Here is a deftly written thriller that is also a "deep and moody" (NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW) journey through
524 55 31MB
English Pages 296 [308] Year 1999
NAMED
BEST
NOVEL AND BEST
>
^^
30
n_n %.
•
social
commentary/'
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WASHINGTON
P(
RINER
BOOKS
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"[Ul
Digitized by the Internet Archive in
2012
http://archive.org/details/allshewasworthOOmiyu
MX k Jl
Miyuki Miyabe TRANSLATED BY Alfred
Birnbaum
A A Mariner Book HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON
•
NEW YORK
First
Mariner Books edition 1999
Copyright
© 1992 by Miyuki Miyabe © 1996
English translation copyright
by Kodansha International
Ltd.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Originally published by Futabasha, Tokyo, in 1992
under the
title
Kasha.
For information about permission to reproduce selections
from
Houghton
this
book, write to Permissions,
Mifflin
Company,
215
Park Avenue South,
New York, New York 10003. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
isbn 0-395-96658-2
Printed in the United States of America
qum
10
9876543
is
available.
^KX
m rui
n
:r.:e >r.e
she could have found out about the secret bank-
ruptcy. .Ask the right questions
up. So Jur.
I
—
about her debts
talk -
little effort,
Go'.d
enough
er
would Shoko have responded" Mavbe by money from her mother. Or found a "patron™ even then, the fake Shoko would have :r.e:Ked
Clc
True,
:J P tc>" but the
:
whole switch could have gotten
with a
regis-
.
the people
quit the
f:
license,
er's
ter address,
all
woman
Because anv
a real possibilr.
could easily have learned whether Shoko had a passport or
ko to the as
.
never forget a face." Neither, apparently, did the bartender. don't suppose you'd have a photo of Ms. Sekine here,
"I
would
you?"
The Mama-san shrugged. "We
don't have
much
call to take
any
pictures."
"When she was working come
here and her mother died, did
it
seem
to
as a big shock?"
This time the Mama-san sat up straight. "God, that was a horrible story! Falling
down
"Steps where?
I
the steps
drunk
never did get
"A shrine, maybe? Maybe
all
like that."
the details."
in a park?"
"Don't ask me," said Maki, after seeing a customer to the door.
Then, as she set about clearing the glasses away from the
far table,
she
suddenly said loudly, "No, wait!" Her mascara-heavy eyes widened.
"Shoko did mention one No,
Mama didn't.
thing.
Remember, Mama?"
Neither did the bartender.
"What?" asked Honma.
Maki came over and latched onto
"When
ambulance was
the her.
his arm.
Her
nails
were sharp.
who found her and called young woman. Shoko told me she'd spoken to
Shoko's mother died, the person a
To thank her and
all."
"Did she mention a name?"
Maki lowered her head did, but It
I
coquettishly. "She didn't say.
Or maybe she
don't remember."
looked like
it
was time
to give
Utsunomiya a
try.
137
^ 14 ^
The
New Tohoku
nomiya
in
Line bullet train from Tokyo Station gets to Utsu-
—just about the same amount of time
under an hour
lived,
when connections were slowest. It wasn't why more people were moving out to the country
during the off hours
hard to understand
and coming It
was
a
in
by bullet
few minutes
train these days. after
noon.
Honma
found an empty seat in a
non-reserved no-smoking car and put his briefcase
by
his feet. Right
on schedule, he
felt
down on
around Honma's
from the business
A young man
age: the lifeblood of this artery
The
seated diagonally across the aisle
and
he have
to
maybe he was
throw his voice around
was shouting
in a position of
like that?
phone with an
irritated click of the tongue.
Honma thought, wondering if And what about him? How much of
phones were expensive,
man had bought it on
credit.
what he owned had he gotten on "easy terms"? Probably larger furniture
and appliances. Each was contracted
be paid off in a slow
trickle.
was only consulted on the
half the
for separately, to
That had been Chizukos department.
Everything in the house had the colors and features she liked.
Honma
cost.
Most men were probably 138
to
went underground soon after leaving Tokyo Station. The must have been bad, because Junior Executive switched off
Cellular the
management
running
train
reception his
Most
capital of Tokyo.
instructions into a cellular phone. So authority, but did
the floor
the train begin to move.
of the other passengers looked like middle and senior types,
it
Honma
took to get to the center of Tokyo from the suburb where
that way. In fact he'd never
run across
any
man who was picky about
patterns.
furniture or
who had an eye
for carpet
Only the most discriminating types would pay much
tion to interior decoration. But there
was the age
atten-
factor, too. Today's
twenty-year-olds in their studio condos probably spent hours decid-
on the placement of furniture and the selection of knickknacks. But since there was no rookie detective in the Division to ask about ing
these things, he could only speculate.
Judging from the photos in newspaper
and
TV
inserts, mail-order catalogs,
commercials for the big department
stores, there
be no end of nice things on the market these days.
seemed
to
And to look was to
want, preferably right there, on the spot. Producing a card at the cash register
would be an easy habit wouldn't take "one of these and a couple of those"?
and signing the
into.
Who
only
human
little
"Nice, isn't
to fall It
was
nature.
There was nothing to it?
You
like
was easy enough
Desire
receipt
tell it,
a person
when
to
put on the brakes.
don't you? Well, go ahead,
to arouse,
it's
yours!"
but where was the clerk who'd
remind you of the spiraling monthly payments, or who'd say "Better leave
it
at that for today."
From point.
the retailers' point of view, of course,
"Who
has the time?" they'd
look out for customers
The
who
say.
"Who
all
that
was beside
the
could be bothered to
can't control themselves?"
Ueno, was
brief. Soon the train was moving again. They emerged above ground and raced between the buildings. The loudspeaker announced the upcoming stops, adding a reminder about first
stop, at
the dining car.
Outside the window, Tokyo sped past.
Honma recalled the telephone conversation he'd had with that Sawagi woman at the Mizoguchi law office. She mentioned that she'd been working
for
Mizoguchi
for ten years now, right
"consumer finance scare" of the early
through the
eighties.
"That was before the Regulation of Moneylending Business Law,
back when
it
was
a really rough business.
They passed
the law only
because people were demanding that they do something. Mr. Mizoguchi himself would get threatened sometimes by these guys
he asked them
to forgo collecting.
when
The fellow who was Mr. Mizo139
was even shot at with a pistol at the door was only sheer luck he wasn't hurt." Plenty of debtors were roughed up, too. But it was hard for them to go public. guchi's partner at the time to his
own
Most just
house.
It
cried themselves to sleep.
"Say somebody threatens you, you dial 110 for help, right? Well, okay, a policeman
comes around. But
just
mention debts and sud-
denly he doesn't want to know. The gangsters aren't dumb,
They don't do anything
that
can be used as evidence against them.
They're just trying to collect what's
Which
seem.
—or so they make
owed them
leaves the police with nothing
Honma was "
either.
much
it
to do."
very familiar with police reluctance to get involved.
'Non-intervention in private
that the phrase?"
affairs,' isn't
Ms. Sawagi laughed. "Exactly. Though Lord knows, intervention
what some people need.
I remember one person who came in 'How about if I just go ahead and get myself killed, then maybe you'll get them to look into it?' "The only improvement I've noticed is that nowadays the overwhelming majority of people who get into debt and file for personal
is
just
shouting,
bankruptcy are in their teens and twenties. At that age, people can all
over again
if
they have
to.
And
at least their
What you saw during
break up families.
the 'consumer finance scare'
was husbands who would get millions of yen behind, and and kids absorb a
different then?"
She thought
were
it? And why then, Honma asked.
to
for a
at the root of
whether
make
minute, then said:
it;
interest rates
—
that
cities
right? it's
140
We used
"It
were reasonable or
seems
to
me
What
housing loans
own, regardless of
not. People
and pretty soon they'd have
would be unable to
borrow from
whole pattern."
"Which bankrupted "Exactly.
the wife
in the early eighties?
the desire for a house of your
the payments,
the loan sharks
let
of the shock waves."
lot
"But what caused
was
start
insolvency doesn't
entire families."
to see
more cases out
in the
suburbs than in the
themselves. But today the problem's centered on young people,
And all
the cities are feeling
it,
not just Tokyo. This time
the fault of our thro wa way lifestyle.
I'd
say
Our consumerism has run
"
away with their It
And
us.
nobody's being taught any more
how
to
manage
money" was
ruptcies
bank-
ironic to think that the recent decline in housing loan
was
the direct result of skyrocketing land prices.
"Real estate has just gotten so expensive now," she said, "that
matter
how
hard you
just impossible. So
try,
you'll
own your home.
never be able to
no It's
most ordinary would-be homeowners make do
without because they can see that the loans would bury them.
"Nowadays
the
overwhelming majority of bankruptcies involving
lot of money to buy investment properties. They think they're going to turn a profit on a studio condo and they borrow massively to buy it. Only the bottom falls out of the condo market. Sell at that point and you're not even making back what you paid. So it's the less experienced, younger buyers especially. Not teenagers, granted, but people in their twenties and thirties. Then there's also the opposite end of the scale, your pensioners and older people drawing retirement pay. Lots of windfall stock
real estate start
with people borrowing a
market players,
too."
She gave
it
a little
more thought.
"It
seems
to
me
what was
that
behind the panic of the early eighties was the gotta-have syndrome: gotta have a bigger house, gotta have
—
more fancy
have a
things, gotta
was mostly pure greed, but some of
it too was peer up with the Tanakas. That's what kept this incrediconsumer financing going. But today I'd call it some-
better lifestyle
it
pressure, keeping ble
boom
in
more like 'hype bankruptcy' "Hype bankruptcy?" "Uh-huh. 'Here's how you make big money it's stocks'; or 'it's condos'; or 'it's country club membership shares.' With younger people, it's where to live, what part of town's cool to live in, how to set up thing
—
a beautiful apartment. Designer clothes, a sports car
right? Everyone's chasing mirages. Enter
consumer
...
it's
all
financing,
hype,
still
as
loosely regulated as ever, each lender only concerned with the bot-
tom
line
.
.
.
Want
to hear
something
have formed separate companies
really stupid?
to provide
like the loan sharks, right? Well, the thing
Nowadays, banks
unsecured financing, just is,
as long as
it's
a
bank 141
running the business,
its
not considered an infraction of the Regula-
Moneylending Business Law."
tion of
The whole time she was speaking, people talking, phones ringing.
It
the background
move onto
people struggling to shift a lever and
one not headed straight down the side of a "Last time
Emperor
you came
in,
Mr.
cliff.
it
world
literature
Honma
was
how she
could work
one of the longest sagas in
find time to read
still
talked about
immensely," she said, end-
ing the conversation on an upbeat note, though
she did and
of a train full of
the other track, the
me going, so recently I started
rereading The Tale ofGenji. I'm enjoying
like
was buzzing:
Honma, remember, we
consort? Well, that got
Ichijo's
Honma
reminded
a mystery to him.
hadn't been able to get
Shoko out of
mind
his
since the
beginning of that day. At breakfast, he'd had the morning paper open but hadn't actually read a word, just managed to dip a corner of the front page in his coffee cup. his forehead a
Snap out of
it,
he'd told himself, giving
whack.
"Got a headache?" Makoto had asked. He obviously remembered
mother had been prone
that his
Chizuko used
to migraines.
her temples sometimes. There were other things like Chizuko's
little
quirks were
still
that.
to tap
Lots of
Makoto. In extremely cold
alive in
weather, at about this time of year, she'd change into her nightgown
by stripping
off everything,
wear,
one
all
head as But
in
is.
it's
go.
if
layer, a shirt
it
a
try yourself.
It's
Honma
or a T-shirt sleeve,
nice
and warm.
could never get the hang of
would
invariably go wrong.
he did manage to pull everything over his head,
right.
He'd only have
to take
You're just too set in
it all
off
and put
it
The odd thing was, his clothes off for
142
him
on
your ways, was Chizuko's last
autumn
he'd caught
Odd because when his mother was still around, after
to her under-
back over her
with a laugh, not seeing anything wrong with
Try as he might, though,
One
slip the lot
A brilliant, if lazy performance.
cold, she'd say
You should give
it.
from her sweater and blouse
Next morning she'd
carefully, layer
by
her death, he was suddenly doing
feel
again.
verdict.
Makoto doing
it
too.
she had always taken
layer. Yet it
wouldn't
it
it.
Even
now,
all
these years
her way, without ever hav-
When Honma pointed gone wide with surprise. My mother? ing
known about
And
it.
it
out, Makoto's eyes
so the dead leave their traces in the living,
clothes retain someone's
body
much
as
had
shed
heat.
The same was no doubt true of Shoko Sekine, Honma thought he rode along the same New Tohoku Line she'd used, on his way Utsunomiya, just as the
woman who
stole her
name had
—
done.
same reason to find out more about Shoko. A bullet her home ground, moving past the same roads and rooftops. for the
When Shoko's mother fell down those steps, her and called the ambulance was a young Mustn't get ahead of myself,
Honma
wondering: had the fake Shoko taken real one's
the person
as to
And
train to
who found
woman, Maki had said.
thought. But he couldn't help
this
same
train here to kill the
mother?
143
15 ^
Everything was
new in Utsunomiya. Even the train station. Honma wandered back and
There were exits east and west.
forth
along the corridor connecting them, trying to decide which looked
more promising, and side.
He could
colors
and
easily
peering, as he went, into the shops
on
either
have been in Shinjuku or Ginza. The selection,
styles of the clothes
on
the racks seemed, at least to his
untrained eye, as cosmopolitan as any in the major Tokyo depart-
ment
stores.
Utsunomiya had already become
for bullet train
commuters
—one more
a
satellite
bedroom community town drawn into the
greater metropolitan gravitational field.
Ten years ago, when Shoko Sekine was eighteen, none of
would have
existed.
Was
that
why
she'd gone there to go to school, he
company
work
which by Tokyo standards was out
in the sticks.
station
was clean and
lively,
for a
foreigners.
Most
—women,
foreign workers all
the
in
Edogawa,
and busier than he might have
expected. The only difference from Tokyo was that he
or Osaka, or else headed
If
would have understood. But nine
years ago she had simply gone to
The
this
on Tokyo?
she'd set her sights
—stayed
especially
way out
didn't see
to the
in
any
Tokyo
hot springs or the
other resort areas. Utsunomiya was too close and, at the same time, too
far.
Honma
took the larger of the two
exits.
The
first
thing he saw as
he went through the turnstile was a large pedestrian bridge: a solid
passageway built over an open plaza, an architectural feature com-
many stations along the New Tohoku and New Joetsu Lines. He looked down over the concrete handrail at the bus terminal below.
mon 144
to
The destination signs were so confusing he couldn't went to Ichozakacho. He decided to take a taxi.
When Honma gave side.
They turned drove for
five
Weekends, you know how
it is.
street in front of the station
and
there.
races."
right
on the main
minutes, then
left
onto another large
meant they were heading west. Honma glanced
map
he'd picked
up
which bus
the address, the driver cocked his head to one
"Might be a while getting
Slow because of the
tell
at the station kiosk.
miya's central area, the prefectural
at the
which
street,
pocket street
Up ahead should be Utsuno-
government
offices
and police
headquarters.
He
hadn't completely decided against giving the local police a
visit. If
Shoko's mother's death was an accident,
ord. No doubt his Honma had asked
should be on rec-
old friend Funaki would have introduced him,
—
wanted
it
if
—
would have been quicker and easier but he look at things. It had been two years and two
it
to take a fresh
months since Shoko's mother
died.
During that time, no suspicions
had arisen about the circumstances of her death. Her daughter had collected the insurance
What was
money in
full.
police, he'd
said,
was a "It's
police
had closed the
do full
street
A
lamppost
at the entrance to a
had "Ichozakacho 2010" on
2005's at the
end of the
it.
street," said the driver.
matic door pulled slowly shut and the taxi sped totally disoriented.
been struck by
how
From flat
at the heart of the
Tokyo
Bay.
for the
twenty minutes before the driver pulled to a stop and
around here someplace."
"Number
any need
there were
If
that last.
narrow one-way
was
files.
the hurry? He'd check things out for himself, get the story
from people in the neighborhood.
It
The
the
moment
he'd
Utsunomiya was.
left
No
Honma was
the station, he
had
— the
city
big surprise
Kanto plain which spread
— "Gingko Yet the name Ichozaka
off.
The auto-
all
Hill"
way down had led him
the
—
to to
some kind of elevation. Where in this flat town would there be any steps high enough for a person to fall to their death? Ichozakacho was a quiet residential area. In that way it was a lot expect
like his
own
neighborhood. But here there were hardly any apart-
ment complexes. Most houses were
old, sprawling, single-family 145
homes rooted in this soil. A young couple came strolling past, hand in hand. The girl's eyes went to Honma's leg, then looked away. The boy kept up his banter, oblivious. A beauty parlor had a sign hung out reading LOreal Salon. dwellings. Real
Across from
was
it
Next door,
cus.
ground
floor
back one
how
a riot of
make
the metal sliding door at the entrance
hung an
old-
Villa.
2005.
shoved his hands into his coat pockets and got ready
move. Just then the door
a
shop on the
laundry spilling from the windows. Set
fashioned plaque with hand-drawn lettering: Akane
Honma
an aba-
length from the street was a two-story stucco apart-
ment house. Over
Number
to use
a long three-story building with a repair
and
car's
a small school that taught kids
school kids came out.
A girl and
slid
open and
a boy; the girl a
a couple of grade-
few years
had some trouble shutting the door again, although heavy. Perhaps
it
was sticking
in
its
tracks.
to
it
older.
She
didn't look so
When it finally closed she
took the boy by the hand and started leading him along the road.
There was nobody else around. "Hello,"
Honma said.
The children stopped and Honma noticed their matching, cartoonpatterned sneakers. The girl had a large pendant hanging around her neck. She said hello and waited.
Honma bent over, hands on his this
apartment house?" The
girl
knees, and smiled. "You kids from
nodded. The
little
boy just looked up
at his sister questioningly.
know somebody who used to live came all the way from Tokyo to them. Maybe I'd better ask the landlord. Do you know where
"Yeah? Well, you here.
And
look for
know what?
I'm looking for them.
I
I
the landlord is?"
The
girl
was
"Maybe he
decisive. "Don't
lives in the
know."
neighborhood somewhere?"
"Don't know. Never met any landlord."
"Oh
..."
Okay. Just to keep her talking,
the pendant she kept running along "That's nice. 146
What is it?"
its
Honma
asked her about
string with her free hand.
"It's
a rape whistle."
Oh. "Its
dangerous around here," the
this whistle,
Want
really loud. That's
it's
why Mommy bought
it
for
me.
to hear it?"
Not unless he wanted
"No
"But
girl said matter-of-factly.
thanks. But
is
to talk to the police
sooner rather than
later.
your mother home?"
"Nope." She shifted her weight from one leg to the other and her brother followed
little
suit, like a sidecar
"She's right over there."
Honma
The
girl
coupled
to a motorcycle.
pointed behind Honma.
turned quickly, half expecting to see a
woman
glaring at
him. But there was no one, just the LOreal Salon sign.
"Mommy's got her own rape whistle," It
was almost
thirty
the squeaking door
the girl added.
minutes from the time
and rang the
little bell
Honma pushed through
announcing the
arrival of a
hairstylist Kanae Miyata emerged from inside. For somebody in the service sector and a young mother as well, she could have been more attentive.
customer before
Honma to ask
name
got straight to the point: there were a few things he'd like
about Shoko Sekine, his nephew's fiancee.
He
presented his
card.
"If she's
gotten herself in
"No, no,
it's
nothing like
some kind that.
It's
of trouble, count
me out."
just that she disappeared with-
out leaving any word. He only wants to make sure
she's all right."
He
hoped he sounded serious enough. She nodded. "A real shame about how old Mrs. Sekine passed on." It seemed Mrs. Miyata had known "old Mrs. Sekine" better than the daughter, whom she knew only just well enough to offer her condolences to at the funeral.
Mrs. Miyata had no trouble mother's death. Yoshiko Sekine
ing a few miles away, near ing,
with a bank that takes
was
a regular at a bar
filling
fell
him
in
on
the details of the
down the staircase of an old build-
Hachiman Park. "It's a three-story buildup the first and second floors. Mrs. Sekine
on the
third floor called Tagawa. She used to 147
week or so
stop in there once a
for a drink.
emergency
building, see, there's this concrete
those things
—
down from
goes straight little
you know
—
really steep, too.
It's
the
whole three
Broke her neck, they
say.
Everybody knows
but
still it's
even wrote an
The
one
With
a
bottom.
at the
fell
all,
But not one of
floor."
Yoshiko Sekine was found "She probably
the outside of the
that zigzags like a fire escape; this
the third floor.
landing on the second
On
staircase.
floors. Didn't it's
stand a chance.
an old building and
got to be against the Building Code. The newspaper
article
about
—not
it
tiny beauty parlor didn't
a long one, though."
do
was one
a lot of business. There
who was out shopping at the time. woman sitting in a crimson
other beautician, plus the owner,
There was only one customer, an elderly
leatherette chair, dozing off while Mrs. Miyata finished putting curlers in her hair.
Honma moved
to
found the bench he was
sitting
on uncomfortable and
one of the plush recliners that had an attached hair
you could pull down over your head. He
didn't ask
if it
drier
was okay nor
did Mrs. Miyata complain. She seemed tired, probably from having to
cope with her two kids.
must have caused quite "Oh sure. But those stairs "It
a stir."
—
it
isn't like
anybody was
had been saying they're dangerous and just look what happens."
prised. People
time,
"Did the police look into "I all
much
them
for
it
was an
accident, so there wasn't
to do."
Get somebody drunk and unsteady on her
down
Do
the stairs.
it
for the longest
it?"
think so. But they could see
that
actually sur-
right
feet,
then push her
and nobody would have any reason
to
suspect a thing.
"Anybody She
tilted
Honma ily
see
what happened?"
her head quizzically.
"I
wouldn't know."
decided to take a different tack. "Were you and your fam-
close to Mrs. Sekine?"
"Sort of," she said, explaining that she lived with her
and the two kids 148
in
husband
Akane Villa 201, and Mrs. Sekine had been
directly
.
below them,
in 101.
"And she must have been
in there, what, close to
ten years."
"But the rent must have gone up every time she renewed the contract.
Surprising she didn't move."
"Oh,
obvious you're from Tokyo.
it's
what they charge
there.
It's
I
hear
it's
highway robbery,
not like that around here.
If
you're talking
about a big modern high-rise near the station, well, sure, sive.
high,
But something simple I
"Is
that's
expen-
Akane, rents never get up that
like the
assure you." it
common
for people to stay in
enough and you
a place long
one place
for ten years?"
lose all inclination to
Rent
move, presum-
ably
"Moving can be in
our case,
and her
a real pain.
You have
do everything yourself
to
my husband didn't lift a finger."
.
.
Her expression darkened
narrowed. Her fingertips kept up their precise move-
lids
ments, even though she barely glanced at the curlers she was setting.
"And you "Let's see
all .
.
.
moved this is
"Did you get to
to
our
Akane
?"
Sekine right away?"
making some
kids. They're always
sort of racket.
and introduced myself. Figured
off
—
fifth year."
know Mrs.
She nodded. "Because of our off the chairs or
Villa in
that
So
was
I
jumping down
went around
straight
better than waiting for
to come and complain." "And was Shoko still in and out of the house at that time?" "The daughter?... I must have met her twice. I guess she came home for the summer break and for New Year's." Kanae Miyata clicked
them
the last curler in, gave the old ror,
woman
a quick once-over in the mir-
then went to get a dry towel.
"Was she
pretty?"
"Sure, she's a good-looking girl."
Honma
hadn't seen the real Shoko Sekine's face. It was a shot "Though maybe a little flashy? Mrs. Miyata was busy wrapping the customer's head in a towel. Her only response was a slight twitch of one eye. "Seems she was working in a bar," Honma added. The hairdresser secured the towel with a large rubber band. "I still
in the dark.
149
know whether
don't
I
should say
"Yes,
I
this,
but the
was having
girl
all
Or didn't you know?"
kinds of trouble with loan sharks. did."
She looked disappointed. She had obviously been hoping prise him. "It
was just awful the way those bill
to Mrs. Sekine's.
"When was
She even had
collectors
to call the police at
to sur-
came around
one point."
this?"
Mrs. Miyata paused, a bottle of perm-setting lotion in her hand. "Well,
see. It
let's
must have been the
eighties,
anyway."
No question about that. "Incidentally, speaking of debts,
have to pay a cent
if
I
heard that the parents don't
one of their children runs up a
pile of bills."
Her
And vice-versa
too.
eyes were beady.
What was
so strange about that? "That's right.
no joint guarantor. Unless they're debts both parties same goes for husband and wife." say my husband ran up some debts at the races, I wouldn't
So long as
there's
shared, the "So,
have
to
pay?"
"Of course not." She squeezed some lotion on, and the dozing customer's eyes flipped open;
husband's
it
still
must have been
hanging around
Mrs. Miyata laughed. "Says
The customer turned ta.
to
cold. "What's this? Don't tell
me your
at the track?" the old lady snapped. he'll
look
at
build
me a house."
Honma, but addressed Mrs. Miya-
"That him?"
"No, no. He's a "My, my. There nice-looking
Honma slightly
come up from Tokyo."
visitor I
man all
go,
jumping
the
to conclusions.
way here from Tokyo?"
himself. Mrs. Miyata, meanwhile,
So what brings
this
Again, not a word to
had pushed the
woman
forward and was squeezing her head into a rubber cap.
"He says he came
to see
—
me
let
me know if it gets
too hot, okay?"
she warned, lowering the apparatus over the woman's head. She flicked a switch
and the
drier
began
to
rumble and glow
Then, setting a timer on a machine nearby, she came over
Honma was sitting, and sprawled
infrared. to
where
out on the waiting area bench. She
pulled a pack of Caster Mild cigarettes from her apron pocket and 150
lit
— The
up.
long, slow drag said
from work. ter,"
she
what you want
"If
said,
it all
is
—
was the longed-for break
this
a character reference
on the daugh-
lowering her voice, "you'd be better off going to the
school than asking a neighbor like me."
"The school?"
Old Mrs. Sekine used to work in the cafeteria of the elementary school. The same school the daughter used to go to." "Yes.
"Can't say
I
see
much
point tracing her back that
far."
"You never know. Don't you think the old lady might have sounded off to
her co-workers?"
A malicious gleam returned to her eyes. With
making her mother ashamed of her by working in a shady job and getting deep in debt to loan sharks, there must have a girl like that,
been signs of going bad even back in elementary school.
"And one more
thing," she
went
on. "I bet there are
of
still lots
Shoko's classmates from junior high and high school around here.
What about getting in touch with them?" "Would you know of any close friends she had?"
"Hm
..."
Kanae Miyata tipped her head
to
one
side.
"Some of her
when she was little must live right around here. Who knows, maybe they even come in for perms." Then, leaning close in friends from
to the
woman
under the
drier,
she said loudly, "You remember old
who lived right under us?" "The one who fell down the stairs?" the woman shouted back,
Mrs. Sekine
head held in
her
place.
"Yeah, right.
And she had
a daughter. Twenty-five,
maybe twenty-
six?" "She's twenty-eight this year,"
Honma corrected.
Mrs. Miyata was surprised. "No! Already? Twenty-eight, he says.
Know anybody around
that age
who might
have been in her class
at
school?"
The old lady yawned. Her eyes watered. Probably nice and warm under that
thing. This
is
"At the funeral. That
going nowhere,
Honda boy
he came, didn't he?" the customer
Honma
—was
thought.
his first
name Tamotsu?
said.
"Tamotsu?" "Sure.
Remember? You
set his wife's hair for the
ceremony." 151
Mrs. Miyata laughed.
"I
did?"
Tamotsu Honda. Honma took down the name and the address of his family's auto repair shop and got up to leave. "One more thing." "What's that?"
He brought out
the photo of the fake Shoko. "Ever see this
before? Perhaps she
came
in here at
woman
some point with Shoko."
She took the photo, then passed
over to the
it
woman under
the
drier.
"No, don't recognize her," Mrs. Miyata "What's this
girl
"Oh, nothing
said.
woman asked.
got to do with it?" the other
really."
Mrs. Miyata took another look at the photo.
borrow
this for a while,"
few people.
I'll
be sure
she asked.
to return
it.
If
"I'd like to I
"I wonder if I could show it around to a
find out anything,
I'll
give
you
a call."
Good
thing
Honma had had the
"Yes, of course. Please do."
foresight to have extra copies made.
He grabbed his
coat and turned to go.
She stopped him. "So what kind of fellow ne
is
she marrying, this Seki-
girl?"
"My own good-for-nothing nephew." "No,
I
mean, what
sort of
work
is
he in?"
Honma hesitated. "He works in a bank." Kanae Miyata and her customer looked
at
one another
in the mir-
and nodded. Then Mrs. Miyata came out with some unsolicited advice. "I expect it'd be just as well if he called the whole thing off." ror
As the mother of small children and used
the wife of a gambler, she
was
It was only natural that she'd Shoko Sekine someone who had left
to carrying a lot of responsibility.
cast a cold eye
home
on the
for the big
city,
likes of
—
only to slip into the dark underworld of Tokyo's
clubland. "I'll
be sure to
tell
him
to think
it
over," said
Honma. Mrs. Miyata
smiled, satisfied.
This time the door to the LOreal Salon hardly made a sound. Hon-
ma gave a sigh of relief as he emerged. "Tamotsu, you've got a customer!" a middle-aged mechanic in 152
greasy overalls shouted into the garage. in the
A young man
back and came forward. He was short and
thick neck
and strong jaw
that gave
As he got
his hair in a crewcut.
him an
closer,
stood up
way
solidly built, with a
obstinate look.
Honma
He wore
could see he was
sweating at the temples.
A a
ten-minute walk from the LOreal Salon, the repair shop was on
main thoroughfare leading from the
showed about twenty
cars
and
a
station.
A
quick look around
few motorcycles. There was even a
—
small truck parked over to one side. Five mechanics see
—were working here and
that he could
A boy of high school age huddled
there.
Honda Motors
over a 50cc bike. Everybody wore white overalls with
embroidered on the breast pocket.
"Tamotsu Honda,
is it?"
He nodded his head quickly, without looking away. "Sorry for dropping in like
Honma
As
this."
explained the reasons for his
visit,
widened. "Shoko's okay, right? Whereabouts in Tokyo
"You mean "I lost
Tamotsu's eyes is
she?"
...?"
track of her after she
left
that place in
Kawaguchi.
I've
been
worried about her."
"You visited her "Sure,
I
tried.
at the
Kawaguchi apartment?"
But they said she wasn't there any more."
"Did you see the landlady?"
and was she pissed off. Said Shoko had left without a word, same week." "So you must have gone there at the end of March, the year before "Yeah,
that
last, is
that right?"
Tamotsu wiped
his
hands on his overalls and thought. "Yeah,
I
guess."
"Were you and her close?" "Well, sure, but distrust. "Hey,
private
"Listen, first
Tamotsu's eyes narrowed in a look of growing
don't like this.
You want
to
poke around in Shoko's
me for help." He "I don't like gossiping about my friends."
life,
shoulders.
I
..."
go ahead, but don't ask
it's
not like
breakthrough
that.
I
don't
squared his
mean her any harm." This was
the
Honma had had. No way was he going to let Tamo153
.
tsu go.
"Why
time?
could come back
I
and I'm looking
Honma room
let
me
Could you spare me a little you want. Shoko is missing, actually,
explain.
later, if
for her."
spent the next thirty minutes waiting in the reception
there.
A phone
kept answering the their
you
don't
employees
kept ringing and somebody in an unseen office
calls.
Other than
that, all
Tamotsu Honda brought There was more
light here
left
They
quiet.
trained
two paper cups of coffee on
in
than in the garage and
diagonal scar running the length of his jaw. cident? His
was
well.
Honma
a tray.
could see a
Had he been
in
an ac-
eye strayed slightly too. But on the whole, he was a
—handsome, even.
nice-looking guy
As Honma had said, things were complicated. Tamotsu had to stop him and ask questions from time to time. Otherwise, he kept his
comments
to himself
and
Honma
"Right now,"
The next time
listened.
reached over and switched off the
phone
rang, he
show you any proof
that I'm
the
bell.
said, "I can't
with the police. I'm on leave and
I've
turned in
I can only ask you to believe me." Tamotsu looked down at the coffee
my
ID
for the time
being.
after a
moment.
"All
I
have to do
is
table. "That's okay,"
he said
ask Sakai. He'll check for me."
"Sakai?" "He's a detective with the
lady died, he
"Could "I'll
I
was
real helpful
Utsunomiya
and I got
Police.
Shoko's old
to
meet him?"
ask. I'm sure it'd be okay. But
if
things have gone this
shouldn't you be doing a regular investigation?
Shoko and catch
Honma
When
know him."
this
The sooner you
woman who's been passing herself off as her
spread his hands. "Supposing
we
far,
find ..."
searched and found that
both of them were perfectly okay, except they'd made a friendly agree-
ment best
to sell or trade their family registers? That's probably
we can hope
harder to
for,
154
if
about the
it
makes
it
call in the police."
Tamotsu licked what
but
as long as the possibility exists,
his lips.
He
didn't
Shoko's been murdered?
Do
want
to say
they need a
it.
body
"And what to
go on?"
if
.
.
would make it Tamotsu sighed. "It
Honma friend of
"You
looked
Shoko
know
lady died
and
easier, to
at the
build a case."
young man's sweaty forehead. Finally
a real
Sekine's. ...,"
I
Tamotsu said
went
to
sudden rush, "when her old
Kawaguchi and found she'd moved
couldn't help thinking the worst." eyes. "I actually figured
in a
Shoko might have
killed her
This sent the ball flying into another court. "You
you knew she was
out,
I
He looked at Honma with haunted and run
mean
. .
.
off."
because
in trouble with loan sharks?"
He nodded, reluctantly. "Especially after what Ikumi said. That when Shoko's old lady fell down the stairs, there was this strange woman in the crowd who'd come just to watch. Wearing dark glasses so you couldn't see her face. Ikumi thought
it
might have been Shoko
herself."
Honma leaned forward.
"Ikumi?"
"My wife." "Was she a friend of Shoko's as well?" He shook his head. "No. See, Ikumi, she's the one who found Mrs. Sekine and called the ambulance. She just happened to be passing by at the time. She wound up going to the funeral. That was the first time
we
met, at Shoko's mother's funeral."
155
^ 16 ^
Tamotsu couldn't go anywhere
till
he had closed the shop, so
arranged to meet him after nine that night. Tamotsu tle
knew
Honma
a nice
lit-
drinking place near the station, and promised to phone ahead to
reserve a private room. "That'll be warmer," he said.
Honma
At ten past nine
understood what he'd meant.
him. She wore a turtleneck sweater over a
even that didn't hide her
Ta-
a
She must have been
figure.
When
young woman with loose woolen skirt, but
motsu ducked through the entranceway, he had
at least six
months pregnant. "This
is
my
wife, Ikumi." After introducing her,
he
set
out two
thin cushions next to the heater so that she could lean back against
the wall.
"Pleased to meet you," said Ikumi as she slowly lowered herself
down. She seemed cautious, yet "Is this
your
She beamed ond.
first
at
self-assured.
Honma.
child?" asked
him, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
Though you'd never know
it
to
look
at
"It's
the sec-
Tamotsu, the way he
fusses over me."
