At the end of his visit Imanishi showed Otae a photograph he had cut out of a newspaper.
“I don’t know,” Otae said, cocking her head in doubt after gazing at it a while. “He was only four years old when I saw the boy last, so I can’t say one way or the other whether he looked like this person.”
“Does he look at all like your sister or Chiyokichi-
“Well, he doesn’t look like his father. Now that you say so, perhaps he looks a bit like my sister around the eyes, but I can’t be sure.”
Imanishi left the Yamashita home. Otae saw him off at the doorway. She watched, standing with her back to the dark doorway, as Imanishi drove off in the taxi.
Imanishi turned around twice to wave to her. This house and the entire village were dreary. As the taxi drove off, he saw the one-eyed boy standing by the roadside, looking up at him. Imanishi felt depressed. The boy was about the same age as his son, Taro.
At Yamanaka, Imanishi left the taxi and entered the first restaurant he saw.
“Give me a bowl of
… We now bring you the stock market report. First the major trends. In the morning Tokyo market, encouraging factors caused trading to progress smoothly, with a gradual increase in profit-taking and mixed changes in prices. Next, in general issues, there was selective buying of stocks in chemicals, automotive machinery, metal industry, late-issue coal, and paper. High-yield electrical stocks were also traded… Nagoya Sugar 188 yen, unchanged. Osaka Sugar not traded. Shibaura Sugar not traded. Toyo Sugar not traded. Tensai Sugar 205 yen, unchanged. Yokohama Sugar 340 yen, unchanged. Snow Brand Dairy Products 148 yen, unchanged. Kirin Beer 550 yen, unchanged. Takara Brewing 163 yen, unchanged…
Unchanged, unchanged… he thought. Imanishi felt that these words described his achievements, too. He had moved around a lot, but how much progress had he made?
Imanishi imagined the curve of the stock market figures, with its large and small valleys. Suddenly he thought of the piece of paper he had picked up near the location where the body of the actor Miyata Kunio had been discovered. That had also been an arrangement of statistics. When he finished eating his noodles, he took out his notebook and reread the numbers he had copied down.
1953: 25,404
1954: 35,522
1955: 30,834
1956: 24,362
1957: 27,435
1958: 28,431
1959: 28,438
Did these figures have anything to do with Miyata’s death?
Imanishi closed his notebook. He intended to board the night train. He had done what he had come here for, and he did not feel like spending a leisurely night soaking in the hot spring. He left the noodle shop. Shops lined the street, all with similar souvenirs for sale, mostly towels and sweets. He bought some sweets for Taro. Then he saw a Wajima lacquerware obi clip in a display case. Seeing that he was gazing at it, a saleswoman came over to him.
“Welcome. About what age is the lady it is for?”
Somewhat embarrassed, Imanishi answered, “She’s about thirty-seven,” giving his wife’s age.
“Then, these would be most appropriate.” The saleswoman placed five or six obi fasteners on the counter.
Imanishi chose one from among them and asked to have it wrapped. This was the only present he bought for his wife at Yamanaka hot spring.
FOURTEEN Soundless
The day after Imanishi returned from his trip, he reported to work at headquarters. From his office he telephoned Yoshimura.
“Welcome back.” Yoshimura was surprised at Imanishi’s early return.
“I took the night train both going and coming.”
“You must be tired.”
“I rested for a day, so it’s not that bad. Yoshimura, I’d like to talk to you. Could you come over to my house tonight?”
“Are you sure? Aren’t you still tired from your trip?”
“No, that’s no problem. Let’s eat some sukiyaki.”
“In that case, I’d be glad to come over.”
Imanishi did not have any pressing cases. He was able to reach home at six-thirty.
“Young Yoshimura is coming over tonight,” he told his wife. “Could you get things ready? I promised him that we’d have some sukiyaki.”
“Is that so? It’s been a while since he’s visited us, but dear, aren’t you tired?”
“Yoshimura said the same thing. I’m all right. I rested yesterday. He’ll be coming soon, so could you hurry?”
Yoshiko started out for the market, but returned and said, “I showed the obi clip to the woman next door. She complimented me on it, saying it was lovely. I thought it might be a bit flashy for me, but she thought it was just right.”
About an hour later, Yoshimura arrived.
“Welcome.” The voices of Yoshiko and Yoshimura could be heard from the doorway. “He’s here.”
A smiling Yoshimura entered the room.
“Sorry to drag you out like this when you must be tired.”
“It’s you, Imanishi-
“I guess so. My back still hurts. It didn’t bother me when I was younger. I’m feeling my age.”
“We younger ones can’t take that kind of discomfort either. I’m always surprised at how energetic you are.”
“Don’t flatter me too much.”
Yoshiko brought in the sukiyaki pan. “This isn’t much of a dinner, but please help yourself.” She put a carafe of sake and some tiny cups on the table.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Yoshimura said.
Yoshiko poured some sake into each of their cups.
“Let’s have a toast, anyway. To our good health,” Imanishi proposed.
Yoshimura raised his sake cup. Imanishi prepared the sukiyaki, poking at the pan with his chopsticks, adding some water, sprinkling in some sugar, and checking the taste.
“How was it there?” Yoshimura asked, after sipping two or three cups of sake.
“I met the person I wanted to see.” Imanishi recounted what had happened at the village near Yamanaka hot spring. Yoshimura listened intently, nodding his head and making agreeable responses.
“So that’s about it. It didn’t result in much, but I went through all the questions I had intended to ask.”
“Even that is quite a bit of corroboration.”
“Go ahead and eat. The meat will get too tough.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“The meat’s from a neighborhood shop, so it’s probably not very good… By the way, how were things at your end, Yoshimura?”
“After you left, I went around right away. It’s only been one day, so I haven’t been able to get much information. But I heard about a curious episode.”
