The Daydreamer Detective Opens a Tea Shop

by S. J. Pajonas

  Kayo drove through town, past the ryokan Shōta Kimura used as a base camp, and into a park with designated camping grounds. She knew where she was going, so she must’ve looked up the parking lot location before we left. Last time we were here, we parked at the ryokan and walked in. She pulled up outside the hiking trails, and Goro jumped out of his car and met us.

  “Look who’s here,” Goro said, as Kayo and I exited the car and left Robert inside. “So the killer’s not Hiroshi Ota? I was sure it was him. I’ve been going over more of the videos from around town, and I’m positive he was the one who attacked her Friday night.”

  “Well, it may have been Ota-san who attacked her the other night.” Kayo shrugged her shoulders as she leaned against the car. “I can’t guarantee anything. But Girard drove his car to Yasahiro-san’s place and forensics has been working on it since we left. They found blood inside, and he has convincing evidence Giselle had both motive and opportunity to kill Amanda.”

  “I see.” Goro paced, looking down at the ground. He was doing his “I’m thinking about it” face as he rubbed his chin and lifted his eyes to the horizon.

  Kayo’s phone rang, and she answered it, holding up a finger to us all. After a moment or two of chatter, she ended the call and nodded her head.

  “That’s the results from the forensics lab. The blood typing is the same, matches Amanda.” She typed out a few notes on her phone. “They have other samples too they’re going to look at — hair, saliva. They should be able to make a definitive answer by the end of the day.”

  “Good enough for me.” Goro waved to the other men in his car, and they got out, gathering their gear from the trunk.

  I kept silent, watching the surrounding activity. I wasn’t supposed to be there but Robert came to me, to Yasahiro, and I wanted to help out. I also didn’t want to let him out of my sight. My trust did not come easily, and he had failed all of my instinctual tests.

  Kayo jerked her head at me. “You coming along?” Her lips quirked in a quick smile. Thank goodness for Goro and Kayo, otherwise I’d be sitting at home.

  “Can I? I’ve seen Giselle, and I know what she looks like. I can help out.” Though I was sure it wouldn’t be hard to spot a foreign woman hiking through the park.

  Kayo opened Robert’s door, and he looked up at us, his face pale and blank. “We’re going to look for Giselle. You can stay here.”

  “Wait. She’s my wife. If you find her, I may be able to talk her into coming in without a fight.”

  “No. You’ll stay here with one of the officers,” Kayo said, keeping her voice even. Her English was much better than mine.

  “I really think I should come along.” He tried to swing his legs out of the car, but Kayo shut the door on him.

  “I believe you should sit tight. If you like, you can get out and stretch your legs, but you’re not coming with us.” Robert sat back in his seat, crossing his arms.

  Kayo double-checked her weapons and adjusted her uniform as the other officers milled about and readied to depart. I felt out of place and wanted to check on my stun gun and pepper spray, but I kept them in my purse. I just needed to stay calm. We were close to figuring everything out, and I didn’t want to blow my chances now.

  “Where did you learn to speak English so well?” I asked, rubbing my hands together. The temperature was colder today.

  “America. I spent a year as an exchange student in Florida.”

  “Wow. What was that like?”

  She huffed a laugh. “Hot, muggy, and plenty of mosquitos. Good seafood, though. My exchange family had a house on a lake. We had to watch out for alligators.”

  Goro and his four men joined us, and he went over the plan.

  “We searched the campsites, including the one you went to, last night. There was no sign of anyone but a few hiking hobbyists. These” — he pointed to three cars parked to the left — “were all here when we got here. These two others over here belong to two families. We spoke to them when they arrived.” He opened a map of the park on the hood of Kayo’s car. “There are other ways to access the park from other locations, so this is not our only entry point. If it turns into a real search, we’ll have to call in more people to help, but for now, let’s cover this area here and see what we find.”

  His hand circled a two kilometer area outside the parking lot. There were a lot of trails, but we could hike them in the next two hours and get a feel for how busy the park was.

