VI

Things had gone from bad to worse. They were going to find my prints all over that cottage. Which meant that the Inspector was on her way to drag me off in the paddy wagon. If things got too bad Setsuna would just have to get one of her many powerful lawyers and have me bonded.

When I hung up with Seiya I sighed, looked around my room and decided that going back to bed was not an option. It wouldn't be right for Hino to drag me out of the brownstone in my pajamas; she'd enjoy it too much.

I then went to Setsuna's room. I knocked twice before entering. She sat upon her dark satin sheets sipping tea and eating toast. Her hair was a little messed but not greatly. I, myself, need pomade and water to control my hair and that just barely worked. I hated her hair.

"Haruka?" She was alarmed. I hardly ever bother her so early in the morning unless I've been in the slammer the night before. "What is it?"

"You remember that sweet Aunt Haruna I told you about?"

"I do. What has happened?"

I inhaled. "It seems that whatever I may have said to her yesterday prompted her to run off and get herself killed. Seiya was the one who called a little while ago. Kumada showed up at her door. Homicide detectives just don't show up at little cottages because they feel like scenic drives through the country."

Setsuna almost did the same thing I first did. She desperately wanted to bang her head on something but instead she took it out on me. "Dammit, Haruka! As if this case wasn't bad enough!" She seemed to realize she was yelling. Then the gears in her head began to turn.

"Well I've got worse. It's only a matter of time before Inspector Hino finds out that I was in that house with the aunt."

"That is a problem." Setsuna got up, wrapping a large robe around her sleek form. "If the inspector does come for you, you must not tell them why you were there."

I knew Setsuna liked to play mind games with the police and I had willingly helped her on several occasions but that was when she had an idea of who the murderer was. At this point we still had no clue as to who the mother was. Needless to say I was a little put off.

"But what if they ask me why I was there? Are you suggesting that I lie?"

Setsuna gave me a flat look. "You have done so before. What is so different with this case?"

"The simple fact that I might go to jail…again!"

"And have I not provided a means of escape before?"

"So not a word on our client?"

"Correct. We cannot have the police bumbling around trying to find the murderer and therefore scaring off the real mother of the child." She paused to slip into her patented slippers. "Do you think we can find the mother without finding who murdered Sakurada-san?"

"Probably not."

"It's good to see that you are thinking, Haruka. Then we must continue to search for the mother in hopes of finding the killer."

"Novel approach. Kaiou-san will back away once she's heard of the murder." Ms. Kaiou was a delicate woman. A murder connected to her esteemed family would do her no good.

Setsuna pursed her lips in thought. "You have a way with Kaiou-san. Go to her home and inform her before the inspector puts two and two together."

"Should I go now?"

"Heavens no! You should eat first and then get Umino here. He's never been able to resist a desert made by Makoto. We'll be discrete and learn of Sakurada and why she boarded babies." Sometimes you had to love the way that woman thought. "Now stop badgering me so I can get dressed! I will not be late to my appointment in the attic."

I left as quickly as I had come. I had lingered once, early on it our professional relationship. Though she swears she abhors violence, that day Setsuna did violence that swelled and throbbed. Since then, when it came to changing I was out the door and down the hall by the count of three.

It didn't take much to get Umino down for a nice private chat. Though he truly was a junkie when it came to Makoto's cooking, I suspected that he had ulterior plans for wanting to talk to Setsuna and I. Fair enough. We needed whatever he had on Sakurada-san while we supplied him with a simple white lie.

"So what's with the ad for the buttons?"

Setsuna looked up from her brule over to me with that 'You take care of this, Haruka' look that I had come to hate.

"Just an ad. So what of Sakurada-san? I mean what happened to her?"

Umino gave me a long hard look. "Police got a report of a woman laying unconscious on a fire escape. When the police came around they found that the woman, Sakurada Haruna, had been strangled. There was also a mark around her neck. Something that looked like a black star." He licked his spoon and glared at me. "Just an ad? Who puts out ads for horsehair buttons?"

"Sakurada Haruna? She sounds familiar. What was it that she did? It involved children."

"She was a teacher, junior high. She finally cracked and took up to her cabin away from teenagers. What about the buttons?"

Setsuna was watching me from under her lashes. She got a perverse pleasure from watching me pull excuses from thin air.

"Setsuna needed them. And she just stayed up there for no apparent reason besides getting away from teenagers?"

"If you saw the kids today and had to press something informative into their thick skulls you'd go bonkers too. And no, she went up there after she took some night school classes to become a nurse. Now what about those buttons?"

"Setsuna needed them for her girdle. Nursing, huh?"

Umino grimaced. "Yeah you kinda need one when you run a boarding house." Coke bottle lenses focused on the genius "You? What for?"

