“The incredible thing was that Katsuya had absolutely no idea how his father got his hands on all that money. He just thought that his dad had the money on hand. Astonishingly obtuse! Katsuya’s wife was equally oblivious about her husband’s embezzling. She seemed barely aware that their lifestyle was more lavish than normal.”
Kaga said nothing. He was staring at the street beyond the window. Uesugi followed his gaze to the signboard of a rice cracker shop on the far side of the street.
Uesugi’s iced coffee arrived. He tossed it down without bothering to use the straw.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you. When did you first zero in on Kishida’s son?”
Kaga tilted his head quizzically.
“I never really ‘zeroed in on him.’”
“You sure? I think you figured out early on that he was involved and deliberately chose me as your partner.”
Kaga’s head tilted even further over, to signal complete incomprehension.
“When a detective’s as sharp as you, you can partner with anybody; it doesn’t matter. You chose me, and I know why. You’d heard about what happened to my son, and you thought I’d be the perfect person to get Yosaku Kishida to open up. Am I right?”
That was certainly the way things had turned out. Uesugi was convinced that this precinct cop had stage-managed the whole saga from start to finish.
Kaga smiled amiably and gave a little shake of his head.
“You’re giving me way too much credit.”
“Why did you choose me, then?”
“Two reasons.” Kaga held up a couple of fingers. “The first is that you were responsible for investigating Yosaku Kishida. If someone else had been in charge, I’d probably have worked with them instead. What I knew about your son was the second reason. I heard that you very nearly quit the force because of what happened to him. It was a terrible experience, but the more terrible the experiences we go through, the more we should try to apply them to the work we do as detectives. That’s why I chose you as my partner.”
Kaga looked at Uesugi with cool, detached eyes. Uesugi looked away, wiping the moisture drops off his glass with a fingertip.
“You talk like you know all about me. How much do you really know?”
“You know that I was right about you.”
“Were you?” murmured Uesugi. He was tempted to fight back. I know all about you, he wanted to say. He still recalled the story he’d heard just before he was assigned to this task force.
Kaga had once been in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Division. He’d been demoted back to a precinct detective after being summoned to appear in court as a circumstantial witness in a murder case. The victim’s family had made a formal complaint about the “investigator’s inappropriate emotional involvement” having delayed the resolution of the case. (As a matter of fact, Kaga’s efforts had made a decisive contribution to unraveling what was a very difficult case.)
In the end, though, Uesugi kept his mouth shut. Detective Kaga probably wasn’t the kind of person to waste time wallowing in regret.
“Yosaku Kishida’s trial will be starting any day now. It was all too brief, but thanks for everything.” Uesugi stood up, putting the money for his coffee on the table.
“Let’s do it again sometime. I can show you around the neighborhood.”
“Maybe next time we can choose a cooler time of year?” replied Uesugi, as he headed for the exit.
Just then, a young girl came in from the street. She wore jeans and a T-shirt, and her hair was dyed brown and symmetrically cut. She made a beeline for Kaga.
“Goofing off again, Detective Kaga?”
“Absolutely not. I’m on patrol.”
“Pull the other one. You’ll never get promoted at this rate.”
Kaga chuckled merrily.
“Want a banana juice? My treat.”
“No thanks. I’ve got to come up with some new hairstyling ideas. I’ll be seeing you.”
The girl left the café, crossed the street, and went into the rice cracker shop.
“She’s the daughter of the family that runs that place,” said Kaga. “She’s studying hairdressing.”
Uesugi walked back to the table. “May I ask you one last question, Detective Kaga? What kind of man are you?”
Picking up a fan that was lying on the table, Kaga flicked it open and began fanning himself.
“Me? Nobody special. In this neighborhood, I’m just a newcomer.”