Miyuki knew next to nothing about the woman. She’d come into the store for the first time about two months ago and now dropped in every couple of days or so. The staff had her pegged as a serious fan of Quattro’s pastries.
I wonder what her job is, Miyuki thought. Next time she comes, I’ll just ask her.
2
He was sweating, and the sweat dribbled into his eyes when he leaned down to tighten the bolt. His T-shirt was soaked through. Wiping his face with the towel that was draped around his neck, Koki Kiyose reapplied himself to his task. The sooner they finished preparing the set, the sooner they could start rehearsing seriously. Around him, the other members of the company were busy finishing off the stage sets and adjusting the costumes. It was a small company, so the actors had to do everything themselves.
Koki was feeling around for another bolt when the cell phone in his back pocket started to ring. With an irritated sigh, he pulled it out. When he saw the name of the caller, his face wrinkled in distaste. He thought about not picking up; the call was from someone he really didn’t want to talk to.
The other person probably didn’t want to talk to him either, so if they’d gone to the trouble of calling, there must be a very good reason. Koki reluctantly answered.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he said in a hostile tone.
“It’s me.” Naohiro’s voice was the same as ever.
“I know. What do you want? I’m kinda busy here.”
“Just thought I’d let you know. The police will probably be contacting you.”
“The police? Why? I haven’t done anything.”
“It’s not you. It’s Mineko.”
The name took a fraction of a second to register. He hadn’t heard anyone say it for a while.
“What? Has something happened to Mom?”
Naohiro didn’t respond.
“Dad?” Koki insisted.
“They tell me she’s dead.”
“What!”
“Some detectives came around to see me this morning. Mineko was found dead last night, they said.”
Koki took a deep breath. He couldn’t get a word out. Mineko’s face flashed before his mind’s eye. In his memory, at least, she was still smiling, young, full of life.
“Are you listening?” Naohiro asked.
“What do you mean?” said Koki. “Mom? I mean, what...? Was there some sort of accident?”
“The police think she was murdered.”
Koki’s heart missed a beat. Then the blood surged through his veins, and he grew hot all over.
“Who did it?” he asked.
“They don’t know. The investigation’s just getting started. That’s why the detectives came to see me.”
“Where did it happen? Where was she?”
“In her apartment.”
“Her apartment? Where?”
“The Nihonbashi district.”
“Nihonbashi!”
“Kodenmacho, to be specific. The detectives said she was renting a studio apartment there.”
That was pretty close to where Koki lived. His place was in Asakusabashi, and Kodenmacho was about half a mile away.
Why was she living there, of all places? The idea that his own mother had been murdered was too shocking; he couldn’t yet accept it as real.
“Do you know anything?”
“Anything about what?”
“About why something like this should happen to your mom?”
“How could I? We weren’t in touch.”
At the other end of the phone, Naohiro sighed. “I didn’t think so.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I’m not asking you to do anything. The police will probably want to talk to you, so I thought I’d let you know. They asked for your contact details.”
“Got it.”
“That’s all I wanted to say.”
“Dad?”
“Yeah, what?”
“What about the funeral?”
Naohiro lapsed briefly into silence, then said, “That’s not my responsibility.”
“I guess not.”
“I plan to keep my distance. If they contact me, I’ll do what I can.”
Naohiro presumably meant he would be willing to help with the funeral expenses if Mineko’s family asked him to do so. That’s the least you can damn well do, Koki thought.
After the call ended, Koki just stood there, dazed and rooted to the spot. His head was a welter of confused thoughts. He had no idea what to do with himself.
“Hey, Koki, what’s wrong?”
He finally snapped back to reality when someone spoke to him. It was Shinozuka, the head of the theater company.
“My mom. She was... murdered.”
Shinozuka reeled back in stunned horror. “What did you say?”
“My mom... she was murdered... in her apartment,” said Koki, before going into a crouch and burying his face in his knees.
About an hour later the police got in touch. Koki was working with intense concentration. His colleagues had all urged him to go home, but he’d insisted on staying. He didn’t want their preparations to fall behind schedule because of his personal problems. Besides, there was nothing useful he could do, even if he did go home early. Staying busy at least kept him from having to think.
The call was from a Detective Uesugi of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Uesugi wanted a face-to-face meeting as soon as possible and proposed meeting at a diner near the theater.
When he got there, Koki found two men in suits waiting for him. Both were detectives from the Homicide Division of the Metropolitan Police. Uesugi was the older of the two.
After expressing his condolences, Uesugi asked Koki when he’d last seen his mother.
“Around the end of the year before last,” answered Koki.
“The year before last!” Uesugi’s eyes widened. “You hadn’t seen each other for that long?”
“Didn’t my dad tell you?”
“He said you’d dropped out of college and left home.”
“Yeah, that was at the end of the year before last. I haven’t seen my mom since.”
“And you didn’t bother to phone?” Uesugi looked at Koki with disdain.
Koki fixed him with a fierce stare. Who the hell did this geezer think he was?
“I just upped and left home. Go figure.”
“What about your mother? Didn’t she try to call you?”
“I got myself a new phone with a new number after I moved out. I didn’t give the new number to my mom or dad.”
“But your father knew the number.”
“He hired someone to track me down. They must’ve worked their way through every single small theater company in Tokyo before they found me. About six months ago, this guy turns up out of the blue and is like, ‘Contact your dad. He’s got some important news.’ So I called him.”
“What was the important news?”
Koki sighed and looked the detective in the eye.
“That my parents were getting divorced. I was a bit surprised, but, hey, plenty of people get divorced, even after they’ve been married for years. I was like, ‘If that’s what you want, go for it. I’ve no right to kick up a fuss about it.’ Guess they didn’t want to finalize the divorce without keeping their son in the loop.”
“Did he tell you why they were getting divorced?”
Koki cocked his head.
“No one told me jack. My father was never very into his own family, and my mom was going stir-crazy, stuck at home with nothing to do. Seemed like good news for both of them.”
“Interesting. So your mom didn’t like being stuck at home... right?”
Koki glared at the detective, who was nodding solemnly.