The Puzzle Lady vs. the Sudoku Lady
Page 13
“You’re not helping. Or, right, the yen’s Japanese. Don’t you know that? I thought you got royalties.”
“Sherry handles them.”
Becky shook her head. “You’re going to be lost when you move out.”
“How can I help? You won’t let me talk to your client. You won’t let me talk to her niece. You won’t even let me talk to you.”
“You can talk to me.”
“Why can’t I talk to your client?”
“There are certain admissions she wishes to make only to her attorney.”
“There you are. What’s the good of talking to you if you won’t tell me anything?”
“I’ll tell you anything you need to know.”
“I need to know what you’re not telling me.”
“Actually, you don’t. You need to approach the problem from the point of view that you know everything. That nothing you don’t know will hurt you. That you know everything pertinent to the crime.”
“Now you’re intriguing me. Are you telling me your client is holding back something not pertinent to the crime?”
Becky chewed a carrot. “I’m telling you nothing of the sort. I’m telling you you’re getting hung up on irrelevant details when we have the broader picture to consider. The situation is simple. Someone killed Thelma Wilson, and it wasn’t Minami. Who was it?”
Cora made a face. “Oh, for goodness’ sake! You’re like the algebra teacher who puts a problem up on the board, and when you ask a question about procedure, she says, ‘That’s not important, just solve it.’”
“You have trouble with algebra?”
“I have trouble with you. You’re like a patient who goes to a doctor and says, ‘I got a pain here. It’s gallstones. They gotta come out.’ Should the doctor take ’em out? Or do you think he should make his own examination?”
“You’re big on analogies today.”
“Because you won’t talk about the situation.”
“Yes, I will. I just won’t talk about my client. Which is okay, since she had nothing to do with it.”
“Who did?”
“I should think it was obvious. Thelma Wilson was a nosy old biddy who saw something and tried to put the bite on someone. In which case, she must have made the initial approach. So, how do you suppose she contacted her victim?”
“I have no idea.”
Becky shook her head. “See? This is what bothers me. Usually you have plenty of ideas. Suddenly you’re stymied. Why? Is it the rivalry? Subconsciously you don’t want to help Minami?”
“That’s not true. Consciously I don’t want to help Minami. I’d like to see her fall in a mud puddle. I’d like to see her with egg on her face. Is that just an expression, or could I really throw eggs at her? I’d like to see her prove herself wrong. I do not want to see her convicted of a murder she didn’t commit. I’m working toward that end. In spite of the roadblocks you keep throwing in my path.”
“Then, help me out here. Say Thelma Wilson saw someone else go into that house. Who might that person be? Aside from you and Dennis Pride.”
“I never said I went into the house.”
“Right, right. I don’t know where I got that impression. Anyway, who could it be?”
“Either of the husbands.”
“Oh?”
“Sure. Either of them kills the first wife. Gets suspected by the second wife. Kills her. Gets seen by Thelma Wilson and kills her. What could be simpler?”
“I like it. Largely because it doesn’t involve Minami. Still, I like it. It’s so simple it almost has to be true.” Becky nibbled a radish. “It’s depressing to think it isn’t.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if the crime was that simple, Chief Harper would have solved it by now. I can’t imagine either of these husbands would be that tough to break down. He grilled ’em without finding a crack. And you talked to both of them, haven’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“And so has Minami. And you’ve all come up empty.” Becky cocked her head. “I can’t help thinking there’s someone else Thelma Wilson saw going into that house.”
Chapter 39
Michiko turned into the motel parking lot and stopped in front of the unit she shared with her aunt.
A car pulled up next to hers. Dennis Pride hopped out and leaned on the open door. He grinned. “You old enough to drive?”
“What are you doing here?”
“My civic duty. We can’t have kids driving around the streets of Bakerhaven. I may have to make a citizen’s arrest.”
“I can drive.”
“I see that. And well, too, I must say. That’s not the question. The question is if you have a legal right.”
“I have a license.”
“An American license?”
“I don’t need an American license.”
“You’re not licensed in the United States?”
“It’s good.”
“Let’s see.”
“I don’t have to show you. You are not the police.”
“No, but I could tell them.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Well, if you’re not going to show me your license.”
“Fine. I’ll show you my license.”
Michiko dug in her purse, pulled out the license, and held it up.
Dennis squinted at it. “I can’t read this. It’s in Japanese.”
“So?”
“How do I know it’s a license? It could be a library card.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“Why should I?”
“What do you want?”
“I want to talk to you.”
“Out here?”
“Well, I’m not going in there. I could get arrested just for being in the same room with you.”
“I am not a child.”
“No, you’re not. You’re a big girl whose aunt’s in jail. Again. She keeps bumping women off. And you’re supposed to be keeping her out of trouble. This is not going to look good on your ré-sumé.”
“That is not what I do.”
“Oh? What do you do?”
“I am not a babysitter.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Minami does not do the stupid things you say. She’s smart, she solves crime, and she is very famous. And you don’t know what you are talking about.”
“So she didn’t get a blackmail note?”
