The Flower Master (Rei Shimura #3) (13 page)

"You've been busy cleaning, I see."

"Just a little dusting. My niece is not one for housekeeping. How about a cup of tea?"

"Oh, please don't go to the trouble of making tea," Lieutenant Hata said.

"It's ready. You must have some." Aunt Norie carefully poured three cups of the beefsteak tea and brought them to the tea table.

"You have been sleeping a long time. You probably do not know that it has been raining heavily since last night," Hata said, pushing back the damp hair that had fallen into his eyes.

"The rain is terrible for the cherry blossoms. They're barely opening, and now they are being shaken off the trees!" Aunt Norie complained.

"In an odd way, the rain actually helped our investigation of your poisoning," Hata told me. "Our pathology unit was scheduled to enjoy a cherry blossom viewing party yesterday, but it was called off because of the weather. That meant there were lab technicians available to run many different analyses."

"But you don't know everything I ate on Friday and Saturday," I cut in. "There's still a lot of work to be done."

"Actually, we have concluded that your stomach contained traces of a heavy metal." Lieutenant Hata said the itadakimasu grace under his breath and reached for his cup of tea.

"Do you mean I ate a bit of foil? I'm sure I didn't eat anything that tasted like it contained metal."

"We found a particular heavy metal. It is a poison called arsenic. Have you heard of it?"

I nodded as my stomach went into a spasm. Psychosomatic, I hoped.

"Arsenic is serious! It is supposed to work over a long period of time. Can it still hurt my niece?" Aunt Norie demanded, as if the bearer of bad news was the one who had perpetrated the act.

"Too little was ingested for that to happen."

"Rei-chan, have you been eating in bad restaurants?" Aunt Norie asked crossly. "How terrible, when you could be living with me and having my home cooking."

The lieutenant and I exchanged glances. She didn't get it.

"The poisoning took place at Mitsutan, when Miss Shimura drank a cup of tea," Lieutenant Hata explained. "The sugar she added to her cup contained granules of ant killer. The ant killer itself is a mix of sugar and arsenic meant to attract and kill ants crawling on flowers."

"I know that product," Aunt Norie said. "I feel terrible about using it, but my peonies would be destroyed if I didn't."

"How interesting that you mention it." Lieutenant Hata turned his penetrating gaze on my aunt. "A container of ant killer was discovered in the staging area at the flower exhibition. Particles of dust and pollen on its surface matched that in your garden shed. Our tests make it seem that the ant killer container had been in your shed originally."

Aunt Norie swallowed. She opened her mouth, though nothing came out but a soft moan.

"It's all right, Obasan. I don't believe that you poisoned me." To Lieutenant Hata, I said, "Don't even hint at something like that! If you knew how my aunt has been the only true friend to my family since my birth—the one who made everything possible for me—"

"Let your aunt speak," Lieutenant Hata said.

"It is obviously my fault." My aunt paused. "I never keep the door of the shed locked. Anyone could have gone in."

"I don't know why you got the idea to snoop around my aunt's garden," I said, feeling fierce. "Are you searching all the garden sheds in the Kanto region? Surely others have pollen and dust that are similar."

"Her son gave us permission to search. We were there yesterday when you were at the hospital. It was not a matter of trying to sneak in, but speedy discovery of the poison was very important in this case of attempted murder."

"Am I a suspect?" Norie breathed the last word softly.

"Do you think you should be?" Hata asked swiftly.

"I am guilty of carelessly leaving my shed open and of not being with my niece to protect her against the poisoning person at Mitsutan. And I am guilty of disliking Sakura Sato, even speaking unkindly to her—"

"This is ridiculous." I interrupted my aunt's litany of self-blame. "As we all know, my aunt wasn't even at the exhibition the day I was poisoned. She wanted to come, but I told her not to. And the ant killer wasn't at Mitsutan on Friday, because I saw everything she brought in. Two buckets of irises. That was it!"

Lieutenant Hata held up his hand in a stop gesture and spoke softer, as if trying to calm down two unruly children. "We are not putting you in prison, Shimura- san. But we do need to keep track of you and your niece, as much for your own safety as that of others."