"Yeah, but Taro
"And how old
came
is
a bit earlier than
we
thought," he countered.
Taro?"
"He's just past his
first
birthday. Things have
been pretty busy
with us."
A waiter arrived. The as he
before he
went
"Is this 156
place
was warm enough
dashed about. "Sorry about your
out, sliding the first
all
to
make him sweat
the cigarette smoke," he said
door shut behind him.
time in Utsunomiya, Mr.
Honma?" asked Tamotsu.
"Yup.
With a job and
"And
it's
not so
everything,
far that
I
never had the chance."
make
you'd
a trip of
it.
Not from Tokyo,"
Ikumi suggested. "I
was surprised what
"Thanks
a big city
it is."
to the bullet train."
Tamotsu,
it
turned out, had gone to work for his father straight
He had known Shoko Sekine for years, from kinway through middle school. In high school the class-
out of high school. dergarten
all
mates had they had
the
split up,
still
cram school
with Tamotsu opting for vocational school, but
lived in the
same neighborhood and attended
in the afternoons.
closest friend,"
he
girls,
the
same
she was always
my
in
Utsunomiya
too,
but she and Tamo-
been classmates. She had graduated from a Tokyo junior
and then
college
the
all
said, glancing quickly at his wife.
Ikumi was born and raised tsu hadn't
"Of
stayed, putting in five years as a secretary in the
Marunouchi business her older brother,
district.
who had
Her return
to
Utsunomiya came when
always lived at home, was transferred
elsewhere, leaving their parents alone.
"I
was getting
tired of living
by
myself anyway, and everything in Tokyo was so expensive."
"Not
to
mention
when women
that
married, companies can get pretty hard
hit twenty-five
and
on them," Tamotsu
still
Apparently this was a touchy subject. "You can laugh, but she declared. If
hated
"I
she were
still
aren't
said lightly. it's
true,"
it."
a single
woman working
in Tokyo, she
would
never have spoken so frankly; she'd just have teased Tamotsu right back, or remarked to
look the least
how
"lonely"
it
gets, taking care all the
while not
bit lonely.
"Even though
it
was
in
Marunouchi,
it
wasn't a big
company The
went
salary
and bonuses were only
taxes.
We didn't get any fancy company trips, and you practically had
to
so-so. All the overtime
straight to
to get a raise. It didn't take me why everybody is so keen to make it into the major comAnd then to top it all off, people were just basically unfriendly.
bang your head against the wall
long to see panies. I
didn't like
it
Common
one
bit."
complaints,
said: "Salary aside,
Honma
knew. To show his sympathy, he
the big companies are no better than smaller ones 157
comes to the way they treat women who've been Not unless you're very lucky."
when
being made to
Still,
"Women
was
at twenty-five
cops or teachers or anyone with special
terrible.
skills
and
train-
work, they want people as young as they can get them. Twenty-
office
about the
Even a
you hear on the news
limit. Sure,
women
have changed. Nowadays lie.
redundant
feel
probably a different story," she went on. "But for ordinary
ing, that's
five's
there a few
it
years.
are
young
still
all
the time,
at thirty'
Times
—but
it's
a
of twenty-one, as soon as a junior staffer of twenty
girl
signs on, she feels like she's getting old."
"How about the work itself, was it interesting?" Ikumi thought
When a
I
it
over, sipping at her
think back on
now."
it
husband and a child and
"Want
in
were never very
oolong
tea. "It
okay.
home.
my section
close, she
was
the perspective of someone with
funny story?" she asked. "About
to hear a
who was
a girl
a
From
back in Marunouchi
suddenly
only happened to be there because
calls
I'd
me up.
six
months
ago,
—even though we
At
my folks' place.
I
brought Taro over to spend the
night with his grandparents."
Tamotsu was hanging on every word,
as
if
he hadn't heard any of
this before.
"So as soon as
I
'Oh,
fine.'
on the
get
'How's everything?'
And I'm
line, this
So we catch up on the company gossip since
practically all the talking, actually.
how
this year's
company
she started winding to lately.
super cheerful voice
thinking, 'What's the deal?' But
And
I
was
trip
down and
I
she'd been to
to a hot spring resort.
I
just say,
quit.
She did
Hong Kong, Then
got around to asking what
kid
say, 'Raising a
How
is
about
I'd
been able
all I've
asking,
is
finally
been up to
man-
age.'"
"And?"
Ikumi gave
a
wry
smile. "She
was, 'You got married?'
And
was
speechless. All she could say
said, 'Well, sure.
I
I
didn't
single mother.' Well, she didn't have anything else to
sation just petered out,
A
and
was
want
to be a
The conver-
she hung up."
brief silence settled over the table.
bottle of local sake that 158
finally
say.
Ikumi ran a finger around
sitting beside her. "I guess
a
maybe she
was looking "Worse "Yeah.
I
for
someone worse
off
than her."
off?"
was depressed. Feeling
bet she
of the heap. So she thought
I'd left
left
out and at the bottom
the company, not to get married or
study abroad or anything, but only to go crawling back to the sticks.
had to be more miserable than big
city.
So she
it
At
least
she was
I
living in the
still
called."
Tamotsu looked ure out what
her.
was.
"Of course, you
like he'd bitten into "I
don't get
don't.
something and couldn't
fig-
it."
You wouldn't."
more of a woman thing," Honma said. Ikumi shook her head. "Hm, I wonder. Men, they've got promotion "Maybe
and
it's
and what
not. But Tamotsu here, he doesn't get all that." "What about it?" Ikumi smiled and put a hand affectionately on his arm. "Don't get raises
Tamotsu
glared.
mad. I'm not saying you're stupid or anything." "Like hell you're not!" "I'm not. You've got something that probably a lot of
them
will
never have."
Honma asked her to explain. "I
so
mean,
much
always liked cars, since he was
he's
that
he chose auto repair training
little.
at school.
Liked them
Then
his dad's
got a workshop where he's already proven himself as the top mechanic."
"Wasn't always so good at "That's right.
it,"
Tamotsu
You worked hard
at
it.
said in a
show of modesty.
But working hard to get so
means you've got talent. A deadbeat might like fixing cars, too, but he's still no good. But Tamo's been at it since he was a boy and really learned. Now that's what I call happy." Ikumi wasn't the most eloquent speaker, but there was truth in what she said. "Yeah, but it's not like I was satisfied. I wanted to be a technician good
at
it
at a bigger place."
"Like working for
Mazda and racing at Le Mans?" Ikumi
said with
a smile.
"Damn right. But Dad's workshop was here. So I gave up that idea." Ikumi kept quiet and just smiled. Tamotsu
still
had
his illusions, 159
fundamental ones. But Ikumi was smart enough not them.
Honma
admired her
nothing special to look
at,
for that.
to
poke holes
in
She was thoroughly ordinary,
probably hadn't gotten particularly high
woman. She kept her
grades in school, but she was one smart
eyes
open.
Honma saw
the opportunity,
ko Sekine went
The young
and took
it.
"Why do you
think Sho-
Tokyo?"
to
couple's eyes
met
and picked up her chopsticks, as
Then Ikumi looked down it was Tamotsu's busi-
briefly. if
to say that
ness, not hers. "Let's eat before the
"But
food gets cold," she suggested. "I'm starving."
thought you already had supper."
I
remember? That was
"I'm eating for two,
for the baby,"
she said
demurely.
Honma looked over at Tamotsu. "You wouldn't have any idea what was going on with her around the time she graduated from high school and started looking for a job, would you?" Tamotsu
bit his
lower
lip,
then said gruffly: "What's that got to do
And personal, too." know Shoko as a person, how might give me an angle on what
with anything? That's ancient history. "Well,
I'll I
tell
you.
she decided things.
happened
"And
If
get to
I'd like to
I
know
that,
it
to her later."
that'll
help you find the
woman
who's passing herself off as
her?" Tamotsu gave Ikumi a look out of the corner of his eye.
my wife
everything you told
He reached something ma's
first
for her
my dad
me
told
before. She's a lot smarter than me."
handbag. "Brought
this.
It's
from high school,
Out came a photograph. At long real Shoko Sekine.
took."
glimpse of the
"1
last,
Hon-
Dressed in her sailor-suit schoolgirl uniform, holding a black card-
board tube under one arm, she was looking straight into the camera.
She was the picture of earnest youth. Long, slender eyes, tiny pinch of a nose. Hair hanging jutting out
looks
below a pleated navy
— the kind of
old photo, but
her shoulders, matchstick knees
skirt.
A
slip of a girl
face that cried out for a little
still it
her impostor was. 160
down below
was
with average
makeup.
It
was an
clear she wasn't nearly as good-looking as
saw her two or three times after she left for Tokyo, when she came back to visit. Then there was the funeral. Her hair was about the same length as always, but she'd had it permed and dyed red. Said "I
she hadn't had time to get louder.
It
was like
Honma
said,
the real
"You
it
back
to
normal. She talked louder, looked
Shoko was locked up somewhere
know
that at
inside her."
one point Shoko was in trouble
with loan sharks, right?"
They both nodded. Ikumi and
I
"I
told him: "I heard about
it
after
Tamotsu
started going out."
knew about
it all
dresser as Shoko's
things got so bad her
me
just to call
along.
mom, and
My mom
used to go to the same hair-
she heard the whole story there.
mother even had
So
to call the police.
I
I
guess
told her
next time one of those goons came around."
"You told Mrs. Sekine that?"
knew her real well." "Did Shoko always come home during her summer at New Year's, after she'd gone to work in Tokyo?" "Yeah.
1
Tamotsu paused the rest of the time
to think.
"Hm. Seems
like
vacations and
she didn't one year, but
..."
"Did you ever have a class reunion?"
"Why,
sure.
Our junior high
class did.
But she didn't come."
"No?" "People were talking about her, though. That's
how
I
heard she
was hostessing in Tokyo." Tamotsu wet his lips. "Another guy from our class who was working in Tokyo, he went to some cheap joint in Shibuya and Shoko was there in fishnet stockings." "Shibuya? She never worked in Shibuya." "Where was she working?" "At a place called Gold in Shinjuku and another called Lahaina in
Shimbashi.
bad
place.
I still
And
"Maybe
the
haven't been to
Gold
yet,
but Lahaina wasn't such a
the girls weren't in fishnet stockings."
guy said
it
to get a reaction," said Ikumi.
"Your friends, the people from school, did they
all
know Shoko
was having money problems?" "Sure, they knew. Rumors like that get around." "Then, what about the way she cleared up her debts?" 161
.
Tamotsu shook his head. "No, not the What'd you
call it
real story.
Not about
that
.
.
again?"
"Personal bankruptcy." "That's right. Even I didn't know till you told me. Her old lady said Shoko had gone around borrowing from relatives to get back on her feet. All this
time, that's
Interesting, thought
her mother
how bad
"So around here,
relatives to lend her
I
thought."
Honma.
Apparently, Shoko hadn't even told
things had gotten. that's
Tamotsu nodded.
up
what
what everyone thinks?"
"Yeah. Except that
was odd she had
it
money, because nobody knew them. At
all
these
least
not
here."
"Knowing all that," Honma ventured, "did anybody ever think was anything suspicious about Mrs. Sekine's death? Ever won-
there
der about Shoko?"
Tamotsu looked
straight at Ikumi, as
if
for support. "Yes,
I
did."
"That Shoko might have been tempted by her mother's insurance
money?" Tamotsu nodded again, and Ikumi spoke up. "Yes. After all, word was that it came to around twenty million yen." Honma smiled knowingly. "Well, actually, it was only two million." "Really?" "Right. All she
"How'd
it
had was National Health."
get so
blown out of scale?"
"Rumors."
Ikumi asked Tamotsu, "Where exactly did you hear
it
was twenty
million?"
He hung his
Honma
head.
"I
don't know." There
said, "At the funeral, did
was
a pause.
you ask Shoko
if
she'd got her
debts sorted out?"
"Come "Yeah,
on,
I
I
couldn't ask her that."
guess not."
"In any case,
money was "But
it
Shoko seemed so shocked by what'd happened
the last thing a person
did occur to you?"
He looked ashamed. 162
"Yeah."
..."
that
— —
"Your detective friend
have an
Sakai, wasn't
it?
—did he ask her? Did she
alibi?"
"But there was a
full
investigation
and they
didn't
come up with
anything."
Honma, putting the matter on hold for the time He knew just how "full" police investigations could be. "After funeral, when you went to see her in Kawaguchi, was that be-
Okay, thought being.
the
cause of your suspicions?" "That's right. That's
why I went all
"And when you got
there, she
the
way down
there."
was already missing. So you figured
she'd run away." "Right."
Honma brought out his photo of the Ikumi. "Ever see this woman before?"
fake
Shoko and showed
to
it
Ikumi grabbed the photograph.
"When pened
to
Mrs. Sekine
down
fell
those
stairs,
I
understand you hap-
be going by and called the ambulance.
ple there watching
was
a
woman
And one
of the peo-
you'd never seen before,
who was
wearing sunglasses. Right?"
Ikumi nodded, without taking her eyes "Did she look anything
Ikumi studied
it
like the
at length.
off the picture.
woman in that photo?"
The other two kept
quiet.
Loud
voices
cut through the paper sliding doors, customers shouting out orders.
Ikumi shook her head, though ber.
only saw the "Can't
was still trying to rememwas two years ago, and anyway I
clearly she
"She doesn't look familiar. But
it
woman for a second."
you remember anything about what she looked
like?" Ta-
mo tsu said, leaning forward. "Not
really.
Honma
felt
didn't think
down
Nothing specific."
Ikumi was
the stairs,
easily influenced, anyway.
you remember
Ikumi drew her arms in
was on
it."
He
"The night she
fell
they should back down. "Okay, don't force
that fairly well, don't you?"
tight across
her chest. "Sure,
I
think so.
I
my way home from work. I was working part-time at a coffee
shop in the
station,
and sometimes I got
to take
a piece of cake or something. Well, that night,
home I
the leftovers
was carrying some 163
when
I got home, what with all the commotion, it was all must have swung the bag around when I screamed." "Sorry to make you go over this again, but when she fell, did Mrs.
cake, but
squashed.
I
Sekinecry out?"
Ikumi shook her head. "The policemen asked
body
didn't hear anything. All of a sudden, this
down in
front of
in. "That's
suicide.'
why
Even now
—he went with
mentioned
the police, the
it's
I
There was an elevator,
thing they said
first
a toss-up. Sakai
— the detective you had
suicide. Said that unless
wish, you wouldn't even think about going
"Oh
that too, but
came tumbling
me, out of nowhere."
Tamotsu broke
was 'probable
me
just
down
I
a death
those stairs drunk.
after all."
yes?"
"But according to the folks in that bar of hers, Tagawa, she never liked the elevator. Especially not after drinking. Said sick.
She always took the
it
made her
feel
stairs."
"Uh-huh." "Still,
Sakai thought
it
was
suicide.
He
someone had pushed her, she'd have Not necessarily, thought Honma. Not
said
if it
was an accident or
screamed, for sure." if
she was knocked out cold
"Sometimes, somehow caught unawares barely make a sound. Is it quiet around there?" or
.
.
.
they say a victim will
Tamotsu laughed. "Well, Tagawa has got karaoke, and gone dancing there
next door's got a dance
floor. I've
so loud you can't hear a
word anybody
Ikumi agreed. "Right.
who came running
I
out at
before,
and
it's
says."
mean, when first
the club
I
screamed, the only people
were from the other buildings and
shops around there. Nobody from Tagawa even noticed until there
was
a pretty big crowd."
"And Mrs. Sekine was in Tagawa "Seems she went there a lot."
that night?"
"Regularly?" "I
guess. At least that's
when Shoko was her
still
what Shoko
living at
mom had." "She have any particular day?"
164
told
me. For years, from back
home. She said
that
was the only fun
"Saturday nights. She worked in the school cafeteria, remember.
Sunday she
need
didn't
to get
up
early."
Every Saturday night. The only other thing you would need to
know was where
to wait. All
you had
to
do then was wait
for Mrs.
Sekine to totter out of Tagawa and give her a whack from behind.
sounded simple enough; but
would have had
to
keep tabs on her
There had to be an easier way,
door
It
the person planning to kill her
still,
for quite a while beforehand.
surely.
Maybe
the
woman had gone
posing as a saleslady. Or perhaps she'd been tipped off
to door,
about the Saturday routine and come up to Utsunomiya for that specific thing.
But where would she have gotten information
"Instead of sitting here talking,
maybe we should go
like that?
Tagawa,"
to
said Tamotsu. "I'll
come
too,"
Ikumi
said.
"No, you'll catch cold." "I'll
be
fine.
dressed warmly," she told him, thrusting her chin
I
forward.
Some kind Tamotsu you
to
of hidden message passed between them, prompting
put his glass
down and
Honma,
say: "Mr.
want
I
to help
out."
"Help me?" "Help you find Shoko. I'm offering
Honma
looked
at
to
work
Ikumi. She pressed her
full-time
lips
on
this."
together and gave a
quick, firm nod.
"But what about your job?" "I'll
too."
take time
He spoke
off.
No problem.
So
it's
decided, okay? Ikumi's agreed,
quickly, then sprang to his feet. "Be right back."
His wife patted him on the back of the legs as he
left
the room.
good guy," she said, sitting up and straightening her skirt. "Mm," Honma agreed. "I'm sorry to drag you into this mess."
"He's a
"It's all
right. We'll get
through
it
fine,"
She refolded the handkerchief on her tive
lap.
him
quickly.
me you're
a detec-
she reassured
"He
told
from Tokyo."
"Well, I'm "I
after
on
leave just now."
heard. Tamotsu's pretty organized, actually. This evening, right
you
left
the garage, he rang
up
his friend in the police
and had 165
him check whether
was
there
Shunsuke Honma on the
a
force in
Tokyo."
"Oh?"
"And now he's revved up and raring to go. He's excited about working on a case with a real detective. He really wants to do it." "You're sure you don't mind? He'd have to take time off from work, maybe leave you on your own up here."
him
"Honest. Please take
on."
Honma paused for a couple of breaths. Ikumi looked up abruptly. "Why not?" "Because
can't believe
I
cause problems.
should stay
I'll
you
really
don't think
"I
want
it,
and
I
can."
I
want
don't
keep your husband informed, but
I
to
think he
home."
at
"That won't work.
It'd
be better
if
he gave you a hand."
"You honestly don't mind?"
"Of course
I
ing tense. "But
mind! I'd
I
mind like crazy," she burst out, her face lookmore to have him sitting at home think-
hate even
ing about Shoko."
"Hang on.
I
think you're letting your imagination run away with
you."
"What makes you so "Well, even
if
sure?" she said curtly.
they were childhood sweethearts, you and his family
much more important much I can tell." are
"Yes.
We're important.
the point."
him now than
And he
Her voice grew
you have any "Yes,
to
friends you've
takes
good
Shoko woman. That
care of us. But that's not
thinner, less energetic. "Mr.
known since
Honma, do
childhood?"
but I'm not close to them any more."
"Well, then,
you wouldn't understand."
"Were Tamotsu and Shoko close even "Tamotsu
still
—he loved
after they
there,
I
grew up?"
When
cared about her, anyway.
Tokyo and got into a mess cerned
this
she went off to
could see that he wasn't just con-
her."
"But not the same love he feels for you."
"No, ting so 166
it's
different. That's
worked up about
why it's all right.
her.
But
it's
I
can forgive him for get-
not something
I
want
to let drag
on
forever
and
ever."
Ikumi looked down.
A
single tear slipped onto
the back of her hand.
"You shouldn't get so upset,
not good for the baby."
it's
Honma
smiled and tried to catch her eye.
But Ikumi wasn't smiling. She hunched her shoulders. "He's always loved her and he's always thinking about her. They share memories
from way back when they were with
kids. There's
no way
I
can compete
that."
Honma
thought of his friend Funaki and the heart-to-hearts he
had with Chizuko's framed photo back
at
home.
"If
he loved her that
much, why didn't he marry her?" Ikumi gave just a trace of a smile. "Shoko didn't seem as a serious prospect. They were too close for that."
—
Too close "Besides
had been Funaki's
Ikumi dabbed
at
—by suspecting her of
him
line, too.
her eyes with the back of her index
not trying to hide the tears any more. "He
finger,
down
that
..."
to take
killing her mother.
feels
And
he
let
her
he's felt guilty
ever since."
make up
"So he wants to "That's right.
made up
his
for it?"
Three hours, we argued about
mind
to help you.
So
I
just
hope
this.
Believe me, he's
you'll let
him
get
it
out
of his system." Ikumi wanted none of this business, but wanted even less to
have to compete with a memory.
how determined Tamotsu was, but Honma was struck mainly by her own resolve. He sighed and said, "When all this She kept saying
is
over,
I
hope
you'll
make him buy you something really expensive."
Ikumi smiled. "He's going the land.
I
want
to live in
to build
one of those
us a house. We've already got split-level
homes."
"That's wonderful."
The door slid open and Tamotsu
returned. He'd probably been wait-
ing outside the door. His eyes were downcast. "Shall
we
go?" Ikumi said, starting to get up. Half crouching, she
turned to Honma. "Hey, official
if
Tamotsu makes out okay, could he get an
testimonial or something from the police?"
Tamotsu was embarrassed. "Come on, "What's wrong with asking?
I'd
lay off
it."
love to have a fancy certificate 167
framed on the
wall, wouldn't
you? All we have
dation you got in second-grade gym class." For the first time in a long while, Honma
what
168
I
can do."
now
felt
is
that
commen-
warm inside.
"I'll
see
—
17
They went by
taxi to the foot of the staircase
where Mrs. Sekine had
died.
"With that
leg,
you'd never
make
it
up
there,"
Tamotsu
said, stat-
ing the obvious.
One look said everything. Two long concrete flights of steps came sweeping down like a fairground slide. So steep, so poorly lit that each
stair
was deep
in shadow. There
was
a handrail, but the angle
was so treacherous and every step so shallow
that,
would send you crashing
slightest loss of balance
even sober, the
straight
down
nothing would stop you. "Well,
Ikumi
had
if I
said,
to pick a staircase to use as a
and coughed, huddling down
her coat. "Even before stairs
I
used
to think
it
it
happened, every time
was
like
murder weapon,"
as far as she could inside I
walked past these
something from The Exorcist."
"Exorcist?"
Ikumi looked incredulous. "Don't you go
An
elevator
was tacked onto the
to the
movies?"
side of the building.
It
was
car-
peted in cheap red acrylic, the walls covered with scratches and graffiti.
The thing barely managed
third floor. If
be
my
leg
to creak
and wheeze
were in better shape,
Honma
its
way up
thought,
it
to the
would
faster to walk.
There was just one customer in Tagawa, an older
from the window booth where he was tsu. It
tion.
sitting as
man who
soon as
up he saw Tamogot
turned out to be Sakai, the detective from the local police sta
Again, Tamotsu was one step ahead of Honma.
Honma had met
cops
who
got self-conscious working with some169
— body from the metropolitan police. They'd either grovel or start talking big and dropping names. Fortunately, Sakai did neither. He was at the end of his career "Just another two months to go till retirement" and beyond impressing.
—
—
got the
"I
— the bare bones, anyway—from Honda
lowdown
Seems you got yourself a complicated
There are two kinds of detectives: those
down
circumstances. Sakai was the places.
who
guard in public, and those
their
here.
case."
last sort,
who
absolutely never
let
carefully choose the right
and Tagawa was one of those
A heated carafe of local sake stood before him.
"About Yoshiko Sekine's death, then," he said without any pream"Whether there was anything suspicious that's the first order of
—
ble.
business, "Yes.
I
take it?"
Can you
definitely rule out foul play?"
Sakai gave a calm, reassuring smile.
Honma
imagined
it
must be a
very effective weapon: never give a suspect cause for alarm, soften
him up so
he'd do
what you wanted
could have killed her.
I
guarantee
at the tap of a finger.
"No one
it."
"But..."
Tamotsu edged forward, than once.
Nobody
his voice insistent. "Like
could've pushed her
down
I
told you,
more
the stairs. Its impossi-
ble."
"Impossible?" said
Honma. "Because no one heard
a cry?
Or
is it
something else?"
"What do you say we go out and look around? That'll be faster." Leaving Ikumi inside it was cold out there and "not very safe"
—
the three
men went out onto
the third-floor walkway: a bare concrete
passage no more than a yard wide running along the back of the building, only partly covered
your back your
left.
to
by concrete
Tagawa, the elevator was
Tagawa was the middle of
on
to
eaves. If
your
you stood with
right, the staircase to
three small establishments;
was another
floor that
Tamotsu had mentioned. There was no other door
No storage room, no
bar, and,
toilet,
the
left,
on
the place with the dance
the right
in sight.
nothing.
"Get the picture?" Sakai said confidently as he wandered toward the staircase. 170
"No
place to run
and
hide.
Suppose somebody did do
it.
Afterward, they'd have only two choices. One, go
down
in the eleva-
—whichever—and make
Two, duck into one of the bars
tor.
noth-
like
ing had happened."
and some acting
"Either way, you'd need guts
ability,"
acknowl-
edged Honma, drawing another smile from Sakai.
"More than most people can come up with."
The
three
men
stood at the top of the
ward, Tamotsu in the
stairs,
Sakai furthest for-
rear.
The second-story landing was less than a yard square. It was the only stop. Beyond that, a flurry of small concrete steps slipped straight
down
to the gray
make your head
cement pavement
one
bottom.
It
was enough
fell,
Your wife swears by
absolutely no one else went
that, right,
down
is
one other
to the second-floor landing
locked up after hours, and
is
in, for
anyone other than
a
it
looking back
possibility.
The
per-
and escapes through the
bank. But you'd have to be awfully quick on your place
down these
Tamotsu? And there was no
at the top of the stairs, either," the detective said,
over his shoulder. "Of course, there
son goes
to
reel.
"After Yoshiko Sekine stairs.
at the
would be
feet.
Plus the whole
a heck of a job getting
bank employee."
Tamotsu scratched his neck and said nothing.
"What about
the elevator?"
Honma asked,
trying not to grin.
"That pile of scrap metal?" Sakai was grinning too. straight.
yelling,
Mrs. Sekine goes
list
"Let's get this
the stairs, Ikumi finds her and starts
people come running. Meanwhile, the murderer goes
in the elevator
our
down
and runs
off before
down
anyone notices? Any acrobats on
of suspects? Because we're talking about a matter of seconds.
Other people were around by then." "Well, then,
what about popping
into one of bars
and acting
like a
customer?" Tamotsu asked, keeping the questions going. Sakai shook his head. "Like
tioned the people in
all
I
said before,
"They
all
returned around that time, and that
there's
doesn't work.
We ques-
He rapped on the door of nobody stepped out and no new customers walked in,
the bars that day."
the noisiest establishment.
either.
it
Each place has a toilet and no need to go outside."
said
a telephone
on the premises, so
171
Tamotsu gestured toward the heavy door. "But
in a place this loud,
you think they actually keep tabs on everybody? Don't you think they could have said whatever came to mind?" "Well, sure, maybe," Sakai said, just to
humor him.
"But
let's
say
guy who pushed Mrs. Sekine down the stairs was waiting in one of the bars, how would he keep watch on her and know when she'd the
stepped out of Tagawa? All right, he could hang around outside the
whole time. That'd be a sure
would seem kind of strange If he had done that, somebody would remember. Okay. So put him inside, and he'd never hear to the other
thing, but
it
customers passing through.
Mrs. Sekine leave over
all
Which is
the singing.
Tamotsu was stumped. He suddenly looked hands in his pockets.
"What about "It
ter
the daughter's alibi?" asked
to be?"
it
cold,
mony on
that. It
p.m.
The daugh-
in her bar all evening.
We have her co-workers' testi-
was
The place wasn't
a Saturday night.
Tamotsu was
"Sure. Co-workers."
Honma and
his
Honma.
checks out. The time of death was about 11:00
was working
and jammed
closed."
dismissive.
Sakai exchanged a look. "This
isn't
TV,
you know,"
Sakai said. Detectives actually place ine. If
an
the person from the
more weight on
than people imagto
remove
of suspects and look elsewhere. Amateurs are
list
more stubborn, willing They get stuck on motive and often
Typically,
alibis
an investigator has no choice but
alibi is solid,
to
overlook
can't see
beyond
it,
alike.
it.
Tamotsu, from the minute he got
Shoko might have done
and evidence
alibis
it
into his
head that
couldn't seriously consider anything else.
To him, Shoko's debts carried more weight than any
alibi.
Honma,
however, never even entertained the notion that Shoko might have killed her mother.
At
on
He was looking
Sakai's insistence,
his wife, leaving the
Honma's
for Jun's "Shoko."
Tamotsu went back
inside
Tagawa
to
check
two detectives alone.
ears were getting
numb.
"I
can understand
why you
rule
out murder," he said. "But you've
him. 172
still
got reservations,
I
take
it."
Sakai
saw
right through
"
"Just
my opinion.
I
"
.
could be wrong."
"Fair enough. That's
all
I'm saying too."
"According to young Honda, you consider Mrs. Sekine's death a suicide?"
Sakai pulled
up
his coat collar against the cold
and nodded. His
eyes watered in the sharp wind. "I
assume you checked with the other women
lars at
at
her job and regu-
Tagawa who knew her well."
Sakai stared straight
down
the gray steps. "She took a spill from
mean, right before her death, only a month or
here once before.
I
That time she
backward, four or
fell
"Anybody see "Yes. It
five steps
so.
down."
it?'
seems she managed
to give a yell this time.
Somebody
who'd just gone into Tagawa heard and came running." He gave Hon-
ma
a penetrating look.
her, 'Careful, Yoshiko,
Honma
could
"The person
you want
feel the
who
helped her up says she told
to kill yourself?'
wind chapping his
lips.
"I figure it was worry, about the future. Her daughter gets tangled up in debt, she's nearly thirty and still showing no sign of finding her way in the world. Working in some cheap dive, doing God knows what there. And Yoshiko herself, it wasn't as if she were going to be
around forever
to bail her
daughter out.
One
of the people working at
was telling me, 'Yoshiko used to get so depressed she'd say she wondered if there was any reason to keep going.' "When she died, Mrs. Sekine was ..." the cafeteria
"Fifty-nine.
Not
that old.
But she'd had her share of hard knocks.
can sympathize in that department." Sakai to
massage the small of his back.
No
savings,
That's
take
it
no
what she
"
'What's going to
security for the years faced,
any longer. At
when
and she brooded about least, that's
how I
I
wound one hand around
figure
I
can't
it, till
happen
to
work any
finally
me?.
.
more.'
she couldn't
it."
"But there was no will." Not that that was so
uncommon among
suicides.
Sakai lowered his voice to a whisper. "If you ask me, there's
more
than one kind of suicide. Swallowing bug spray or jumping off a building
is
tall
dramatic, sure, but there's also the let-fate-take-its-course 173
approach." With that, he did an about-face, walking back to the
Honma saw
started to reach for his sleeve, but stopped himself
stairs.
when he
the detective grab the handrail.
Sakai went
down just one
step.
Below him spread the gray pave-
ment. "Every time she came to Tagawa, Mrs. Sekine would get drunk and take the stairs.
Maybe she knew
that sooner or later she'd slip or lose
her balance, and hoped she'd tumble way,
that's
all
the
way
to the
bottom. Any-
my best guess."
"The old lady was that
Honma's mouth was open, but
..."
lump stuck in his throat. "... lonely?" "From what I can gather." Sakai had
his
back
a cold
him, but he
to
now
turned around and climbed back up. "Up until she died, she kept
coming out
week
here,
and the customers
too,
week. Everybody
after
knew
she used these
at
Tagawa, the
staff
even when she
stairs,
was blind drunk. And they warned her, sure, they warned her all right. But none of her drinking buddies ever offered to see her out safely."
eyebrows drooped. His
Sakai's graying
rest of his face wasn't
smiling at
all.
lips
formed a smile, but the
"I'm a fine one to talk. I've sat in
and concerned, when she was there a
that bar myself, acting friendly
couple of times."
They headed back
to rejoin Ikumi.
taken a room in a hotel by the station. When he went up the key at the front desk, they said he had a message. was from Makoto, received at 7:25 p.m. He was planning to
Honma had to pick It
spend the night with the called their place,
Isakas,
much
Makoto answered
to
Honma's
right away.
relief.
"Dad?
I've
When
he
been wait-
ing for you."
What
time was
it,
anyway? The bedside clock read close
night. "Sorry,
I
got back really late
"Well, uh, there
was
a call
"Who?" "You know, Dr. Machiko." 174
.
.
.
What's up?"
from
Dr.
Machiko."
to
mid-
Of course,
the physical therapist from Osaka. Dr.
Machiko
Kita-
mura. She even had Makoto using that Osaka drawl now. Not Doctor but Doctah. "She
because
call
missed
I
my therapy session?"
"Uh-huh."
a
"You stayed up this late to tell me that?" Makoto sounded angry. "Don't yell at me long-distance, okay? waste of money. This is the Isakas' phone, you know!" "Don't you worry about that, silly I did the calling, so I pay."
It's
—
Another voice could be heard in the background, saying, "Here.
me do some ground control."
Let
Hisae came on.
"Hello?"
"Shunsuke? Hey, park
listen.
It's
about that photo with those crazy ball-
lights."
"The ones facing out?" "Right, right. Well,
people about
it
we kept
thinking about
it,
even asked a few
—we figured you wouldn't mind. Anyway
effective, getting
it's
more
information from more people, right?
"And...?" "Let
kept
it
me in
finish, will
mind
too.
you? So anyway, Makoto, being a good boy, he
He even
forgot to
do
his
homework, thinking
about those lights so much." "Don't
him
tell
"We can
"So today, told
Makoto
that,"
his father
thinking about all,
in the
background.
the
within three days the
and
Makoto groaned
homework slide this once. Go on." when the phone call came from Dr. Machiko and she
let
right?
it.
was
a deserter
and
MPs would come
So Makoto asked
that
arrest
her.
A
if
he didn't report back
him, even then he was
doctor for a sports club
Maybe she'd know."
Honma got a better grip on the receiver. "And? Did she?" "Well, she said, 'Why didn't you ask me right away?' I may not have the accent quite right, but ..."
"So she knew?" "Well,
why do
think I'm telling you?" Hisae said, exasperated.
"Ready, Shunsuke? Those crazy lights, they're not crazy at
were looking
at
all.
We
them wrong." 175
"
"Hmm?" "The
same
lights in the photo, they're ordinary
as in
ing the
wrong way In
"But in the photo
Hisae cut him said
it
was
stadium
The
lights.
any ballpark anywhere in the country. They're not point-
a
fact
they don't even turn."
..."
off.
house by
"Like
I
said,
we were
looking at
it
wrong. You
a ballpark, right?"
"Yes."
"Which seemed more than said that since the floodlights
likely.
But
here's the
good
part.
You
were facing the house, they must have
been lighting the area outside the ballpark."
"And?" "That's where you went wrong." Makoto came back on, the excitement in his voice contagious. "Dad, listen. Dr. Machiko told me there's only one place in the whole
country where they got houses built inside a ballpark. Get
The
lights are facing the right
it,
Dad?
way! There's houses inside the
sta-
dium!"
Honma was thrown Machiko knew where "Uh-huh.
it
for a minute.
He managed
"And
to ask,
Dr.
was?"
She's a sports doctor
from Osaka, and a super baseball
fan, too."
"So
in
it's
Osaka?"
