Inspector Imanishi Investigates

“Hmm, what was that?” It was Imanishi’s turn to show interest.

“Our man doesn’t have many dealings with his neighbors, so I didn’t get that much from them, but his reputation isn’t bad.”

“I see.”

“That area is full of large houses, so neighbors don’t see each other constantly. Since he’s an artist, he probably doesn’t have much in common with his neighbors.”

“What’s this interesting information?”

“It’s like this,” Yoshimura said, emptying his sake cup. “That area gets a lot of those pushy door-to-door peddlers. It’s about these peddlers… One of them went to that house. He stayed for about half an hour, then left with a sickly pale face.”

“A peddler left the house with a pale face? I wonder why. Did he get yelled at?”

“No, that wasn’t it. He went into the entry way and spread out his goods and started delivering his pitch-the usual kind, full of threats. The person who dealt with the peddler was the owner of the house himself. After a while, the peddler gathered up his things on his own and left the house without a word. The neighbors heard about this from the housekeeper.”

“I see.”

“Apparently the story spread because it was so unusual for one of those peddlers to retreat in silence.”

“Was it because he realized that there was no chance for a sale?”

“No, that wasn’t it. Those guys don’t give up easily. They force the householders to buy even a hundred yen worth of goods.”

“I wonder what happened.”

Yoshimura’s story of the peddler continued. “I don’t understand it much myself, but the fact is that the peddler left without a word. That’s not all. Two or three days later, another peddler went to the same house. Interestingly enough, this peddler hurriedly gathered up his things in the middle of his sales pitch and left the house, too.”

“Hmm. Why was that?”

“That’s what I can’t figure out. It sounded interesting to me, so I thought I would bring it up when I saw you.”

Imanishi added some water to the pan. Yoshiko brought in some more sake.

“I’m enjoying the meal,” Yoshimura said to her, bowing his head.

“I’m sorry, it isn’t very much.”

When Yoshiko left the room, Imanishi looked up from his sake cup. “That story about the peddlers is very interesting. When did this happen?”

“About ten days ago.”

“Is there any way we can find those peddlers?”

“The peddlers? I suppose we could check them out.”

“I’d like to find those two peddlers and ask them what happened.”

“If you say so, I’ll try to find them. They aren’t independent peddlers. They’re an organized gang. So if I ask around, I think I’ll be able to get hold of them.”

“I’d like you to do that, and I’d like you to hurry it up.”

“I’ll start on it tomorrow, right away.”

Resting from his sake drinking, Imanishi smoked a cigarette. He seemed to be deep in thought.

“Oh, yes, there was one more thing you asked me to do. About the film.”

“Oh, yes, that.”

“They’re looking for it right now. The ones that have been sent around the country are mostly all collected, but there may still be one left somewhere. I should have a definite answer in two or three days.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“It’s taken a long time, but I feel as if we’re starting to close in on this case, little by little,” Yoshimura said.

“Do you?”

“Yes, I do. Nothing’s definite yet, but that’s my intuition. I feel we’ve come to the moment just before the solution.”

Two days passed. Imanishi waited in the usual oden bar for Yoshimura, who came with another man in tow.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. This is Tanaka.”

“Good evening,” Tanaka bowed his head politely. He was about thirty and wore a leather jacket. From the start, he was both overly courteous and unduly familiar.

“Thanks for coming. Why don’t you sit here?” Imanishi seated the man beside him, and Yoshimura sat on the other side.

“Some sake, Ma’am,” Imanishi ordered.

“Tanaka here,” Yoshimura explained, “is a member of the Sakurada group in Asakusa. There’s another fellow named Kurokawa, but since he’s off somewhere else right now, I asked Tanaka to come along by himself. I was able to get hold of him through an introduction by a colleague of mine at the station.”

“Well, shall we have a drink first?” Three glasses of sake had been served.

“Thanks. I’ll gladly drink some.” Tanaka raised his glass and bobbed his head.

“Well, thanks for coming. I’m sure you’re busy, so I appreciate it,” Imanishi said, smiling.

“No bother. We’re always beholden to the police, so if there’s anything I can do for you, boss, I’m glad to,” Tanaka said.

“You’ve heard about it from Yoshimura here. I understand you went to sell something and had a strange experience?”

“Yeah,” Tanaka said, scratching his head. “It was a real surprise. I’m amazed that you heard of it.”

“It’s a curious incident, so I wanted to ask you about it in detail. I heard that something strange happened when you spread out your wares at that house. Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s true. But boss, I wasn’t the first one. It was that rascal Tsune who was the first one to go there.”

“Tsune?”

“That’s the other fellow, Kurokawa,” Yoshimura explained.

“I see. And what did Tsune-san say happened?”

“Tsune came back and said something weird,” Tanaka responded to Imanishi’s question, staring at the sake in his glass. “He said he was doing the area around there that day. He went into a house and spread out his goods and was giving his pitch. Then a young man who seemed to be the master of the house came out. He listened to Tsune’s threats quietly. After a while, Tsune felt lightheaded and started feeling sick. He got a bit spooked and left the house quickly. That’s what he said.”

“So you decided to go there in place of Tsune-san?” Yoshimura asked.

“That’s right, boss. I thought Tsune was a coward, so I said I’d go and check that house out. Since my friend had such an awkward experience, I went there, not really to get back at them, but to defend his honor.”

“When did you go to that house?”

“It was two days later. I took some socks.”

“You’re sure it’s the house that Tsune-san had gone to?”

“There’s no mistake. I got directions from Tsune.”

“Then what happened?”

“First a maid came to the door. While I was putting out my goods, she went to the back and returned with the master. He was a young one, twenty-seven or so, wearing a flashy shirt and slacks. When I realized that this was the guy who had made Tsune cower, I made my pitch even more threatening than usual. I said all kinds of things. Usually, the customers flinch when they hear me, but this fellow just stood there calmly listening to me. Then”- Tanaka shook his head-“I started feeling strange, light-headed, like you feel when you’re going down in an elevator. I felt really sick.”

“When you say you felt sick, in what way?”

“I felt sick to my stomach, like throwing up. I could feel my face getting green. I couldn’t take it anymore and wrapped up the socks and rushed out of that house. I couldn’t snicker at Tsune after that.”