Norie nodded unhappily. Her mood was probably as low as mine. My throat still ached, so I bent forward to pour myself some more tea. As I did that, I caught sight of one of my antique kimono hanging on the rack behind Lieutenant Hata's raincoat. The early-twentieth-century robe, made of geometrically patterned orange and white silk, was hung in a manner displaying its beautiful deep sleeve. Now, staring at the sleeve, I had a startling thought. Mrs. Koda had been wearing a kimono with similarly capacious sleeves. Could she have tucked a packet of ant poison in her sleeve, flicking it into my cup when I wasn't looking? She, more than anyone, had had the opportunity to hurt me. I told Lieutenant Hata what I had just remembered.

"How can you say such things, Rei-chan?" my aunt said when I was finished. "Mrs. Koda is my lifelong friend! She would never hurt you."

"A lot of people you consider your lifelong friends haven't been very kind to you," I reminded her. "Remember the way the ladies didn't talk to you when we were arranging flowers at Mitsutan?"

"That theory about Mrs. Koda poisoning you in the individual manner is doubtful," Lieutenant Hata said. "The poison was placed in the sugar bowl for all to use. Therefore the intent might have been to poison many people at the exhibit."

"A terrorist act?" Tears came to Aunt Norie's eyes.

"Why not?" I asked. "Che Fujisawa and the Stop Killing Flowers group were in front of Mitsutan when I went in."

"We know that, but we doubt they are involved, because the poisoning at the flower show bears similarities to the poisoning death of Sakura Sato."

It drove me crazy how Lieutenant Hata chose to reveal bits of information at his leisure. But I wasn't going to complain about his conversational style, since this was the first time I'd heard that Sakura had been poisoned, which raised a host of new questions.

"We saw her with scissors in her throat. Was the poison on the scissors?" I spoke loudly, because somebody in the street was honking a car horn.

"This is where the situation gets complicated," Lieutenant Hata said. "I would like to discuss it with you, but I'm afraid my language might be disturbing."

"Nothing could offend me," I assured him.

"When you found Miss Sato, you may have become shocked by the sight of the blood," Lieutenant Hata said. "But the truth is that there was only a modest amount of fluid on her neck and blouse. That is because blood had stopped flowing to and from her heart before the incision was made." Hata paused, looking toward Aunt Norie as if he was worried she would break down. She nodded at him, silently telling him to go on. "Miss Sato was poisoned with the same type of ant poison as Miss Shimura, but she was not quite as strong. She went into a seizure and died. We believe she drank an individually poisoned cup of tea in the lounge and soon began suffering ill effects, because she excused herself to the other students and went into the ladies' room. The tea drinking broke up shortly after that, so someone could easily have gone into the ladies' room and found her. Or perhaps she met her killer before she reached her destination. In any case, her killer must have taken her into the classroom and stabbed her as a final gesture."

Why would someone bother with such superfluous details? I thought, but then reminded myself that flower arrangers lived for details. Flowers were first killed through cutting, then twisted and further altered to make a beautiful arrangement. Whoever had killed Sakura seemed to have made a grisly allusion to the art of ikebana itself.

"A flower arranger." I spoke my thought aloud.

"We aren't ruling anyone out," Lieutenant Hata said. "However, it is very important for you to think of anyone at all who might have a reason to want to cause you and your aunt trouble."

"I thought people liked me." Aunt Norie was weeping in large, gulping sobs. "Everyone except Sakura-san."

The doorbell buzzed again.

"Are you expecting a guest?" Lieutenant Hata asked.

"No," Aunt Norie sniffled. "My son advised that Rei couldn't have visitors until tomorrow."

"We can't face anyone right now," I said to Lieutenant Hata.

Lieutenant Hata walked softly across the room in his stocking feet and went to the window, moving the shoji slightly so he could see. He swore under his breath, then said, "I didn't expect this. Miss Shimura, why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" I asked with a sinking feeling.

"That you're involved with Takeo Kayama. He's waiting outside the door with a bundle of something in his arms."

"Don't answer the door," I pleaded. "I'm not supposed to have visitors." Normally I wouldn't have been such a wimp, but the thought of having to smilingly receive flowers from someone with a hostile chorus surrounding me was too much. Why couldn't Takeo have sent his bouquet to the hospital, as everyone else had done?

"Let's sit in complete silence, and maybe he will think nobody is here," Norie said, surprising me with her shyness.

