Points And Lines

somewhere along the way and only showed up later. Otoki must have left the train at Atami or Shizuoka on the fourteenth, letting Sayama proceed by himself, and only arrived at Hakata on the twentieth. Then she telephoned the inn, and since Sayama was awaiting the call, it was undoubtedly prearranged. There was one thing, however, that was not settled beforehand,' Torigai added.

'What was that?'

'The time of Otoki's arrival at Hakata. We know that Sayama waited impatiently at the inn day after day for the phone call, so I'm sure the date of her arrival was not set.'

Mihara was making an entry in his notebook. When he finished, he showed it to Torigai. 'It would look something like this,' he explained.

'That's it! That's it exactly!' Torigai exclaimed as he studied the diagram.

'But why did Otoki get off the train at a way station?' Mihara wondered out loud.

That was the question. Torigai had no answer. He had been asking himself the same thing and had come to no conclusion. 'I don't understand,' he admitted, rubbing his cheek. Mihara folded his arms and stared at the sea, as if trying to find the answer there. Shika Island was barely visible in the distance.

'Mr. Mihara!' Torigai quietly attracted his attention. He had decided to ask the question that had been uppermost in his mind for some time. 'Why is the Metropolitan Police Board suddenly interested in this double suicide case?'

Mihara hesitated a moment before replying. He took his cigarettes and silently offered one to Torigai. He flicked open his lighter, lit the cigarette for him, then his own.

'Mr. Torigai, since you've been so helpful I'll tell you,' Mihara began. 'Kenichi Sayama was an important witness in the X Ministry investigation. Although only an assistant section chief, he was actually in charge and thoroughly familiar with the administrative work of the section. He was therefore an important figure in the case. As a matter of fact, he was closer to being a suspect than a witness. Since the case was still young, we foolishly failed to have him closely watched. Because of this, we let him die.' Mihara flicked the ash of his cigarette. 'Many people were no doubt greatly relieved when they heard of his death. The further we investigate, the more we find that we would have liked to question him. We really lost a valuable witness. I can't tell you how much we regret it. His death is a serious blow. On the other hand, there are people who are probably dancing with joy at the news. He may have died meaning to protect them, but recently I've become suspicious of his suicide.'

'Suspicious?'

'Yes, I'm beginning to suspect that he did not choose to die, that death was forced upon him by someone.'

Torigai looked sharply at Mihara. 'Is there any evidence of this?'

'Nothing definite. He left no letter and the same is true, I believe, of the woman.'

Mihara was right; his suspicions were justified. Torigai had reached the same conclusion and had mentioned these doubts earlier to his chief.

'Moreover,' Mihara continued, 'in Tokyo we investigated Sayama's private life and could find no connection at all with Otoki.'

'What? What did you say?'

'We did learn that Sayama probably had a mistress, but there is no evidence that Otoki was the mistress. As for Otoki, I myself went to the Koyuki Restaurant to talk to the waitresses and I checked her apartment. I found that there was a man in her life. She received phone calls at her home from a man, and she often spent the night away, but I can't identify him. He never came to her apartment, apparently. We are presuming it was Sayama but there is no proof at all that it was.'

Torigai found this very strange. Hadn't Sayama and Otoki committed suicide together? 'But Mr. Mihara, the waitresses at the Koyuki saw Sayama and Otoki get on the Asakaze. No, there was another person with them, a guest at the Koyuki. Three people therefore saw them. And they died here, together. I saw the scene with my own eyes and there is the evidence of the photographs and the police reports you were shown.'

'That's the point!' Mihara looked perplexed for the first time. 'Since coming here and seeing the evidence I've accepted the fact of the double suicide. There's no doubt about that. I'm disturbed now to find that the suspicions I have disagree completely with the actual facts.'

Torigai was aware that he fully shared Mihara's confusion.

'Shall we go back?' Mihara suggested. They stood up, and walking side by side, returned by the same road.

At the Nishitetsu station Torigai had a sudden thought. 'The other Kashii railway station is about five hundred meters from here. I think I have a piece of information that may be worthwhile.' He told Mihara about the couples at the two stations on the night of the twentieth and explained how he had paced the distance between the stations and checked the time.

'That is most interesting,' Mihara said, his eyes lighting up. 'Let me check it myself.' The two men walked from one station to the other, at three different speeds, as Torigai had done two days earlier.

'You're right. It takes not more than eight minutes, no matter how slowly you walk,' said Mihara, looking at his watch. 'Eleven minutes is too long, unless you stop along the way.'

'Of course it could have been two different couples.'

'That is possible, but…' Mihara was thinking, his eyes staring into space. 'I believe it was the same couple. I believe they got off the train at the national railway station, walked past the other station, and went to the beach.'

Torigai related in detail the information he had received from the station employee of the private railway line on duty at the time, and he repeated the stories he had gathered from the passengers. Mihara took notes while he spoke. 'All of this leads to no conclusion,' he said, 'but it is interesting. Our job is really no sinecure,' he added, looking sympathetically at his thin, elderly companion.

The following evening Torigai was on the platform at Hakata Station to see Assistant Inspector Mihara off to Tokyo. It was the express Unzen, leaving at 6:02.

'What time do you arrive in Tokyo?'

'Tomorrow afternoon at 3:40.'

'You'll be very tired.'

'Thank you again for all your kindness.' Mihara bowed, his face wreathed in smiles.

'I'm afraid I wasn't of much help.'

'On the contrary. This trip has been most profitable, thanks to you, Mr. Torigai.' It was said with real sincerity.

They still had a few minutes before the Unzen, coming from Nagasaki, pulled into the station. They continued to stand side by side, chatting. In front of them trains arrived and departed. A line of freight cars stood on a track nearby. All around them was the noise and bustle of a big railway station.

'Tokyo Station, too, must be very crowded with trains,' Torigai remarked as he tried to imagine the scene at the central station in the nation's capital.

'Indeed. It's frantic at times. Trains are continually arriving and departing,' Mihara replied. He made the comment in an offhand manner but suddenly he gave a start, as if electrified. He had hit upon an important fact.

At Tokyo Station some people had seen Sayama and Otoki board the Asakaze. These eyewitnesses said that they were standing on platform 13 and saw the couple leave from platform 15. But what about tracks 13 and 14? At Tokyo Station, where trains depart and arrive incessantly, could a person on platform 13 see a train at platform 15 without having some train pull up and obstruct the view?

6 A Four Minute Gap

Kiichi Mihara arrived at Tokyo Station right on schedule. He felt the need of a good cup of coffee after the long train ride from Kyushu. He took a taxi and headed for his favorite coffee shop.