The Puzzle Lady vs. the Sudoku Lady (10 page)

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Authors: Parnell Hall

BOOK: The Puzzle Lady vs. the Sudoku Lady
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Chief Harper wasn't pleased to see Cora. “You've got a lot of nerve.”
“What do you mean?”
“Walking in here just like that.”
“How do you want me to walk in?”
“Don't be cute. You sold me out. Undercut my interrogation, told a suspect I was doing it wrong, and made me look like a fool.”
“Oh, come on, Chief. I don't think you looked like that much of a fool.”
“You got my suspect to clam up and call a lawyer.”
“Well, Becky needed the work.”
“It's not funny, Cora. This was a very simple situation. All the woman had to do was explain. Instead, I got her in a holding cell,
Becky Baldwin's demanding her release, and Henry Firth is running around trying to figure how many things he can charge her with.”
“Tell Ratface to calm down.”
“Will you stop calling him Ratface?”
“Well, tell him to stop poking his ratty nose in where it isn't wanted. For a prosecutor, the guy's a real busybody.”
“You should talk.”
“Chief!”
“I'm sorry, Cora, but you give the woman advice like that. ‘Tell the chief anything you want; he's so bad at procedure he won't be able to get you on it.'”
“That's not exactly how I phrased it.”
“That was the gist. What the hell were you doing?”
“Come on, Chief. The woman was about to make a few evasive answers and walk out. Then you'd have nothing. Instead, she clams up and calls a lawyer and you got a suspect in jail.”
“But she didn't do it!”
“Big deal. By the time she talks you'll get the one who actually did do it, and everyone will be so pleased you arrested him, no one will care you arrested her.”
“That whole argument would sound more plausible if you weren't competing on the best-seller list.”
“That's cynical, even for you, Chief. Come on, whaddya got?”
“I got nothing.”
“You got the woman in jail. What's her story?”
“Becky won't let her talk. Thanks to you. I ought to put
you
in jail.”
“On what charge?”
“Obstructing a police investigation.”
“Don't be silly. I'm here to
help
you with the police investigation.”
“You could have helped me by keeping quiet in the first place.”
“The woman's not stupid. I don't like her, but she's not stupid. She got caught with egg on her face. There were only two possibilities: There's a simple explanation for what she did or there isn't. If there's a simple explanation, she's gonna make it. It doesn't matter what you say or I say or the neighbor says. She's gonna say something like, ‘When I have a severe emotional shock, I get flustered and I can't speak English, my thoughts are all in Japanese, and I need to talk to someone Japanese in order to snap me out of it.'”
At Harper's rather impatient look, Cora put up her hand. “Granted, that's not a great example. I'm spitballing this off the top of my head. But the point is, if the explanation was that simple, that logical, that straightforward, and that unincriminating, she'd come out with it. Or even if she consulted a lawyer, her
lawyer
would come out with it. But that didn't happen here. By forcing her hand, you've got her lawyer stonewalling, and you know something's up. Which puts you at a tremendous advantage. You're not the mean old police chief harassing a poor helpless woman—you're the guy who asked a perfectly reasonable question and is waiting patiently for an answer in the face of an inexplicably elaborate stonewall.”
Harper grumbled and shook his head. “You make it sound so logical.”
“That's only because it is, Chief. Now, in terms of the crime. You got a time of death yet?”
“We're not working together.”
“I'm glad to hear it. That would seem like collusion. Particularly when I'm working for the other side.”
“Becky Baldwin hired you?”
“Shhh! Hey, don't tell anyone. Her client would be pissed.”
“You're working for Becky Baldwin and you're here trying to pump me for information for the defense?”
“Don't be silly. We're on the same side. We want to catch the killer, whoever he or she may be. Notice I said or she, so as not to exempt the person currently behind bars. So, what do the facts show? Obviously nothing in the woman's favor. If the evidence cleared her, you wouldn't be in the embarrassing position of having to substantiate the charge.”
“It's not embarrassing if she happens to be guilty.”
“Oh, come on, Chief. On your list of potential murder suspects, I would think a woman from Japan who didn't know the victim would be pretty close to the bottom. Wouldn't the
husband
be a slightly better prospect?”
“Steve Preston was at work in Manhattan at the time of the crime.”
“I thought you didn't
know
the time of the crime.”
“No, I just evaded the question. Barney hasn't pinned it down, but we know generally.”
“So what is it?”
“I'm going to have to evade again.”
“And you call
me
annoying.”
“You
are
annoying. You're a defense investigator, for goodness' sake, and I'm letting you stay. What are you griping about?”
Cora sighed, took out her cigarettes. “I don't know. I'm in a bad mood. I don't have a man. I gotta move out.”
“And you can't smoke.”
“Oh, lash the dog!”
“You're lucky I don't confiscate your cigarettes.”
“You're not helping with my bad mood. Where was I? No
house, no man. Oh, yes, we're in a recession. Times are tough. On top of everything else, my ex-husbands could get wiped out. What would I do then?”
Cora tapped a cigarette from the pack and took out her lighter.
“You light that, I'll throw you in jail.”
Cora flicked the lighter defiantly. Stopped. Blew it out. “Say, there's an idea.”
Harper frowned. “What?”
Cora smiled brightly. “Arrest me!”
The steel door of the holding cell clanged shut.
