The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2

by John A. Broussard

  Though most of the mob from the pakalolo case had finally left, there was still quite a crowd in the courtroom. Hank and Corky were sitting in a back row, and Kay had just joined them. Two seats in front of them, Qual and Craig were observing the proceedings. Roger and Winston Hanamoto, along with Isobel Kim, occupied another bench. Sid wondered at Zoes absence then, recalling the conference they had had at the office and the resulting suspicions, he wondered less.

  The bailiff brought the court to order. The court clerk read off the grim charge of murder, and Lisa Raines, in her husky voice, called on Sid for his comments. Sid knew there was little point to appealing to any quality of mercy in Judge Raines. Early on in her appointment to the bench, some defense attorneys had made a pitch in the direction of what they felt was a feminine addiction to please, depending chiefly on the supposed suffering and misery of their clients. They were soon disappointed. Raines adhered strictly to the rules. Extenuating circumstances were considered, but emotional appeals could have been no more wasted on Mt. Rushmore.

  Sids tack was to push Joes voluntary surrender to the police, his complete cooperation with the authorities and the fact he was a stable and long term resident of the islands with a total commitment to remaining there. Sid then asked for something he knew would not be granted, Joes release on his own recognizance. Returning to his chair next to Joe, Sid surveyed the lovely face of the young judge. He knew beforehand there would be no way to read the effect of his plea on a countenance which could be as unexpressive and inscrutable as any of those figures carved out on South Dakotas famous peak.

  As expected, Emil Bautista centered in on the nature of the crime. Sid, knowing Emil was no actor, was certain the emotion in the prosecutors voice was a genuine reflection of his own horror at what amounted to an act of terrorism in downtown Napua. Emil went on to point out how releasing Joe Demos on bail was tantamount to putting all of the community at risk.

  When Emil had concluded his argument, Lisa Raines did something unusual. Looking around the courtroom, she asked,“Is the arresting officer present?” When Hank stood up, she then asked him if he would describe the circumstances surrounding the confession and the subsequent arrest. Hank, always nervous in the courtroom situation, stepped forward. On this occasion, however, he did a quick and commendable job of describing Joe Demoss demeanor and his general cooperativeness. Hank liked Joe and didnt try to hide his feelings, though at the same time presenting a fair and unbiased description of what had occurred in his office.

  Raines asked Hank only one question, “Was Mr. Demos under serious suspicion prior to his surrender to the police?”

  Hank shook his head emphatically.“No, your honor. At the time we werent even certain of the source of the explosives used in the bombing.”

  As expected, the Judge made a ruling from the bench. What Sid hadnt expected was the surprisingly low bail. But, as Judge Raines explained before naming the sum, the sole purpose of bail was to guarantee the accused would appear for trial. Since, as she pointed out, Joe Demos had a considerable investment in the community, had his home and business there, and because he had surrendered completely voluntarily to the police and prior to his being suspected of the murder, he appeared to be an excellent risk. So saying, she levied a token amount on him and adjourned the hearing.

  ***

  Sid and Kay were still discussing the court scene at the office after arriving back from the courtroom. Craig had gone on to attend to more important matters, namely shopping at Uchimas for the evening meal. Qual was closeted with a client.

  “I think Hank made the difference,” Sid said. “Lisa pretty much based her decision on what he said.”

  Kay commented how Rainess view of Hank and his testimony probably had other implications as well.

  “What do you mean?” Sid asked.

  “Well, the old boy network in the county was pretty much wiped out when the new mayor and those two women were elected to the county council.”

  “Sure. And it got itself replaced by an old girl network, Ill bet.”

  “Youre not far wrong, but theres a difference. The old boys used their network for handing out favors and parceling out influence. Im convinced the mayor isnt doing that. Shes using her friends and acquaintances as sounding boards and sources of advice.”

  “I see what you mean. Lisa is one of her friends, and the mayor very likely listens to what she has to say.”

  “Right. And Rainess impression of Hank might make a difference in the captaincy position hes decided hed like to have. Besides, theres something else different about the new regime.”

  “What?”

