He went to the office of the station master. After introducing himself he said, "I'm sorry to trouble you but I have a question to ask. Before the Asakaze leaves at 6:30 P.M. from platform 15, can it be seen at any time from platform 13?" The railway official was an older man. He looked at Mihara curiously.
"Are you asking if at any time the tracks between the two platforms are entirely clear?"
"Exactly."
"Well, I believe there is always one train or another obstructing the view. But let me check, to make sure. Please wait a moment." He went to his desk and brought out the train charts. His fingers followed the intricate lines that criss-crossed the paper. Suddenly, he remarked, "There is a break! For a short period there are no trains on tracks 13 and 14 and you should be able to see the Asakaze at platform 15. Well, I never! That is most unusual!" He sounded as if he had discovered something extraordinary.
"There is a break? Then it is possible to see the train?" Mihara was disappointed, but he suddenly became tense when he heard the station master's next words: "It is possible, but only for four minutes."
"Only four minutes?" Mihara's eyes widened. His heart missed a beat. "Please explain that."
"To be precise," the official began, "the Asakaze pulls in on track 15 at 5:49 and leaves at 6:30. It remains at platform 15 for forty-one minutes. Now let's see the arrivals and departures of trains on tracks 13 and 14. On track 13, on the Yokosuka Line, train No. 1703 arrives at 5:46, leaves at 5:57. then, at 6:01, No. 1801 arrives and leaves again at 6:12. After that Yokosuka Line train has departed the regular No. 341, bound for Shizu-oka, arrives at platform 14 and remains till 6:35, blocking the view of the Asakaze on track 15."
Mihara took out his notebook. He could not take in the details from just hearing them once. The station master, noticing this, said, "This is probably difficult to follow. Let me write it down for you," and he gave him an extract of the timetable.
Returning to the Metropolitan Police Board Mihara studied the timetable he had received, then took a sheet of paper from his desk and made a diagram of it. It now became clear to him: from 5:57, when the Yokosuka Line train No. 1703 left from platform 13, to 6:01, when No. 1801 arrived, was exactly four minutes. During that brief interval the tracks were clear and there was an unobstructed view of the Asakaze from platform 13. This meant that the group who saw Sayama and Otoki board the Asakaze happened to be standing on platform 13 during those four minutes.
Mihara knew the importance of the testimony given by these eyewitnesses. Their statements that Sayama and Otoki, talking together intimately, had boarded the Asakaze, provided the basis for establishing the love suicide theory. There was no other evidence that they were intimate. Although it was believed that both had had secret love affairs, the only people actually to observe them together were the witnesses, who chanced to see them while standing on platform 13 during those four minutes. How extraordinary that they should have been there at that particular moment, Mihara remarked to himself. Whereupon, another thought, born of the first one, flashed through his mind. Was it mere chance? There was no end to speculation when one started questioning these strange coincidences. However, this one, occurring within a time limit of four minutes, made Mihara feel there was perhaps more to it than he had at first surmised.
Who were the eyewitnesses? Two waitresses and a client from the Koyuki Restaurant. The client was leaving for Kamakura and the waitresses accompanied him to platform 13 to see him off. While there, they saw Sayama and Otoki board the Asakaze. Mihara had these facts from Yaeko, one of the two waitresses, before he had left for Fukuoka. He had listened to her story at the time without giving it particular attention, but he felt now that he should hear it once again, and perhaps listen more attentively.
Mihara arrived at the Koyuki in Akasaka later that morning and found Yaeko sweeping the rooms. She was in slacks.
"I'm sorry this place is so untidy," she said, blushing a little.
"Thank you for your help the other day," Mihara said. "I'd like to refer again to what you said. You told me how you and another waitress accompanied a customer to Tokyo Station and there you saw Mr. Sayama and Otoki on another platform."
Yaeko nodded.
"I forgot to ask you for the name of the customer." Yaeko looked at him sharply.
Perceiving the girl's concern, Mihara tried to reassure her. Good customers are important to a restaurant and Mihara understood her reluctance to answer. "Don't worry. I won't bother him. I want his name only for reference."
"His name is Tatsuo Yasuda," Yaeko said, reluctantly.
"Tatsuo Yasuda. What's his business?"
"I've heard that he has a company in the Nihombashi district that manufactures machinery."
"I see. Is he an old customer?"
"He's been coming here for about three or four years. Otoki was generally in charge of his parties."
"That's why he knew her well, I suppose. Let me ask you something. Who saw Otoki first from the platform where you were standing?"
"Mr. Yasuda. He said, 'Isn't that Otoki?' and pointed her out to Tomiko and me."
"He did, did he?" Mihara became silent. He seemed to be preparing the next question, or perhaps his thoughts were on something quite different.
Mihara smiled and broke the silence. "When you and Tomiko saw Mr. Yasuda off, did you decide to do that on the spur of the moment?"
"Yes. We decided to do it at dinner that afternoon. Mr. Yasuda treated us to dinner at the Coq d'Or on the Ginza."
"Oh, he treated you to dinner? I suppose you made the date previously?"
"Yes. Mr. Yasuda was here the night before. It was then he invited us to join him on the Ginza at half-past three the next afternoon."
"I see. At 3:30. Then?"
"When we were almost through dinner Mr. Yasuda told us he was going to Kamakura and asked us to see him off at the station. So Tomiko and I went along."
"What time was that?"
"Let me see!" Yaeko inclined her head, as if in thought. "Yes, I asked him what train he was taking and he said the 6:12 on the Yokosuka Line. I remember him saying that it was already 5:35, so if we left right away we'd be there in time."
"The 6:12 on the Yokosuka Line." Mihara recalled the diagram he had made the night before. The 6:12 arrived at platform 13 at 6:01. Since Yasuda could see the Asakaze on track 15, it meant that they had arrived on platform 13 before 6:01.
"When the three of you arrived at platform 13, had the Yokosuka Line train already pulled in?"
"No, not yet." Yaeko answered at once.
"Then it must have arrived about 6 or a little before?" Mihara asked, so quietly it was more a comment than a question.
"Yes, the platform clock showed a couple of minutes before 6."
"You were quick to notice that."
"That's because Mr. Yasuda kept looking at his watch while we were in the taxi. Naturally, I began to worry about the time, too, and hoped he wouldn't miss the 6:12 train."
"You say Mr. Yasuda kept looking at his watch?"
"Oh, many times. Even while we were still at the Coq d'Or."
Mihara started thinking. He was deep in thought, even after he left Yaeko and got on the bus.
Yasuda had kept looking at his watch. Was this simply because he wanted to catch a train? Could it be that he was interested in catching something else? Perhaps he wanted to be in time for the four-minute interval.
In order to get a clear view of the Asakaze it could be neither before nor after those four minutes. If they arrived earlier, the 5:57 Yokosuka Line train would still be at the station and Yasuda would have to take it to Kamakura. Later, the 6:01 would have pulled in and blocked the view of the Asakaze. Did Yasuda keep worrying about the time because he was aiming to arrive at the station during those four minutes? Mihara wondered whether he was being too suspicious. He tried to dismiss the questions that assailed him but found it impossible. The more thought he gave to the facts the more suspicious he became.