The Flower Master (Rei Shimura #3) by Sujata Massey Read Free Book Online Page B

Lila went to get them, I spent a moment looking around the apartment, which had a similar layout to the one I'd lived in, but felt so different. An army of plastic dinosaurs lay scattered across a Chinese rug, and sippy cups and brightly colored plastic bowls were ringed around an arrangement of cherry blossoms on the glossy paulownia tea table. A handsome Meiji-period tansu chest stood in the dining alcove, a protective plastic sheet draped over the top. Hugh had said he wanted marriage and children. I felt a slight pang, remembering.
    Lila stuck a cracker in her daughter's mouth and carried her into the room where the television was blaring. She then shut the door and came back to me.
    "It's too chaotic here. Let's go in the kitchen."
    I cleared a few cereal pieces off a chair and sat down at a scrubbed wooden table decorated with a pitcher of pink and white roses. They probably had been bought at My Magic Forest, which was only two blocks away.
    Lila buzzed around microwaving us two cups of tea. She put milk in both our cups without asking, but I had to ask her for sugar. She put it in for me herself, as if I were one of her children, while prattling about Richard Randall and how glad she was he had a suitable girlfriend, because his parents worried endlessly about him, and she'd not been able to introduce him to any girls who worked out. I rolled my eyes at that but figured now was not the time to tell her we weren't romantic partners.
    "What is it about the Kayamas?" I put down my overly sweet cup of tea. "I mean,, that's why you wanted to talk to me, isn't it?"
    "I was wondering . . ." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "How is it that you already knew one of the policemen at the scene?"
    "Lieutenant Hata gets around," I said, adding, "There was a burglary in Roppongi Hills last summer."
    "A burglary in Roppongi Hills? My God!" She glanced toward the closed door of the TV room, as if to make sure her children were still safe.
    "The break-in was an extremely rare, isolated event." I reassured her. "Did Lieutenant Hata interview you yesterday? His English is good, isn't it?"
    "I don't think I understood him, and I might have misstated the facts." Lila grimaced. "I'm afraid I left a wrong impression."
    "Did you tell him about the argument Norie and Sakura had in class?" I asked. That was what had worried me.
    "No. He just wanted to know our movements in the school that day, and I guess I told him that I was somewhere that I wasn't. Now I realize that he's probably going to find out the truth, and I'm a bit scared."
    As Lila spoke, she lifted clean glasses from the dishwasher up into the kitchen cabinet. Her cropped T-shirt rode up, exposing her slim back, which was marred by a few scratches. She must have gotten them roughhousing with the kids. Motherhood really was a formidable task.
    "Don't be scared of Lieutenant Hata. He's a very kind person, and he's young, like us, without the formality of the older generation. You can tell him what you've told me."
    "Couldn't you do it?" Again, she made the same slight grimace. "You understand both cultures, and your Aunt Norie is very influential in the school. By the way, I don't want to forget about the antique dishes you have for sale."
    The transition, and its implications, wereas rather crude. As much as I wanted someone to buy Mrs. Morita's unlucky plates, I wouldn't tell the lieutenant stories that might not be true. In a cool voice I told Lila, "I'm afraid I already have a buyer for the plates. And as far as my aunt being influential, she certainly wasn't told about the Kayama students' private meeting yesterday."
    Lila looked away. "It wasn't our idea to meet alone. You and your aunt left the Kaikan early yesterday. After you were gone, Sakura said we had to come back the next day to go over the final layout for the flower exhibition at Mitsutan. We assumed Mrs. Koda or another staff member would call Norie with the details. I'm surprised that it didn't work out that