own entrance. I heard the moving van and thought that her things were probably being unloaded. But it was dark, and I didn’t bother to go and watch.”
“How many deliveries were there?”
“It seemed like the van made two trips.”
This agreed with what the employees at Yamashiro Moving Company had said. The times also matched.
“Did she move in the same day she signed the contract?”
“Yes, she did. She came to sign the lease in the morning. And then her things were delivered that night.”
“Did you hear the voices of anyone helping with the move?”
“Well, there’s a garden between this main house and the cottage. When the night shutters are closed, we can’t hear anything from the back house. So I’m afraid I didn’t notice whether there was anyone else helping other than the mover.”
Imanishi asked to see the cottage. The body had already been removed.
“Actually, I was relieved that the police took the body away,” the landlord said, as he guided Imanishi to the house. “I was worried that it might have to be left here since no one came to claim it.”
Imanishi studied the belongings that Emiko had left. A chest of drawers, wardrobe, mirror stand, desk, suitcase, a wicker trunk still sealed up… He checked each item, opening doors and drawers, except for the wicker trunk. He didn’t discover anything new. Almost nothing had been unpacked.
“Her futon was covered with blood, so I wrapped it up in a straw mat and stuck it in the storage shed out back. I’d like to get rid of that as soon as possible, too.” The landlord was upset. “What will happen after the autopsy?” he asked Imanishi.
“I suppose that unless someone comes to claim the body, her remains will be buried in a communal grave.”
“What about her things?”
“There should be some instruction from the police. Please bear with us for a little while longer.”
Imanishi put on his shoes.
It was about a twenty-minute walk from the Kubota residence to the Uesugi Clinic, which was set back inside an impressive gate. It looked like a recently renovated mansion. The approach to the entrance was flanked by a garden landscaped with rocks and plants.
Dr. Uesugi came out of his office to talk to Imanishi. “It was a real surprise. When I got there the situation was already beyond help. There was nothing I could do for her.”
“What was the cause of death?”
“She fell and hit her abdominal area very hard, resulting in a sudden miscarriage. The fetus, however, was dead before she miscarried. The direct cause of her death was loss of blood due to excessive internal hemorrhaging.”
“When you saw her, Doctor, was she unconscious?”
“She was unconscious when I arrived. But she regained consciousness just before she died and said something strange.”
“What? Something strange?”
“She wasn’t completely conscious, she was speaking deliriously. Her words were something like ‘Stop it, please. Oh, no, no. I’m afraid something will happen to me. Stop it, please, stop, stop.’ ”
“Wait a minute.” Imanishi hurriedly took out his notebook. “Please say that again.”
Dr. Uesugi repeated the words. Imanishi carefully wrote them down in his notebook.
“Doctor, why did you decide to report this to the local police station right away?”
“She wasn’t my patient. So it wouldn’t be proper for me to write out a death certificate. I didn’t want to encounter any problems later. That’s why I reported it to the police and requested an official autopsy.”
“That was a good way to deal with the situation,” Imanishi commented. Imanishi certainly wouldn’t have wanted the body taken directly to the crematorium, leaving nothing for the investigation but ashes. “By the way, Doctor, I understand that it was not the landlord who called you about the patient.”
“That’s right. I was summoned by a telephone call as I was about to go to bed. I was finishing a nightcap just after eleven when the nurse came and told me about the telephone call. She asked me whether I was willing to make a house call.”
“Was the caller a man or a woman?”
“Just a minute. I’ll call the nurse in.”
The nurse looked tired and washed out.
Instructed to by the doctor, the nurse answered Imanishi’s query, “It sounded like a young man’s voice. I refused to bother the doctor at first, but he pleaded for a house call because she had collapsed suddenly and was bleeding heavily.”
“Did he say he was the patient’s husband?” Imanishi asked.
“No, he didn’t say that, but I assumed he was her husband. I asked if it could wait until morning, and he said ‘she may die before then.’ ”
“She may die.” Imanishi thought for a while about those words.
“The patient’s heart stopped beating at twelve thirty-four a.m. I took care of a few things after the death and went home. Early the next morning I called the police. So I think the body must have been taken to the police medical examination center.”
“Thank you so much for your help.” Imanishi bowed and left the clinic.
At Soshigaya Okura he boarded a train for Shinjuku. He planned to head directly for the police medical examination center in Otsuka. The train left the station, and he could see the woodlands passing by outside the window. In between the woods were open fields. As he was staring at the woods, Imanishi suddenly remembered that he had been in this area only last month. The place where Miyata Kunio had died was not far from here.
When he realized this, Imanishi took out his notebook and leafed through it. Miyata’s body had been found at Number xx, Kasuya-cho, Setagaya Ward. It was very close to the Soshigaya house he had just left. No wonder the scenery looked familiar.
“I see you’re back again,” the coroner said when Imanishi arrived at the medical examination center. “What is it this time?” he asked.
“Doctor, I know it’s not a homicide, but I’ve come about Miura Emiko who was sent over here for an official autopsy.”
“Oh, that one?” The doctor looked at him with surprise. “Is there something the matter with that case?”
“No, it’s not a criminal case. I’d like to ask a few questions about the body, that’s all. Who performed the autopsy?”
“I did.”
“Oh, good. And what was your opinion after the autopsy?”
“She died from excessive hemorrhaging. She was pregnant,” the doctor said casually.
“Ah ha, so it was death from an illness?”
“Yes. I’d say death from an illness, but she fell carrying a four-month fetus. The fetus died and the fall caused the miscarriage. The fetus was stillborn.”
“There’s no mistake in that?”
“Well, that’s the way it looked to me. But does the great detective have some doubts?”
“I’d have to explain it to you, but there are several strange points about this death.” Imanishi described what he knew about Emiko.
He explained that the accident took place just after she had suddenly quit her job and moved, that a man had telephoned the doctor, but that this man did not appear even after Emiko’s death.
“That does sound strange.” For the first time, the genial expression left the coroner’s face and he became serious. “It’s certain that a man called the doctor on the telephone?”
“Yes. And yet he never showed up.”
“Hmm.” The doctor thought for a while and said, “Someone was on intimate terms with the woman. He might even be the child’s father. But when she died, as so often happens, he thought about his own reputation and disappeared.”
“That’s my theory, too.” Imanishi went on to ask, “Are you sure she wasn’t murdered?”
“No, it wasn’t murder.”