"Yup," said Makoto, "Osaka.
town. So
It's
a stadium they never use, see? In
Daei, and moved out of empty now, the Osaka Field. But they didn't tear it down. use it for big events, car shows and stuff. And one time they
Hawks were bought by
1988, the Nankai it's
They just
did this 'Housing Festa.'
"'Housing
...'?"
"They did
it
of a whole a fake,
176
it's
bunch
of
a model!"
model houses. Get
it?
—
You know The house in the
again, not so long ago, she said.
a
show
picture's
^ 18 ^
New Tokaido bullet train to Osaka. A five-minute walk from New Osaka Station puts you on the Midosuji subway line, which cuts
Take the
straight across the heart of the city, north to south.
you
to
Namba Station.
ping arcade which
is
so big
jostling brings
it
Twenty minutes of
Navigate the underground shop-
would take
a devoted shopper a couple
of days to explore properly, then emerge into a jumble of small-time retailers
and
Wedged
in
rental office buildings
among them is
jammed up one
against the other.
a baseball stadium.
The old Osaka Field. The outside wall is all but obliterated by a random collage of signs and billboards. Hardly your usual home-run hall of fame.
You could be looking broadside
at a derelict
warehouse
somewhere. But as a string of newer team franchises came up with the very latest, fully equipped venues
—
Kobe Green Stadium that just didn't
make
it
there
had
to
—Seibu Stadium, Tokyo Dome,
be teams
like the
The entrance was thoroughly unremarkable:
maximum metal wall.
allowable six feet and, next to
A
Nankai Hawks
and played in run-down ballparks
it,
like these.
a carport built to the
a sliding door set into a
yellow banner tacked over the door read "Osaka Field
—Housing Expo Information." Honma headed
inside.
The
plain white plaster walls of a corridor-
cum-office space bore cheerful color panels showing houses of vari-
ous architectural eyes, side,
styles,
each with a number
at the
bottom. To his
which had grown accustomed to the bright morning light outthe interior looked a bit dim and gloomy. The hallway ended in
another sliding door, which led out onto the
Honma
could see a
fleet
of
field itself.
model homes framed against
Out
there
the tiers of 177
faded red and yellow seats. Just on this side of the door, several long
desks were placed together in an L-shape.
was ensconced there. Sunday afternoons drew big crowds, and
A
prim, thirtyish recep-
tionist
tors
nosing about. Luckily
Honma
there were plenty of visi-
didn't have to beat
anyone
else to
was the lady fazed at all when he pulled out the Polaroid. "I wonder if you could tell me when you might have had this model on display?" the receptionist's desk, nor
"Oh
dear," she exclaimed. "I'm afraid this one's
you looking
for a
as Dr. Machiko's
house
like this?"
—she had
no longer up. Are
Her drawl wasn't
a prettier voice
as
pronounced
—but her intonation
said Osaka. "If you're interested in another Western-style this type,
"No,
still
home
of
we do have a newer model."
sorry, I'm
only interested in this one."
"Oh, too bad," she the long nail of her
said,
little
touching the corner of her mouth with
—the only polished
fingernail
finger
on her
hand.
"How long have you been holding Expos here?" "This one has been on since
"And you've had
the
last
autumn. Since September."
same models up
the
whole time?"
"That's right."
"And this model isn't one of them? You didn't change the models midway through or anything like that?" "No, sir, they're the same ones. Here's a copy of our pamphlet. You can also go out and look around for yourself."
—Housing Expo"
Honma ran his eye over the stack of "Osaka Field pamphlets on the desktop.
"It
would be
you ever hold an event called 'Housing "Yes,
I
a long time ago now, but did
Festa' here?"
believe so."
"When would that have been?" "Well, now ..." She paused and began flipping back through a large desk calendar. Honma laid both hands on the desk and waited. months, July through October, 1987," she said. She looked up from her handwritten notes. "The number of builders taking part was much smaller than in the current Expo,
"Housing Festa ran
maybe not even 178
for four
half."
— "Are
show
the companies from that
all
represented this time
around?" "Yes, but..."
Honma
picked up a pamphlet and spread
mark
"Sorry to bother you, but could you
showing now and were find
my way
around.
I
also in the earlier
assume the reps
open on the desk.
it
the companies that are
show? That would help me
for
each company are inside
the houses?" "Yes, they're all there."
against her records,
Stepping out onto the little
The
receptionist checked the
and promptly ticked
Honma
field,
off a total of five
could hardly believe that this
arena was a regulation-size major-league stadium.
seemed too warm but a mistake.
for last week's
Whole
families
pamphlet
companies.
snowstorm
to
And
the day
have been anything
were out shopping
Young
for houses.
couples with dreams of building someday darted about, calling to
each other and making plans. Then, as illusions, a
if
to
snap them out of their
herd of middle-aged housewives would pass through,
grumbling "This here doesn't work" or "Impossible
to clean."
One
could see them ganging up on some salesman and asking questions,
and hear
his
smooth response:
"In this line,
model with even sharper design have radiant floor heating
also have a deluxe
And of course,
all
the
rooms
..."
Whenever Honma cornered ing,
features.
we
a salesman, though, he started
"Ever see this uniform before?
Or
this girl?"
by say-
Rather than going
was more effective Did he look more like the
into a long explanation about the Polaroid, he simply said he
looking for his runaway daughter, which proved
than he ever hoped. People wanted to help. father of a
grown daughter than of a
far
ten-year-old boy?
But all the answers came back negative. One company, two, three
more convinced he became that pinpointing the house wouldn't help him get any real bearing on his "Shoko." The mystery of the stadium lights had suddenly cleared up and he had hauled himself down to Osaka on the sheer momentum of it, but how could he put so much stock in one blurry little the longer he circled the stadium, the
down the builder, "Shoko" could still who had happened to pass a model home
image? Supposing he did track only have been someone
179
she apparently liked.
It
would be almost impossible
to trace her
through
a snapshot.
The
last of the five
companies, however, took the
bait:
New
City
Housing, whose "Grand Japanesque" boasted an entrance the size of
The saleswoman was small but pretty in her gray skirt-and-vest uniform and a pair of two-inch heels that gave her a stiff, straight back. Her name tag said "Hi! I'm E. Yamaguchi." Honma's
entire kitchen.
"Yes, that's
Housing Festa
one of ours, I'm
Type 2 Chalet 1990 from the
sure.
collection." Textbook-perfect phrasing
and pure Osaka
and it comes with a working fireplace option. Let me go check with our main office whether we still have any brochures available." She had turned toward a room on the right that served as a temporary on-site intonation, a treat for the ears. "Just like a real Swiss chalet,
office,
when Honma stopped her.
"No, actually
that's all right.
I
just
wanted
to
confirm that the house had
been here."
"Pardon?" "Actually, there are a couple
more
things
I'd like to ask, if
wouldn't mind." Moving away from the flow of
window
in the tastefully
usual questions. But she
visitors,
you
over to a
Honma tried his "Shoko." Honma apol-
appointed living room,
knew nothing about when Ms. Yamaguchi asked him
ogized and was about to go
to wait a
second.
"The uniform
in the
photo looks
familiar,
but
I
she said, touching her cheek with one finger as
it,"
can't quite place
she had tooth-
if
ache.
"Are you sure?" "Pretty sure. But there's
someone
during the Housing Festa. Let
row
else
on the
me just run and
staff
who was
here
Could
bor-
get her.
I
the photo?"
"Certainly, here "I'll
you
are."
be right back." While she was in the
office,
people passing
through the living room cast curious looks in Honma's direction.
Was
he a buyer waiting for his contract papers? E.
The 180
Yamaguchi returned with
latter
a taller, slightly older
wore an identical gray uniform and
woman
in tow.
a tag saying, "Hi! I'm
K. Komachi." She gave a
Polaroid "I
was
little
bow
as
soon as she saw Honma. The
in her hands.
believe this
is
a
Mitomo Agency uniform," she
said,
without
waiting for an introduction.
"Agency?"
handed the photo back to Honma. remember from our regular trainee orientations.
"Travel agents." She "I
mistake," Ms. Yamaguchi confirmed. "We're cluded, under the
tomo Agency
is
all,
Mitomo Construction Group
There's
no
New City Housing inumbrella.
And
this
Mi-
another of the subsidiaries."
"So they're a sister company." "That's right.
nies
meet
sions
at the
Once or twice a year employees from all the compaMitomo Group's headquarters to hold training ses-
and exchange know-how."
"The session I attended was for first- and second-year staff," Ms. Komachi added. "There were women there from all the affiliated companies. We all had to practice office etiquette. Oh yes, and we had to compete. For instance, there was a telephone-answering contest. First prize was a big silver cup." They both smiled, then Ms. Yamaguchi said: "The Mitomo Agency woman in the picture waving at the camera? I'd guess that whoever took the picture was probably also an employee, here for the same orientation." "Definitely," her colleague agreed, "Is there
"Not
any way
really,
to
check?
but you could
nodding
enthusiastically.
A list of participants or anything?"
try the
Research Center."
"Where's that?" "It's
near the
Mitomo Group's
headquarters. All the staff records
are kept there. If
you explain what you need, I'm sure
The place
by Umeda
The
is
right
they'll help.
Station."
on the ground floor of the Mitomo Group Research Center wasn't quite as helpful as he had been led to believe. She hadn't even heard him out when she told him abruptly: "We do not give out information about our receptionist behind the counter
seven-story
employees." 181
No
Now
further questions.
Osaka drawl,
had grown accustomed
that he
to the
woman's standard accent sounded flat and peremptory. Admittedly, he had prepared himself for that sort of response. He wasn't on official business, so his hands were tied. No one was this
And it was
obliged to speak to him.
formation about
its
employees
to
company releasing incomers would be guilty
true that a
any and
all
of a serious breach of privacy. "Fine, but
would
I
like to
ask a favor. Could you possibly take a
look at this photo and confirm whether or not
this
woman
might
have come here for orientation between July and October 1989?" "No,
I
am afraid not."
"I'm looking for
someone who's been reported
missing.
I'd really
woman was
in fact at
appreciate your help."
"And what evidence do you have some point employed by us?" "As I was trying to say, this photo and proceeded
The
I
He
pulled the Polaroid out
an otherwise smooth-faced PR
lady,
scowled.
"I
can't help you."
"And you alone have
the authority to decide that?"
do."
"I
"I can't "Sir,
tion.
..."
to explain.
receptionist,
am sorry.
that the
I
get
am
you
to cooperate
You might want
"I see. I
even a
simply not authorized
have
to
to try
put
it
little?"
to
respond to
this
kind of ques-
submitting a proper written request."
in writing,
is
that
it?
Then I can be sure of a
response?"
That
finally
put a dent in her self-confidence. Her gaze
faitered.
"Wait here a minute, please." She came out from behind the counter,
moved
across the lobby,
and disappeared through a door
in the far
wall.
Honma
leaned against the counter and gave a sigh.
he told himself. With a pang of
much
clout that
little
regret,
Good
going,
he reminded himself how
leather case with his ID in
it
used to have.
How
The lobby was completely still and he was alone. His own breathing sounded unnaturally loud. He rested his elbows on the counter to take the load off his leg, knowing powerless he was as a mere
182
civilian!
he'd have to straighten
up
as
soon as the
woman came back.
Just then, he noticed stacks of brochures in different colors and
The largest, thickest one, embossed with the "Moving Ahead with Mitomo," listed all the subsidiaries. Honma
sizes inside the counter. title
what had caught
wasn't sure, for a minute,
his attention; at
first, all
he saw were the lines of characters. Four columns of fine print under
name Mitomo
the
ests.
Construction, a vast and varied portfolio of inter-
Many companies had Mitomo
nothing to do with housing or real estate
Terra Bionics,
Mitomo Trading, Mitomo Sports Center, Mitomo Engineering, Mitomo Systems Center, Minami
Green Garden
—he read
at all.
didn't
come
International,
the long litany of companies twice
What had caught his
together.
eye?
Was
and
there a
still it
name he
knew from somewhere? That's when he saw it. That company. He was leaning halfway over the counter when he heard footsteps. He promptly straightened up as the woman came trotting back, a hostile
look on her
face. "I
quickly. "I'm sorry but, as
I
checked with suspected,
we
my
superiors," she said
can't
comply with your
request."
"No?" "Moreover, the records that the Research Center keeps on participants in our orientation programs do not include photographs. So, in
any
would be no way
case, there
graph from our
to
match an employee with
a photo-
files."
"I see."
"So,
even
if
you were
to inquire in writing,
we
wouldn't be able to
provide an answer."
"Very well," was
all
Honma could say.
"Mm?" "I see.
I'm very sorry to have bothered you."
The woman glared
at
come
as a
at the large brochure. "Just
one
him. His sudden meekness had
surprise.
Honma
reached out and pointed
last request.
and
Could
I
take one of those?"
The woman, her face stiff with hostility, extracted slid it across to him with mechanical precision.
a single
copy
183
"Thanks."
Honma
cover. "Is this firm "Yes,
"So
pointed to one of the companies listed on the
under the Mitomo umbrella, too?"
it is."
its
employees would also come here
for orientation?"
"That's right."
"And this company is also in Osaka?" More suspicious than ever now, the woman opened up the brochure and said, "Yes, it's got an office in the main building of Mitomo Construction."
"Any other branches?" "No,
Only the warehouse and
sir.
in Kobe."
distribution center,
which
are
She showed him the appropriate page in the brochure. "This
should give you
all the details you need." The company's name was written in boldface
page. Underneath, a pink rose-shaped logo
imported intimate wear
at affordable prices."
was
a
It
was
Sekine had patronized. Roseline.
184
Honma
hardly needed
same logo he'd seen on the box that at the Kawaguchi Co-op. box from the mail-order underwear company that Shoko
to read the copy.
the
Nobuko Konno had shown him It
across the top of the
and the catchphrase "Fine
^ 19 ^
Umeda, the heart of the great commercial city of Osaka. The Mitomo Group's headquarters wasn't hard to find. It looked bit run-down compared with the gleaming new Research Center, a though its gray color scheme made it somehow more dignified. The directory showed a Roseline, Inc. on the fourth floor. Minami Green Garden was on the same
among
floor,
suggesting that both were probably
the smaller companies in the
Mitomo empire.
a pale pink uniform, the same on the suite's glass door. The carpeting, deep burgundy which shaded almost to black at a cer-
The Roseline
receptionist
wore
color as the logo emblazoned
though, was a tain angle.
Honma began by asking to see
the personnel director.
"Do you have an appointment?" "No,
sorry.
But
and pulled out whether
this
it's
his
quite urgent."
woman worked
and I'm trying
He put on
his
most serious
photo of "Shoko." "Perhaps you could for
you
at
some
tell
face
me
point. She's missing,
to trace her."
The receptionist studied the photograph. Then, perhaps alarmed by Honma's grim manner she didn't even ask his name she told him to wait. The photo fluttered between her fingertips as she trotted
—
off to a
—
back room.
Honma wandered
over toward the elevator, where he noticed a
display cabinet filled with Roseline catalogs. at the table of contents,
seen anything quite like
"How
to Place
He opened one up, glanced
and flipped through
it
at
random. He'd never
it.
Your Order" was the only section not strewn with 185
photos of lingerie-clad models in various challenging stages of undress. At the bottom of a carefully contractual form
When
was
placing your
order, please be sure to include
first
name, address and workplace.
by phone
—just
worded explanation written
dial
by fax 24 hours
our
We are
toll-free
happy
on
Do you have
to take
your
your order
number. Orders also accepted
Convenient payment by credit card or
a day.
postal transfer. Specified-date delivery vices available
in
a tear-out mail-order postcard.
and
gift
wrapping
ser-
request.
a friend
who might
like to receive
our catalog?
For every new customer you introduce, you receive a Special Friendship Club
5%
discount toward your next purchase, as
well as a chance to receive a
handsome bonus
gift in
our Lucky
Prize Drawing.
Honma was for
interested to see, a few lines further
down, an appeal
consumer feedback. Care to participate in our Customer Survey? Are there any other products that you would like to see Roseline to our
line of fine
carry, in addition
intimate apparel? Help us provide you with
the ultimate in beauty
and gracious
living as
we expand
into a
Creative Lifestyle Company. You can help us anticipate the
needs of the Twenty-First Century
minutes
to
complete
this
Woman
by taking just
simple questionnaire and posting
five it
to
us before the deadline listed below. All respondents will receive a Special Roseline Travel Kit. It
was worth coming just
to get a load of this questionnaire. Let's
see now. First the standard stuff: List family
members
Homeowner or tenant Number of years' continuous employment at present job But then came some more unusual items:
Have you ever changed jobs? 186
If so,
when and how
often?
Special qualifications
—word processing,
driver's license,
abacus
certificate, etc.
Approximate amount of personal savings Types of insurance held,
name
of company/companies
Credit cards held
Then under
the heading "Unmarried Respondents":
Where would you most a
wedding hall,
like to
hold your wedding? At a hotel,
a Buddhist temple, a Shinto shrine, other?
Where would you
like to
go on your honeymoon?
Have you ever traveled abroad?
If so, list
date of
overseas
first
trip
And under "Respondents Living Alone":
Do you
plan to
own a house in
the future?
Honma raised his eyes and stared at the pink wallpaper. Roseline was a mail-order retailer of imported underwear. They offered fancy
goods
at affordable prices.
That was
they did. But
all
if
would have Anyone who worked
they got customers to reply to this questionnaire, they
themselves an instant, rather extensive database. here,
who knew how
access to
all
to
punch
the right keys,
would have immediate
that data.
The receptionist reemerged from come this way," she said, nodding.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
back room.
"If you'd care to
the
woman in her mid-thirties, Honma could open his mouth, Green
Close behind her, however, stood a chic in a pale green suit. Before Suit
was laying down company
policy.
"We
regret to say that
we
can't
you with the inquiry that brings you here." Firm, even a little pompous, she seemed intent on fending him off, no questions asked. assist
Honma made
his tone conciliatory "I'm afraid
myself very well, so tion a
little
But the
it's
irregular. If
I
didn't explain
not surprising that you should find
you give me
five
minutes,
I
my ques-
can sort
it
out."
woman showed no sign of budging. Our regulations company staff from receiving visitors who don't have
"I'm very sorry,
expressly forbid
sir.
That's out of the question.
187
Honma had
an appointment."
on the wrong person. Or Honma was searching say when, behind the two women, a young man
was there something for
something
else
else to
clearly hit
behind her reaction?
Honma had
peered out around a door. Sensing that
moment, he quickly withdrew. "Very well, then. I'll come back another
spotted him,
if
just for a
Green Suit
didn't
even bother
time,"
to smile politely.
Honma
"Could
I
said dryly.
get
my pho-
tograph back, though?"
The woman glared at and then scurried
corridor after her, but there
was now no sign of anyone
The photo was soon returned satisfaction
on Green
him away without was
relieved he
to
who wilted slightly Honma glanced down the
the rose-pink receptionist,
behind the scenes.
off
to
him.
Honma
she showed him the door, sending
Suit's face as
a shred of information. Little did she
know how
be getting out of there.
He headed back
to the elevator
and pushed the down button.
A
On an impulse,
he
red light flashed, showing that one was on
looked around and slipped into a side to the fourth floor,
on or
there.
noticed the look of
opened
its
its
way.
stairwell.
The
elevator
doors, and slid shut again.
came up
No one
got
off.
Maybe
he'd been mistaken, he was thinking
when he heard
...
footsteps approaching.
A young man skimmed
rang for the elevator.
was the same person he'd glimpsed in the rear The man tapped again and again at the call
It
corridor of the office. button.
No
elevator came.
He glanced
at the
across the carpet and
emergency-exit floor
plan posted nearby, gave a sharp click of the tongue, and turned
toward the
stairwell.
Seconds before he collided with him,
Honma
stepped out of the shadows. "Looking for me, by any chance?" Startled, the
Management suit, she's
young man blurted out an
Section, Chief Assistant, Hideki
one of
my
nothing to do with
Honma
bosses. She's in Sales, though,
this.
figured he
I
handle
188
in the
which has got
staff affairs."
was about
side of a playboy in looks, he artificial tan.
introduction: Roseline
Wada. "The lady
thirty-four or thirty-five. Just this
had a perfectly even,
His shirtsleeves gave
him
if fairly
discreet,
a casual look, but his shoes
were no-nonsense business wingtips.
It
was the
first
time
Honma had
heard such a trendy yuppie type speak in an everyday Osaka drawl. didn't go together somehow "How did you know I'd come chasing after you?" he asked as they started down the stairs. "I couldn't be sure," Honma answered with a grin. "You just seemed to know something." Wada stopped on the second-floor landing. The air in the narrow
The two
was
stairwell
still.
Wada, you saw
"Mr. didn't
perfectly
you?"
He took out
Honma
the photo
I
brought
in.
You knew the woman,
asked, standing one step below the
and held
the photo again
Wada reached around and wiped He was still a little jumpy.
it
out. "Take a
a sweaty
young man.
good look."
palm on
the back of his
thigh.
"Yes,"
"Did
he said under his breath.
this
person work for Roseline?"
This time he only nodded. The simplest of gestures. Not quite a
but a
satisfying answer,
"Why is "It's
it
start.
you're asking about her?"
Wada wanted
to
know.
a long story."
"Give
me an idea what it's about."
There was something about the young touched a nerve.
What
if
—an urgency—
man
"Shoko Sekine" had been more than
that
a for-
Honma decided to come right out with the truth, or at least as much of it as he knew. "The fact is, this woman has assumed somebody else's identity. There is a possibility that the other woman was a Roseline customer, mer colleague
someone by
to
the
him?
name
"Shoko Sekine
..."
"There you have
Wada responded ing,
walk
Shoko Sekine."
I've
repeated the
come here
to
name
to himself.
look into those two things."
immediately. "Turn right as you leave the build-
straight for four lights, look diagonally across to the right:
you'll see a coffee
in just a
it.
of
Wada
shop called Kanteki. Wait
for
me
there.
I'll
be over
few minutes."
Honma
did as he was told and found himself waiting for more 189
than an hour.
wouldn't have seemed so long
It
awful cramp in his neck.
He
if
he hadn't had an
as jittery as he did the
felt
time he
first
ever got a suspect to confess.
When Wada cut,
showed up, he was wearing
finally
matching the
shape of the trousers
full
a jacket.
—an expensive
A
nice
suit
by
some designer whose name Honma wouldn't have been able to pronounce. Wada apologized profusely for keeping him waiting and sat down in the chair opposite, then transferred a large company envelope from under his arm to the chair next to him. "1 gave them a good story at the office, so we don't have to worry about time. Now maybe you can tell me the whole story, from the beginning."
Wada
didn't interrupt
even once. Nor did he touch his
When it was over he sighed, looking at the photo of Honma had laid on the table. When Honma stopped,
coffee.
"Shoko" that he asked,
"Is
that it?"
"That's everything,"
"Well, then."
time
if
Honma said with a nod,
Wada
you just look
his throat a
reached for the envelope.
at these."
He
"I
little dry.
expect
save
it'll
pulled out three stapled legal-sized
photocopies and a fan-fold computer printout, which he laid to one side.
"This here
is
a
former employees
file.
We
don't clear out our
employees' resumes or our payroll documentation right away, you understand." believe there's
The
first
He
held them out to
Honma. "Look
sheet
was
a resume.
Machines resume. The
And
May
10, 1966.
on the Imai
was different, but same hand, was the name.
hairstyle
there, in the
"Kyoko Shinjo," Honma read out aloud. Wada nodded. "I remember Ms. Shinjo very her hair permed when she was working for us." Born
I
don't
At the top of the page was the same
face he'd seen for the first time ten days before
doubt.
these over.
any mistake." Office
there could be
well.
no
Only she had
That would make her twenty-six, two years
younger than Shoko Sekine. The place where her family
register
was
kept was given as Fukushima, up in the north.
"We
hired her in April 1988," said Wada. "The second page
from her personnel 190
file,
and
lists
is
her exact dates with the company."
—Terminated
Just as he said, the entry read "Began April 20, 1988
December
31, 1989." This
meant Kyoko Shinjo was twenty-two when
she started work, a good four years after she got out of high school.
There was no mention of any previous employment; the space for that
was blank.
"Would you have any work here?"
what she was doing before coming
idea
Wada scratched under his nose, thinking. "Something the "No nothing's the matter," Honma hedged. .
.
to
matter?"
.
"She said she was married."
"Married "Yeah.
..."
Got married too young and
it
didn't
work
out,
is
what she
said." "It
must have been awfully young."
"She had a few jobs right out of high school, but she didn't bother to write
them down, she
those details
said.
Anyway, we don't care so much about
..."
Honma. But what if the "facts" here were just more fabrications? Under "Awards and Citations" she'd written "None." "Qualifications: Abacus, 2nd Rank." Beneath that, "Driver's Fair enough, thought
License."
Shoko Sekine had had a driver's license too. And driphotos, which meant that Kyoko would never have been able to renew Shoko's. Kyoko must simply have tossed it out and pretended "Shoko Sekine" couldn't drive. But the
real
ver's licenses carried
The entry
for "Family"
was likewise blank.
"Didn't she have any folks?"
"Both her parents died
"Then
I
take
it
"That's right. In a
had
a
early, is
what she
said."
she lived alone."
condo near the center of Senri in Osaka. She
roommate, though. The rent was too high
for
one person, she
said."
A roommate 1 "Would you happen .
"Well, not here
"Any way "I'll
give
it
to
know
the roommate's
name?"
..."
to find out?"
a
try. I
think
I
can probably dig
it
up." 191
Honma nodded and
looked up from the resume. He watched The young man was looking down, eyes fixed on the snapshot on the table. A picture of Kyoko Shinjo as "Shoko" with the
Wada's
face.
Tokyo Disneyland
castle in the
background.
"You knew her pretty well, did you?"
Wada
blinked, as
if
somebody had
Shinjo?" he stuttered. "Why, sure
who
.
.
.
flicked water in his face. "Ms.
she was
my junior. I was the one
interviewed her for the job."
That's not gets this "I
what
I
meant, thought Honma.
concerned about a junior
don't
mean
to
seem
than most.
I
Who
staffer?
how about on a personal level?" work, I guess we were closer lunch together. Yes, and when she said
replied, "At
We sometimes ate
she was quitting
it.
nosy, but
Wada
Forcing a smile,
And you know
remember being
real surprised."
"Did she give any reason?"
Wada shook his
head. "She didn't say."
"And you didn't probe any further?" "What right did I have?" He smiled. A real smile, if a rueful one. "Is that what she said? That you had no right to question her?"
Wada
didn't answer, but there
was no need. His
forlorn look said
it all.
Honma thumbed
through the
rest of the
pages in silence. Kyoko
Shinjo was a real beauty. She must have had scores of after her.
Wada would have been just one
but he was
still
men running
more. His smile had faded,
looking at the photo.
"What was Ms. Shinjo's job description?" Honma asked. It was hardly the most difficult question, but Wada didn't to
it
right away. "Let's see
worked
if
this
here, she got hold of this
fits.
You're thinking that
Shoko
Sekine's
reply
when
data and took
it
she into
her head to impersonate her, right?"
The question caught Honma by surprise. If Wada was this rest would be easy. Honma nodded. "That's
ahead of the game, the
way
it
far
the
looks to me."
Wada, however, was shaking
his head.
"It's
impossible. Couldn't
have happened."
"Why not? The customer data is just sitting there in 192
the computer,
.
few keys and access the
ripe for the picking. It'd be simple to hit a
information."
There was certainly enough there for Kyoko Shinjo to take
over Shoko's
enough
to her to
identity.
How
else, if
know about something
ruptcy, could she have
found out
all
have decided
to
she hadn't been close
as important as her bank-
about her register and family
background?
"What about your customer questionnaire? You've got does include a Actually,
lot of private
information
may have been just
it
to admit,
it
..."
a few key things she
was looking
for. Honma tried to put himself in her position. First, she'd look for a woman about her own age. The woman couldn't have any family, or
live
with anyone
Anything It
else
That was essential
else.
Kyoko would be
might be inconvenient
a driver's license or other
if
the
—her not having any
able to deal with
woman had
when
ties.
the time came.
ever had a passport; ditto
form of photo ID; but those would probably
be details to think about afterward.
A good income and savings would Oh yes,
be nice, but only once the two main requirements were met.
and one
last thing.
The woman would have
to live as far as possible
from where Kyoko was, in Osaka. That would be important, very important.
Shoko Sekine
fit
the bill
"But there'd be no tionnaire, that
there?"
from
Honma
way
on
all
counts
Shoko Sekine had ever said.
.
.
of telling, simply by looking at the quesfiled for
"Ms. Shinjo wouldn't have
bankruptcy, would
known
that,
not just
this."
Wada nodded and side. "Here, take a
picked up the fan-fold paper he'd laid to one
look at
this.
It's
something I just printed out."
The name Shoko Sekine jumped out at Honma from
the top of the
page. So she had been a customer.
Wada
reached over and pointed. "The top page
data. See that '205' at the
code. Gives
you
all
is
basic customer
bottom? That's your basic data reference
the tabulated data
on any one person.
It's
per-
fectly straightforward."
"So it would seem," Honma agreed. Shoko Sekine, distilled down to a data
file,
but
still
there, all right. 193
"
The connection between the two women had been the Mitomo Group mainframe. "The second page
when
dered,
code
is '201.'
is
the order
And
The date means postal
which products Ms. Sekine
received, processed
the last page
after
tus.
a record of
was
is
lying hidden in
or-
and shipped. The
a running account of her billing sta-
each figure shows
when payment was
received.
'P'
transfer."
Honma nodded.
"She couldn't use any credit cards."
"But she did meet
all
her payments. Never once missed a due date.
She never bought that much, but
to us that's a good, faithful cus-
tomer."
The page prickled with small
Wada data,
...
¥10,000
flipped back through the printout. "Looking at the basic
you can see the questionnaire item
'Credit cards held'
'No reply' That alone wouldn't lead anyone rupt.
¥4,800
figures. ¥5,120,
very most.
at the
So as
money "As
far as that goes,
Mr.
to
Honma, your
marked
guess she was bank-
thinking's right
on the
..."
far as that
.?"
goes
.
.
"Don't get the idea that I'm sticking
up
for
Ms. Shinjo," he
turning stubborn. "Our system's foolproof. There's no
said,
way customer
data could ever leak out."
Honma was "If
you want,
about
I'll
to object,
yourself. In the evening
home
but
Wada waved
show you around ...
the office
After 7:00
p.m.,
his
comment
aside.
and you can see
when
all
the
staff's
for
gone
except for the guard on duty, should be okay."
"I'd
appreciate that."
"You'll see,
it's
airtight.
It's
what we
call a 'closed system.'
Doesn't
need to communicate with anywhere except the distribution center
and the warehouse." "But in a mail-order company, there has to be a telephone receptionist
on
at all times."
"Sure, we've got our 'telephone ladies.'
"And You
what's 194
these
'ladies,'
they deal with their share of information, right?
up and they can check on stock by using their computers. So to stop them typing in one of those codes of yours and extract-
call
ing
all
the customer information they like?"
Wada can't
let
him
finish,
but then shook his head, looking adamant.
"It
be done."
"Why not?" on the phones, they did try some
"Well, for one thing, our operators are so busy
they hardly ever get time to catch their breath.
If
commands, they'd get a warning right off the bat. They can't download or print a thing without the proper authorization. All they do is input the orders." He leaned forward. "But you're set on thinking Kyoko Shinjo worked here with the one aim of lookfancy computer
ing for an identity to take over, "Basically,
the start or
but
I
can't tell
that it?"
is
whether that was her purpose right from
whether she only realized
later
how
easy
it
would be
for
her to access information."
know how much work that would actually involve? Assuming she did have her own agenda here, imagine how many files "Yes,
but you
she'd have to go through to single out one person." "I
really
suppose
so."
Honma
felt
a bit deflated.
Could Kyoko Shinjo
Wada
have found her target by the time-consuming process
had described? The reverse was impossible: there was no way she could have targeted her from the outset. process of learning
how
Which meant
to use the computer, call
up
the whole
data,
and
select
an appropriate candidate would have taken incredible patience.
No
telephone receptionist would have that kind of time on the job.
Wada
smiled knowingly.
"It's
just
more than any TL could ever
handle." "I
don't think
you can
rule
it
out completely."
Honma
didn't
want
to give up. "It just
doesn't
work like
that,"
Wada said, shaking his head.
"What makes you so sure?" He pulled out Kyoko Shinjo's personnel
file
one more time. "Take
a look at her job description."
Honma's eyes went straight she wasn't a
to the
words "General
Clerical."
"Then
..."
"A TL? No, she was a regular She was in Accounting, as
I
office
worker. Paperwork mostly.
recall, calculating
paychecks.
Of course, 195
she did use a computer, but the system was completely different from the one used for customer data processing. fact,
you
can't
The codes
are different. In
even access the customer side of things from the
office
workstations."
Wada looked
pleased. But
was he proud of
puter system, or did he have his
own
the company's
com-
reasons for vindicating Kyoko?
Honma couldn't tell. "Okay," he went on,
Ms. Shinjo
knew
"let's
name
the
just say for the sake of
of this
Shoko Sekine. Even
other stuff was beyond her scope. That
They locked shooting to
eyes.
else to
to hit square-on,
reaction
gers.
196
then,
can swear
all
that
to."
Honma
—except twitch — whatever reason—
show her how
said,
of his
for a
for
to access
it
left
eyebrow.
to pull data
for herself?"
He aimed
but was a hair too quick on the draw.
"Absolutely not!"
Kyoko
I
"You sure you didn't help her?"
"You sure she didn't get you
Or
much
that
kill.
Wada showed no for her?
argument
Wada replied.
Shinjo's smile
"I
never did anything of the kind!"
shone out from between
his long, thin fin-
20
"And so what happened? Did you "Sure did,"
He
hadn't gotten back from
had throbbed the whole
Osaka
till
very
late,
and
night. First thing the next day,
his left
knee
he had called
him in. Funaki had dropped everything and come straight arriving early in the afternoon and depositing himself at the cof-
Funaki over,
get a tour of the office?"
Honma replied.
to
fee table,
fill
where he ground out one
cigarette butt after another in a glass
ashtray that Isaka had carefully wiped clean.
"So did their operation look as tight as he would like you to think?"
"Roseline employs thirty-eight of these 'telephone ladies' time. They're there
them
at their
from ten in the morning
phones, lined up
straight out of a
TV "I
all
full-
eight at night. All of
at their little desks."
commercial: a bevy of young
twenties and early thirties,
ing Honma's way.
till
The scene was
women
in their
in uniform, all quite attractive, all fac-
say phones, but actually they were like the old
more compact. Pushbutton, of course, and a headset with a tiny mike sticking out, the kind singers wear so they can play keyboards at the same time. And everyone who places an order switchboards, but
gets their
own customer code
for reference."
"Everything's coded?"
"Yup. Cuts
down on
they introduced
it
response time. Not on New Year's Day, 1988."
a
bad
little
system. Said
"January 1988, huh?" Funaki scratched his thick neck. "And Kyo-
ko Shinjo
started in April that year, wasn't it?"
"That's right. April 20, 1988, their records said.
So before she 197
"
came on the job, the new system would have been up and running." "And Shoko Sekine was registered as a Roseline customer on ?" The hospital receipt he'd found at Nobuko Konno's place, which had had Roseline's toll-free number scribbled on it, was dated July 7,
—
Wada had shown him, it was when Shoko called in and asked them to send her a catalog, and the fifteenth when she returned the questionnaire, placed her 1988. According to the Roseline records
July 10
first
and was assigned a customer code.
order,
"Not
much
lead time,
is it?"
