Simon sat up straight and slapped both hands on his knees. Marco’s eyes widened and they simultaneously said, “Oh!”
“So all that talk going on between you wasn’t flirting?” Simon asked.
“You can’t be serious,” Nikki replied. “Sometimes you are so ridiculous. I’m in love with your brother. You know that. Robinson is not my type even if I was single.”
“Right. Robinson is everyone’s type, honey.” Simon rubbed his hands together. “Let me get this straight, you’re playing Robin to Robinson’s Batman?”
“The beautiful detective’s sidekick. This sounds like a problem, Nikki,” Marco added.
Simon nodded and she gritted her teeth.
“You two. You both have dirty minds. Get the smut out of your head, because I’m going to need the two of you to help me to help Robinson.”
“Nikki! What would Derek say?” Simon asked. “You have been involved in these types of situations before and I know my brother dear isn’t too keen on you playing Sherlock Holmes. He really won’t like you playing Watson to Detective Luscious.”
Nikki had already thought about what Derek might say. She knew she’d have to call him first thing in the morning and tell him what had happened. It was almost one o’clock in the morning California time and she needed to get to bed in order to even think clearly tomorrow-although technically it was already tomorrow. Yes, she did need to get to bed. Derek still had an hour in the air and then had to get checked in at his hotel. She wished he hadn’t taken the red eye.
“I’ll talk to Derek as soon as I can, and like I said, get your mind out of the gutter. Robinson needs help and he asked me because he knows I have good instincts.”
“He knows you’re a good snooper,” Simon said.
Nikki didn’t even respond. “I want you two to think about this. There is likely a killer in this group. It’s not a huge group of people. You two are now on the inside, so to speak. I am the coordinator, but I think since you two will be involved in everything going on this week from journaling and crying out your feelings…”
“We don’t cry, we breathe through them,” Simon said.
“Whatever. While you’re breathing through your feelings, you can be listening and watching the others. I’m going to bed now and then when you two get up, which will be when I get up at the crack of dawn-doesn’t matter that it’s almost the crack anyway-we will have coffee together and go over each one of the members. Then the three of us are going to get buddy-buddy with them. We’ll each take a handful and see what we can come up with.”
“I don’t want to do that. It feels so icky wrong,” Simon said.
Marco nodded. “It does feel wrong, Nikki. I do not think that it is a good idea.”
“Oh yeah. Here are your choices, boys. Let a killer run loose on the vineyard. That’s one choice. Or help me help the police and I won’t tell Derek about the hundred thousand dollars you spent to become members of this group.”
“You wouldn’t,” Simon said.
“Try me.”
Marco looked at Nikki, then to Simon. “I think she would.”
“See you in the morning. Coffee is at seven. I’ll have the list already made.”
Marco turned and smiled, giving her a little wave. Simon slammed the door behind them. She laughed, knowing that both the boys of summer were as in on this as she was. They just had very different ways of expressing themselves. Simon liked to use his dramatic flair and Marco played coy and sweet, but she knew when the coffee was steaming hot in the morning, her pals would be right there with her going over her list of suspects and ready to track a killer.
Ten
THE boys had joined Nikki for coffee as she’d predicted. She’d gotten up earlier than usual, even though she’d had only a few hours of sleep. It was just past six when she woke up, much to the dismay of Ollie, who’d slept on Derek’s side of the bed. Nikki hadn’t fought him. She’d been too tired and he was a warm body.
She hemmed and hawed about calling Derek. It would have been past nine in New York. He’d gotten in, in the middle of the night, so she justified holding off giving him a call and apprising him as to what had happened. It was possible, even likely, he was still asleep. She knew that he wouldn’t be meeting old man Vicente until lunchtime. Deep down she knew that the real reason she wasn’t making that phone call just yet was because of the reaction she would likely get on the other end; Derek was going to come unglued when he heard about what happened.
She’d had time alone while drinking her first cup of coffee to consider what she knew about the murder.
First, there was Alan Sansi. It seemed like the logical place to start. She opened up her laptop and set up a new document that she titled YAMIMOTO MURDER. Aunt Cara would be proud. She really should call her and get her professional input, but she wasn’t even sure which country Cara was in these days. Since her retirement, she’d become a whirlwind traveler. Her aunt saved a lot of money during her years on the force and had herself a nice sum in her 401(k). She deserved to be enjoying it. But it was times like these that Nikki really missed her and wished she could get her input.
She typed in Alan Sansi’s name and her first impressions of him: TRUE TO HIS CAUSE. Then she asked herself the question she would ask herself about each one of the members. What could be a possible motive? With Alan, Nikki wasn’t sure. But he’d behaved oddly and had had that argument she’d witnessed with Iwao. And it seemed to have something to do with his daughter, who, from all angles, Nikki figured had to be Sierra. She’d been in that photo with his son. Iwao’s son. Nikki would have to get in touch with Robinson and tell him the latest she’d learned and that he needed to find out where Jen Yamimoto was located. She should have tried to ask Mizuki if Jen was in Japan or the United States.
There was another thought that came to mind about Alan, but it was so far out there. Then again, nothing about murder was ever really logical. Maybe so in the killer’s mind, but not for anyone else. Could Alan Sansi have killed Iwao because Alan knew Iwao didn’t believe in his theories? Could Alan’s ego be the culprit? Wouldn’t that be ironic?
Maybe he knew that Iwao thought his philosophies were “horseshit,” as the dead man had so eloquently put it. Could that have bothered someone like an Alan Sansi, a man who supposedly had no ego and lived only from the soul? It was a thought she’d have to dig deeper into to see if there was any merit to it. There were a few angles with Alan Sansi, but first she’d have to find out if the guru had even disappeared long enough from the train car to murder Iwao.
She listed everyone else she could think of, and the next suspect to stand out was Juan Gonzales. Not because Nikki knew of any concrete motive, but because of the way Iwao had reacted toward Juan. There had been some kind of underlying irritation coming from Iwao toward Juan. She wasn’t sure if Juan had even been aware of the hostility Iwao seemed to be emitting, but she was pretty sure Lulu and Alan had picked up on it, and she would find a way to bring the subject up with them and see what they had to say. There was also this business of a note that Iwao had received from Juan when he arrived in the hotel. Nikki would have to ask any of the Housekeeping staff if they had seen a note.
Juan had acted clueless when it came to the note. If she could get inside Juan Gonzales’s head, maybe she’d learn something. Or better yet, she would get into Iwao Yamimoto’s room to see what she could find. She thought she’d made a decent impression on Mizuki and that in itself should get her in the door. But the snooping around could be another story. Maybe she could send Alyssa in as Housekeeping. No. Probably not a good idea. She’d already employed the boys in this situation; she couldn’t risk Alyssa getting herself into a bad spot.