Michiko’s eyes flicked.
Dennis grinned. “She did, didn’t she? Have you told the police? You haven’t, have you? I hope you destroyed the note.”
Michiko pouted. “I am not talking to you anymore.”
“Too bad. Now I have to tell the police to ask you about a blackmail note.”
“You’re not going to do that.”
“Says who?”
“What?”
“You’re not familiar with that expression? It’s short for, ‘Oh yeah, who says I’m not?’ You get that one? It means I’ll go to the police if I want to.”
“Stay away from the police.”
“Well, if you’re not going to talk to me, I really have no choice.”
Michiko said nothing.
“Are you going to talk to me?”
She set her jaw.
“Okay, I’ll just go to the police.”
“If you go to the police, I will never talk to you again. You will lose your power.”
“Maybe it’s worth it.”
“It is not worth losing your power.”
“It is if my power’s not worth anything. Okay, I’ll stay away from the police. But get a message to your aunt. Tell her she’s not the only one who knows about the blackmail note. Tell her the only reason the police don’t know is because I’m such a kind-hearted fellow. And ask her if she’d like to talk to me. I think she’d like to talk to me. Which should be easy. We have the same lawyer. And our lawyer’s keeping us apart. If your aunt doesn’t like it, she doesn’t have to put up with it. I have a feeling s
he doesn’t. She’s not the type of woman who likes to remain silent. So see what she wants to do.”
“I do not have to take your advice.”
“She’s in jail. Maybe you like that because it leaves you free to run around. But you don’t know anybody. You can’t be having much fun. So you’re probably a pretty unhappy girl long about now. Go talk to your aunt and try to get her to listen to reason. You’ll be doing her a favor.”
Dennis hopped in his car and drove off.
Michiko watched him go.
She bit her lip and wondered what to do.
Chapter 40
Irving Swartzman was at his sartorial best in yellow shirt, green tie, and pinstripe suit. He was all Rick Reed had been able to corral, what with Becky and her client not talking, and the flashy agent was doing his damndest to seize the moment.
“An author, a famous author, comes here from Japan to meet her public. And what happens? She is arrested, not once but twice, on the charge of murder. On the flimsiest evidence whatsoever. And the only reason she has not demonstrated her innocence and gone free—as she clearly is—is because of an antiquated legal system that punishes the innocent for any given remark and forces their lawyers to advise them to remain silent.
“Minami, the Sudoku Lady, has absolutely nothing to hide. Yet she is a foreigner. English is her second language. If she were to misstate, misconstrue, or misunderstand some English idiom, some unscrupulous prosecutor could seize on such a statement and manipulate a credulous jury into believing that such an innocent error was an open indication of guilt.
“No, it is no wonder she is not talking. It is a wonder that the police are holding her. Anyone with half a brain could see what is happening here. The Sudoku Lady has a knack for solving crime. The killer, realizing she was his biggest threat, decided to frame her to get her off his back. Any idiot could see that. The Sudoku Lady did not come here to kill people.”
Irving Swartzman popped open his briefcase. “She came here to promote her book: Solving Sudoku with the Sudoku Lady. Available in the United States in a new English translation. That is the reason she’s here, and that’s the only reason she’s here. And if you need any corroboration of that fact, go to Amazon.com. And check it out.”
Cora gaped at the television. “Son of a bitch!”
“Yeah,” Aaron said, “pretty sleazy.”
“Sleazy, hell! The woman didn’t come to America to meet me. She came to promote a book! I’m her inroad to the American mainstream media. The Sudoku Lady meets the Puzzle Lady, swaps a few war stories, and whips out the English translation of her brand-spanking-new sudoku book. That didn’t happen because we had a murder, and Minami decided she could get more mileage out of solving it, only she got arrested and can’t say anything. Her agent finally got fed up with waiting. Which is actually a good move because her being in-jail-for-murder with a book out is better than her being a snoopy-old-woman-giving-the-police-a-hard-time with a book out.”
“And you know from whence you speak,” Sherry observed.
Cora wished activities upon her niece that are inappropriate for a newlywed.
Sherry didn’t respond. She was busy typing on her laptop.
“What are you doing?”
“Got a wireless modem. I’m on the Internet.”
“In here?” Cora said. As usual, they were dining in the living room in front of the TV.
“Sherry can get on the Internet anywhere,” Aaron said.
“There,” Sherry said, “Amazon.com. And there it is. Solving Sudoku with the Sudoku Lady. Available for preorder. The pub date’s the first of the month. At the moment it’s sales rank is forty-seven thousand, five hundred twenty-two. Your Puzzle Lady book is two thousand seventy-one.”
“Two thousand?” Cora said.
“That’s out of everything. Fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, advice on how-to. In Puzzle Books you’re fourteen.”
“Fourteen?”
“That’s in all puzzle books. Including crosswords and KenKen. In sudoku, you’re number three, just behind two titles from Will Shortz. Minami’s new book is fifty-eight.”
“In sudoku? Are there that many books?”
“There are hundreds. Fifty-eight’s pretty good for a book that isn’t out yet.”