Funaki sounded disappointed.
"No, unfortunately. That's what this
was going on about how
his
Kyoko
Wada
Imagine how many files she'd have
ne's data."
fellow said
couldn't have stolen to
when he
Shoko
Seki-
go through to single out
one person. "In any case, his point was that the system for in-house
—the
accounting, calculating paychecks
—was on
Shinjo did
sort of office
work Kyoko
a completely different loop from the customer
way to browse around from one The only people who can do that, he said, are the guys 'system management class.' processing system. There's no
to the
other.
in the
"Whatever that means," Funaki any
case, people in that class
mation they happen
up those
said,
frowning
"But in
slightly.
can get their hands on whatever infor-
to want, right?
What
if
Kyoko managed
to pick
skills?"
Honma laughed and shook his head. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Wada says she was a complete beginner when it came to computers.
She hadn't even played a computer game before."
"You believe that?"
"He had some
amounted "You'll
"So
to
sort of thing going with her.
much, but I'm going
to
look into
He
says
it
never
it."
be talking to him again?"
far,
he seems about
my
best source of information about her.
Places like Roseline see a quick employee turnover. There can't be a
whole her at
lot of all.
"You to
people
trust this
guy?" said Funaki. "He seems awfully cooperative
me. Wonder why."
198
there now who worked with Kyoko and knew Wada ask around."
left
I'm having
Honma
thought for a minute and then
more than been in on
shown me
I
may be he knows
mean,
the
guy had
after
me and
if
with her, would he have come chasing
it
all
said, "It
But what exactly?
he's letting on.
those documents?"
Funaki grunted noncommittally.
"The way
I
see
it,
he and Kyoko Shinjo were
had a hand in seeing that she got that
data.
close.
At the time, he wouldn't
much about what she was planning come back at him and caught him off guard."
have thought it's
"You think so?" Funaki wasn't
Wada
as
an accomplice.
He probably
to
satisfied. "I don't
do with know.
I
it.
Now
like this
say there's a possibility he's in as deep as
I'd
murder."
"Whose? Shoko "Or her old "I
Sekine's?"
lady's."
know about
don't
that
.
.
but he certainly reacted
.
when he saw
Kyoko's photo."
"Never can
tell."
"Okay, okay. But to look at things there, after
all.
One woman
He
fairly.
disappears and
He
is
personnel manager
Think about
can't just let this pass.
—
it
it's
suddenly throws up a secure
office job.
Even a kid could smell
a
And
it
crime there somewhere. Remember, he hired her himself. hasn't
been two, three years since she
Funaki
"Not
to
still
quit."
looked unconvinced.
mention that leaking customer data company.
for a mail-order
tomo Group. Wada had talk floating
scary.
the person who's taken over her identity
It's
is
completely taboo
sure to reflect badly
on the parent Mi-
to help
me out.
around the company
if
he
There'd be let
all
sorts of strange
me go poking around on
my own. "But back to the computers. Suppose one of the TLs sitting at her console wants to
make
off
with a sizable chunk of information with-
out anybody finding out about gles in her
own
it.
She'd need expertise. Say she smug-
floppy disks to download the data. As soon as she
attempts any operation
that's
next to her or behind her
is
not in the manual, the person sitting
going to know." 199
Funaki made
word
processing, and had
wasn't familiar with even the basics of
little
patience with the subject.
wouldn't be any easier for her to try to hack her way into the
"It
right
He
a face.
system
the outside
center
either. That's got to
—back and
— they
numbers.
forth
have their
be
own
enough. You
to get the
can't
an
insider,
links with
it's
the
same
Kyoko Shinjo might
that alone wouldn't be
withdraw money with just
Funaki scowled. "So so.
as
phone numbers,
cash card. According to Wada,
"Seems
The computer
reserved phone lines, with unlisted
Now even assuming that,
have been able
risky.
between the warehouse and distribution
PIN number and no
a
thing."
that deep-sixes this angle for the time being?"
But only the part about Kyoko using the computers
herself to get the data." u
What about her roommate? Did you meet her?"
Honma shook his
head. "She
was on
vacation. Girl
by the name of
Orie Chino, also in General Clerical. She's gone sightseeing in Aus-
two weeks, On a trip she's been planning for a while. I did phone number, though." "Wada gave you all that? How do you know he wasn't just making
tralia for
get a
it
up?" "Because
I
had him get online and
call
up her address and time
sheet, just to be sure."
"They even got everyone's working hours on computer?" Funaki
how about Kyoko Shinjo's ..." "Her alibi?" Honma grinned, then assumed a serious expression. "You mean whether she was on the job November 25, 1989, when
winced. "Then
Shoko
Sekine's
Naturally,
mother died? Sure,
Wada had been
I
checked
that, all right."
suspicious about
why Honma should be
interested in Kyoko's whereabouts that day, but he'd obliged.
Honma,
got a printout," said
sliding the paper
"From November 18 through November off on sick leave." Funaki whistled
Honma went good terms with as well." 200
on.
"I
even
under Funaki's nose.
26, 1989,
Kyoko Shinjo was
quietly. "
her,'
'And seeing as you seem I
told him,
I
had him
call
to
have been on pretty
up
his
own
time sheet
"And?"
"November 25 was
a Saturday, but
he was on the job. At the
office
until 9:00 p.m."
"So that
know, us to
I
lets
him
hook?" Funaki said
off the
skeptically. "I don't
may
think he's got something going on that he
still
not want
know about."
"Well,
let's
on him
just keep an eye
and see
for a while
if
he does
anything interesting."
The
was
tangle
were beginning "After
starting to look like
to loosen, so there
my talk with Wada I took a stroll
"Your leg
right?" asked
all
managed
what? Osaka's
compared
"No
to
to
Tokyo.
city.
bit,"
There's a
a no-frills
It's
Honma
whole
smiled. "You
know
dimension
different
to
it
kind of town."
frills?"
downtown around Nihombashi,
"Yeah. In Tokyo,
ultramodern
offices
and
'intelligent buildings' right
Where
two-story shops. Osaka's got none of that. it's
through Osaka."
in a detective.
hobble around a
a great
knots
rush things.
to
Funaki with undisguised concern, which
seemed somehow out of place "I
now The
something
was no need
one hundred percent shops and nothing
and suddenly you're "Me,
could never
I
Tigers,"
Honma
up
it's
against the old
a trade district,
Cross over one street
in a red-light district, the sort of area
wouldn't be too surprised to see a
Hanshin
else.
you've got these
live in
where you
mob shootout."
Osaka. Can't stomach the food or the
Funaki mumbled.
let it
drop. "Say,
I
was wondering
if I
could ask you
another favor." "Let
me
guess.
A
copy of Kyoko Shinjo's family
register,"
Funaki
said with a smile.
"You got
it."
"Working backward from the address not such a
tall
in her Roseline papers,
it's
order."
"Only..."
"You
still
want me
to
clamped his jaw shut, case. If
we go
official
keep
it
hush-hush, right?
No
for emphasis. "In actual fact,
with
it
at this stage,
problem."
it
is
they might just
He
a difficult
bump
us 201
off
Who
it.
knows, they might not even
treat
it
as a missing persons
case."
Honma beat him to the punch. "Because they've got more pressing case to get on with, huh?" "How'd you guess?" "Which is precisely why I'd like to keep it under wraps a while longer," said Honma, looking down. "I mean, we haven't even got a corpse. They could say we weren't sure that Shoko Sekine was really dead, and that'd be that." This time
another,
"You think she could be alive?" "I'm almost positive she's not." "I'm with
"But
you
there."
how would you
Funaki suddenly for
have disposed of the corpse?"
sat bolt upright. "Right! It'd take a lot of
muscle
one woman. So maybe she did have some friendly help."
Honma nodded
absentmindedly. "Me,
alone from start to finish. just a gut feeling."
The
total lack of
saka's
life,
I've
I
think she was working
got no particular reason for saying that,
The sheer
strength of her will, her deadeye aim.
emotion she showed in dropping out of Jun Kuri-
and probably Wada's before
that.
The way she
just threw
out any excess baggage. Everything about her said "alone." It
was because she was so
tried to
become someone
alone,
Honma
thought, that she had
else. If a close friend
derstand, she wouldn't have done
it;
had been there
she'd have accepted
to
un-
some help
Kyoko Shinjo. A name only exists because another it. If someone had cared for her, she'd never have tossed her name away like an old tire. There's love in a name. "No accomplice? Then that would mean ..." Funaki followed
and skipped out person
calls
Honma's
was
as
you by
eyes.
There in the kitchen, fixed
to a
corner of the counter,
a knife rack. Vegetable, fish, paring knives. Five different blades,
housed neatly
had brought
in a sheath block. Isaka
it
over.
He was
particular about his cooking implements.
Funaki said nothing. "I'll
library,
look into that angle," said Honma. "Check newpapers in the
and have
a
magazine reporter
everything's police work." 202
I
know
get onto
it,
too.
Not
"Easy enough to spot. Makes a big splash," agreed Funaki, rubbing his chin. "Unidentified body parts."
The next afternoon, Tamotsu Honda came by. He was wearing jeans that had been washed over and over again to a warm light-blue shade, and a hand-knit sweater over a white cotton shirt. When he took off his heavy wool jacket and reached up to hang it on one of the hooks just inside the door, Honma noticed that the spare buttons
had been snipped
off the lining.
Ikumi was obvi-
ously a sharp housewife. Chizuko used to do the same.
she bought
away
new
in her
clothes, she'd cut the spare buttons off
Whenever
and put them
sewing basket, saying they would rub and damage the
fabric. All the clothes
Honma had bought since her death still had the Somehow he couldn't bring himself to clip
spare buttons attached.
them
off.
Tamotsu lingered awkwardly urge
him
silence,
repeatedly before he
in the entryway.
would even
sit
Honma needed
down. After
he placed a bag from a well-known bakery on the
to
a brief
table.
"This
um, your son." His wife's idea, no doubt, Honma thought as he thanked him. They were just about to start talking when Isaka showed up after having his lunch at home. "Young Tamotsu here is soon to be a is for,
second-time father,"
Honma said after introducing them.
"Hey, I'm twenty-eight." Isaka smiled in evident pleasure, before saying abruptly: "Shoko
Sekine was twenty-eight, too, wasn't she? Couldn't have been more different,
though, your
lives."
Tamotsu looked shocked
to hear her
when did you arrive "Hm? Oh, yesterday."
Tokyo?"
"So
Before he
left
Utsunomiya,
asked him to collect as Shoko's
life
in
much
tense.
Honma had
taken Tamotsu aside and
information locally as he could about
before her disappearance.
was anybody's guess. "I came up with all
spoken of in the past
Honma said quickly.
Where
sorts of stuff,"
they would go from there
Tamotsu
said, pulling
open
his
knapsack. 203
"
Isaka put on a pot of coffee and drew up a chair. Tamotsu took out a small notebook and placed it open on table. "Ikumi said I should write down everything I found out."
"Mm, good idea." He cleared his throat. "One
girl
from our
the
class in school said she'd
run into Shoko once, two or three years ago. Said she was wearing such a loud getup, she didn't
know what'd come
over her."
"Must have been when she was working at Lahaina." "She couldn't remember the exact date.
Two
or three years ago
was the best she could come up with. She did say Shoko was carrying half a watermelon, so that would make it summer." In Honma's experience, this was about as good as most people's
memory was. "Shoko seemed happy enough, but she was wearing
heavy
real
makeup. This classmate had heard some of the usual rumors, so she just
Tough breaks, huh?' And Shoko had answered,
said,
"About "
ence,
all
she could
'Yup.
Guess so.'
speaking from experi-
say," Isaka said, as if
—meeting up with an old classmate when
you're
down on
your luck."
Tamotsu went on:
"I
figured
my
best chance
would be
to ask
around about what had happened when Shoko's old lady died, so
went and found everybody who'd come
Thought
it
was going
Tamotsu asked
about Shoko, then
Akane
Villa.
place that
first
in
The
it
the photograph. "They
if
wasn't so bad.
any of them had ever
didn't hold the
landlord's wife wouldn't let them.
was about
I
the funeral.
—old women, mostly"
who had anything to say
woman
but
to take a lot of doing,
There were only a few
seen the
wake or
to the
five
minutes away by
car.
wake
They rented
at
a
The neighbors han-
dled a lot of the arrangements for Shoko."
He took a
sip of coffee as
he flipped back through the
earlier
pages
of the notebook.
"Most people just thought the same really hair,
shocked.
how
it
Some
of
204
me. That Shoko looked to
make about her red
wasn't the time or place, stuff like that."
"People are conservative als,"
as
them had comments
offered Isaka.
when
it
comes
to
weddings and funer-
— "That's for sure.
that
if
some young woman they
didn't
Honma nodded.
People
all
all
in
said
to offer
about her."
at funerals are either vultures or
Tamotsu rubbed
..."
Shoko. They
off as
know had shown up
her condolences, they'd have been asking
"But
woman
But anyway, nobody had ever seen the
one who's passing herself
the photo, the
his nose. "There
hawks.
was one person who
recognized her."
Honma and Isaka leaned "And
the funny thing
forward.
he said with a hint of a grin,
is,"
"it
was
my
old lady."
Honma's eyes widened. "Your mother?" "Yeah,
and
I
never even asked.
It
was her who brought
she'd heard at the beauty parlor that
somebody was
it
up. Said
town asking
in
about Shoko."
She must have had her hair done by Kanae Miyata, the beautician
Honma had loaned the picture of Kyoko Shinjo to, back when he'd still known her only as "the fake Shoko." He was glad to see it had been put
to
good
use.
"At the LOreal Salon?"
"Huh? You mean you knew?" Tamotsu was impressed. "Mrs. Miyata, the hairdresser,
showed her
And his mother had
this photo."
recognized the
woman?
"Usually she's got a terrible memory. But the minute she smells
something a
bit fishy,
amazing what she can remember.
it's
grandfather died, the priest apparently. later that
off
"No,
same
priest
you
it
was
a big scandal
—
sorry,
I
don't
know
this."
that's fine.
I
get your point:
it's
like
your mother's memory
a sort of a sixth sense."
Tamotsu bobbed that
When my
last rites couldn't sit still,
embezzled some money from the parish and ran
woman and
telling
comes with
did the
She says she can remember the mole on his neck. Then
with this
why I'm
who
woman one
his
head
in agreement. "Well, she says she
saw
time as she was leaving the beauty parlor."
"When? Or about when?" "Well, she
was
a bit hazy about the date at
she'd been getting ready for the
first,"
memorial service
he
said.
"But
for Mrs. Sekine 205
the forty-ninth day of mourning. So she checked a calendar that
it
was
"Wait, run that by
me again
Shoko
have any
"See,
didn't
the forty-ninth day service.
my old
and saw
a Sunday. January 14, 1990."
I
..."
relatives.
had
So
all
this urgent
the neighbors arranged
job
I
couldn't shake, so
lady went instead. And, well, she had to look presentable, so
she went to have her hair done.
"When
she comes out of the place, she sees this young
standing there across the
street, in front of
Akane
Villa.
She
woman calls
out
Can I help you with something?' But the woman Which off. must have really gotten to my mom, because she takes actually ran after her a little ways, shouting 'Hey, wait you wait a to her, 'Hello there.
— —
minute!' But the
though
woman was
—says she was
Honma
too
fast.
as pretty as a
She
movie
still
remembers her
face,
star."
sketched out a rough timetable in his head. The forty-
ninth day service was held on January 14, 1990. Not exactly forty-
nine days after Mrs. Sekine's death on
probably chose the days
later,
first
Sunday
Shoko Sekine goes
November
after the
New
25, 1989, but they
Year's holidays.
off to see the attorney to
Ten
ask about the
insurance money; the cost of the funeral was probably weighing on
her mind. Kyoko Shinjo quits Roseline on December 31, 1989, and gets
busy preparing
miya once,
to
for the big switch.
Maybe comes up
to
Utsuno-
check things out.
"Where was
the service held?" asked Isaka.
"At the temple where Mrs. Sekine's ashes are being kept for the
time being." Isaka rubbed his eyebrows. "But ally
when
a wife dies, don't they usu-
put her together with the husband, in the same grave?"
"That's right."
After a short pause,
Honma
said:
"You mean her husband didn't
have a grave, either? Couldn't he afford one?"
Tamotsu shook family, so
was
still
"And
his head.
he never had
much
just a baby. Things
"Nope. He was the third son in a large to begin with.
were always
yet," Isaka read his
And he died when Shoko
tight,
and yet
..."
mind, "when Mrs. Sekine went
to her
husband's family to ask them to help her buy a plot for him, they gave 206
One
her the brushoff.
of those old families: everything for the
first
son, nothing for the rest. Is that it?" "Pretty
much.
temple, which
That's
why she had
to leave her
where they've stayed
make
years, she'd
enough
is
all this
husbands ashes
at a
time. Every five or ten
a small offering to the temple, but not nearly
for a plot."
"So Mrs. Sekine's remains finally went there as well." "Right.
It
broke Shoko's heart. She swore that someday she'd see
her folks laid to rest in a proper grave. Even though she herself was
deep in debt
pretty
"And
at the time."
aside from your mother,"
Honma
sation back to the photo, "no one else
Tamotsu shrugged. "Afraid couldn't
said, steering the conver-
saw the woman?"
not. Mrs. Miyata says she's sorry she
do any better."
Nothing
thought Honma. Witnesses to the most
to apologize for,
shocking crimes sometimes only have sketchy memories of them, but here he'd asked about something perfectly normal seen a pretty but otherwise unremarkable young
—had anybody —and the
woman?
LOreal Salon had come through.
Shoko Sekine and Kyoko Shinjo. Two individuals connected only through the Roseline database. Together again in another, completely different place
—
in Shoko's
hometown,
for her mother's
memorial
ser-
vice.
"Actually, we've identified the
woman
we're looking for,"
Honma
said.
Tamotsu seemed denly
real.
to shrink.
What had been only a notion was sudphantom now but flesh and blood.
Shoko's stand-in was no
He'd been afraid of this moment. "So
who
is
she?
How did
she
know Shoko?"
If
she turned out to
be a friend of Shoko's, someone Shoko had trusted, he wasn't sure
what he would "A
total stranger."
Tamotsu his eyes cast
Then
do.
listened intendy.
down.
Isaka got
up
He
bit his lip
When Honma to clear
now and
finished, all three
away the
again,
men
coffee cups, just to
and kept
fell silent.
be doing
something. 207
Tamotsu
After a time,
said,
own
"But Shoko was only minding her
business." "Exactly."
"She wanted something nice, so she bought herself some fancy
underwear. Even
I
can understand
that.
Ikumi hardly ever
gets to
any new clothes, but she says she doesn't mind as long as she
buy feels
pretty underneath."
"Shoko was punctual about her Roseline payments. She paid by postal transfer.
A
They said she was
a
good customer."
good customer. Tamotsu mouthed the words
ing his
fists
under the
Bit late to try
to himself, clench-
table.
and protect her now, thought Honma. But then what
Kyoko Shinjo himself instead of turning the case over? Just force of habit? Morbid curiosity? Whatever the reason, he wanted to meet this Kyoko Shinjo. To hear her voice. To hear what she had to say when he asked, "Why did you do it?"
was he doing looking
for
Honma wouldn't even consider letting Tamotsu insisted
on putting him up, Then,
lect his things.
stay in a hotel; he
starting that night. So they
after taking a short rest,
though his notes, which reminded him
Honma
to give that
went
to col-
began sorting
magazine stringer
who owed him one a call. The reporter was curious and asked all kinds of questions, but to pry anything out of Honma. Nevertheless, he agreed to help. "Whenever I work with you, Honma, 1 usually turn up some-
was unable thing
I
can use. So give
Tokyo-Kanto
me two
or three days,
I'll
see
what
I
can
find.
area, right?"
"Uh-huh," he answered automatically, then corrected himself. "No,
make
that Kofu-Shinetsu, too."
No
particular reason. Just a
hunch
about Kyoko Shinjo: knowing her, she might well head up into the
mountains Next,
to dispose of a body.
Honma went
Sekines death.
—
story
and
tiny
left.
Two
filler
He now
modus operandi 208
to the library to
look for
articles
on Mrs.
of the three major national papers had carried the
pieces, but all the facts felt
there. He made copies work out Kyoko Shinjo's
were
in a position to try to
.
—probably because somebody or other was work Roseline She goes —Kyoko needed new than means end— seemed more
For some reason her
after
a
specifically as a
to
identity.
to that
at
likely
this
imagining that she'd simply stumbled onto the idea once she'd started
how
the job. Just
system
is still
she gets around the checkpoints in the computer
a question mark,
though she probably used Wada in
some way That would explain why he was so nervous. But obtain the data she does, and Shoko Sekine becomes her prime target. For Shoko's family register and residence certificate, all she has to do is go to the Ward Office in Shoko's neighborhood and get them "in person." Her next mother. So
one living
step, then, is to get rid of Shoko's
many
questions remained about
how
relative,
her
she might have
pulled this off that even to Detective Sakai's trained eyes the whole thing had to be an accident or a suicide. But what
What
if
on
if
.
.
—November 25—she manages
to lure Mrs.
that night
Sekine out on some kind of pretext. Say she arranges to meet her somewhere not far from Tagawa. If she sets a time, then naturally she
when Mrs. Sekine should be leaving. How would anyone waiting in that noisy bar know when
has a good idea
stepped out of Tagawa?
As
Make an appointment,
that's
Mrs. Sekine
how.
Kyoko comes up with something minor, nothing big make Mrs. Sekine give up going to Tagawa altogether and
a pretext,
enough stay at
to
home
waiting.
Suppose she says
she's a friend of
Shoko's from
Tokyo, and that Shoko asked her to pass something over. That
be arriving
late at night,
just see her for
maybe
with a friend, and can't stay long
five
she'll
—could she
minutes? That would be enough.
So Kyoko waits in the bar next door. She steps out just in time to catch Mrs. Sekine leaving Tagawa, pushes the old stairs,
then hurries back to her
Nobody Still,
notices one customer
Kyoko would need
more or
to
Sekine's drinking habits, not to
the bar.
None
of that
was
have
woman down floor
is
in
there in the Roseline
—
the
crowded.
less.
known
advance about Mrs.
mention the dangerous
she must have met up with Shoko of that contact
The dance
bar.
that
files.
staircase at
At some
stage,
seemed obvious. Evidence
was the next thing Honma planned
Okay, then, jumping forward in time a
bit:
to find.
Kyoko
kills
Shoko, 209
.
disposes of the body, and assumes her identity. She moves out
Kawaguchi Co-op, takes an unannounced permanent leave from Lahaina, and disappears. Suddenly she's working for Imai Office of
Machines. She's set herself up in the Honancho apartment and
as her
permanent address. She
and on her applications private insurance
own
head of her
tered herself as the
family, listing the
also uses
it
regis-
new apartment
as her current local address
for National Health, National
Pension Fund,
and so on. Public Employment proves
tricky because
she can't get her hands on Shoko's Public Employment card, so she
window and tells them, Its my first real job. Then she gets to know Jun Kurisaka, gets engaged
goes to the
.
.
was another unanswered question. Up until the time Kyoko-as-Shoko started planning for the wedding and Jun put pressure on her to get a card, she had never taken out any plastic.
The
If
credit card, that
she had, she'd have
Did she simply
them on
known
right
away about Shoko's bankruptcy.
dislike credit cards?
Some people
are just against
principle.
Then
there
was the
Polaroid, the only real clue he
Why had it been
had
to
Kyoko's
And why on earth had she held on to it? Was there some special memory attached to it? But why cling to a memory connected with a person she was desperate to disown? It didn't figure. Honma closed his notebook. Soon after four, Makoto came home just long enough to announce identity.
taken?
"made plans" with Kazzy. Isaka was starting to cook dinner, steaming up the kitchen, when in walked Tamotsu, Boston bag in hand. Just then the phone started ringing. "Is that the Honma residence?" It was Imai of Imai Office Machines, calling from the office. He wanted to know if Honma had that he'd
found Miss Sekine "Well, not so
He
yet.
far,"
Honma told him.
sighed. "Mitchie here
is
thing else she's been meaning to "Mr. call the
Honma, remember son of your
worried, too. tell
you. Here,
that question
wife's cousin?"
"Did you find out?" "No, 210
I
didn't."
She sounded apologetic.
Oh let
yes, there's
some-
me put her on."
you asked, about what
to
"Well, this
I
thought
it
might be tough. You haven't been checking
all
time?"
"I'm not too
good
"Nobody's good
at this
at this
kind of thing."
kind of thing."
Mitchie changed her tone of voice. "Ms. Sekine hasn't
shown up
yet?"
"Maybe
hard for her to come back."
it's
must be hard on Mr. Kurisaka, too." "Could be just what he needs, though." "It
"You know,
I
happened
to
remember something. They had
a fight
once, the two of them."
"A
fight?"
"That's right.
Over the engagement
that a person's birthstone
any ring you
liked.
had nothing
ring.
to
Just the sort of pigheaded thing
it
see,
it,
you could buy
had
to
be either your
it
wasn't a real engagement ring."
Jun would
say,
Honma
"Mitchie," he asked, "did Ms. Sekine have a favorite stone?
wasn't her birthstone but that she
"Uh-huh,
that's
what it was
all
wanted him
to
thought.
One
that
buy anyway?"
about."
Covering the mouthpiece with his palm, in the kitchen.
she said
do with
But Mr. Kurisaka said
birthstone or a diamond; otherwise
Ms. Sekine,
Honma gestured to
Isaka
"Know anything about birthstones?" he asked him.
Isaka stood there, blinking, a ladle in his hand.
"Ah
...
no more
than average."
Honma shot him a question. Isaka answered in the same breath. Honma then uncovered the receiver. "Mitchie, Ms. Sekine's birthstone was a sapphire, believe. And that's what they ended up buyI
ing, wasn't it?" "Yes.
The stone
"Now,
—
"Uh
for September."
let
me guess what she wanted Jun
so,
you know?"
"My guess would be an
to buy."
emerald."
Mitchie squealed. "Amazing!
How did you know?"
That Kyoko was a
Honma
stone for May, the
stone
—
a real
sly one,
month
engagement
thought. Emerald was the
of her birth. She'd wanted her
own
birth-
ring. 211
came through
Mitchie's voice
please
tell
her that Mr. Imai and
comes back,
again. "If Ms. Sekine
have been worried about
I
we really want to see her." He would, he promised, and just
her. Tell
her
up
the phone, he almost
felt
a
for
little
one
brief
sympathy
moment,
as he
hung
for their "Shoko," the
one he knew as Kyoko.
We
really
want
to see her.
Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a commotion hallway as the front door slammed open and shut.
was digging
into the closet, trampling
on
in the
was Makoto. He
It
fallen stacks of
newspapers,
kicking a stray ball out of the way, tugging at a metal softball bat with
both hands.
"Makoto! What's gotten into you?"
Honma
shouted. "Where do
you think you're going with that?" But the kid wasn't face
was
"I'll
His
stop him," Tamotsu said, going over to the boy. "Hey! Don't
go swinging that thing around! Give cried,
listening.
muddy mess.
a tearful,
it
to
me." Makoto kicked and
but Tamotsu wrestled the bat away from him. Makoto sank to
his knees.
"Did you get into a fight?"
Honma
fresh bruise that bat's
not playing
one with
was growing bluer by the minute. "If you did, that You ought to know better! You could hurt some-
fair.
that."
Choking with words in
down beside One shin had a
asked, crouching
him. His knees and elbows were covered in scrapes.
his
tears, panting,
Makoto struggled
to get
out a few
Blockhead own defense. "Block Honma and Isaka both prompted. .
.
..."
.
"Blockhead?"
"Blockhead?" Tamotsu asked. "Dog's name,"
Honma
explained.
"What happened? Did you
find
him?" "He's dead,"
Makoto
said
between clenched
teeth.
"Dead?" "That
bully, Tazaki,
from school. He
killed
head, then threw his body away."
"What?"
Isaka's voice broke.
"Sure, I'm sure. 212
I
just
.
.
.
just
"Are you sure?"
found out."
him—killed
Block-
"And
why you were
that's
"Uh-huh," came
up
fighting?"
from above. They
a different voice
Kazzy standing
to see
scuffed
"
"
"
up than Makoto,
doorway, a pudgy
in the
little
his face also streaked with
all
guy,
looked
no
mud and
less
tears.
There was a gash in his cheek. "Tazaki, that bum, he killed Block-
head and put him in the wouldn't admit
—
We knew
trash.
But then
it.
he did
it,
but
at first
he
of us ganged up, so finally he ad-
all
mitted
"No, told
it
wasn't like that,"
about
"But
it
anyway.
why would
Makoto
wailed. "He'd have
He was bragging about he want
to kill
it
come out and
at school."
Blockhead?" asked Isaka, anger
burning in his cheeks.
"He said you're not supposed project. Said "Still, is
"B-b-but
was okay
it
was
that .
.
to kill
have pets here in the apartment
against the rules."
any reason
," .
to
Makoto
to kill a
said, "it
dog?"
was
against the rules, he said, so
it
him. To teach us a lesson."
"That's horrible," said Tamotsu. "That's
about? Well, next time count
me in,
what you were
fighting
too."
But by then both boys seemed to have cooled to the idea of going another round with Tazaki. Kazzy just muttered, it,'
he says, 'go buy yourself a "
'A real house'
—
"Like his family lives
"Which
is
why
in,
1
" 'If
you
don't like
real house.'
suppose."
he can have a dog. But
let a
poorer family keep a
No
pet, never.
Must be some complex
ma spoken
than both boys burst into tears again.
he's got."
sooner had Hon-
Honma and
Isaka
looked at each other over the heads of the sobbing children.
"What
the heck's going on?"
bat lying at his
Tamotsu
said, glancing at the
metal
feet.
213
21
The next day, Honma found himself face-to-face with the woman Shoko Sekine had begun rooming with when she filed for personal bankruptcy and could no longer pay the rent on the Castle Mansion Kinshicho apartment. Her name was Tomie Miyagi. give the
name and phone number by
Honma had been
the girl in Mizoguchi's office.
Shoko's former co-worker at Gold had the long fingernails, gold-
dusted sandals, frizzy auburn perm and indelible perfume of a bar
maybe
Twenty-five,
girl.
from talking
to
twenty-six, though
and-gravel voice had silted "I can't
Honma would have sworn,
her on the phone, that she was over
up
forty.
Her sand-
heavily for her age.
take bright light, this time of day.
Hope you
don't
mind sit-
ting in the back."
They'd arranged to meet in a coffee shop that had just opened near her condo in Shibuya. Tamotsu had come, too.
It
was well
past
noon, and the place was deserted. "I
But
am
1
I
was worried about Shoko when she cut off all contact like that. told myself, who knows? Maybe Mr. Right's come along. Who to go sticking my nose in?" Tomie puffed on a Seven Stars and
gave a
little
shrug, her shoulders enveloped in a huge, loose sweater.
"So you've got no idea what's happened to her?"
"No, she just disappeared without a
trace.
When was
the last time
you saw her?"
Tomie shook her head.
it
"I've
been trying
—
to
remember, ever since
The year before last around New Year's, I think it was." Honma showed her the photo of Kyoko Shinjo. Tomie examined long enough for her cigarette to burn down in the ashtray. Then
you
214
called.
she said slowly,
"Not even
know her. Never seen her before in my life."
don't
"I
at the club?"
"No, she's a real knockout, so at
I'd
remember
her. There's five girls
Gold. That's kind of a lot for one bar, maybe, but we're only a step
up from those
feelie cabarets."
"How about as a customer?" Tomie lit a new cigarette and let out a smoky puff of a laugh. "No girl would come in by herself. Or in a group, for that matter. It's not that
We don't get write-ups in the women's magazines."
kind of place.
Tamotsu
swiftly looked away.
Tomie was
staring at
him with
great
interest.
"What was Shoko
like at
work?"
She didn't have to think long. "Desperate." "For money?"
"What
else?
Those
bill collectors
were practically beating down
the door of the club. Luckily, they weren't your hard-core yakuza types.
She managed to steer clear of them, which
thankful
for,
I
suppose.
It's
is
something
be
a wonder, though, she didn't get herself
sold into one of those soap-and-sex joints. For a while there, to
to
I
tried
convince her just to drop everything and run."
"Counting both credit card companies and loan-sharking operations, she'd
racked up debts of over ten million yen. Were you aware
of that?"
Tomie shrugged. "Crazy.
Tamotsu looked up to a lot of people,
I
knew
it
was
sharply. "Easy for
a lot."
you
to say 'crazy.'
Happens
though."
"Oh, you must be the old friend from back home," she said with
an acid edge. "So
I
guess you'd know, then, Shoko always used to say
she came to Tokyo only because she couldn't stand
it
out there in the
boondocks any more."
Honma glanced at Tamotsu, who was holding himself very straight, with no expression on his
Tomie looked she said.
It
at
face.
Honma. "Not
a single
seemed like she always wanted
town and lead a
totally different
not so easy. Can't change your
life.
life
good memory,
to get
that's what away from her home-
Guess she found out, though,
it's
just like that." 215
"At least not for the better,"
Honma added.
"Right, not for the better." She smiled knowingly.
Shoko might have had about the went out the window with her
life
"Any dreams
of a glamorous working girl
first office
The
job.
salary
was next
to
nothing and the dorm was a dump." "Kasai Trading," said
A
Honma.
"I
stopped in
this
morning,
actually."
complete waste of time. The personnel manager was remarkably
unfriendly.
He claimed
that staff turnover
be
little
point in checking personnel
to
look
at the
Honma was
— then
"I
was
it
after
Kyoko had picked out Shoko
time after July 1988
checking.
Naturally, he didn't bother
photo of Kyoko Shinjo. Not that
right in thinking that
Roseline that
files.
was so brisk there would
Still, it
mattered much.
in other words,
the visit to Kasai Trading
was never pleasant
didn't catch the
—
it
name
to get that
If
she went to work for
some-
was only double-
kind of reception.
of the company, but
that's
probably
it.
Anyway, the dorm was bad enough, but things got even worse when left there. She really hit bottom then. Not surprising, considering. The rent at Mansion Kinshicho was ridiculous." "Which is probably why she started borrowing." Tomie looked into her pack of cigarettes and counted the number left, then took another out and lit up. "She started living on credit
she
and, next thing she knows, she's in cuckooland."
"Cuckooland?" "I don't know what else to call it," she said, throwing up her hands. "No money, no education. No special skills. Her face is nothing to make a banker go open up the vault. Working for a third-rate company. For her, the good life isn't anything she's going to get by plugging away at it. She wants it, she's just going to have to go after it, some way. Back in the old days, used to be you either worked your
way up
up with what you had. Right?" Tamotsu looked like he had something to say, but Honma nodded
for
or put
her to continue.
"Not any more, though.
Now
nobody wants
dreams. But nobody's willing to give
was money 216
them up,
to
either.
work
at their
For Shoko,
for shopping, courtesy of the credit card companies.
it
No
.
no questions asked. With other people, it's something else. not just women, either, you know. There are so many men knocking themselves out to get into a good school, to land that per-
limits,
"Its
Same
fect job, right?
same kind of
thing,
although that one's
fantasy,
considered respectable."
Honma thought back to what Ms. sumer finance
scare" of the late 1980s.
dream houses, even to
if it
meant putting
would mean
ing a piece of land
"Used
Sawagi had said about the "con-
How people
had to have their
their souls in hock.
