The Daydreamer Detective Opens a Tea Shop

by S. J. Pajonas

  I looked at her out of the side of my eyes. “I think that’s the least of my worries at this point.” I opened the door and stepped out, and she stepped out too. I followed her to the back door and into the station, keeping a careful eye out to make sure no one had jumped the barricades.

  “Goro-san tasked me with a job, and I want to present the evidence I found to the chief.” I kept my tone and words neutral since the bullpen was packed with officers taking calls and conferring around desks.

  Her face hardened into a series of horizontal lines.

  “I did all the digging I could last night and came up with only circumstantial evidence. It’s enough to cast doubt, maybe enough for the chief to let me see Yasahiro-san. If I could just get him to tell me what he did with the money, then a lot of this would go away.”

  “Mei-san, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  I folded my hands together over my chest. I was not above begging. “Please? You could call in a favor from me any time for the rest of eternity.”

  Kayo pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Look, the chief has been up my butt for three days. Sure, I’d let you in, if no one were here. What could it hurt at this point? Yasahiro-san swears the money was used for personal purposes and that it’s none of our business. I believe him, but at the same time, I don’t know why he won’t just tell us. It’s maddening. And the chief will demote me if I come to him. I don’t want to lose my rank.”

  “Please at least tell me he’s being treated okay.” I could feel tears ready to burst forth from my eyes, and I held them back. Damned hormones. Now I knew why I was so emotionally unstable lately.

  “Of course he is.” She clutched my arm. “I believe he’s back there eating doughnuts and reading magazines, especially now that we have other suspects.”

  The emails between Robert, Giselle, and Amanda popped into my head. “Oh! Speaking of which —”

  “I’m tired of seeing her around here. Isn’t this a conflict of interest?” Watanabe, the young officer who treated me like a criminal just the other day, darted into our conversation. He turned his back on Kayo and edged into my personal space. I backed away, my new motherly instincts telling me to protect myself and the baby at all costs, even shots at my ego.

  “Mind your own business,” Kayo said, resting her hand on his shoulder and trying to push him aside. He spun around to face her.

  “Don’t touch me. I can report you for that.”

  She smiled, despite the anger pouring off of him. Other people in the room stopped to watch. “Go right ahead, and you need to address me properly. I’m your superior, by two whole levels.”

  I stepped back even more. Kayo reminding him of his place was dangerous ground. His stance was aggressive in the way he leaned forward, the clutch of his hands. This was a man who didn’t like being ordered around by women.

  He turned away from Kayo and pointed at me. “She does not belong here. She’s played an active role in the murder of Cheung, and it’s a wonder she’s not in jail as well.”

  I rolled forward onto my toes, ready to take flight if need be.

  But Kayo waved him off. “She’s been more help in this investigation than you. In fact, I was considering having her go in and question Suga-san.”

  “There’s no way the chief would allow that.” He folded his arms, and I tried to hide my smile.

  “Maybe. Maybe not. You should get back to work. Those traffic violations aren’t going to take care of themselves.”

  He glared at her and returned to his desk. I kept my eyes averted, not wanting to provoke him any further.

  “Come, Mei-san. Let’s go into the lobby and have some coffee.”

  I followed her out, all the eyes in the room staring us down before they went back to work. Kayo scanned her card at the vending machine and it dispensed two hot coffees in cans. She motioned to the seats furthest from the bullpen. We were in view of the doors, but the reporters were far enough away not to see in.

  “Don’t mind Watanabe. He’s a dog with a loud bark but no bite.” She popped open her can, took a long swig, and smacked her lips. “I live for this stuff. I think half my body is coffee at this point.”

  I smiled as I followed suit. Then I took a small sip, remembering something Kumi told me about caffeine and being pregnant. Damn. I was online all last night and didn’t once Google pregnancy.

  I started a mental checklist for myself like I had for Amanda. Denial, check.

  I sipped again anyway.

  “Do you know his family?” Kayo jerked her head toward Watanabe.

  “Him? No. Who is he?”

  “He’s actually from Shikoku. But his family was from around here.”

