Patricia shook her head.
“What happened then?”
“Mom covered her mouth and pulled me back. Then a crowd started to come down the hall from the front door along with the guard.”
Kay said nothing, having decided Patricia would cover the ground as well or better without prompting.
“The tall man stepped into the elevator and pulled out the stop button.”
The report pushed Kay into a question. “Could you see him do that?”
“Hmm-hmm. He must have been kind of nervous because he fumbled around.” Kay was astonished at the vivid recall Pat was showing, then remembered an early psychology text which said there were signs all children had eidetic imagery. According to the work, most of them lost the ability as words began to play a more important part in their lives and replaced the need to maintain accurate visual memories. Even so, Kay decided, she's no average six-year old.
Kay thanked Patricia and told her she had been a great help, though at the moment Kay could not really think of what the help consisted of. The two children retired across the room where Patricia had a large collection of books. Kay watched them surreptitiously over a copy of Better Homes and Gardens she had found on the coffee table. They seemed to readily accept each other, though Joko obviously deferred to Patricia. Because it's Patricia's territory, I suppose, Kay decided, plus Patricia's older.
Kay listened to their chatter for a few moments, and then an avocado salad recipe in the magazine caught her attention. In a few moments, the talk at the other end of the room penetrated back into her consciousness. There seemed to be a third factor giving Patricia an advantage in this new relationship. Joko had been thoroughly fascinated by the story Patricia had told about Anton's death and was now prompting a repeat. Almost as good as any attorney could, Kay thought and smiled, as she again peered over the top of the magazine at the two girls carrying on an intense conversation.
Patricia, basking in the attention she was receiving from Joko, waxed eloquent and was building up to the climax where Anton fell out of the elevator. Her voice became melodramatic. “Everybody moved right up to the elevator when the light showed 'one.' The short man was looking real grumpy, the doors started to open, and that's when I saw the blood on the tall man's coat sleeve.”
Chapter 19
All Kay could think of as she waited for the elevator was to get back to the office. It was getting late, but there was still a chance of catching Leilani before she left. The empty elevator stopped and Kay stepped in, pressing the lobby button. The panel intrigued her. She was looking closely at the array of buttons when the door opened on the fourth floor. Wayne Harlan was standing there. “What a surprise,” he said.
Kay knew she was flustered and furthermore knew her voice indicated her emotional state. “I was up talking to Karen.” The tall man stepped to the back of the elevator behind her and, at first, said nothing more. The elevator reached the lobby and the doors opened. For a moment, Kay felt a sense of relief. “Was she any help?” Wayne asked, as she stepped out.
Kay mistook the question, then realized it referred to Karen and not to Patricia. She shook her head. “Not really. If we ever go to trial, we'd better stick to the more traditional character witnesses.”
“Can I give you a lift?”
“Thanks, but I have my car here. See you later.”
Wayne nodded. “Right. I'll see you later.” The door closed and the elevator continued down.
As she drove away, Wayne's car came out of the basement parking lot. He waved at her, and she nodded back in his direction.
Leilani was just about to close down the computer when Kay rushed into the office. “I was locking up,” Leilani said. “ Can you find the phone number of the businessman who was standing by the elevator when Anton was killed?” Kay leafed through the packet she had been carrying around in her brief case and found Laurence Quincy's name and address.
Leilani sat down in front of the computer and in a moment she had both his work and home number. “I'd better call his home for you. That's probably where he is, since it's ten after ten there.”
“Would you, Leilani? Leave the system on. I may want to dredge up some more information.” Laurence Quincy did not seem too disturbed by the call. I guess I didn't interrupt his favorite program or get him out of bed, Kay decided as she explained the reason for her call and waved good-bye to Leilani who was starting out the door.
“So the killing hasn't been solved yet, huh?” the voice with the strong New York accent at the other end asked.
“No, it hasn't, but we're representing the man you were standing next to at the elevator, and we're trying to get as complete a picture of what happened as possible.”
