“I hadnt thought about it, but youre right. Everyone would trust her. Everyone would believe her.”
“I believed her too. But being paid to be a suspicious cop, I checked out her alibi, such as it was.”
“What was it? I never even bothered to ask her, since I couldnt see how she could have any.”
Corky laughed. “She does have one, but only for the first ten minutes of the time between twelve and three when Ono must have been killed.”
“You mean someone can vouch for her between twelve and three?”
“Yeah. The operator who was on at midnight was there today. Today is the day the phone shifts change. She says Mrs. Ono called at midnight for room servicetwelve-o-two and eleven seconds, to be exact.” (Kay could hear Corky flipping over the pages of her note pad.)
“Great to live in this age of computers. The info came right off of her screen. There was something else too. There was a letter for Ono at the desk at the time, so the operator sent it up with room service. I havent checked with room service yet, but Id guess the letter got up to her around twelve-ten.”
“Letter? Did the operator know who left it?”
“I checked on the letter and the returner real quick. Nope. It was nothing like what you suspect. The letter was from Tokyo. Whoever sorted the morning mail put it in the wrong box, and the guest who got it by mistake simply dropped it off at the desk.
“After getting all the information out of the operator, and coming to the brilliant conclusion how, if Mrs. Ono did in Mr. Ono, she didnt do it between twelve and twelve- ten, the operator punches a hole in my fancy deductions. She says she saw Masa Ono go by in the lobby ten minutes after the room service call. Shes not absolutely sure of the time, but she figures it must be awfully close to ten minutes.
“So it looks as though it was the last sighting of Ono while he was still alive. At least the last one before the killer changed his status. Which sure doesnt do much for us.”
“It sure doesnt,” Kay agreed, with emphasis. “What about the other homicide? I never did find out if you and Hank are on to anyone with a real motive for killing Chichi Perreira.”
Corky sounded surprised. “I guess I didnt get around to telling you. She had a boyfriend at the hotel.”
“Howd you find out she did?”
“Mary Ann Cambra. Shes a nice gal and hates to badmouth anyone, but she finally admitted knowing about the affair when we hinted Chichi might be a blackmailer. Mary Ann was adamant. She insisted Chichi would never have gotten involved in anything illegal and certainly not blackmail. She then went on to tell us about the goings on, though she doesnt know who the man was.”
“Have you found out yet who he was?”
“Yeah, finally. Talk about a clannish bunch. Im sure everyone I talked to knew about the affair, but I couldnt get anyone to sing. Herbie, the kid who was there when Ono was found, was the one who clued me in, finally. He says its Domingo De Rego. Herbie claims he saw them getting it off together out behind the fake waterfall at the south end of the Malalani property. Thats the one just back from the beach. From what I can make out, he stuck around to watch. It even took his mind off of motorcycles for a while.”
“You sound like you know Domingo De Rego.”
“Yeah, second hand. De Rego and his wife live in the old subdivision two doors down from my mothers house. You should hear her tell about the classic fights those two have had during the past year. She says shes heard a lot of them, even as far away as she is from their house. Hes been in for wife battering at least once. I hate to admit this to Hank, but maybe we do have two independent murders here after all.”
“Did you get to interrogate him?”
“Nope. Cant find him. Hes not home, and he wasnt at the hotel. Theres quite a story behind that. About nine oclock yesterday, he was drinking on the job. It wasnt the first time hed been caught, but this time he was getting sloshed in a hurry, and hed been warned the next time would be the last time. The supervisor in the machine shop called up the manager, and when Old Hooknose showed up, De Rego told him to go fuck himself. As you might imagine, his big mouth did him in. The manager gave him his walking papers right there. Told him hed have him arrested if he ever set foot on the place again. Then he had security escort him off the grounds, and told them not to let him back in under any circumstances.
“Hmm.”
“I bet youre thinking what I thought. De Rego called Chichi and told her he couldnt rendezvous with her at the hotel anymore, and made a date to meet her in the gulch.”
