The Yoshinobu Mysteries: Volume 2 Page 9

  “Hows that?”

  “All we have to do is to find out who did kill Clayton.”

  In spite of Lauras misery, a smile managed to creep through. “Just like that.”

  “Maybe not just like that, but Im going to try. Lets lay out a strategy.”

  “Im for it. In fact, Im desperate enough to try just about anything.”

  “OK. Since Ken wont give you the necessary information, well have to go out and get it.”

  “You mean in California.”

  “Right. Well start with Computech Systems, the other two partners and their wives.”

  “Are you actually going to go to the Mainland to interview them?”

  “Im not. Sid is. Ive already talked to him about it. His folks live in the Bay Area, and this will be a chance for him to see them too. First of all we have to get Kens OK to go all out with our investigation.”

  “I dont think hell object. He might want to, but I think hell see our position and agree its only fair.”

  “How do you think hell react when I tell him Im going to go to Honolulu to interview his ex-wife?”

  *** The conference was at ten the following morning and consisted of Ken and the four attorneys. Laura had agreed the firm could formally accept Ken as a client only if he allowed them a free hand in investigation. Quals wry comment was, “At least one.”

  It was Qual who led off. “Weve talked it over. We know there are some things you wont tell us about, and weve had clients with the same reservations. Its like expecting a gladiator to fight with one hand tied behind his back and, if I remember right, the Romans used to expect that from some of their performers. Weve actually done the same kind of fighting ourselves, though we didnt like it. If we do take your case, it will be only if were allowed to investigate as we please and whom we please. We just cant fight with both hands tied behind our backs.”

  Four sets of eyes watched Ken wrestling with a decision. After a long pause, he said, “OK. Ill tell you some of my problem. It has to do with my ex-wife.”

  Kay glanced over at Laura who had looked in her direction at the same time.

  “Ruth had a psychotic break some eight years ago. It happened before we were married.”

  Ken turned to Laura. “Which brings up one of the shadows in my past Im not proud of. Ruth began to have the same problems again shortly after we got married. I was so engrossed in programming I didnt even notice it. She tried to get me to listen to her, but I just brushed it all off. I couldnt see any reason why she should be depressed, so I assumed she really didnt have any problems. When she proposed going back to the therapist whod treated her before, I pooh-poohed the idea.”

  Ken shook his head at himself. “I dont know why I was so pig-headed. I finally gave in, grudgingly. The therapy, or something, worked, and shes shown no signs of any problems since, but she did continue to go to the psychiatrist. Finally, I began to realize the seriousness of the situation. A long session where wed both gone to see the therapist really opened my eyes. I guess I then tried to compensate for my stupidity by becoming overprotective, especially since Ruth was pregnant at the time. The divorce hasnt changed my need to shield her. I havent even dared to tell her yet whats happened here.”

  “Are you saying you wont allow us to question her?” Qual asked.

  The struggle continued. He surveyed the attorneys sitting around the table. “Whod do the questioning?”

  Kay broke in. “I would.”

  Ken looked across at the lovely, feminine, dark-skinned woman. Sid was the one most aware of what Ken was thinking, and Sid was quite certain Ken was misjudging Kay.

  Ken smiled, resignedly. “OK. Ill sign.”

  *** Ruth Coles home was on one of the ridges s tretching north and east from the center of Honolulu. A much older island in the chain than Elima, the effects of millions of years of erosion had left their clear imprint on Oahu. The lava flows, which had built their own scaffolding up the miles from the ocean floor to finally break the surface, had continued to pile layer upon layer of basalt on the earlier foundations in trying to reach the blue, tropical sky.

  Even before the flows had finally stopped renewing themselves, seeds, brought in by storms and by birds blown in by the trades, lodged wherever there was shelter from the wind. Rain chipped away at the rich reservoir of minerals, reducing the hardened lava to finer and finer sediment. The specks of living matter began to sprout, to grow, and to tear at the yielding rock in their own way. Year after year the raging torrents of rain gouged away at crevices, opened them into cracks, turned them into miniature valleys, enlarged them into ravines and left behind the series of ridges, like giant fingers, pointing down to the wide, natural harbor.

