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

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Tonight?”

“Yeah, tonight.”

“Yes, we could, um…”

Gina decided to save him from the chore all men went through. “I haven’t been to Waikiki yet. I’ve only driven past it once. Is that something people do here? Go for a walk on the beach in the evening?”

“Sounds good.”

“I just need to let this simmer for a while and then take it to the Tanizawas,” Gina said. “Then I have a tennis date later this afternoon. You don’t happen to play tennis, do you?”

“I tried once,” Detective Kona said. “I either hit the ball into the net, or it was a grand slam over the fence. I spent more time chasing balls than hitting them.”

There was one thing that had been bothering Gina about Harry, Chuck, and Danny. Maybe it meant something, maybe it was nothing, but Gina had to follow it through. She got her phone and called the Tanizawa house where Bunzo lived with his son, Kenzo. She gave Kona the job of stirring the noodles into the soup while she made a call to Kenzo.

“Hullo?”

“Kenzo, this is Gina.” She told him her made-up story of making too much minestrone and wanted to bring them some. “Would in an hour be okay?”

“Almost time for lunch. We’ll wait for you.”

“One other thing. Maybe you could have Harry come? He said something last week about wanting to try it.”

“His day off. I’ll call him.”

Gina had to be sneaky now. “Have him bring Holly with him.”

“Why?”

“She was interesting. I’d like to talk with her again.”

“Not interesting to us.”

“I think she will be today,” Gina said, before ending the call.

“What’s this about Holly?” Detective Kona asked.

“You’ll see.” Gina put most of her minestrone in a Tupperware and sealed it up. She decided to keep on her church clothes for the visit to the Tanizawa’s house. “You’re taking me there, by the way.”

“What are you up to, Miss Santoro?”

“You’ll see.” She buckled into the front seat of his sedan, holding the container of soup on her lap. “Is there any way at all possible that you could call me Gina?”

“Once the investigation is done, yes. But only if you call me Michael.”

Kenzo was waiting at the front door for them when Gina and Detective Kona arrived. When they went inside, Harry was waiting impatiently, with Holly by his side. She wasn’t any happier about being there than he was, and made the point by flashing a scowl at Gina.

After visiting with Bunzo in his bedroom for a few minutes, Gina instructed Kenzo on how to reheat the soup. While he was distracted with that in the kitchen, and Bunzo waited in his bedroom, Gina maneuvered Harry, Holly, and Detective Kona to the patio. She shut the door behind them so the others couldn’t hear.

Gina set her eyes on Harry. “Roll up your sleeves.”

“What? Why?”

“I want to see your forearms.”

“I’m no user!”

“Miss Santoro, why are we doing this?” Kona asked.

“Just bear with me for a moment. Harry, show us your arms.”

He slid up the sleeves of his long-sleeved T-shirt. The scabbed-over injury she’d seen on him the week before was nearly gone, replaced by a long, pink scar.

“How’d you get that scar?” Gina demanded.

“It’s nothing. Just something that happened at work. It’s all healed up.”

Holly made a move toward the patio door into the house, but Kona blocked her departure.

“Baloney. You got that from Danny, didn’t you?”

“Danny who? I know half a dozen Dannies.”

“Don’t try and bluff me, Harry. You know which Danny I mean. He tried to knife you, but his crappy little pocketknife couldn’t do much more than gouge your arm. Is that when you stabbed him with the ice pick?”

“That wasn’t me. You have to believe me.”

“I’m the one that needs to believe you, Harry,” Detective Kona said. He now had Holly’s arm locked in his grip.

“Okay, we had a fight, more of an argument, and he got me with that stupid knife he carried around. I was more worried about getting tetanus from that than bleeding to death. But I didn’t spike him.”

“Do you know who did?” Kona asked.

Harry’s eyes shifted back and forth, looking from one person to another. “I dunno.”

“What did you argue about?” Gina asked.

“He came to me one day with this story about how the nighttime bartenders were running a prostitution ring out of my bar in the evenings. I called him a liar, he said I was stupid, and I told him to get lost and not come back. Maybe there was some pushing and shoving to get him out the door of my bar, and that’s when he gouged me. He left, and I never saw him again.”

“What day was that?” Kona asked.

“Saturday, two weeks ago yesterday. But I’m telling you, I didn’t spike him.”

“What he told you about the bar was true, Harry,” Gina said. “Chuck had been running a prostitution ring out of there for months. Danny had been also, until Chuck stole his girls and shut down his business. That’s why Danny had been hanging around the bar. He’d been trying to get hush money out of Chuck, to not to go to the police.”

“I knew there were girls getting picked up. I never knew it had gotten so big.”

“There’s something else you need to know.” Gina looked at Holly, who was wearing the face of anger by now. “Holly, you want to tell him or should I?”

“Tell me what?”

“She’s been working for Chuck, and before him, Danny.”

“Say what?”

“Surprise!” Gina said with a chuckle. “Holly, where were you last Sunday night, after closing time at Harry’s bar?”

“Me?”

“You’ve been on my radar for several days,” Detective Kona told her.

Holly tried pulling her arm away from his grip. “Shove your radar!”

“Thanks, but not today. My CSI teams have collected several of your prints from Chuck’s apartment, and from the seat of a barstool at Bunzo’s. From that same stool, we found DNA and hair that match Chuck’s. From near as I can tell, you talked your