The Daydreamer Detective by S. J. Pajonas

Author:S. J. Pajonas [Pajonas, S. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Onigiri Press

Chapter Twenty

“What were you doing out there?”

I stood in the doorway of the kitchen, dripping a flood of water onto the ceramic tiles. I must’ve looked like a drowned rat with my hair soaked and coat stuck to me. The kitchen was not as busy as I expected, only a few guys washing dishes and no one at the stoves.

“What time is it?” I hadn’t even noticed the time when I ran out of the barn and across the street to Akiko’s house. I doubted it was past noon.

Yasahiro worked the buttons of my raincoat and peeled it off my shoulders. “It’s almost 14:00. I figured you’d be here in about twenty minutes. Are you going to tell me what happened?”

“I… I don’t know.” I looked down at my jeans plastered to my legs and sighed. “I’m soaked. I didn’t realize it was raining so hard.”

Each of the guys in the kitchen threw sidelong glances my way, and I dipped my head to avoid eye contact. I decided I better keep my mouth closed and not broadcast to everyone that I ran through the streets on a cold, rainy day. What had I been thinking? That I could run after the police car, pull Akiko out, and take her home? There were days when I believed I was a smart person. Today was not one of those days.

I grabbed at my raincoat before he took it away. Reaching into the pocket, I groaned as I extracted my soaked phone. The lake’s worth of water in my pocket had sent it to its grave, and it wouldn’t even turn on.

Yasahiro took my phone from my hands, brushing his long warm fingers against my freezing cold skin. “I’ll put this in some rice. Maybe it’ll turn on tomorrow.”

He set it on the counter, grabbed his chef’s coat from the hook next to an office door, and bundled me in it. Then he grabbed a clean kitchen towel. “Here. For your hair.”

I flipped my head over and wrapped up my wet locks into a turban.

“I should call Mom and let her know I’m not at home anymore. I kind of ran out without saying goodbye.” I had screamed at the house as I ran across the street, but I didn’t think she heard me. She may have been napping or in the bath.

“Here.” Yasahiro handed me his phone. “Your mom’s number is in my address book.”

I took the phone with a shaky hand and dialed mom’s mobile.

“Yasahiro-san, I hope you’re well.”

“No, Mom. It’s Mei.”

“Mei-chan, where are you? Are you calling me from the barn on Yasahiro’s phone?”

“No,” I said, sighing. “I’m actually in town at Sawayaka. I was in the barn, and then I looked out the window and saw police cars pulling up to Akiko’s house. They took her in for questioning.” Tears started to fall down my face, so I turned my back to Yasahiro. “She says her patients can’t remember if she visited them the day her Dad died, and Tama-chan is telling the police all types of lies about her mental state.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.