The Sudoku Puzzle Murders (17 page)

Read The Sudoku Puzzle Murders Online

Authors: Parnell Hall

Cora Felton smiled at Geisha Girl. “I’m going to need a few straight answers.”
“Straight?”
“True. Correct. Not made up.”
“I speak the truth.”
“Good for you. You get a murder case, and people tend to hedge their bets. That’s a gambling term, meaning—”
“I know what it means. I know English idiom.”
“You spent time in this country?”
“A little.”
“The same time as Hideki? You were his girlfriend?”
“No.”
“No?”
“I was Aoki’s girlfriend.”
“Oh.”
“We were in school together. Columbia University. In Manhattan. On the Upper West Side.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m from New York. Never mind the school. Tell me about the boys.”
“I knew Aoki before. In Japan. He was proper. Respectful. Met my parents. Asked permission. Took me out.”
“How romantic.”
“You joke. Yes, it is, how do you say, old-fashioned? In America it is different. We are in college. On our own. We are free. We are young.” Reiko smiled. “This is, of course, long ago.”
“Of course.” Cora managed a straight face. Geisha Girl couldn’t be more than ten years out of college. “And you met Hideki?”
“Hideki is different. He is not proper. He is rude. Disrespectful. Wild. Even vulgar.”
“So what happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Give me a break.
Something
happened.”
“He wanted me to go to a party. I said no. He would not listen. Aoki was angry.”
“He asked you out in front of Aoki?”
“He was drinking. He was not respectful.”
“Uh-huh. So what happened?”
“Hideki got into a terrible fight. Not with Aoki. At the party. Where I did not go.”
“So you thought it was your fault?” Cora couldn’t help sounding mocking.
“The hospital called me.”
“The hospital?”
“Hideki gave them my name. At Emergency. When they asked him who to call.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“He was a mess. They sewed his face. He has the scar.”
“A love token.”
“After that, it is war. Aoki cannot stand Hideki. He does not want him around. But he wants to beat him. In everything, he must be better.”
“You married Aoki.”
“Of course. He was my intended.”
“How did Hideki feel about that?”
“It is not his business.”
“Right. So he quit trying, broke off the competition, and never bothered you again.”
“He went back to Japan.”
“And you stayed here?”
“We are back and forth. Sometimes here, sometimes there.”
“Do you and Aoki always travel together?”
She raised her eyebrows. “What are you trying to imply.”
“Give me a break. Your husband’s on the hook for murder. I’m trying to be polite, but this is like pulling teeth. After your marriage, how did Hideki come back into your life?”
“He started a publishing house. Aoki was furious.”
“Because he was also a publisher?”
“His father was a publisher. His father was very ill. When he died, Aoki inherited the company.”
“What did Aoki do before?”
“Worked in the stock exchange. As an investor.”
“He played the stock market with his father’s money?”
Her face clouded. “That is not nice.”
“Yeah, but you’re not hiring me as a publicist. You’re hiring me to keep hubby out of jail. From what I hear, that won’t be easy.”
“I do not understand.”
“Well, your husband has every reason to hate Hideki. Hideki is an annoyance that can only be removed by drastic means. Killing him won’t work because your husband will be the number-one suspect. But framing him—that’s the way to go!” Cora shook her head. “Unfortunately, framing a man for murder is a high-risk game, and you don’t get a second chance. One mistake and you’re done. Like accidently leaving your fingerprint on a sword.”
“Aoki explained that.”
“Yeah. Exactly the type of clumsy explanation a careless killer would make up.”
“My husband would not lie.”
“Right, right, it would not be honorable.” Cora waved it away. “Look, we got a little problem here. Hubby’s on the hook, and he’s got some bozo who reviews book contracts defending him. Honorable or not, we gotta get some help.”
“How?”
“Leave it to me.”
“We should join forces,” Cora said.
Becky’s frown was skeptical. “Why?”
