“What do the police in Tokyo think about the case? Did they say anything?”
“To me?” Yukawa said with a chuckle. “I’m just a civilian.”
“But your friend—”
“As I’m sure you are well aware, detectives play by their own rules. While he may relish using friends or family as informants when it suits him, it would never cross his mind to share information with me. Not that I would necessarily want him to.”
Nishiguchi nodded, wondering how much of the physicist’s glib answer he could take at face value. “Right,” he said after a moment. “So, what are you up to?”
“Nothing in particular. Just looking out at the sea.”
“Why here? There are plenty of fine views of the sea back in the cove, and East Hari’s a bit of a hike.”
“I’m quite aware of that. It took a whole twenty minutes to get here. Do you know today was the first time I took a taxi since I arrived?”
“You’re not answering my question,” Nishiguchi said. He wasn’t going to let the eccentric physicist push him around.
Yukawa took off his glasses and pulled a cloth from his pocket, with which he began slowly wiping the lenses. “Because I heard the view from here was exquisite,” he said after a moment. “In fact, East Hari is supposed to have the best ocean view in the entire area. I read it on the Internet.” He put his glasses back on.
“Do you remember what site?” Nishiguchi said, taking his pen and notebook out of his pocket. “If you could tell me, I’d be interested in checking it out.”
“Actually, I do. It’s a blog called My Crystal Sea. I believe your former classmate Narumi runs it, as a matter of fact.”
“What?” Nishiguchi said, so surprised he nearly dropped his pen.
“Detective Nishiguchi, was it?” Yukawa said, facing him directly. “Can I ask you something? I couldn’t help but notice Narumi’s peculiar dedication to the ocean here, but I was wondering, has she always been like that?”
“Well, maybe not when she first came here, not like she is now,” Nishiguchi said. “She only started working with Save the Cove this summer. Though, now that I think about it, I used to see her out on the observation deck by our school, just looking at the water. I caught her out there more than once.”
“Interesting,” Yukawa said, a thoughtful look on his face.
“What? You think what she’s doing is wrong?”
“Not at all. It’s quite admirable. Not many people have such dedication.”
“Well, I’m glad you say that, because I’m a big supporter of Save the Cove, even if it might be getting in the way of your work.”
“Not in the least. I always appreciate a lively debate,” Yukawa said, smiling a little. “Now, if you don’t have any more questions, I think I’ll be off.”
Nishiguchi watched Yukawa walk away, then he cleared his throat and stashed away his notebook and pen. He hadn’t written a word.
THIRTY-SIX
The alarm on Kyohei’s phone rang. He checked the time and turned it off. Six thirty. He looked at his open notebook lying on the floor next to him. He hadn’t gotten anywhere with his Japanese homework, just written out a few kanji he had to learn and that was it. Yukawa was helping him with math, but the rest was up to him. He had given it a halfhearted attempt, but it was impossible to focus. His hand kept reaching for the game controller. He had managed to resist that urge, but he made the mistake of turning on the TV for some background noise and got sucked into watching an anime. It wasn’t even one he liked, but he watched the whole thing, all thirty minutes. Finally he switched the TV back off, but he still didn’t feel like studying. He just sat there, waiting for the alarm to ring.
Kyohei left the room and went down to the first floor. He checked the lobby on his way to the dining room and saw Yukawa standing with his arms crossed, staring at the painting of the ocean on the wall.
“Still looking at that painting, Professor?”
“I was just wondering when it was hung here.”
Kyohei shrugged. “It’s been there forever, I think. I’m pretty sure I remember it from when I came two years ago.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Yukawa said with a chuckle and checked his watch. “Shall we?”
Narumi was just laying out Yukawa’s dinner in the dining room. It was seafood, as usual. She had placed a tray for Kyohei across the table. Tonight’s meal for the family was meatloaf.
“Looks delicious as always,” Yukawa commented as he sat down.
“I’m sorry, I know there’s not much variety.”
“Not at all. There’s a different fish every day. It’s given me a new appreciation for seafood.”
“Oh yeah,” Kyohei suddenly said. “I wanted to ask you, Narumi. I went swimming today and I saw this really cool fish. It was tiny, and bright blue.”
“Bright blue? About yea big?” She held her fingertips roughly two centimeters apart.
“That’s right.” Kyohei nodded. “It looked like a tropical fish it was so bright.”
“Sounds like a damselfish,” she said.
“A damsel? Like a damsel in distress? I always pictured them in white dresses, not blue.”
Narumi laughed. “Well, this one is officially called the neon damselfish. We get them a lot around here. It’s usually the first really impressive thing people see when they come here to try diving or snorkeling. I remember when I saw my first one. I thought it looked like a swimming jewel.”
“Yeah, I tried to catch it, but it was too fast.”
“I’d like to see the person who could catch one of those with his bare hands. You know, in the winter they turn black.”
“That’s too bad. But not like it really matters. I wouldn’t go swimming in the winter.”
Kyohei turned to his plate and picked up his fork and knife. The surface of the meatloaf was nicely browned, and when he cut it with his knife, sauce and juices oozed out along with a gush of steam.
“Your dinner doesn’t look too bad either,” Yukawa commented.
“Trade you for a piece of sashimi,” Kyohei said.
“It’s not a bad offer. Let me think on it. While you’re here—” Yukawa picked up his chopsticks and turned to Narumi. “I had a question for you.”
“Yes?” she said, straightening her back a little.
“That painting in the lobby. Do you know who the painter was?”
Narumi took a deep breath. She shook her head. “No. Why?”
“I was just curious. I spoke with Kyohei before about it, and we were wondering where it had been painted. The ocean doesn’t look like that from around the inn.”
Narumi brushed her hair back behind her ears and wrinkled her forehead in thought. “I don’t know. It’s been here for a long time. I guess I never really paid much attention to it.”
“A long time? From before you moved here, then?”
“Yes. I think Dad said that someone gave it to Grandpa. I don’t think he knows who painted it, either.”
Narumi picked up the long-handled lighter from the tray and went to light the small burner in front of Yukawa.
“Don’t bother, I’ll get it myself,” Yukawa said. “You can just leave the lighter there.”
Narumi looked a little surprised by this, but she put it back. “Enjoy your meal,” she said, preparing to leave.
“Actually, I know where that view is from,” Yukawa said to her turned back. “That’s the ocean from East Hari. I went and checked it out today.”
Narumi stopped in her tracks, her entire body motionless. Then her head turned back around, slowly, like a robot badly in need of oil.
“Oh?” she said weakly, an unnatural smile on her face. “East Hari?”