Death of an Origamist
Sachi Yamane, an emergency room nurse, escapes the pressure of life-and-death situations through the precise and calming world of origami. Attending an origami convention in Anaheim, California, she looks forward to meeting her idol, Craig Buck, a guru of not only origami but also life. Over the past two years, Sachi has gone through her set of losses—her husband’s fatal heart attack and unexpected deaths of some coworkers. Meeting Buck and being immersed in origami will again restore peace in Sachi’s life, or so she thinks. But as it turns out, the origami convention is not the safe haven that this sixty-one year old Sansei imagines it to be.
This is an original serialized story written for Discover Nikkei by award-winning mystery author Naomi Hirahara.
Stories from this series
Chapter Six—The Other Woman
Jan. 4, 2016 • Naomi Hirahara
Sachi was always a bit intimidated by beautiful women, especially Asian ones. She herself ranked about a 5 in appearance, maybe a 6 when she was in her late twenties and playing in a volleyball league. She had daikon ashi, white radish-shaped legs that were good for squatting to set a ball, but not so good in jeans—either skinny or bell bottoms. Olivia was definitely in the realm of a 10. Or maybe even more. She must have been in …
Chapter Five—Chicken McNuggets Confidential
Dec. 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara
Sachi Yamane didn’t know what it was like to be fired. She had snagged her job at Los Angeles County General Hospital after she had finished nursing school. That had been almost forty years ago and she had stayed in its ER ever since. For Kenji the bodyguard to be fired in front of her was uncomfortable. Disturbing even, because she somehow felt responsible. She got up from one of the penthouse overstuffed chairs and followed him out the double …
Chapter Four—The Inner Circle
Nov. 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara
T-Rex, also known as Craig Buck, was dead. Sachi Yamane felt like she was going to collapse right there at the banquet table in front of their Star Wars origami centerpiece. How could that be? She had just spent an hour with the master origamist in his exclusive class in the hotel penthouse that same afternoon. The whole banquet hall was atwitter with the announcement. It wasn’t an official announcement by the Left Coast Origami Convention organizer, Charles, but his …
Chapter Three—Little Black Dress
Oct. 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara
“Well, how was T-Rex’s class?” Barbara Lu, Sachi Yamane’s roommate at the convention hotel, asked. Seated at the desk by the window, Barbara was folding one of her trademark origami otters. “Okay,” Sachi said, again trying to stay positive. She placed her convention bag and purse on her double bed which housekeeping had neatly restored to its original immaculate state. “Well, let me see it.” Barbara stood up. “What?” “You know, what T-Rex had you make in his special seminar.” …
Chapter Two—Doctor Death
Sept. 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara
“So what we will be folding is…” Sachi felt her heart pound hard. Was her lanyard ID badge over her chest moving up and down, too? What was Craig “T-Rex” Buck, the 21st century master of origami, going to have them fold? The mood around the polished wood table was indeed emotional. They were supposed to be the elite folders at this Left Coast Origami Convention in Anaheim. Holly West, known for her nimble hands, rubbed her fingertips together. Sachi …
Chapter One—Que Sera, Sera
Aug. 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara
For the past three days, Sachi Yamane was in heaven. Origami heaven, that is. Not only was she immersed in her most favorite pastime—folding square pieces of paper into three-dimensional sculptures, but she also was away from her everyday life of tending to gunshot wounds, battered women, and sick babies. She loved—well, used to love her work as an emergency room nurse—but lately, especially after the untimely passing of coworkers (from the stress, everyone presumed), she was just counting the …