  “The chief called the local Nikko police force, and they’ll be sending in officers from this side of the park.” He pointed to the opposite section from us, to the North. “If we need them, we can get dogs and a helicopter, but let’s see what we can do on our own first. I don’t want to inconvenience any of the locals.”

  Goro folded the map and put it away, adjusting his belt and buttoning up against the cold. Everyone else followed his preparations. I slung my bag over my chest and kept it close so I could reach inside if need be. I didn’t want to advertise about my own weapons in case the police would take them away. I especially didn’t want a lecture.

  “Both Hiroshi Ota and Giselle Girard are not considered armed and dangerous. This appears to have been an isolated killing, a crime of passion. If either of them is found, proceed with caution and try to bring them in without injury.”

  Goro divided us up into teams and sent us each in a different direction. I was to hike with Kayo to Shōta’s known campsite and then continue on there to the river and falls beyond.

  Kayo caught up to me, lightly grabbing my arm, as we made our way into the woods. “You going to be okay with this?”

  “With what?” I kept my feet moving. I wanted to find Giselle and be done with this.

  “Um, Mei-san, you’re pregnant, remember? Hiking around when you’re not feeling well cannot be easy.”

  My steps faltered, and I jumped over a tree root sticking out of the ground.

  “It hasn’t felt real yet, despite the morning sickness. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” I reached into my bag, past my stun gun, and pulled out a protein bar. “I’ll eat this along the way, and it should do the trick.”

  “Just… be careful. I don’t want to be the one to tell Yasahiro-san that you fell off a cliff or got eaten by a wild boar.”

  I tried not to laugh. I was clumsy and probably would be even more so once I had a giant belly I would need to navigate around. I could imagine tripping and hurting myself.

  “I’ll keep it in mind.”

  I walked behind Kayo the entire time and daydreamed. What would it be like to be pregnant? To see a baby moving around inside of me, not this netherworld of pregnancy where I just felt sick and nothing else? I imagined myself sleeping with a baby next to me in my bed at Mom’s house. Thank goodness she was going to take me back. I didn’t want to have to live at Akiko’s. At least at Mom’s house, I would have help. I could even be one of those modern moms who straps their baby into a carrier and works outside. I could still help Mom with the farm and raise a child.

  It was only when I reached the first campsite with Kayo that I realized I hadn’t said a word out loud the entire way, and I’d erased Yasahiro from my daydreams.

  When I closed my eyes, I saw him standing in front of me saying, “I’ve already put out feelers looking for someone to buy Sawayaka and this apartment so I can leave Japan. I’ve been considering Brazil. It’s far enough away to make a new life.” I raised my left hand and let the afternoon light catch in the diamonds of my engagement ring.

  How was it that I sacrificed everything for everyone around me and I was the one left alone? A kernel of anger nestled in my stomach and threatened to pop. This was entirely unfair.

  Kayo circled the campsite, squatting down to poke a stick at the fire pit before kicking at the grass where Shōta’s tent used to be.

  “It looks like there was a fresh fire in here in the last twelve hours.”

  I dropped my hand and tried to (unsuccessfully) ignore the ring. It wasn’t my ring. It w
as just “a ring.”

  “You don’t think it’s leftover from when we saw them here?”

  “No. When Kimura-san was here, they had a pail with sand for putting out the fire when they were done. Pretty standard when you camp a lot. Amateurs start fires without having a way of extinguishing them.” She poked at the fire pit again with her stick. “No sand on top.”

  “So maybe Hiroshi or Giselle or someone else had been here recently?”

  Kayo pursed her lips and swept her gaze over the rest of the area. “It could’ve been anyone, but someone was here.” She pointed at a trail that led East. “Let’s go this way. The river and falls are not far, and the grass has been walked on here.”

  I was impressed with Kayo’s keen tracking senses. I would never have picked up on the sand in the fire pit nor the grass. My skills were pretty basic when it came to any investigative work.