“It sounds like that, but it also sounds all wrong. Why should she agree to a five minute meeting? After all, she knew she had to get Mary Ann to work right away. There must be something else. From what youve said, it sounds to me like De Rego could have picked off Ono. Chichi found out about it, or was there when it happened. So he had to get rid of her.”
“Dont think I didnt think of that too. I had it all figured out. Chichi and De Rego decided to have a quickie under the kitchen table, and Masa Ono surprised them. De Regos desperate, figuring his days at the hotel are numbered. He loses his head, jumps up, grabs the butcher knife and does in the old man. Then he dumps the body into the dishwasher to make sure no one from the night crew prowling around for snacks finds him before the morning shift comes on.”
“It fits.”
Corky sounded glum. “Yeah. All except for one thing which unfits it. De Rego left the grounds at six the previous evening and wasnt due to come on shift until eight the morning of the killing. The night guards would have recognized him if hed come back in, which he didnt. The morning guard remembers him coming through the security gate right around eight.
“Maybe he snuck in earlier some other way, down along the beach, or over the chainlink fence.”
“Thats possible. Im sure Hank will work him over when we find him, but it just doesnt seem likely. The Malalani has a security patrol working the perimeter. The bougainvillea and Natal plum growing all along the fence would discourage even guerrillas with straw mattresses. Some of those thorns are like spears.
“„Course, there may be breaks in the hedges, and the guards could still miss someone, but it would be pretty chancy coming in over the fence. Besides, he would have had to get out again without being seen so he could show up again at eight.”
“Could he have snuck in in someone elses car, maybe hiding behind the seat, then gone out the same way?”
“Thats possible, but then you have to assume someone else is involvedsomeone who wouldnt rat on De Rego when they hear he may be a murderer. If you think Chichi might have smuggled him in, think again. She car-pooled the evening of the murder, with three other women.”
Kay found herself increasingly reluctant to give up De Rego as a double murderer. It was a simple solution, and simple solutions tended to be the right ones. It gave a possible reason for the first killing and a plausible reason for the second one. De Regos current absence reinforced the likelihood of his guilt. Yet it was still difficult to place him in the kitchen at the time of Onos death.
“Any other suspects?” she asked, deciding it was foolish to remain fixed on this one possibility.
“Loads. With a time of anywhere from twelvetwenty to three for Onos death, the whole night crew are a possibility. The head chef was there till after midnight. Him and Carlton Chang, the kitchen supervisor we talked to this morning, sat around the bar and drank and talked story until about one. And guess who joined them for a few short ones?”
“Who?”
“Old Hooknose, himselfthe manager. When the party broke up, they went their separate ways. Security vouches for the chef and Carlton leaving, but couldnt fix a time for either of them except for some time after one oclock. The manager lives in one of the condos on the grounds, so he wouldnt have gone out the gate.”
Kay, finding all the information and the growing list of suspects hard to digest, filed the miscellaneous data in the back of her mind. “Any late-breaking news on the Perreira post m
ortem?” she asked.
“Hanks closeted in with Clyde and the German pathologist right now. Clyde gave Hank some advance info about it, but I didnt have a chance to talk to him yet. Im going to stick around until the conference is over so I can tell him firsthand what I found out at the Malalani. Ill get an up-date from him on the pm then. I know youre eager to find out the results, so Ill give you a call after my briefing. Thats providing the lieut doesnt clamp down on all this behind-the-scenes communication.”
“Better yet, how about a visit up at the ranch? Im getting lonesome. In payment for some company Ill see to it theres coffee and a fancy dessert for you and Alan and Alan Junior.”
“Youre on! Juni will conk out around eight, and then we can act like adults and eat all the dessert.”
“Ill be getting away from here by six, so anytime after seven-thirty will be fine.”
“Youve talked me into it. Ill have a complete report on the Perreira pm for you by then.”
“I was hoping youd say that.”