  “I cant quite put my finger on it, but I think theres something more like compassion there.” Kay lifted up her hand in protest as she saw Sid getting ready to jump on her last remark. “Dont! I know what youre going to sayhow Im now claiming women are different. Maybe they are. Ive never argued otherwise. Ive just insisted they arent inferior. What Im trying to say now is the mayor has a different approach to problems. Maybe its because shes a woman, or maybe its just because shes who she is. Whatever the reason, she seems much more likely to trust people as long as they seem to deserve her trust. And shes as likely as not to break the rules if shes convinced its for the public good.”

  Sid looked skeptical. “I sure havent seen any signs of compassion. But at least she hasnt been convicted of fraud like her predecessor. I guess thats a step up.”

  Kay, leafing through her notepad, moved on to another topic. “What did Ramon have to say?”

  “Hes all set to go. He knows an operative on the Mainland wholl be getting in touch with us tomorrow morning, and Ramon gives him the highest recommendation. Hed better be good, because this is going to be a search for a needle in a haystack containing a quarter of a billion straws.”

  Kay smiled at Sids pessimism. “Its not so darn bad, Sid. Weve got Morton Dyers schedule for the month he was on the mainland, and there are only a half-dozen cities for our investigator to hit. Besides, we know which companies Dyer visited and who he talked to. Im sure I could run down his mysterious friend all by myself.”

  “Im sure youd like to. But this time well leave the investigating up to a professional.”

  “There is something we could do, though,” Kay said, flipping over a page of her pad. “Theres someone right here on the island who might be able to tell us about Zoes sexual interests.”

  “Whos that?”

  “The director of the family crisis clinic.”

  “You mean Agnes Brinton?”

  “Right. You were the one who told me she said she was a lesbian. Why dont we drop by there tomorrow and sound her out.”

  Sid sounded both reluctant and dubious. “Shes not exactly the most forthcoming person in the world. And she may be sensitive about the subject.”

  “Theres only one way to find out.”

  Chapter 14

  It was obvious Hanks mood hadnt improved much over the previous day. Corky, deciding further discussion of the Dyer and OHearne case couldnt make matters any worse, brought her first cup of morning coffee into Hanks office, broke out her notepad, and announced her intention of going through the list of alibis for New Years Eve.

  This time, Hank merely sighed an d pushed away the papers hed been looking at but not really reading.

  “Do you want the bland ones first, or shall I start with the surprises?” Corky asked.

  Hank shrugged, and Corky, not looking up from her pad, began to give background. “I recruited Mannyand Estelle from traffic, and weve hit just about all the neighbors who might possibly have seen any of the suspects the night Charlotte Dyer was killed.

  “First theres Zoe and Joe. Their alibi is worth about as much as his confession, but we didnt find that out from any of the neighbors. You know what Kula Hill is like. Their place up at the top is surrounded by shrubs and bushes, and there arent any other houses that look down on their grounds or driveway. So I really didnt expect to get much from the neighborsand I w
asnt disappointed. Thats when I got a hunch to try the marina. I ran down the two watchmen who were on. They both saw Joe drive up, park his car and climb aboard the Lady Mac just when the shifts were changing, right at midnight.”

  At this point in her narrative, Hank began to show some interest. “Wasnt Zoe with him?”

  “Nope. And here they vouched for each other when we first interviewed them.”

  “Maybe she was on the boat during the day and was there when he went aboard.”

  “Uh-uh. The watchman on the early night shiftthe one up to midnightsays there was no one on the boat. No lights or anything. And he admits he gets some cumshaw from Joe to keep a special eye on the Lady Mac. So he remembers looking it over several times during his stint. He actually went aboard once and checked the mooring lines. He insists he would have known if someone was aboard.”

  “And she was definitely not in the car when Joe drove up?”

  “Definitely, unless she was hiding behind the back seat or in the trunk.”

  Hank leaned forward with his elbows on his desk, one hand on his chin.“That is interesting. Especially since Joes only too willing to claim he blew OHearne to kingdom come, but he didnt even hint hed been around Dyers house New Years night. Could he have been?”