  The Marquesans, who discovered these shores, settled near the beach. Hundreds of years later, the invading Tahitians clustered along the foot of the old lava flows wherever fresh water could be found. It was the Westerners, bringing with them the mixed blessings of the industrial revolution, who would fully exploit the ridges, pumping the life sustaining water up to the houses growing and sprawling out along the fingers and the high valleys. These same dwellings sometimes paid for their temerity by being destroyed in the floods frequently accompanying the tropical downpours.

  Plumeria Ridge was an older subdivision, and Ruths home was a relatively modest one. In an area where space to build was at a premium, the house was undoubtedly worth a small fortune. Royal Poinciana rather than plumeria lined the street. Power and phone lines were buried, and the neighborhood was a quiet and pleasant one, clustering along a series of cul de sacs.

  Ruth was a slender, smiling person. Kay soon realized the womans attractiveness stemmed in large measure from her undisguised interest in her visitor. Ruth had the rare quality of being genuinely responsive to the person she was talking to. She listened.

  Sitting in the small but pleasant front room, Kay asked, “Did Ken get in touch with you and explain what happened?”

  “Yes. He called just this morning. I hope you know this whole thing is absolutely preposterous. You could never possibly find a more kind, more gentle person than Ken. Violence is just not part of his nature.”

  Kay asked if she could tape the conversation. Ruth readily agreed.

  “The court date is just about a month away, and were trying to get as much background information on Ken as possible. Would you be prepared to come to Elima to testify as a character witness for him?”

  “Of course. Ive got a part time job, but I can get away anytime.”

  Kay quickly checked on the hours Ken had been there on the fateful Saturday. Ruth confirmed he had left in time to catch the five-thirty plane, dropping Sarah off at a school friend where she was spending the night.

  “Did you go with them?”

  “Only as far as the mall. Clayton wasnt going to be home until late, so I thought Id get in some evening shopping. I ate at the mall and got home around seven-thirty.”

  Kay wondered about the quick explanation of her whereabouts and decided to check Saturday plane schedules to and from Elima. Until she could do so, she decided to concentrate on Ruth and Kens past. “Would you give me some background. When and how did you first meet Ken?”

  Though Kay had her note pad on her lap ready to scribble down salient points, she kept her eyes on Ruth and relied on the tape for a more accurate reproduction of what was being said. This was an occasion when she was glad to be freed from the need for careful note taking. Ruths face reflected some sort of inner turmoil at the direction the interview was taking, though her voice betrayed no such emotion. Kay quickly decided the shades of feeling rippling across the engaging features could tell her as much or more than the words Ruth used to express, or hide, those nuances.

  “It was about eight years ago, at a party in San Jose.”

  Kay was uncertain about the source of the turbulence, but her long experience at exploiting leads when cross-examining witnesses decided her to work the mine for what it was worth, whatever the obstructions in her p
ath. Somewhere in the vicinity there was a rich vein. Of that she was convinced.

  “Who gave the party?”

  Ruth seemed relieved. Wrong turn, Kay thought.

  “A friend of Kens. Someone at the company where he worked.”

  “What was the party about?”

  “Im not really too sure.

  Im still in a blind passage where theres nothing worth exploring, Kay reflected.

  “I think it was for someone who was leaving. Yes, thats what it was. It was an engineer going to Massachusetts.”

  “How did you get invited?”

  “A friend of mine knew Ken.” For the first time since Kay had entered the house, Ruth shifted her eyes away from hers.

  Ah-hah. This passageway has promising signs.

  “A friend?”

  The eyes stayed away. There was a long pause. A decision was finally reached. “It was Clayton Heinicke.”

  A mother lode!

