“I thought I’d go see how he’s doing.”
Katazawa shook his head. “You’d better not go just now.”
“Why not?”
“Tadokoro Sachiko is there. She came when I was talking to Waga, so I took pity on them and left. You’d better wait a while or you’ll interrupt them.”
Takebe opened the door and got out of the taxi. His companion got out, too. Katazawa didn’t recognize him. He was slim and wore a beret.
“Let me introduce you,” Takebe said. “This is Miyata Kunio, an actor affiliated with Avant-Garde Theater.”
“Pleased to meet you.” The actor bowed to Katazawa.
“I’m Katazawa. I paint.”
“I’ve heard your name. Takebe-
“You know Waga?”
“I introduced them. Sekigawa was with us, too,” Takebe put in. “It’s no use just standing here. Shall we have some coffee somewhere nearby?”
Takebe looked around. There was a small coffee shop directly across the street. The three of them crossed the street and entered the shop. In the middle of the day the shop was practically empty.
“How’s Waga doing?” Takebe asked, wiping his face with the moistened hand towel the waitress had brought him.
“It seems he hit his chest on the back of the front seat in the crash, but it doesn’t seem to be too serious. He looked fine.”
“Waga has his own car. Why was he in a cab?” Takebe asked, drinking his coffee.
“You’re right.” Katazawa thought for a bit and casually said, “Maybe his car needed repairs.”
“Maybe that was it. Or maybe his license was suspended due to traffic violations. He does speed,” Takebe said. Thinking of something, he asked, “Where was the accident?”
“They say in front of Sugamo Station.”
“Why was he going through a place like that?” Takebe asked.
“I didn’t ask. You’re right, though, I wonder why he was passing through an area like that.”
“Was Waga alone in the taxi?”
“It seems so. It would have been interesting if he had been with Tadokoro Sachiko.”
“No, it wouldn’t. If Tadokoro Sachiko was riding in the cab, it would have been natural. It would be much more interesting if a different woman had been with him.”
“And if that woman had also been injured, Waga’s engagement to Tadokoro Sachiko would most likely have been broken off. That really would make things interesting. Too bad he was alone in the taxi.”
The two of them laughed. Glancing at the actor by his side, Katazawa saw that he seemed deep in thought. Noticing Katazawa’s glance, Miyata smiled.
Takebe motioned toward the actor and said, “You’d better be careful. This fellow is quite popular with women.”
“Please don’t make fun of me,” Miyata said, grimacing.
Although his coloring was dark, he was handsome and his manner pleasant.
Katazawa returned to the former conversation. “Even if it was found out that Waga
“Why do you say that?” the playwright asked.
“Because Sachiko is in love with Waga. She’s much more infatuated with him than he is with her.”
“Really?”
“When a woman finds out that she has a rival for the man she loves, she becomes even more determined. First she gets angry and jealous. But the point is what she does after that. The woman who breaks off with a man isn’t passionate about him. Women who are madly in love are the ones who want the man even more.”
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience,” Takebe said. “So, does Sachiko feel that way about Waga? Waga is a lucky guy. After all, behind her is Tadokoro Shigeyoshi. With his influence and financial power, Waga can do anything he wants.”
“But Sachiko herself says that Waga holds her father in contempt.”
“Sachiko is a bit naive. He’s just saying that. Waga is depending on her father’s backing.”
The actor in the beret listened silently.
Takebe looked at his watch. “You think it’s all right to go visit him now?”
“It’s been a while since I left, so it should be all right.”
The two grinned at each other.
“See you, then.”
“See you.”
The actor in the beret also stood up. “It was nice to meet you,” he said to the artist.
The three men went out to the sunlit road. Katazawa returned to the parking lot and walked to his car.
The playwright and the young actor walked through the parklike hospital garden and headed for the patients’ wing. They walked down the hallway and stood in front of a private room. Checking the number, Takebe knocked on the door.
There was no answer. Takebe knocked again. There was still no answer. Takebe and Miyata looked at each other. At last the door opened.
“Yes?” Sachiko peeked out. Her face was flushed. Some of her lipstick had come off. Recognizing Takebe, she smiled and said, “Oh, please come in.”
FIVE The Woman of the Paper Blizzard
Two months had passed since the murder when one day a man showed up at police headquarters. He handed over a business card that read: “Miki Shokichi, Proprietor, General Store, xx Street, Emi-machi, Okayama Prefecture.” Miki’s father had been missing for three months, ever since he had left on a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine. Miki wondered if his father might be the Kamata railroad yard murder victim.
The former head of the investigation team and Imanishi Eitaro met with Miki Shokichi. Miki seemed like an upright young man in his mid-twenties. He looked just like a country merchant.
“What were the circumstances surrounding your father’s disappearance? Could you tell us in detail?” the section chief asked.
“Yes. My father is named Miki Ken’ichi. He turned fifty-one this year,” the young merchant began. “As you can see from my card, I run a general store in a small town in Okayama Prefecture. In fact, I am not Ken’ichi’s real son. I was adopted. Father lost his wife early and had no children. He hired me to work in his store, and then adopted me into his family. Then I married a local girl.”
“Hm, so it’s what they call getting a son to gain a bride,” Imanishi said as he listened to Shokichi’s simple explanation.
“Yes, that’s it. My father had never been on a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine, and he said he wanted to go once in his life. He told us that he wanted to take his time and also visit Nara and Kyoto. We thought it was a good idea and urged him to go.”
“I see,” the section chief said.
“We encouraged him because he had worked so hard from the time he opened the store about twenty-three years ago to make it the best in town. I know the difficulties my father has faced, so I wanted him to take this time off. When he left, he said he didn’t want to be tied to a schedule. He wanted to enjoy a lazy trip. He sent us postcards along the way.”
“But he never came home?”
“No, he didn’t. Since he had said he didn’t want to plan ahead, we didn’t think anything of it when he didn’t come home right away. But when it got to be three months, we started getting a little worried. So I filed a missing