  Corky looked up from her notes. “He sure could have. The marinas is one hell of a big place for one man to cover. The watchman on the late shift claims he does a walk through every hour, but he was looking pretty shifty when he told me that. My guess is he stays snug in his shack watching TV most of the night, and maybe gets in a few naps too.

  “So Joe could have come and gone a dozen times during the night, especially since the parking area cant be seen from the guard shack. The only thing the watchman told me that I could believe is how, when he made his last roundprobably the only one he made all nightright before going off shift at eight, Joe was up on deck smoking his pipe and looking out at the horizon. He said „good morning to the watchman.”

  “Looks like we have to ask Joe a few more questionsand Zoe too.”

  “And Isobel. Listen to this. She lives in the Wainae neighborhood, and there was a block party right in front of her apartment. They roped off the area so the kids could shoot off their New Years Eve fireworks. Well, Estelle ran down a young Japanese couple who live in the same apartment. They know Isobel by sight, enough to say“hello” to her, and they saw her as they were going out with their two young kids. Sometime around ten-thirty. A couple of other neighbors confirm Isobel was there.”

  “Theyre sure it was her”

  Corky grinned. “Thats a Japanese neighborhood, you know. Can you imagine how Isobel sticks out there? Shes taller than all the women and maybe all of the men too.”

  “So she was going out about then?”

  “Nope. And thats what strange. She was going back in. Which means she lied to us about being in her apartment all nightfor no reason at all. And theres no reason I can see why she couldnt just have told us she went out to see the doings in the street, and then went back in at ten-thirty or so. It would still have been as good an alibi as what she actually claimed.”

  “And they're sure of the time?”

  “Absolutely. They said they wanted to get their kids to bed because theyre preschoolers, so they looked at the clock when they went out. That's why they know it couldnt have been much later than ten-thirty when they saw Isobel going up the stairs to her apartment.”

  “You didnt find out anything about her for later in the evening?”

  “No. And Im reasonably certain she would have been spotted anywhere up to about two or two-thirty, because there were still stragglers out there talking story about then. Afterwards…nothing. She might have gone out, she might not. We werent able to find anyone up later than two-thirty.”

  “Tenthirty doesnt help us a damn bit. Ive talked to Clyde about the Dyer killing since he turned in the postmortem. He says her skull was so fascinating he put in a call to his old friend, the German pathologist, Rhiner something-or-other and sent him a fax of the Xrays. The Germans an expert on head wounds, and he confirms the original blow couldnt have occurred much more than a half-hour before death. So, even if the Dyer woman died at three-thirtyand thats pushing itshe couldnt possibly have been struck on the head earlier than three.”

  “So Isobels ten-thirty excursion couldnt possibly have accounted for the killing.”

  “Right.” Hank was warming to the new information. “What about Richard and Winston?”

  “Theyre the dull ones. So far as we can tell, their alibisor lack of alibischeck out. Like Richard said, his wife and kids were off to Lanai to visit her folks. His house is visible from about three or four others, but no one could say one way or another if he went out that night. Most of the neighbors were home and in bed by one, and no one saw any activity at his house. So he could be telling the truth when he said he watched TV until ten and then turned in.”

  “Winston?”

  “Pretty much the same thing. He lives in one of those condos next to the Malalani. No one knows whether or not he was home all night, though he says he was. The only thing we know for sure is he was there at eight-thirty the next morning. Or, at least, his car was there.”

  Corky flipped through her notes, then explained. “The Assistant Manager of the Plantation has the parking stall next to Winstons under the condo. He says he came in about eightthirty in the morning, and he knows Winstons car was there then.”

  “What makes him so certain?”

  Corky grinned. “You should have heard him. He bitched because Winstons car crowded his space so much he could hardly get out of his own car once hed parked it. Come to think of it, he bitched about just about everything. Winston always hogs the space, but it was much worse that morning. The developer was so damn cheap he tried to save on parking spaces by making them only about big enough for motorcycles. He had to work on New Years eve because the night supervisor came down sickor said he did. Workers would have gotten double time and half for being called out on New Years Eve, but hes on salary, so he didnt get a damn cent extra for having to stay up all night, when the plant was practically shut down anyway…and on, and on, and on. I sure had to put up with a lot of shit just to find out I couldnt check out Winstons alibi with him.”