“Hell! He doesn't need any representing. The guy was dead when the elevator doors opened. No way could the fellow standing next to me have had anything to do with it.”
Kay made no attempt to enlighten him. “Just the same, we'd like to check out a few things. Could you tell me how long you waited for the elevator?”
“I don't know. Five minutes or so. I can't be sure.”
“Could it have been less time than that?” “ Hell! I suppose so. I was in a hurry to get to lunch and I was going up to my room to pick up some more cash. I've never seen anything like the prices in Hawaii. The restaurants gouge the hell out of you, and my plastic was topped out. From what I saw in the way of prices in the grocery stores, it wouldn't do much good to cook at home, either. I don't know how you folks can afford to live there. Yeah! I guess I was getting impatient. Maybe it was half that. It was at least a couple of minutes. I'm sure of that.”
“Was the other man standing by the elevator when you got there?”
“I don't remember for sure. I think he'd just gotten there when I came up. That's right. I remember now. He was just pressing the button when I got there.”
“Then what happened?”
“We waited. I bitched some because the elevator was so damn slow. He said something about the kids fooling with the buttons.”
“Can you remember exactly what he said?”
“Uh-uh. He just said something about the kids and how the elevator had hung up at the fourth floor and then at the third.”
Kay chose her words carefully. “Did you see the light on showing the elevator was on the fourth floor?”
“Yeah.” There was a pause. “I think so. I can't be sure. I definitely saw it at the third floor.” Another pause. “The other guy saw it at the fourth floor.”
“How did he react when the doors opened?” “ Just like me, only he let out a yell. I was too surprised to even do that. He got out of the way. I didn't. Blood spattered all over my sandals. I never cleaned them. I still have 'em in my closet. I showed them to some of my friends. They're quite a souvenir of Hawaii. I'll bet there isn't anyone else with any like them.”
“Thank you, Mr. Quincy. You've been a great help.”
“Don't mention it. How's the weather there?
“Beautiful.”
There was a grunt at the other end of the phone.“It's raining cats and dogs here…but the elevators work.”
***
Kay punched in her home number.
“Hi,” she said. “Have the cats been fed?” “ Do you think I could do anything else before feeding those hungry monsters? I had to open up a new can of cat food. For a few moments there, I thought I was going to be torn apart before I could get the food spread out for them. Now I'm trying to figure out whether it should be tuna fish or lasagna or the potato concoction you like so much. How'd the interviews go?”
“Great. Got some questions, though. Do you have the packet Leilani made up of everything we have on the Harlan case?” “ Uh-huh. It's still in my briefcase. I thought I'd while away the lonely hours by going back over it, even though I think it's all a waste of time. We're going to have to butt heads with Wayne. No way would I defend him if I were you unless he levels with us. Besides, I've got the Chenowith embezzlement case coming u
p. I really should be spending my time on that. At least old man Chenowith seems to be giving me the straight scoop about what happened to all the money.”
“Would you get the packet? I've got some questions about it.”
“Sure. Back in a minute.” Sid found the briefcase and returned to the phone, fumbling through papers as he picked up the receiver. “I've got it here. What do you want me to look at?”
“Laurence Quincy's testimony. It's the…,” Kay flipped the dog-eared pages in front of her, “sixth page in the police report, page 42 of the packet.”
“Uh-huh. Fire away.”
“I'm looking for discrepancies in his testimony. I just talked to him a short while ago, and he's already coming up with a different story.”
“Like what?”
“Like the time element. He's a lot less sure of it. Thinks now the five minutes he told the police he waited for the elevator may actually have been overdone.” Sid gave a snort of agreement. “Hank caught him in an exaggeration right off. Quincy was claiming the blood was 'spurting,' and then he backed down. He's not much of a witness. He didn't see anyone but Wayne and the two Filipinas standing at the elevator.”
“What do you think about his saying Harlan caught the doors 'as they were closing' on the body?”