  “Oh yeah? Anyone I know?”

  Kayo shook her head side to side. “Does the name Haruka Shinaya ring a bell?”

  I nearly dropped the can of coffee but instead dumped a mouthful on my pants. Swearing, I swiped the spilt coffee away before it could soak in.

  “I haven’t heard that name in months.” Haruka Shinaya was Tama’s fiancée, the woman who hated me, my old high school rival. She fled to the United States after Tama went to jail, her parents leaving town not long after.

  “Well, I hear it at least ten times per week. How you and your family, Suga-san, and a million other people are to blame for what happened to Haruka.”

  I set my coffee can aside, feeling nauseous and alone. This was not good.

  “Ah, but don’t worry, Mei-san. He’s a prick, and no one likes him.” Kayo chugged more of her coffee and patted my knee. “He wouldn’t even be here anymore if it weren’t for his father being some government official. He wants to transfer to Tokyo, of course.” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “That’s where all the young and stupid ones want to go. So hopefully he’ll be gone soon.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at the bullpen and wondered how long it would be before I ran into him again. I suspected that even if I was in the clear on Yasahiro’s case, I wouldn’t be able to avoid Watanabe forever.

  The doors to the station swished open and in walked Kumi.

  “You!” She pointed directly at me, and I shrank back in the chair. Her face was pulled into a frown and her hair was wild and unruly. She had been complaining lately that her hair was out of control. She wanted to shave it off. Goro had begged her not to. “What are you doing here?”

  “What do you mean, what am I doing here? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to help end this madness, once and for all. You should stay home and let the police handle this.”

  Kayo watched the two of us, a smile growing on her face. Come to think of it, she was just as bad as Goro when it came to drama. They made good partners.

  “Eh! Keep it down!” the guy running the front desk called. “Morning, Hokichi-san.”

  Kumi turned and bowed quickly, returning his greeting.

  She turned back to me, her face changed to one of worry, the lines between her eyebrows forming into sharp slashes. She swore and turned on her heel, walking away and coming right back.

  “I’m about to break a very solemn vow. One I promised on my first-born child, I would not utter a word about.”

  This got Kayo’s attention, and she sat forward.

  Kumi threw her hands up. “I know why Yasa-kun withdrew the money, and we need to go to his place right now so we can end this.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Kumi followed me up the stairs, huffing and puffing by the time she hit the first landing.

  “You would think I never got out and exercised or something.” She leaned against the wall, and her hand that clutched the railing turned white.

  “Are you going to be all right?” Kayo scanned her from head to toe. “Or should I be ready to call Goro-san?”

  “No. Good god, do you want us all in trouble?” Kumi rolled her eyes at Kayo and kept climbing. “I’ll be fine. I’m just a bit pregnant.”

  “Five months is more than ‘a bit.’”
<
br />   I ignored them both, my hand shaking as I tried to slip the key in the lock for Yasahiro’s apartment. I hadn’t been there in two days, and I dreaded what might be on the other side of the door.

  What would I see? My life as it was, never to be that way again? Or my future, ripped to shreds?

  I took a deep breath before stepping inside. Deep breaths were pretty much the only thing left at this point.

  Letting all the air from my lungs out in one swift exhale, I let my shoulders fall in relief. The apartment looked exactly the same as when I left. As I took off my shoes, I glanced at Yasahiro’s bedroom and noticed his computer was missing. That was the only difference I could see.

  “Huh. I expected the place to be ransacked,” I said, dropping my keys in the bowl to the left of the door.

  Kayo shook her head as she set her shoes to the side. “It’s not a crime scene. We confiscated the computer, the filing cabinet, and all the knives since Cheung was killed with a sharp object. And the team did a cursory search, but they were careful not to disturb much.”

  Kumi huffed as she pulled off her ankle boots. “You know Goro-chan. He’s a stickler for details.” She wiped the sweat from her brow as she peeled off her coat and hung it up. “Okay, you two. Sit down. It’s story time.”

