Points And Lines

'It was two o'clock on the afternoon of the twentieth when Yasuda left his office, saying he was going to Sapporo. It would be possible if the wire were sent on the twentieth; but it would look strange to ask someone to send it at nine o'clock on the following morning. Yasuda is very careful, even in minor details. Besides, he'd be afraid of an investigation.'

A few days later the detectives reported that no such telegram had been dispatched on that day from any of the telegraph offices in Tokyo. The Fukuoka police forwarded a similar report: both the Fukuoka and Hakata telegraph offices had no record of the telegram.

Mihara's face bore a vacant look. 'A telegram which was not sent could not be delivered,' he muttered to himself. 'Where did he send it from?'

Mihara clapped both hands to his head. 'I've been a fool! I should have checked the receiving office; that would have been simpler.' The disappointments and the rebuffs seemed to have dulled his senses. Immediately, he requested the Sapporo police to investigate. The reply came the following day.

'The telegram in question was sent from Asamushi Station in Aomori Prefecture at 8:50 A.M. on January 21.' Not Tokyo, not Fukuoka; it had been sent from Asamushi Hotspring in Aomori Prefecture. This was one station before the Aomori terminal.

Mihara was nonplussed. Had he given it thought, however, it should not have surprised him. The station was on the main line between Tokyo and Hokkaido. He noted the time of the dispatch: 8:50. According to the railway timetable, the Towada Express from Ueno, Tokyo, would be leaving Asamushi Station at that hour. The telegram was sent by the train conductor, at the request of a passenger, Mihara decided. The Towada, which passed through Asamushi on the morning of the twenty-first, was the train Yasuda said he had taken. It connected with the Sei-kan ferry No. 17.

So Yasuda was on the Towada, as he had declared! Mihara did not know what to think. The further he investigated, the more evidence accumulated that Yasuda was telling the truth.

Mihara buried his head in his hands. The chief interrupted his thoughts. 'By the way, Mihara, do you believe it was Yasuda who sent that wire?'

'What?' Mihara raised his head.

'Remember saying that you'd like to know who might have sent the telegram for Yasuda? A stand-in, perhaps…'

Mihara stared at Chief Kasai. 'Of course. I had forgotten.'

'You shouldn't forget your own words.' The chief was laughing quietly.

Mihara picked up the telephone and called Ueno Station. He asked to be connected with the train conductors' office.

'Hello! The conductor on the Towada express on duty between Sendai and Aomori: to which division would he belong?'

'He would work out of Ueno.'

Mihara took a police car and hastened to Ueno Station. In the office he questioned the official on duty.

'No. 205, the Towada, on January 20 of this year, is it? Just a minute, please.' The man consulted the duty records.

'Kajitani was the conductor. He should be around today. I'll have him called.'

'Please do so.' Mihara waited with mounting excitement.

The conductor presently arrived. He was not over thirty and looked intelligent. 'Let me see. I don't remember the contents of the telegram but I do recall being asked to send one to Sapporo. That must have been from Kominato Station, near Asamushi. I believe it was the morning of January 21. I don't remember sending any other telegrams for passengers from up north.'

'Do you recall the face of the passenger who gave it to you? Anything at all about him?' Mihara hoped the conductor would remember some detail.

'Let me see. It was a passenger in a second class sleeper.'

'Yes.'

'I believe he was tall and rather slim.'

'What, slim? Quite sure he wasn't stout?' Mihara was secretly pleased but repeated the question to make certain.

'No, certainly not stout. I'd say he was thin.' The conductor's memory seemed to be clearing. 'It was a party of two.'

'Two people?'

'I'm sure because I was checking the tickets. The man was holding his companion's ticket as well. No, not exactly a companion; the other man seemed more like his superior. He looked important. The slim man spoke to him very politely.'

'Then it was the subordinate who asked you to send the wire?'

'Yes.'

Tatsuo Yasuda's substitute was now clear. There was no possible mistake. The senior individual was Division Chief Ishida of X Ministry. The subordinate must have been the official traveling with him.

Until this moment, Mihara had taken for granted that Ishida had been traveling alone. But it was natural for a person in Ishida's position to be accompanied by a member of his staff.

Mihara went to the X Ministry to ascertain who had accompanied Division Chief Ishida on his trip to Hokkaido on January 20. He learned that it was Kitaro Sasaki. This was the same man who had visited the Metropolitan Police Board some days before on instructions from Ishida to inform Chief Kasai that Tatsuo Yasuda had been aboard the Marimo.

Mihara flew to Aomori the following day. He checked the passenger lists of all Sei-kan ferries on January 21. Ishida and Yasuda's names were there; Sasaki's name was not. It was clear that Sasaki had boarded the ferry using Yasuda's name.

The towering wall in front of Mihara had begun to crumble. At long last victory was in sight.

All he needed now was to find how Yasuda's signature came to be on the passenger list. Having come this far, that should not be difficult.

13 Mihara's Reply

Dear Mr. Torigai:

The weather is very hot. Walking in the scorching sun, one's shoes get stuck in the soft asphalt. All day I keep looking forward to the cold shower and the glass of cold beer that await me when I return home from work. I remember, almost with pleasure, the day you took me to Kashii Beach and I stood shivering in the cold wind that blew in from the Sea of Genkai.

Not for a long time have I been able to write a letter in so relaxed a mood. It was last February when we first met in Hakata. Seven months have gone by since I stood with teeth chattering on Kashii Beach and listened to your story. Ever since that time, my mind has been absorbed by the case and I have been unable to rest. Today, at long last, I am at peace; the feeling is like sunlight in early autumn. This is probably because the case is closed. The more difficult a case, I find, the more relaxed one feels when it is solved. To you, of course, this must be obvious. Nevertheless, it is this feeling of accomplishment which prompts me to write to you. Moreover, it is my duty. And also my pleasure.

I wrote you once before to tell you that the most difficult feature of the case was Tatsuo Yasuda's trip to Hokkaido. You sent back a kind letter, urging me to persist. I cannot tell you how much your encouragement has meant to me.

Yasuda's almost foolproof alibi, that he left Ueno Station in Tokyo by the express Towada on January 20 and crossed to Hokkaido on the Sei-kan ferry No. 17, arriving in Sapporo by the Marimo at 8:34 P.M. on the twenty-first, was finally broken. The formidable wall which kept blocking my way was not easy to demolish because Yasuda did meet an official of the Hokkaido government on the Marimo, he did meet Kawanishi at Sapporo Station when the train arrived, and his signature was definitely on the passenger list of the ferry. The most difficult point was that