Motoura-
During the time Motoura-
For your reference, the following is a copy of the information in our records.
Father: (unnamed) deceased
Mother: (unnamed) deceased
Head of household: Motoura Chiyokichi (eldest son)
Date of birth: October 21, 1905
Date of death: October 28, 1957
Wife: Masa
Date of birth: March 3, 1910
Date of death: June 1, 1935
(Wife, Masa, was second daughter of Yamashita Chutaro, Number xx, Yamanaka Town, Enuma County, Ishikawa Prefecture. Date of marriage: April 16, 1929)
Eldest son: Hideo
Date of birth: September 23, 1931
The records state the above.
General Affairs Section Chief, Jikoen
Imanishi stared at the letter as he slowly smoked an entire cigarette. Being conscientious, he immediately wrote a thank-you letter, then another request for information, asking for the names and addresses of any living relatives or close acquaintances of Yamashita Chutaro, Number xx, Yamanaka Town, Enuma County, Ishikawa Prefecture. He addressed this to the police station in Yamanaka, Ishikawa Prefecture. After rereading the request, Imanishi added, “As we are in urgent need of this information, please expedite this inquiry.”
It was about eight o’clock when Imanishi returned home. The house was dark, and the front door had been locked from the inside. There was an extra key left under a potted plant for Imanishi to use when his wife was out. Opening the door, he turned on the light and saw the note left on the table.
Oyuki-
Still in his suit, Imanishi opened the cupboard. There was some sashimi purchased at the local fish store, along with a plate of meat and radishes. Steam rose from the thermos container for the rice, a recent purchase. He carried the dishes to the dining table. Since his wife was not at home, he was not distracted. As he ate, he thought over the content of the response he had received that day from Jikoen in Okayama Prefecture.
He had changed his clothes and was skimming the evening paper with a toothpick in his mouth when he heard the front door open.
“Oh, he’s back,” he heard Yoshiko say. “I’m home,” she said as she entered the room. His sister came in after her, smiling. “I’m sorry. Since Oyuki-
“That’s not true. I was the one who asked Yoshiko-
They were covering for each other. The two women continued to talk while they changed their clothes in the next room. Imanishi’s sister was a movie fan and she was talking about the performance of one of the actors. His wife came out in her house clothes.
“Did you eat some supper?”
“Yes, I did.”
“We expected to be back before you.”
“Here, Brother, a present.” Imanishi’s sister held out a bag of roasted chestnuts.
“Hey, aren’t you going home tonight?”
His sister was wearing one of his wife’s house dresses.
“No, my husband is away on business again.”
“You come over when you have a fight with your husband, and you come to stay when he’s off on business. What can I do with you? How was the movie, was it good?”
“So, so.”
Imanishi’s wife and sister continued discussing the movie.
“Actually, I saw some movies today, too,” Imanishi said.
“Oh, did you really?” his sister said, surprised.
“Is that why you were late?” Yoshiko asked.
“Hardly. I went to see the movies for work.”
“Hmm. Do detectives see movies for their work?”
“Depending on the circumstances, yes.”
“What did you see?”
“
“Oh,” his sister laughed, “they came out quite a while ago.”
“Have you heard of them?”
“I saw them. It must have been about six months ago. They weren’t any good, were they?”
“I suppose not.” Imanishi turned his eyes back to the newspaper.
His wife sat beside him, peeling roasted chestnuts and placing the pieces on the newspaper Imanishi was reading. The articles were not very interesting, but there was nothing else to read:
Revolution in Boring Holes through Ultra Hard Metal Alloy-Using Extra Strength Ultrasonics.
Far East Metallurgy Company has succeeded in applying the principle of extrastrength ultrasonics to boring holes through a hard metal alloy, something that had been considered impossible until now. This process will allow for a tenfold increase in manufacturing and has been hailed in various areas as a revolutionary technical accomplishment.
A characteristic of this method is that, because the cutter is not rotated, the hole created is not circular. Ultrasonics is considered to be a process having a…
It was an uninteresting article. Imanishi was easily distracted. His ears picked up the conversation between his sister and his wife.
“The previews are more interesting than the movies, aren’t they?” his wife said.
“That’s true. After all, they pick the most interesting parts to show in the previews,” his sister said.
Imanishi put down his newspaper. “Do they always show previews at movie theaters?”
The answer was, “Of course.”
When Imanishi went to the film company the following day, the staff member he had come to recognize leafed through the booking ledger to find this information. “Oh, yes, we did show a preview. We showed a preview of the next week’s film and a preannouncement of a coming feature.”
“What is a preannouncement?”
“When we release a major feature, we start advertising about a month in advance. The next week’s preview is, as the name says a trailer of the film that will be shown the following week.”
“What was the following week’s movie?”
“It was
“And the preannouncement?”
“That was for a foreign film.”
“A foreign film? Do any Japanese appear in that film?” Imanishi asked to make sure.
“Of course not. It’s an American movie, so all the scenes are foreign… But there is some snapshot footage of opening night scenes taken in Tokyo. It was a major film and a prince and princess attended the premiere.”
“I see. The preannouncement has shots of that event attached to it?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry to ask you again, but could I see both of them?”
“I don’t know,” the staff person cocked his head doubtfully. “We don’t keep the films of the previews in our
