Free Dismissed With Prejudice (9780061760631) by Judith A. Jance Page A

all.”
    â€œThat sounds like a lot of pressure.”
    She nodded. “It was. For everyone. Since my mother didn’t drive, my father was the one who had to make arrangements for rides and car pools to get me to music lessons and riding lessons and soccer. He did too much, invested too much.”
    Kimi fell silent. I wanted to reach around, grab her by the shoulders, and shake her until her teeth rattled. What did she mean, her father did too much! He sounded like a helluva guy to me. Aren’t parents ever right? They either do too goddamnedmuch or too goddamned little, but they’re never right, at least not as far as their kids are concerned. Count on it.
    Not trusting myself to be civil on that particular subject, I took the notebook from her and went back to reviewing it, eventually reaching the part where we had been questioning Machiko outside her daughter’s presence.
    â€œDid you know that your father talked to your mother by phone yesterday morning?”
    Kimiko shook her head.
    â€œIt must have been close to the same time he talked to you,” I continued. “He didn’t happen to mention to you where he was calling from, did he?”
    There was no immediate response. I glanced back to see if Kimi was listening and found her frowning in concentration. “He said something, but I can’t recall exactly what. I remember asking him if I could check with the people at work and call him back. He said no, that he was out of his office and wherever he was, he wouldn’t be there long. Port something. Port Townsend, maybe. Port Angeles. Something like that.”
    â€œAnd he didn’t give you any idea what he was doing there?”
    â€œNone whatsoever.”
    We made good time crossing Lake Washington. Big Al wheeled the car into a police vehicle parking place outside the medical examiner’s office at the south end of Harborview Hospital. I got out, held the door open for Kimiko, andreached inside to help her out of the car. Once upright, she still clung to my hand. Her whole body was shaking.
    â€œAm I going to have to identify him?” she asked, her voice small and tremulous.
    â€œNo,” I said. “George Yamamoto already gave us a positive ID. That won’t be necessary. All you’ll need to do is sign the papers.”
    She sighed with obvious relief. I thanked George Yamamoto for sparing her that. After nine years of not speaking, it would have been a tough way to see her father again.
    Doc Baker’s receptionist ushered us straight into the medical examiner’s messy private office. His chipped blue vase, half filled with paper clips, sat in the window, but for once he didn’t spend the entire interview trying to make baskets. He was solicitous and concerned as he shoved one piece of paper after another across his desk for Kimiko Kurobashi to sign.
    â€œHave you scheduled the autopsy?” I asked when she finished.
    He nodded, taking the last of the sheaf of papers and straightening the edge by bouncing it sharply several times on the hard surface of the desk. “This afternoon. Four o’clock.”
    â€œYou’ve told George?”
    â€œI’ve left word for him.”
    â€œIs an autopsy really necessary?” Kimiko asked.
    Doc Baker peered at her, dropping his chin so he could see her through the part of his glasses wherethe bifocals weren’t. “Yes, it’s necessary, miss. In cases like this, the law demands it.”
    She flushed. “Will we have to pay for it?”
    â€œNo.”
    She nodded, relieved again. “And my mother wanted me to ask you about the sword. What will happen to that?”
    â€œIt’s in the crime lab right now, being examined. It will be kept in the property room pending a determination of whether or not it needs to be held as evidence.
    â€œBut it will be returned to her?” Kimi insisted.
    â€œYes,” Baker replied. “Eventually. Assuming