  I followed her along the trail, away from the campsite, the protein bar sitting like a lump of clay in my belly. Thoughts of where I would go after this, how I would carry on, what I would do with my painting, my elderly care business, my mom, and the pregnancy threatened to take over every cycle of brain power, so I pushed them to the back of my mind.

  “Kayo-san, what if…?” I was going to ask her what would happen if we found no one today, when she held up her hand and cut me off. She tapped her ear. I stopped and listened, quieting my breathing so I could catch what she was hearing.

  The soft hum of a river stream, trickling over rocks, bounced off the surrounding trees, but in the distance, I also heard the rush of water over a waterfall. Our time hiking, hardly noticed by me and my turning mind, had brought us to the outer boundary of our search area. I pulled out my phone from my bag and checked the time, noticing there was no service way out here in the woods. We had been hiking for over an hour and a half.

  Kayo approached the forest’s edge, placing her footsteps to avoid making too much noise. I followed her lead, keeping back a few paces.

  “Ah, look,” she whispered at me and pointed upstream.

  The river bed was wide here, maybe three or four meters on this side, and pebbled with tiny rocks. But farther upstream, the river widened into a pool of water surrounded by larger rocks at the base of a waterfall. Propped up against the largest rock, a blonde woman sat next to a backpack. Her eyes were closed, and in front of her, a wet shirt and pants were laid out in the sun. It would take ages for them to dry in this weather. She’d have to sit there all day, and her relaxed posture meant she wasn’t worried about anyone coming for her.

  “Giselle,” I said, my mouth stuck open. “I really didn’t think she’d be here.”

  Kayo raised her eyebrows. “You’d be surprised how many people are dumb enough to do the same things over and over, even when they’re running from the police. Habits are hard to break.” She leaned against a tree and pulled her night stick from her belt. “You ever wonder why Tama-san didn’t take you to some stranger’s barn instead of your own? Because he was a creature of habit.”

  I closed my mouth, unable to believe Kayo would bring up Tama now. She was a depth of knowledge I would never see the bottom of.

  “The truly psychotic killers do things that defy sense. They kill randomly and without pattern, at least at first glance. Rookies make mistakes like this all the time.”

  I grabbed her arm, her words poking at the doubt in my gut. “What if she was running from something other than killing Amanda?”

  Kayo’s face fell. “Like what?”

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about all of this.” I looked at Giselle again. She was peaceful, her breathing measured. “Either she’s not a rookie, and she’s calculated this or…” I chewed on my lip, remembering Robert’s cold stare in the car.

  “Or what?” Kayo hissed at me.

  I shook my head. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but we needed to bring this case to a close.

  “I’ll go. Hopefully she’ll remember me. You, you’re wearing a uniform. She’ll run before we can catch her.”

  Before Kayo could stop me, I edged along the forest’s thicker brush until I wasn’t far from Giselle, gave myself a quick pep talk, and stepped out onto the river bank.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The waterfall roared, spitting mist and rainbows, as I crossed the river bank towards Giselle. Her eyes were still closed, her head resting against the rock. If I knew anything about human nature, it was that people who were scared or in trouble didn’t rest. They fled. Fear could make a person run forever and never look back. It could make a person sick or irrational. Fear did not give people a break.

  Giselle heard me coming, the sound of my feet crunching against the tiny stones of the riverbed. Her eyes popped open, and she squinted against the glare of the sun bouncing off the water.

  “Hi,” I called, lifting my hand in a gentle wave. She jumped to her feet but smiled instead of trying to run. Interesting.

  I stepped in front of her, keeping my eyes on her body language. She dusted off her pants, and tilted her head at me, curious as to why I was there. “Do you remember me?”

  Giselle’s teeth chattered. “Yes. You’re Yasahiro’s girlfriend.” She looked around. “Where is he?”

  “He’s… not here. I came by myself, to find you.”