“We have clients with identical interests. Neither of them killed Lester Mathews, and we need to establish that point.”
“We have clients with
conflicting
interests. I can prove my client didn’t kill Lester Mathews by proving your client did.”
“That seems a little harsh.”
“Come on, Cora. Did you really expect me to fall for this?”
“Of course not. On the other hand, you’re a lawyer, and I’m not.”
“So what?”
“So
what?
Years of law school and you say, So
what?”
“Stop kidding around. If you have a point, make it.”
“You’ve been doing a good job of getting your clients out of jail. First Dennis. Then Hideki.”
“So?”
“So, how’d you like to go for the hat trick?”
“I can’t represent Aoki.”
“Why not?”
“His interests are opposed to Hideki’s.”
“And Dennis’s aren’t?”
Becky frowned.
“You’ve already breached the conflict of interest barrier. Granted, with each client you take on, the odds that you are defending a guilty one dramatically increase. On the other hand, you’re sure to get at least two out of three off.”
“I’m glad you think it’s funny.”
“I don’t think it’s funny. I think it’s awful. But I understand your not wanting to represent my client. You’d get a reputation for being easy.”
“Watch it,” Becky said.
“No offense meant. My reputation for being easy stood me in good stead right through college. Right though marriage, for that matter. You ever decide to take the plunge, I can give you hints.”
“Could we stick to murder?”
“You bet. Here’s the deal. You’re not going to represent my client. I’m not going to work for yours. But we could pool a little information.”
“Such as?” Becky asked.
“I wonder if your client mentioned spotting the deceased detective at any time.”
“That’s a rather major piece of information.”
“I got a big one to trade.”
“What’s that?”
“How about my client saw the murder weapon?”
“I thought your client was picked up because his fingerprint was on the murder weapon.”
“It could have got there any time. How about I pin it down?”
“You going to pin it down to the time and place of the murder?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you’re going to admit that your client touched the sword
on an occasion so far removed from the time and place of the murder you’d think it hardly mattered. I don’t see that revelation as earth-shattering.”
“I didn’t think you would.”
“Why are we really here?”
“I need a lawyer.”
“Your client
has
a lawyer.”
Cora sighed. “An entertainment lawyer. If the chief wanted to sign Aoki to a movie deal, he’d be just the man for the job.”
“You think that’s what Harper has in mind?”
“Somehow I tend to doubt it. Come on, Becky. Did Hideki tell you anything about this private eye? Anything at all?”
Becky sighed. “All right. I’m probably violating the canon of ethics and risking disbarment, but I’d like to get you out of my office, so I’m gonna cut you some slack and tell you exactly what my client told me about the private investigator.”
“Really?” Cora said. “What?”
“Not a damn thing.”
Henry Firth looked more like a rat than ever. His nose twitched, his beady little eyes gleamed. “What are you trying to tell me?”
Cora Felton did her MC number. “Reiko is Aoki Yoshiaki’s wife. She’d like him out of jail. She’s retained my services to see that happens. Unfortunately, I’m not a lawyer, so you won’t listen to me. Thats why I’ve hired Miss Rebecca Baldwin, attorney at law, to present our case for us.”
“But … but … but …”
“Get a hold of yourself, Henry. You sound like a motorboat warming up.”
“She can’t represent him. She’s representing Hideki Takiyama.”
“And Dennis Pride,” Cora reminded him. “Don’t forget Dennis Pride.”
“Exactly. You can’t represent Aoki. It’s a conflict of interest.”
“Conflict of interest? With whom? Notice I said
whom,
so the grammar police won’t throw me in jail.”
“I’m glad you’re having fun,” Henry Firth said disapprovingly. “This happens to be murder.”
“Really? Have you ruled out suicide?”
“Suicide?”
“Yes. Did Barney rule it out?”
“There was never a question of suicide.”
“That’s not true. The question of suicide has been raised.”
“Who raised it?”
“I did. Just now. Weren’t you listening?”
“Miss Felton—”
“Call me Cora.”