  Kay said nothing. Ruths eyes shifted back. “I was living with Clayton at the time.”

  Its just a case of straight mining and loading up the ore from here on, Kay now decided, and asked aloud, “How long had you known Clayton?”

  “A year or so.”

  “Did you break up with Clayton because of Ken?”

  “Oh, no! Clayton and I had our differences, and wed separated several months before I ran into Ken again.”

  The veins beginning to look much less promising. “Why did you leave Clayton?”

  Kay knew this was the dream find of all miners when Ruths eyes shifted away, came back and then, after a long pause, she said in a low voice,“I was afraid hed kill me. Later, after Id left him, he did threaten to kill me.”

  Chapter 14

  Emil Bautista was unhappy. Hank could see that, only too clearly. The young, darkhaired, dark-eyed prosecuting attorney shifted uneasily in his chair. “Theyre pushing for the earliest possible trial date, so weve got a little over a month to prepare the case against Cole,” Emil said, “and Im sure Lauras going to ring in a lot of character witnesses. From what I can make out, Cole has a good reputation, no police record, a long, respectable employment history and plenty of friends to testify on his behalf. Sure, we have a lot of circumstantial evidence, but Id feel much better if we had a witness to place him at the scene.”

  Hank grinned. “Lets face it, Emil. Youd feel much better if youd been there yourself to see him pull the trigger. Youd feel even better if you had a full confession from him afterwards. Thats something youre not going to get this time. Theres no question in my mind about that. This Cole looks meek and mild, but I can tell hes hard as nails. Hes not going to break. It took a lot of guts to plan the shooting of an unarmed man and then to do it. Its not going to take much effort for him to hang tough, especially with the team of lawyers he has behind him.”

  Emil gave a weak smile in reply. “I know. Im not looking forward to the trial, which is why I want to have the strongest case possible when we do get to court. What do you think actually happened?”

  “ At about six-fortyfive they went up to Heinickes room. They talked for a few minutes. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, Heinicke called down and ordered a drink through room service. Cole stood out of sight so room service didnt see him. Right afterwards, he walked toward the door and Heinicke went with him. Cole turned around and shot Heinicke just as he himself was about to leave. The next thing he did was to take the “Do Not Disturb” sign off the inside knob, slip out and place it on the outside knob. Then he walked down by the dolphin pool, carefully dropped the gun into the water to make sure there wasnt a splash, went out to the parking lot to his car and took off for his own hotel.”

  “Can you see what Sid or Kays going to do with y ou scenario in the courtroom?” Hank shook his head. “Its pretty straightforward. How can they argue against it?” “To begin with, it doesnt sound natural for someone to order only one drink when

  he has someone else in the room. ”

  “We know Cole hardly drinks. He says so himself. There wouldnt have been any

  point in ordering anything for him.”

  “All the more reason why Heinicke would probably have waited until Cole left

  before ordering. A single drink almost certainly means a single occupant.” “Still sounds like a mighty weak argument to me.”

  “Perhaps, but theres something else thats much more serious. What was Cole

  wearing?”

  Hank shrugged. “Dont know. Why does it matter?”

  “Suppose he was wearing typical tourist clothes: light shirt, shorts, sandals.” Hank grunted. “I see what you mean. Whered he hide the cannon?” Emil nodded.

  “Ive got it. They went out to Coles car to get a bag or dispatch case, or something.

  Cole told Heinicke he had something to show him.”

  Amusement flickered in Emils eyes. “Thats going to make things more

  complicated, isnt it? Kays sure to time how long the trip in and out would take. The

  time needed may make it impossible for Heinicke to have gotten up to his room in time to

  make his call down for room service. Besides, we dont have any witnesses to this grand

  tour.”

  “Im not concerned about the lack of witnesses, but youve got a point as far as the

  times concerned. Maybe we have to make use of another option if it turns out Cole

  wasnt wearing clothes that could hide the gun. We have only his word to indicate he

  went directly up to the room with Heinicke.