Her mouth was about to go into action and I couldn't have that. No, I would have to step in on this one. "Girdle. It's for her girdle." Fire leapt from her eyes to mine. "The laces aren't strong enough to hold her in, if you know what I mean. Hey now, you wouldn't say that she boarded illegitimate children?"

It wasn't enough that I had said it but the fact that Umino gave her an inspecting glance before turning back to me. What upset her most was that he didn't argue about it.

"Yeah she might have. Hey why are you so curious about the murder of a junior high teacher?"

"Just making pleasant conversation. Do you know of who her last tenant might be?"

Umino shrugged. "Just that it was a girl about a month old when she had it and oh, she called her Kuroko-chan." Wiry brown knit down as he thought. "What's the connection?"

I had been tapping the spoon on my back molars when Umino posed that question. Hotaru was about the right age for that little girl. "There's no connection."

"No there has to be. I know you Tenoh. You two put an ad out in the paper for horsehair buttons and now you're asking about the Sakurada woman. What's the scoop?"

"There is no scoop. Really Umino if I thought that you would think me of such a cruel thing I never would have invited you over for desert. Can't I ask you questions about you're top story?" I decided getting huffy would work. Nothing made Umino so uncomfortable as having a woman (no matter how masculine looking) getting huffy with him. "I try to be a friend and this is the thanks that I get."

Umino began to sweat. This was how arguments between he and Naru started. "No, no. That's not what I meant."

"You only come around when you think we have something for that paper of yours. I can see who my real friends are. You're nothing but a glory seeking news hound." I stood and so did he. He made kicking him out all too easy." But hey that's all right. You've made me out to be an insensitive bastard. I'll get over it and I'm sure you will too. Until then I think you should leave." I had all but pushed him to the door as he gathered his hat and coat.

"Really, Haruka. I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that you and Setsuna have this thing with keeping the news bottled up. Then you give me stories that you claimed to never have had in the first place. What's a guy to do? I gotta paper to run."

I opened the door as any gracious host would. "It's not a problem, Umino. If you see a pattern why are you fighting it? If I have something I'll call you."

"Promise?"

"Of course."

He didn't believe me. He'd be a fool to think so. I slipped him a handshake to show that by the end of the night our friendship would be saved. I made sure Umino wasn't going to go around to listen in from the back door, then I returned to the dining room and a glowering Setsuna.

"So," I skipped back to my seat. "Sakurada-san was a nurse and a little girl she called Kuroko-chan. What are the odds?" Setsuna just looked at me. "Do you want me to go and see Kaiou-san? Setsuna?"

Her dark lips twitched. "A girdle? A girdle! What made you say I need a girdle?"

I had punctured her feminine pride. "It was the first thing I thought of."

"Are you saying that I have gained weight?"

"No. I'm just saying that Umino has a girlfriend and would know better than to press the issue. Whether you need one is not the point."

"Whether I need one? Do I look like I need one?"

"No. No. You're missing the point. I had to choose something that he wouldn't ask about twice. A girdle for you was it." I pulled my most charming of smiles. "You know Aphrodite had a girdle. It made anyone who saw it fall in love with her instantly. Setsuna," I whispered in her ear, "show me your girdle."

"Haruka," she growled. "Get out of here before I remind myself that I saved your life."

Not one to differ, I grabbed my coat and hat from the rack. "Well I'm off my darling! Kiss the kiddies for me. I don't know when I shall return!"

"GO!"

I decided that before I went and gave Kaiou-san the bad news I'd figure out just how close the police were to my trail. I remembered Minako-chan's phone number in my wallet. It took little to convince her to meet me again at the eatery, this time she arrived before I did. It also seemed that the police had hauled her before me too.

"You're not a button collector. You're Tenoh Haruka, Meiou-san's lackey." Looked like Inspector Hino had filled her in on my modeus operandi.

"Lackey? Lackey! Whatever happened to the titles like assistant, hireling, helper, domestic, there's a whole list of words to better describe what I do but lackey? That's is just obtuse. But you didn't come down here to hear about my sibling rivalry with Hino. Are you mad at me?"

Minako shook her head and batted her eyelashes. "No. How could I be?" Her countenance changed to that of a lost child. "You didn't kill my Aunt Haruna. You're not the person who did that to her."

"I am sorry about your Aunt."

"I want the person who did that to her to suffer. Does that make me a bad person?"

I took her hand in my own. "Never. I want the person who did that to her to suffer too. Then again I'm not the sort that you would draw a comparison from. But I will tell you this: they will be caught."

"Are you and Meiou-san going to find them?"

I couldn't give too much away to her, even if it might balm the wound. "Let's just say that what we're doing will be beneficial to all involved. When the time comes we might need you again. Will you help us?"

She looked into my eyes and I could have melted in them. Such trust. "If it helps get my Aunt's murderer, I'll be there."

"You're very brave. I'm glad you're on our side." I sat and placed a kiss on her hand. "We'll keep in touch, Minako-chan. You can trust me." I left paying the tab.