The prosecutor went on as if he hadn’t heard the interruption. “There is no question of suicide. The man was stabbed in the chest with a sword.”
“But he’s Japanese. They sometimes commit hari-kari as a matter of honor.”
“Not this time. His fingers were cut to the bone trying to stop the blade.”
“They were wrapped around it, weren’t they?”
“Exactly.”
“So if the guy tried to commit suicide, then changed his mind, and tried to push the sword out …”
Henry Firth shook his head. “We’re not talking about suicide. We’re talking about a cold-blooded, premeditated murder. In which one man went to great lengths to implicate another. It so happens we can prove it.”
“How?” Cora asked.
“The sudoku and crossword puzzle implicate Mr. Yoshiaki.”
“Really? Yesterday you said they implicated Mr. Takiyama.”
“That was before we found Mr. Yoshiaki’s fingerprint on the murder weapon.”
“See, Becky,” Cora said. “I told you that’s all he had.”
“All I have?” Henry Firth said ominously.
“He’s basing his whole case on the one fingerprint. In light of it
he’s telling you what everything else means. A simple case of twisting the facts to fit the theory. I don’t think you’ll have much trouble proving him wrong.”
“I don’t think so either,” Becky said. “I’m getting a writ of habeas corpus. Charge my client or release him.”
“In that case, I’ll charge him.”
“Good,” Cora said.
The prosecutor looked at her suspiciously. “Good?”
“Yeah.” Cora smiled at him. “As long as you have someone charged with the crime, you won’t be arresting anyone else.”
Cora Felton stretched out in a lawn chair in the backyard and blew smoke at the sky. “Ask me questions.”
“What kind of questions?” Aaron said.
“Any questions. Anything at all.”
“You must be desperate,” Sherry said.
“Why?”
“To want our help.”
“Did you ever have a crossword puzzle that didn’t make sense? No, of course, you didn’t. You write ‘em. They mean what you want ’em to mean. Unless you’re just a poor slob like me who has to solve ’em. Not that I ever do, but if I did. Anyway, that’s the situation I’m in. I got all these facts, and they don’t add up. Nothing
answers
all the questions. So I gotta make sure I’ve
asked
all the questions. I need someone to ask me questions to see if there’s any I missed.”
“Okay,” Sherry said. “Who hired the detective?”
“Which detective?”
“The second one.”
“Lester Mathews. Okay, you have two choices. Aoki hired the detective to watch his wife, and Hideki killed him. Aoki hired the detective to watch his wife in order to kill him to set up Hideki. The problem is, in either case Aoki hired the detective. Which he denies doing.”
“He could be lying,” Sherry said.
“Of course he could. But why would he lie to me? I’m on his side.”
“You’re on his side because you think he’s innocent. If you thought he was guilty, it would be a different matter.”
“If he told me he’d hired the private eye I’d think he was guilty?”
“Well, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would. If he hired the private eye, it’s either to watch his wife or frame Hideki, or both.”
“How about he hires the private eye and Hideki kills him? It’s simple, straightforward, and—”
“And his fingerprint is on the sword,” Cora finished for her. “That would be a fairly good indication he was involved. Even if it weren’t for the elaborate attempt to frame Hideki with information only he knew.”
“How do you know only he knew?”
“I don’t.” Cora turned to Aaron. “You’re awfully quiet for a reporter. Don’t you have any questions to kick in?”
“None I want to share.”
Sherry looked at him. “What does
that
mean?”
“He thinks Dennis did it, and he doesn’t want to say. That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Not that I think he did it,” Aaron said. “It’s just that we’re taking his story at face value. Which I think is awfully generous.”
“Granted,” Cora said. “Except for the fact that none of us seriously suspect him. Any other questions?”
The phone rang in the house.
“I got it.” Sherry went inside, poked her head out a moment later. “Chief Harper for you.”
“It’s about time. Maybe there’s a break in the case.”