  “Maybe Cole told Heinicke he had something to show him and then claimed hed

  bring it up to the room. Or maybe he did go to the room, left and never told Heinicke he

  was coming back. Yeah! Theres your explanation for the drink. Heinicke ordered only

  one drink because he was alone at the time and didnt expect any company. In the

  meantime Cole goes off to the car alone and picks up the gun. Then he goes back up with

  it. Thats it! Maybe he wore a jacket to hide it and never even went into the room. Just

  shot Heinicke when he answered the door.”

  Emil nodded in reluctant agreement. “Claiming he went back to the car for the gun

  isnt going to go quite as well with the notion of premeditation, but its probably the tack

  well have to take. Sid will pound away at the notion that if Cole had intended to kill

  Heinicke, he would have taken the gun up to the room in the first place.

  “Besides, theres an even more serious problem than that. Why did Cole drop a gun,

  which was registered in his name, in the dolphin pool? He knew it would turn up sooner

  or later if he left it there, and he had the whole Pacific at his disposal. All he had to do

  was to rent one of those thrill craft at the Prince Kalanianaole and dump the gun out there

  as far as he could get. It would never have turned up out in the coral reef.” “He just panicked,” Hank said with no conviction in his voice.

  “So now we have a cold blooded murderer who panics? Can you see what Sid will

  do with that? Thats why we need a lot more support for whatever scenario we finally

  adopt. Im going to ask for a postponement of the trial. Im sure Judge Raines will go for

  it if I can get Laura to go along.”

  “Last I heard, the whole crew is scrambling all over Oahu and the West Coast

  looking for leads and character witnesses, so Id guess Laura will jump at the chance for

  a delay.”

  “Theres one other thing, Hank. Have you got a record of the phone calls Heinicke

  made the evening he was killed?”

  “Yup. It helps in establishing the time of death too, always assuming he was the one

  who put in the last call.”

  Emils eyes opened wide at the suggestion. “Is there any evidence to indicate it

  wasnt him?

  Hank grin
ned. “Nope. I just want you to know Im cautious too and thinking about

  all contingencies.”

  Emil did not seem to appreciate the answer or its implications. “When was the call?” “Seven-six. It was a minute or so after he got his drink from room service.” “Have you run down the number?”

  “Sure have. Interesting, but Im not sure it does anything for us one way or the other.

  It was a call to Coles ex-wife over on Oahu.”

  “How long did it last?”

  “It didnt. Nobody answered.”

  *** Laura and Ken were sitting in her office. She had just flipped over to a fresh page in her yellow legal pad and pushed down the record button on the tape recorder. She smiled across the desk at him and said, “I know this is boring as all hell, but can we take it over from the beginning, from the phone call Clayton made to you on Friday night, up to the time you got the news of his death when you called his hotel on Monday morning.”

  Ken smiled. “I dont know how much luck you people are going to have defending me, but youre sure thorough. This will be the fifth time around on the story, once here the morning Clayton was found dead, twice at the station, and once more here for you folks. Anyhow, here goes.”

  Laura took no notes, shifting her eyes from his to watch the tape slowly winding up with the recording she knew she was going to compare word for word with the earlier one Ken had made.

  She cringed inwardly as the narrative came out, once more letter perfect. The hideous creature, who had chewed its way into her consciousness, sat on the edge of the gaping hole it had made. As Laura reached a final decision, it gloated. There was now absolutely no question in Lauras mind. Ken had rehearsed the story over and over again, and there seemed to be only one explanation as to why he had.

  *** As far as Sid was concerned, San Francisco was the most spectacular city to fly into at night, always assuming the weather was clear, and tonight it was–remarkably so. The outline of the Bay was unmistakable. When the plane banked and circled, Sid could even see the part of Berkeley where his parents lived. Checking his watch, he decided his delayed arrival called for a motel room for the night. He knew his parents had not changed their habits. Theyll be in bed long before we land, he thought.