Dismissed With Prejudice by J. A. Jance Read Free Book Online

wooden cane with the other. When she reached the wooden archway, she stopped and looked questioningly at each of us in turn, her eyes enormous behind the beveled lenses of her gold-framed glasses. When her glance reached George Yamamoto, it stopped, freezing into a hard glitter.
    Machiko Kurobashi's transformation was sudden and complete. She seemed to grow younger, stiffer, and inches taller all at the same time. Letting go of her daughter's arm, she raised one trembling hand and pointed an accusing finger at the head of the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab.
    "You, she hissed. "Out!
    A dark flush swept out from under George Yamamoto's collar and up his neck, leaving his ears a vivid shade of crimson. "I'm so sorry, Machiko… he began.
    She shook her head stubbornly, cutting him off. "Out, she repeated, glaring at him. "Go!
    He started to object and then thought better of it. He went, retreating dispiritedly past the trailer and Suburban until he disappeared around the corner of the house while Machiko Kurobashi stared after him as if concerned that he might change his mind and come back.
    Surprised, I looked down at the bird-boned old woman who had ordered George Yamamoto away, who had managed to treat a more than sixty-year-old bureaucrat the same way a hard-nosed teacher might treat a misbehaving kindergartener. Obviously, the rancor between George Yamamoto and Machiko Kurobashi was deep-rooted and inarguably mutual.
    Once George was out of sight, Machiko turned toward me. "I sorry to be rude. That man not welcome here. Her English was broken and heavily accented, but quite understandable. Once again I fumbled my identification out of my pocket and handed it to her. She didn't bother to look at it.
    "You are police?
    I nodded. "I'm Detective Beaumont, and that's my partner, Detective Lindstrom. We came to tell you about your husband.
    "Kimi told me, she said. "Come.
    Instead of going toward the house, she turned and headed back into the garden. The rest of us followed. She resumed her place on the bench, patting it to indicate that I should sit beside her. Big Al and Kimi sat on another bench a few feet away.
    "Sorry, she said. "Furniture all gone. Nowhere to sit inside.
    "That's fine, I said. "This is very beautiful.
    "Tadeo make it for me. Like home, so I not be homesick. The aching hurt in her simple words put a lump in my throat. My heart went out to this fragile old woman who seemed to be losing everything at once—husband, home, security. Somehow she didn't seem defeated.
    "Homesick for Japan? I asked, wanting to be clear about what she was saying.
    She nodded.
    "Didn't you ever go back?
    She shook her head.
    "Not even for a visit?
    "No.
    From the look of the surroundings, the kind of home they lived in, the kind of business her husband had run, they surely could have afforded the price of an airplane ticket.
    "My home in Nagasaki, she said simply.
    Nagasaki. Hiroshima's sister in devastation, the one you seldom heard about. For the second time that day the specter of World War II rose up before me, its horror and destruction made personal in a way it had never touched me before. Looking at Machiko Kurobashi, I wondered what tricks of fate had placed her home and family in the path of exploding atomic bombs.
    "There's nothing left? I asked.
    She shook her head. "No one. Nothing. Only this, that Tadeo made for me. Now it gone too.
    Tears sprang once more to her eyes. For several long seconds no one spoke. The brilliantly colored fish alternately lazed in and darted through the shallow water.
    "Tell me about my husband, she said.
    And so, as gently as I could, I told her everything, including how George Yamamoto had been called in to help determine whether or not Tadeo's death had involved the ancient practice of hara-kiri or seppuku . I noted what seemed to be a sharp intake of breath when I mentioned the sword, but she said nothing and I continued. Finished finally, I waited to hear what she would say.
    "No.
    She