Cora put her hands on the bars and yelled, “You'll never hold me, copper!”
Chief Harper smiled grimly and went out, closing the door behind him.
Cora sat on the cot, side-spied at Minami in the adjoining cell. “What are you in for, sister?”
Minami stuck her nose in the air. “You think you are funny.”
“I know I'm funny. I'm a female Groucho Marx.” Cora winced.
“Just dated myself again. You probably never heard of him. Trust me, I'm hilarious.”
“You are trying to get me to talk. You are, how do you say, a pigeon on a stool.”
“A stool pigeon.”
“That is the bird. It is not nice, and it will not work. Pretending to be put in jail so I will confide in you. Did you think I would fall for so obvious a trick? Call your police friend. Have him let you out.”
“I would, but he can't hear.”
“What?”
“The door is soundproofed. For the drunks. When they arrest a drunk, they don't want to hear him all night.”
“Then give the signal.”
“What signal?”
“Do you not wear a wire? A hidden microphone? A recording device?”
“You're clearly unfamiliar with the budget of the Bakerhaven Police Department. The only thing they ever record is Christmas carols on Dan Finley's iPod.”
“I do not understand.”
“Just as well. There's no wire, microphone, intercom, buzzer, or any other communication device with which to signal the chief. When he locks you up, you're here until he comes back.” Cora cocked her head. “Did he give you the puzzle?”
Minami said nothing and looked away.
“He didn't give you the puzzle? He gave me the puzzle. But he wouldn't give me a pencil. Afraid I might stab somebody. So I have to solve it from memory. Wanna help?”
“I am not talking to you.”
“I noticed.” Cora took out the sudoku. “Wanna look at it? It looks tough but not impossible. Not what you would call diabolical. Actually, I don't know what you'd call it. I haven't read your books.”
Minami maintained a dignified silence.
“Of course you haven't read mine. Why should you? Who
cares, anyway? Just a bunch of damn numbers. Of course, choosing the
right
numbers, that's an art. Making it just good enough to be fun. Took me a while to get that. Solving is easy. Constructing is a bitch.” Cora shrugged. “Aw, what do you care? You don't. It's just a lousy sudoku. Except … it's with a dead body. That makes it interesting. Is it a clue? If so, what does it mean? Who left it? You wouldn't expect the killer to leave something to implicate him. Or her. Or it. You know, in case she was killed by an asexual Martian robot.”
Cora waited for a response but got none. Shrugged. “Huh. Might as well be talking to the wall.” She studied the puzzle. “I don't know why you're not interested in this sudoku.”
“It is stupid. It means nothing. It is a fish that is red.”
“A red herring.”
“That is the one. That is what it must be.”
“And why would the killer put it there?”
“Because it is a very simple crime. If there was no sudoku, you would know who did it. So there is a sudoku, so you will not.”
“You're pretty smart. Even if you're not that good of a crook. You may have experience with crime, but I bet it's always been solving it. Committing it is a whole other proposition. Frankly, you're just no good.”
Minami refused to be baited.
“Where you fall down is finding the body twice. Big mistake. Finding the body once is bad enough. But a second time? It's an amateur move and you hate to see it. If anyone sees you the first time, it undercuts the second. The next thing you know you're in a jail cell with little chance of escape. None, actually, if your lawyer won't let you talk. Then your situation does not change and you're here for the duration. That means the end, and there is no end in sight. And I can't see staying here for it. Just overnight
would be bad enough.” Cora patted the cot. “Imagine sleeping on one of these things? Barely wide enough. Good thing I don't have to. I called my lawyer. I'll be bailed out soon. You've already seen your lawyer, right? And it didn't work. You're still here. What a shame.”
“Please stop. You make no sense.”
“I just can't figure out why you'd go back. The police think it was to plant the sudoku. But why would you do that? I can't buy it. The risk is too great, the reward too small.
“Unless you
had
to go back. Unless you left something there you'd forgotten. But how could you forget? It's a crime scene. You're on your guard. For every least little thing. You'd have to be really flustered to forget something. But you do. You go away. You come back with your niece.” Cora's eyes widened. “Your niece. You go get your niece, and she tells you something and you have to go back. What could she know? Was
she
there before?”
“That is just stupid.”
“Is it? It clearly bothers you. Like I struck a nerve. How could your niece be involved? She didn't know him. He had no connection … Oh, my God!”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You said, ‘Oh, my God!'”
“I did. Maybe it was a ploy to get you to talk.”
“If it was, you would not tell me it was.”
“Don't count on it. I'm tricky.”
“Why did you say, ‘Oh, my God!'?”
“You're interested. You think I said ‘Oh, my God!' about your niece and you're interested. Has your niece met anyone lately?”
“You're impertinent.”
“I am not the one buying her sexy jeans. Has your niece made any new friends?”
“I am not talking to you.”
“Unless it suits your purpose,” Cora observed.
“My lawyer said not to talk.”
“I'm sure she did. Smart girl, that Becky. So, your niece had some interest in the crime scene.”
“I am not talking to you.”
“I wonder what it was.”
Minami said nothing.
“Maybe Chief Harper can find out.” Cora sighed and then said into the microphone, “Okay, Chief, let me out.”

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