Natsuko lived in a one-bedroom apartment on Hibiscus Drive. Her eyes betrayed astonishment as I stood at her door. I had apparently beaten Liam there and saw no reason to wait for him.
"Can I come in?" I asked. This was my first visit there, though I'd taken Natsuko home once when her car broke down.
She stepped aside without uttering a word.
From where I stood, I took a quick scan at the sparse furnishings that included a small wooden desk with papers and an open textbook on it.
I refocused on Natsuko, deciding that she was alone. She wore no makeup and had on a print dress and thongs. She flashed me a befuddled look.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "And please don't tell me you just happened to be in the neighborhood—"
Not quite, I thought. "I need to talk to you, Natsuko," I said with a catch to my voice.
"What about?" she asked.
"Why don't we sit down?" I suggested for some reason, though I was eager to get this over with.
"Okay," she said uneasily. "Do you want something to drink?"
I passed, and sat down next to her on a worn out couch.
"You caught me in the middle of studying for my psychology exam," Natsuko told me. "But it's okay. I needed a break anyway."
I faced her and asked candidly: "Do you know a man named Trevor Baldwin?"
Her face betrayed her surprise. "Yes, I know him. Why?"
I hesitated, not wanting to accuse her of anything if she was innocent. But I sure as hell was not leaving there till I got some answers about Baldwin.
I told her: "I think it's possible he might know something about Carter's death."
Natsuko's eyes widened. "Trevor...?"
I nodded and said: "I have it on very good authority that Baldwin was once employed by Carter and fired for stealing." I waited a beat before continuing. "He's also been in trouble with the law—"
I wondered just how much she knew, or didn't know, about Trevor Baldwin.
"I know Trevor has had some problems," Natsuko said. "But what does that have to do with Carter's death? I thought the police already decided it was that man—Antonio Ramirez—who killed him and some others..."
"The police may be wrong, Natsuko," I said sharply, while trying not to point fingers—at least not at her. "I need you to tell me everything you know about Trevor Baldwin and if you told him anything that he could have used to break into my house."
She rolled her eyes and sneered. "So you think I helped him get inside your house to kill your ex and..."
I sighed. "To tell you the truth I don't know what to think," I responded. "I only know that this is not going to go away. Please help me out here..." And maybe help yourself at the same time, I thought, assuming she was somehow caught in the middle of a murder plot.
Natsuko seemed to gather her composure before saying: "I am not dating Trevor, if that's what you're thinking. We just hang out together sometimes. He's actually dating my girlfriend Akiko."
"Did she or Trevor ever ask you who were you working for or anything in specific about me?" I pressed her.
Natsuko's face twitched before she responded. "Come to think of it, there might have been a couple of times when your name came up. But it was nothing important. Just little things..."
Little things have a way of becoming big things, I thought, beginning to see a disturbing pattern emerging here.
"Did they ever ask you anything about my security system?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Never," she insisted. "I'm not that dumb. I would never give anyone your security codes, Skye. You have to believe that."
I did. But something told me that they might have wormed as much information as they could out of Natsuko for reasons she would never have suspected.
"Was Carter's name ever brought up in relation to me, before he was killed?" I asked.
"No, not that I recall," Natsuko said. "Like I said, Akiko and I only talked about small stuff regarding my work. Mostly questions like if you were easy to get along with, or did I mind taking care of Ollie. I usually only talked to Trevor when Akiko was around, and not much then."
"Did either of them ask anything in specific about Ollie?" I wondered, knowing he had encountered an assailant twice, but attacked only once.
"I think one time Akiko asked me if he bites," Natsuko replied. "That's about it."
I contemplated that for a moment or two, speculating that if Baldwin had been in the house with Antonio Ramirez when Carter was killed, he could have purposely instigated the dog into attacking Ramirez to either set him up or keep Ollie at bay while Baldwin murdered Carter. It could have also been practice for how to deal with Ollie if Baldwin had accompanied Ramirez to the house the second time around.
I looked into Natsuko's eyes and asked: "Where can I find Trevor Baldwin?"
She didn't hesitate. "I don't know where he lives. But Akiko lives in this complex. We met here and it's the only place I've ever seen Trevor."
That was a step in the right direction, I thought.
Just as I was leaving the apartment, Liam Pratt showed up with a frown on his face.
"What happened to you?" I asked, not bothering to speculate.
"There was an accident," he moaned. "Traffic was backed up for miles. Guess I picked the wrong way to go." He paused. "Did you talk to her yet?"
"Yes, I did," I told him.
Liam looked perturbed that I had beaten him to it.
"So what did she say?" he asked anxiously.
"More than I expected," I said. "Let's take a walk and I'll fill you in—"