nine apartment floors, including the ones they're repairing, it means there's ninety apartments you're going to have to tryplus the offices on the first floor. That should keep you busy.” Corky picked up the key saying, “Since it's my last day on the case, I'm not about to spend it trying it on all the apartments. I'll put it back in police storage with the rest of Anton's personal belongings.”

  Kay reached for the key and said, “Mind if I do a little investigating?”

  “Be my guest. It's probably just the key to the men's john.”

  *** “ There's lots of room for everyone,” Skinny announced as he unlocked the door to the elevator shaft. The door swung open into the parking garage revealing a metal ladder attached to the concrete wall. The ladder led down into the bottom of the shaft some ten feet below the elevator's stopping position at the garage floor.

  Skinny pointed to the upright posts set into the concrete beneath each of the elevators, one for each of them. “ Those are car buffers. They're an additional safety feature,” he explained. “They're hollow posts with hydraulic pistons in them. They've got thick pads on top. If all else fails and a car free-falls to the bottom, it hits the pad at the top of the piston. The hydraulic system brings it to a gentle stop.”

  Skinny surveyed the skeptical expressions on the faces of the women, smiled, and added, “Well, maybe not so gentle, but it's probably no worse than a bad landing in a commercial plane.” Walking over to a large metal box on the one wall unoccupied by pulleys and cables, he unlocked it and swung open the door.

  “ Alan's familiar with all this,” he said pointing to a complex array of switches. As he spoke, one of the passenger elevators began to move rapidly downwards. Alan and Skinny laughed as the others quickly moved out from under it. “It's an eerie feeling first time you see one of those crates come down at you,” Skinny commented, “but you get used to it, eventually.”

  Laura couldn't help commenting, “Sure, like sitting on a hot stove.” “ I'm going to bring the service car down first and lock the doors from here,” Skinny said. “Alan, would you check to see if anyone's in it before I bring it down there? I'll lock it up as soon as you give me the all clear.”

  While Alan climbed back to the basement floor, Skinny quickly described the modules in the control panel. “This is where we set the amount of time the car spends at each floor, how fast it travels, how much of a load it allows itself before it starts to ignore button calls, and stuff like that.”

  Alan looked in from the basement floor and said, “Lock her up, she's empty.” From the control panel, Skinny ran the service elevator up a way and dropped it onto the hydraulic pad. Satisfied with the te
st, he then used a check-off list as he inspected the cable and pulley system. With surprising agility, he climbed a second metal ladder on the wall and scrambled from the upper rungs to the top of the elevator. A minute or so passed and then he peered over at his audience and said, with puzzlement apparent in his voice, “Alan! Would you come up here a minute?”

  The women could not make out the gist of the conversation the men were having, but Alan explained when he came back down the ladder. “It's the damnedest thing. Someone put a hasp on the emergency escape hatch. There's no lock on it, but it's all set up for one.”

  *** While waiting for Corky and Skinny to return from their talk with Norman Kurohara, Alan, Laura and Kay were discussing over tea and coffee the discovery of hasps on the escape hatches of all three elevators.

  Skinny had been adamant about how the hasps were in direct violation of the safety code. Corky had been more concerned with finding out what the status of the emergency exits had been on the day of the murder. Almost an hour passed before the two of them came into the coffee shop. As he sat down, Skinny said, laconically, “Elevator surfing.”

  “Elevator surfing?” Kay asked.

  Skinny nodded. “Some kids have been elevator surfing.” It was Alan who explained. “It's been going on for years in the big cities. It may even go back to the first elevators. I was just reading about it a few months back. Kids, even college kids, jam open the doors between floors or use the emergency hatch to climb up on top of the elevators and then jump from one to the other as they move up and down. There are some of them killed every year.”

  “ My God!” Laura exclaimed. “Here it was all I could do to watch those things coming down at me, and you mean some kids actually rode the outside of those elevators?”

  “ According to Kurohara, they did,” Skinny answered. “He became so terrified at the possible liability that he had those hasps and locks put on because he figured it was the only way the kids could get out of the elevators and into the shafts. He's right, incidentally. This particular model makes it damn near impossible to get the doors open except when the elevator is at the floor level. I guess Kurohara's had so much bad luck with the building he figured a kid killed in one of the shafts would be the finishing touch.”

  “What made him think he could pass inspection with those locks on the escape hatches?” Kay asked. “ He figured it wouldn't be any problem. I usually inspect on a regular schedule. He just planned on having his handyman remove the hasps and smear a little grease over the holes the day before I was due. Kurohara would probably have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for this unscheduled inspection. So now we have the explanation for why he freaked out when he saw me show up two weeks early.”

  “It also explains the free lunches,” Alan said with a grin. “He was counting on getting the hasps off before we finished eating.”

  It was Corky who added,“And I'll bet it explains why he missed lunch today.”

  “What went wrong?” Kay asked Skinny. “How come he didn't get the hasps off?” “ He couldn't find the handyman in time,” Skinny said with a laugh. “All the guy had time for was to take off the locks. Kurohara had to settle for that and crossed fingers. The crossed fingers didn't work.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” Corky asked. Skinny shrugged. “He's got enough problems. I told him to take off the hasps, and I'd check every so often without warning him ahead of time to make sure he leaves them off. He's going to have to deal with the surfers some other way.”