"But that would be a shame, as I want to talk to him. Hello, Kayama-san!" Lieutenant Hata said as he pulled the door open.

"Sorry. I must have the wrong address," Takeo said hastily.

Lieutenant Hata's solid frame kept me from getting a glimpse of Takeo, but it sounded as if he was turning around to leave. Relieved, I slumped back down in my chair.

"Just a minute, Kayama-san. Rei Shimura is here, if you want to speak with her."

It was too late to hide in the bathroom. I sat miserable and immobile as Takeo gazed past Lieutenant Hata's shoulder and into the small room crowded with flowers, Aunt Norie, and myself.

"Oh, you've got visitors. I'll be off. I have a Range Rover double-parked outside." Takeo bobbed his head at me in apology.

"A Range Rover? My street's only ten feet wide! How did you get it in?" My embarrassment turned to outrage. The neighbors would see Takeo coming out of my door and think that I'd taken up with a real space hog. For an environmentalist, he was pretty insensitive about issues of space.

"My niece has just come out of the hospital. She is so weak she cannot use the bathroom by herself," Norie said acidly. "She could not survive a car ride with you. Where were you planning on taking her?"

"Please stop, Obasan!" I was dying a thousand deaths again.

"I'm sorry," Takeo said, looking at me with new interest. "I didn't know you were ill."

"Is that so? You brought something—is it flowers?" Lieutenant Hata inclined his head toward what Takeo was carrying: a bulky, grey washi-wrapped bundle.

Takeo spoke directly to me. "I only wanted to show you the kind of plants I'm growing—you know, to give her an advance look at my country garden."

"Please come in," Hata said, holding out a hand for Takeo's beaten-up-looking leather jacket. Takeo took off his shoes and stepped up onto the tatami flooring. Then he laid the wrapped-up flowers atop one of my tansu chests. "Kayama-san, didn't you hear about what happened at the Mitsutan flower show?" the detective persisted.

"I stopped in early Saturday morning for a check before the show opened. I couldn't stay. With Sakura's death, everything has been so chaotic." Takeo gave a helpless shrug. I noticed he'd kept his coat on, but that was proper etiquette. I hadn't asked him to stay.

"So chaotic you were planning a leisurely drive to the country?" Hata responded sharply. "Didn't your father and sister mention Miss Shimura's violent case of poisoning?"

"I told you I didn't know. I haven't spoken to my father and sister all weekend," Takeo said.

"Or to me. I've been trying to have an interview with you for a while," Lieutenant Hata said meaningfully.

"Right. Let's plan on talking sometime," Takeo said vaguely. Looking directly at me, he said, "Please telephone me when you feel better."

"My niece does not telephone young men," Norie said acidly.

"Actually," I said, rebellion flaring in me, "I'd like to talk to Takeo-san right now. Lieutenant Hata, if you want to have your interview, why don't you wait a few minutes? If you go into the kitchen with Aunt Norie, I'm sure she can make you another cup of that nice beefsteak tea."

* * *

When they had gone into the kitchenette, which was only three feet away from my chair, Takeo jerked his head toward the door.

"Over here," he mouthed.

Let the crown prince come to me, I thought. I smiled in what I thought was a feeble manner and said, "I'm too weak to stand."

Takeo came over, covering the length of the small room in five strides. He got down on a knee and whispered in my ear, "You should have called me to cancel. I wasn't expecting to see her. Or him."

"I never said I'd go to Izu with you! You showed up uninvited!" I whispered back.

"Hey, I understand that pain may be making you ruder than usual. But don't worry. I ate some bad chicken once, and the whole drama was over within a few days. I certainly didn't make anyone take me to the hospital!"

"I was poisoned by arsenic, not salmonella."

Takeo drew back and stared at me. As this happened, I felt a slight uneasiness to having shared this. Maybe it was information that Lieutenant Hata wanted to keep quiet for the purposes or his investigation.

"Why—why would anyone want to kill you?" Takeo practically breathed his question, his voice was so low.

"That's what we were trying to figure out before you interrupted us." I looked at him hard, deciding to withhold Lieutenant Hata's hypothesis that a larger group of shoppers at Mitsutan were the intended victims. I'd let those details emerge in their interview if Hata wanted. For the time being, Takeo remained on my list of potential slayers, and I would be careful what I said.