referred, but he felt that he could understand such a young girl’s feelings. He could see the bits of paper dancing in the darkness and falling onto the tracks.
Imanishi splashed his face with water. Then he got out of the tub to scrub his body. He caught hold of Taro and washed him. He felt relaxed. His mind was still riveted by the image of the girl scattering a paper blizzard.
He sat outside the tub for about ten minutes. Then he went back in to soak. He sat up with a start when the water reached his shoulders. His expression changed, his relaxed face was now tense.
He was unaware of toweling off. Forcing his son, who was playing with his friends, to hurry, he rushed home.
“Where did you put the magazine I brought home today?” he said to his wife.
Yoshiko answered from the kitchen. “I’m reading it right now.”
Imanishi grabbed the magazine out of her hands. He opened the magazine to the essay. The title was “The Girl of the Paper Blizzard.” The author was someone named Kawano Hidezo, a university professor who often wrote for magazines.
Imanishi looked at the clock. It was after seven. There should still be someone at the magazine’s office. He rushed out of the house to the nearest pay phone and dialed the magazine’s number. In response to his questions, he was told that Professor Kawano lived in Gotokuji, Setagaya Ward.
The next morning, Imanishi paid a visit to Professor Kawano. The professor was slightly surprised to receive a visit from a police detective.
“I read your essay in a weekly magazine, Professor; it was entitled ‘The Girl of the Paper Blizzard,’ ” Imanishi began.
The professor laughed with some embarrassment.
“As a matter of fact, I’ve come to ask you about the young woman you saw on the train.”
“Do you mean the person I wrote about in that essay?”
“Yes. I’m concerned about something related to a certain case, so I’d like to ask you about that woman’s appearance and clothing.”
“I’m a bit embarrassed.” The professor gave a confused laugh. “Actually, I’m not the one who saw that girl.”
It was Imanishi’s turn to be surprised. “Then what about your piece in the magazine?”
“Well,” the professor said, waving his hands, “I’m afraid I’ve been found out. I heard that story from a friend of mine, but to make it more interesting I wrote it as if it were my own eyewitness account. I didn’t dream that I’d be ambushed like this. I’ve really made a mess of it.” Professor Kawano put his hand to his forehead.
“But Professor, your friend’s story, it’s not a fabrication, is it?”
“No, it’s a true story. He’s not the type to make things up, so I’m sure it really happened.”
“Professor, could you please introduce me to your friend?”
The professor agreed.
That afternoon, Imanishi telephoned Murayama, the editor. Over the telephone, Murayama offered to meet Imanishi at a coffee shop near the newspaper.
Murayama laughed when he heard Imanishi’s question. “It happened just the way I told Professor Kawano. He wrote it up for the weekly right away. He promised to treat me when he receives his fee, but I didn’t think it would become a police matter.”
“That’s not it. Sometimes cases that seem to be at a dead end are solved unexpectedly. If you hadn’t told your story to Professor Kawano, he wouldn’t have written that essay, and I wouldn’t have thought of a clue. I’d like to thank you for telling your story to Professor Kawano.”
“You’re certainly welcome, then.” Murayama rubbed his head sheepishly.
“What did the girl look like?” Imanishi asked.
“Let me see. She was in her mid-twenties and was a petite girl with a pretty face. She didn’t wear heavy makeup. And her clothes were stylish.”
“What was she wearing?”
“I don’t know much about women’s clothing, but she was wearing an ordinary black suit and a white blouse.”
“I see.”
“The suit didn’t seem to be of high quality, but she knew how to wear it, so that it looked good on her. Besides her black handbag, she also had a blue canvas bag.”
“That’s quite helpful. And quite detailed.” Imanishi was satisfied. “Could you tell me something more about her face?”
Murayama closed his eyes halfway and said, “Her eyes were rather large and her mouth was demure. It’s hard for me to describe the girl’s face, but if I think of an actress she resembles, I’d say she looks like Okada Mariko.”
Imanishi was not familiar with this actress’s face, but he made a note to look at a photograph of her later.
“Was the location where you saw the paper fragments the same as the place Professor Kawano described in his essay?”
“Yes. There’s no mistake. I watched her, thinking that she was doing something strange.”
“When did this happen?”
“It was on my way back from the Shinshu region, so it must have been May 19.”
Imanishi got on a train on the Chuo Line. His destination was Enzan. On his way there, he opened a window on the right side of the train and stuck his neck out like a child. After the train had passed Lake Sagami, he started to look intently along the tracks. The hillsides were overgrown with summer grass and in the fields the rice plants were green. Imanishi watched carefully, but there was no way he could see what he was searching for as the train sped past.
Over three months had gone by since the girl had scattered the paper blizzard. It was doubtful if the bits of paper would still be there. But there was a possibility that some fragments might remain in the tall grass.
Imanishi alighted from the train at Enzan Station and sought out the stationmaster to ask permission to walk along the tracks. Then he started walking slowly toward Katsunuma along the narrow path beside the railroad tracks with his eyes on the ground. It was a hot day. He had to look carefully among the small stones wedged in between the railroad ties as well as among the blades of grass on the cutting alongside the tracks.
Imanishi had realized his task would be difficult. But once he had actually begun it, he discovered how truly hopeless it was. If he wanted to do a complete search for the paper fragments, he would have to hire some laborers to mow the grass along the tracks. Even so, since the area was so large, it was like searching for a diamond in a desert. His only hope was that the pieces might still be white so that they would stand out from the green of the grass.
He became disgusted at all the garbage discarded along the tracks. Yet he had come all this way; it would be a shame to give up and go home. He was determined to discover just one piece no matter what it took. A lizard, flashing its blue back, darted in front of Imanishi.
He walked in the direct heat of the sun, staring at the brightly lit ground. Soon it made him dizzy. The steel tracks were scorching.
From Enzan to Katsunuma his effort was wasted.
At Katsunuma Station, Imanishi drank some water. After resting a while, he started out again. The distance from Katsunuma to Hajikano was also long. Eventually he passed Hajikano. As Imanishi walked he wiped the perspiration out of his eyes. Unless he continued to look carefully at the ground, he was afraid he might miss something. After all, he was searching for only a tiny fragment.
During his trek, several trains passed him in both directions. There was a breeze immediately after they passed, but then the sweltering heat returned. His body was tired, but it was his eyes that gave out first. Imanishi plodded along, but he didn’t find what he was looking for. He started to give up. So much time had passed that finding something now would take a miracle. The tracks began to slope upward toward the mountain. He could see the entrance to the Sasago Tunnel in the distance. The steep mountainside dropped off toward the tracks from either side. The bright white of the concrete restraining wall hurt his eyes. He couldn’t search inside the tunnel; he hadn’t brought along a flashlight.
Imanishi was now close to the tunnel and was about to turn back. Then he saw something in the grass beside the tracks, two or three small, dirty brownish fragments, stuck on the ground as if caught on something. Imanishi
