Chapter Seventeen #2
Mary had done just that. Akiko wasn’t her child, but she’d been there from the beginning of Akiko’s life.
“Akiko’s mother and uncle were murdered the day before she was left in a box in front of the firehouse as an infant,” he said.
“I think Mary left her there. I think Mary and Ito knew all along where Akiko was. And I think Ito planned to take Akiko on as a scholarship student all along. He established the scholarship program the year she was born, so by the time she was five years old, he’d taken in many children already. She wouldn’t stand out.”
Lennox was nodding. “So whatever Ito was hiding, Mary knew, too.”
“I think Ricky Nicchi knows as well,” Sam said. He held the photo of the three friends up to the light and examined the details.
The third man in the photo—Joe—had colorful tattoos on his left arm, possibly a sleeve that stopped at his wrist. His raised arm had the sleeve of his graduation gown riding up, exposing about two inches of the tattoo.
They had another, newer photo with a third man. On his phone, Sam opened his copy of the photo Leo Sherman had taken after following his wife to LA. Ito, Nicchi, Mary Sherman, and a third man. “He’s wearing a coat in this photo. You can’t see his arms. But look at his glasses.”
They were the dark frames that so many men wore in the 1960s. The same as “Joe” wore in the 1964 photograph.
“Who?” Burroughs demanded. “Whose arms? Whose glasses?”
“You’re right,” Lennox said, then explained to the two detectives about Leo Sherman’s photo.
“So you may have found the third man,” Navarro said. “Well done.”
“He might not be the same guy,” Sam said. “I mean, who keeps the same style glasses for sixty years?”
Lennox chuckled. “My grandpa does. But even if it’s not the same guy, we know that Kenzo’s father and Ito were friends. And that these photos were important enough for Ito to lock away in the safe.”
Sam replaced the photo and began flipping the remaining pages of the album. “There are more photos of the three of them, sometimes together, sometimes separately, but nothing that indicates who Joe might be.”
“We’ll work on getting the yearbooks for ’64,” Desoto said. “If this Joe really is the same guy as the present-day third man, maybe he can tell us what Ito and Mary Sherman were hiding.”
Sam flipped to the final photo in the album and froze, staring at the two young men pictured. Joe and Mitch. Ito wasn’t in the photo, so maybe he’d taken it. “Oh. Wow.”
“Oh wow, what?” Navarro asked, leaning in to look over his shoulder, then sighed. “Oh. Wow.”
Sam held the album so that the others could see. “That’s a lot of ink.”
Young Joe and Mitch stood next to a swimming pool. Both wore huge grins.
And tattoos over nearly every square inch of their exposed skin. The tattoos covered their torsos up to the collarbone and went down their arms and legs to ankle and wrist. There was a line of untattooed skin down the center of their torsos.
Sam had seen tattoos like this before.
“Yakuza,” he whispered.
“Or the equivalent here in the US,” Navarro said grimly.
“There’s your tie to organized crime.” Burroughs blew out a breath. “Does Ito have tattoos?”
Desoto shook his head. “The hospital never mentioned any.”
Sam picked up the album with photos of Akiko and flipped through its pages again.
“There are a few here of Akiko and Ito in their gis. She’s wearing a T-shirt underneath hers, of course, but he isn’t.
You can’t see any tats on his exposed skin, but they could be hidden under his clothes.
We should find out. At a bare minimum, we need to find out who Joe is. ”
“Especially since Ricky Nicchi is in the wind,” Navarro said. “And Ito hasn’t been able to tell us anything.”
As if summoned, Sam’s cell buzzed with an incoming text from Kit.
Ito’s in and out. Was awake and talking, but just fell back to sleep. Every time he stays awake a little longer tho. Are you finding anything?
Sam snapped a photo of the graduation picture, then typed his reply. Found this in Ito’s apartment. Ito on the right, Kenzo’s father Michitaka “Mitch” in the middle, and “Joe” on the left. Taken in 64. Ask Ito who Joe is. We’re on our way.
Burroughs frowned. “Did you just send someone that photo?”
“I did,” Sam said. “Detective McKittrick is with Ito right now and says he’s staying awake a little longer each time and is more alert and verbal. I’d rather have her show it to him if he wakes up than wait until we get to the hospital.”
Burroughs did not look like he agreed. “I’ll take that album back.”
Not really caring that he’d annoyed the LAPD, Sam gave the album to the detective. “Let’s go.”
Los Angeles, California
Wednesday, February 1, 11:30 a.m.
Kit stared at the photo of the three young men taken in 1964. “Eddie, Mitch, and Joe,” she said softly, then showed her phone screen to Akiko. “Do you recognize any of these men?”
They sat at Ito’s bedside, hoping the old man woke up again. Harlan stood outside the door, ever watchful. One of Anson’s employees stood guard outside the door to the ICU ward and the hospital’s security had photos of Danny Takahashi, just in case he tried to enter.
