Painted Doll by Jonelle Patrick

Author:Jonelle Patrick [Patrick, Jonelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bancroft & Greene, Publishers LLC
Published: 2016-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

THURSDAY, JANUARY 8

•

“Well, sir, at least we were able to help Detective Oki,” Suzuki said, as Kenji wearily shut down his laptop. It had been a long day.

The underwear thief had not been among the deliverymen they’d interviewed, but one suspect had seemed a little too prepared with exact details when asked about his schedule on several of the days the thefts had occurred. His alibis for the times of the underwear snatchings checked out, but while asking around, they discovered that the perpetually broke deliveryman had recently bought a new flat screen TV and blown a couple hundred thousand yen at a pachinko parlor. They’d passed his name along to Oki, in case the source of his new-found wealth was stolen goods from the string of shop burglaries.

As Suzuki headed toward the elevator, Kenji’s phone buzzed. Inspector Mori.

“Nakamura,” Kenji answered.

“Mori here. Wanted to thank you for sending those pictures. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. I’ve been reassigned to the Painted Doll case.”

“Congratulations, sir.”

“Thank you, but I’m not sure that’s in order yet. The good news is that I have access to the old files again. The bad news is that I can’t share anything that’s in them.”

Goddamn Mori. Why was he not surprised?

“It’s regrettable,” the Inspector added, the closest he could come to apologizing to an inferior.

“I see.” Kenji said, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt.

“If it were up to me, I’d help you.”

Like hell.

Kenji made himself say, “Well, then, good luck, sir. I hope you get a solve.”

“Thank you.” Mori hesitated. “I won’t forget. If the time comes when I can release information that might help you find out what happened to your mother, I will.”

Kenji thanked him with a gratitude he didn’t feel.

Dammit, dammit, dammit. He knew Mori—the Inspector and his compadres had probably been on Keiko Sato’s doorstep before dawn, grilling her. And the First Investigative Division specialists would already be analyzing the pictures. They’d zero in on the bus driver’s arm, track him down, squeeze out the information he’d refused to give Kenji and Yumi. And hell would freeze over before they’d share.

Now what? He was on his own. Back to square one. Scowling, Kenji pulled up the photos again. How could he get around the Painted Doll investigation’s locked door? He zoomed in on the shot showing the van’s license plate. He’d held off asking Oki if he knew anyone in Motor Vehicle Registration, counting on Mori giving him access to the file. But now Oki was his only hope.

The door to Interview Room One opened, and Assistant Detective Kurosawa emerged, marching the pachinko-playing deliveryman before her in handcuffs. Detective Oki accompanied them into the elevator to head down to Booking.

Kenji was still staring moodily at his computer when the big detective returned.

“Hey, I owe you one,” Oki said, plucking his jacket from the back of his chair. “Looks like that case is on its way to the prosecutor.”

“Congratulations,” Kenji said. “Glad to put away an evildoer, even if he’s not our evildoer.

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