Sujata Massey - Shimura Trouble

“THAT WAS CLOSE,” Michael said to Kurt, when he finally swam back in, nothing in hand. “Thanks a lot.”

“Yes, thank you,” I echoed.

Kurt shrugged his hulking shoulders. “You two could have made it, but I was getting bored just hanging by myself.”

“I can’t believe I lost my belt.” Michael sounded grim. Now Karen and Parker won’t know what’s going on.”

“Do you want me to look for it?” Kurt asked.

“I don’t think there’s any point. We can get him on tape; all that equipment’s inside Rei’s wetsuit.”

“Yes, I’m wearing everything we really need. I think we should just get it over with,” I said in a voice that was braver than I felt.

“Remember, I don’t want you going inside the house. It’s important for your safety,” Michael said.

“OK. But I’ll have to connect with Calvin, and that could mean knocking on the door, stepping in the kitchen for a moment-”

“Enough chatter,” Kurt said. “When I was checking the house out, I saw an Asian guy through the downstairs windows, in a huge room-I guess you could call it a home theater, or entertainment center. I’d like one just like it, only there’s the problem of my military salary.”

“So Calvin really was planning to listen to music.” I told them what Tom had told me.

“I don’t know if there’s music on because the windows were closed. All I can tell you is he was dancing like a fool,” Kurt said. “Check out that second-floor balcony. Beautiful entry point.”

Michael cleared his throat. “Ordinarily, Kurt, I’d say have fun, but there is no need for a home invasion. Calvin will answer the door when Rei calls on him, and we’ll just back her up as needed.”

Kurt looked ticked off, so I smiled at him and said, “There are jobs for everyone. Michael, will you please help me turn on the recorder inside my wetsuit? When that’s fixed, Kurt can give us a tour around the house and explain what else he noticed. We’ll go from there.”

KURT HAD SPOTTED a lot of interesting details, including which windows were locked and where the house alarms were, but he’d missed one crucial detail, which I was to discover myself: the front door had no buzzer, bell or knocker. I knocked, and there was no response. I realized that probably nobody ever came to the front door, because all visitors would use the buzzer at the gate.

I silently rehearsed my cover story about the body surfing, and thought about what I’d do if I’d washed up at a house like this and felt desperate. I trekked around the house, heading for the big ground-floor lanai, a tropical fantasy veranda with its own pool and an elegant bar. Beyond that were ground-to-ceiling sliding glass doors leading to the entertainment room, lit up to reveal a massive flat screen television playing VH1 and low chairs upholstered in what looked like black velvet. On the wall, I spotted a few Haruki Murukami paintings. The object of my pursuit, Calvin Morita, was not in there.

I continued around the house and finally saw him illuminated through the window of a stainless steel and marble luxury kitchen. Calvin was mixing himself a cocktail, with blue and yellow liquids. I rapped on the door here, which had a glass window, and called his name. Clearly startled at first, he identified me, smiled, and moved toward the kitchen door.

“Rei! This is a quite a surprise.” He opened the door wide, and stepped back to allow me entrance.

“For me, too.” I was breathing audibly, because I was nervous; I hoped he took that as a sign that I’d just come out of the water. “I was body surfing around sunset, and the waves carried me right past the hotel beach. I started climbing my way back to land over the rocks, but it got so dark I didn’t know if I’d make it…I hope you don’t mind me coming this way…”

“What were you doing exerting yourself so soon after hospitalization? By the way, have you heard from the health department yet?”

“No. I assume they’re operating on aloha time.”

“Well, I’ll take you back to your house right away. Let me get my keys.”

This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go; I couldn’t leave Michael and Kurt on the beach, wondering.

“Actually, Calvin, could I have a drink first? I would love to sit out on that lanai and just have a glass of tap water.”

“Of course. I should have thought of that.” Calvin reached into a cabinet for a glass and filled it at a sink set into the kitchen island. I watched it unblinkingly; nothing was dropped in, so I took a sip. “But why are you out, anyway? Don’t you know your father’s in the hospital?”

I thought quickly. He could suspect that my father was poisoned, but he wouldn’t know for sure. “Yes, I took my father in hours ago, but he’s fine-just a migraine headache. The MRI didn’t indicate a stroke or anything like that. I got out of the house because he likes to lie in absolute dark and stillness; Tom is there with him, anyway.”

“Headaches can be a sign of trouble,” Calvin mused. “Maybe he’s got something else, a kind of influenza, perhaps.”

“I don’t know. How I wish you’d been here earlier, when we sent my cousins to look for you. You would have known exactly what to do.”

“This is a change of direction for you.” Calvin smiled at me, as if pleasantly surprised. “When we met, you wouldn’t give me the time of day!”

“Calvin…” I paused, trying to look humble. “I’m sorry that it took my father’s sudden illness and the fact that Tom and Uncle Hiroshi can’t always be there to realize how much we’ve all grown to depend on you. Ever since you’ve arrived, you’ve only wanted to help us. Why, you’re practically part of the family.”

“Well, that’s a relief. Are you sure you don’t want a real drink to take outside? Oops, I just remembered that you shouldn’t. It’s not good for your recovery.”

I dropped my gaze, thinking how glad I was the recorder was on. He’d just given an indication he knew that what had poisoned me was a serious drug, rather than overgrown food bacteria. I needed more to get a warrant for his arrest, but if he was this loose already, and continuing to drink, our interview should be a snap.

Calvin stepped outdoors with a fresh drink for himself, and we retreated to the ocean-facing lanai.

“I just can’t get enough of the ocean,” I said, angling myself so I was facing the direction away from the part of shoreline where Michael and Kurt were presumably hiding.

“Yes, I know what you mean,” he said, following my gaze. “That’s why, despite the unrelenting hours, I’m still with the Kikuchis after three years. The whole environment here is just so gorgeous that I really enjoy times like these all the more.”

“The stone underfoot is really nice,” I said. “Is it lava rock?”

Calvin glanced down, and must have caught a glimpse of more than the pavers, because he said, “Whoa! What happened to your feet?”

“I must have gotten cut on the rocks.” My alibi was solid, thanks to the fact that I really had suffered some cuts and scratches coming in from the ocean. I’d been too stressed to notice when it was actually happening.

“I’ll say. We need to go right back in and clean that. You might want to take a Vicodin for the pain. There’s a vial of it in Jiro’s bathroom.”

“I don’t take painkillers. I’m kind of a health nut that way.”

“But I noticed…yes, you are limping! You must at least clean the cuts and bandage them.”

“I’m really not that badly off,” I protested, thinking that perhaps my father really had been correct about Calvin having Munchausen’s-by-proxy.