Kit felt that she and Akiko were about as safe as they could be, under the circumstances.
Akiko studied the photo, then glanced at Ito, who lay sleeping. “That’s Hanshi on the right. Wow, he was young. Who are the others?”
“The one in the middle is Michitaka Takahashi. Went by ‘Mitch.’ ”
Akiko’s eyes met hers. “Father of Kenzo?”
“Yes.”
“My two grandfathers then, standing side by side.”
Kit nodded. “Yes.”
Akiko exhaled quietly. “How could he have kept this secret all my life? How could he?”
Kit’s chest hurt at the betrayal her sister was feeling. “He said it would have been dangerous for you to know.”
“Bullshit.” Akiko spat the word with so much venom that Kit blinked.
Her sister never used that tone of voice. Then again, she’d never come face-to-face with evidence that she’d had family and the man she’d trusted had lied to her about it.
Harlan stuck his head through the doorway. “Akiko?”
“I have two grandfathers, Pop,” Akiko said, her voice breaking. “I never knew either of them.”
Harlan came into Ito’s room, disregarding the two-visitor rule. Akiko needed him, so he was there. He glanced at Kit’s screen, then sighed.
“I’m sorry, honey. But you know Ito,” he said.
“Do I? I think I know what he was willing to show me. What else was he hiding?”
Kit’s phone buzzed again with another incoming text from Sam.
Mitch and Joe are HEAVILY tattooed in old pics. Bodysuits. Bright colors. Maybe mob?
Kit’s heart sank, because that explained quite a lot without explaining anything at all. Leaving her father to comfort Akiko, she returned to her chair next to Ito’s bedside and typed out her reply. Was Ito tattooed?
Not that I could see from the pics.
I can’t see any either, but he’s covered in blankets and bandages right now.
Can you ask a nurse if they’ve seen any? Sam asked.
On it. Rising, she pocketed her phone. “I’ll be right back. Have to ask the nurse a question.”
Akiko lifted her head from Harlan’s shoulder. “What? What are you going to ask them?”
Kit hesitated, then realized if she didn’t come clean, she’d be just one more person keeping secrets from Akiko. “Do you know if Ito has any tattoos?”
“Not that I’ve ever seen. Why?”
“Because Mitch and Joe have a lot of them. Like, a helluva lot.”
Akiko paled. “Like, ‘the mob’ a lot?”
“Maybe. I’ll be right back.” Kit went to the desk, where Ito’s nurse stood typing into a laptop. “Hi. Can you tell me if Edwin Ito has any tattoos?”
“I can’t tell you that. I’m sorry.”
“You can tell me,” Akiko said, coming to stand beside Kit. “I’m his medical power of attorney, and knowing about any tattoos will help my sister catch whoever put him here.”
The nurse closed the lid of the laptop. “Then, yes, he has several tattoos on his back. There’s a tiger and a dragon which is kind of curled around the tiger, but the dragon is unfinished. The outline is there, but he never had it filled in. Does that help you?”
Kit nodded. “It might, thank you.” She hooked her arm through Akiko’s and led her back to the chairs at Ito’s bedside. “Let me tell Sam and then we can think about this.”
Finished tiger and unfinished dragon. Both on his back, she texted.
Sam’s reply was immediate. Got it thx.
Kit sat next to Akiko and took her hand. Harlan stood behind Akiko’s chair, his big hands on her shoulders.
“That the tats weren’t finished might be important,” Kit began.
Akiko shook her head. “He was with the mob, wasn’t he?”
“Yes,” came the whispered reply from the bed.
Akiko’s head whipped around to stare at the elderly man. “Why?”
Ito’s mouth tightened. “Young. Stupid. Desperate. Take your pick, child.”
“Are you still?” Akiko asked, voice breaking.
“No. Not since 1966.”
“Why?” she whispered again.
“Couldn’t do it. Couldn’t kill.”
“Couldn’t?” Kit asked. “Or wouldn’t?”
“Wouldn’t,” he said. “Not after the first two.”
Akiko sucked in a pained breath. “You killed two people?”
“More than that, but the others were in ’Nam.”
“You served in the Army for six years,” Kit said.
“I did. Killed a lot of people there. But that was different. Or so they said.” He was quiet for a few breaths. “I joined the Army to escape.”
“Escape what?” Akiko asked.
“Mitch,” Kit guessed. “Mitch and whatever dirty businesses he and his family were running.”
He huffed a chuckle. “You’ve been busy, Detective.”
“Needed to find out who keeps trying to kill me. And who’s succeeded in killing others. Like Mary Sherman.”
Ito flinched and the tip of his tongue swept over his lips. “Water?”
Akiko sprang to her feet, lifting his head gently as she held a cup with a straw to his lips. “Slowly.” She repositioned his head on the pillow, caressing his cheek before stepping back.