Snakeskin Shamisen by Naomi Hirahara Read Free Book Online

He’s a nurse at Little Company of Mary Hospital, right in Torrance. Juanita thinks he’s a jerk. He just doesn’t know how to speak with women; he always manages to insult them. He can’t help himself. When something gets into Juanita, she can’t drop it. She doesn’t trust anyone, especially authority figures. I guess that goes with her background—”
    Before he could say what her background was, the bedroom door swung open.
    “So you guys having some kind of secret meeting in here?” Juanita had one hand on her hip. She was the type who didn’t run from confrontation but chased after it.
    “No, no,” said G. I. “Just talking.”
    “Yeah, right. I bet.” Juanita wasn’t convinced.
    The doorbell rang, tinny and cheap, followed by banging on the wood frame of the glass door.
    “Now, who the hell could that be?” G. I. went back to the living room and drew back his drapes. Looking out his window, he muttered, “Shit.”
    “Who is it?” Juanita asked, following G. I. down the stairs in the entryway. The cat was next, and Mas, not wanting to be outdone by a cat, went down too.
    On the other side of the glass door were Detective Alo and a couple of uniformed police officers.
    “What’s going on?” G. I. asked.
    “We need to do a full search of your residence.” Alo’s voice had become even softer, barely audible.
    “Look, your men were already here to pick up Randy’s belongings. What more do you need?”
    “We’ve found some evidence back at the murder scene. We have probable cause.”
    “Do you have a search warrant?”
    “We thought that you’d cooperate, Mr. Hasuike.”
    “Listen, it’s late. I just lost one of my best friends. I’m wiped out, guys. I don’t want you ripping up my place. You get a search warrant; better yet, you tell me what you are looking for, and I’ll be more than happy to cooperate, really.”
    Alo and G. I. went back and forth like those tennis pros that Mas occasionally saw on TV while flipping channels. Except what Alo and G. I. shot back and forth were words, legalese that Mas didn’t quite understand but still feared. G. I. must have won this match, because Alo was gesturing for the officers to return to their cars.
    “We’ll be back, Mr. Hasuike.” Detective Alo’s voice was breathy, but they all could still feel the power of his threat.
    The three of them watched the police cars leave the street through the glass door.
    “What was that all about?” Juanita asked.
    “They found something at the restaurant. Something that implicates me.”
    “But what?”
    Mas then remembered the discovery in the rubbish bin by the bank. “
Katana
,” he blurted out.
    “What?”
    “Knife. Police found knife in trash. I see it.”
    “What kind of knife?”
    “Big one.” Mas held up his hands about a foot apart. “Someone say like in ’Nam.”
    “Must have been a bayonet,” G. I. murmured.
    “So that’s the murder weapon?” said Juanita. “What the hell? So what were they going to do, try to find a knife in the house?”
    “There’s two of them here, Juanita. Not to mention my thirty-eight.”
    “Shit. Well, get rid of them. Where are they?”
    “I have nothing to hide. Probably half of the guys at the party own guns and knives. This is L.A., after all.”
    “G. I., you are their prime suspect. A bunch of people saw you arguing with Randy.”
    “I was trying to calm him down, I tell you. He just had too much to drink.”
    “You have to think, G. I. Think about your law practice. It won’t look good for a lawyer to be arrested. Doesn’t matter if the charges are eventually dropped, or you’re declared not guilty at trial. It’ll be all over
The Rafu Shimpo
. Your career will be over in a flash. No Nisei grandma will be calling you about her HMO problems. No Sansei’s going to be hiring you on his DUI case. And you know the Japanese—they never forget.”
    G. I. picked up the cat and stroked its fur as Juanita continued. “I spoke to Alo at