Unknown Victim by Kay Hadashi (top 10 books of all time txt) 📗

“You’ve been there?” Gina asked.

“Everybody’s been in that place, one time or another. Not lately, though. Tell me, does the kitchen still have those old appliances?”

Gina laughed. “The ice box moans and groans like an old lady, and apparently I can use only one burner on the stove at a time or I’ll burn the house down. Anything I can do about that? Like use a different fuse?”

“Better to leave the wires alone in that place.”

“But Millie said the whole place had just been rewired since the last storm?”

“More to electricity than the wires.”

“I guess. How do you know so much about the house? Have you worked on it?”

“You could say that.”

“Kyle’s one of the Tanizawas,” Brad said.

“Oh, sorry if I said anything.”

“No worries. Did you meet any of the family yet?”

“Just Millie. Otherwise, the only people I’ve met are Felix and the roofer.”

Kyle made himself busy shuffling things on a display rack. “Millie thinks she runs the estate.”

“I got that impression. She doesn’t?” Gina asked.

“Easiest for everybody if we all get along.”

“Speaking of being easy to get along with, my mornings would be a lot better if I could get a microwave. Do you guys sell any that won’t burn the house down?” she asked.

Kyle winced. “The family’s trying to get the house listed on some sort of historical thing. I don’t think a microwave would be acceptable. Aren’t you there for the gardens?”

“Yeah, that’s what I was hired for.”

“Sticking to that would be smart.” Kyle cheered up over something. “Hey, I’ve got a shipment of hibiscus coming later in the week. Come back and take a look at them.”

“I can put in hibiscus?” she asked.

“Oh, sure! There used to be a lot of them all around the house. All different colors.”

“I’m supposed to make the place historically accurate. Maybe if you remember, could you make a little picture for me of what colors went where?”

“Yeah, sure! I’ll ask around the family so we can get it right.”

“What about the hot water tank?” she asked. “Can the plumber take a look at it? Maybe turn the temperature up a little?”

“I’ll talk to him, but the water temperature has always been a little nutty in that house.”

Gina had gone in for paint colors, and had left with good ideas about shrubs to plant around the house. She’d even made a friend in the Tanizawa family. With that, she was on her way back to the estate. Once again, she was feeling like a stranger in her new home, but at least she had a couple of new friends. And maybe even a haunted hot water tank to deal with.

Chapter Six

In the morning, it wasn’t her phone ringing with a call from her sister or hammering on the roof, but a consistent knocking at the front door that woke her. The room not even light yet, she wrapped in her robe and went to the door.

“Felix?”

“No.”

Gina peeked out the window to find the roofer standing there.

She opened up and peeked out at him. “Hi. I thought we finished the roof yesterday?”

“You are awake?”

She pinched her fingers together and asked what he wanted as politely as she could.

“Get new hot water tank.”

“Now?” Gina rubbed her eyes with knuckles. “A little early for plumbing, isn’t it?”

“Sooner started, sooner done.”

Gina figured his words were a translation from a handy Japanese expression. Wondering if it was at all possible to simply close the door and go back to bed, she knew the roofer was more stubborn than she was. She also knew that she needed a long hot shower like never before.

“Hardware stores are open this early?”

“Good ones are.”

With a second thought about going back to bed, she told him to wait on the porch. She hurried to dress in something appropriate for home repair and a plumbing job, assuming she’d be doing at least some of the labor, and met the roofer at his pickup. The streets were quiet that early in the morning, and the sun was still coming up. He followed the same route as to the hardware store she went to the day before.

He seemed intent on saying something to her, but was keeping quiet about it.

“Is something wrong?”

“Don’t let strangers sleep on your lanai. Not a good idea.”

“Stranger? Oh was the homeless guy back again this morning?” she asked.

“Yah,” he said.

“Not much I can do about it if he shows up in the middle of the night.”

“Those guys are trouble. Believe me.” He pulled into the parking lot of the same store she’d been to the day before. When he parked, they were angled to face toward the street. Across the street was a large Catholic church with parishioners going in for an early morning Mass, something she hadn’t noticed the day before. That made Gina wonder if there was more to the trip to the hardware store than just a new hot water tank. “Used to be lots of them, all over the gardens in tents, even living inside the house. Not bad guys one at a time, but bring too much trouble with them.” He looked at her quite intently. “Okay?”

“Yeah, sure, no homeless people on the grounds. Got it. Are we getting a new tank or not?”

He led her in but didn’t bother going to the plumbing department, stopping instead at the checkout counter. A boxed tank was already there waiting. He nodded to her to pay with the card she’d gotten from Millie on the first day before wandering off to talk to someone.

Kyle was the clerk there at checkout. “Howzit, Gina?”

“I’ll be better in a couple of hours when I’m awake. Apparently, sunrise on Sundays is a good time for major plumbing projects.”

Kyle laughed cheerfully when he handed her the receipt. “Is Kenzo helping you install the tank?”

“Is that his name? I hope he is. Otherwise, I’ll be back in a couple of hours trying to return it.”

Once Gina and the roofer named Kenzo had the hot water tank loaded and