“Nothing wrong with that. Some of the other witnesses say the same thing.”
“Patricia Bowan disagrees. She says he caught the doors before they started moving, and she insists on it.”
Kay could envision Sid shrugging his shoulders.“Most people wouldn't make the distinction,” he said, then asked,“What makes you think the kid's a better witness?”
Kay smiled into the phone and said enigmatically, “I think she's an expert.” “ That's a hell of an answer. Hey, there is something here. Quincy says Wayne pushed the stop button on the elevator. I haven't looked at the buttons at the Nikko arms, but the only stop buttons I've ever looked at have to be pulled out to stop the elevator. Pushing them makes the elevator start in again.”
“Terrific. Those do have to be pulled out. Patricia says Wayne pulled it out. I think we've established the fact Quincy's a damn poor witness.”
“So what does that do for you?”
“Among other things, it convinces me Patricia is a damn good one. What did Qual have to say about his interviews?”
Sid quickly ran through what Qual had told him.
“I've got it, Sid.”
“Got what?”
“I know who killed Anton, even though I'm not completely sure how.”
“You're not going to tell me until you have proof. Right?” Sid didn't try to hide the note of exasperation in his voice.
“How did you ever guess?”
“How about a hint? It was a hit man. A local. Wasn't it?” “ OK. Just a hint. It was definitely not a hit man. I gotta go now. I've got phone calls to make and things to look up before the meeting with the lieutenant governor. Maybe I'll take all the Harlan papers along and read them over again if she starts to get too boring.”
Sid didn't try to hide his exasperation. “You'll never change, will you. You won't budge an inch until you have the whole case solved.”
“I just gave you a hint.” Sid could not resist laughing at the earnestness he heard in her voice. “Well, since you have the case solved, I won't bother to read any more about it. The latest Newsweek arrived. If I can move those cats out of the way, I'm going to stretch out on the couch and try to catch up on what's been happening in the world, while my choice of casseroles heats up. Maybe, just maybe, I'll start preparing for the Chenowith trial. See you at ninethirty. Love you.”
“I love you, too, Sid.”
Chapter 20
Pete Hanford proved to be much less cooperative than Laurence Quincy. The owner of Las Vegas's Shoshone clearly did not want to talk about the shooting or about Wayne or about Rissa.
“How do I know you're an attorney representing Wayne Harlan? Besides, I'm not especially eager to give him any help.”
“Why not?”
“Would you be raring to help someone who'd shot you?” Kay had to admit such an action would diminish any enthusiasm she might have for helping someone, then asked, “Why weren't you willing to testify about the shooting at a second trial?”
The pause was so long at the other end it made Kay wonder if the connection had been broken. Finally, the words came through. “Because Wayne's a madman. He said if he was convicted he would kill me. He said he didn't give a damn if he got caught, either. I believed him. You're as crazy as he is if you try to defend him. From what I've heard about the case, I can tell you one thing for sureWayne killed the guy. I'm damn glad the courts won't let him come back to Nevada.”
Kay wondered briefly how Hanford could have heard about a case which had not had much publicity, even as close by as Honolulu. It occurred to her Rissa was the most likely source. She debated over pursuing the lead, but finally decided to let it go for the moment, since other leads seemed more promising.
Kay's next call was to Qual. As she waited for him to answer, she was looking at the postmortem report on Anton and was still reading it when Qual answered. “ Huh? Oh, sorry,” she said. She had been engrossed in the pm material, and Qual had had to say hello twice. “This is Kay. I was going to ask you about what you found out at Wayne's office today, but I think Sid gave me most of the details. Anyway, I've got something more important right here. Didn't you say something about Rissa not looking well when you interviewed her.”
“That's right. There was nothing I could quite put my finger on. Maybe she just had a headache.”
“No other hints. No other symptoms.” Qual laughed. “I'm not in that profession, Kay. She just looked kind of down and tired. She wouldn't even accept a drink, but she didn't strike me as being a teetotaler, so she must have been feeling even lousier than she looked.”