  She said something in French that I guessed was a profanity by the way her voice and face changed. “There’s only one reason you’d be here.” She balled her hands into fists. “Let me guess. Robert put you up to this.”

  I gripped the strap of my bag, keeping my hands close to it in case I needed a weapon. “Put me up to what?”

  “I’m leaving him, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” she said, swiping her hand in a chopping motion. “We’re done. We’re through. And he’s not getting anything out of my family.” She jabbed her finger at the air between us.

  She whirled around, stalking up to her backpack and throwing her wet clothes into a plastic bag before zipping them in. “I’m not coming back.”

  “Wait!” I ran up next to her, no longer feeling like she was a danger to either of us. She was angry, sure, but her demeanor was off. She was talking about Robert and her family. No mention of Amanda. “How long have you been out here?”

  “Since Saturday evening. Why?”

  I braced myself. “Did you know Amanda’s dead?”

  Her eyes, a crystal clear blue I’d only ever seen in movies, turned stony gray as a cloud passed over and blocked the sun. “What?”

  I hesitated, wondering if I’d used the wrong word. My command of the English language worsened the more frightened I got. “Amanda was murdered Saturday afternoon.” Over Giselle’s shoulder, I saw Kayo approaching along the riverbank. She walked slowly, her steps even and soft, trying not to make any noise.

  The flick of my eyes made Giselle turn around and look in Kayo’s direction. Her face paled, no doubt putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. We were there for her.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, her voice shaking and teeth chattering even more.

  “We need you to come with us. You have to talk to the police about what happened to Amanda. A confession is in your best interest.” I reached my hand out slowly to grip her left arm.

  “What happened? I don’t know what happened. I haven’t seen her since Friday. She’s dead?” Her voice raised over the thunder of the waterfall, high and hysterical. “No!”

  “Yes.” I grabbed ahold of her, my fingers digging into her arm. “You have to come in with us.”

  “Robert. Robert did this!”

  A scream echoed off the surrounding rocks. I turned from Giselle, dropping my hand from her arm and searched for Kayo. She was closer to us, but not close enough for me to help her. Down the river, a shrieking man sprinted at her, his arms flailing and feet slipping on the pebbles in a shallow part of the water. It was Hiroshi.

  And hot on his tail was a giant black bear.

  “Help! Help!” he screamed, running up to Kayo. Kay
o pulled at something on her belt, but her hand slipped as Hiroshi grabbed her arm and tried to hide behind her.

  I broke into a run, digging into my bag and closing my fingers over the bottle of pepper spray. When I purchased the pepper spray and the stun gun, the store employee had asked me if I camped. I remembered staring blankly at him, and he’d laughed, telling me both would work on wild animals. I’d mumbled thank you, paid, and left the store before he could ask me what I’d really intended to do with the items.

  Unfortunately, in my haste to get the pepper spray out of my bag, my wallet and the stun gun flew out and landed on the riverbed. I jerked to a halt, torn between going back for them and saving Kayo and Hiroshi, until Kayo screamed. She waved her nightstick at the bear and stumbled backward as it rushed her.

  I sprinted to them, flipping open the bottle, and opening fire as soon as I passed them. The bear got a shot right in the face and bellowed, rising on two feet, before crashing back down and charging us. He knocked Kayo straight into the river, blew past Hiroshi who’d fallen over, and ran into the woods.

  Panting and gagging at the smell of the pepper spray in the air around me, I shielded my face and counted to five before trying to do anything.

  Oh my god, oh my god, I just pepper sprayed a bear!

  “Help!” Kayo screamed, and I jolted back from my shock. “I think I broke my arm!”

  I turned around to face the river where Kayo was waist deep in water, clutching her arm.

  “You’re not taking me anywhere.” Giselle’s voice came from my left before I could figure out what was going on.

  I saw her dive at me from the corner of my eye. A zapping, popping object punched into my leg, and my whole body convulsed as my knees gave out, and I crashed to the ground.