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

spoke the word so softly that I almost missed it. "No what? I asked.
    When her eyes met mine, they were blazing with a new intensity, a desperate defiance. "My Tadeo not kill himself. This I know.
    And that was all she said, her only response. They may have disagreed on everything else, but on that score, George Yamamoto and Machiko Kurobashi were in full and total agreement. Neither one of them believed for one moment that Tadeo Kurobashi had committed suicide.
    Their insistent belief led me to agree with them.

CHAPTER 4

    THE DEEP-THROATED HONK OF A SEMI'S horn sounded three short bursts out in front of the house. Kimi glanced at her watch then jumped up and started out of the garden. "The movers, she explained. "I'll go tell them what's happened, that they'll have to come back later.
    "No, Machiko said. She didn't say much, but what she did say was definitive.
    Frowning, Kimi stopped and turned to her mother. "What do you mean, no?
    "Your father say today. He give his word. We go today.
    "But—
    Machiko held out her hand, a gesture which both stifled protest and asked for help. Kimi pulled Machiko to her feet. "You stay, the older woman ordered. "I go.
    It was more a command than a request, and Kimiko unwillingly assented to it. She stood watching with furrowed brows as her mother, leaning on the gnarled cane, hobbled slowly across the bridge and out of sight around the house while the truck's horn honked impatiently once more.
    This time when Kimiko turned back to us, tears were streaming down her face. She made no effort to wipe them away. "How could he do this to her?
    "Do what?
    "Bail out. Leave her like this with next to nothing. Worse than nothing. The house is gone, along with everything else.
    "But your mother seems to think he was murd—
    Kimi interrupted with an angry snort. "She'd defend him no matter what, right or wrong. It's always been that way.
    She paused long enough to blow her nose. Kimiko Kurobashi's bitterly hostile words didn't sound like those of someone grieving for a dead father, at least not yet. It was still too soon. She was still too angry with him for dying. It's a common enough reaction, and I didn't fault her for it.
    The time had come to begin the inevitable questioning process. Big Al picked up the ball and ran with it, speaking directly to Kimiko for the first time. "You said you talked to your father last night at his office?
    Kimi nodded.
    "What time was that?
    "About eight-thirty, I guess. He called around eleven yesterday morning while I was working. It took me several hours to get squared away at work, to make arrangements to have someone fill in for me both at school and on the farm.
    "The farm? I asked, suddenly remembering the words printed on the side of the horse trailer. "Would that be Honeydale Farm?
    People don't expect you to pay attention to the little telltale clues they leave scattered around them. If you ask someone wearing a Yellowstone T-shirt how they liked Old Faithful, they'll be mystified as to how you knew. They react as though you have some secret, black magic way of knowing things about them when it's actually nothing more than using basic powers of observation. Kimi Kurobashi was no exception. She had long since stopped seeing the Honeydale Farm lettering on the horse trailer.
    "I live there, she said, giving me an uncertain look. "I help out around the place for board and room both for me and Sadie.
    "Who's Sadie?
    "My horse. Teaching assistants don't earn enough to support horses.
    "Your parents haven't been helping you then?
    "Are you kidding? My father threw me out when I was nineteen years old. I've earned my own way ever since, every penny of it. When he called me yesterday, it was the first time I had spoken to him in almost nine years.
    "That's a long time, I said.
    "He was a stubborn man, she said, adding thoughtfully after a moment, "I must take after him.
    "Getting back to yesterday, I prompted.
    "As I said, it took me a while to get things lined