The Sudoku Puzzle Murders (20 page)

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Authors: Parnell Hall

BOOK: The Sudoku Puzzle Murders
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As Cora neared the police station, a young girl came out.
Cora winced at the thought. The
young girl
was probably in her late twenties, and she’d take offense at the appellation. Not that Cora gave a damn. Cora was just dismayed to realize that someone that age seemed young.
The you’re-older-than-sin-reminder hesitated in the doorway before going down the steps. Seemed to be weighing a decision. If it was whether or not to have a cigarette, the answer was yes, because she pulled out a pack and lit one up.
Cora’s immediate reaction was that she shouldn’t be smoking. The girl, that is. Cora was a nicotine-addicted old dear who couldn’t help herself. But the girl should know better.
Cora wondered if the girl was holding the door for her. Ordinarily, that would have been a nice gesture. But having just been mistaken for someone’s grandmother, Cora saw it only as in deference to a dotty old lady in a cowboy hat. It was almost gratifying when the girl released the door and let it slam in her face.
But then why had the girl hesitated?
Cora found Chief Harper at his desk. “What did she want?”
“Who?”
“Girl was just here.”
“Mary Dobbs?”
“If that’s her name.”
“Only young woman’s been in today.”
“What’d she want.”
Harper frowned. “Well, aren’t you the old busybody.”
“Old?”
“I just mean who cares what some girl wants with everything else that’s going on.”
“You mean her visit had nothing to do with it?”
“No. Why would it?”
“I don’t know. A young woman doesn’t usually come down to the police station unless it’s something important.”
“She came to report a yowling cat.”
“What?”
“Some cat keeping her up. She didn’t know who it belonged to. I told her there wasn’t much we could do. Call the next time it was yowling, and I’d send someone by.”
“That’s all she came for?”
“It may not sound like much. But if she wasn’t getting any sleep …” Harper shrugged.
“She know anything about the crime?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Sure, I’m sure.”
“How do you know?”
“I asked her.”
“Why would you ask her?”
“She works at the Country Kitchen.”
“Really.”
“Yeah. I thought she might have seen the detective leave. But she didn’t.”
“Was she on that night?”
“Yes, but she was working the dining room, didn’t see who was in the bar. Why?”
“She looked nervous.”
“How could you tell?”
“She came out the front door, lit a cigarette.”
Harper snorted. “By that criterion, you’re the most nervous person in town. So what have you got for me?”
“Oh. Reiko claims she didn’t hire the PI.”
“What?”
Cora filled the chief in on her conversation with Mrs. Yoshiaki.
Harper was incredulous. “You went up and asked her?”
“Yeah. I figured hinting wasn’t going to do it.”
“Damn it.”
“It doesn’t mean
you
can’t ask her.”
“Yeah. Now that you warned her.”
“I’m not sure it matters, Chief. I mean, ‘Did you hire a PI?’ is a question a person who hired one would be apt to expect.”
“That’s not the point.”
“I know it’s not the point. The point is whether or not she carved the guy up. According to her jujitsu teacher, she wouldn’t need a sword. Which doesn’t mean she didn’t use one.”
“Maybe I should pull her in.”
“On what charge.”
“No charge. Just to ask her some questions.”
“Small problem, Chief. Her husband is your current suspect. A wife can’t testify against her husband, in case you forgot. You can ask all you want, but she doesn’t have to answer.”
“Damn.” Harper scowled, considered. “You wanna bring me something I can use, for a change?”
Cora sighed. “Would I ever.”
“Do you have a cat?”
Mrs. Grayson’s smile was forced. “Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Cora said, in her most placating voice. She had showered, shampooed her hair four times, and put on her Sunday-go-to-meetin’ togs, in an effort to appear convivial. “I just wanted to know if you have a cat.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“It won’t get you in trouble,” Cora assured her.
Mrs. Grayson’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not lying.”