“And she’s forty-seven thousand over all?”
“Something like that. Let me check.” Sherry punched in the title.
“Actually, she’s up to thirty-three thousand.”
“Oh?”
“Which doesn’t mean anything. When the numbers are that high, just a few books makes a huge difference. You, on the other hand, are hanging in around two thousand.”
Buddy went nuts. He sprang off the couch and raced from the room, yipping wildly.
“Someone must be here,” Aaron said.
“Or he didn’t like my Amazon.com rating,” Cora said.
Sherry went to the front door and ushered in Michiko.
The teenager wasted no time with amenities. “I have to talk to you.”
“What’s the problem?” Aaron said.
Her eyes flashed. “Not you. You work for the newspaper. I cannot talk to you.”
“He’s married to her,” Cora said. “He doesn’t work for the paper if she says he doesn’t.”
Michiko frowned. “What?”
“When you’re older, you’ll understand. Maybe ‘understand’ is the wrong word. But you’ll know it’s true. If she tells him not to write it, he won’t write it.”
“Wait a minute,” Aaron said. “I’m getting third-hand off the record? She’s telling you to tell her to tell me not to write it. Come on, have a heart.”
“Don’t be silly, Aaron. No one’s telling you what to write. If you’d like to preserve your journalistic integrity, you’re free to go.”
“I live here.”
“See?” Cora said. “There is a boundary dispute. I keep thinking of this as my house. Really, us all living here isn’t going to work.”
“For goodness’ sake,” Sherry said, “will you two stop bickering. Look, she’s all upset.”
Michiko clearly was distraught.
“Oh, hell, so she is. Look, Aaron, the girl can’t deal with this. Are we off the record, or shall I take her somewhere else?”
“We’re off the record, we’re off the record! Look, Michiko, you have my word. Whatever you say, I won’t write it. It will not be in my story. Go ahead, say whatever you want. You’re not going to get into trouble.”
“It’s that horrible man.”
“What horrible man?”
“The one she married. No, not you. The other one.”
“Dennis?” Aaron said. “What’s he done?”
“He threatened me.”
Cora sprang from the couch, her eyes blazing. “He threatened you?”
Michiko put up her hands. “No. Not to hurt me. With the police.”
“He said he would go to the police?”
“Yes.”
“And tell them what?”
“Oh.”
“You don’t want to tell us?”
“No.”
“I know. But you’re going to. It’ll be much easier if you just do it and get it over with. So, take your time. Take a deep breath. Relax. And tell us the thing you don’t want to tell us.”
Michiko scrunched up her face. Then she sighed. “He said he would tell them she got a blackmail note.”
“How does he know that?”
“He doesn’t. He is guessing.”
“Is he guessing right?”
Michiko said nothing.
“It wouldn’t bother you if he wasn’t. So your aunt got a blackmail note. Interesting. What did it say?”
“I have it here.”
Michiko reached into her purse. Took out a folded piece of paper. Passed it over.
Cora unfolded it. Her mouth fell open.
It was a crossword puzzle.
ACROSS
1 Attire
5 Pri
ckly seed covers
9 Afrikaner
13 Spring zodiac sign
15 ___ arms (angry)
16 BBs and bullets
17 Horizontal row in sudoku
18 Message part 1
20 Where Easy Street is?
22 Seeing the sun rise, say
23 “Yo!”
24 Gone by
25 Message part 2
29 Number of numbers in numbered row
34 Messenger ___
35 Bridge pro Culbertson
36 Place for an ace?
37 Gentlemanly reply
40 Garden seasoner
41 Goes on stage
42 Fannie or Ginnie follower
43 All-purpose truck, briefly
44 Cook one’s goose?
45 Message part 3
48 The big picture?
50 “Get my drift?”
51 Like a system with equal gains and losses
55 Popular chocolate bar
59 Message part 4
61 “Sayonara!”
62 Parisian pig meat
63 Lake, canal, or city
64 Palm tree or nut
65 Kind of terrier
66 Jet-setters’ jets, once
67 Clear the leaves
DOWN
1 Iron fishhook with handle
2 Diva’s delivery
3 Diplomacy breakdown
4 “You ___!” (“Right!”)
5 In use
6 Wire service inits.
7 Ceremony
8 Takes it from the top?
9 Lower California, familiarly
10 “Rubáiyát” poet
11 Olympic track champion Zatopek
12 ___-poly
14 Balks, as a horse
19 Rub the wrong way
21 Hyper, impatient ones
24 Practice a trade
25 Young chicken
26 Bridge bid, briefly
27 Jamaican in dreadlocks
28 With sudoku, address of house you went in
30 “ … sat down beside ___”
31 Show with a medley
32 Mrs. Peron
33 Angler of morays
36 “Aw, c’mon!”
38 Enero, por ejemplo
39 One who makes a scene?
40 Cleveland cager, briefly
42 Nation that celebrates Cinco de Mayo: Abbr.
45 New parents, usually
46 Betty Ford Clinic program, e.g.
47 Birdseed holder