There was no question in my mind that I had never seen Virginia Okamoto before, at soccer or anywhere. I'd have remembered. I'd have remembered very well.
Of average height and an athletic build, Jini Okamoto entered the room somewhere between strolling and gliding. She wore a sleeveless sundress with a dark floral design. The dress buttoned down the front and had a tie at the back of the waist to help fit it to her body. Her fleshtone - a cafe-au-lait brown - came from genetics, not sunlight, and the red-streaks in her black hair were artificially added. I assumed her heritage was pretty much equal parts African and Asian, with my assumption being aided and abetted by big, brown, almond-shaped eyes and black hair that had been straightened before being pulled back into a short ponytail.
"I'm Jini Okamoto, that's jay-eye-en-eye; short for Virginia. I was named after the state." She flashed a smile and seated herself on the couch while Agent Jensen went through the formalities. Jini listened to it all, didn't voice any problem with Bloodstone or me being there, and snorted when it was suggested she could call on a lawyer if she wanted one.
"I have nothing to hide." She crossed her legs then smoothed her dress. "Last night I was out with girlfriends at a Mercury game. We did some clubbing after that, I got home around midnight alone, and was alone until I reached work. Except that a half-hour before work I did get coffee at Starbucks."
She had Bloodstone with her until she mentioned Starbucks. Bloodstone felt Starbuck's line of tea-flavored drinks in some way cheapened the noble leaf. Had she said she'd ordered iced chai, he would have scowled at her. If she'd actually used the term "Venti" to describe her selection - Bloodstone hates Starbuck's drink-size euphemisms - he'd have had her bodily removed from the building.
Kent smiled at her. "You've worked how long for Thothsoft?"
"I started two years ago, came in as an intern for the summer. I worked for Syndi as an aide, then pretty much became her Xray buffer."
Bloodstone cocked his head to the side. "Her what?"
"Xray buffer. Xray was our pet name for Ray Exner. They'd had a thing - that was how she got him to leave Microsoft. He worked hard, kept hoping they'd get together again. She kept him on a string. She was good at that." Jini shook her head. "Ray never saw he didn't have a chance. He was back in the pack and wasn't moving up."
My boss raised his teacup toward his mouth. "You suggest she had another lover, then?"
"Only one? Syndi always needed a way to hook people. She was very pretty, pretty powerful and had charisma. Folks want a piece of that. She found a way to get to them and often enough that way was by letting them get to her."
The PV detective narrowed his eyes. "That how she got to you?"
Jini's head came up. "Just because I go to a Mercury game with female friends you figure I'm a lesbian?"
Bloodstone peered at her over steepled fingertips. "Your answer is hardly responsive and makes a linkage where perhaps none was intended."
"Sure, we'll pretend he didn't mean it that way. Look, I like basketball, the Suns aren't playing right now and I can't afford tickets to them anyway."
"Very good, Ms. Okamoto." Bloodstone smiled. "And last evening's game against Indiana was a good one. I quite enjoyed it."
"So did I. We started slow, but won going away." Jini nodded and grinned broadly. "As for the original question, yeah, she made a pass at me - she was kinda omniamorous that way, I guess. I said thanks but no thanks. Look, the truth is, she treated me like shit, worked me long hours and underpaid me. Since she's dead, I guess I shouldn't say that, but it's the truth."
Kent gave her half grin. "What were your duties, aside from being her Xray buffer?"
"All sorts of things. I did her scheduling, checked cell phone bills, figured out who got the corporate seats at sporting events, did shopping for her. I was her mom, her banker and, on the few times she chose to invoke it, her conscience."
"That sounds rough." Agent Jensen frowned. "Why did you stay?"
"Two reasons. While I was working there as an intern, I realized that if I stuck in school and got my degree, I'd be on the outside looking in when Voyager hit. School will always be there, but the chance to learn from Syndi as she took an idea, created a team, got the project rolling and delivered, that wouldn't always be there. I decided I could be useful to her. I showed her I was willing to take one for the team, and she rewarded me with the second reason I stay: stock options. At the end of two years with the company, which is another six weeks off, I earn enough stock options to make tuition something I can take out of petty cash."
Bloodstone's tea cup descended into its saucer. "You'll also be able to afford Sun's tickets."
"Voyager hits the way it should, I can afford to buy the Suns."
My boss nodded slowly. "You said you offered to take one for the team. What did you mean?"
Jini shrugged her shoulders. "Xray was hoping to work more closely with Syndi on the Voyager project, back when it started. I stepped in and made a play for him. We dated some, for a couple of months, which left her free to pursue others. Pretty soon, though, Xray forgot all about me."
Kent snorted. "Back to Syndi?"
"Nope, he's a programmer. His mistress was Voyager. He was up all hours coding things, working on problems and stuff. He was no fun." She fiddled with the band holding her ponytail together. "I found other things to do, and Xray just worked on the program."
Questioning of Jini Okamoto tailed off after that. They did establish that she had keys to the Rooker place and knew the alarm codes because she house sat when Syndi was out of town. She didn't think Syndi had enemies, though she had a younger brother, Bill, who would bounce into her life, mooch for a month, then disappear. Jini had met him once when she was housesitting and didn't think he was that bad a sort. They established that she knew virtuallly nothing of the tarot - and her describing having a reading done by a psychic all but made Bloodstone ill. They also learned that she was pretty sure Syndi didn't color her hair, since Bill had similar coloration.
Bloodstone followed up with one final question. "Mr. Exner is of the impression that Ms. Rooker was warming to him again. Was she returning to Xray? Would it have been possible without your knowing it?"
"No on both counts." Jini shook her head. "Syndi had been sleeping with Martin Jost, the head of our marketing division. She wanted Marty to join Thothsoft because of his skills and because his wife came from money. Jost secured a first round of funding from her for the company. About a year ago things cooled there, but recently Syndi went back to him for a second round. We got a second round of funding from his wife."
"You're suggesting they became lovers again?"
Jini shrugged. "She didn't say, I didn't ask, but I started seeing the same pattern of cell phone calls to the Jost household that I'd seen when they were hot and heavy. I thought the new funding might have been a payoff for Syndi to leave Marty alone - his wife's family would be death on scandal. If so, it didn't take, because the calls are still going on."
"Thank you, Ms. Okamoto, you have been most helpful." Bloodstone stood and nodded his head to her. "We may have some other questions for you later."
Jini left the room moving as fluidly as she had when entering it.
Kent stood and stretched. "You get the feeling that Xray was in denial about Rooker?"
"So it would seem." Bloodstone nodded. "Definitely a multidimensional image we are getting of her. Still, neither Exner nor Ms. Okamoto have financial reasons for killing her. No evident passion there, either."
The detective smiled. "Well, we might get that with the next set. Marty Jost is up, and has his wife, Helen, with him. She's a lawyer and well connected locally. She's from the Maltby family. We'll have to be careful, or he'll clam up, she'll complain to the powers in the state and we're in trouble."
"If we want to solve this, we have to take that chance." Jensen shrugged. "Okamoto gave us a good place to start prying Jost open. Let's get started, shall we?"