warehouse forever. When the time comes, we get rid of them. I’d have to check to find out if we still have that piece of film.”
“When you say get rid of, how do you do it?”
“We cut up the film and sell it to a scrap collector.”
“Could you please check to see if you still have the film?”
Imanishi stepped outside. He walked around for about an hour, then returned to the film company.
“I was able to find out,” the staff member said. “We have the preview of the following week’s movie, but we got rid of our preannouncement about the foreign feature. It’s too bad. We sold it to the scrap collector just three days ago.”
Imanishi was able to see the preview, but it was not informative. It was just a collection of scenes from the
“You said the preannouncement was for a foreign film?”
“Yes.”
“What was the name of that film?”
“It was called
“In addition to scenes from the movie, the preannouncement also had shots from opening night? I hope I’ve understood correctly.”
“Yes, it did.”
“There must have been several prints. Would there be one, perhaps, that might still be left somewhere?”
“I can’t imagine that that would be the case. We usually get rid of all of them at once. But if I find out that there is still a print somewhere, I’ll let you know.”
“I would really appreciate that.” There was nothing else that he could say.
Imanishi telephoned Yoshimura. “Thanks for joining me the other night.”
“No, thank you for treating me,” Yoshimura said.
“Yoshimura, do you like movies?”
“Why are you asking all of a sudden? Yes, I like movies.”
“Did you see one called
Yoshimura’s laughed. “No, I didn’t see that one.”
Imanishi was disappointed. “How about a foreign movie called
“Yes, I saw that one.”
“Did you see the preannouncement film?”
“You mean the one they show ahead of time to advertise the movie?”
“That’s the one.”
“Let me think… Yes, I did, I saw it.”
“You saw it?”
“Yes, the one with the scenes from the opening night, right?”
“Yes, that’s it,” Imanishi cried out. “I’d like to meet you right away to ask you details about that film.”
“About the film?”
“Yes. Please remember as much as you can about it before we meet.”
Imanishi hurried to the Kamata police station. Yoshimura was working in the detectives’ office, but he joined Imanishi as soon as he spotted him.
“We could have tea here, but the others would be curious, so we wouldn’t be able to talk much.” They entered a small coffee shop across the street from the police station.
“Welcome back,” Yoshimura said to Imanishi. It was their first meeting since Imanishi’s trip to Ise. “How were things there?”
“That’s just what I wanted to talk to you about.” Imanishi told Yoshimura what had happened in detail. “So I haven’t made any progress since I’ve gotten back. The problem is, what did Miki see that made him change his plans? The only thing I can think of is the preannouncement of the foreign film, but the movie company says it’s already been thrown out. Can you remember the content and tell me about it?”
“Give me a moment,” Yoshimura said, crossing his arms. “It was quite a while ago, so I’ve pretty much forgotten… The main portion was the introduction of the movie. They showed scenes from the film.”
“I heard that there were some shots of the premiere in Tokyo.”
“Yes, there were. The prince and princess were there together to see the film, so there were many shots of them.”
“What other scenes were there? I mean other than those of the movie itself.”
“Otherwise…” Yoshimura looked down in an effort to remember.
“What about some celebrities? Maybe in the shots of the theater…” Imanishi said, giving him a lead.
“Yes, there were, there were.” Yoshimura raised his head at once. “There were definitely some shots like that. I can’t remember exactly who they were.”
“Were there any members of the Nouveau group in those shots?”
“Wait a minute. That’s just what I’m trying to recall.” Once again, Yoshimura lowered his head. “There were lots of them. Novelists, directors, movie stars…” he said slowly as if talking to himself. “The words ‘Nouveau group’ weren’t used, but I have a feeling they may have been there. I think there were some young artists. My memory is vague though.”
Imanishi thought he had the general picture. He would assume that the members of the Nouveau group had appeared on the screen. Miki had suddenly decided to go to Tokyo after seeing the face of one of the members of the group. The question was, which member of the Nouveau group had that face belonged to?
Imanishi was still concerned about the latest review by Sekigawa Shigeo. As a detective he was suspicious about everything. Sekigawa’s piece had been fairly easy to understand but Imanishi wasn’t sure whether he should take it at face value. It seemed to be necessary to read between the lines to comprehend what critics really meant.
Sekigawa was not the only member of the Nouveau group upon whom Imanishi’s attention was focused. Imanishi had received two responses to his inquiries about Waga Eiryo. One was a copy of his family register, which had been sent from the Family Register Section of the Naniwa Ward Office in Osaka.
Number 120, 2 Ebisu-cho, Naniwa Ward, Osaka City Father: Eizo
Date of birth: June 17, 1908
Date of death: March 14, 1945
Mother: Kimiko
Date of birth: February 7, 1912
Date of death: March 14, 1945
Himself:
Date of birth: October 2, 1933
Mother, Kimiko, was second daughter of Yamamoto Jiro, registered domicile: Number 47, San-ban-cho, Higashi, Sendai City; marriage to Eizo recorded on May 20, 1929
The other response was from the prefectural high school in Kyoto Prefecture. According to this information, Waga Eiryo had withdrawn from the school in 1948.
Imanishi sat deep in thought. Then he looked at his calendar. The next Monday was a holiday.
“I’ll be going to Ishikawa Prefecture Saturday night,” he told Yoshiko on his return home that evening.
“Are you off again?” She made a face.
“This isn’t a pleasure trip. I can’t take so many days off. So I’m taking advantage of the holiday.”
“Can’t you make it a business trip?”
“I don’t feel I can ask again since I don’t know if I’ll get any results. Do we have enough money?”
“I have some tucked away. Where are you going in Ishikawa Prefecture?”
“Near a hot spring called Yamanaka.”
“Well, that’s a nice place you’re going to. Be sure to bring me back a present.”
Imanishi had never taken his wife to a hot spring. Her comment stung him.
“Sure, I’ll bring you something. I’m sorry to be using the money you were saving up.”
