Chapter 535

The detectives introduced themselves and were offered seats in the living room where Jeff and all his wives, plus Kei and Aiko Tanaka sat, Mrs. Tanaka dressed in a kimono. A look passed between the detectives when they were eventually introduced to everyone in the room, the last of which was Aiko. And indeed, they had already recognized the pretty, middle-aged woman from her picture.

Suddenly relaxed, they accepted coffee, an amused expression on their faces when they realized that Mrs. Tanaka certainly did not appear to be a captive. The two continued to chat with the family until the detectives’ cups were empty.

“More coffee, Gentlemen?” Diana asked.

“Uh, no Ma’am, but it was delicious,” Baker responded for both of them.

“May we help you with something, Detectives?” Jeff asked while almost successfully hiding his grin.

“Uh, Sir, we would like to speak with Mrs. Tanaka – in private, please.”

“Certainly,” Diana said as if expecting the request. Coming to her feet, “Right this way, Gentlemen. Mrs. Tanaka,” she finished, motioning to Aiko who had also stood.

“I am her daughter and I am going with her,” Kei said as she stepped close to her mother.

“Certainly,” detective Nelson responded.

Kei continued as they walked out of the living room. “I am an architect and have an office in Winter Park, but since my divorce, I now live here.”

Down the hallway, Diana opened a door for them. “You may use this conference room as well as its facilities should you need them,” she said.

“Perfect, Ma’am. Thank you,” Baker responded as he waited for the women to enter the room in front of him. When Diana began to close the door on her way out, Baker thanked her again but asked that she leave the door open.

As soon as they were seated, but before the detectives could say anything more, Mrs. Tanaka spoke up, her voice quiet, but clear. “I assume that my husband has called the police with a story of my being kidnapped or something of that nature?” When the detectives didn’t respond, she went on. “He has beaten me on many occasions, particularly in the last years of our marriage. I have endeavored to be a ‘correct’ wife, observing the old traditions, but I can no longer continue because of the way he is treating me. When he left for his men’s club tonight, after threatening to beat me again when he returned, I talked with my daughter and she provided transportation here. I will not return to that place, nor will I be beaten again by the monster my husband has become. My daughter has suggested that I press charges against him, but I know it would be useless because the servants will say anything he orders them to say. They are as afraid of him as I am.”

Kei spoke up. “Mother has remained loyal to my father for the better part of thirty years. He has always been quick to... ‘discipline’, as he refers to it, but she now tells me that the beatings that he calls ‘discipline’, have become frequent in the last few months. I left and divorced my husband for beating me. When I did, my father banished me from the family. Now, my mother has finally gained the courage and ... the means to get away from him. This building is owned by the Matthews and is now my permanent home. They have welcomed Mother, and she finally had the opportunity to escape my father’s control. I am certain that the Matthews will tell you that she is welcome here for as long as she wishes to stay.”

“I will break tradition and seek a divorce,” Mrs. Tanaka said in a shaking, but determined voice, her tears beginning to flow.

“He has reported that you were kidnapped by Mr. Matthews,” Nelson said bluntly, but still in a respectful manner. “What’s your response to that, Ma’am?”

“Preposterous,” Kei said and at the same time, her mother responded by shaking her head and saying that it was ridiculous.

“Mr. Matthews and the entire family have extended their very courteous welcome to me,” Aiko said between bouts of tears. In a quavering voice, she went on, “My husband has beaten me more times than I can remember. It started years ago as a hard slap across my face, but that left swelling and a bruise, both highly visible. I was kept in seclusion until the injuries were no longer obvious. After that, he struck me only in areas that would not show as long as I was fully clothed. I tried to escape several times in the past months, but either he or the servants always caught me. I was then beaten severely for my attempt. My escape attempt was successful tonight, but I did so with only the clothes I am wearing. If I should return, I am certain that he will kill me. I no longer call that place home, for it has been a prison far too long. I am finally free of him, and the Matthews have graciously offered me a home for as long as I need it,” she stumbled out before breaking down into long racking sobs while her daughter continued to hold her mother in her arms.

The detectives looked at each other before Nelson spoke. “Ma’am, can we get you anything?”

Mrs. Tanaka wiped her eyes with a tissue from a box on the table. Still unable to speak, she shook her head, but Detective Baker poured her a small glass of water from a pitcher that had also been left for them, insisting that she take a few sips.