  Kayo and I sat next to each other on the couch, both of us shrugging our shoulders at each other. We had no idea what was going on, but if this would help clear Yasahiro, I would listen to Kumi talk for years if I had to.

  Kumi paced the room, wiping sweat away from the back of her neck with one hand, the other resting on her belly.

  “All right. Where should I start?”

  Kayo sat back in the couch, her arms crossed. “Start at the beginning.”

  “The beginning is hard to pinpoint. You know we’re all great friends. Me, Goro-chan, Mei-chan, and Yasa-kun, right?” Kayo nodded. “And I always told Yasa-kun that if he needed anything, he should come to me. I know a lot of people in town, and I figured I could help out. I love Sawayaka, and the business it’s brought in, so I wanted to be helpful.” She turned to me, her hands together in prayer position. “Really, Mei-chan. I figured helping him was helping you.”

  “Um, sure. Yeah. That’s fine. You know I’m not jealous or anything.” I laughed because if I trusted anyone, it was Kumi. I’d been jealous of Amanda for a few months, but that had dissipated as I worked on being a better person. I’d never had a bad thought about Kumi ever.

  Her face collapsed in sadness, and her eyes grew teary. The skin on my arms prickled in fear. What was she holding back?

  “I’m so, so, so sorry you have to hear about this from me and not Yasa-kun.”

  I felt woozy, my head losing its grip on gravity.

  “What? Spit it out before I faint.”

  She worried her hands together and continued. “Yasa-kun came to me about two months ago while I was working alone at the bathhouse.” She closed her eyes. “He wanted to propose to you, and he wanted me and Akiko to come with him to help him pick out the ring.”

  Everything stopped. I stopped breathing, and Kayo and Kumi stared at me. Propose? I didn’t even understand the word, my brain was so stuck.

  Kumi broke the spell by coming to the couch. “He was, is, so in love with you.” Tears fell down her face, but I did nothing. Shock had paralyzed me. Yasahiro was going to propose to me? “He went on and on how it was his destiny to find Chikata, find your mother, and meet you. I mean, he said the most romantic things I’d ever heard. Better than a drama.”

  This was when I laughed. Hormones had obviously grabbed hold of Kumi’s brain and dragged it through the streets. I believed Yasahiro said sweet things about me, but surely she was blowing this out of proportion because she was pregnant and watching NHK dramas every night before bed.

  “Don’t you dare laugh,” she said, pointing at me. I pressed my hand to my lips and looked at Kayo. She sat forward with her chin in her hands, listening to us both. “I’m telling you the truth!”

  “I — I kind of believe you? He was going to propose to me? But… he had never said anything to me.” I stood up to face her. “We never talked about what we would do if we got married, or what kind of life we wanted, or even if we would have kids.” I threw my hands up in the air. “Kumi-chan, this better not be a joke.”

  “It. Isn’t,” she growled between clenched teeth. “Sit. Back. Down.”

  I considered saying no and leaving, but something told me not to mess with her.

  “Don’t even tell me you never talked about these things. I witnessed those conversations for myself!” Her voice rose, and I sat farther away from her. “All our dates, you talked about opening your tea shop, how you wanted to own the family house someday, how you wanted to take care of your mom, and what did Yasa-kun do?”

  I thought back to those dinner dates. “He agreed with me?” I pressed my fingers to my lips as I inhaled. I was so blind. “He said those were the things he would want too.” I always thought he meant he wanted to own his family’s house and take care of his mother. That’s the tradition in Japan. A woman married into a man’s family and then she took care of his parents. Not the other way around. But Yasahiro had an older brother. He wouldn’t be expected to do this.

  Kumi nodded her head. “Now you see it, right?” I turned my face from her to hide my embarrassment. I was a fool for not seeing it before.

  “He made me promise not to tell anyone. I couldn’t even tell Mom or Goro-chan. Both of them would have cracked under the pressure. They’re too weak for secrets.” This made her laugh. She swayed side to side, relieving pain in her hips. “I coordinated with Akiko-chan, and we went to Tokyo together one morning while you were working with your mom. Yasa-kun had a jeweler all picked out. He was adamant that the ring be perfect. He said you saw Amanda’s ring, so yours would have to be different. The ring would need to be you.”

