Halfway through, Yasuharu slammed the table with his hands and stood. ‘Ridiculous,’ he scoffed. ‘I wondered what you were going to say, but this – this takes the cake, Kazunari.’
‘Please, hear us out.’
‘I’ve heard more than enough. Look, if you’ve got so much free time on your hands that you’re going digging for dirt that isn’t there, why don’t you spend it trying to fix that company of yours.’
‘Actually, I have information about that, too,’ Kazunari said to Yasuharu’s turned back. He stood. ‘I know who set the trap for me.’
Yasuharu looked around, a twisted smile on his face. ‘Don’t tell me Yukiho did that too?’
‘You heard about the hacker that accessed the Shinozuka Pharmaceuticals network? It turns out that the hacker used a computer at the Imperial University Hospital to do it. And one of the pharmacists there was living with none other than Ryo Kirihara.’
Yasuharu’s eyes opened a little wider at this. Then he said something the old detective didn’t quite catch, but it sounded like ‘so what’.
Sasagaki pulled a photograph out of his coat pocket. ‘Would you mind taking a look at this?’
‘What’s this? A building?’
‘This is the pawnshop where the murder happened twenty years ago in Osaka. The pharmacist took this picture when she went to Osaka with Ryo Kirihara.’
‘And?’
‘I asked when she made that trip. They went for three days, from eighteenth September of last year through to the twentieth. I believe those dates should be significant to you as well.’
It took Yasuharu a moment to remember, but he did. His light gasp indicated that.
‘That’s right,’ Sasagaki said. ‘On nineteenth September Reiko Karasawa passed away. The hospital was at a loss to explain why her breathing suddenly stopped. This provides one possible explanation…’
‘Ridiculous,’ Yasuharu said, tossing the photograph aside. ‘Kazunari, I want you to take this crazy old man and leave. Pull something like this again and you’ll never come back to our company, ever. You’d do well to remember that your father isn’t on the board any more.’
He picked up a golf ball lying on the ground by his feet and flung it at the net. It hit one of the metal poles supporting the net and ricocheted back towards the house, where it struck a potted plant out on the terrace. There was a cracking noise like something had broken. Yasuharu didn’t even look. Stepping up on to the terrace, he opened the sliding glass doors and went inside.
Kazunari sighed. He glanced at Sasagaki and chuckled dryly. ‘That went well.’
‘He’s quite taken with the woman. That’s her greatest weapon.’
‘He’s too angry to think straight right now, but once he cools down, the things we said will start to make sense to him. We’ll just have to wait.’
‘If that time ever comes.’
The two had turned to leave when Taeko came running out to see them. ‘What happened? I heard a loud noise.’
Kazunari shrugged. ‘Yasuharu threw a golf ball and I think it hit something.’
‘Was anyone hurt?’
‘Just a potted plant. No human casualties.’
The housemaid turned to inspect the plants on the terrace.
‘My, it’s one of her cactuses.’
‘Yukiho’s cactuses?’
‘She brought them from Osaka. Dear me, the pot’s completely destroyed.’
Kazunari went over to Taeko.
‘Does she have a thing for raising cactuses or something?’
‘No, I believe they belonged to her late mother.’
‘Oh, right. She did say something about that at the funeral.’
Kazunari had stepped away when he heard the maid say ‘What’s this?’ behind him. He turned to see her reach into the broken pot and pull something out.
‘Look what I found,’ she said.
Kazunari examined the contents of the woman’s hand. ‘Looks like a piece of glass.’
‘It was near the bottom of the pot. It must have been mixed in with the dirt,’ she said, shaking her head and placing the glass on top of the pieces of broken pot.
‘What’s going on?’ Sasagaki said, coming over to see.
‘Nothing much. There was a piece of glass inside the pot that broke.’ Kazunari pointed to the broken cactus pot.
Sasagaki looked, his eyes falling on the slightly curved piece of glass. It looked like a lens from a pair of sunglasses. It was broken midway across. He picked it up carefully. A moment later he felt his blood stir. Memories came flooding back, tangled in his mind. Gradually, they resolved into a clear picture.
‘You said she brought these cactuses from Osaka?’ he asked in a hushed voice.
‘That’s right. They were at her mother’s home.’
‘In the garden?’
‘That’s right. She had them lined up by the side of the house. Is something wrong?’ Kazunari asked, noticing the old detective’s unusual behaviour.
‘Maybe,’ Sasagaki said, holding the broken lens up to the sky. It had a faint greenish tint to it.
It was nearly eleven at night and they’d been preparing for the opening of R&Y Osaka all day. Natsumi followed along behind Yukiho, making a complete circuit of the shop for a final check. Both in floor space and inventory the shop was considerably larger than its counterparts in Tokyo. They had pushed their PR campaign to its limits and beyond. Now all they had to do was wait.
‘Well, I think we’re ninety-nine per cent of the way there,’ Yukiho said after they had finished.
‘Only ninety-nine?’ Natsumi asked. ‘You mean it’s not perfect?’
‘No, but that will give us something to strive for tomorrow,’ Yukiho said with a smile. ‘Time to rest our weary bones. We should both go light on the drinking tonight.’
‘The celebration’s tomorrow, right.’
‘Absolutely.’
It was already half past eleven when the two of them got into the red Jaguar.
Yukiho sat in the passenger seat, taking a deep breath. ‘All we can do is our best. I, for one, am sure you’ll be great.’
‘I hope so,’ Natsumi said, a little worried. She would be directly in charge of running the Osaka store.
‘Be confident. You’re number one. Got it?’ She gave Natsumi’s shoulder a shake.
‘Got it,’ Natsumi said, looking over at the other woman. ‘But, to be honest, I’m scared. I’m not sure I can do it like you do it, boss. Aren’t you ever frightened?’
Yukiho turned and looked at her directly. ‘Natsumi? You know how the sun rises and sets at a certain time each day? In the same way, all of our lives have a day and night. But it’s not set like it is with the sun. Some people walk forever in the sunlight, and some people have to walk through the darkest night their whole lives. When people talk about being afraid, what they’re afraid of is that their sun will set. That the light they love will fade. That’s why you’re frightened, isn’t it?’
Natsumi thought she understood. She nodded.
‘You know,’ Yukiho continued, ‘I’ve never lived in the sunlight.’
‘Hardly,’ Natsumi said with a laugh. ‘Boss, as far as I’m concerned, you are the sun.’
Yukiho shook her head. There was an earnest look in her eyes that wiped the smile off Natsumi’s face.
‘No, there never was a sun in the sky over me. It’s always night. But not dark. I had something in place of the sun. Maybe not as bright, but enough for me. Enough so I was able to live in the night like it was day. You understand? You can’t be afraid of losing something you never had.’