As
own-
if
instant happiness.
be not every young couple could lay their hands on the
kind of cash to back up their fantasies. Also there weren't so different places to
pour money
into.
No
many
expensive makeovers, no
cosmetic surgery, no fancy prep schools, no glossy magazines showing every product ever made." Tomie light
was so wound up she forgot
her cigarette. "Everything's easy now. All the dreams that
can buy. Those that have, spend
and those
it,
that don't,
to
money
borrow
their
money and wind up like Shoko." "By the way, how long have you been at Gold?"
pocket
"Seven, eight years. Before that
band and
I
owned
together
it
for bankruptcy, though.
file
It
buried one club myself.
I
went bust and he ran
till it
wasn't so hard to settle
my creditors.
talked things over with
Actually, I'm
still
up
My hus-
off.
Didn't
decently.
I
paying off the
debt."
Another puff of smoke curled from her
band said one time? snake shed
its
skin,
I
had
to
admit
it
was
a
lips.
"Something
my hus-
good one. So why does a
he says?"
"A snake?" "Yeah.
It
takes a lot of effort to
Tamotsu jumped
in
do
that.
So
ahead of Honma. "So
Tomie cackled. "Wrong. So
it
can grow
why does it- do it
it?"
can grow another."
legs.
The thing
is,
snakes
get
on okay without
else
has them. So they get the idea they've got to have them too. Score
one
for
my
husband
right into debt for I just
wanted
legs,
The
there.
some
to be
but they look around and see everybody
world's full of snakes who'd slither
legs."
happy
.
.
217
—
"
"Me,
seen
I'd
else to turn,
I
it all
before. So
when Shoko
didn't have
anywhere
her stay with me," said Tomie. "Then she
let
bankruptcy and went
to
work
at
filed for
some new club—
"Lahaina."
Even
after she started there and moved out to Kawaup every once in a while. We'd have lunch. That would have been up through the spring of the year before last, maybe earlier. When her mother died, see, she got really depressed. So I
guess.
"I
guchi, she'd call
said, let's
"And
go stay that
at a
hot spring. Lighten up a bit
was the
last
." .
.
time you heard from her?"
Tomie frowned vacantly. "I'm not one for chasing after someone stops calling me, I usually just let it go. That's
"Right."
people.
If
how things ended with Shoko. "About the time Shoko was
Afraid I'm not
much help."
Kawaguchi
living in
—
say,
around the
—do you remember hearing anything
else in
"What do you mean?" "Some change, something new. Maybe she made some new
friend,
time her mother died particular?"
new beauty parlor,
started going to a
Tomie ran
a
hand through her
hair.
been trying to come up with some interested in. But I
I
"Ever since you called,
details
down." She
sat frowning,
of her nose.
Honma and Tamotsu
call the
minute
looked on in
no good," she sighed. "Trying
to force
it
spooked
...
minute,
now
phone
those
I
put the receiver at the tip
silence.
while there, she was getting dirty phone that's
I
with her hands pressed together
see, for a
but
doesn't help. Lets calls
and
it
had her
not so unusual." Her eyes brightened. "Wait a
remember. She called me,
all
paranoid on account of
and said somebody had been opening her
calls,
I've
about her you might be
keep drawing a blank. Hey, what do you expect?
can hardly remember a phone
"It's
anything."
mail."
"Her mail? At Kawaguchi Co-op?" "I
forget the
name
said the envelopes
much
of
it,
that
it
at the post office.
ance 218
money came
of the apartments, but yeah, in Kawaguchi. She
had been cut open.
was probably just
I
told her she
a prank, or
was making too
maybe some mistake
This was right around the time her mother's insurin,
which was the
first real
money
she'd seen since
she went bankrupt.
buy
to
I
had
because she said she was planning
to laugh
a grave for her mother. That's a
good million or two
right
there."
Honma
just looked at her.
He was
thinking back to the box of
Shoko had left behind, which the landlady had pulled out to show him. One was a brochure from a Green Grove Mortuary, if he remembered right. "Was she seriously thinking of buying a plot?" things
This, too,
provoked a laugh. "Seriously?
I'd
say
it
was
serious.
even went on a guided tour. Took one of their private buses. her
I
She told
was popular with the company, somebody so young
bet she
going to a place like another
I
that.
But
I
remember she
even younger than
girl there,
gotten to talking about
how
strange
her.
it
And
said no, there
the two of
was
them had
was, having to buy graves at
their age ..."
Honma
called Shoko's landlady first to
check on the name of the
phoned Green Grove Mortuary itself. was on the ground floor of a tidy little building in north central Tokyo. The walls were covered with photos of gravesites for sale and of different hills and wooded areas in the cemetery A huge scale model in the lobby showed a second, soon-to-becemetery, then
The head
completed
tsu
office
site nestled in the hills
of outlying
Gumma prefecture.
The middle-aged funeral director who greeted Honma and Tamowas polite and soft-spoken. When Honma asked about Shoko and
the brochure she'd had, the
man said she probably would have toured
the grounds near Imaichi
which they'd been promoting
for
some
time. "She's to
been having some trouble over an inheritance. I just wanted
check whether
He
my niece did in fact come here."
didn't miss a beat.
"Everyone
who
participates in our tours
handsome group photograph as a memento. We also keep copies for our records. Would you care to have a look?" Honma and Tamotsu hung around in the lobby until the man receives a
returned with a large photo album.
He opened it, then Tamotsu and Honma raced through
"This covers the period January to April 1990." left
them
to their
own
devices.
219
— —January 18—January 29—February 4—-February 12
the pages
"Here!" Tamotsu was tapping his finger on one page.
—Tour
Sunday, February 18, 1990. Green Grove Mortuary Visitors
Group
13.
Two employees,
a
man and
woman, crouched on
a
either side,
holding out the ends of an official-looking green banner. The tour
group consisted of no more than eight people. Front and center was
Shoko Sekine. They must have put her
there specially. So young, poor
girl.
With so few people, the group shot was fairly close-up. All the faces were in sharp focus. Shokos was the face he'd seen in Tamotsus high school snapshot, but under a new hairstyle. Long tight curls dyed chestnut brown had started to grow out, showing the dark roots. Dressed in a loose cotton jacket and jeans, she was squinting into the light
cemetery crescent
And teeth,
and looking altogether too casual
tour. Smiling, even.
lips, a
jumble of crooked
a smiling
Kyoko
someone on a Framed by
teeth.
teeth.
there, right alongside her,
was
for
You could see her
Shinjo.
showing a
perfect set of white
Two women,
too
young
to
be
alone in the world or to be out shopping for family plots. They were shoulder-to-shoulder, arm-in-arm.
"Shoko,"
220
murmured Tamotsu.
.
22
An hour and
from Nagoya by Kintetsu Line special express
a half
the quiet provincial city of Ise, site in
tracked
him down via
most sacred
for Ise Shrine, the
was the home of Kyoko
who was now
husband, Yasuji Kurata,
A
famous
the Shinto religion. This
had gotten
Shinjo's ex-
Honma had
thirty years old.
the records Funaki
lies
for him.
cursory look at the Ise phone book in Honma's local library
yielded a surprisingly large Kurata.
Among
the biggest
number
was
name
of companies under the
a real estate agency near the station.
Their quarter-page ad listed the
company
president, Sojiro Kurata,
and, right below him, Yasuji Kurata, as licensed agents.
Divorced from Kyoko over four years
and was
now the
from Tokyo, Kurata's mother answered.
called
name Kyoko
sooner had he mentioned the
conversation died. There was a
let
her hang up,
to ask
finally
"I
want
knew it was an
to ask."
He
but
imposition, and
that's all
back
"What
line:
Kyoko and her new
fiance
to
put
who would know where
she
me is.
tacked on various apologies, saying he
Quite unexpectedly, the old ant,
just call
thought perhaps he might be able
touch with friends of Kyoko's, I
—he'd
rasped through the
the situation between
simply as possible.
That's all
thought
him?"
Honma sketched in
ten seconds of silence, during
Honma
But no, the mother's voice
do you plan as
full
No
Shinjo, however, than the
didn't dare speak.
Okay, so again.
he had married again
father of a two-year-old daughter.
When Honma
which he
earlier,
bound
to
woman
be unpleasant said,
past now." Then, after a
.
.
"Things were unpleas-
moment,
as
if
to herself,
"Poor Kyoko." 221
"Could
possibly speak to him?"
I
Another
silence, followed
about the way
to regret
we
by another
thrust.
"We
all
information about her present situation and I'm afraid
we
don't have any idea
have things
treated Kyoko. But you're looking for
where she
is.
And
that, frankly,
my son would
speaking to
only open up old wounds." This was clearly meant to be the
word on
the subject. Before he
knew
it,
the dial tone
last
was buzzing
in
his ear.
Honma had an easy nut
him more
got
never imagined that the Kurata household would be
to crack,
but being dismissed out-of-hand
fired up.
He
told
Makoto and
this
way only
Isaka that he'd be
away
for a couple of days.
"Call to say you're
As the bullet
still alive,
okay?" was
all
Makoto could
train pulled out of Tokyo Station,
say.
he caught a glimpse
Makoto trudging down the stairs from the platform. Out some shopping; do that was their excuse for coming all the way into town to see him off. By now they looked like father and son, he of Isaka and to
thought.
Honma changed plush
seat,
body parts" him. It was
to a special express at
Nagoya. Settling into the
he started leafing through the material on "unidentified that his
magazine contact had found and downloaded
the off season,
and the
train
was
virtually empty.
took advantage of the extra space to stretch out his
The
journalist
chart: Site, Part(s)
had been
efficient.
He'd even drawn up a detailed
plus a Remarks column for progress reports.
On
"Children's Day," 1990
torso, calves
and
legs.
Found, Approx. Age, Sex, Personal
long to find what he was looking
feet of a
for
Honma
It
Articles
didn't take
Found,
Honma
for.
—May 5—
the remains of the
young female had been found
left
at the
arm,
edge of
a cemetery in Nirazaki, in the mountains of Yamanashi prefecture.
The
flesh
was
in
an advanced stage of decomposition. The bones
were partly exposed, yet the fingers showed traces of red
The only "Personal Article" was an anklet on
nail polish.
the right foot.
That's her, his instincts told him.
The time frame matched. Shoko Sekine had disappeared from Kawaguchi Co-op on March 17, 1990. Assuming that she'd been killed 222
within a week, the body would easily have been in that condition
by May
5.
The various
parts
had been wrapped
in separate plastic sheets
and
buried in a pile of rubbish in one corner of the cemetery. Crows and stray
dogs must have found them
the eye of
The
someone come
plastic sheets
to
first.
A
protruding
arm had caught
spruce up a family grave.
were from a take-out sushi chain franchised
throughout the Tokyo-Kanto region, and used as wrapping paper.
They were so common they were no help the anklet.
at
all.
The same went
for
A cheap gold-plated thing set with rhinestones, worth two
or three thousand yen at most. Hardly worth checking into.
The Yamanashi
police
had launched an intensive search
for the
missing head, right arm and thighs, but found nothing. Testimony collected in the vicinity of the crime failed to point to
characters or mysterious vehicles. Business ness^
—was
as usual.
The graveyard
any suspicious
—regular funeral
in question,
busi-
though small and
inconspicuous, was within walking distance of the Nirazaki Kan-
non, a Buddhist statue of some interest to tourists. The local history
museum was
nearby, too. Visitors
weekends, Nirazaki being not
far
came
into
town on holidays and
from the vineyards of Kofu or the
Sekiwa hot springs. The stray outsider had ceased
to attract
any
at-
tention.
A
cemetery in Nirazaki? Would that have been within Kyoko's
radius of
movement? He'd have
former husband.
to ask her
So what had happened to the rest of the corpse? Particularly the head.
—
The whole purpose of dismemberment excluded was limited to one of two
—
cases of ghoulish behav-
make a victim make a body easier to hide. Often it's women who will cut a body up in order to hide it. Take the case of the dismembered policeman found some years back in a canal on the east ior
things: to
unidentifiable, or to
side of Tokyo: the culprits turned out to be the
her mother. Ordinarily, carving
up
dead man's wife and
a corpse requires
tremendous
strength, but criminals, like people defending themselves against
some physical threat, can sometimes get surges of adrenaline that give them superhuman strength. Or, if a woman set her mind to it, 223
home and go about
she could shut herself up at
own pace
the process at her
in the bath.
So Kyoko cuts up Shoko's corpse, dumps half in Nirazaki Cemetery
and the
Kyoko did
rest
it,
—where? Technically Honma no
but
pull of certainty: her signature It
was
game
like a
the country to
might be too early
He
felt
he
Nagoya now pressed
to say that
felt
the dark
this one.
of connect-the-dots, with
Honma left
was on
in the blanks.
fill
it
longer had any doubts.
And he
him
tearing
all
over
wasn't even on official duty.
day go gray; the clouds that had loomed overhead as
his
the loudspeaker
announced
in
low enough
their
imminent
and
to touch,
arrival in Ise, raindrops
beaded on the window. The gloom matched the depressing short, in retrospect,
Kyoko
just as
facts:
how
Shinjo's days as a housewife in this quiet
town had been, how unhappily they had ended. Passing through the ticket gate he looked up at the sky, straining his eyes against the cold curtains of mist.
Over Kyoko's head,
it
had
always been raining.
Kurata Realty was smaller than he'd expected. four-story, gray-tiled building
ground
floor
office,
and
when
right
yellow squid.
A
office space above.
Honma had
glistened.
It
stood to
one
The
was
tiles
by the automatic door spy discreetly on the
behind him up popped what looked
was
a narrow,
side, to
a schoolkid
like a bright
wearing a long, hooded
pair of oversized rain boots skipped
down hard
It
with a couple of businesses on the
in front of the automatic door.
rainslicker.
and flapped, then stamped
The
glass panel slid open.
"What do you think you're doing, silly!" A mother appeared out nowhere to give the child a slap on the behind, then tugged him sharply by the hand. The boots now gave a stamp of seeming protest of
and the closing door
Honma knew
it
was
revolving
slid
open
again.
couldn't help smiling.
we cut
mother had
Even without seeing the
a boy. Left alone again, the kid
to
keys sign out in front of the shop next door.
go over and grab the back of his
slicker,
away Makoto was never that impossible, though when he'd cut up a bit with Chizuko. 224
face,
was now attacking
he the
The
and drag him
there were times
"
Honma
turned back just as the door was beginning to close. His
young man standing behind the counter in the brightly lit office, about five or six yards away. The automatic door must have caught his attention. The young man seemed to be waiting for Honma to look away first, though doing so meant ignoring the other agents and customers. That had to be Yasuji Kurata. Obviously his mother had already warned him. As Honma took a step forward, a colleague tapped the young man on the shoulder. A telephone call. He took the call, but still seemed met those of
eyes
a
distracted.
Muzak wafted through
the interior. Several customers sat at the
counter, each talking with an agent.
A woman
brochures on a display rack stepped over. "May
He'd come to see Yasuji Kurata, he told
The woman looked
arranging resort I
villa
help you, sir?"
her.
Do you have an
ap-
on the phone, facing
the
surprised. "Mr. Kurata?
pointment?" "Yes,
I
called earlier." Kurata
was
still
other way, but he suddenly looked back, as "It's all
right,
Ms. Kato,
I'll
he'd been listening.
be right with him," he said loudly, one
hand over the mouthpiece. The to
if
woman
turned away and went back
her brochures.
Honma waited for him to hang up, he thought of Kyoko Shinhow familiar she must have been with the place: her father-in-
As jo,
law owned
from time
it,
her husband worked there. She'd probably dropped in
to time, chatted with the
women employees.
Kurata came around the counter and hurried over.
ma's heels take
it
"I
"Let's step out-
he muttered, grabbing an umbrella. He followed close on Hon-
side,"
and steered him
you're the one
figured your
called?"
mother would have
Kurata licked his
had nothing
who
just out of view of the others inside. "I
said something."
lips nervously. "I believe
she also told you
we
to discuss."
you too?" what Kyoko is up to Honma cut him short. "Kyoko might be dead." "Does that go
"Listen, about
for
—
225
"What? Why do you say that?" he asked, a bit shaken. "Any evidence to the contrary?" Get him rattled, then
we'll see,
thought Honma. Kurata's nervous laugh broke
off.
"No
.
.
.
nothing, really"
Standing under the shelter only of a thin umbrella,
Honma
ex-
plained everything again, as he had for Kuratas mother. Kurata hardly
looked
at
him; he seemed to be counting the raindrops dripping from
the taut nylon.
"She doesn't
mean
"Is that right?
a thing to
me now."
Funny, because she means a
Kurata looked up sharply "Because she that
why you're
"Let's just
"Oh, you
lot to
me."
dumped your nephew?
Is
looking for her?"
say I'm concerned." are, are
you?"
"I'm concerned that
Kyoko has run out on my nephew
for
no
rea-
son that anybody can name. I'm worried she might be in some kind of serious trouble that she "Well, she's
isn't
able to handle alone."
no concern of mine any more," he
said, spitting
out
the words.
Honma ously"
sighed and got ready to leave. "That's up to you, obvi-
He looked down and added,
"I'm sorry
I
know Kyoko
didn't
had caused you so much pain." Kurata glanced
at
him. "Have you been to
Ise Shrine?"
he asked
suddenly "No, never."
He was he'd once
wavering. The story had hooked him, though any love
felt for
Kyoko had long
never use that word to describe
since vanished. At least, he
it
now. But clearly the
would
woman
still
aroused some feeling in him.
A rotten business, ple have
worked hard
thought Honma, digging up the memories peoto forget.
But dig he must.
Kurata switched the umbrella to his other hand. "Take a the station
and
tell
the driver to let
Go
Everybody knows
it.
where they sell the
little
"Not that 226
I
you
off at
taxi to
a place called Akafuku.
into the teashop in the back, not the part
sweets. Wait for
mind, but won't there be a
me there." lot of tourists?
You think we
can talk there?" Akafuku was famous for It was
traditional confectionery.
its
in all the guidebooks.
"This
Anyway,
is
the off season.
it'll
be better for
his voice. "If
I
tell
It
won't be so crowded. Plus
me if you act like a
everybody you're a Tokyo acquaintance here on
business and I'm just showing you around talk.
My
to
go
father's pretty well
me
notice
I
really
known around
wanted
to
Ise,
any
there won't be
here and people tend to
meet someone on the
sly, I'd
have
way to Nagoya." if word got around that someone was asking about Kyoko, the
all
"So
too. If
a weekday.
it's
Kurata lowered
tourist."
it
wouldn't look so good?" "I
wouldn't want word to get around."
His divorce four years earlier must have been a scandal. "There's
my wife to consider, too."
Arranging to meet
at four o'clock, they
went
their separate ways.
Honma heard the door slide shut behind him. It
was
made
a set from a made-for-TV samurai drama.
A
country inn
of dark timber with a large, raised seating area, covered with
tatami, at the back.
The shop
at the entrance
was busy, but only a few
—
customers had removed their shoes to step up for tea
group of four middle-aged
away at the
table furthest
women
in
kimono,
in fact, only a
who were
cackling
from Honma's.
Hibachi braziers were set out here and there, their coals giving off a
warm
glow.
Honma had just
taken off his wet coat, laid
it
to
one
and settled back when, right on cue from the samurai drama, a young woman in a farm girl's old-fashioned kimono brought over a side,
teapot
More
and
a plate of bean-cakes.
Honma
wasn't
much
for sweets.
Makoto or Isaka's taste, he thought, as he sipped the peatytasting green tea. Maybe it was the antique atmosphere a big iron kettle suspended from a chain was boiling away over a wood fire at to
—
the entrance
drank to step
at
—but the
tea tasted quite different here
from what he
home. He looked up from his cup and saw Kurata pausing
up
into the tatami-matted area.
Kurata settled in at the table and the waitress hurried over with another tray of tea and cakes, which he accepted with a
weak
smile, 227
He looked
then set aside.
drained. In the short span of time since
they'd met, the knot of his necktie
the coals in the brazier
had
wilted.
He
stared vacantly at
and said nothing. Abruptly he threw out an
awkward "It's famous, this place." Once he got started, though, small talk came easily to him. "Did you notice the number of new wooden buildings around here? We're seeing a lot of local businesses going back to traditional construction instead of concrete.
return to tradition.
It's
It
something of a trend; people seem
makes
to
want
a difference with the tourist trade.
a
Next
year will be the ritual rebuilding of the shrine that they do every
twenty years, so the town will be jammed." Almost in a whisper, he added: is
why
"My I
"I see. "I
but
father's
got a hand in these construction projects.
Well,
I
don't
want
to stir
have to take your word for
if
that backfired
it
If
brave
said,
looking
Honma
and then go printing a
last effort.
sitting here at all
Honma
could just try getting rid of you, in the long run."
in the eye: "I
warn
you're one of those media types aiming to dig around
in our personal affairs
A
up any old grudges."
it. I
would only be more trouble
Reaching for his teacup, he you, though.
sorry."
Which
have to be careful."
And who
string of
could blame him?
lies, you'll
be
He was only
because of some old score between him and Kyoko.
forced a smile and said, "You've got nothing to worry to fill him in on Kyoko's recent Shoko Sekine, the way both of them had
about from me." He then proceeded past, the
way she'd posed
as
—everything
except his suspicions of murder.
disappeared
That
would just have shut him up completely. Kurata showed almost no reaction till Honma mentioned that Kyoko had disappeared when her fiance learned of Shoko's bankruptcy. Half rising
from
his seat,
he
said, "I
never heard anything so
stupid!"
"Stupid?"
"Kyoko would never
try passing herself off as
someone who'd
gone bankrupt." "She didn't
know it had happened."
"You think she assumed someone out something 228
that basic?"
else's identity
without finding
— "That's
how
would seem." Honma put
it
then suddenly asked: "Are you saying
it's
hand
a
to his forehead,
impossible because
had some kind of hangup about credit and loans and
all
Kurata nodded. "She hated the whole thing, detested
Kyoko
that?"
She always
it.
steered clear of it."
Honma
That made sense, fact that
who
there are lots of people
"That
thought.
in with the puzzling
It fitted
Kyoko-as-Shoko hadn't possessed a single credit
card. "Yes,
don't trust plastic."
Kurata said heatedly.
isn't it at all,"
"What, then?" "There's a lot
A
large
apparently
more
to
than that."
it
group of older men— —swarmed onto the
all retired
from the same company,
tatami, taking
the middle-aged
women. They
barking out their orders like schoolboys.
them and looked Kurata
full in
up
several tables near
and
called the waitress over
the face.
Honma
"What
started
turned away from
is it,
then?"
"Kyoko's family broke up, a long time ago, over problems with debts." His voice caught slightly, as
tuning, a scale long disused
payments on
their
house and had
His hand twitched on his ried
me, they took her
her
hometown
ter
—
was
kept.
the subject called for a different
to leave
town
in a hurry.
That was
why Kyoko and 1 got divorced."
also the reason
usual line to
if
and unfamiliar. "They couldn't make the
it,
it's
in
saying
Even
have been involved at
He loosened his
Fukushima
who
after
lap.
off her family register
"When she marin Mureyama
prefecture. But they
added the
she'd married and where
my family regis-
me and
shouldn't really
she was living with
all,
tie.
back
the
bill
collectors
were
still
pestering her.
They'd dug out her address here, and they came pounding on our
—
door. Kyoko's family had done their flit in the spring of 1983 which was four years before we got married. And the creditors kept their meters running the whole time, so by then the interest was astro-
nomical. finally
They used every
we decided
concerned, was
trick in the
book
that the best thing
to get her to
we could
pay up.
Till
do, for everybody
split up."
229
23
Kyoko Shinjo and Shoko Sekine: two of a kind. Shackled to the same chased by the same shadow. "So that's how it was?" Honma murmured. He wiped a hand across his forehead and was surprised to find that it came away damp with sweat. He looked at Kurata and saw a similar surprise in his expast,
pression.
"You didn't know?" "No,
But a
new
this is absolutely the first I've
it
figured.
identity,
one. Kurata
explained
It
heard of it."
why Kyoko
and why she was willing
was
right. If a bill collector
to a person's family register
Shinjo desperately needed
to
go
to
such lengths
were somehow
and residence
certificate
—he could keep
to get
to get access
—both suppos-
them and hunt them down. This was another reason why debtors were always mov-
edly secure and inaccessible
ing from place to place, unable to hold
track of
down a solid job.
That was Kyoko Shinjo's world. She'd been on the run with her parents since still
in
—
"Let's see,
spring of 1983? She'd have been seventeen,
high school."
"Right.
Which
is
why she dropped out. And she'd really wanted to
graduate."
Then four
years
later,
as Kurata
she had stayed out of sight for the bill collectors
Japanese law,
when
230
said, they got married. Since
a couple
is
Kyoko must have thought
left
a paper
married, the bride
father's family register,
to establishment of new
new address.
had
that time,
had given up. But she'd
removed from her ple's
all
trail.
is
For under
automatically
with the line "Deleted due
household" appearing together with the cou-
"It
was
housing loan they were running out on?"
a
Honma asked.
Kurata nodded. "Kyoko's father worked for a small firm in
Mu-
An ordinary mid-level office worker. He couldn't keep up the
reyama.
payments, not on what he was making, but he couldn't shake the idea of owning his
Honma
own home,
had been caught up
when
Then, this
either.
Kyoko
told
could well imagine the vicious
A
in.
small
me all about it." circle the
down payment and
Shinjo family a large loan.
things got tight, a second loan, for a smaller amount,
time from a loan shark. That set the pinball rolling, picking up
speed, then going too fast for "Finally,
came up
they
anybody
to stop.
against one of those operations that charge
—
ten percent interest every ten days, a front for the yakuza
the
all
debts had fallen into their hands, apparently."
The
ball
had
rolled into the worst possible hole.
Game
over.
"Gangsters would bang on the door in the middle of the night, lean
on
their relatives, threaten all hell unless
somebody paid
up. Her
mother had a nervous breakdown. The family was thinking about a suicide pact.
mouth
Kyoko was scared out
in order to save
A
of her wits."
was
a salable commodity.
to force her into the skin trade?"
Kurata ducked the question. "She never told
know her parents were scared enough The Shinjos had gone
knew
his
town was made
Kyoko."
pretty seventeen-year-old schoolgirl
"They were trying
they
The corners of
twitched. "In fact, the family decision to skip
first to
to
me
the details. But
I
drop everything and run."
some cousins
in Tokyo, although
they couldn't stay; even distant relations would eventually
be traced. "That's
when
they decided they had better split up. Kyoko's
father took to the streets. Again, she never said whereabouts, but in
Tokyo
that probably
women headed there, her
for
meant Sanya, where Nagoya and stayed
mother working
in a bar
all
the day laborers
in a cheap
live.
The
rooming house
and Kyoko waitressing part-time."
maybe a year, keeping in touch with her Then her father had a minor traffic accident and Kyoko's mother went to Tokyo to visit. "It had been a whole year without any hassle, so they let down their guard. The father's whiplash wasn't very serious, and they'd managed to scrape They
father
lived like that for
by telephone and
letters.
231
some
together
began making plans
savings, so they
family in Nagoya.
The
was
to reunite the
And
the two of them began visiting those cousins of theirs again. But these harmless visits had repercussions. The mob back in Mureyama had relations in Tokyo too mob relations and, sure enough, somebody had been coast
—
—
One day
keeping an eye on the place.
when
they thought.
clear,
they were leaving the house
they were suddenly grabbed and shoved into the back of a
only got
all this
secondhand from Kyoko, so
I
don't
know
car. I
the details
... Her father was forced to sign a new interest-bearing repayment contract that required him to work under their surveillance.
but
Her mother was sent back
to
year in a 'companion service'
was
virtually a prisoner.
ents to try to find out
Of
Mureyama, where she spent
—more or
the next
less a prostitution ring.
course, they put the screws
She
on both par-
where Kyoko was, but neither of them would
say."
When
show
her mother had failed to
in trouble.
up,
Kyoko knew they were
She immediately quit her part-time job in Nagoya and
something they had always told her
to
be ready to do
at
ran,
any time. She
then kept sending letters general delivery to a certain post office in
Tokyo
—
eventually
till
a year later
—her mother escaped and man-
aged to get in touch. But her mother had changed, Kyoko
said;
she
Not long afterward, she caught flu, which turned into pneumonia, and this killed her. Kyoko would have been twenty-one. "She still had no idea where her father was, though she kept trying to reach him through the same post office. So she was the
was
an empty
like
shell.
only one at her mother's funeral." That's
down
when Kyoko happened
to see a
want-ad placed by an inn
here in Ise that was looking for live-in help. Eventually, not six
months
after she'd
moved
to Ise,
her father phoned. Whether he had
escaped or simply was no use to anyone any more, he was
he was a
broken man. He wheezed and barely managed
questions. "
Kyoko urged him
'I'm finished,'
aren't as
he told
her.
tough as women.
I
'I
to
come
to Ise, but
to
free.
But
answer her
he wouldn't
listen.
haven't got the energy to start over.
Men
should know' Finally he just hung up. He
probably couldn't afford the long-distance charges."
Kurata wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Kyoko never 232
found out where he was." He rummaged around
"Mind
smoke?"
if I
Honma nodded
him
for
hand was shaking as he
knew
"I
the family
go ahead. He noticed that Kurata's
to
raised his lighter.
who owned
the inn where
son was a friend of mine and he introduced
A live-in maid and it
Kyoko worked. The
He said she was good-
us.
And she was."
looking, sharp, a hard worker.
Kurata,
for his cigarettes.
the son of a prominent local businessman. For
was probably just
a lark at
first.
Honma knew he was being
nosy, but he asked anyway.
Kurata smiled nervously. "In the beginning, yes, bit of
over
fun and games. But as things went on,
I
began
all
I
wanted was
to realize
I
was
a
in
my head. was really hooked." I
"Because she was beautiful and intelligent?" "Yes, that,
out there. scribe
It's
it, I
but not only just that,
felt like
that. There's
when
a real
man.
I
depended on me and I was there
Honma was face. It
was almost
the
same
to
When
he
first
...
solid, confident.
words but seeing
story. All the
decisions.
despite his parents' opposition
mined.
I
to protect her. That's all."
listening to Kurata's
was Jun who had made the
ment
was
women how can I deI knew Kyoko
plenty of beautiful
was with Kyoko,
I
his nephew's
time they were together,
it
Going ahead with the engage-
had only made him more deter-
learned of her bankruptcy, he hadn't bothered
inform Kyoko, but instead went, on her behalf, straight
after the
source of this "misinformation."
Kyoko around
Shinjo's delicate but
her,
instincts.
animated looks attracted the
and the hard time she'd had aroused
Her pathos was seductive.
Men
had
to
men
their protective
come
to
her rescue,
to shield this flower in their hands.
Come
it, Jun and this Kurata had a lot in common. good homes, top of their class in school, sons who
to think of
The products
of
did their parents credit. Self-assured, with above-average
somewhere deep
inside, the boy-next-door's
need
ability,
but,
to rebel against his
upbringing. Not by anything so obvious as delinquency or openly taking
on
his parents. After
all,
he could never hope
to better
them.
To him they remained his good, strong, upright parents, the people 233
who had
provided him with a happy childhood, who'd laid
good
rules for a
who'd done nothing
life,
—and a woman
himself
knew
Kyoko allowed him
like
however high they rose
that,
to
do
down
the
be wronged.
own rebellious impulses by becoming a bit
So he curbed his
Kurata
to deserve to
"parental"
this.
Jun and
in the world, they could
never treat their parents as equals. They knew, even as they walked
had marked out
the path their parents
some path
of their
they needed
She was
some
own where
prize to defend.
clever,
for them, that they
Kyoko was made
male psychology when she
let
them come
her defense. As long as
to
command, she could
charging off into battle for her, then shake them
let
them go
down when
they
the spoils.
either Jun or Kurata
Still, if
to order.
though. She must have seen straight through that
she had willing "knights" at her
came back with
needed
they could "test their mettle," just as
had been the
least bit devious,
Kyoko
might have found herself just being kept on as a mistress, whiling
away her youth
shadow of
in the
a real wife.
But both of them had
—both very young, both needing her
turned out to be nice boys the
most honest,
in
traditional way.
Who knows? Maybe that's the way Kyoko wanted things. Although shown greater resourcefulmore pampered Kurata was ever likely to develop.
she was barely twenty at the time, she had ness than the
When
Kurata
ko had been dead
first
talked about introducing her to his folks, Kyo-
flatly against
the idea.
set against her. This she'd
which was why she'd made no choice but
to rally to
a
And
...
and
I
show
want
to
have been practically identical
went on arguing
"My mother opposed bring her around. there'd
can't
been someone
he'd given 234
I
up on
in
her. It
right
it
She has nothing
it all.
won
up
to the
out,
to
father's past, a
a distant
though he and
wedding, in June 1987.
my
to the very end, but
was
everything
her.
be sure, but sometimes
my
me
The words he used must what Jun had said a few years later.
marry
to
were
to anticipate,
of holding back. Kurata then had
Kurata's passionate pleading eventually his parents
their side,
her defense. Kyoko has told
about her family background. We've discussed be ashamed of
on
they,
been smart enough
I'd
Kyoko
memory
father helped
get the feeling
of his own.
Only
that I'd stirred
up
— many words, but
twice
wasn't around he got pretty emotional, saying
how
again.
He never said
one shot regret still
in so
at the real thing,
later."
it
it
and
it was my life, my my guns so as not to
should stick to
I
when my mother
when he married
Kurata was twenty-six
her.
He could
afford to have romantic notions.
"Kyoko
want
didn't
one from her
side.
No
a big ceremony. There
parents,
spent four days in Kyushu across his face
and
no
relatives.
He ran a hand the Ward Office and set
Kurata trailed
..."
"We went
started again.
would have been no
For our honeymoon we
to
off.
—
up a new family register as a couple the little piece of paper that showed she was my lawfully wedded wife. We were so confident, so proud that we were building a new life." one thing I'm
"There's just
still
not clear about,"
Honma
said.
Kurata stubbed out his cigarette and looked up. "Kyoko wasn't in debt herself.
It
father, for the
was her parents who had incurred the debts
most
part, right? So, legally,
no
bill
—her
collector should
have been able to threaten her about repayment. Couldn't you have got an injunction ordering ents
and
children,
on which
them
to stop?"
Under Japanese
husbands and wives share
liability
law, par-
only for debts
their joint signatures appear.
"Sure, that's the law," Kurata said with a smile. "But these guys,
they
know their way around it. They never told Kyoko she was liable;
they just
let
her read between the lines."
money your parents borrowed. You benefited from having it. Now time to pay up. Hey you, you tell this young bride of yours that she's It's
its
got responsibilities.
"They'd hang around saying, 'Your us where to find that the
him when he
does.'
whole thing had nothing
to
father's
bound
We'd say we
do with
us,
to call, just tell
didn't
know and
but they were impos-
They'd turn up
at our clients' offices, going on about them because of the debts young Mrs. Kurata's family had run up. One bank even went so far as to cancel its contracts with us." That alone would be enough to make him touchy
sible to shake.
how tough
things were for
on the subject of his first wife. "What about bankruptcy?" Honma asked. "Not Kyoko, I mean her father. Couldn't she have found him and had him file for personal 235
.
bankruptcy? With four years' interest thrown
man
ordinary working
pay
to
Or even
ever heard one."
off.
earlier.
must have
the debt
in,
run into the tens of millions, which was obviously too
much
for
There's an open-and-shut case
Why hadn't he
filed for
any if I
bankruptcy
back in Mureyama, before the family went into hiding? Had he just not known? Something the attorney, Mizoguchi, said flashed into his mind. Surely
no need
there's
to sacrifice tens
of thousands of people every
year.