  Corky broke in, glumly. “His damn hasps screwed up a theory I had floating around in the back of my mind. The emergency exits were all locked up last Saturday.” Kay lifted an eyebrow. “You know, Corky, you get even wilder ideas than I do. Did you really think someone might have killed Anton, then gone out the hatch and ridden the elevator?”

  “ Something like that,” Corky said, still looking unhappy.“It just doesn't make sense anyone would have killed him above the third floor and then ridden down to there hoping no one would be waiting to get on the elevator, but I guess I'll have to settle for that. I'm baffled. All that's left now is to go back to the station and tell Hank it was a dry, dry run. I even lost ground.”

  It was Laura who tried to cheer her up. “Look at it this way, Corky. Next to finding the right answer, eliminating wrong answers is the best thing you can do.” “I'll have to remember to tell Hank.”

  Chapter 11

  Kay was sitting at Sid's desk and looking morosely at the key she'd borrowed from Corky. “ Why fret about it?” Sid asked as he caught her mood. “From what Corky says, Hank is still convinced the killing was a mugging, and he's unofficially closed the case. Wayne's home free. I thought you agreed with me last night.” He smiled, and added, “You sure acted agreeable, anyway.”

  Kay gave an absent smile in return. “Corky's not convinced it was a mugger who did it.” “ Maybe not, but Hank's in charge, and he's the one who calls the shots. Besides, Corky's off the case. Why don't you just give Wayne a ring and tell him there isn't much point in his retaining you any longer.”

  “ Maybe you're right,” Kay said finally, still frowning. “I'll call him and tell him Leilani's sending a bill and refunding what he has left on his retainer. If something comes up later, he can always rehire one of us.”

  Sid smiled. “You, not me. I don't want anything to do with this case. You shouldn't be taking it so hard just because you don't have a crime of passion here. Elima does have its occasional muggings, you know. Norman Kurohara was just unlucky enough to have one of them happen in his building.”

  ***

  Wayne gave Kay no opportunity to explain her call. “I'd like to see one of you right away. Something's come up.”

  Kay covered the mouthpiece and said, “Wayne wants to see one of us. He sounds like he's got something important to say. Want to come along?” Sid looked at his watch and shook his head. “Uh, uh. I have to be in Judge Wong's chambers in half-an-hour, and you know he doesn't take kindly to being kept waiting. Besides, Wayne's paying for only one of us.”

  Kay agreed to meet Wayne in his office. Sid looked up as she hung up the phone. “He's worried about something,” Kay said, and added, “This is the first time I've heard him sound worried about anything.”

  *** Kay was surprised to see Wayne's office was the center of what appeared to be a thriving enterprise. He smiled when she commented on the fact. “Just because I'm in semi-retirement doesn't mean I've given up the business. It was tough for me to wean myself away from this place, but now I think it runs better without me here. I bought myself a small boat, which keeps me busy and out from under foot. Besides, I'm sure the infrequency of my presence isn't breaking my manager's heart.”

  Elima Real Estate Corporation occupied a large, warehouse-like building at the edge of town. Over ten desks along one of the walls testified to how many agents were employed there. At the moment, about half of the desks were in use, and the others showed signs of occupancy. Kay assumed the missing agents were out searching for listings or showing property. A receptionist and another clerk, facing an array of computers and electronic equipment, were stationed just inside the front entrance. A readout was chattering its way out of one of the machines, and a box on the floor was already overflowing with the resulting production. Wayne's office consisted of one of the only two enclosed rooms, a small space at the back of the building.

  “I usually come in once or twice a week, mainly when I get tired of fishing and golfing.” Kay scanned the lean, dark face and had to admit to herself appearances could be deceiving, but her early impression that Wayne had a powerful build was reinforced by the muscles now revealed by his short-sleeved, flowery sport shirt. However, Wayne most certainly did not look like someone who had recently suffered a heart attack.

  “ I've been thinking of closing your case, Wayne. There just doesn't seem to be any reason for keeping the meter running. The police are pretty much convinced it was a mugging. They'll continue to investigate,
but on a much reduced scale. Unless something comes up to change their minds, I doubt they'll even bother to question you again. If they do, you can always give me a call, and I'll break out your file.”

  Wayne reached into the top drawer of his desk, pulled out a business size envelope and passed it over to Kay, saying, “Maybe this will change their mindsand yours. It's what I wanted to see you about. It showed up in the morning mail.”

  Kay picked up the envelope. It was addressed to Wayne at Elima Real Estate, and there was no return address. The postmark read “Honolulu,” but the date was illegible. A single sheet inside the envelope bore a brief message in block letters written with a widetipped marker pen.“I know you had Figueroa killed. $20,000 by the end of the week. Directions later.”

  Kay looked up from the note and said, “Do you have any idea who might have written this?”

  “I have more than an idea. I know who wrote it. ***

  “You win, Hank,” Corky said as she tossed the service elevator key onto his desk. “My theory about the elevator went down the drain, or rather down the shaft.”

  Hank chuckled. “Sometimes you get the elevator, other times you get the shaft.” Corky looked at him in disgust. “Very funny. The only thing I found out today is a mugger seems more likely than ever. He probably got on at the fourth floor, and Anton was in the elevator too. The mugger punched the button for the third floor, and when he saw the third floor was empty, he pushed the door-open button, turned and stabbed Anton. Anton not dying right away must have scared the shit out of him, so he bolted and ran, the doors closed and the elevator went down to the first floor. Then Anton just made it up in time to stagger out into the lobby and scare some more shit out of people.”