Detective Nelson came to his feet, “I am going out to our vehicle to get my laptop. We need to fill out a complaint on this. I assume that you wish to report the assaults, Mrs. Tanaka?”

Aiko looked at her daughter. “She does,” Kei answered for her mother, who nodded, her face set in a mask of anguish.

When he returned, Arlene and Ann were just walking out of the conference room after leaving a plate of sweet rolls, a carafe of coffee, cups and spoons. A small pitcher of cream and a container of sugar were sitting nearby. Kei was fixing a cup of coffee for her mother as well as one for herself.

Arlene motioned to the room and said, “We brought coffee, but if you need anything else, just say ‘Computer’ while stressing the word. When the AI answers, tell him what you need and he will notify us.”

“Uh, okay. Thanks,” Baker returned, obviously wondering.

The detective cast a glance at Aiko, who was still silently crying while her daughter sat with her arms around her mother, Kei having given up on the coffee. “Mrs. Tanaka?” Nelson asked. “If you don’t feel up to this now, you may come by headquarters whenever you feel like it and complete the complaint.”

“I will do it now,” Aiko said as she sat up straighter while wiping her eyes and delicately blowing her nose. “Please forgive me. It is just that I am so relieved that I am now safe after the constant fear that I have lived with for so long.”

Kei turned to the two men. “My mother and I are aware that reporting the beatings will do little or no good since she has no evidence – any sign of the past attacks have ... healed – but I have asked her to report this anyway. If nothing else, there will be a record of what that beast has been doing to her for years.”

“And should something else happen, the report will help establish a pattern of abuse,” Baker added.

“Yes,” Kei agreed.

When the detectives had completed the complaint, Nelson mentioned going out to his car to print her a copy when Kei pointed to a full array of office equipment on the side of the room. “You are welcome to use that,” she reminded him.

The detective thanked her, and the wireless printer worked perfectly with his computer. A few minutes later, the complaint was printed and signed, and a copy was soon on file at the department.

“The DA might want to speak with you, Mrs. Tanaka, but unless the servants will testify on your behalf, and since you say that you do not have any marks about your body, it will, unfortunately, just be your word against your husband’s. My partner and I talked with him, and to be candid – and please don’t repeat this – we can well believe that he has beaten you. The bottom line here is that the DA will do nothing without evidence to back up your word. We’re sorry, Ma’am.”

“It is not your fault,” Kei assured him, “and my mother understands that.” Then with a sigh, “Chances are that when she divorces him, she will wind up with nothing to show for her years of horror she had to live through in that so-called marriage.”

“Not necessarily,” the detective answered. “My advice is to get the best attorney you can afford, and ... should you decide to go that route, I would also suggest doing that before he has time to hide his money.”

“That is what we will do,” Kei spoke for Aiko, who still had tears in her eyes.

After giving Aiko their cards, the detectives walked down the hallway and started to pass the living room when Diana stepped out in front of them. “Is your investigation over? I have something to ask you, and I don’t want you to think I am trying to bribe you.”

The two men looked at each other, then back to the stunningly beautiful young woman. “We have done all we can,” Nelson said. “Unfortunately, that has proven to be little. We’re headed back to Denver, and then home.”

“I, uh, heard a stomach growl when we were talking before. There is a meal prepared and waiting for you through that door there,” she said, pointing to the kitchen door.

“Ma’am, we couldn’t do that,” Baker replied almost wistfully,

“You can,” Jeff said as he stepped up. “The meal is already prepared and waiting for you. It’s approaching midnight and I assume you work the evening shift, right?” At the detectives’ nods, “You’ve been working over and have been for a considerable length of time, plus you have to drive back to Denver. Let’s eat.”

It was hard to tell the Prime no. As the detectives stepped through the kitchen doorway, they found a two-place setting awaiting them at the big kitchen table, and more food than they would eat in a week, not to mention a gaggle of the best-looking women in the world hovering near.

Forty-five minutes later, the detectives, their bellies full, walked out the back door clutching go cups filled with the best coffee they had drunk in years. “Shit,” Nelson said to his partner, “no wonder that UPS driver next door keeps raving about the Matthews to my wife. If I had eaten another bite, I swear I would have popped. Hot damn. That was the best steak I’ve had in a while – maybe ever. What about you?”

