Inspector Imanishi Investigates

“Yesterday afternoon? She’s not at your place anymore?”

“No. I was surprised, too. She brought it up yesterday, all of a sudden. I’ve never seen anyone move like that.”

“Where did she go?”

“She said she was moving to the Senju area.”

“Where in Senju?”

“I didn’t get details.”

“You fool,” Imanishi unexpectedly yelled at his sister. “You should have told me earlier. Why didn’t you contact me right away at headquarters?”

“Was she that important?” His sister was surprised.

“You wouldn’t understand. It would have been much more helpful if you had told me while she was in the middle of moving than telling me about it now. And if you don’t know where she moved to, what good is that?”

Having been scolded by her brother, Imanishi’s sister looked unhappy. “You didn’t say anything, so I thought it would be all right if I told you about it later.”

Imanishi had not expected Emiko to move again only two months after she had moved into his sister’s apartment building.

“Which moving company did she use?”

“I don’t know.” It seemed that his sister had not paid much attention.

“You’re really hopeless.” Imanishi tightened the knot on his necktie that he has loosened. “Hey, my jacket.”

“Are you going out again?” Yoshiko asked, looking at him in surprise.

“I’m going right to her house.”

“My goodness.” His wife and sister exchanged looks. “I’m getting supper ready. Oyuki- san just arrived a little while ago. Why don’t you go later?”

“I’m in a hurry. Oyuki,” Imanishi said to his sister, “let’s go to your place right away. I want to find out where she moved to.”

“Did that woman do something wrong?” his sister asked.

“No, it’s not that she did something wrong. But there’s something that’s bothering me. And we might be able to find out where she went if we make the effort right now.”

Oyuki showed Imanishi to the second floor, which was divided into five units. Emiko’s had been the one farthest back. Oyuki opened the door and turned on the light. It was a room that got the afternoon sun from the west, fading the tatami. The areas that had been covered by furniture were a darker color. All that was left in the room were the things Emiko no longer needed. In the corner of the closet she had left empty cosmetic and soap boxes, old folded newspapers, and old magazines. She had left the room neat and tidy.

“She was a quiet, nice girl,” Oyuki told her brother. “When I heard that she was a bar hostess, I thought she might be sloppy. But she was much more concerned about neatness than most people.”

Imanishi spread the old newspapers and magazines on the tat-ami. There was nothing unusual about them. The magazines were reviews usually read by intellectuals. Taking one of them, Imanishi flipped through the pages. He then opened it to the table of contents and scanned it. He looked at the other magazines. He opened them to the tables of contents and read through them. He nodded. Next, he looked at the empty boxes. Inside were sheets of old wrapping paper that had been neatly folded. These also showed how tidy Emiko was.

As he was checking through the boxes, he discovered a box of matches. It was from a bar. Imanishi read the name on the label, “Club Bonheur.”

“Is that where she worked?” Imanishi showed his sister the matchbox, printed in yellow letters on a black background.

“It might be. She never told me the name of the bar.”

Imanishi put the empty matchbox in his pocket. He didn’t find anything else.

“Which moving company came to pick up her things when she moved out yesterday?”

“I didn’t notice which one.”

“But you saw the movers, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I saw them. She and a man carried her things from this room to the van outside.”

“Where are the closest movers?”

“There are two near the station.”

Imanishi went downstairs. He went straight to the entryway and put on his shoes.

“Are you leaving already?” his sister said in surprise.

“Yes,” he said as he tied his shoelaces.

“You’ve come all this way. Why don’t you have some tea at least?”

“I can’t take the time.”

“Are you in that big a hurry?”

Finishing with his shoelaces, Imanishi straightened up.

“If Miura-san comes back, shall I ask her anything?” his sister said.

“Hm,” Imanishi said, without much enthusiasm. “I don’t think she’ll come back here.”

“Really?”

“She found out that I work for the police. That’s why she moved out so suddenly.”

“But I didn’t say anything to her.”

“Then she must have heard from someone in the building.”

“Does that mean that she has something to hide?” his sister asked, her eyes wide.

“I can’t tell one way or the other yet. On the off chance that she does come around, find out what you can.”

Imanishi walked quickly to the station. He first went to the Yamada Moving Company.

Imanishi showed his police identification. “Did you go to a house called Okada to pick up some items yesterday afternoon? It’s an apartment building, and the person who was moving is named Miura.”

“Let me check.” The clerk went into the back room to ask one of the employees.

“It doesn’t appear to have been us,” the clerk answered, returning to the front. “If we had done the job, we should be able to tell right away, since it was only yesterday. It may have been Ito Movers just down the street.”

“Thank you very much.”

Imanishi entered the other shop and asked the same question.

“Yesterday, you say? I don’t remember anything like that,” the clerk said. “Just to make sure, let me ask our workers.”

The clerk returned. “We didn’t take that job. But one of our men saw someone moving things out when he passed by that address.”

Imanishi asked the young mover, “Do you know which moving company it was?”

“Yes, I do. Their name was written in big characters on the side of the van. It’s one in Okubo called Yamashiro Moving Company.”

“Do you know where in Okubo?”

“It’s right in front of the station. You’ll see it right away if you go out the west exit.”

According to his sister, Emiko had said she was moving to Senju. Senju and Okubo were located in entirely different directions.

Walking out the west exit of Okubo Station, Imanishi saw a large sign for the Yamashiro Moving Company half a dozen storefronts down the main street, just as the young mover had said. It was nighttime, but when he approached the shop, he could see that there were still people inside.

A woman clerk, who had been examining a ledger, stood respectfully as she listened to Imanishi’s question.

“Oh, yes, Miura-san,” she responded.

“Do you know where her things were taken?”

“I’m afraid we didn’t deliver them to the new location.”

“What does that mean?”

“At her request, we brought her belongings here.”