person report with the local police. When I filed the report, they checked their records, and the Kamata case turned up. I was shocked when I saw the police artist’s sketch of the victim’s face. I recognized my father right away. That’s why I rushed to Tokyo. I’m sorry to cause you so much trouble, but I would like to identify the victim.”
Imanishi brought out the victim’s clothing and other belongings and showed them to Miki.
Miki Shokichi’s face twisted in pain. “Those are definitely my father’s things. Father was from the country, so he wore this kind of worn, inexpensive clothes.” His face flushed and his voice cracked.
“We’d like to show you some photographs, just to make sure. We’re very sorry, but we have already cremated the body. We do have a written physical description, though.”
The photographs taken by the Identification Division showed the victim’s battered face from every angle. Miki Shokichi was so shocked he couldn’t breathe, but finally he found a few remaining identifying marks and stated that there was no mistaking his father. Then he bowed his head.
“About how much money did your father have with him when he left on his trip to Ise Shrine?”
Miki knew the amount. It was not a large sum, about eighty thousand yen, enough for one month’s travel expenses and lodgings.
“Your father said that he would be traveling to Ise and Kyoto, but he died in Tokyo. Kamata is near Shinagawa. Did he have any business in that area?” Imanishi asked.
“I’m confused about that. I have no idea why Father would have gone to Tokyo when he said he was going to travel to Ise.”
“He never mentioned Tokyo?”
“No, never. Father would have told us if he had planned to visit Tokyo.”
“Since he died near Kamata Station, could he have visited someone in that area?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Was your father originally from the region where you now live?”
“Yes, he was from Emi-machi in Okayama Prefecture,” Miki Shokichi answered.
“You said he started his general store about twenty-three years ago. What was he doing until that time?”
“As I said before, I was adopted after he started the store, but Father said he had been a policeman.”
“A policeman? And where was that? Was that also in Okayama Prefecture?”
“I think so.”
“So he opened this general store right after he left the police force?” the section chief asked, smiling. He began to identify with the victim who had once been a policeman. “And how is the business doing now? Is it going well?”
“Emi is a little country town in the mountains, and the population is very small, but the store has been doing well since my father opened it.”
“Did your father have any enemies?”
The adopted son shook his head violently. “There is no way that he could have. Everyone respected Father. As you can see from his adopting me, he was always helping others. He was so well thought of that he was forced onto the town council over his protests. There just aren’t people who are as good as Father. He looked after people with problems and everyone said he was as kind as Buddha.”
“It is very sad that someone like that should have met with such an untimely death in Tokyo. We promise to find his murderer,” the section chief said to console the visitor. “I’d like to ask you once more if your father had any plans to visit Tokyo when he left on his tour of Ise, Kyoto, and Nara?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Had your father ever come to Tokyo before?”
“Not as far as I know. I never heard that he had ever lived in Tokyo or even visited Tokyo.”
With permission from the section chief, Imanishi began to ask a few questions.
“Is there a place called ‘Kameda’ near where you live?”
“Kameda? No, there isn’t any place called that.” Miki Shokichi sounded certain.
“Then, did your father have an acquaintance named Kameda?”
“No, I’ve never heard of any such person.”
“Miki-
Miki thought for a few minutes, but then said, “I don’t recall ever hearing that name. Who could that person be?”
Imanishi looked over at the section chief. The section chief indicated that he could respond.
“Your father and the person we suspect of murdering him had been drinking together at a cheap bar near the scene of the crime. We have witnesses to that effect, and according to them the name Kameda was mentioned in the conversation between your father and this other man. We’re not sure if Kameda is a person or a place, but they both knew the name.”
The shop owner thought some more, but his response was the same. “I’ve never heard that name.”
Imanishi changed his line of questioning. “Miki-
“What?” Miki Shokichi looked startled. “No, Father didn’t have a Tohoku accent.”
It was Imanishi’s turn to be surprised by this answer. “Are you sure of that?”
“Yes, I’m positive. As I told you, I was a shop clerk when I was adopted, but I’ve never heard that Father lived in the Tohoku area. He was born in Emi-machi in Okayama Prefecture, so there would be no reason for him to speak with a Tohoku accent,” Miki said definitely.
Imanishi exchanged looks with the section chief. The fact that the victim had spoken with a Tohoku accent had been one of the main clues. Relying on it, Imanishi had gone all the way to Akita Prefecture. Miki Shokichi’s response had completely negated that lead.
“I’d like to ask you,” Imanishi pressed, “whether your father’s parents, your step-grandparents, were born in the Tohoku region?”
Miki Shokichi answered immediately. “No, they weren’t. Father’s parents were from Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan. They have no connection to northeastern Japan at all.”
Had the witnesses in the bar been mistaken about the victim’s accent? No, that couldn’t be. The customers and the bar girls had all repeated that the victim had spoken with a Tohoku accent. Imanishi was puzzled.
“We’ll probably be in touch with you again about this,” the section chief said to Miki.
“Will it be all right for me to go now?”
“Yes, that will be fine. We’re very sorry about what happened to your father.”
“Thank you very much.” Miki asked, “Do you have any idea who killed my father?”
“We haven’t yet been able to identify him,” the section chief said gently. “But now that we know that the victim was your father, it will be a great help to the investigation. We now have a clearer picture of the situation. I think we’ll be able to arrest the murderer without too much difficulty.”
Miki looked down. “But why did Father come to Tokyo?”
This was exactly what the detectives wanted to know.
Bowing many times, Miki Shokichi left police headquarters. Imanishi saw him to the front door. When he returned, the section chief was waiting.
“What a problem,” the section chief said when he saw Imanishi.
“Yes, it’s a real mess.” Imanishi grimaced. “All my assumptions so far have been completely invalidated. It’s great that we’ve finally identified the victim, but now we’re back to square one.”
Once the meeting with the section chief was over, Imanishi had meant to go back to his office. But now he did not feel like returning to the cramped, crowded detectives’ room. He walked out to the back of the building. The thick leaves of the ginko trees towered over his head. Above the leaves was a bright white cloud filled with summer light. Imanishi stared blankly at the treetops. He was still thinking of Kameda and the Tohoku accent. Before he left for home, Imanishi called Yoshimura.
“Yoshimura, we’ve finally identified the victim in the Kamata railroad yard case.”
Yoshimura had already heard. “I understand he was from Okayama Prefecture.”
“That’s right.”
“That’s totally different from what we’d suspected, isn’t it?”
“We were way off base,” Imanishi responded dejectedly. “But now at least we have the victim identified. I may