Cora went in the kitchen to answer the phone. Buddy took it as an invitation to dart in and out of her legs in the most annoying fashion imaginable. Cora threw some kibble in his bowl, grabbed the receiver. “Hi, Chief. What’s up?”
“The crossword puzzle we found in the detective’s office.”
“That’s hardly news, Chief. I was there when we found it.”
“You never solved it.”
“I don’t
have
to solve it. It’s not a clue. It’s a stupid daily puzzle.”
“I’d still like to know what it says.”
“Why?”
“The guy had it in his safe.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“I know it’s not your fault. But it’s your puzzle. And I want it solved. Can you come down here and fill it in?”
“I’m a little busy right now, Chief.”
“Me too, what with this double homicide, and all. Which I understand you’re messing into. Hiring Becky Baldwin, for God’s sake.”
“I didn’t hire Becky Baldwin.”
“Then what’s she doing here?”
“His wife hired her.”
“At your suggestion.”
“Is that what she says?”
“That’s what I say. Would you care to deny it?”
“You gonna charge me with soliciting business?”
“Is Becky giving you a kickback?”
“Would that be illegal? How about a commission?”
“You’re not an agent. You’re an investigator.”
“Right. And if Becky wants to hire me to investigate, that’s hardly a kickback.”
“Save it for the judge. Right now I want this puzzle solved.”
“Fax it to me. Like you did the other one.”
“That was different.”
“Why?”
“It was a sheet of paper. It fit in the fax machine. This is a page in the newspaper.”
“So scan it first.”
“I hate scanning things.”
“Me too. I have Sherry do it. Ask Dan.”
Cora hung up the phone, went out in the backyard. “I’ll be getting a fax. Chief Harper’s sending me a puzzle.”
“A sudoku?”
“No. A crossword.”
“Wanna try solving it?” Sherry said.
“Why? Did hell freeze over?”
“Just a thought.”
The fax came through five minutes later. Cora snatched it out of the machine. “Let’s see. Ah, here’s my smiling face. And it says: ‘The Puzzle Lady has some advice on how to deal with an annoying, moody ex.’ You remember that?”
“Vaguely,” Sherry said. “I’ll have to fill it in.”
“Don’t you have it in the computer?”
“I can probably solve it faster than I can find it.”
“You need to upgrade your filing system.”
“When do I ever have the time?”
“Good point.”
Cora went back outside, where Aaron hadn’t moved.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
“Huh?”
“That clearly wasn’t worth a penny. What’s bugging you today?”
“Nothing.”
“Listen, you’re the Three M company, and I don’t mean tape. You’re moody, morose, and maudlin.”
“Where the hell’d that come from?”
“Some husband or other. Just before I divorced him. I can’t recall which one. I must have been in a funk.”
“Yeah.”
“Hey. You know Sherry comes with baggage. If you were smart,
you’d lighten the load.” Cora lit a cigarette, blew out the smoke. “Just a hint.”
Sherry came out with the puzzle.
“Got it solved?”
“Yeah. You can fax it back to the chief.”
“Is it going to help him?”
“How could it?”
“Good point. Let me see.”
Cora took the crossword puzzle, read the long clues. “‘If he cries, and feels low, he needs help, help him go.’” She frowned. “And that’s the answer to how to deal with a moody, annoying ex?”
“It’s as good as any.”
“It’s not great.”
“Hey. I gotta come up with one of these every day of the week. Would you like to do it?”
Cora rolled her eyes. “Oh, hell, a crossword puzzle diva! No one’s attacking your expertise. I’m just saying that answer is generic and meaningless.”
“Thanks a bunch.
Generic and meaningless.
I’ll be sure to blurb that on my résumé.”
“In terms of the murder, silly. It has nothing to do with the murder.”
“Of course it doesn’t. How could it have anything to do with the murder?”
“It couldn’t.” Cora sighed. “Well, I guess I gotta take this to the chief. But it’s not gonna help him at all.”

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