Inspector Imanishi Investigates

“How is the study set up?” Imanishi asked.

“It’s a Western-style room. It’s about the size of eight tatami mats. There’s a desk at the window that faces north. He also has a bed that he can sleep on, and there are bookcases lining the walls.”

If it were possible, Imanishi would have liked to see the study. However, his sense of ethics did not allow him to search a person’s house under a false identity. Unless they had a search warrant police officers were not allowed to enter a house without permission. Imanishi was already feeling somewhat guilty for having lied about being a private inquiry investigator, but this had been unavoidable. If he had told her that he was a police detective at the outset, Toyo would not have told him anything.

“What are the windows like in the house?” Imanishi asked.

“There are two windows on the north side and three on the south side. Also two on the west; on the east side is the front door.”

“I see.” Imanishi drew a mental diagram of the layout.

Toyo looked at Imanishi’s face quizzically as she chewed her won ton. “Is that kind of information necessary for an inquiry for marriage purposes?”

Imanishi was taken aback slightly. “Well, actually, um, after all, my client wishes to know how Sekigawa- san lives on a daily basis.”

“Is that so? I suppose the parents of a young woman would like to know the details about whom their daughter will marry.” Toyo nodded easily. “This what I gather,” she offered. “He’s quite a popular writer now, even though he’s so young. He’s actually quite busy. He once laughed and told me that his income was at about the level of a section chief if he were a regular company employee.”

“I see. He earns that much?”

“Yes, and he’s always working. He does a lot of extra jobs, like taking part in panel discussions for magazines and the radio. It’s all too complicated for me to understand, but my son tells me that he is a very popular young critic.”

“I’ve heard that as well.”

“So if he were to get married, his livelihood is very well assured.”

“I understand. My clients will be relieved to hear that. I’d like to have them feel at ease about another thing as well. Does he have girlfriends?”

“Well.” Toyo gulped down the soup. “He’s still young, and he’s not bad-looking, and he does have a good income and is famous. So it would be strange if he didn’t have a girlfriend, wouldn’t it?” Finishing the last of the soup, Toyo wiped her mouth with her handkerchief.

“So he does have a girlfriend?” Imanishi leaned forward.

“I think he does.”

“Doesn’t Sekigawa-san bring this woman to his house?”

“No, he’s never done that.”

“Then how do you know he has a girlfriend?”

“He gets telephone calls occasionally.”

“Have you listened to these calls?”

“There are two telephones, and the calls can be switched over to his study. I’ve heard calls that have come from her. She seems to be young and has a nice voice.”

“I see, and her name?”

“She never gives her name. She says Sekigawa-san will know who she is. That’s why I think she’s more than a casual acquaintance.”

“I see. And have there been calls recently from this woman?”

“No, I haven’t taken any. Now that you mention it, there haven’t been any for a while. Of course, these calls don’t come that often. I’d say, maybe two or three in a month’s time.”

“That’s not many at all. Have you ever heard Sekigawa-san talking on the phone with this woman?”

“No, I haven’t. He always takes those calls in his study.”

“But can’t you tell something from the way he behaves? For example, if they are on intimate terms, or if she is just a friend?”

“I think they must be on very intimate terms. But this is just my guess. I can’t be sure about it.”

“Is she the only woman who telephones him?”

“No, she’s not the only one. There are several others, but those seem to be work-related, and he talks to them in front of me. The only one he talks to in his study is that one woman. Of course, I don’t know about his previous relationships. Would this sort of thing hinder his marriage prospects?” Toyo began to worry.

“I’ll make sure that it’s presented to my client in the right way. His relationship with that woman is probably over.” Imanishi unthinkingly let this slip out.

“How do you know that?” Toyo asked, surprised.

“I just feel somehow that it is. Oh, yes, I’d like to ask you one more thing,” Imanishi said, as he drank his tea. “This month on the evening of the sixth, was Sekigawa-san at home, or was he out?”

“The sixth, you say. That’s five days ago. I wonder… After all, I leave his house at eight o’clock,” Toyo responded, “so I wouldn’t know about after that time. But I think on the sixth he went out about two hours before I left.”

“How can you be sure? Do you have that date, the sixth, fixed in your mind?”

“That day my daughter-in-law’s parents came for a visit. I remember because my son and his wife asked me to be home early that evening.”

“Ah, I see. Then Sekigawa-san had definitely left the house by six p.m. on the sixth?”

“Yes. Is that kind of information also necessary for your investigation?” Toyo became quite suspicious.

“No, there was just something I was concerned about, so I asked you. But it’s nothing, really. By the way,” Imanishi changed the subject, “you said that there was only one woman’s calls that Sekigawa- san takes in his study. You also said you didn’t know about his previous relationships.”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t there more than one woman whose calls he takes in his study? How about it?”

The woman thought for a bit. “Since we’re talking about an auspicious occasion like marriage, it probably wouldn’t be good for Sekigawa-san if I say anything that wouldn’t be advantageous.”

“No, please tell me everything without any hesitation. I’ll separate out what I think will be good to tell my client and what I should leave out.”

“You will? Actually, it’s just as you suspect,” she admitted. “But there haven’t been any calls from that woman for a while.”

“When was it that those calls stopped?” Imanishi asked.

“I’d say it’s been over a month.”

Imanishi heard this with a start. That was just about the time that Naruse Rieko had committed suicide. “Do you know what that woman’s name was?”

“I don’t know. She just asked to speak to Sekigawa-san. I think, though, that she was a bar hostess.”

“A bar hostess?” This was not the answer Imanishi had expected.

Toyo continued, “Her way of speaking was very common. And the words she used were quite rough.”

This did not fit. Why would Naruse Rieko have used such language? Yet the time frame fit. Imanishi reconsidered, thinking that the way Toyo had heard Rieko’s voice over the telephone might have misled her.

“You’re quite sure that the calls from that woman stopped about a month ago?”

“Yes. Recently, it’s just been the woman with the nice voice, as I said before.”

A silence fell over the table. Toyo stared at Imanishi while he appeared to be deep in thought.

“Does Sekigawa-san have friends over to his house to entertain them?” Imanishi resumed his questions.