I got up to the Kaiou mansion a little after seven. Kaori-san didn't look too pleased to see me but she's never pleased. Tall, dark and gloomy led me to a small room where Kaiou-san sat behind a desk going through piles of letters, frowning.

"Excuse me, Kaiou-san. Tenoh Haruka is here to see you again." She put a lot of emphasis on 'again'.

Kaiou-san smiled, her eyes lighting up as she came to greet me. She stopped when I made no move to meet her half way.

"What happened?"

"We found the woman who had Hotaru after she was born."

"Yes?"

"She must have found that we were onto her and went to the person who left Hotaru on your doorstep."

"Has she left the state? If money is an issue I can…"

"She's not out of state, Kaiou-san. She's dead."

Her legs trembled. She reached out to balance herself against the desk. Once she gained composure she looked at me and gave me half a smile. Out of concern for her I had taken three long strides to safeguard her without my noticing. Gods she smelled good.

"Dead? The one woman who knew who my baby's mother was is dead?"

"I'm afraid so, Kaiou-san."

She was thinking. The blue orbs closed for a moment before they locked in on me. "Could the police tie this back to me?"

"If they ask the right people and the right questions they will know that we are working for you."

"Do you honestly think that this woman knew who left Hotaru here?"

"As far as we know this woman, Sakurada Haruna, had no other enemies. She might have told them that I came by and in a panic they killed her. There is always the option that she had enemies."

"What if it was the mother? I don't want a mother like that around the baby." Kaiou-san shook her head. "No I need to know. Would Meiou-san be able to find both the mother and the killer?"

I smiled. She didn't need any persuasion. It had been my intent to go over and make certain that Kaiou-san didn't drop us from the case. She would never know how much lighter my heart got at that moment. She must have because she closed the distance between us.

"Could you do both? Could you make sure that I don't get involved with the police? What I don't need are more paparazzi following me around with a murder case."

"Come by the office tomorrow. Setsuna will figure something out."

Relieved her body relaxed a bit. "What time?"

"How about 2 o'clock in the afternoon?"

"Wonderful."

I bowed and was about to take my leave when a gentle hand fell on my arm. My mouth went dry as I found myself sinking into her.

"Yes, Kaiou-san?"

"Michiru." A pink tip of her tongue licked pink lips. "You have yet to call me Michiru."

"Not if you're not a client."

"You drive hard bargains, Haruka. Now say it."

What can I say? I dig authoritative women. "Michiru."

"Much better." Her smile was more than worth the small sacrifice. "I will see you at 2 o'clock."

"Only if you don't skip our engagement."

"Oh, I won't." She looked me over a couple of times before returning to my face. "Good night, Haruka."

"Upon the morrow, Michiru."

I left the mansion on my own without the help of the ice queen. In that brief interview with Kaiou-san I no longer wanted to go back to the brownstone, but to remain there outside the mansion in the garden singing bad love ballads. I had been once by the love bug with disastrous results, I could not afford for it to bite me again.

The gods must have heard me. When I walked into the foyer all I could hear were the raised voices of my Setsuna and a very belligerent Inspector Hino.

"Tell me who you're trying to hide!" Hino screamed.

"I will not! I stand mute! My client has the right to remain anonymous!"

"You will tell me!"

"I will not. I would rather live on the streets in rags than give up the confidence of my client!"

Setsuna was putting on one hell of a show. Undoubtedly she had heard the door of the roadster and went for Hino's jugular. Hino Rei may be a good head shorter than anyone in the house except for Ami-chan but her temper flared up over the roof. The woman loved getting into a verbal bashing regardless of the consequences.

"Rags? I would pay to see you in rags! You a martyr! HA! Just try it Meiou! I dare you!"

If Setsuna thought I was insolent I just became a cherub in the hierarchy. I stepped into the office just in time to intercept the dare before Setsuna decided to take the little spark plug up on it.

"Tenoh! You're under arrest!"

"You're beautiful when you're inflamed with a sense of justice." I held out my arms for her to cuff me with. "Consider me your willing slave of love."

Hino shivered. "I don't want your love. I want information. Come on, Tenoh. Down town."

"Don't wait up for me, honey! It'll be a long night at the office! But beware, Hino's playing secretary." That got me a cuff upside the head.

"Shut up, Tenoh or else I'll add charges of assaulting an officer to withholding evidence!"

Kumada pulled up the cruiser and once again I found myself traveling back seat to the station.

They didn't keep me long. Just from eight o'clock to ten o'clock the next morning. Hino and I had run circles around each other. After a while one of Setsuna's many lawyers came to my rescue and sprung me. Sure they had my prints but Aunt Haruna did make horsehair buttons. I wonder what Setsuna would say if I told her that Inspector Hino seemed intrigued by her girdle.