Inspector Imanishi Investigates

“No, he doesn’t do that sort of thing. I don’t know why, but he seems to be the antisocial type. He hardly ever has any friends over. The only guests are editors from the magazines.”

“I see. But he must go out a lot. I suppose he often comes home late at night?”

Toyo responded, “I’m only there until eight o’clock, so I don’t know anything about after that time. But apparently he does come home late at night. The people in the neighborhood say they’ve heard the sound of a car stopping at about one o’clock in the morning.”

“He is young, after all. By the way, I’m changing the subject again, but do you know where he was born?”

“He really doesn’t tell me much about himself,” Toyo answered, a bit miffed. “Can’t you get that kind of information from his family register?”

“Yes, we can. I did get a copy of it. It lists Meguro in Tokyo as his registered domicile.”

“Tokyo, you say?” The woman thought for a bit. “I wonder. I don’t think he was born in Tokyo. I was born in downtown Tokyo, so I don’t know much about the countryside, but his accent isn’t that of a Tokyo native.”

“Then where do you think he’s from?”

“I can’t tell. It really says on his family register that his place of origin is Tokyo?”

“Yes, it does.” Imanishi already knew that Sekigawa had not been born in Tokyo. He had gone to the Meguro Ward office and had seen his family register, which had noted that the registered domicile had been transferred from elsewhere. “Thank you so much for your time.” Imanishi bowed politely to Toyo.

“Not at all. Thank you for the snack.”

Parting from her, Imanishi walked up the slope leading to the streetcar stop. The wind swirled dust around his feet. Imanishi walked away with his shoulders hunched and his head down.

Four days went by. Imanishi returned to police headquarters to find two letters on his desk. One was from the Yokote city hall, and the other from the Yokote police station. Imanishi opened the one from the city hall.

This is in response to your inquiry about Sekigawa Shigeo’s registered domicile.

In 1957, Sekigawa Shigeo transferred his registered domicile from Number 1361, Aza Yamauchi, Yokote City, to Number 1028, Kakinokizaka, Meguro Ward, Tokyo.

This confirmed the reported transfer of registered domicile recorded in the family register at the Meguro Ward office. Next he opened the one from the police station.

Regarding your inquiry, our response is as follows:

In investigating Number 1361, Aza Yamauchi, Yokote City, we ascertained that the residence is now owned and occupied by Yamada Shotaro (age 51), a distributor of agricultural machinery.

When we inquired of Yamada-san about Sekigawa Shigeo, and said person’s father Sekigawa Tetsutaro and mother Shigeko, he responded that he had no knowledge of these three persons.

According to Yamada-san, he came to this address, which was owned at that time by Sakurai Hideo, general goods merchant, in 1943, and he knows nothing about the previous owners or residents.

Investigating said Sakurai Hideo, we have found that he has moved to the Osaka area. Should you require further investigation regarding Sakurai Hideo, please contact him at Number xx, Sumiyoshi, Higashinari Ward, Osaka City.

Regarding the Sekigawa family, we inquired of several citizens, but found no one who knew of them, and thus terminated the investigation.

Imanishi Eitaro was disappointed. With this response, the investigation into Sekigawa Shigeo’s past in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture had reached a dead-end. Yet Imanishi made one more effort. The merchant Sakurai, who had moved to Osaka, might have known Sekigawa Shigeo’s father Tetsutaro. Imanishi determined to follow this thread as far as it would lead. He took out stationery and carbon paper and began to write yet another inquiry.

He had finished writing and was addressing the envelope when a young detective came over.

“Imanishi-san, a package has come for you.”

“Oh, thanks.”

The package was a thin rectangle. On the address label were the words “Imanishi Eitaro, c/o Homicide Division, Tokyo Metropolitan Police” and on the reverse side was printed “Kamedake Abacus Company, Nita Town, Nita County, Shimane Prefecture” with the name Kirihara Kojuro written in brush ink alongside.

Imanishi opened the package at once. Inside was an abacus in a case. On the cover of the case were the words “Unshu Specialty Kamedake Abacus.” Imanishi took out the abacus. It was a comfortable size. The frame was made of ebony, and the counter beads were slick and heavy. The entire piece had a shiny black gloss. Imanishi tested the counters with his fingers and found that they glided beautifully.

Kirihara Kojuro was the old gentleman Imanishi had met the previous summer when he went to Kamedake to hear the Izumo dialect. Imanishi had forgotten about Kirihara, but the old gentleman had not forgotten Imanishi. He had no idea why Kirihara had sent him such a gift at this time. There seemed to be no letter enclosed, so he could not be sure of the old man’s intentions. But as he was putting the abacus back into its case, a folded piece of paper fell out. Imanishi unfolded the letter. It was written in the old-fashioned, polite language of a bygone era.

My Dear Imanishi-san,

Greetings. I wonder how you have been faring since our meeting last summer. I have been keeping myself quiet in the mountains of Unshu, as usual. We have manufactured a new model of abacus at our factory. It is slightly smaller than previous abacuses, and has been redesigned with office use in mind. My son has given me one of the test models, and I hope that you will not consider it too impolite of me to present it to you. If it might remind you of your visit here this past summer, it would please me greatly.

The palm of the hand holding the abacus

feels the autumn village cold

Kojuro

Imanishi recalled the garden of the tearoom-style house in Kamedake. A haiku aficionado himself, Imanishi was touched by the old man’s letter.

He had gone all that distance and returned without accomplishing anything. But as a by-product, he had become acquainted with the old gentleman. He recalled the zu-zu dialect, which had been hard to understand and had been the cause of much confusion. Putting the Kamedake abacus carefully in his drawer, Imanishi rested his chin on his hand.

Sekigawa seemed to have been born in the Tohoku area, famous for its zu-zu dialect. As a child, Sekigawa Shigeo had been put in the care of Takada Tomijiro, who lived in Meguro. In Sekigawa’s school records, Takada was listed as a relative, but this was not noted in the family register. Checking to see if Takada Tomijiro was from the Tohoku region, Imanishi had found that his original registered domicile was Tokyo. Unlike Sekigawa’s, this was not a transferred registration. What was the connection between Takada Tomijiro, who had been born in Tokyo, and Sekigawa, who had been born in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture?

If only someone in Yokote had known Sekigawa’s father, he might be able to find out about this family. But the reply from the Yokote police station had betrayed that hope. The only remaining chance, and it was a slim one, was that Sakurai Hideo, who had lived in Sekigawa Tetsutaro’s house after him, knew something. He might provide a clue. Yet given the outcome of the investigation so far, Imanishi was not optimistic.

TWELVE Bewilderment

Imanishi had established several circumstantial facts involving Sekigawa Shigeo.

The prime suspect, the man who was seen with Miki Ken’ichi before his murder, had a slight northeastern accent. Sekigawa was born in Yokote, Akita Prefecture, in northeastern Japan.

The murderer probably lived not too far from Kamata. Perhaps he murdered Miki in the railroad yard because he was familiar with that area. Sekigawa lived at Number 2103, Nakameguro,Meguro Ward. From Meguro, he could easily take the Mekama Line to Kamata.

The murderer must have been covered with blood after he killed Miki. If so, he probably did not take a train afterward. The murderer might have taken a taxi without attracting the attention of the driver, particularly since it was dark. It was also possible that he could have used a private car. Sekigawa did not own a car, but he had a driver’s license.