After several seconds of silence, a deep voice said, “Sir,” and Motoyama raised his hand. “We might not know why the victim went to Chofu, but isn’t it possible that he was in Chofu when he found out about the DESMEC hearing? What if someone he met there told him about the hearing, and he decided he had to go, filling out an application on the spot? Then he could’ve put the application in the mail when he got back to the station on his way home.”
Hozumi nodded. “That works. That just leaves us with the question of why he went to Chofu.”
“I can get the Tokyo task force on that,” Isobe offered.
“Do that. Probably best to have someone meet with the widow directly and ask her again, too.”
THIRTY-NINE
Kusanagi whistled as his eyes followed the polished curves of the navy-blue hybrid. It was a two-wheel drive, got 15.8 kilometers to the liter, and cost a cool six million yen.
If I had that kind of money to drop on a car, I’d think about moving first.
He tried opening the driver’s-side door. It had a good weight to it and shut with a nice, solid sound.
“Feel free to get in,” said a voice from behind him. He turned to see a woman in a light gray suit with short-cut hair smiling at him.
“That’s okay, I didn’t come to see the car, actually,” Kusanagi said. He looked down at the badge on the woman’s lapel. “Ms. Ozeki?”
“Yes,” she said, still smiling. “And you are Detective…?”
“Kusanagi,” he said, quickly flashing his badge.
Her eyes widened for just a moment, and she said, “Right this way,” leading to him to a table with some chairs.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“No, that’s fine. Save it for the customers.”
“It’s quite all right,” she said. “Some coffee? Or iced tea?”
“Iced tea, then.”
“Great,” she said, bowing curtly before walking off.
At least she seems cooperative, Kusanagi thought, sighing a little as he checked out the catalogs featuring the latest models on the table.
It was a little after one in the afternoon. Kusanagi had come to a car dealership in Tokyo’s Koto Ward to talk to one Reiko Ozeki, Narumi’s former classmate.
Earlier that morning he’d visited Narumi’s old middle school and taken a look at the yearbooks. Kusanagi then tracked down three of the girls who’d been in tennis club with Narumi and set out to pay each of them a visit. The first was out when he dropped by. At the second house, the girl’s parents told him she’d gotten married and moved up north to Sendai. At the third house, he had found Ozeki’s parents. Her mom had been kind enough to call her at the car dealership so she would know he was coming.
Reiko returned with a tray and a glass of iced tea, which she placed in front of him before sitting down with her own glass.
“Sorry to bother you at work like this,” Kusanagi apologized.
“My mom called back after you left, you know,” Reiko said. “She wanted me to find out what kind of investigation it was. She loves those mystery shows on television.”
“Can’t say I watch them.”
“She was very excited about meeting a real detective. Which, I guess I am too, a little.” She smiled and drank some of her tea. “So, what kind of investigation is this?”
“Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to talk much about it.”
“I was afraid of that. Too bad,” she said, still smiling.
“Actually, I came to talk to you about your middle school. You were in tennis club, correct?”
“Oh, wow, that was a long time ago. Yes, I was.”
“Do you remember a Ms. Narumi Kawahata?”
Reiko’s smile grew brighter and her eyes sparkled. “Narumi? Of course I remember her. Boy, it’s been ages since we talked.”
“Were you in touch after graduation?”
“Oh sure. She didn’t go to my high school, though. Her family had to move away. But we talked on the phone now and then. It’s been about ten years, I think.” Reiko looked off, reminiscing, before quickly turning back to Kusanagi, her mouth open. “Wait, was Narumi involved in something?”
“Not at all,” Kusanagi said, remembering to smile. “My case doesn’t directly involve her, actually. I had a few questions about the place where she was living.”
“You mean her house?”
“Yes. At the time the Kawahatas’ address was in Oji, but I understand that Ms. Kawahata commuted to school from a different house. Were you familiar with her living arrangements?”
A wrinkle formed between Reiko’s eyebrows as she thought. Kusanagi knew it was a long shot. She might have forgotten in the last fifteen or so years, if she even knew in the first place.
He was on the verge of telling her it was okay and leaving, when Reiko looked up. “Well—”
“You remember where she lived?”
“I went to her house a few times. I know it wasn’t in Oji.”
“Where was it?”
“I don’t remember the place exactly. Except, I remember the station we got off at.”
“Which was?”
“Ogikubo.”
Ogikubo, where Nobuko Miyake was murdered. Kusanagi’s heart thudded in his chest. He made an effort not to let it show on his face. “Ogikubo, right. Do you remember anything more? For example, what direction you walked from the station?”
Reiko frowned and shook her head. “It was a bit of a hike. Narumi used her bike to get to the station from home, I remember that,” she said, not sounding particularly confident.
“Did she live in a house or an apartment?”
“A small house, I think.”
“Do you think you could show me on a map?”
“Sure, one moment.” Reiko stood.
Kusanagi watched her walk off and drank some of his tea. He loosened his necktie and tried to cool off a little.
Reiko returned a few moments later, carrying a laptop computer. “It’ll be quicker if we check on this,” she said, going online and pulling up a map of the area around Ogikubo Station.
“Do you have any idea where the house might have been?” Kusanagi asked.
Reiko started the screen for a while, but then shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t think so. I was always following Narumi, so I never really paid attention to the route.”
That was unsurprising. At least Kusanagi wasn’t leaving empty-handed.
“I was thinking,” Reiko said. “You could ask Narumi yourself. I have her number. At least, that is, if she hasn’t moved.”
“Oh, no, that’s fine.” Kusanagi shook his head. “We’re just starting by talking to people here in Tokyo. I’ll be speaking with Ms. Kawahata at some point, and I do have her number. She’s currently in Hari Cove, I believe.”
“That’s right. Her father’s from there originally, right? That’s where they went after Tokyo.”
Kusanagi nodded. “Actually, I wanted to ask, do you remember if the move was a sudden decision, by any chance? Had they known about it for some time before?”
“Well, for us, it did seem pretty sudden. I mean, Narumi thought she’d be going to high school with us. And we knew about the family business, but she said she wouldn’t go, even if they left—even if it meant staying in Tokyo all by herself. That’s why we were all so surprised when she just up and left for Hari Cove.”
“Did you talk to her about that on the phone?”
“No, not really. I think there must’ve been something going on, you know, something personal.” Reiko’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the detective. “You said this didn’t have anything to do with Narumi, right? Does her moving have something to do with your case?”
“No, not particularly.”
“Well then, I have no idea what you’re after. Could you at least tell me what kind of case it is? This is really going to bug me.”