“I’m not saying you are. I just want to be perfectly clear I’m not trying to make trouble.”
“What are you trying to do?”
“I’m looking for a cat.”
“I haven’t got one.”
“Too bad.”
“Why?”
“I’m taking a survey. Making a list. For a catalogue.”
Mrs. Grayson never cracked a smile. “Haven’t got one,” she said, and closed the door.
Mrs. Murphy, two houses down, was far more gracious. “Do come in. Can I get you some tea?”
Cora knew the woman vaguely, had seen her in the bakery and the Wicker Basket, usually in the company of other chatty women. Cora tended to avoid chatty women.
“I really haven’t time for tea.”
Mrs. Murphy’s eyes twinkled. “Perhaps a drop of brandy?”
“No,” Cora said, slightly more sharply than the situation required. A drop of brandy was indeed an appealing offer, were she not on the wagon. “I’m awfully busy. I just have a couple of questions.”
“About the murders?” Mrs. Murphy’s eyes sparkled. “Isn’t it
awful?
I understand you were there.”
“I was there. I’m trying to clear up some of the details the police neglected. I was hoping you could help me out.”
“You mean you actually saw the
body?
”
“Yes.”
Mrs. Murphy shuddered deliciously. “That must have been
dreadful!
And now you need my help?”
“Yes.”
“What do you need to know?”
“Do you have a cat?”
By the time Cora reached Mrs. Wickem, word had got around. “You’ve been calling on my neighbors.”
“You saw me?”
“How could I miss? You parked in front of my house. But you don’t come see me. You go next door. Talking to everyone. Why did you skip me?”
“Skip you?”
“You talked to Mrs. Grayson. You went right by me and talked to Mrs. Murphy.”
“Just saving the best for last.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You don’t have a cat, do you?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“No reason. Is your boarder here?”
“Mary Dobbs? I think so.”
“I need to talk to her.”
Mary didn’t seem pleased to see Cora. “What do you want?”
“Chief Harper sent me.”
“Huh?”
“You went to see Chief Harper. About a cat.”
“So?”
“He’s been busy. With these murders, and all. He sent me to investigate.”
“He sent you?”
“Yes. To investigate your complaint about a cat. I talked to the neighbors and they deny it. Which is not surprising. No one wants to admit complicity. You accuse someone of a crime, the first instinct is to deny. For instance, if I accused you of something, you wouldn’t tell me, would you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a very lucky girl. Extremely lucky. Most girls don’t get a second chance. They make a mistake and they’re done.” Cora frowned. “Often on homecoming week. But that’s another story. The point is, there are crimes you’re probably not aware of. You think of crime, you think robbery, murder, possession of drugs. There’s also withholding evidence, obstruction of justice, perjury, and swearing out a false complaint.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. You’re stalling. Hoping this isn’t what you think it is. Bad news. It
is.
” Cora smiled. “So tell me about the yowling cat.”
Chief Harper was apoplectic. “She
what
?!”
“Now, now, now,” Cora said. “Don’t be too hard on the girl. You’re a very intimidating figure. No wonder she got scared.”
“See here—”
Cora put up her hand. “No harm, no foul. The girl’s come clean. Why not let it go?”
“Because you promised her I would?”
“I may have said something along those lines.”
“Oh, for God’s sake!”
“What, you want to prosecute her just because you can’t get your killer? That’s not going to play well, Chief. Even Rick Reed will make you look bad.”
“People think they can come in here and lie to the police.”
“At least she came,” Cora pointed out. “Maybe she got cold feet, but at least she showed up. Anyway, now she’s come clean, and we take it from there.”
“From where?”
“From the report that she came here to make. She slipped out the back door to have a cigarette. Because there’s no smoking in the Country Kitchen. When you talk about local ordinances that need an overhaul—”
“Cora.”
“She was out in the parking lot, and she saw them leave.”
“Who?”
“A Japanese man and woman.”
“Could you be more specific.”
