The Dame Did It (18 page)

Misaki came back into the room with a wet
rag and knelt down, dabbing at the wine stain. “A landlady? Is she
a suspect, too?”

“No, not at all. But there were two things
about her that caught my eye upon reflection. The first is that you
told me you spoke to Shinji’s land
lord
.”

Misaki paused the scrubbing but didn’t look
up. “I did? I must have just been nervous—”

“That’s what I thought, but then I realized
the second part,” said Kyoko. “The landlady had no idea Shinji was
missing, but you told me you asked her about him.”

Misaki had completely stopped scrubbing now.
But Kyoko didn’t cease her explanation.

“You also said you were supporting Shinji
and that your parents had disowned him. But after I ruled out that
other suspect, I was able to get some info on his bank records from
a contact I have. And it turns out there was a bank transfer made
to Shinji’s account a few months ago. But it wasn’t from you. Would
you like to know who it’s from?”

Misaki stood, gripping the damp towel so
tightly her knuckles started to whiten. “Yes, of course. If it will
help you find who did this horrible crime.”

“Daisuke Kuroyama. Your father.”

Misaki kept her gaze on the towel, like a
child who was being scolded by her teacher. And Kyoko circled
around her while she spoke.

“Let’s look at these facts: you said your
parents disowned Shinji, yet your father was making regular bank
transfers. Not one came from you, though. The last transfer was
made shortly before Shinji disappeared. You said you filed a
missing persons report, but there was no record of it. You said you
spoke to his landlady about his disappearance, but she didn’t know
anything about it until I told her. And I come here to find no
photos of the brother you claim to love so dearly.

“
You
were the one who felt Shinji
brought shame on the family. The last time your father sent him
money, that crossed the line. So you killed him or you paid to have
him killed. Then, you hired me to investigate his disappearance.
This gives you a cover, because why would you hire someone to
investigate the murder you were responsible for?

“How does that sound? Pretty accurate?”

Misaki offered a slight nod. “I suppose I
underestimated you, Nakamura-san. You only had a reputation for
cases of infidelity. I expected you’d be over your head, and then
once the body was found, you would just take the money and finish
the case. But the problem is all you have is your own guesswork.
What this comes down to is your word against mine. You have no hard
evidence connecting me to Shinji’s murder. All you have are things
you claim I said to you in private.”

Kyoko sighed. “You’re right, there’s not
much I can do on that front. Except…”

She reached inside her leather jacket and
produced a smartphone. On the display was the word RECORDING. “I
have such a problem with these phones. I keep forgetting to lock
them. And then I’ll accidentally call someone or the voice memo app
will start running…”

Kyoko stopped the recording and went into
her email. “Oh, now look at that. Clumsy me, I just sent the file
to my friend with the police department.”

Misaki’s eyes were burning with righteous
indignation. “This… this is nothing. You have nothing on me. My
brother was a scoundrel, he was shaming his entire family. Why do
you care so much about him?”

“Because that’s my job.” Kyoko finished off
the last of the scotch and handed Misaki the glass. “Thanks for the
drink. I’ll see myself out.”

“Nakamura,” said Misaki. “Whatever happened
to
shikata ga nai
?”

Kyoko smirked. “I decided that wasn’t
acceptable.”

# # #

About the Authors

— :: —

JOEL JENKINS
lives in the heron-haunted
shadows of the Rainier Mountains, and finds the perpetual twilight
conducive to writing. He is the former front-man for several
obscure rock bands, was once nearly shot by the law for appearing
‘intimidating,’ and impersonated a ghost on a number of occasions.
For a free ebook check out his website at
JoelJenkins.net
.

CHRISTOFER NIGRO
is a writer, freelance
editor, and website builder who is a life-long fan of comic books
and the horror/sci-fi/fantasy and crime noir genres, whether their
medium is literary, cinema, TV, video games, etc., et al. He’s a
published author in these same genres, with work published by Black
Coat Press, Sirens Call Publishing, Grinning Skull Press, Scarlet
River Press, and Pulp Empire/Metahuman Press. He is currently
feverishly at work on two novels for an upcoming series of
independently published projects under his own publishing label. He
may be known to some as the webmaster of The Godzilla Saga and
MONSTAAH sites, having been passed the torch on the latter from its
creator and original curator, Chuck Loridans, which he considers a
great honor.

SHANNON MUIR
’s other genre fiction releases
include Single Shot “Ghost of the Airwaves,” preceded by her debut
Pro Se Productions story “Pretty as a Picture” in the anthology
Newshounds
. Prior to venturing into the world of New Pulp,
Muir is best known to genre readers as co-writer of the
long-running webcomic
Flying Glory and the Hounds Of Glory
with her creatIive partner and husband, Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
(featured in Pro Se’s anthology
The Black Fedora
, his own
story in
Newshounds
, and the self-published
Revenge of
the Masked Ghost
). Muir also has credits in new adult
contemporary fiction, as well as published textbooks on the
animation industry, a field in which she’s held writing and
production positions as part of her nearly twenty year career
focused in family entertainment. She currently resides in Glendale,
California.

PERCIVAL CONSTANTINE
was born and raised in
the Chicagoland area, where he grew up on a fairly consistent diet
of superhero comics, action movies, video games, and TV shows. At
the age of ten, he first began writing and has never really
stopped.

Percival has been working in publishing
since 2005 in various capacities—author, editor, formatter,
letterer—and has written books, short stories, comics, and more. He
has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Mass Media from Northeastern
Illinois University and a Master of Arts in English and
Screenwriting from Southern New Hampshire University. He currently
lives in Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture, where he works as a
literature and writing instructor at the Minami Academy. He also
co-hosts
The
Geek Screen
podcast with John Bracich, chatting
about geek-related movies and TV shows. Find out more at
www.PercivalConstantine.com
.