"By that time, her father was nowhere to be found," Kurata his voice
becoming
"You look
for
a
mumble by
said,
the end of the sentence.
him?"
"Of course we looked, don't worry."
"And Kyoko
couldn't
file
for
bankruptcy on his behalf?"
"If you could pull off a trick like that, no one would ever have any problems. Kyoko suffered precisely because that
Kurata grinned.
isn't
possible.
law in
who
this
We
talked to a lawyer,
country considers debt
enters into
it,
who
told us all about
strictly the
how
and how no member of a family can declare bank-
ruptcy on another's behalf. Of course since Kyoko had no legal bility,
lia-
she shouldn't have been inconvenienced in any way by her
father's debts.
She should never have been threatened by
tors. So, logically
no
the
business of the person
—and
speaking
basis for filing.
Even getting
legally, too, as it
bill collec-
happens
—she had
a court order issued to protect her
wouldn't have done any good, with a business like ours. Customers
walk
in
and out
all
the time,
you couldn't stop them and check
credentials. Since her father's debts
even sue
for
were a simple
tion in private affairs
my
quitting
there's
parents, .
is
one
not
on you
much you
we were
thing. Non-interven-
of their first rules.
they put the squeeze
any marks, so me,
you couldn't
defamation of character." So long as the yakuza refrained
from actual violence, the police couldn't do a
"When
fact,
their
all
they're careful not to leave
can do on that count. Kyoko and
going out of our minds.
We
had
staff
.
"At the time, the lawyer said there was only one course of action
we could 236
take. First of all,
Kyoko should
officially declare
her father
missing dead.
—
had no way of knowing
declare that she
if
he were
alive or
would be struck off the Kyoko could go to Family Court
the court accepted that, her father
If
parents' family register. After that,
and relinquish any claims
to
her father's estate
—
in this case, his neg-
ative estate." The problem was that in order to declare someone missing, seven years had to have passed since the person was last seen or
heard from.
nobody could have held out
"In Kyoko's situation, the lawyer said
we should
had already
ko's father
look into one other
died. He'd
possibility, that
been working as a day
he might just have dropped dead one day in the
knowing.
If
we could prove he was
tance procedures immediately.
them
as a basis for filing
same. So Kyoko and
we
Kyo-
laborer, so
Without our
street.
dead, she could start disinheri-
Or she could
inherit his debts
bankruptcy papers. The
went up
I
distant cousins of hers,
that long. So
result
and use
would be
the
to Tokyo, and after going to see those
hit the libraries."
"To skim through the Gazette?" The City Government Monthly Gazette regularly runs Itinerant"
lists
of unidentified bodies.
column, deliberately named
or "homeless." In his line of work, resorted to the Gazette.
It
was
It
has a "Deceased
to avoid labels like "vagrant"
Honma
a depressing
himself had sometimes
and time-consuming
task,
scanning the endless roster of anonymous people posted by date and place of death: "Male, 5'
4";
name and
address unknown; age 60-65; height
underweight; wearing khaki overalls and workboots." Like prowl-
ing around a graveyard "I'll
never forget
"Kyoko
full
of
unmarked
sitting there at the library table,
looking for any description that might
worse than
that."
many
entries.
else in the
almost
—
poring over those Gazettes, fit
her father
like
.
.
No,
it
was
hours and hours. There were
She must have forgotten about
room because
I
me and
heard her chanting to herself
Dad, please be dead.' Her
'Please be dead,
me to the core That's when I saw what really was. And something burst inside me." shocked
.
His voice was small and strained. "She was flipping
through the pages for what seemed so
stones.
said Kurata, staring outside at the rain.
it,"
.
.
.
everything
—
own
a whisper, father!
It
sort of person she
237
—
"
No
how much he told himself he loved her, it was more man this product of a comfortable and loving home
matter
than this
—
could stomach: the sight of the real Kyoko rooting through the of unidentified dead in search of a likely corpse.
lists
And who could blame
him? At one stroke, she'd wiped out the
Smashed
themselves.
in the mirror,'
"
into
it
they'd tried to claim for
life
little bits. "I
told her,
Kurata said in a shaky voice.
Honma's hunch had been
right.
"
Take
a
good look
'You're evil.'
Kyoko Shinjo was completely on
her own. The ghosts that haunted her eventually drove everyone else
away Kurata's voice
was now barely above
vorce was a couple of weeks
later."
a whisper.
September 1987,
"The formal
after a
di-
mere three
months. This was what she had meant by Got married too young and it
work
didn't
believe she
phrase
out, the
went back
to
Wada had
Nagoya
to
Her records would have moved back, register in later,
used. "After
to get
I
easily
enough.
A
year
which suggested she had
nervous again.
"After that, I've sively.
up,
split
then, to her original family
Mureyama. That could be checked
apparently, she found a job in Osaka,
begun
we
look for work."
no idea what became of her," Kurata
"But you know,
when we were
said dismis-
getting married, there
was
a
remember she sent her a postcard. Some older girl who had helped her out when she was working part-time in Nagoya. I should have the address at home, though she friend she said she just
had
to
tell. I
may have moved." The
soft,
steady rain emptied the streets and gave their taxi a clear
whose grounds could easily have held the entire housHonma lived. The plain cypress fence shone wet the gate looked private and imposing. Up under the gray
ride to a villa
ing complex where
and
clean,
rooftiles
hung
a
hand-drawn plaque: So
Mon
—
the Gate of Smiles.
Also a short length of rope, used as a Shinto blessing. Very impressive.
Honma
thought he should wait outside. After
reemerged, a sheet from a 238
memo
pad
in
five
one hand, a
minutes, Kurata plastic
umbrella
in the other.
As the gate opened and
of a small red tricycle
ing to Kuratas
little
need
you'll
it
caught a glimpse
abandoned on the white pebbled path. Belong-
know
"I didn't
Honma
daughter, presumably.
"Here." Kurata held out
umbrella.
closed,
if
first
in Tokyo, just ditch
Honma thanked
the piece of paper
you had an umbrella. it
If
and then the
you don't think
at the station."
him, then remembered to ask about the piece of
rope.
"Oh,
that.
It's
"Something
custom around here," he
a
to
do with
Ise Shrine,
"That's right," said Kurata. "That
mentioned, too.
A
I
replied.
suppose?"
was about
the
superstitious soul, that one.
If
first
thing
Kyoko
she had to drive a
nail into a wall, she'd say a prayer, just in case she'd
picked an un-
lucky direction." It
was about the
first
thing he'd said with any affection for the
woman who used to be his wife, however briefly. "But prayers didn't keep the ing,
it
bill collectors
seemed, had been able to do
away," he added. Noth-
that.
239
^ 24 ^
Kurata had said the for her
tance
was
in the
was unable
girl's
name was Kaoru Sudo. The
Moriyama
district of
come up with
to
a
neighborhood,
till
—
for
another favor
home The
first
to
thing in the
the better part of the next day poking around the finally a
newspaper boy told him
had moved two years ago. This ing
assis-
phone number, so Honma had
go and look for himself. He got the bullet train
morning and spent
address he had
Nagoya. But directory
that Ms.
Sudo
him no choice but to ask Funaki her new address. He headed back to Tokyo, arrivleft
after midnight.
light
was on
in the kitchen.
unaware of Honma's
return.
Shoko had worked with
at
Tamotsu was
He'd stayed on to
sitting at the table,
talk to the people
Kasai Trading and at the bars Gold and
some asking around too in the neighborhoods of her old apartment buildings, Kawaguchi Co-op and Castle Mansion Lahaina. He'd done
Kinshicho. "I'm back!"
Honma
said loudly.
Tamotsu gave
managed
to
keep a book from sliding
Honma made
it
a habit to call
just
to the floor.
home once
away. This time, Isaka had picked
a start, his knees
He laughed and
jerking up against the underside of the table.
up
the
a
day whenever he was
phone and kept on about
what a good houseguest Tamotsu was. Decent, hard-working. He even washed the dishes. "He's especially good with Makoto. After that thing with Blockhead, the boy was real depressed. But since Tamotsu's
been here,
he's
been a
Honma was happy he hadn't quite 240
to
lot
hear
known how
more it.
lively."
Ever since the Blockhead incident,
to deal
with his son.
All
Honma said now to Tamotsu
was, "You seem pretty engrossed.
What's that you're looking at?"
Tamotsu
"This."
flattened the pages a bit for
"A high school yearbook,
He nodded.
it
looks like,"
"Shoko's and mine.
I've
got
him
to see.
Honma said. all
of them: kindergarten,
elementary school, middle school, high school." Four books of var-
and
sizes,
with the high school one open on top.
"You've had
them
all this
ious colors
time?" Honma's eyes wandered over the
sea of adolescent faces.
"No," Tamotsu replied matter-of-factly. "These are Shoko's."
Honma looked up sharply and met his eyes. "Here on the
last
page, these are
Shoko wrote her name
all
her friends' signatures, and
in the middle." There
was, "Shoko Sekine"
it
surrounded by a wreath of mes-
in an uncertain, slightly feeble hand,
sages and names.
"Where did you
get them?" There
had been no sign of them
at
her
Kawaguchi Co-op apartment. Like the landlady Nobuko Konno had
—with
said
a
knowing
air,
now
that
he thought about
and photos were the kind of thing you'd grab in the middle of the night.
if
—yearbooks
it
you were running
And Kyoko would have known
of leaving something like that lying around. Anyway,
off
the danger
no yearbooks
had turned up when he and Jun searched the Honancho apartment
where she'd lived
as Shoko.
"Actually, they turned
up
in the darnedest place,"
"An old classmate of Shoko's had them. This with, her,
named Yumi.
See,
when
I
girl
that she'd
them over
to
in touch to let
my place, and my mother sent them along here."
that's
to this girl?"
the thing." Tamotsu pulled out a thin envelope. Dusty
from long neglect, the envelope had been snipped open Inside
was
said.
hang out
been keeping Shoko's yearbooks. She brought
"Shoko actually handed them over "No,
to
started asking our old friends about
word must have gotten around because Yumi got
me know
Tamotsu
we used
a note, word-processed
on
at
one end.
a sheet of stationery.
Dear Yumi: Sorry to spring this on you. I'm sure you're surprised to be get241
ting such a big package, but
have a big favor to ask. Would you
I
mind holding onto my yearbooks I
for a while?
guess you've heard that things haven't been going so well for
me here in Tokyo. why I'm unhappy.
Now
that
try to get
books,
I
I've
been so unhappy here,
my mom's gone my life together
remember what
a
I
my own, know
and I'm on
I
a bit.
But every time
mess
I've
made
I
should
I
see these year-
of everything.
have the heart to stash them away in the back of the
Could you hold onto them friend
for
know
don't even
I
don't
closet.
my
me, since you were
best
back then?
Someday when I can look through them and feel good about myself, I'll come get them. But till then, could you hang onto them? Thanks. Best,
Shoko
Honma
read through the note twice, then picked up the high
school yearbook and flipped back to the autograph page. Let's stay best friends forever
and
ever!
—Yumi Nomura
Beneath the cheerfully rounded characters a away: a "It
last tribute to girlish
was Kyoko Shinjo
trail
of teardrops
fell
sentiment.
that sent
them
to
Yumi," Tamotsu said, nar-
rowing his eyes.
How
could he be so sure? The
was "gone," which put
it
after
letter
November
mentioned 1989.
that her
"When
did
mother
Yumi say
that she received this?"
Tamotsu took out the dog-eared notepad he had been
using. "She
threw away the wrapping paper, so she couldn't check the postmark, but she figures
it
was the spring
after Shoko's
mother
died."
The
spring of 1990. Shoko disappeared from the Kawaguchi Co-op
apart-
ment on March
Shoko
242
17. If the
package had been mailed before
that,
had probably done
herself;
it
any
later
meant Kyoko. Hard
"Yumi says she was just taking out her clothes
knows because she had room
mer. She
back of her
the
how
closet. That's
1
for spring
to put the
know
it
to call.
and sum-
yearbooks away in
Shoko who sent
wasn't
them." "But
it's
hard to say just
when
people put their winter clothes
Could have been March, or even
away.
"Utsunomiya
is
April."
Nobody does
colder than Tokyo.
that in March,
I
guarantee you."
Tamotsu spoke be so certain, anything
confidently, but
else,
his notes
could
"Was there would help nail
different habits.
some more.
any ID showing her address, so
how he
didn't see
something she might have said that
down the date for us?" He thumbed through to bring
Honma
when households had such
at first
how
"Like
she forgot
they wouldn't hand
it
over?"
"Wait a minute. You livered
it,
Yumi had
so
Tamotsu fumbled good, did
I?
When
mean nobody was home when
to
go
to the post office to pick
for words. "Yeah,
I
guess.
what
when
to expect.
she opened
it
it
first
de-
up?"
didn't explain
it
so
she got the notice saying that a package from
Shoko Sekine had been brought around, she idea
I
they
So she hurried
down
didn't
have the vaguest
the next morning, but
up and saw the yearbooks, she
said she
felt
a bit
put out." "I
take
"It's
all
it
Yumi's family
isn't
around the house much?"
a shop, so there's always
happened
to
"And why was "Let's see,
somebody
there.
Only
that time, they
be away or something."
did
that?" I
ask?" Tamotsu looked over his notes. After a few
moments, he scratched
his
head and apologized. "Nope.
I
wasn't
thinking."
Honma
thought for a second, then asked, "Mind if I take a look at book you've been carrying around everywhere?" He looked embarrassed. "Yeah, okay. The handwriting's a bit messy
that
little
but..." It
wasn't the most legible handwriting
Honma had
seen.
Tamotsu 243
"
had marked the date "Yumi's
at the top of
each page, along with the heading
Comments." The questions and answers
started off in an
orderly way, but, as the conversation progressed, lines began to
jump
here and there, the writing drifting free of gravity.
was
Still,
it
a
proper record. In one spot was the isolated phrase "Yumi annoyed." Right above that, curiously enough, were the words "sweet hydrangea tea."
"What's this?"
Honma
pointed
at the page.
Tamotsu chuckled. "On the way home from the post office, she saw they were giving out sweet tea at the local temple. Yumi is a bit
—anything sweet, she — today had yesterday
chubby but about
talks
this,
I
"There's a clue right there,"
—
what
that's
this
I
Honma
temple on the way back from the post tea
can't resist
still
had
that.
it.
That's all she
What's so funny?"
grinned. "She stopped at a
office
and had some hydrangea
means?"
"Yeah, so?" "Well, there's only one day each year
— Hana Matsuri,
ples
Tamotsu's jaw
fell
when
they do that at tem-
the Buddha's Birthday. April 8."
open. "That means
—
"The package would have been delivered the day before, April So
it
wasn't
"Hey!"
Shoko who mailed
He
let
out a
little
7.
it."
cheer. "I'm doing all right, huh!"
The index at the back of the yearbook and the class roll both listed Shoko Sekine and Yumi Nomura in the same "Third Year, Group B." That plus the "best friends" message on the autograph page
—wasn't
why Kyoko-as-Shoko had decided to send the books to Yumi? Judging from her note, Kyoko knew that people back in Shoko's hometown had heard about her problems. Perhaps Shoko herself had told Kyoko as much on the cemetery tour. People sometimes feel that
—
comfortable telling a perfect stranger ting
on the next barstool
—things
a taxi driver, or the person
sit-
they would never reveal to an
know you and you don't know me: that's what's nice about it. Especially in a cemetery, what else is there to talk about except the sad turns your life has taken? Kyoko must have been fishing around for just that sort of story, coaxing her to open up. actual friend.
But then, 244
I
don't
why
hadn't the bankruptcy been mentioned?
Was
it
too
soon, or was the topic too serious for light conversation?
was
that
Shoko had talked about
if
it,
she'd probably
The irony
still
be
alive,
Kawaguchi Co-op and working at Lahaina. "When Yumi got these, did she notice the sender's address? Did
living at
you ask?" "I did ask, but she didn't rememSomewhere in Saitama, she said." Then it might have been Kawaguchi Co-op. "Did Yumi say any-
Again Tamotsu shook his head. ber.
thing about feeling
how
she
felt,
suddenly being sent these things? Besides
put out at having to go pick them up?"
was
"Well, she
surprised."
and
stay best friends forever
Tamotsu pointed
at the
message
"Let's
an
ever!" "Actually, this line's a bit of
exaggeration."
"You "It's
mean
they weren't best friends?"
not like they weren't on good terms, but they weren't
close either,"
he said with a shrug. "They just got a
with the excitement of graduation. So anyway,
little
when she
all
carried
that
away
read the
let-
Yumi thought, 'This Sekine girl's got a lot of nerve ...'" He lowered his eyes. "And then when everything got forwarded here, even before I knew anything about the date and all, my first thought was hey, Shoko never sent Yumi this stuff." He spoke quietly, with conviction. "When I read that letter too, I thought, no, Shoko didn't ter,
—
write this."
"Why not?" "Shoko girl to
look
doesn't all
hung up on the past like that. She's not the kind of some old yearbooks and moan about how her life now
isn't
at
measure up. Shoko used
to say there wasn't
anything happy
at
about her schooldays."
That made sense, thought Honma.
A
none-too-happy childhood
would explain why she was so anxious to make something of her life. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong way to go after that dream. Instead of actively
making
that
showed an image of
on a
plastic card.
herself somebody, she just herself as somebody.
this."
bought a mirror
reflective
ID photo
Shoko would never have Tamotsu's tone was heavy, resigned. "The minute I saw
"Shoko's dead, I've finally got to admit
done
A
it.
245
these yearbooks, table
I
knew
it.
and clenched them
but as
if
fists,
He
not so
let his
hands
much
in anger or sorrow,
from the
fall
gripping his memories of her.
Tamotsu then asked
Kyoko
She's gone."
into
Shinjo.
He
last fell silent, all
Honma
to tell
him everything he knew about
When Honma
listened without saying a word.
at
he could say was, "Strange woman."
"Yeah?"
"As
if
everything else she'd done weren't enough, going and send-
ing the yearbooks to an old friend.
out? Just toss them.
Why
Why
didn't she just toss
did she have to pretend to
them
feel
sorry for
in
one swift
Shoko?"
Tamotsu pushed
his chair
back abruptly, stood up
motion, and cut across the living room to the dark veranda.
He
stood
out there leaning against the window, the clothesline strung taut
above him, his white sweater
flat
up
against the glass. His back
turned to Honma, looking too solid to be a ghost, but
still
was
hollow
inside. Lonely.
Shoko's Nagoya friend wasn't easy to track down. Funaki got in
touch with the local Utsunomiya
busy
to help. Actually,
dleman.
Honma knew
force,
but they said they were too
Funaki himself had no time
to
he was racking up one debt
Funaki was good-natured about the whole
be playing mid-
after another,
thing. After
all,
but
Honma
had cracked that armed robbery-murder he'd been working on. The case
had unfolded almost exactly the way Honma had
predicted.
They'd arrested the wife of the murdered businessman and a former
co-worker from her secretarial days. Their motive was simple: they
wanted
his property
and
his business.
"You're a genius," Funaki see his
beaming
face,
"What clinched "Patience.
We
had
told him.
Honma
could practically
even over the phone.
it?"
kept them under constant surveillance.
ously too, so that they'd be sure to notice. In the end,
widow who
cracks.
snapl She starts
warfare stuff 246
is
And
it's
We call her in for questioning and, just like
crying her head
off.
Sometimes
a bitch." After griping about
all
obvi-
the guy's that,
this psychological
the
paperwork they
now had
to do,
he
said:
"But you sure gave
me
a lot to think about,
about the way people's minds work."
"You say that every time." "This time
it's
true.
By the way, take a guess. Where do you think
young wife was when she
the
first
approached her friend about offing
her husband?"
Funaki wouldn't be too happy
if
he got
this
one
Honma
right,
could see, but before he could answer, Funaki was telling him: "A funeral."
"Whose?" "Their former boss's.
Cancer
at thirty-eight.
sutras, the
The department head.
The whole time
two of them were
A woman, no
the priest
sitting there plotting
less.
was chanting
how
to
the
do in her
husband." say
"I'd
that's
taking the Buddhist impermanence thing a
little
too
literally."
Funaki changed the subject. "Hey, so how's
it
going with you?
Any progress?"
Honma this
gave him a quick rundown. Funaki said grimly, "Nailing
Kyoko
Shinjo's the
main
thing, but at
some point you
really
ought to get yourself a corpse, too."
"Hm." "You put in a request with the Yamanashi police for information
on
that
dismembered body?"
"Not
yet.
I'm pretty sure about
operating as a free agent."
it,
but
it's
just a hunch.
He needed some hard evidence
could ask for formal procedures like fingerprinting. has disappeared. her,
but
off to "If
'Listen,
Woman B, who's posing as her, seems
now she's also vanished without a
trace'
to
And
I'm
before he
woman A
have killed
—who's going
to
rush
ask the local force for their cooperation with a story like that?
only you had something to identify her with. You say this
Shoko Sekine had crooked
teeth? That's distinctive."
was thinking. "But we're clutching
The head, he no way to
at straws here. There's
search for that."
"Oh yeah? Actually, you'd be "Why? What have you got?"
surprised what might turn up."
247
Honma
quoted Tamotsu. "Kyoko Shinjo
—what would you
got this
call it?
—moral
is
woman.
a strange
She's
streak? Sentimental side?
Like with those yearbooks, she could have just thrown them away.
But no, she goes to the trouble of sending them to an old classmate.
Not only was it a blown her cover." "...
—
it
could have
Yeah, I'm with you."
"It's
else,
who knows?
lot of extra trouble,
not
logical.
It's
like she's got these principles. In everything
her moves are planned and precise, then
all
of a sudden with the
yearbooks she becomes human. She's not consistent."
ex-husband said about her being a
superstitious soul
mind. "So, just for the sake of argument,
chops up the corpse
to get rid of
it,
but
let's
feels
What
Kyoko's
had stuck
in his
say she goes ahead and
she has to give the head
a decent burial."
of follows."
"It sort
"Mm..."
men were
Both "If
it
was me,
Honma
I'd
silent for a
moment, then Funaki suddenly
said,
check out Shoko's parents' grave."
smirked. "Good idea. Problem
is,
there isn't one."
Her
parents had died destitute, and their remains were in urns in a temple.
"Okay, scratch air."
And with a
that.
slept
He was
on
his
tongue and a sigh, Funaki hung up.
click of his
During the period
ma
keep forgetting that we're searching thin
I
own
able to pay
that Isaka
dubbed
futon for the
more attention
first
to
"the holding pattern,"
time in what
Makoto and
to get his full
of therapy sessions with Dr. Machiko. Meanwhile,
Hon-
felt like ages.
dose
Tamotsu would
head out every morning and return in the evening with the information he'd
dug up
that day.
Not
that he
was finding anything
that
would help pinpoint where Kyoko Shinjo was right then. He concentrated instead on Shoko's life in Tokyo. There were some small details that linked Shoko to Kyoko, although at this stage their usefulness was limited. Tamotsu knew that but insisted on continuing. He was nothing
if
not determined.
"There's just one thing 248
I
want
to ask,"
he said one evening.
"What's that?"
He
scowled. "We're gonna find
Kyoko
Shinjo, right?"
Td like to think so." "I
mean
gonna find
we're
her, right?
We're not turning this over to
the police."
"Not if we can help it." "When we do when we meet her what I want to ask you is, me be the one to talk to her first. I want to hear what she has
—
let
—
to to
say."
On
his third
day back from
Honma
Ise,
got a
call
from Wada, the
young manager at Roseline. He said he'd been talking to the people who had worked with Kyoko and who were still there, but he hadn't
come up with anything worth
Honma know
to let
earnestness
was
reporting.
Still,
he had wanted
he hadn't forgotten his promise. By
starting to
sound
fishy.
to call
now
his
Honma was pretty sure it was
through him that Kyoko had broken into the Roseline data. "Did you talk to her roommate yet? yes,
It
or Canberra,
isn't
"Ah, yes,
her name?
—oh
Orie Chino's return from her overseas trip on
was tomorrow. "Not
his calendar.
What was
Wada asked.
One Honma had marked Chino,"
yet. She's
probably
still
in
Sydney
she?"
that's right,"
almost sounded as
if
he
said,
stumbling a
he didn't really want
bit
Honma
over the words.
It
talking to her. But
he hadn't set up any obvious obstacles, nor did he seem particularly devious. Strange man. "I'll
give her a call tomorrow. Anyway, thanks for checking
may need to get in touch again later, if anything crops up." Wada sounded worried, judging from the timid way he
said
in.
I
okay
and quietly hung up. Thinking he'd better
Wada
On
talk to her as
soon as she came back, before
could get to her, he decided to try
second thoughts, though, he
perhaps more effective figured out roughly
—
to let
when
felt it
first
thing the next morning.
would be more
her have a day to herself
she'd be getting
polite
—and
first.
So he
home from work on
second day back, and dialed her then. The
first
her
time he got her 249
"
woman
answering machine; the second time the
She was guarded
at first,
but relaxed a
little at
herself answered.
the mention of Wada's
name. Before long, she was chattering away. "You know, Mr. can't
seem
to get over
Uh-huh, here
comes. "Oh? So
it
was
it
like that?"
mean, when Kyoko was rooming with me,
"I
many
Wada just
Kyoko," she teased.
I
don't
know how
Kyoko never talked like she was interested in him or anything, but he seemed to have his own ideas." Which would help explain why he was so edgy now. Maybe he was hoping Honma's search would turn up something that would improve times he drove her home.
his chances with her.
"Since
we were
living so close together,
not to step on each other's toes. So
And
about her.
then,
Honma's eyebrows "Yeah.
don't
I
I
rose.
exactly,
that
much
off,
we'd
but they seemed to be pretty
Uh-huh, but the cars were always
"And did she go with somebody?" "Hmm mostly she went alone, I .
all
any time
—
"Driver's license?
.
know
either of us got
were careful
"She went away on her holidays?"
know where
trips."
"Did she have a
It
I
away"
generally go
long
whenever
Kyoko and
really don't
.
rentals."
think."
could have been reconnaissance work, getting ready for the
switch. "So you're with Roseline as well?"
"Yeah, I'm in the computer room.
I
handle company data," she
said.
Honma's surprise must have been the next
clear
from his
moment Orie was saying anxiously,
"Just a second. You're in the
silence,
"Hello? You
still
because there?"
computer room?" But Wada had said lie if a relatively small and
she'd been a clerk. So that had been a
—
harmless one. "That's right.
and
I
a couple of the other companies."
"Where do you 250
process data from Roseline, Minami Green Garden
actually work, then?"
.
"The computer room only got to
in the
is
know Kyoko through
Mitomo Group's
headquarters.
I
the bulletin."
"Bulletin?"
"The roommate-wanted column in the company newsletter. an
ad. Neither of
Shinjo, thought
"My job
is
I
ran
us could afford a condo by ourselves." Enter Kyoko
Honma.
specialized," Orie continued. "So the pay's not too bad.
Whereas she was she could swing
just a trainee, so
it.
I
had
my
doubts about whether
But she seemed serious enough, so
I
said okay."
"Ms. Chino, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask a rather tough question."
"Ask away." "Did Ms. Shinjo ever ask you to steal customer data for her?"
There was a stunned silence, and then she burst out laughing. "No,
why would anybody do something like that?"
"But
if
"Sure
I
someone did
ask, could
could," she said,
out on the
street.
again, either."
still
you do
it?"
laughing. "But
if
word got
out, I'd be
Probably never work on computers in this town
Honma didn't really imagine Kyoko would have
let
the
key element in her plan depend on a roommate she'd only just met. But he had better be sure
.
.
"Okay, what about Mr.
Wada? Do you think
he'd do
it
if
Ms.
Shinjo asked?"
She answered immediately. "That's an easy one.
Definitely." Bingo,
thought Honma.
Then she slipped in a disclaimer. "But it wouldn't happen." "Why not? He knows his way around computers, doesn't he?" Orie laughed. "Oh, he talks big around clients. But actually he hasn't got clearance for the
badge."
It
was obvious
that,
computer room. He doesn't have an ID from her point of view, Wada was just an
amateur. "Sorry to keep harping on
this,
but
how was Ms.
Shinjo with
com-
puters herself? Could she have messed around with the Roseline sys-
tem and extracted customer data on her own?" "Are you saying that
that's
what happened?" 251
"No, I'm just testing a theory. While she was living with you, did
know-how
she have the kind of
something
would need
a person
to pull off
like that?"
Her response was immediate. "Kyoko, she couldn't
tell
a 'mouse'
from a moose." "
A mouse?"
"Oh
Kyoko?
dear," she said. "Listen.
from the computers,
see,
let's
wearing a wedding dress
I'll
when
come
Honma gave a quick laugh. "What was she
like as a
I
as
she
If
knew how
to steal data
get married someday, instead of
Rambo."
how had she pulled Shoko's data?
But
roommate?" he
said, trying a different
tack.
"As a roommate?"
"Was she neat? Messy? She keep Orie's tone brightened.
Plus she
was
careful with
whip up the best
"Oh,
see.
She was great
money and
fried rice just
Honma remembered
I
the place clean?"
a
from the
good cook,
"I
heard about
"Well, of
up
all
it
She could
Honancho aparton the oven fan?"
the shiny fan blades in the
"How did you know that?" who knew her."
from somebody
things
the place. Besides
.
.
.
Use detergent,
of
out on the veranda.
I
Yeah,
it's
that. it
have around.
too.
leftovers in the fridge."
ment. "Did she ever use gasoline to cut the grease Orie was astonished.
to
I
scary,
didn't like
the
having gasoline
told her. But no, she
No
it,
had
real danger,
I
to
way
it
sitting
would
stink
around
keep her
little
like
bottle
suppose, but you never
know, what with the stacks of newpapers out there." This reminded her of something. "Hey,
now
that
I
think of
it,
Kyoko used
to take a
Tokyo paper."
"Which one?" "The Asahi, was
The Yomiuri?" she muttered to herself. "That's right, the Yomiuri. I remember telling her the Osaka Yomiuri was a lot more interesting, hands down. Why would she want the it?...
Tokyo edition?"
"What did she say "Urn It
252
... I
forget.
figured that
to that?"
What did she say?"
Kyoko would need
to
know
all
she could about
Tokyo
if
she was going to be living there as Shoko Sekine.
had an emotional pull on
city
had
way
of telling herself that a
also
new
life
her,
was on
Maybe
the
and the paper was her
its
way So
every evening
she'd scan the events of the day in Tokyo.
"When did she
first start
subcribing to the YomiuriV
Orie had to think about that one. "Pretty soon after she I
guess. She used to clip articles for her scrapbook
This was the cles?
first
he'd heard of a scrapbook.
moved
sometimes
"What
in,
too."
sort of arti-
Do you remember?"
Orie just laughed.
don't know,
"I
maybe
recipes.
I
didn't
pay much
attention." to mind later, he told her, she should call They hung up. So the mystery remained a mystery, even to the roommate who had sat across the table from her at meals for months. Kyoko's image, though, was coming clearer step by step: taking the job at Roseline, finding the condo with Orie from the com-
Well,
him,
if
something came
collect.
puter room, playing the manager
how
her scheme. But
Should he forget about "I
Wada
Wada altogether?
this
give up," he said, without realizing he'd spoken out loud.
"Give up what?" asked Makoto,
behind him, doing an assignment. "Hey, you're in a
to
Honma
hadn't
Aunt Hisae
tears,
who was
"Is this a
sitting at the table right
game?"
good mood." The boy was
had been
since Blockhead
and
along, fitting everything into
did she finally get the information on Shoko?
killed, he'd
known how
done almost nothing but
to help. In the
which
let
can handle
it.
for sympathy,
actually smiling. Ever cry,
end Makoto had gone
Honma off the hook. "No more
then?"
"Only sometimes. cry too
much
I'll
I
Anyway, Auntie Hisae says
if I
get an earache." Trust Hisae to get around the usual
boys-don't-cry formula. "Hey,
you know what?" he went on. "Me and Kazzy were
talking.
We decided to make a grave for Blockhead." Honma was where but his father's
puzzled. Hadn't Isaka said they had looked every-
up
Makoto seemed to sense confusion, because he added, "We're gonna bury his col-
failed to turn
the dog's body?
lar."
253
"His collar?"
"Uh-huh. Blockhead had two wearing
when he
you know. The one he was
collars,
disappeared was just a
flea collar.
The real nice one, with his name on "So where are you going to bury it?"
leather one.
don't
"I
buried taker
it
know yet.
Kazzy's looking for a
secretly out front in
Minamoto
We
good spot Park,
still
got the
it."
now
If
we just
you think the
care-
would be mad?"
"Mm, that may not be such a good idea. It is a grave, after all." He frowned, propping his chin on one hand. "Yeah, we kind of figured that Tamotsu says he'll make us a marker for it." He seemed .
to
.
.
have taken a
real shine to
Tamotsu. "Uncle Tsuneo said from
on Blockhead's gonna help look
after
Mom.
That's
now
gonna be Block-
main job."
head's
Honma just smiled. Good for Isaka. "And
he'll
his mother's
have
lots of
space to run around in." Makoto looked at
photograph on the Buddhist
altar.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"That creep Tazaki, why'd he have to "I
don't know, son.
What do you
kill
Blockhead?"
think? Try to put yourself in his
place."
Makoto swung
his legs
back and forth and gave
it
some thought.
"Maybe he was bored." "Bored?" "Yeah, see, in his house they won't let
him have
a dog."
This was the same boy who'd said that dogs weren't allowed in the
apartment complex, and that his folks to
buy him
if
Makoto
didn't like that
he should get
a real house.
"Everybody was talking about
it
at school.
Uncle Tsuneo, he said
he heard from the neighbors too that the Tazakis had thought about getting a
dog but decided not
trouble getting the
want
a
money
dog messing
it
254
Blockhead?"
His mother said they'd had enough
together to build the house, and she didn't
up."
Honma looked at Makoto. to kill
to.
"So
maybe
this
Tazaki didn't really want
"
"What do you mean?"' "Maybe he would rather have kept him. But his folks wouldn't him. So he didn't want Kazzy to have a dog if he couldn't."
let
"So he killed him?"
"Seems
like
it."
"Why would
he do that? He could have gone over to Kazzy's and
played with Blockhead anytime."
"Maybe he
didn't think of that.
Or maybe he was
too upset about
not getting a dog of his own."
Makoto
twirled his pencil between his fingers. "You
Uncle Tsuneo
know what
said?"
"What?"
The boy frowned with the effort of repeating something that had been hard for him to understand when he'd heard it. "He said there are people in this world who can never be happy with what other people do." "Yes?"
"And when they smash
it.
Then,
see something they don't like, they just go
later,
they
come up with
a reason. So
if
and
Tazaki gives
some excuse about why he killed Blockhead, we don't have to listen. It doesn't matter what he says, only what he did." Hm. It seemed surprisingly cynical, coming from someone as mellow as
Isaka.
Had Honma misread him?
"Uncle Tsuneo's a housekeeper, right?
And him and Aunt
Hisae,
they got enough money, but they don't want to move, he says. Well,
if
people say bad things about them, he doesn't care. Let them say
whatever they want as long as they keep out of his way, he says.
