“Here?” Imanishi looked around the dimly lit space, but did not see anything.
“Yes, but then someone came to pick up her things.”
“You brought her things here and unloaded them, and then someone came to pick them up again?”
“Yes, that’s right. It was a bother for us, too, so we weren’t happy about it. Fortunately, her belongings were called for right away.”
“Was it this woman named Miura who came to pick them up?”
“No, it wasn’t a woman. It was a man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight.”
“Did he come in a van?”
“Yes, he did. But it was a small van, so he had to make two trips.”
“Was there a name written on the van?”
“No. It wasn’t from a moving company, it was a private van.”
“You said the man was twenty-seven or twenty-eight?” Imanishi asked, “What did he look like? For example, was he thin or fat; what was his hair like?”
“Let me think… I seem to remember him as being very thin,” the woman clerk answered after a few moments.
“No, he wasn’t that thin,” a man who was in the room put in. “He was quite stocky.”
“Was he?” The woman clerk was unsure now.
“No, he wasn’t. He wasn’t that stocky.” Another man put in his opinion. “His hair was carefully parted. His coloring was light and he wore glasses.”
“He wasn’t wearing any glasses,” the woman clerk retorted immediately.
“Yes, he was.”
“I don’t think he was wearing any.” She turned toward the other man, asking for confirmation from him.
“He could have been wearing glasses, but then again maybe he wasn’t.”
Each of them gave a different description of the man’s features. The move had taken place just the day before, and already their memories were contradictory.
Imanishi changed his line of questioning. “You said he came to load up twice?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Where did he say he was taking the things?”
“I didn’t hear anything about that.”
“Then about how much time passed between the time he left with the first load and the time he came for the second load?”
“Let me see. I think it was about three hours.” On this point, there was no disagreement.
“Thank you very much.”
Imanishi boarded a streetcar at Okubo Station and went to Ginza. On the train he did some thinking.
Imanishi arrived at Club Bonheur at about nine o’clock. The writing on the matchbox in his pocket had given him the address. When he pushed open the door, the dim light was hazy with cigarette smoke.
“Welcome.”
Imanishi took a seat at the bar.
The booths were packed with customers. It appeared to be a popular spot. Ordering a highball, Imanishi casually glanced around the room. There seemed to be about ten hostesses, wearing either Western clothes or kimonos. He couldn’t tell which one was Emiko. Because he was sitting at the counter, no hostess came to take care of him.
Imanishi asked the bartender. “Is Emiko-
“She quit yesterday,” the bartender answered, with a polite smile.
“What? Yesterday?” Imanishi was shocked.
“Yes.”
“That was sudden,” Imanishi muttered. He had counted on finding her here.
“That’s right. We were very surprised. But she insisted on giving notice, so, finally, the madam accepted it.”
“Did she say anything about going to a different bar?”
“No, it wasn’t that. She said she wanted to go back to her family for a while.”
“Is that true?”
The bartender grinned and replied, “I wonder. But I wouldn’t know.”
“Is the madam here?”
“Yes, she is.”
“Could you please call her over?” Imanishi said in a low voice, as he showed him his police identification.
The bartender’s demeanor changed. He bowed to Imanishi, then he hurried around the end of the bar and went toward the booths. The bartender returned with the madam. She was a tall, sexy-looking woman of about thirty. She was wearing a stylish kimono.
“Welcome,” she said in a charming tone of voice.
“Sorry to interrupt your work. I’d just like to ask a few questions. I understand that one of your girls, Emiko, quit yesterday?”
“Yes, she did.”
“Do you know what caused her to leave?”
“She said that she planned to go back to her hometown. It was so sudden, I was really surprised. She’s been at this club for quite a while and had many customers, so it puts me on the spot to have her leave. When I told her that, she pleaded with me, nearly in tears, so I finally agreed to let her go even though she hadn’t given proper notice. Is Emiko in trouble?”
“No, it’s not that. I wanted to ask her some questions. Do you know where she lives?”
“She mentioned something about Kawaguchi.”
“She moved out of there yesterday.”
“Really? I didn’t know that.” She seemed truly surprised.
“What kind of customers did Emiko have?”
“Let me see. She had all kinds. She was quiet, and seemed to be naive, so her customers were mostly quiet ones.”
“Was there a Sekigawa-
“Sekigawa-
“Yes, that’s the person.”
“He used to ask for Emiko by name quite a while ago, but not recently.”
“When you say ‘quite a while ago,’ how long ago do you mean?”
“It must have been about a year ago, now.”
“Hasn’t he been in at all since then?”
“He hardly ever comes now. Maybe once every two months or so, and usually with other people.”
“Was there anything special between this Sekigawa-
“I wouldn’t know. He did ask for her once, but I don’t know what happened after that.”
“Could it be that he stopped coming because their relationship was secretly becoming more intimate?”
“I suppose so. The girls who work at places like this often have their lovers avoid their bars. So that may have been the case with Emiko as well.” The madam said this much and then asked Imanishi, “Was Sekigawa-
“I don’t know.” Imanishi didn’t want to be pushed on this point.
“Did something peculiar happen between Sekigawa-
“No, not that I know of. It’s not anything Emiko-
“I can’t believe that Sekigawa-
“Well, it isn’t clear that he did,” Imanishi said to prevent the conversation from becoming more confused. “If she comes by, please let me know her new work place and address.”
