low bow, straightening up rather quickly when he saw the police card.
The clerk confirmed what the young detective had reported earlier to the chief. Jutaro Torigai then asked, his face bearing the semblance of a smile, 'How did the man look when he arrived?'
'He looked tired and went to bed right after his dinner,' the clerk answered.
'It must be very boring to stay indoors the whole time. What did he do all day?'
'Usually, he just stretched out on the tatami and read. He seldom called for the maid. Which reminds me, the maid did say that he was a gloomy sort of person. He seemed to be waiting anxiously for a phone call.'
'A phone call?' Torigai's eyes brightened.
'Yes, he told me as well as the maid that he was expecting a phone call. He said to be sure to connect him as soon as the call came. I believe he didn't go out on that account.'
Torigai nodded. 'That could be. Did the call come through?'
'Yes, I took it. It was about eight o'clock, the night of the twentieth. A woman's voice said, 'Mr. Sugawara, please. He's one of your guests.' '
'A woman's voice! And she said Sugawara, not Sayama?'
'That's right. I knew he was waiting for the call so I put it through right away. We have a switchboard and extensions in every room.'
'Could you hear the conversation?'
The clerk's smile was forced. 'We're forbidden to listen in on guests' phone calls.'
Torigai sucked in his breath as if in disappointment. 'What happened next?'
'The call lasted only about a minute. Then he sent for the bill, paid it and left, asking us to hold his suitcase. We didn't dream that he was leaving to commit suicide.'
Jutaro Torigai was in deep thought, his fingers rubbing his unshaven chin. Assistant Section Chief Sayama waited impatiently at the inn a whole week for a phone call from the woman. And when the call came at last, he left right away, to commit suicide that same night. Very strange.
Still before his eyes was the dining car receipt plainly marked 'for one person.' 'Sayama was waiting at the inn for the woman to arrive,' he muttered to himself. 'Why in the devil did he have to wait a whole week for the woman he intended to commit suicide with?'
3 Two Stations in Kashii
Jutaro Torigai got home about seven o'clock. Although the front door made a good deal of noise as he entered, no one appeared to greet him. He was removing his shoes in the small vestibule when he heard his wife call from the next room, 'Hello, your bath is ready!' He pushed open the door and found her putting away her knitting. On the table the dinner dishes lay covered over with a white cloth. 'I thought you'd be late so Sumiko and I had our dinner,' she explained. 'Sumiko went with Nitta to see a picture. Do take your bath first.'
Torigai undressed quietly. The suit he put aside was well worn, the lining badly frayed. Some dust and sand spilled to the floor from inside the trouser cuffs. It was as if his weariness, from the many hours he had walked that day, was seeping out of his clothes.
His work obliged him to keep irregular hours. If he was not home by 6:30, his wife and daughter would not wait for dinner. Sumiko was his daughter and Nitta the young man she was going to marry soon.
As usual, Torigai took his bath silently. The bath was an old iron tub. 'How's the water,' his wife called to him. 'Fine, fine,' Torigai replied wearily. He was tired and did not feel like talking. He wanted just to sit in the tub and let his mind wander.
He started thinking about yesterday's suicides. What led them to take their lives, he wondered. He would know before long because telegrams had been received from the families of the two young people to say they were sending representatives to claim the bodies. The newspapers reported that Sayama was deeply involved in the government scandal that was currently under investigation and that his death had come as a relief to some senior officers in the ministry that was implicated. Sayama, they said, was a good man but the timid sort. Also, according to the press, Sayama and Otoki were lovers and Sayama was believed to have been worried about the illicit relationship. If that were true, Torigai decided, Sayama had certainly solved his two problems, the office scandal and the love affair, by taking his own life. No, the scandal by itself might have been enough to drive him to suicide but the additional problem of the young woman was what made him do it. And yet… Torigai splashed the warm water over his face. After arriving together at Hakata station on the Asakaze, where did the woman go? Sayama was alone when he checked in at the Tambaya, the night of the fifteenth. There was the date on the dining car receipt and there was no mistaking the date of his arrival at Hakata, so he did go directly to the inn. The woman was not with him at the time. From the sixteenth to the twentieth-for five days, therefore-Sayama remained at the inn, waiting impatiently for a phone call from the woman. What was Otoki doing during this time?
Torigai wiped his face with a towel. That the phone call was important was obvious from the fact that Sayama waited at the inn, never leaving his room. The message from the woman came at around 8:00 on the night of the twentieth. It must have been from Otoki because she asked tor Sugawara instead of Sayama. Clearly, they had arranged to use the false name. As soon as he received the call Sayama left the inn, probably to act upon it. That night he and Otoki committed suicide on Kashii beach. They seem to have rushed into death. Wouldn't you think they would want to spend a little time together after those days apart?
Getting out of the tub, Torigai sat naked on the bathroom floor, still absorbed in his thoughts. He let his body cool off. Were the circumstances so pressing, he asked himself that they could not enjoy to the full their last moments together? If so, what were those circumstances? They left no messages. Of course, that was not significant. Generally, only the very young left farewell notes. Often, when the situation was urgent, suicides left behind nothing at all. In the case of Sayama, he was probably in no position to write. The woman followed his example and didn't write either. It was that sort of a love suicide. Yes, no mistake about it; it was a love suicide. And yet… Torigai became aware that he was cold and stepped back into the tub.
'I can't help wondering about that dining car receipt made out for one person only. Then again, maybe I'm attaching to much importance to it,' he mused to himself.
'Not out of the bath yet?' his wife called to him from the next room.
Jutaro Torigai sat at the table, his face still aglow from the hot bath. He was especially enjoying his two little bottles of sake as he lingered over dinner. Side dishes of sea urchin, squid and dried codfish were set out on the table. He was tired from so much walking and the sake tasted good.
His wife was now sewing on a kimono. It had a bright red pattern and was intended for their daughter who was to be married soon. She was engrossed in her work.
'Rice!' he called to her, having finished the sake. She stopped sewing long enough to bring him the rice and then returned to her needlework. She continued to sew while waiting to serve him.
'Why don't you join me in a cup of tea?' suggested.
'Thank you, no.' She was too busy even to look up.
Torigai looked at his wife intently over his bowl of rice. My wife is growing old, he decided. When a woman gets to be her age, she doesn't even want to take a cup of tea with her husband while he is having a late dinner. He nibbled on some pickles and sipped his tea.
His daughter's return interrupted his thoughts. Her face was radiant from the date with her fiance. 'Where's Nitta?' her mother asked.
'He saw me to the door and left,' the girl replied gaily. She took off her coat and sat down.
Torigai put aside the evening paper and looked at his daughter. 'Sumiko, did you stop to have a cup of tea with Nitta after the movie?'
His daughter burst out laughing. 'What a question, father! Of course we had tea.'
'I see. Now, in that case…' He started to ask his daughter the question that was on his mind. 'For instance, suppose Nitta was hungry and felt like eating, but you were not hungry and couldn't eat a thing?'
'That's a funny example.'
'Now listen. Suppose Nitta said to you, 'All right, then, if you're not hungry spend the time window shopping while I get something to eat.' Would you do as you were told?'
'Well…' the girl hesitated, as if in thought. 'I think I'd go to the restaurant with him. It wouldn't be fun to wait