'Just
them make trouble for me, they'll wish they hadn't.' Makoto had run all this together in one breath, and paused for a minute. "He says people who do terrible things don't really think let
about what they're doing. Same with Tazaki." "So you shouldn't forgive Tazaki, is that the idea?" Makoto shook his head. "No, wait. He said if Tazaki came and said he's sorry, then
That was a
we should forgive him."
relief.
"Good.
I
think so too." 255
Makoto looked work.
relieved as well,
and turned back
Honma snapped the newspaper open again.
home-
to his
But Makoto hadn't
quite finished.
"Dad?" "Yeah?" Peering over the top of the paper,
Honma saw
that
he
looked worried again.
"The
woman you're looking for, you
"That's right. We're
"Did she
kill
still
haven't found her yet?"
looking."
somebody?"
don't know yet what she did." "When you find her, you gonna take "1
her to the police station?"
"Well, we've got a lot of questions to ask her."
"Why? Is that your job, asking people questions?" Up to now, Makoto had never probed much into what his father did; his dad was just a detective who caught the bad guys, and that was it. He had never pressed him for details. Honma felt like telling him there was a little more to it. He wanted to tell him about how he sympathized with Kyoko Shinjo. How he almost wished he could just let her go. But
all
"This
he said was, "Right,
woman, she had
that's
my job."
reasons. She didn't
Then, as an afterthought:
do
terrible things to other
people just because bad things had happened to her. She wanted to
do the bad
things."
Makoto took now?"
a
moment
to
absorb
that.
"You waiting
for a call
"That's right."
"And when
this call
comes, where you gonna go?"
"Nagoya or Osaka, probably." Just then the his eyes
256
phone
at
Honma's elbow began
and sighed. "Bring me back some
to ring.
Makoto
presents, okay?"
rolled
25 o
"It's
what
been two years since
she's
up
to
I
heard from Kyoko.
I
haven't a clue
nowadays."
Kyoko's friend in Nagoya, Kaoru Sudo, had gotten married and
changed her name just the year before. She was
now
living in the
suburbs of Nagoya with her husband's parents, so meeting her
house wouldn't be a good
outside, she suggested, since she
Honma
asked
if
her
still
went
to
work.
they could meet near where she'd lived back
when she knew Kyoko. This was lunch place near
at
but they could easily talk somewhere
idea;
my
fine
with
her. "There's a nice little
old apartment. Even after
Kyoko moved
to
Osaka, she used to come up and stay overnight, and the next day
we'd have lunch there."
Coty was
where
all
strictly a
neighborhood coffee shop, the kind of place
the customers were regulars
minute Kaoru walked
how she'd been. Kaoru was type.
tall
called
came
—Mr. Funaki, was —
Honma
lived in the area.
and slim with a small
She looked about thirty-two or
settled in at the table, she
who
the proprietor smiled broadly
in,
it?
thirty-three.
to the point.
said
Kyoko was
face
The
and asked
—the model
As soon as they had
"The police
officer
who
missing."
explained the circumstances, keeping back only the part
about suspected murder, as usual. Kaoru took a long sip of coffee.
Her composure was spoiled only by
a slight crease between her pen-
"What can she be doing?" she muttered into her cup. Kaoru had known Kyoko since the girl had fled to Nagoya with her mother at the age of seventeen and started working part-time there. "I know all about the family skipping out on their debts. She ciled eyebrows.
257
"
told
me
everything." For the most part, her information overlapped
with what Kyoko's ex-husband had already
said,
but some
new
facts
did emerge.
and Kurata
"After she
her once." Since they
wasn't surprising. "The
Kaoru cocked her head maybe. That's
ruary,
The divorce was accounted
split
up, the
knew where first
time
it
the couple
saw her
I
one side
to
right,
bill collectors
—
had
after
caught up with
lived in Ise, that
her divorce was
—
"the following year, around Feb-
was snowing."
in September,
which
left
almost six months un-
for.
"Do you remember anything much about Kaoru nodded emphatically.
"I
sure do.
that visit?"
was quite upsetting,
It
actually."
She had shown up in a
had paid the
fare. "All
taxi in the
middle of the night and Kaoru
she had on was a
skin was completely gray, her lips
all
slip
cracked.
under her raincoat. Her I
knew right away what
kind of work they had her doing."
When
Kaoru asked where she'd been, Kyoko
didn't say
much.
"It
wasn't any big place like Tokyo or Osaka, even Nagoya. Probably
more
like
some
resort
town out in the sticks." to work off the debt?"
"They were getting her "No. They'd sold her."
Kyoko stayed with her for about a month. "She asked if I could lend her some money, so I gave her five hundred thousand yen. She was putting me
said she
cause the next time they'd
Osaka
in
danger by sticking around Nagoya, be-
come
for
me
too.
She said she was going
to
to look for work."
Kyoko landed the job with Roseline. she was living in some hole-in-the-wall place, but later heard she settled into a nice condo with someone from the office." "That must have been Ms. Chino." In April
"At
first
"Could be
when I heard either. It
while to
..."
that,
Kaoru rubbed her temple with her I
felt better.
was around then
Her
that
finger. "Well,
salary at Roseline wasn't too bad,
Kyoko
started driving
visit."
"She'd always drive? Never take a train?" 258
I
up once
in a
And not knew who
just
enough. "But driving a
car,
Kaoru nodded. "She said she was scared of
—she
trains
might run even
if
into."
Her meaning was
clear
she
she did suddenly get into some kind of trouble, she could get
Of
away.
trains.
avoided crowds in general. She never
a rental car." Kyoko was obviously The odds of her bumping into a collector in a Osaka or Nagoya were close to zero, but even so she
course,
was always
it
scared out of her wits.
huge
city like
wasn't taking any risks.
"Were they
still
after her then?"
Kaoru shook her head. "Not that
you think
it's
safe
could
I
see.
by now? But she wouldn't
And
listen.
I
told her, don't
She said she was
going to have to keep an eye out for them for the rest of her
Kaoru had
tried to find
life."
out what happened during the six months
when she'd lost contact. Kyoko never really opened up, but it seemed there was one guy in particular one of the mob, a yakuza who fancied her. And he was going to look all over hell for her not just
—
—
"
because of the debts, but for reasons of his own.
was
all
—
'A regular monster'
she would say."
Kaoru's expression was
One
bitter. "I
had a pretty good idea what went
Kyoko suddenly couldn't stand the sight of anything uncooked You know, sashimi or anything raw Said the smell of it made her sick. She was never that way on.
thing
puzzles me, though.
still
.
before."
.
.
Kaoru folded her arms across her
chest.
"Did Kyoko ever talk to you about any concrete plans?"
was thinking of things
like
an ordinary, happy marriage, a
Honma
life
of her
own.
Kaoru shook her head father, a
Wada, ily
again.
No,
it
mother, anything to protect her
whom she'd
wasn't likely
—even
the law.
—
thought she could depend on
had dropped her
like a
hot cinder.
that point on, she couldn't rely
—not without
Men just
let
a
Even her Mr.
his big, rich fam-
you down. From
on anyone. She'd have
to fend for her-
way back up. "Did Kyoko ever show you a photo of a house?" "What house?" "Here." He pulled out the Polaroid of the chocolate-brown model home and slid it across the table.
self,
crawl her
259
"Oh, this..."
"Then you've seen
it
before?"
Kaoru smiled and nodded. "Sure,
it's
from her training session,
right?"
"Oh?" he
said, as
"A friend had
if
he didn't know.
camera and she borrowed
a Polaroid
going around model homes. a
funny habit
to
I
used
to tease
it.
her about
it,
Kyoko liked seemed like
me."
Liked going around model homes. "Even though a housing loan was the cause of
all
her troubles?"
Kaoru put the photo down on the about
like that,
it
I
probably the other
guess
it
way around. She
day she'd have a family and dream, and
all
said,
hung on
for her.
She was pretty determined."
it
'someday when "
think
think
I
it's
—some-
much
That was her
made
And
all
it
that's
the
why
to the picture.
She showed
like this.'
practically said as
live in a place like this.
"She liked this house best of ently.
when you
the things she'd been through only
more important she had
table. "Yes,
does seem odd. But you know,
to I
me when
get
my life
Kaoru was trying
"She didn't say she'd like
all
the ones she'd ever seen, appar-
she
first
came
to visit. 'Kaoru,' she
together, I'm going to
live in a
house
to imitate the cheerful tone she'd used. to
show you
the house, invite
you there
sometime?"
Kaoru drew back didn't."
a bit in surprise.
"Come
to think of
it,
no, she
She couldn't have, he thought, because the home would be-
long to someone with another name. Kyoko's plans were already in place by then.
Honma
looked up from the photo and
from Kyoko
"She's
"You haven't heard
lately?"
Kaoru looked ly.
said,
a
little irritated,
crossing her legs and pouting slight-
been completely out of touch.
"You haven't had any phone
calls
It's
the truth."
where the
caller
hangs up when
you answer?" "No, none that I'm aware
of."
The effort involved in taking over another woman's identity must have 260
left
Kyoko shaken and
insecure, yet she hadn't tried to contact
the one friend she had, the one person she'd shared her
What could that mean? Where was she? "When Kyoko and I knew each other, husband and we'd decided
to get
I
dreams with.
was going out with
my
married in another year or two. So
maybe she thinks I'm well and truly married now and she can't just come visit like she would have in the old days." Then again, Honma thought darkly, maybe she's just decided not to trust Kaoru and to keep running on her own. "Were you living around here at the time?" "Right over there, see?" She pointed out the
window
to the build-
ing diagonally across the street, saying that hers had been the corner
room on the second floor. A row of colorful potted flowers now lined the window and a pair of red socks hung on the clothesline above an air conditioner. Honma could almost see Kyoko helping Kaoru hang out the wash. In
all
—the cheap rooming house with her
the places she'd lived in
mother; the apartment in Nagoya; the inn where she worked in
Ise;
home; that unknown hell when she'd sex; the condo down in Osaka; then that
the sprawling Kurata family
been caught and sold neat
little
fended for
for
Honancho apartment herself: cleaning
ping and the cooking. Her dirt-poor, occasionally
—she was always
even
—wherever
life
had been by turns
fairly
a fugitive.
way
again.
to leave her past
frightening, sad,
happy. But one thing never changed
She had run to get away from the ya-
kuza, and kept on running. Then, a
she lived, Kyoko had
and washing clothes and doing the shop-
behind
when
she thought she'd found
for good, she'd
had
to start
running
Nothing had changed.
Honma wanted call off this chase,
"The
last
Honma
to call out,
"You must be
tired.
I
know I am.
Let's
stop for a minute."
time Kyoko came to see me, she'd just quit Roseline."
took out his notes and nodded. "She
left at
the
end of
December 1989." "That's right. late January.
She came up here just
She took
me out to dinner,
after I
New
Year's
...
or no, in
remember. She'd just gotten
And she was well on her way to becoming Shoko. "She said she'd moved out of the condo she'd been
paid."
living in in 261
Osaka. So
asked
I
where now? And she said she was thinking
her,
about Kobe."
"Oh...?" "But the funny thing was, in the course of the conversation she
mentioned something about the Keihin Tohoku Line. area train; runs
That's a Tokyobetween Yokohama and Tokyo and then north to
Saitama, right?" So naturally Kaoru had asked what
up
"And, boy,
there.
stuff she
places.
had
if
looks could
to take care of in
kill
Saitama
.
.
.
Kyoko was doing
She said there was some
—Kawaguchi,
actually, of all
She was renting a room by the week, but she couldn't give
me
the phone number ..." Shoko was all paranoid, she said somebody had been opening her mail. That was what the older girl at Gold had said. So that would be how Kyoko found out about the cemetery tour. Shoko's schedule at the time had her getting up around noon, working nights, coming
home
in the small hours of the morning. Plenty of opportunity to go
looking through her mailbox.
One and
little
clear.
—and
link
A single
came sharp now joined Shoko Sekine and Kyo-
the fuzzy outline of the image
unbroken
line
No mistake. "One thing," Honma said, shifting in his seat. "When Kyoko came
ko Shinjo.
when
to visit, or
strange, different
she called, was there any time
when
somehow from
Over the
her usual
self?
she seemed last
few
years, say?"
Kaoru gave him a quizzical look. "Strange?" "Yeah. Irritable, nervous, crying for no reason?"
The question was
how Kyoko might have been 1989, when Shoko Sekine's mother
vague, but what he was getting at was
on or around November 25, her death. If Honma's suspicions of murder were correct and Kyoko Shinjo had had a hand in the old woman's fall admittedly hard to prove then the first order of business was to place her in acting fell
to
—
—
Utsunomiya
that day.
The nine-day period before and
afterward, from
the eighteenth through the twenty-sixth, she'd taken off from Roseline.
That
know now likely,
262
much
he'd learned from
Wada. But what he wanted to or, more
was, had Kyoko contacted Kaoru on the day
the night of the twenty-fifth?
Kaoru
propping her chin on a
sat
fist.
thinking, not trying to hide something.
She looked as
More than
been working entirely alone, even then. Certainly the
when she
killed
—
yes, killed
—
the daughter, she
she were
if
Kyoko had following March
likely,
had already
lost
touch
with her old friend.
know about strange, but
don't
"I
end of January,
that last time, the
she seemed different." Kaoru spoke slowly, choosing her words with
"Whenever she
care.
end of a
the
left at
Then, outside the door, she'd wave and
visit, it
was always
say, 'Later.'
'See you!'
But that one time
bowed and said 'Goodbye.' " And it was goodbye: "Kyoko" was finished. Kaoru would never see her again, nor of course would she actually
she ever meet "Shoko Sekine." "Yes
.
.
now
.
that
I
think about
death too," Kaoru went on. "In
She
said, 'Kaoru,
wanted
wouldn't
when you
be buried as
to
when Kaoru asked
if
die,
it,
she talked about her mother's
death was a big topic that evening.
where do you want
in
that's it
—
now."
I
should have made her
Kaoru had talked reminded
But
anything was wrong, Kyoko just laughed. if I
had no idea
she dropped out of sight and no word came,
all this
said, 1
my old hometown if it killed me.' "
could see something was going on, even
When
be buried?' She
to
from Mureyama as possible. She
far
them bury me
let
fact,
tell
me.
A
lot of
I
thought, well,
good
herself straight into a black
it
else?"
Her shoulders drooped.
does to say
mood. Her tone
Honma of how he'd felt when he'd suggested to
Kyoko might be dead. "Was there anything
"I
just what.
Kurata that
Honma asked.
"I can't
think of anything," she said with a
sigh.
"Well, then,
thing
come
to
how about
if I
pick a day?
November
25, 1989.
Any-
mind?"
"Something in particular happen that day?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Honma sheet,
smiled. "No,
Kyoko was
twenty-fifth, visit
it's
just that according to the Roseline time
absent for a total of nine days before
which was
a payday.
and
after the
Did she by any chance come and
you?" 263
.
Kaoru's eyes wandered away. She reached clumsily for her coffee
cup and brought
down and
mouth. She took
to her
it
asked, "While she
was
a sip, then set
Kyoko
at Roseline, did
it
firmly
ever take
any other long leaves?"
Honma
checked his notes. Wada had run
information, so
it
was easy
a search for just that
to tell right away. "No.
She had other
absences as long as three days. But nine days, just the once.
Novem-
ber 18 through 26."
Kaoru looked of holes, but
if
relieved. "In that case,
Kyoko never took
off
I
My memory's full
do know.
any other long
stretches, then
it
has to be then."
Honma edged forward.
"Did she contact you?"
—
"She did. She came up.
It was the second day of her leave that would make it the night of the nineteenth. It was real strange. She had hurt herself." •
"Hurt herself how?" "Burns.
Not too
serious, luckily," said Kaoru. "But she did have to
go into the hospital. She was running a high For a
moment Honma thought
fever."
he'd misheard. "Say that again."
"She was hospitalized. Emergency," she explained, "At City General,
near here. She was admitted and stayed through the morning of
the twenty-sixth, that's
why
Kyoko Shinjo was
in a
mother
fell
down
the stairs
the nine-day leave."
.
Nagoya
hospital
when Shoko
"She ended up with pneumonia," Kaoru told him. teenth, she
went
night, then
on
showed up
at
asked
who
for a drive
the
my
Sekine's
.
with a friend. They stayed
way back they had an place after midnight
"On at
the eigh-
an inn one
why
accident. That's
on the nineteenth.
she'd been with, she wouldn't say.
Clammed
up.
she
When
Her
I
right
arm was covered with burns, not third-degree, but covering most of her arm. Even though it was cold, she was wearing just a blouse and a skirt and a thin raincoat. Said that when they had the accident, the engine caught fire and her sweater got burned. She got on the train and just came up here, without stopping to put on any other clothes. She was shivering, running a 264
fever."
on
The
first
thing Kaoru did was put her to bed, keeping a close eye
her.
"But
it
to the toilet
was more than I could handle. One minute she's going and the next thing she's in the bath, banging her head
against the wall. She
was
I
had
to call
know
if I
was
there
an ambulance. She never did
Roseline the truth. Said she'd caught a bad cold and was resting
tell
up
hyper, like she didn't
all
with her or not. Eventually
at
her aunt's place
—and they never questioned
Anyway, she was in the hospital
when she
got well, she refused to
been quite a date,
is all I
Kaoru wasn't one
to
can
as far as
it,
for seven days altogether. tell
me whose
car
it
but she did keep track of her
diary,
deposit for the hospital room, so tell
you
in
more
Honma
go back over
if I
detail. Shall
"That would be great,"
later,
was. Must have
say."
keep a
accounts, and they were as good a record as any.
probably
know
I
Even
I
check
"I lent
my
her the
books
I
can
it?"
said, jotting
down
his
number
for
her.
He had just there
arrived back at the hotel
was no mistake about
the hospital receipt to his hotel.
surprised at the
room when she
called to say
the dates. She could even fax a copy of
The
way Honma lunged
front desk clerk
at the sheet as
it
seemed
a
little
rolled out of the
machine.
Kobata City General Hospital full for Ms. Kyoko Shinjo, inpatient care and room November 19-26, 1989, inclusive. Six-bed ward. Showed
Received in charges,
National Health card.
Room deposit:
¥70,000.
265
^ 26 ^
"Well,
if
that doesn't beat all,"
slurped at his kombu
Funaki
said.
He grinned and
tea.
Honma had been back
for
two days. They were
sitting at the
kitchen table talking things over. Isaka was half listening as he got
Honma
dinner ready. The unexpected twist had so overwhelmed
that
he had completely forgotten to buy Makoto the promised presents.
"Looks
like there
might have been an accomplice
after all," ven-
tured Isaka. Tonight, at Makoto's request, they were having oden hot-
pot for supper. Isaka was stewing up an extra-large batch so he could take
some home
for himself.
The broth simmered,
filling the
house
with a warm, cozy aroma. "But
why
wouldn't the accomplice have surfaced
till
now?" Hon-
ma said. "What about that Wada character?" Funaki suggested. "He was in Osaka. The night Mrs. Sekine died, he was working the office
till
nine. If the
guy had sprouted wings and flown
maybe he'd be in Utsunomiya by eleven." "An accident, then?" Funaki said, looking unconvinced.
at
there,
"Stranger
things have happened."
Honma
laughed. "Then Shoko Sekine's mother sure chose to have
her accident at a very convenient time for Kyoko Shinjo."
"You
know what
they say about truth being stranger than fiction."
"Her companion, then," Isaka struggled on, her in the car
when
266
—
the person with
she had the accident on the nineteenth. Couldn't
that be the killer?"
This did give
"
Honma pause.
Funaki muttered, "What
if
the
companion had been her
fiance,
Jun Kurisaka?" "Both of you have been reading too many detective novels." "Yeah, well."
"Hey, what's
happened
to
him, anyway?
Isaka said, suddenly concerned. "It this in the first place.
"You'd think a
work
for him,"
He
can't
He
hasn't called once,"
was Jun who dragged you
be that uninterested."
man of his 'caliber' wouldn't need us
Funaki
had flung that money
said.
at
into
to
do
his dirty
Ever since he'd heard about the way Jun
Honma,
he'd had
little
use for the junior
banker.
went over
Isaka the
lid,
to the stove to
check on the oden. As he removed
who'd been
a delicious cloud of steam curled out. Funaki,
slouched over, chin practically resting on the tabletop, perked up
enough
to say, "Sure smells
good!"
"You're staying for supper, aren't you?" if you want sparkling company," he said sourly, and chuckwonder if she's having dinner now too," he added.
"Not led. "I
"Who?" Honma asked. "Kyoko Shinjo."
Honma looked at him. "Yeah, probably." "And why not? She's got to eat and bathe and go make some man's
good
time."
like this,
He gave
and
life
all
dolled
up
to
miserable. She's probably out there having a
gloomy laugh. "Here we
a
get
she's at a Shiseido
are racking our brains
cosmetics counter trying out the
new
spring lipstick colors."
"Where'd you get
all
the detail?"
Holding a pair of cooking chopsticks in one hand, Isaka looked past Funaki to offer
Honma
had himself an arranged meeting with a if
she might have been
—
let's
somebody just prospective bride. I wonder
a bit of insight. "I believe
see
—a Shiseido beautician."
Funaki smiled, despite himself. "Of
all
the slanderous
.
.
Bull's-
.
eye."
But where was Kyoko Shinjo now?
much
Honma
hadn't given
it
that
thought. Did they go back to the starting line, then? Back
before they'd discovered that "Shoko Sekine"
was someone
else? 267
Should they do what the attorney Mizoguchi had recommended and put an ad in the paper? "Kyoko, let's talk it over. Come back, please." But whose name to sign? Jun's?
The most ridiculous respond, family
when
register.
called .
.
was
It
ridiculous.
was thinking
part
by her own name.
Shoko? Oh,
she's
Kyoko might
that
Yes,
working down
in
to her on the phone the other day. Sorry to cause
and marry. I'm hospitalized with an
Come
on, get serious.
her breath. Probably as
ulcer.
Kyoko was out from Tokyo as
far
Kyushu now. Talked concern.
all this
The two of them get back
hears her out with tears in his eyes.
actually
Shoko Sekine sold me her
Jun
together
Make
that a bleeding ulcer.
there
somewhere, holding
possible.
Honma abruptly stood up. "What gives?" Funaki asked, startled. "I was just thinking," Honma said. "What do you suppose Kyoko is
really
doing these days?"
"Crying her eyes out, probably," Funaki
said, grinning.
"Or
else
consulting a Shiseido beautician." "I'd
say she's working," Isaka suggested.
with enough
to get
by on,
"I
doubt she
left
here
alone settle into somewhere nice."
let
"Doesn't seem like she's kept in touch with Kaoru Sudo, either,"
added Funaki.
Honma
let his
mind wander,
she might try the same scam
all
contacted her old friend Kaoru
his eyes half shut. "Don't
over again? is
because
I
you think
bet the reason she hasn't
she's scared to."
"Scared?" Funaki prompted. "Yes.
She dumped Jun when things started
to
come unstuck. Once what would
she was on her own, she must have gotten to thinking
Jun do now? He'd search
found out about the bankruptcy
would have pieced
it all
—
And who knows? Jun enough, maybe by now he
for her, that's what. easily
together, that 'Shoko Sekine'
was
really
Kyoko
Shinjo..."
"Nah. She wouldn't think that
far
ahead."
"She wouldn't have any way to be sure, but
it
must have crossed
her mind. All the more reason not to contact her friend Kaoru. Cut off all ties that
might identify
Kyoko, could she, so she had 268
her.
to find
She couldn't go back
someone
else to be."
to
being
Funaki and Isaka exchanged looks. "She'd need
to get a job at
another mail-order place," said Funaki. "Start all over again
Honma
let
from the beginning," echoed
he'd had, this talk had driven
it
away.
"Uh-oh, got to run," said Isaka, glancing
minutes to
Isaka.
out a deep breath. Whatever glint of insight he thought
three.
Makoto and Kazzy had
at the
kitchen clock. Five
insisted they
head's funeral that day. In the end, the boys
come
to Block-
had asked the Isakas
if
they could use part of their ground-floor garden plot, a patch of earth that technically
belonged to the housing project
—not
that the Isakas
minded. Tamotsu had banged together a cross out of scraps of wood, proving himself both handy and respectful of the dead.
The boys had done their digging with a trowel, and had barely gone deep enough to cover the poor dog's collar. The collar was practically brand-new. Before burying it, Makoto showed everyone the inscription he'd made inside. Tamotsu planted the cross on top of the grave and Hisae covered
it
with a wreath. Each person there
lit
a stick
of incense, then pressed their hands together in prayer.
"Think Blockhead
will like this
ceremony?" Makoto asked.
"I
think
"I
bet he's real pleased to have his
ting
he'll
him on
love
it."
"When summer comes, here and
let
new
collar,"
Funaki
said, pat-
the shoulder.
them grow up
gonna plant morning glories right Makoto said with a smile, pointing at
we're
big,"
the veranda railings. "I
already got the seeds," said Kazzy.
"We can something
plant different flowers in the right seasons, so there'll be
all
year round," Hisae promised. "Anyway,
why
don't
you
put the trowel away and get yourselves washed up. There's cake, anybody's interested."
Honma a
word
the
if
And they all started drifting back inside.
noticed that Tamotsu was acting strange. He'd hardly said
whole
ing to keep his
time. At
own
first
Honma
thought he was simply
sadness to himself. But that wasn't
thing seemed to be bothering
him deep
hunched, and cocked his head
to
inside;
it.
try-
Some-
he kept his shoulders
one side every so
often.
"What's wrong?" 269
"
don't know,
"I
my neck is acting up." He brushed the dirt from his and putting up the cross got me thinking
trousers. "Digging that hole
about something that happened a long time ago."
"You had a pet that died when you were a kid?"
Tamotsu shook hated animals.
"It's
eyes out, but he
something
I
ought
good
"Too good.
never
still
let
ask Ikumi about. She
to
better than anyone, even better than
"She's a
about
my
cry
one," he grumbled.
knows me
my dad me have
his head. "No, nothing like that. Actually,
I'd
I
know myself."
wife."
I
just think about stepping out of line, she
knows
it."
That evening, while called Ikumi.
Honma
Honma was
going over his notes, Tamotsu
encouraged him
Regular as clockwork, almost the
first
to
phone home once
words out of
his
a day.
mouth
were,
"How's Taro? How's the baby?" Today, however, his "Hello,
it's
me" seemed
to
meet with some
words were, "What do you mean, 'Who's
resistance, because his next that?'
Honma tsu to erly
smiled to himself. Pretty soon
head back
wound up
to
or not. Sure,
see that he belonged back
"Don't say
it
would be time
for
Tamo-
...
was Tamotsu's
it
life,
but anyone could
home with her.
like that!"
I'm worried about
it
Utsunomiya, whether the investigation was prop-
Tamotsu
You know
I
"Of course
protested.
—how can you say
I
do. Sure,
that?"
Tamotsu
up from his chair, stumbling a bit. "Don't be an idiot, okay? I don't want to hear it!" he yelled into the phone. "Come on, give me a break. I called you because there was something I wanted to ask. Are you sitting down?" got
Fortunately the conversation to explain the events of the day.
now settled down, "The thing
is, I
as
seem
Tamotsu began to
remember, a
long time ago, digging with a trowel, making some kind of grave for a pet or something. But Dad, you
me have
a pet.
Tamotsu you know grade 270
So what
listened.
all this,
—but
I
is this,
—
is.
He would never
I
told
I
told you? Hey,
you
let
you got any idea?"
"What? Elementary school, huh?
anyway?
suppose
know how he
then
that too."
I
wet
my
How come bed
till
fifth
"
"
Their discussion seemed to be going nowhere in particular.
Honma
had turned away when Tamotsu suddenly pounded the telephone stand with his
fist
and
let
out a whoop. "That's right!
I
remember
now! Shoko was with me!"
Honma looked at him. Tamotsu nodded
energetically. "That's right, that's
what
it
was
..."
Talking to her had jogged his memory. "Ikumi, you're a genius! I'm a
lucky man," he exclaimed.
He hung up and rejoined
the others at the
table.
"Shoko and said, still a bit
did an animal project together, in grade school," he
I
out of breath.
flew into our classroom."
"We had
to take care of a lovebird that
When the bird died,
they buried
it
in a cor-
ner of the schoolyard. "So
that's
what
it
was,"
Honma chuckled.
"But listen," Tamotsu said eagerly, leaning across the table. "There's
something
I
remembered from
talking to Ikumi."
Honma was a bit overwhelmed by all this energy. "What's that?" "Shoko was pretty attached to that bird." No doubt her family's budget had been too it
tight to allow her to
broke her up. She cried her head
day. 'Poor thing, all
on
its
off,
have a
just like
pet.
"So
when it died
Makoto did
the other
own,' she said." There were red spots in
Tamotsu's cheeks.
Honma
stared blankly at him. All at once the young man's meanbecame clear. "You're not saying Tamotsu was shaking his head. "No, it's true. Shoko never forgot Back in grade school, she said to me once, Tamo, if 1 die first, bury
—
ing
it.
me out here with Pippi.' A bird. Buried in a corner of the schoolyard. "You get
it?"
he continued. "Two things Ikumi heard Shoko mut-
tering to herself at her mother's funeral.
being able to afford a regular grave.
How ashamed
she was, not
And how she herself wanted to be
buried with Pippi. Ikumi said she heard her. So somebody else could
have heard her too."
"Slow down," alone doesn't
Honma
said, reining in his
own
thoughts. "That
..."
Tamotsu wasn't listening. "The way I see
it,
Kyoko Shinjo went on 271
—
.
that
cemetery tour to spend some time around Shoko.
after all, a
grave-shopping tour, right? So what
mental and started talking
know
sure as hell have given our school a
visit."
was
It
said.
Kyoko
a long shot.
When
was,
if
that subject, she probably told her all didn't
if
it
Shoko got all sentiabout where she wanted to be buried
someday? Once they got on about Pippi. Even
And
the exact spot, she could
Honma remembered what Funaki had
Still,
people are faced with death
—
its rituals
they confide in people. Like that young wife
and emblems
who murdered her busi-
nessman husband.
Would
the subject have
come up naturally? Or did Kyoko steer Though why would she want to
the conversation in that direction?
do
that?
Of
She didn't need
to
know, unless
course. There was a reason.
.
.
Kyoko
hadn't been able even to
throw away Shoko Sekine's yearbooks, and had gone ble of mailing
how had
them
to her "best friend."
And
a guilty conscience?
if
Wasn't
head
it,
but
Honma was
far just for the
may have had
beginning to think
had other plans
at least, she'd
to all the trou-
because she some-
she went that
yearbooks, then what about the body? She to dispose of
it
to cut
that,
it
up
with the
—which Shoko had inadvertently
given her.
Tamotsu's confidence was contagious. cool down. "Well,
prove
maybe
it
Honma
forced himself to
did happen like that. Thinking
it
doesn't
it."
But Tamotsu was
all fired
up. "That's
why
we've got to dig!
I've
got lots of friends from school back in Utsunomiya. We'll plow up the entire schoolyard
if
we have
to."
Amazingly enough for a Sunday morning, it was the slug-a-bed Makoto who managed to get up in time to give Tamotsu a hero's send-off. Tamotsu was catching an early bullet train back to Utsunomiya. His face was clear and relaxed; he looked like he was ready to set to
work.
Honma, on while sitting
the other hand,
at the
woke
in a mental haze.
had formed just below the surface of 272
The day before,
kitchen table talking with the others, something his consciousness, then evapo-
Now,
rated.
as he lay in
whispered in his
bed
ear, teasing
All right, all right.
Time
still
same something
half asleep, that
him, giving him no
rest.
on with more
to get
practical matters,
Honma said sternly to himself, lumbering out of bed. would go right. He broke a plate clearing up to pay Makoto the household penalty fee.
Nothing, though,
after breakfast
and had
"You seem weird," the boy told him as he helped dry the dishes. "Like you're not really here."
"Mm, maybe
I'm not."
"But your knee's better, right? Are you going back to
He guessed he
work soon?"
should; he couldn't stay on this case forever.
"What's Dr. Machiko going to say?" teased Makoto. "You been
skipping
all
your appointments, so you're heading
for trouble."
"But I'm walking perfectly normally now." "That's
what you
think.
I
think you
still
walk
stiff."
"That so?" said Honma, turning off the faucet.
Makoto went out
to play
and
Honma
returned to reviewing what
he knew about Kyoko Shinjo and Shoko Sekine. Papers covered the
He focused on
table.
managed done
involved. Two:
how Kyoko had killed
—
data,
and whether
if that's
what she'd
—Shoko's mother. Two major snags. He'd been struggling with
them
for
about two weeks, but
He kept imagining Kyoko
ad
what he knew. One: how Kyoko had
hands on the Roseline customer
to get her
Wada was
the gaps in
— "Kyoko,
let's
talk
it
over.
still
had precious
little
to
go on.
catching sight of the short personal
Come
back, please"
—and appearing
out of nowhere, running intojun's open arms. "Beats me," he groaned.
He the
sat
down and
stood up, sat
morning came and went.
It
down and
stood up. Meanwhile,
was one o'clock when Makoto popped
to ask what was for lunch. Usually, on Isaka's day off, Honma would putter around the kitchen, throwing something together, but
back in
he didn't
feel like
it
today.
"How about eating out?" he The two of them
set
said.
He
didn't have to ask twice.
out for a family restaurant near the apartment
complex. Getting out into the open
air felt
good.
Honma
decided he
wouldn't go straight back after lunch. 273
"Got any plans
this
afternoon?" he asked as they were strolling
out of the restaurant. "I
now
gotta be at Kazzy's at three. Right
he's
out buying a
new
computer game." "What's the game this time?"
Honma got lost not far into
Makoto's explanation. The boy started
again at the beginning three times, but never
managed
to reach the
end. Something about bonus points in each player's scorecard.
"It's
really neat."
"Yeah, right."
"Nice day, huh?" Makoto said, lazily stretching out one arm. "Sure
is."
know what?
"Dad, you
"What did
I
tell
You're walking okay."
you?"
"But if you get really better, Dr. Machiko's going to be lonely." They headed for Minamoto Park. The calendar said it was spring,
but the trees in the park didn't
know
it
The rows
yet.
of poplars
pointed their barren branches skyward, stretching their knobby
wind
gers into the cold
like
hands raised
in protest.
of rust-red zelkova trees, birds flew almost low
The had
set
garden was
iris
up
their easels
still
a
mudhole.
and were gazing
A
at a
Through
enough
fin-
a stand
to touch.
group of amateur
artists
patch of narcissus, brush-
ing the wintry scene onto their canvases in paintings that cried out for greener colors.
Honma on
ing
at the
up
thought about Kyoko Shinjo.
Would
she be off on an out-
Or just airing her bed linen and squinting up sun? Tamotsu came to mind as well. Was he planning to turn a
day
like this?
the entire schoolyard?
have tried
to stop
Not
that
it
was
possible.
Honma
should
him.
Maybe it had all been an elaborate mistake. Maybe he should knock down the house of cards he'd been building and get back to work,
real
"Gee,
work.
it's
been a long time since we done
ning ahead a few
steps. "I'm glad
you
this," said
Makoto, run-
feel better."
"You're the best doctor I've got, Makoto."
For a while they watched the people fishing along the moat. Then 274
Makoto sneezed twice, so they started to head back, promising each other they'd do this again soon. The clock by the park gate read a quarter to three.
