Unknown Victim by Kay Hadashi (classic books for 11 year olds .TXT) 📕

“Sure.” He took the spool of tape from her. “We should get a chipper for the branches I remove.”

“How much are they?”

“Couple grand for a good one. Five hundred for a wimpy one.”

“How much to rent one for a day?”

“A hundred.”

“Just make a giant brush pile and we’ll chip everything in one day with a rental,” Gina said.

“Brush pile where?” Flor asked.

“Anywhere it makes sense.” She noticed her work crew standing around looking anxious while they watched the police investigation activities at the house. “Hey, are these guys okay? Nobody’s freaking out, right?”

Flor didn’t even bother to look at his workmates. “They’re okay. It’s not like we’re wimps.”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just that nobody expects to have something like this happen, especially on the first day of a new job.”

“How long you been doing this kind of work, Boss?” Flor asked her.

That was hard to answer. If she told him the truth, he and the crew might lose faith in her. She also didn’t like the idea of lying to him. “This is my first big job.”

“This is a big job?” he asked.

“Isn’t it? It seems like it to me.”

“When did the Tanizawas hire you?”

“Only about a week ago,” she said. “I didn’t have much time to prepare.”

“Oh, I get it. That’s why you don’t know what to do around here.”

“Is that what you guys think of me already? That I don’t know what I’m doing?” she asked.

“Just getting a slow start. We’re wasting time standing around waiting for something to happen.”

“Look, it’s not my fault someone died on my front porch this morning. Sorry, but I didn’t anticipate that happening.” Gina looked back at the house a couple hundred feet away, wondering what was going on with the body. From what she could see, the dead man was still on her porch. Seeing the coroner’s wagon there and someone in a white Tyvek jump suit walking around, she remembered something to tell Detective Kona. She took off at a trot across the broad estate before the detective could leave. “Detective, I thought of something you might need to know!”

“What is it, Miss Santoro? I have another scene to go to.”

“Sorry to delay you. I just remembered the man was wearing a windbreaker on the first three days, but obviously he isn’t today. I thought you should know that.”

“Anything else?”

“I’m not sure how important it is, but a cat showed up today with a dead rat and was sitting on the porch not too far from the man.”

“I hate rats. What happened to it?” Detective Kona asked.

“I took it by the tail and dropped it in the brush over by the stream. Then I went back to the man and figured out he was dead.”

“Dead rat, dead man. Sorry, but I’m not making any connections.” He gave her one of his business cards. “If you think of anything useful, give me a call.”

After he left, she went to the porch. “If you think of anything useful, give me a call,” she mumbled sarcastically.

She watched as the body was collected in a zippered bag and put on a transport stretcher by two Tyvek-clad morgue techs. Crossing herself, she watched as the body went past her and loaded into the back of the wagon. With that, the house and estate grounds were returned to her.

Chapter Nine

By the time the body had been removed by the coroner’s team, it was time for the mid-morning break. From what Gina had noticed, Felix had been honest about the work crew working hard, once they had the chance and were left alone to their tasks. A small crew dug damp dirt from the area of the old pond, while another crew marked plants and shrubs that were to be preserved in the old Japanese garden. Instead of making an inspection tour, she left them to their chores and went into the house. Clara should be in the kitchen preparing their morning snack and Gina wanted to see what it was.

Not finding Clara anywhere in the house, Gina started a search outside. On her second lap around the house, she found her at the picnic table. She was no expert on Filipina behaviors, but there was no hiding the fact that the pregnant girl was upset about something. What she didn’t need that day was getting involved in someone else’s soap opera, especially a pregnant stranger. When Clara spotted her, she waved Gina over to sit with her.

Unable to escape, Gina took a seat across the table from the crew’s unofficial chef. Getting a close look at her face in the daylight for the first time, Clara looked as though she was still a teenager. “Everything okay?”

Clara started with Filipino, but changed to English. “What happened to that man?”

So that’s what the girl was so heartbroken about. There had been a couple of times when Gina had had to break bad news to families as a police officer, and had never been comfortable with it. “Unfortunately, he died this morning.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe he’d been homeless for too long and his body just gave out on him. That happens sometimes.”

“How do you know he was homeless?” Clara asked.

“The way he was dressed, kinda grubby, his breath, nothing of value in his pockets.”

“He didn’t have any money?”

“There was nothing in his wallet other than an old picture of someone. Honestly, I’m not sure why he kept the wallet.”

“Who was the picture of?” Clara asked.

Gina shrugged. “A lady and her kid.”

Clara looked away for a moment, seeming to think about something. “What did you mean his body looked like it gave out on him? Not enough to eat?”

“Maybe. Or just not enough nutritious food to eat. Have you seen a body before?”

Clara nodded her head. “Once.”

Gina saw the tension on the girl’s face. If she went any further in asking questions, she’d need to proceed carefully. “Who was that?”

“My mother.”

“Oh. Sorry to bring it up.”

Clara shook her head