“I guess you’re right. That’s not how the man operates.”
“He knows the young couple will come here to show you their newborn. My guess is that he will use that opportunity to end the standoff and ‘accept the marriage out of compassion for the little one.’”
“But Akifumi’s right. My husband hates to admit that he’s wrong.”
“It’s not my place to stick my nose into your family affairs, but I’d be grateful if we could all pretend that this little conversation never took place,” Kaga said. “Like I said earlier, I don’t want to take your husband’s precious secret away from him.”
Shimako looked hard at the detective.
“You’re a man of compassion, Detective.”
“Me? Oh, hardly.” Kaga laughed shyly.
“I see where you’re coming from. You didn’t tell us anything. Akifumi, are you okay with that?”
“Absolutely,” replied Akifumi.
Kaga consulted his watch.
“I’ve said everything I came to say. Your husband may be back any minute, so I’d best be going. Thanks for your help.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Good-bye.”
Shimako and Akifumi bowed.
After Kaga had left, Shimako sighed long and loud.
“I guess there are all sorts in the police.”
“You’re right about that,” said Akifumi.
“Anyway, time to get dinner ready, I suppose.”
Shimako passed Akifumi as she made her way toward the door at the back of the shop. Noticing the moistness in her eyes, he felt a warm surge roil through his chest.
A few minutes later, he heard raised voices from the back of the house.
“What the hell’s going on here? What are you doing, woman? Where’s my damn dinner?”
Genichi was back. Judging from his tone, he hadn’t noticed the tear tracks on Shimako’s cheeks.
“Grab yourself a slice of bread if you’re starving to death. Believe it or not, I’m sometimes busy, too.” Shimako’s voice was loud and angry.
“Busy? You? Busy gabbing away on your idiot cell phone, you mean? I’m dying of hunger here. Get a move on.”
“Okay, okay. Will you please shut up?”
Smiling to himself, Akifumi returned to the workbench and pulled the prism-shaped clock toward him. The repairs were almost done.
He remembered how curious Detective Kaga had been about how the thing worked. The mechanism that moved the hands on all three dials in synchrony was actually quite simple. In most clocks, the mechanism sits immediately behind the dial; in this one, however, it lay flat upon the prism’s base, with the spring-driven axis rising vertically from the middle. Gears were then used to transmit the motion of the axis to all the three dials.
I’ll make a point of explaining it to Kaga next time I see him, Akifumi thought. It occurred to him that the three-sided clock had a lot in common with the Terada family: three people, all seemingly facing in different directions, all of whom in fact were joined by a single axis.
5
The Clerk at the Pastry Shop
1
“Three cherry and fig tarts — that comes to one thousand, seven hundred and twenty-five yen,” said Miyuki, handing the box to the woman at the counter.
The woman, who appeared to be in her early thirties, placed two thousand-yen notes on the money tray. Miyuki picked them up and put them in the cash register, then handed the woman the change along with the receipt. “Thank you very much.”
After the woman had left the store, Miyuki checked the time on her cell phone. Just fifteen minutes until seven o’clock. Seven was when the Quattro pastry shop closed.
Miyuki was bending down to rearrange the few unsold cakes still in the display case when the front door of the store opened. “Good evening,” Miyuki said, as she stood back up, before her lips creased into a spontaneous smile. This customer was a regular.
The woman who had just come in smiled back at her. She had her usual sweet expression and her eyes brimmed with tenderness as they contemplated Miyuki. In the course of one of their chats, she had told Miyuki that she was past forty, but her figure and her glowing complexion were those of a much younger woman.
“Hello. Are you still open?” the woman asked.
“Very much so.”
“One of my neighbors gave me some snack cakes today, so there’s no excuse for me being here. I happened to be passing by and — surprise, surprise! — I simply couldn’t resist.” The woman examined the contents of the display case. Perhaps it was because she wore her hair short, but her movements all seemed light and graceful. “I’ve got nothing against traditional Japanese sweets, but when I’ve completed a big job, I like to celebrate with a nice piece of cake. It’s what motivates me.”
“What is your job?”
“What do you think it is?”
“I wonder...”
Miyuki cocked her head thoughtfully to one side. The woman winked at her mischievously. “It’s something I can do at home, almost like a side job.”
Miyuki could only um and ah in response.
“Seems I’m out of luck. I was after one of your jellies. You’ve got some lovely passion fruit and almond jellies, haven’t you?” said the woman, looking into the case.
“I’m sorry. We’re all sold out.”
“It’s been so hot. Everyone wants to have something nice and cool to eat. What shall I go for instead?”
Just then, the ring tone of a cell phone came from inside her handbag. With a slight frown, she pulled out the phone and consulted the screen. She looked a little puzzled as she answered the call.
“Hello, yes?... Oh, it’s you. But why are you using a pay phone?... Oh, poor you. Okay, just hang on a second.” Clutching the phone in one hand, the woman looked at Miyuki and held up the other in a gesture of apology. “Sorry. Afraid I’m going to have to take a rain check. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Lovely.”
With a final “sorry about that,” the woman exited the shop. Through the plate glass window, Miyuki could see her talking on the phone as she walked off.
Miyuki sighed just as Reiko Nakanishi, the manager, came over from the café area at the back.
“It’s been a busy day, Miyuki. I’ll handle the rest of the cleaning up.”
“Don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ll do it.”
“We don’t want you overdoing things. I bet you’re tired.”
“Not at all, actually. I’m feeling stronger recently.”
“That’s good to hear.” Reiko Nakanishi smiled a tight smile, then went back to looking serious. “The lady just now left without buying anything?”
“The thing she wanted was sold out.”
“I see. She was a bit late today. She usually shows up around six. Listen, Miyuki, you just clean up this display case, then you can go home.”
“All right.”
Squatting down behind the case, Miyuki couldn’t help smiling when she noticed a handful of unsold cream puffs. Kenichi didn’t usually like sweet things, but cream puffs were the exception. The staff at Quattro were allowed to take home any leftover pastries, although giving them to anyone other than immediate family was strictly forbidden. After all, people who got sweets for free were unlikely to become paying customers.
The woman who’d just dropped in was also a cream puff fan. She normally came by at around six, as Reiko Nakanishi had said, picked out something she liked from the display, then settled down to enjoy it with a cup of tea in the café area. When there was a lull, Miyuki would sometimes look in her direction. Their eyes always seemed to meet, and the woman would give her a nice smile — a warm, kind, big-hearted smile.