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Yaeko gave a little sigh and sat down in what Sasagaki assumed was a chair for customers.

‘Well?’ The man looked between Sasagaki and Yaeko.

Yaeko put a hand to her forehead. ‘It was him.’

‘What?’ The man’s face darkened. ‘He was killed?’

She nodded her head and mumbled yes.

‘That’s crazy!’ The man shook his head in astonishment. He looked off to one side, blinking, collecting his thoughts.

‘Sasagaki, Osaka PD. I’m sorry for your loss.’ He showed the man his badge. ‘You work here?’

‘Yeah, um, here.’ The man opened the drawer and handed over a business card.

Sasagaki bowed his head and took the card. He noticed that the man was wearing a platinum ring on the pinky of his right hand. Flashy for a guy.

The card said the man’s name was Isamu Matsuura, the manager.

‘You been here long?’ Sasagaki asked.

‘Yeah. About five years, I guess.’

That didn’t seem like very long to Sasagaki. He wanted to ask the guy where he had worked before, how he’d got the job, but decided to leave that be for today at least. He would be back soon enough. Probably more than once.

‘I heard that Mr Kirihara went out yesterday afternoon?’

‘That’s right. Around two-thirty, I’d say.’

‘And he didn’t give any indication of where he was going?’

‘Nope. He likes to do things on his own, rarely talks to us about anything to do with work.’

‘And you didn’t notice anything unusual about him when he went out? Was he dressed differently, carrying anything out of the ordinary?’

‘Not that I noticed.’ Matsuura shrugged and gave the back of his neck a scratch. ‘Though he did seem to be concerned about the time.’

‘How so?’

‘Well, I thought I saw him check his watch. But maybe I’m just imagining that.’

Sasagaki took a cursory look around the shop. Behind where Matsuura stood was a sliding screen door, tightly closed. That would be the living room. There was a place to take off your shoes to the left of the counter, in front of a short hallway leading into the residential part of the building. There was a door on the left wall just inside the hallway, which struck Sasagaki as possibly a storage closet, though the placement was a bit odd.

‘How late were you open yesterday?’

‘Well,’ Matsuura took a look at the big round clock on the wall. ‘We usually close at six, but I think we didn’t really have everything done until seven or so.’

‘And you were the only one manning the shop?’

‘Yeah, that’s pretty typical when the boss is out.’

‘What did you do after closing?’

‘I went right home.’

‘Where’s that?’

‘Over in Teradacho.’

‘That’s a bit of a hike. You come by car?’

‘No, I take the train.’

Even considering time for changing trains, it would take about thirty minutes to get from here to Teradacho. Leaving the shop by seven would get him home by eight, at the latest.

‘Any family, Mr Matsuura?’

‘No, it’s just me. Got divorced six years ago, so I’m going it alone. Got an apartment.’

‘And yesterday, after you got home, you were alone?’

‘Yeah.’

No alibi, Sasagaki noted, but he kept his face blank.

‘So, you’re not often watching the shop?’ Sasagaki asked, this time turning to Yaeko, who was still sitting, a hand pressed to her forehead.

‘I wouldn’t have the slightest clue what to do,’ she said in a thin voice.

‘Were you out yesterday?’

‘No, I was home all day.’

‘You didn’t step out for anything? Shopping, maybe?’

She shook her head. Then she stood, weakly. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to lie down for a bit. It’s hard even just sitting up.’

‘Of course. You go right ahead.’

Yaeko took off her shoes, nearly stumbling, and opened the door to the left. Sasagaki saw a staircase beyond it. One mystery solved, he thought. She closed the door and he heard her ascending the steps. When he could hear her footsteps no longer, Sasagaki took a step closer to Matsuura. ‘When you heard that Mr Kirihara hadn’t come home, was that this morning?’

‘Yeah. Me and his missus were worried. Then we got that call.’

‘That must’ve been quite a shock.’

‘Of course, yeah. Tell you the truth, I still don’t believe it. I mean, who would kill the boss? Maybe it was a mistake?’

‘Can’t think of anyone who might’ve wanted to do something like this?’

‘Not a one.’

‘In this line of business, you must get a lot of different kinds of customers. You’re sure there wasn’t anyone with a bone to pick? Maybe about money?’

‘Well, we have some strange customers, that’s true. People blame their troubles on us when we’re the ones loaning them money. But none of them strike me as the killing sort.’ Matsuura shook his head. ‘I can’t think of anyone who would do something like that.’

‘I understand you want to look out for your clients, but it’s important for our investigation that we look into any possibility, no matter how slight. I was hoping you could show me a list of your recent customers?’

The man gave a weak frown. ‘A list?’

‘You must have something. How else would you know who you’d loaned money to? Keep track of your collateral?’

‘Yeah, we got a ledger.’

‘Think you could let me take a look? I’ll take it back to the station, have them make a copy, and bring it right back. You have my word no one else will see it but us.’

‘I’m not sure I got the authority…’

‘I’ll be happy to wait while you get permission from Mrs Kirihara.’

Matsuura frowned for a little while before finally nodding. ‘All right. I’ll let you have it, but please, be careful with it, OK?’

‘Thank you. You sure you don’t need her permission?’

‘It’s fine. I’ll tell her later. It’s not like I’m going to get in trouble with the boss.’

Matsuura swivelled his chair ninety degrees and opened the door of the cabinet next to his knee. Sasagaki saw several thick files standing on end. He was leaning forward to take a closer look when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the door to the stairs open. Sasagaki froze.

A boy of about ten years old was standing in the doorway. A skinny kid, in a sweatshirt and jeans.

Sasagaki hadn’t heard the boy on the stairs at all. When their eyes met, the darkness deep in the boy’s eyes made Sasagaki swallow.

‘You Mr Kirihara’s boy?’ he asked.

The boy didn’t respond. Instead, Matsuura looked around and said, ‘Yeah, that’s him.’

Still without a word, the boy stepped out into the shop and began putting on his sneakers. His face was expressionless.

‘Where you going, Ryo?’ Matsuura asked. ‘You should stay home.’

The boy ignored him and walked out.

‘Poor kid. I can’t imagine what he’s going through,’ Sasagaki said.

‘Yeah,’ the man agreed. ‘Even a kid like that, it’s gotta be tough.’

‘A kid like what?’

‘Er, it’s hard to explain,’ Matsuura pulled one of the files from the cabinet and placed it on the counter in front of Sasagaki. ‘Here you go. The latest ledger.’

‘Thanks.’ Sasagaki took it and flipped through the pages of men and women, skimming down through the list of names, but all he could see were the boy’s dark eyes.

The autopsy report arrived at Homicide the following afternoon.

The time and cause of death matched what Dr Matsuno had said at the scene, but the contents of the stomach gave Sasagaki pause. There were undigested remains of buckwheat, onions and herring, consumed two to two and a half hours prior to death.