Makoto paused at the entrance to the apartment complex, looking way and that. "Might see Kazzy coming," he said. "What if the game's sold out and he comes back empty-handed?"
this
Honma prodded. "Kazzy called ahead
So there!" He stuck out his tongue.
to check.
mapped out, Honma A huge, almost untapped market. He and Makoto kept on
Today's kids have got things pretty well
thought.
till their building came into view. Makoto stopped in his tracks. "Hey, what's going on?" Acrid smoke blew at them suddenly from the side. Honma peered
walking
in the direction of the garbage incinerators.
coming with you." Makoto ran
"I'm
"I'll
after
just go have a look."
him.
A man in overalls was crouched alongside a small incinerator, fanning the smoke away with one hand and holding garbage with the other.
He
head, apparently expecting
The
stuff got a little
blinked up at
him
damp, so
it
down
a pile of
Honma, then bobbed
to complain. "Sorry.
It's
his
just papers.
sends up smoke." Hot clouds spilled
flap. Makoto coughed. "No problem," Honma said. He had started to lead Makoto away by the hand when he happened to look down. At the base of the incinerator were stacks of old ledgers, bound together with black cords. "You burning those?" asked Honma. The maintenance man wiped his forehead with a gloved hand. "Yessir. Guy moved out this past Sunday was an accountant. Had all
out from under the metal furnace
these records going back ten years."
"Lot of work there." "You're telling me. But get rid of
it all.
we can't just leave
museum. Nobody does accounting like all
got
home
them. Somebody's got to
Sure did use a lot of ink, that guy. Ought to give this
it
to a
any more. Nowadays they
computers. Input the stuff once, you don't need any
paper."
Input once,
you
—Honma echoed the man's words
don't need
to
himself. 275
"That's not true,"
Makoto piped
"Oh no?" grinned "That's diaries, teries
my
what
but you
run out
teacher says. She bought one of those electronic
know what?
all
what
it
said that
keep a record of someplace
"That's with the
all like that,
if
the bat-
else, just to
be
cheap machines."
she says. That's
on paper too." "But that means twice the work." "Yeah, but that's what it said." The caretaker opened the lid of
keep
it
said."
The man laughed. "No, they're
In the instructions
of a sudden, everything goes blank, so any impor-
tant stuff, you've got to safe. That's
up.
the maintenance man.
why
you're supposed to
it all
fresh bundle.
Makoto looked up at
the incinerator
his father,
and heaved
in a
who was standing there,
strangely quiet. "What's the matter, Dad?"
Honma placed a hand on the boy's head. "Thank you very much, young man." "Huh? For what?" Honma tousled his hair and smiled. "Except now, you know what? Thanks to you, I've got to go to Osaka tomorrow."
276
27
"Printouts?"
They were standing as
Honma
first
Honma had
room,
Wada
scowling
taken the bullet train
Mitomo Groups headreceptionist showed him
thing in the morning, gone straight to the
quarters, in.
in the Roseline waiting
repeated his request.
and asked
This time
for
"You came
all
the
little
the door behind him.
way down here
"Well, actually, that
and spoke a
Wada. This time the
Wada shut
isn't
more
the only
forcefully.
me that?" thing." Honma
to ask
leaned forward
"Those questionnaires and order
forms. After you input the information into the computer, what hap-
pens to them?
Do you
get rid of
them
right
away?"
"Of course. Otherwise they'd take up too much room.
them
in
We
shred
one-month batches."
"Really?" "That's right.
Every
last scrap."
Wada's voice was confident, almost
overconfident.
"Oh, yes?" said Honma, stretching out each word for emphasis.
"And who, may
I
ask,
is
in charge of these disposal procedures?"
Wada lowered his eyes and glanced this way and that. Honma asked again, "Who does the shredding?" Wada shifted his weight from one leg to the other, brought a hand up
in front of his nose as "It's
not such a
can't tell
if
to hide his face,
and looked down.
difficult question. Is there
some reason why you
me?"
"Administration, the General Affairs Section," the answer finally
came.
He added hurriedly,
"But Ms. Shinjo wasn't in General Affairs." 277
—
"
"So
how do you
deal with the papers that are going to be shred-
ded?"
"Once
a
month, we send them out
to a special data security
com-
pany"
"And
till
then?"
"They're kept in a storeroom in the basement."
"And
this
storeroom
is
unlocked? Anybody can get in?"
This time the pause was even longer. "Mr. Wada." "Yes, sir." It
was the
tone of a student responding to a
lifeless
teacher.
"Anybody can
get in?"
Wada coughed. "Any of the women staffers can, yes." Honma heaved a sigh of relief. Papers. Handwritten forms from customers. Kyoko didn't need to know the first thing about computers to pull "I
it off.
But would there be any evidence
assume you have
left
now?
a confidentiality agreement with this data
security company."
"Of course. Our questionnaires and order forms contain personal information."
"So
when you send a
truckload out, does anybody count the boxes
and keep an eye on what's going where? Who's "Administration,
I
in charge of that?"
think."
—
"Can you check? Go back to oh, when Kyoko Shinjo was here from April 1988 to December 1989. See if there were any irregularities
—box numbers not matching up, papers
Wada looked stunned. "Check all "If you could."
"I'm afraid
I
"Fine, then,
short."
that?"
—
don't have time to I'll
just take the matter a
little
higher up. Could you
me the name of your boss?" Actually, things would get bogged down in all sorts of complications if Wada refused to play along. But give
there
was
was no harm
"My boss?" he "Of course, 278
in seeing
what happened when
a
little
leverage
applied.
I'd
said.
rather not involve anyone else
if it isn't
necessary.
— This
is
rather a sensitive case," said
was convinced: there was no need
Honma
for
Wada. Did Ms. Shinjo ever ask you
cagily.
A second later,
he
show her or
man knew. "Mr. make copies of
He hung
head and con-
checking
to
"
the
customer data?"
Wada suddenly fessed.
wilted completely.
"She asked, okay?
I
showed
her.
I
his
helped her.
I
told her how."
Honma gave another sigh. remember
"I can't
exactly
when it would have been,
though."
"Oh no? No idea?" He shook his head.
Honma continued,
"Never mind," "It's
dead
easy. All
you have
to
do
"just tell is
me what you did."
pinch a few papers from the
outbound boxes. The company only comes
to collect
once a month."
"So what was in the boxes you opened?" "Just
some
questionnaires."
"Your ordinary, standard questionnaires?"
Wada shrugged. still
"First time
I
said,
I
—
don't remember. Honest to
How long was he going to
"Nothing?" eyes were
"Like
keep up
this pretense?
His
roaming around.
was
in May."
The first time? "This happened often, then?"
No wonder he was so uncomfortable. Honma repeated. "May when?"
Another nod. "May,"
to work here." In 1988. "And how many times altogether would you say you walked
"The year she came
off
with this confidential data?"
"Four times."
"Was
Through August?" "That's right, every month." Then he volunteered, quietly, "All from the Tokyo-Kanto-Kofu-Nagano area. Funny taste in reading material that four times running?
Guess that's why I still remember." why she wanted them?" "Well, sort of .," Wada hedged. "She said she was practicing her computer skills, how to run programs and that sort of thing, so she this girl's got,
"Kyoko
I
said to myself.
didn't say .
needed some data
.
to
work with."
"That was the reason she gave?" 279
Wada was silent. "You couldn't have believed
He smirked.
direct-mail company." help,
that."
was selling them to some Whatever Kyoko's reasons, he'd been there to
"Actually,
figured she
I
no questions asked.
"Mr. Wada." "Yes?"
"Do you have any way of knowing whether Shoko been included in those papers?"
Sekine's ques-
tionnaire might have
"Not offhand. But when spoke
faster as
tionnaires
get
I
tagged by date, so
was input over
"Could you print out the I
don't care
Wada
time,
check on
I'll
He
it."
he explained. "The information taken from the ques-
is all
collect data that
April?
some
how
long
it
we can run
a search
program and
a particular period." lot
—
takes.
all
I'll
four months, starting from wait."
He had seen this coming. "Is this really necessary?" "Well, I'd be curious to know whether your boss thinks it is." "Okay, okay." He scratched his head with both hands. "But let's just
keep
sighed.
this to ourselves,
pected, he didn't
Wada
want
it
if
you don't mind." As
sus-
closed the conversation with a vague promise to "see what
can do." Give him two hours, he said.
same
Honma had
getting out of hand.
coffee shop, Kanteki,
Honma was
I
told to wait in that
and could see himself
cup
sitting over
after cup.
Fifteen minutes ahead of time,
Wada showed up
with a computer
printout two inches thick. "One hundred and sixty entries," he an-
nounced, depositing the load on the
Kyoko had been flipping through
it.
"She's in there,"
down
table.
here, too, before him, thought
started
of the
way
the stack. "Back there in the July data."
Shoko was logged
into the Roseline
How
Kyoko
exactly had
when she
sifted
through
all
customer database on July
targeted her?
What were
Age
first.
Women
15.
her priorities
these names, ages, addresses, workplaces
and passport numbers?
280
Honma. He
"And Shoko Sekine?" he asked. answered Wada, pointing two-thirds
too far off the
mark
—
either too old or too
—
wouldn't do. The occupation should be nothing too remarknobody with a "good job." Someone unemployed or freelancing, whose absence wouldn't set up any waves. Somebody with few or no attachments. Women who hadn't made themselves very neces-
young able;
sary to anyone.
May, then June and July, with finally more data for August. Kyoko must have sorted through each batch, picking out possible "sisters,"
coming up with maybe
five
women,
certainly
no more. Once she had
what she needed, she'd put the brakes on. Narrow things down, keep things simple.
"So you've got your Shoko Sekine,"
The work's
off.
piling
up on
Wada said.
my desk and
"No, hold on just a second. Another
up from Shoko's
"Well, I'd better be
..."
five
minutes."
data. Suddenly, he'd seen something.
the energy he'd used
up looking
for her all this time
Honma looked It
had
was
as
if all
ignited, ris-
ing in a thin but steady flame.
"What
is it?"
Shoko Sekine
Honma out.
Wada asked. hadn't been Kyoko's first choice.
could have kicked himself. Shoko was in the July print-
But Kyoko had had
Wada go and
get her the
August data
too.
That would suggest there were other candidates, someone closer to her requirements, maybe.
Suppose Shoko were running a close second, but then Kyoko hap-
pened After
to find out about her mother's death?
all,
By sheer coincidence.
she used to take a Tokyo newspaper. Wasn't
she'd run across a
little filler
it
possible that
piece about "faulty architectural design"
Not murder, but an accident or possibly suicide. Wouldn't the discovery that Shoko was now alone have been enough to make Kyoko shift her attention to her? In his mind's resulting in Mrs. Sekine's death?
eye,
Honma
"I
don't
could see the crosshairs being realigned.
know what
you're thinking, but
how
serious
is this,
any-
way?" Behind his blank expression, Wada was getting scared.
"Could be very "But, look...
"Mr.
Wada,
I
serious."
never
try to
..."
remember. Did Ms. Shinjo ever go up into the
mountains? Yamanashi prefecture?" 281
"Yamanashi?" "That's right. Nirazaki.
It's
near Kofu on the
Chuo
Line. There's a
big statue of the Goddess of Mercy there. She ever mention
Wada's voice was thin and uncertain. "Yeah?
it
to
you?"
believe she did."
"I, I
How exactly do you happen to know about it?" we
"Because
mean
... I
I, I
went there with
her."
"Together?"
"For a drive, yes. Actually, that was our second
swallowed hard. "My I'd
Kyoko
take
to
sister's
meet
her.
married and
trip together."
lives in Kofu.
So
I
He
thought
We went to Nirazaki, for the grapes."
Putting a finger to his forehead,
Honma
repeated, "You two
went
on drives together?" "Yes."
"You were in love with Ms. Shinjo, right?"
No comment. had another man
"If she'd
about
it,
at the time,
you would have known
wouldn't you? There was no sign of anyone else?"
Wada shook his head. "You sure about that?" "I'm sure, okay?
I
mean, we were
..."
"You were lovers."
Wada nodded
miserably.
Kyoko had had this guy eating out of her hand. But who was the man Kaoru Sudo had mentioned? The one in the car with Kyoko when she had her accident. The one whose name she wouldn't reveal.
Her
right
arm was
covered with burns.
She was shivering.
The next thing "I
she's in the bath,
was quite serious about Kyoko,"
"I'm sure she
Honma
knew
said
Wada, out of nowhere.
There couldn't have been anybody
that.
looked him straight in the
face. "All right.
I
else."
believe you."
was why Kyoko never came up with name. There had been no accident on a drive in the country. As Honma glanced over the printouts again, a shiver ran down the
There was nobody a
banging her head against the wall
282
else,
and
that
length of his back.
On the day in question, November 19,
1989,
Kyoko
up in Tokyo or Yokohama or Kawasaki, stalking a woman. The prime target hidden in these pages. Or perhaps someone close a little too close to her. Shinjo had been
particular
—
Not
—
third-degree, but covering
most of her arm.
Her sweater got burned.
The smell
Honancho apartment. That strong
bottle of gasoline in the
when he picked it up. Those gleaming fan blades.
Arson.
Back in Tokyo, the next step was
to talk to all the
might once have approached. Funaki took a day
off
the Isakas joined in as well, searching the printout for
women Kyoko
from work, and
women in their
twenties.
"Say 'police' listed if
if
you have
Funaki instructed. "Ask the
to,"
two years back some close
accident or been badly injured somehow. Get
what
it
women
might have met with an
relation
them
talking,
no matter
takes."
Some had moved. Some had answering machines. Few came
di-
was nerve-racking. When it got dark, Funaki and Honma sent the Isakas home. Their voices were hoarse. rectly to the
It
phone.
was past
It
eleven, time to call
it
a day,
Funaki cupped his hand over the called to his legs.
when they got a break.
receiver. "We're in business!"
he
Honma, who was over by the window tentatively stretching Then, speaking into the phone again, he said, "Hold on, I'll
turn you over to the officer in charge."
Emi Kimura was twenty-four occupation as "freelancer." At like voice.
She interrupted
first
The printout gave her
years old.
she spoke in a sweet, almost child-
Honma
to ask, "Is this for real? This isn't
Candid Camera or something?" "No. Look, I'm sorry to bother you like
be able to help us or not, but
let
some customer data provided by you know the name?"
Honma
me a
this.
explain.
company
I
We
don't
know
traced
if
you'll
you through
called Roseline.
I
believe
paused. "Ms. Kimura, I'm sorry, but
these questions are important for
an investigation we're working on. 283
You don't come from
a large family,
and you
live
by
yourself,
And both your parents have passed on." Emi's voice trembled. "How do you know all that?" So far so good, Honma nodded to Funaki. "My colleague,
is
that
correct?
son you spoke
who might the last
to a
minute ago, asked
if
you had any close
the perrelatives
have had an accident or some kind of personal tragedy
two
years.
You
said
you had. Could you
tell
me more
in
about
that?" It
took a
"Your
moment
for
Emi
to
answer.
"It
was
my sister."
sister."
"Ye-e-es."
Honma
quietly repeated, "Yes?"
Emi was
clearly getting upset. "Listen, I'm going to
mean, how do
know you're
Honma
hesitated.
are
what
this isn't
some kind
hang up.
of crank call?
How
do
I 1
actually detectives?"
Funaki grabbed the phone away from him and
number
rattled off the
Here's
know
I
want you
I
of the direct line to Investigation. "Got that? to do.
Ring up and say our names. Ask
any detectives by those names on the
force. Tell
if
there
whoever answers
that you need to get in touch with Inspector Honma immediately. Ask them to have him call you back as soon as he can. Only give a
made-up name and phone number. Don't give your real ones. The officer will contact us to say you called. Then we'll call you back at your real number and give you the false name and number he tells totally
us. Just to are. Fair
make
sure there's no mistake, that
Emi agreed and hung up. "When you're in a hurry, take and
for a cigarette
story doesn't
pan
are
who we
say
we
to square
lit
a side road,"
up. "Okay, so
his head.
"You know,
one when she had
would have kept
Funaki
said.
what we do next?
He reached
If this
Emi's
out."
Honma shook back
we
enough?"
all
I
wonder.
that data?
Why would she
go
Knowing Kyoko, she
detailed records. Just in case."
Funaki grunted. "Makes sense." "Well, her
most obvious choice
she'd opted for before 284
at this point
would be
the person
and dropped. Her former number one candi-
And when we
date.
on
closing in
The phone had a
It
I
Emi could
rang.
It
was
from an Akiko
call
we should
find
Kyoko
as well. We're
her."
"So you think
Urgent.
find her,
told her
actually lead us to
Kyoko?"
the precinct officer
had
Sato. Said she
you were on
leave,
was ages since he'd heard
on
duty.
to get in
touch with you.
but she insisted."
his Division
something an old married couple would
"Hon? You
nickname
— "Hon." Like
say.
"The phone number?" "That's the
funny thing. 5555-4444,
is
what she
tells
me. Think
it's
a prank?" "It's
okay.
Thanks
for calling."
He
pressed the dial tone button
with his finger and redialed.
Emi picked up on as possible. "Hello? Is
"You've got to
the
first ring.
Honma
kept his voice as neutral
that Akiko Sato? At 5555-4444?"
wonder about
that
girl's
powers of imagination,"
Funaki whispered. But Emi Kimura was in no
mood
for flip remarks.
She burst into
tears.
"Three years ago, so that would have been 1989, sometime in
November. The nineteenth or twentieth
had
... it
was
a Sunday.
late
My sister
a terrible accident."
"Yes?..."
a fire. She was badly burned. She had brain damage from smoke she inhaled. For a long time she was in a coma. Then last summer she finally died." So that had been Kyoko Shinjo's big mistake. Her first choice had been Emi, and the only member of her family she'd needed to eliminate had failed to die. Sure, Kyoko could have gone ahead according "It
all
was
the
to plan
and taken her chances with the
sister later,
but the whole
sit-
What if the sister woke up? And if Kyoko were to would be obvious that it was no accident. So she switched someone else, someone recently orphaned. There were still some points that needed clearing up. "Ms. Kimura,
uation was risky. try again,
to
about
it
this fire,"
Honma prompted. 285
Emi responded on
"We don't know how it got started,
cue.
but the
department and the police both suspected arson. There were
fire
somebody was ternews and, once that happened, the pace picked up. Everybody was getting nervous." Honma closed his eyes. Kyoko's newpaper again, the Tokyo one. Maybe she'd read about the string of fires there and decided to take other
fires in
the area around the
The
rorizing the neighborhood.
same
time. Like
story got into the
advantage of it. "That day
was
I
had dance
late getting
lessons.
home from
class.
I
happened
just
My
sister
was
to
be out because
in
bed already and
I
she couldn't get out in time."
Honma
suspected
it
hadn't actually been like that; he thought the
had achieved precisely
fire
Kimura
He glanced
..."
time of the
fire,
or a
little
its
intended purpose, in due course. "Ms.
Funaki and swallowed hard. "Around the
at
before, did either
you or your
sister
make
any new acquaintances?" "You mean
women friends?" Was there anybody?"
"That's right.
Emi was
period's kind of a
"I'm sure ly?
moment. "1 don't know, blank, it was such a shock."
silent for
it
was,"
Honma
sympathized.
I
forget.
The whole
"How about more
recent-
Have you made any new acquaintances recently?"
"New
acquaintances?"
Someone who was, say, an old friend of your ." someone asking directions who stopped to talk, or
"That's right.
or just
.
"Actually,
I
sister's,
.
did."
"You met someone?" His throat tightened. "Who? Do you know the
name?" "Her name
is
Shinjo.
Kyoko
Shinjo."
"Kyoko Shinjo."
When of his
he heard
hand against
Honma
repeat the name, Funaki slapped the
his forehead, then slowly
waved one
fist
flat
back and
forth overhead in a silent cheer.
How do you know her?" "She's a friend of my sister's. She just got in touch a few days ago." "Who
286
is
she?
His breathing stopped. "How's that again? 'She got in touch a few
days ago'?" "Yahoo!" Funaki was on his feet
now and had
actually let out a
yell.
Honma
lifted his
the room. "Sorry for to
good all
leg
and mimed a
the noise.
My
swift kick at
him
across
colleague's just really pleased
have found you."
Emi sounded a bit surprised, but gave a little "What did this Kyoko Shinjo have to say?"
laugh.
my sister in so long that she my sister had died, she said she was
"She said she hadn't heard from
decided to
call.
really sorry.
When
I
told her
She wanted to pay her respects and asked
to see the grave.
We made
an appointment
to
meet
me
to take her
this
Saturday
afternoon, in Ginza."
287
—
.
28
Honma made the arrangements for Saturday. back
to
On
His next
to
go
Utsunomiya.
the
with the
way up
train.
there, his
thoughts rocked and swayed in motion
There'd been no
word from Tamotsu. When
Tokyo he had seemed so confident, but did he
up every inch of
dig
move was
the old schoolyard?
about putting his earthworks on hold.
If
really think
Honma had
.
left
even thought
they could just nab
Shinjo, the search for the corpse could wait. But there
slim chance
he'd
he could
Kyoko
was always
a
.
Honma had only left a message, but as soon as he stepped through the turnstile he heard tion lobby
someone
Outside, the north wind swept piercing cold,
climb into the
few minutes, "I've
name. There across the
call his
were those familiar square shoulders, that craggy
down
over the Great Kanto Plain
make your sinuses hurt. passenger seat of the Honda Motors
enough
to
Honma had
to
me
start,"
—
"
Honma
the latest developments. Twice,
broke
in.
as
It
a relief to first
Tamotsu had
was
"We're going to meet
Honma to tell
Finally he pulled the van over to the shoulder feeling jittery, he said.
was
Tamotsu began.
Kyoko Shinjo this coming Saturday." Tamotsu blinked back his amazement
was
It
van. For the
rub his knees to get his circulation going.
got a few things to report
"Great. But let
sta-
grin.
told
him
to
him about slow down.
and cut the engine. He
a full ten minutes before he touched
the ignition again. "Saturday, did
along?" 288
you say?
That's the
day
after
tomorrow. Can
I
come
"Of course." "You remember what you said? About "I
me
talking to her
Tamotsu swung the van out across an intersection just turned red. "Before
he
first."
remember."
we head home,
said, staring straight ahead, his
I'd
just like
you
as the light
to see the school,"
hands gripping the wheel.
"It's
over
near Hachiman Yama Park." They sped down streets that Honma remembered from his last visit there and soon came to a rise looking out over green hills in the distance. This was a city with open spaces, a luxury unheard of in Tokyo. The playground at the school Tamotsu and Shoko had gone to wasn't just some stingy little basketball hardtop, but big enough to hold a rugby match and a baseball game at the same time. The fourstory gray concrete building looked far away. Rows of cherry trees reached around either wing of classrooms to circle the entire playground. The place must have looked magnificent in April. "You could never dig up all this dirt." A squadron of kids in maroon-colored tracksuits was out there jumping rope. Twenty or thirty of them, high school students, probably. Their instructor blew sharply on his whistle from time to time. "I asked all my friends and we tried to recontruct how the school and the yard were when we were here," Tamotsu said, grabbing the chain-link fence with both hands.
Honma looked at him. "What d'you mean 'reconstruct'?" "They
rebuilt the
whole place
five years ago."
"Oh." Then anything was possible.
Tamotsu scratched around, so
now
He laughed
out loud.
Honma
I
looked
his head.
can't really tell
at the
"They shifted the school building
where the damn
young man
again.
bird's
grave was."
What was he
so happy
about? "I
was thinking about giving you
came up empty-handed, more things first." I
He went on
to say that
I
a call,"
just thought
two years
Tamotsu I
not like
spring of 1990, — — woman who must have in the
earlier
the peak of the cherry blossom season
said. "It's
should check out a few
at
a
289
been Kyoko Shinjo came
to visit the schoolyard.
"Oh, really?"
Tamotsu leaned
nodding
into the fence,
One when we
slowly. "That's right.
of the older teachers, Mrs. Kina, she was here even back
were. She's over
fifty
now but she's
than any librarian. She's the one
got a card index in her head better
who
told me."
She had positively
remembered because the
ID'd Kyoko's photo, too. "Said she
girl
was
so beautiful."
"Where did
this teacher actually see her?
Did she ask what she
was doing?" "It
was
a Saturday afternoon.
Kyoko came
straight into the school-
yard and walked right over there," Tamotsu said, waving one arm
toward a at the
"She hung around like she was looking
line of cherry trees.
cherry blossoms, which
around here, even some didn't think
much about
isn't
tourists,
But the
it.
so unusual. Lots of folks from
come girl
for that.
At
first
Mrs. Kina
stood out there so long that
she started getting worried and went over. She was wearing a black skirt
and jacket, almost no makeup. Like
When
the teacher approached, the
lost all track of
something that
for a funeral or something."
young woman
told her she'd
time gazing at the cherry blossoms. But there was
didn't
seem
quite right, so Mrs. Kina asked
brought her here. "And you
what had
know what she said? She was making the
trip in place of a friend."
Honma
looked up
at the leafless tops of the
cherry
trees.
A
trip in
place of a friend.
"Then Mrs. Kina asks
young woman nods,
see?
if
this friend is
And
from around here.
—you ready
for this?"
deep breath. "She says that the friend had attended school, and had really loved
it.
The
friend
the
Tamotsu took this exact
a
same
had mentioned something
about burying a pet bird out on the playground. But course, has
And
no idea just where." Kyoko had come,
this
woman,
of
in Shoko's place, to
retrace the past.
"So Mrs. Kina starts to get suspicious and asks a few more questions.
Where
is this
friend,
why
woman didn't answer at first, dead. 290
didn't she
come
The young her friend was
herself?"
but finally admitted that
"
Honma
stood right next to Tamotsu, their shoulders practically
touching. Kids were dashing about, doing
could almost "1
guess
feel the
didn't
I
away from the and the PTA,
do too bad, huh?"
fence. "I
athletic drill.
Honma
said Tamotsu, pushing himself
was thinking about
to get permission to dig
bet this Kyoko woman did come we might just find her."
The ground
some
smell of the earth seep inside him.
at their feet
up
talking to the principal
the yard.
worth a
It's
here to bury Shoko.
If
we
was beaten down, hard and
try. I
searched,
dry.
Honma
mesh with the tips of his finKyoko Shinjo did come here," he said, choosing
leaned into the fence, gripping the steel gers. "All right, so
words
"But
still, I
don't think your
Tamotsu looked him
full in
the face.
his
carefully.
hereabouts.
since
Shoko
anywhere
is
w
you bothered
to
come
"Why
—not? But
way up here What I mean is, maybe
the
all
"She couldn't bury her here.
I
thought,
she intended
—
but there was no way
it would have been too risky. This is a Somebody would have seen something. My guess is she came and looked it over, and saw it wouldn't work."
to,
schoolyard, after
all.
"But hey..."
Honma went
on, keeping his voice quite calm.
"Kyoko Shinjo,
as
must have gotten rid of Shoko's head in the safest location she could find, somewhere else. It just stands to reason. Of
near as
I
can
figure,
course she never expected the Nirazaki remains to
come
to light.
She
probably thought they'd just get hauled off to some garbage dump."
Tamotsu stood stock
still.
scrambled up to a starting
A
whistle sounded and the tracksuits
line.
"She wanted to get rid of the head someplace where discovered.
Once
she'd
memory. She couldn't
done
rest
till
that,
it
wouldn't be
she came here to bury Shoko's
she'd been where
Shoko
as
good
as
asked to be buried." The same way that Makoto and Kazzy had buried Blockhead's memory.
Kyoko had come and stood her way of begging Shoko's for-
Springtime, petals clinging to her hair,
beneath these cherry giveness? ko's
Was
it
trees.
Was
it
so important to see, just once, the bed where Sho-
childhood slept? 291
Her friend was dead. "Okay, then, where
Tamotsu said
Shoko's head buried?
There was only one person
who
The whistle blew
sound
runners set
off,
"Let's get
292
is
Where
did she put it?"
plaintively.
again. Its
could
tell
them
for certain.
froze in the cold, clear air as the
straining slightly against the wind.
back
to
Tokyo,"
Honma said.
"We've got a date
to keep."
29
The
Italian restaurant
where Emi Kimura had agreed
to
meet Kyoko
Shinjo was technically in Ginza, but well away from the heart of the
shopping cious.
district.
Maybe
had a high
It
that
ceiling, a
was why
could afford to be so spa-
and
level,
a
The meeting was
area right in the center of the room. It
it
mezzanine
round sunken
set for 1:00 p.m.
was now 12:45. "You don't have to hang around
told Emi. "We'll
But she wouldn't hear of the one
if
know her when we it.
you think may have
don't
want
to,"
Honma had
see her."
"I'm a killed
you
little
my
scared,
sister,
I
I
admit, but
want
if
she's
to see her for
myself." "Just act normal," table near the
Honma had
coached
middle of the sunken floor
Emi was sitting at a The wait was making
her.
area.
her nervous. She pressed a hand to her chest as
to
keep her heart
She hardly touched her cappuccino.
still.
Honma and Tamotsu had the
if
main
stationed themselves at a side table
on
level right next to the stairs, overlooking the lower area.
They hadn't touched
their coffee either, although
Tamotsu was on
his
second glass of water. "I
get to talk to her, right?"
"Yes," said
Tamotsu
said for the
Honma. "So what are you going
Tamotsu lowered
his eyes.
"I
umpteenth
time.
to say?"
don't know."
on the far side of the main floor, holding up a newspaper spread wide open and wearing a dark suit that stood out in the bright interior. He was on his second cup of coffee. The restaurant had two entrances. Whichever one she used, they'd Funaki was
sitting
293
"
spot her. They'd also be watching to see
if
she tried to bolt back out
of either of those doors.
Honma
hadn't slept
much
He had
the night before.
stayed
up
going over every detail with Funaki. There was no tangible proof yet,
no body, just one woman missing and another posing motives for murder, but method and weapon
as her. Possible
unknown. Circumstantial evidence was all well and good, but speculation had its limits. As Funaki had said, "No judge is going to buy this. Where's our still
case?" "Well,
you never know"
"Without so
much
as a fingerprint?
How
far
can
we
stretch eye-
witness testimony?"
"We could rough up our witnesses a bit. we want to hear, now!'
'Out with
it.
And only the
things
Funaki smirked. to
"It
doesn't
seem
to
bother you. You're just happy
have found her." Sunlight slanted across the parquet
ma had
to
admit Funaki was probably
of his previous cases had he
grim determination. The
would say
if
felt
fact
he were the one
to
Honma
meet her
Never once during any
He
so relaxed.
was,
here now, Hon-
floor. Sitting
right.
felt
wasn't at
first.
no all
bitterness,
no
sure what he
All he could think of
were questions. Are you planning blew
it
to
keep doing
this
o\er and over? Just because you
with Shoko Sekine, are you really going to backtrack to Emi Ki-
mura? What then? A quick
exit from Tokyo,
where
there's
always a chance
you might run intojun?
Or should he ask what she'd done with Shoko Sekine's head? Or she felt when Jun first told her about Shoko's bankruptcy?
how
Mitchie at Imai Office Machines was anxious to see her again, Mr.
Imai was worried too, should he
way
that Jun's teeth
tell
had chattered
her that? Should he mention the
that first night
when he came by
and explained the situation? The only thing
I
know for sure
turning yourself into anyone
way
that
you'll never
else. You're
Kyoko
Shoko Sekine never became anyone
she longed 294
is
to.
have another crack at
Shinjo, period.
else,
The same
no matter how much
This off-white and Naples-yellow place wasn't somewhere people Funaki, Tamotsu and himself belonged
like
young couples seated
by, the
eyes. Will
you think
mind. Will you
set
so, too?
one foot
other tables,
at the
Honma
in the
The
in.
all
waiters passing
said so with their
searched out Kyoko's face in his
door and sense that somethings out of
place? Will you catch on immediately and start running again?
would almost be easier for us
It
sure
it
was
if you
did run.
Then we'd know for
all true.
"There she
is,"
Tamotsu said
quietly.
He
straightened up, his back
tense.
Honma saw Funaki lower his newspaper slightly
Across the room as a sky-blue
was
It
hooded coat swung by him. There could be no mistake.
her.
Her
hairstyle
was
different. Earrings flashed
length waves of hair. She rode forward
tween the play
tables, neither
on long
beneath shoulderlegs,
brushing be-
avoiding the waiters' looks nor trying to
down her own height.
She stopped and looked around. Even from
this distance,
Honma
could appreciate her looks: the delicate nose, the slightly pursed
lips,
on her pale cheeks. Not a trace of suffering, not shadow of loneliness showed in her face. She was beautiful. Her gaze settled on Emi Kimura and she raised a hand in greeting.
the hint of rose blush a
Emi responded, half rising from her seat and waving back. Not a glance at
Honma or Funaki.
Kyoko approached: down the steps, skirting the next table, coat hem swaying. Emi smiled. Kyoko took off her coat and draped it over an empty chair. She put her bag down and took the seat across from Emi. She was wearing a white sweater. in,
making
herself
A brooch
sparkled at her throat. As she settled
more comfortable,
the brooch nestled into the
folds of the sweater.
Kyoko had her back to Honma and Tamotsu. She was wearing on both hands, but there was no sign of Jun's sapphire. The waiter brought menus. She and Emi flipped them open simultaneously and laughed. Emi's smile was a bit forced, perhaps. rings
"You were going
to talk to her, right?"
Honma said. 295
Tamotsu
rose,
keeping his eyes fixed on the young woman's back.
He moved forward automatically, as if drawn by an invisible pulley. He walked stiffly down the stairs. The other customers paused, holding their forks in the
Conversations stopped, glasses of wine
air.
caught the light and grew
seemed
On
to rest
still, and the eyes of everyone on Tamotsus broad shoulders.
the far side of the room, Funaki started
moving slowly toward
Honma
He could only
her as she talked
room
stood up and hovered beside his own Kyoko from the back but stared intently at with Emi. This was her, all right; she was as charm-
the opposite stairs. table.
in the
see
ing as everyone had said.
Tamotsu reached
the
bottom step and
Emi remained remarkably
started toward her table.
poised, never once looking at him. Her
eyes were filled with the stars in Kyoko's earrings, the line of her shoulders.
My
questions don't matter.
never told anyone, the
lives
in hiding, the interest you've
There
1
want
to
hear your
story.
The parts you've
you carry everywhere with you. The months been quietly compounding.
will he plenty of time,
Kyoko.
Starting from now, as Tamotsu's hand comes to rest on your shoulder.
296
CHRISllMIM
ivivjixii
i
wi\
Best Novel and Best Mystery of the Year
Named in,
OV^il^lM^i-
this
in
"deep and moody" (new YORK times
;view)
thriller
takes a journey through the
dark side of Japan's consumer-crazed society. Ordinary people plunge into insurmountable personal debt and
fall
prey to dangerous webs of
underground creditors that murder
A
may
beautiful young
she a victim, a
tracks
women
its
so dangerous,
be the only
woman
tive quickly finds she Is
—
is
killer,
way
in fact,
out.
vanishes, and the detec-
who
not
she claimed to be.
or both? In a country that
citizens at every turn,
how can two
claim the same identity and then disappear
without a trace?
"
Enormously compelling
.
.
.
combining expert
nd psychological nuance to ultimately ,.w'Ct."
-
PUBLISHERS WEI
Miyuki Miyabe has written many novels, ten of
This
is
best-selling
which have been adapted
her first book to appear
in
into films.
English. She
liv
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ALL H
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