Kay decided to do a little prompting. “What did her skin look like?” “ Skin? Just what are you driving at? She's just a blonde with a light skin. Didn't have much color in her cheeks, which may have been some of the reason I thought she wasn't feeling well. Hey! Actually, her skin did look strange. It was sort of yellowish. I guess it didn't make much of an impression on me at the time. I've been around you Asians so much it just looks normal.”
Kay laughed aloud, thinking of her own, unmistakably brown skin. “I think you've answered my question, Qual. Now maybe you'll make the same connection I did. Do you remember Anton's pm? I've got it in front of me.”
“ Not much to remember. Death due to stabbing. Period. Wait a minute. There was something else. Anton's liver. You're on to something, but I'm not sure what. Rissa has hepatitis. Right?”
Kay nodded at the phone. “Right. Hepatitis B. And I'll bet I know where she caught it. I can't be absolutely certain, of course, but it seems like more than coincidence. Something else, Qual. Did you ever get a reply from your friend in Las Vegas on Wayne's trial there?”
“ Uh-uh. At least I don't think I did. I left before noon today, and something might have come in for me from him. If it did, it could have been E-mail, a fax or a recorded phone call. Leilani would have put the fax in my in-basket. Feel free to rummage through it. Since you're acting like you've solved this case, you can always do any of my work you find there.”
“No thanks. There are still things I haven't figured out about what happened. Gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Sounds like you're going to have a lot to talk about in the morning.”
Kay laughed and said, “That's for sure.”
*** Qual's in-basket was full to overflowing. It looks like he's been gone for a week, Kay thought, then sat at the desk and started through the stack. A noise at the outside door made her look up, but no one knocked. She glanced at her watch and decided she still had plenty of time to make it to the drive-in and to eat a quick hamburger before the meeting.
Close to the top, she found a phone note via Leilani from the firm of Cloug, Morrison, Martin and
Phipps in Las Vegas stating
Phil Phipps was out of the office but would call later. Cursing her unfamiliarity with the new computer system, Kay finally located a phone call to Qual from Nevada. The right combination of buttons produced a deep bass which rambled on in answer to Leilani's telling him she would record the conversation and pass it along to Qual. “Hi Qual. Phil Phipps here. Nice to hear from you even though it's just business as usual. The senior partner filled me in on the Harlan case. He was here when it happened. It was exciting even by Vegas standards, and unusual, since it didn't involve money.
“ Jeremy says Hanford didn't want to testify, even the first time, because he was terrified. Reporters wrote about how he couldn't even look at Harlan in the courtroom. It ended up with a hung jury. The second trial was all set to go. The prosecuting attorney was even ready to issue a subpoena for Hanford as a hostile witness. Harlan's attorney called a conference with the prosecutor to tell him Harlan was willing to plead.
“ That's where the story gets murky. The three of them were sitting in the prosecutor's office when Harlan asked his attorney to go outside. As you can imagine, it raised eyebrows, but Harlan got his way over the protests of the other two. No one knows for sure what happened then, but the prosecutor dropped the case, with the only requirement being for Harlan to leave Nevada permanently. He wasn't even to come back for a visit. The judge who was set to hear the second trial is pretty malleable, otherwise he would never have bought the arrangement.
“ Now, I know what you want to know. There are lots of rumors. I'll give you only one version of what may have happened behind those closed doors and, according to Jeremy, it's the most likely onewild as it is. Harlan is supposed to have told the prosecutor if he held a second trial, he, Harlan, would kill him and do it personally. Just like that! Pure, straight and simple.
In a way it fits with the assault on Hanford. The witnesses all agreed Harlan acted completely insane. Only a misfire of the automatic after the first shot kept him from emptying the clip into Hanford. So, there you are. The consensus is Wayne Harlan has more than enough chutzpah to have scared the prosecutor into dropping charges. My only advice to you is, don't cross Harlan. Cheers.”
The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2 Page 29