  Hank was looking glum again. “What have you got on the OHearne case?”

  “Nothing. Best we can tell, OHearne last drove his car the night before, so the dynamite could have been planted anywhere during an eighteen hour or so period. No suspicious characters around. At least none to report. None of the owners of the other damaged cars could offer any helpbut they had plenty of complaints about lack of police protection to pass along to us.”

  Hank grunted noncommittally.

  “You know, Hank…?” Corky paused.

  “Do I know what?”

  “Do you think theres any possibility the dynamiting didnt have anything to do with the Dyer killing after all? You know, we really havent settled whether or not she was killed. Maybe she did just stumble and hit her head, and OHearne got rubbed out by someone who doesnt have a damn thing to do with the Dyers, or with Hawaiian Harvest, or with anyone weve talked to so far.”

  “Are you suggesting it might be some kind of gang OHearne was involved with? Some kind of professional bombers? If you are, then where are you going to look for them on Elima. This is the first homicide of its kind weve ever had here.”

  “Sure, but there have been at least two in the last year over on Oahu. Maybe some professional came over for a visit. Too bad we dont have an informant.”

  Hank reached for the phone, “But we do, Corky, we sure do. Remember Simplicio Cheng.”

  Corkys eyes lit up, recalling an important informant, a former Catholic priest with a checkered career who had migrated to Hawaii from the Philippines. “Hey! Right on. Id forgotten all about the Fat Priest. Im willing to bet he does know all about gangland bombers in Hawaii.”

  For the first time in days Hank smiled, saying
, while holding the phone to his ear, “Dont expect me to take you up on that bet.”

  ***

  Anyone with a stereotype of lesbians, as husky, masculine, homely, crewcut dykes, would have been taken aback by Agnes Brinton. Petite, rather pretty, feminine, wearing a simply cut dress well complementing her slender figure, Agnes could have easily passed for any of her straight sisters. And, as she had pointed out to Sid at one time, the menwho many of the women at the clinic were seeking refuge fromas often as not made the mistake of thinking their manly qualities would be irresistible to her.

  Today, Agnes was ruling over a vastly different enterprise than the one Kay and Sid remembered from their previous encounter with her. The building housing the clinicactually an old, two story residencewas freshly painted. Inside, the change was even more remarkable. The previously humble surroundings had been completely renovated. The drab walls were now colorfully and newly painted as well. The almost hospital-like and undecorated ambience Kay remembered was now truly homelike. Attractive and tasteful prints and photos lined the walls. Battered and worn window and door casings had been replaced. Potted plants and flowers were strategically scattered in the front room which now served as a reception area.

  Agness office, which had been a bedroom in the old house, had also been transformed, looking now like an efficient center for what had become a substantial public service agency. New file cabinetsgood, substantial furnishings to replace the garage sale castoffsand a fine, and obviously up-to-date computer along with equally new peripherals on a separate table marked the new efficiency. All this affluence had somehow overtaken the hand-to-mouth organization the attorneys had seen on their last visit.

  “Hey!” Sid exclaimed as they entered Agnes office and sat down in the comfortable chairs she waved them to, “Whats happened here? You come into a fortune or something?”

  Agnes smiled at his acknowledgment of the new surroundings.“No,” she answered, “I came into a new mayor. She actually approached our board of directors out of a clear blue sky and offered a discretionary grant to the clinic. Weve had a wild time spending the money, and its been terrific for morale.” She waved her hand toward the surrounding walls. “All the painting, all the refurbishing, has been done by staff and residents. And this,” she pointed to the computer, “keeps our files straight like youd never believe. And we can tap into police records with it. No more of this spending hours researching on these wife batterers to find out theyve got a long record of violence back in West Virginia or the Bronx. And we can get all those legal papers together for our cases now, just like that.” She snapped her fingers.