“Well, it was dark, and—”
“Goddamn it!”
Cora raised her finger. “You see, Chief? That’s why the girl lied. She started to tell her story and realized she was going to get that reaction. So she went with the yowling cat. Hmm.”
“What?”
“Sounds like a Perry Mason title. The Case of the Yowling Cat.”
“Yeah, great. This Asian couple. I take it that would be Mrs. Yoshiaki and a man who could have been her husband or could have been her lover?”
“Right. Moments later a second Asian man comes out.”
“Who she couldn’t identify, but who also could have been Hideki or Aoki?” Harper said disgustedly.
“Yeah, but we know the order they left the bar. Reiko ran out and Hideki followed. Aoki had a tussle with Dennis that slowed him down. So Aoki was the second man out. He ran up to the couple and they had a huge fight. Then the woman drove off with the man. The other man left alone.”
“The same man who came out alone?”
“She’s not sure.”
“Wonderful. She see anybody she
could
identify?”
“Two people.”
“Who?”
“One was Dennis Pride. She didn’t know his name, but she recognized him as Sherry’s ex-husband.”
“How did she know?”
“She’s seen him around town. Restraining order or not, the guy practically lives here.”
“Who else did she see?”
“The other guy was our private detective.”
“Is she sure?”
“Recognized him from his picture in the paper.”
“What did he do?”
“Hopped in his car, took off after the Japanese.”
“The girl withheld this from me?”
“That’s the wrong way to look at it, Chief.”
“What’s the
right
way to look at it?”
“The girl’s
bringing
it to you. The girl’s giving you all the facts. Some of the facts you were looking for. The detective followed them out of the Country Kitchen in his car.”
“We
know
that,” Harper said impatiently. “You said this girl had something. Tell me something I don’t know.”
Cora smiled. “She knows the
order
.”
Harper frowned. “Wait a minute. I thought she couldn’t tell them apart.”
“Hideki and Aoki, no. The woman left first with one, the other left alone. But
next
was Dennis Pride. The detective pulled out after him.”
“Dennis got in
between
the detective and the people he was following?”
“That’s right.”
“That would tend to tick a detective off.”
“It certainly would.”
“A detective might pull a guy like that over, give him a piece of his mind.”
“Not if it meant losing his quarry.”
“Of course not,” Harper agreed. “But say the lovebirds land. Dennis parks his car to spy on them. The detective walks up behind Dennis, says, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Dennis picks up the samurai sword he’s holding, and stabs the guy in the heart.”
“After first carefully impaling it with a crossword puzzle and a sudoku? That makes no sense.”
“No kidding. So someone comes along and sticks them on the sword after.”
“The sudoku wasn’t torn. The blade went right through. It wasn’t slipped on the sword after. The sword had to go through the paper and into the body.”
“Maybe, but the puzzle wasn’t. You found it in the bushes.”
“Even so.”
“Even so what?”
“It doesn’t matter if you slip one thing on the sword, or you slip two. The point is, with
anything
slipped on the sword, it’s a whole new ball game.”
“But it could have been done postmortem. Assuming Dennis is the killer. He could have killed him, and someone else could have come along and impaled the puzzles.”
“Barney Nathan go along with that?”
“I haven’t asked him.”
“Whaddya wanna bet? The sword’s out of the body now. You think he’s going to swear it absolutely couldn’t be done?”
“Are you trying to tell me Dennis did it?”
“Not at all. I’m just pointing out what a valuable witness this waitress will be to whoever gets charged with the crime. The defense attorney—who I’m assuming is Becky Baldwin in any case—will be able to call her to the stand and present her to the jury as reasonable doubt. Which is going to put the prosecutor in the rather embarrassing position of not being able to convict anyone. Probably even more embarrassing than arresting everyone and his brother and then turning them loose.”
Chief Harper sighed. “You’re telling me this witness is the kiss of death?”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“Gee. Thanks a lot.”

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