  I didn’t want to cry in front of Kayo who was silent through this whole personal story. I regretted bringing her, but she was a police officer investigating Yasahiro. It needed to be done.

  “We all agreed on a setting, and he spent fifteen thousand dollars US on the whole thing.”

  The blood drained from my face as I thought about the magnitude of that money. He had probably sold off property in the last few months to get it… to spend it on me! On a ring! That I would’ve told him to return because that was too much money. Way too much.

  I glanced at Kayo, and she shrugged. “The man has excellent taste, obviously.” She waved at his apartment. “And while it’s a damned good story, there’s no evidence to support he used the money for an engagement ring.” She stood up, swiping out the creases in her dress pants. “We found no bills of sale, no receipts, no communications between you all or a jeweler. I’m sorry, Kumi-san. I just don’t believe this.”

  She walked past Kumi, and my lungs shrank, unable to expand again. Kumi grabbed Kayo’s arm, looking her in the eye.

  “It’s not a lie. We didn’t text about the plans because he was afraid Mei-chan would see the texts and wonder what was going on. We only called each other, maybe just a few times. Otherwise, I made the plans in person.” She looked at me. “I didn’t want to screw it up. You deserved that proposal from him. Deserved it. After everything you’ve done for him and for all of us. And now I’ve gone and destroyed your proposal. I’m sorry.”

  She sniffed up, letting go of Kayo.

  “There was a bill of sale. He paid with a cashier’s check, and they gave him change in cash. Then he had to wait for the setting to be finished. He picked the ring up last week and was going to propose in Beppu after you were done with your relief work in Kumamoto.”

  Beppu. My lips formed the word. I remembered the look of sheer disappointment on his face when I told him to cancel the trip because of Amanda’s reappearance. My throat closed up, emotion wringing it tight.

  Kayo narrowed her eyes at Kumi. “So where is it?”

  Kumi shook her head. “It must be some
where here, in this apartment. I asked the head sous chef at Sawayaka if there was anything in the safe there, and he said nothing out of the ordinary.” She looked left and right. “So it must be here.”

  “Can’t we just ask him now?” I pleaded. I wanted to see him, touch his face, hold his hand, and ask him quietly about this before anyone else got involved. What if he wanted to go back on his proposal?

  Kayo shook her head. “Honestly, if I don’t see a ring, I’m not saying anything about this. No offense, Mei-chan. It’s just hard to believe.” She was a skeptic which was something I normally liked about her. Today, not so much.

  Regardless, we had to do something. My engagement ring was somewhere in Yasahiro’s apartment.

  I needed to repeat that to myself. My engagement ring was in Yasahiro’s apartment!

  “We need to find it now.” Kumi rolled up her sleeves. “Let’s find the ring and the receipt, and with that, they can let Yasa-kun go and get on with finding the real killer. I’m not letting you go through the pregnancy on your own…” Her voice trailed off as my face heated up.

  “You’re pregnant too?” Kayo’s eyes were wide.

  Kumi swore. “Dammit.” She screamed at the ceiling, but I smiled and hugged her. She’d had too many secrets to keep. I knew I couldn’t trust Goro with that one. It was only a matter of time.

  “It’s okay. Let’s get to searching.”

  The search began in earnest immediately. Even Kayo got in on the fun after phoning Goro to let him know what was going on. I could hear him yelling into the phone from the other room as Kumi and I searched the bathroom.

  “Goro-chan sounds pissed,” I whispered to Kumi, but she waved me off.

  “He’s good at being loud. I always told him he would have made a better football or baseball coach than a police officer.”

  Locating Yasahiro’s travel kit in the bottom drawer of his bathroom vanity, I unzipped it and poured everything on the counter. Nothing but bath supplies. I sighed as I looked at the bathroom. It would take days to put this place back together. Kumi had pulled every towel out of the linen closet and found my chocolate stash. It’s a good thing I had taken the pepper spray and stun gun out the other day. They were in my purse.