“Fine meat and someone who knows how to cook it, that’s for sure,” Baker said as he turned their vehicle around, but stopped to look at the other vehicles parked near them. After a moment, he continued, “When that gate guard told us to go on around to the back, it pissed me off a little because I thought he was sending us to the servant’s entrance. But ... the Matthews’ vehicles are parked back here too, well, unless the hired help drives Cadillac Escalades,” he finished with a chuckle while nodding at the vehicles lined up near the back entrance.

Nelson grinned back at him as they started for the driveway. “Shit. If we had to work over, that call was one great way to do it. Plus... I’m going to enjoy informing Mr. Smartass that we found his wife safe and sound and she wishes no contact with him forever. He had better start hiding his money because she stands a good chance of getting half of everything he owns. We advised her to get a restraining order for him, but whether she does or not, you can bet Mr. Asshole will never get to the Matthews’ residence in one piece. Those guards damn sure aren’t rent-a-cops. They couldn’t have been any more efficient when they searched our vehicle, and you can bet there is some sort of mechanical means to close that driveway should they want, and I don’t mean just that barrier that comes down. In case you didn’t notice, when the guard took our IDs, he just stood staring at them with his helmet visor down. That didn’t make sense to me at first, but then it hit me. He was somehow scanning the ID’s. You can bet he was checking them out, and he was certain we were cops because neither guard even mentioned our weapons.”

The other detective chuckled. “I wouldn’t want to try to get past those two with fake IDs, either. There were several unusual-looking rifles on racks just inside the guard shack, and ... I’ll bet there was some reason the guards were wearing those weird looking helmets.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. Call Mr. Dipshit and inform the bastard that his wife is safe and sound, and quote, will never be back, unquote. And yeah, we both knew he was going to complain before we were at the bastard’s mansion five minutes, but fuck him and the horse he rode in on. If worst comes to worst, we have the recording, and ... I’ll bet that the Matthews will back us up if need be.”

“Hey, Matthews took me aside and said that the two of us could use his firing range, and he would provide the ammo. He even gave me his card so we would have his number.”

“No shit?”

“I think he used to have a company that sold supplies to cops.”

“Ummm, well, he damn sure didn’t make all that money selling supplies to police,” the other said as he motioned over his shoulder in the direction of the Retreat. “Now the real question: do you suppose the rumor is right about Matthews?”

“The one about him being married to a bunch of women?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I don’t know whether he’s married or not, but it was just him and, I think fifteen or sixteen of them. I didn’t want to be obvious when I was trying to count them.”

“How in the hell does one man take care of that many women?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a sigh, “but I was fighting a hard-on the whole time I was there. I might not be able to take care of all of them, but it would be a great way to die trying,” he said with a laugh.

“Got that right,” the other returned with a grin.

“Still, they seem like nice people, and if he wants to supply the ammo, I’ll damn sure shoot it up for him,” Baker returned.

“Now make that call. Maybe we can wake that asshole up and tell him that his wife has not been kidnapped, and ... never wants to see him again.”

Chuckling, Baker was already entering the number into his phone.

Without realizing it, they were lucky. In the dark, they couldn’t see down into the abyss as they made the turns on the driveway.

“I think that went well,” Jeff said as he sat with Kei on his lap and with Aiko sitting facing them in the living room, the older woman blushing.

“Mother, you did exceedingly well,” Kei told her.

“Yes, I agree. You certainly did,” Jeff added.

Kei frowned, wondering, as she looked at her soon-to-be husband.

“The AI,” Jeff said as he shrugged. “It’s our home. If we want to listen in to what the police have to say, it’s our privilege.” Then to Aiko, “Please don’t be alarmed. I would never do that to you, but I could not risk things going wrong during the interview. Again, you did exceptionally well. We were all impressed.”

“I did nothing but tell the truth,” Aiko said. “Kei did provide the vehicle, well ... she was in it, at least,” she said as she blushed again. “I just did not mention that it was a space ship instead of a car.” Then a little quieter and almost to herself, “I cannot believe I just said that.”

With a chuckle, Jeff responded. “There is much more to learn about besides the spaceship, and by the way, I think I’m going to like you,” he said with a grin while wondering why Aiko continued to blush every time she looked at him. Then it dawned on him – Kei was sitting in his lap and had told him that Mrs. Tanaka was accustomed to the “old ways.”

Pulling Kei close, he whispered what he had thought into her ear.

Kei immediately whispered back, “Oh my goodness,” and put her hand over her mouth. After thinking for a moment, she stood. “Mother, please come walk with me for a moment.”