***
The two older cats simply regarded Alan Junior as a hazard comparable to the speeding cars on the road above the house, something not to be trifled with. They slipped out the cat door in quick succession the moment the nine-month-old had been released from his fathers arms to crawl across the floor.
Bluebeard had either been caught off guard, or had simply decided to demonstrate greater courage than his parents. At the moment, however, he had taken refuge on top of one of the bookcases and was completely transfixed by the scuttling creature on the carpet.
Jennys reaction was quite different. In addition to cats, dogs and farm animals, the Oliveras had three youngsters ranging from three months to five years of age. Trina Olivera had assured Sid and Kay as they led Jenny off, how “She good wi duh kids too.” She was.
Alan Junior immediately sought out the wagging tail, grasping it with a firmness making Kay wince. Jenny responded only by sighing and lying down, to be pounded, mounted up on and rolled off of by the exuberant infant. Juni now had an oversized and live plaything all to himself, and it was quite evident Jenny was prepared to put up patiently with any form of torture devised by the newcomer.
Corky smiled at the scene as she shook off her large shoulder bag. “It looks like they were made for each other.”
Kay shook her head. “My God, how hes grown. It couldnt have been but a few weeks ago when all he was doing was lying back in his crib, grinning and gurgling.”
Alan, a short, half haole, half Japanese from the Mainland, proudly reported they had moved everything breakable or dangerous out of reach at least two months before.
“He crawls around like a centipede,” Corky said. “Mom predicts he wont be walking until hes two, since he gets around so darn well without standing up. She says I took even longer when I was a kid. Now, my brother was just about Junis age when he started walking. Mom says he suddenly stood up and practically ran across the room. She was so surprised, she let out a screech, which scared Paul so bad he didnt try again for another six months.”
Kay, who preferred children at a distance and was grateful to see how Jenny had taken over complete custody, moved on to matters of more immediate interest to her. “Have they decided the fires finally out?” she asked.“A hose truck was still there when I went by.”
“Hey,” Corky said,“the fire could have been a bad one. I didnt realize when I was up here helping out with the traffic that the flames made it down to the ironwoods along the highway.”
“Some of the firefighters were still patrolling the area when we went by,” contributed Alan.
The evening wore on. Alan drank a beer, but said little, engrossed in watching his son exploring Jennys ears and trying to peer into her mouth. Once or twice he came to the beleaguered animals rescue. Corky had settled for coffee while Kay sipped at a glass of red wine.
The small talk shifted to the recent murders only after Alan Junior, just generally showing signs of weariness, began sucking his three middle fingers. Alan then picked the drooping form up under one arm and, with the shoulder bag under his other, went off to rediaper his charge and bed him down. Jenny followed them as they moved into the guest bedroom. Bluebeard relaxed, finally, and thumped to the floor. To satisfy his curiosity, he cautiously sniffed along the trail left by the crawler.
Corky grinned, saying,“Alan makes a great mother.” Without a pause she went on, “I suppose youre waiting to hear about the pm.”
“Naturally, and whether or not you ever found Domingo De Rego.”
“Last question first. His wife says how once he starts boozing, he crawls from one bar to another. She doesnt figure hell show up at home until after closing hours, and then someone will drive him home to get rid of him. So Hank left word for her to call.”
“Sounds like Hank doesnt think much of De Rego as a suspect, otherwise hed stake out the house and be out hitting the bars himself.”
“Hank doesnt know what to think. Waitll you hear about his interviews, and the pm.” She then filled Kay in on Hanks morning and the findings from the autopsy. Before she had finished, Alan had come back to join the two women. Kay moved into the kitchen to slice wedges out of the poha berry cream pie she had purchased at Uchimas Market for the occasion.
Alan announced to Kay she had lost her watchdog. “Jennys lying right next to the futon where Junis sleeping.”
“The Oliveras warned me she wouldnt be much of a watchdog,” Kay said, “because she loves everybody. Sid and I decided her looks and size would be enough to scare anyone off, providing we could keep her from licking their faces before they left.”
