The Last Curtain Call by Juliet Blackwell

Author:Juliet Blackwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-06-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

I met Annette Crawford at Akiko’s on Bush Street.

“This is my favorite place for omakase,” she said as we waited to be seated.

“Not to sound like an idiot,” I said, “but what is omakase, exactly? Normally I’m up for adventures, but I’ve had a rough couple of days. Not sure I want to accidentally order fish sperm or whale blubber or some such thing.”

Annette smiled. “Literally, omakase means ‘I trust you.’ In other words, we leave it up to the chef, who should know which fish is at its peak. Trusting the chef means a lot in a sushi restaurant.”

The hostess ushered us to a small table in the corner, and she and Annette had a short exchange—in Japanese.

“You speak Japanese?” I asked Annette as soon as we were alone. “I didn’t know that.”

“I’ve been studying a little online and occasionally try it out in sushi bars. I get particularly good omakase when I attempt a few words in Japanese.”

“And that brings me to my next question: Since when have you started trusting people?”

“I trust people,” Annette said, sounding a bit defensive. Then she sat back and shrugged. “Some people anyway. I trust sushi chefs in a restaurant like this one.”

“And is good sushi the only reason you’re learning Japanese?”

“That’s just an added benefit. You know what they say: Learning a language is the key to brain health, and I already know Spanish. So I thought I’d try something completely different.”

“Because you have so much free time.”

“Mel, if you haven’t learned this already, then here’s a piece of advice: Sometimes you have to make time.”

“You’re something else,” I said with a smile, shaking my head. “Full of surprises.”

The server brought us a bowl of edamame and poured mugs of fragrant green tea.

“Also,” said Annette as she shelled an edamame and popped the salted beans into her mouth. “It’s a nice break from my usual routine. One can only handle so many dead bodies without needing to change gears.”

“Ah yes, back to the crux of things.”

“You said you have information for me?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, exactly,” I said, backpedaling a bit. “I mentioned on the phone that I spoke with Tierney—”

“At the tattoo shop.” She nodded. “We talked to her earlier today.”

“And with Mitch, who is staying in the back of the donut shop.”

“Any of the others? We’d already spoken with both of them.”

I shook my head.

“The phone numbers you had for them were helpful,” Annette said.

“They answered? They don’t pick up when I call.”

“Of course they didn’t answer. Nobody answers my calls either.”

“I do.”

“And I appreciate it,” she said with a smile. “No, we tracked them down through their cell phone records. But let me handle this, Mel—it’s my job, not yours. One of them might well be a murderer, lest you forget.”

“I’m not actively looking for them, at least not anymore. As a matter of fact, Mitch found me, not the other way around. He sort of rescued me from the Sepetys.”

She gave me a questioning look.

“From the cameras, I should say.

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