Corky resumed her discussion of the recent murders, describing the preliminary pm on the latest victim.“Ive got to admit Chichi definitely planned to meet someone there. Hank agrees, and figures it gets the hippies off the hook.”
“Maybe she went there to meet them,” Kay suggested, then began to think aloud. “Maybe she was buying dopeif not for herself, then for De Rego or for her husband. No. Buying as a possibility wont work. She didnt take her purse along. And where would she have hidden the dope when she came back to the car?”
“Why not pinned under her skirt?” Corky asked.“Ive shaken down some women with kilos hidden there.”
“There's another possibility,” Kay said. “Maybe she was selling dope.”
Corky laughed. “Not if Mary Ann Cambra is right. She swears Chichi would never have done anything illegal. Anyway, were going to start asking around her neighborhood and at the Malalani to find out if she ever mentioned those guys, or if she was ever seen with any of them. Dennis says his mother knew Chichi. The other two claim they never had any contact with her.”
“So why hasnt Hank assumed De Rego is it?”
“Mainly because hes come back to the idea Chichis murderer is also Onos murderer, and its just about impossible for De Rego to have done Masa in. Even without talking to him, his alibi is as ironclad for the time of Ono's murder as you can get.”
“How so? Maybe there is a hole in the fence somewhere.”
“It wont matter if there is, because his wife told us hes a volunteer fireman and was up fighting the ridge fire most of the night. We checked with the fire chief, and he vouches for the fact De Rego was there from eleven until maybe six in the morning. We called some others who were on the line, and they pretty much confirm those hours.”
“What did Hank say when he heard that?”
“What do you think? „Shit! naturally.”
Chapter 12
If it had not been for Jenny, the house would have felt unnaturally empty after the Hondas had left. The three cats were out on their nightly patrol. The house was so quiet Kay felt immersed in the clear chirping of crickets, those nearby and the others fiddling their answers from a distance. She could have sworn one joined in from somewhere in the kitchen.
Lacking a dog door, Kay thought it best to take Jenny out for a short walk. A bright gibbous moon was just clearing the trees on the ridge l
ooming up behind the house. Out here the waves dashing against the rocky bluffs a mile away rivaled the sounds of the crickets. The air smelled fresh, with just a hint of smoke from the expired fire hanging in the still air.
Jenny roared off across the field, then ran back as though to check to make sure Kay was still there. Satisfied, she started off with her nose to the ground, following an interesting scent with rapid zigzag motions and casting a long, barely-discernible shadow on the brown grass. Despite her fascination with the night trails of various creatures, the dog never wandered more than a dozen yards away from her mistress who walked up the drive to the highway, savoring the calm night and clear sky.
As Kay started back down the drive, she heard the phone ring and hurried in to catch it before the answering machine could cut in. Jenny managed to squeeze through the door at the same time.
“Well, hi! Here I thought youd be sound asleep on a train someplace in Nevada by now.”
“Actually, I am on a train, only its someplace in Nebraska. I made the mistake of drinking real coffee around eleven and havent felt much like sleeping. So I did some reading and then got to talking to the conductor. He told me I could make a regular call from the train.”
“We should have known youd be able to. After all, if you can do it from a car and a plane, why not from a train?”
“This is different though. At least, so he claims. He says the message goes out on the rails. So I kind of expected your voice to sound like screeching metal, but its coming through loud and clear. No glitches the way there would be on my cellphone.”
“Youre coming through loud and clear too, and Im glad you called. I thought youd be incommunicado for the next two or three days.”
“This is a new express which travels like a bullet. In fact, I think its called a bullet something. Were scheduled to be in Philly tomorrow night. Well have a one-hour layover there, and then get into Syracuse by early morning.”
“Hows your Mom?”
“Great. Right off she made friends with a Thai woman who has a restaurant in St. Louis. They spent all day sharing recipes. Whats the latest on the Ono case?”
The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2 Page 41