“There was no blood — which means that...” Kusanagi had seen what Yukawa was trying to suggest. “Which means that Saori’s body wasn’t bleeding when Hasunuma removed it from the park.”
“You said ‘body.’ I wonder if that’s the appropriate word.”
“Saori wasn’t yet dead; she was still breathing — you think that’s a possibility?”
“No, I think it’s an extremely high possibility. People can die instantly when they’re shoved to the ground — but it’s not very likely. The same is true for a depressed skull fracture — is the human skull really quite so fragile? Is such an injury likely from merely being pushed over? Rumi Niikura told us that Saori wasn’t breathing. I think it’s highly probable that in her distress she just imagined that she wasn’t.”
“Which would mean that the person who really killed Saori...”
“Hasunuma may well have thought that she was dead, too. To start with, at least. But what if Saori regained consciousness while Hasunuma had her in his car? His whole ingenious plan would be wrecked. And he wouldn’t want her making a noise and attracting attention, either.”
“So he finishes her off by striking her on the back of her head,” said Kusanagi. “And you think that’s when the bleeding occurred?”
“As a theory, it’s not inconceivable”
“It’s not inconceivable at all... God, this is just too horrible.” Kusanagi felt the heat surging through his body in a wave.
“If I were Rumi Niikura’s lawyer, I’d definitely produce the hair slide as evidence in her favor,” Yukawa said.
“Sorry, what hair slide?”
“There was a gold hair slide at the crime scene. If Saori was bleeding after she hit the ground, the hair slide ought to have traces of blood on it. If analysis failed to detect any blood, then the lawyer could argue that someone else must have dealt the fatal blow.”
“Right, I see...”
Kusanagi consulted his watch. It wasn’t yet midnight. Reaching into his jacket pocket for his phone, he started to get to his feet. Yukawa grabbed Kusanagi’s arm to stop him.
“Not at this time of night! Come on, let your people have a decent night’s sleep. The hair slide isn’t going anywhere. Rumi’s got it safe.”
“I guess you’re right,” conceded Kusanagi, lowering himself back into his chair. He knocked back what remained of his bourbon and ordered another from the bartender.
“What you mentioned earlier — the truth that even the Niikuras didn’t know. Was that it?”
“Yes,” Yukawa said. “Whether or not they come clean about their actions is their choice to make. But that choice is meaningless unless they know the real truth. That’s why I went to tell Rumi Niikura.”
“And you guessed that Rumi Niikura would want to talk to her husband about it. Sure enough, off she goes to see him this morning...”
“Rumi was conflicted. As things stood, her husband was only going to be charged with manslaughter. Telling the truth results in that charge being bumped up to murder and in Rumi being charged, too. But if they both kept quiet, then no one would ever know what Hasunuma did. My impression is that they’re actually willing to pay the price for the crimes they’ve committed. That’s what matters to them right now.”
A fresh glass appeared in front of Kusanagi. He jabbed a finger at the ice. It made a tinkling sound.
Epilogue
50
She hung the noren curtain over the front door and flipped the wooden sign over from CLOSED to OPEN. Natsumi felt that she had accomplished something meaningful.
She heard a woman’s voice behind her. “Ah, so you’re reopening, then?” When she turned around, she saw the woman from the local tofu shop. She was on the plump side and her dark-purple cardigan was clearly rather a tight fit.
“We are, yes. I hope you’ll come in for a meal.”
“Best of luck. I’m rooting for you.” The lady smiled warmly. “I’ll drop in very soon. Promise.”
“Thank you very much. Look forward to seeing you.” Natsumi clasped her hands at her waist and bobbed her head politely.
“See you later,” the woman said and went on her way. Watching her waddle off, Natsumi let out sigh of relief.
Namiki-ya had been closed for a long time because of the frequency with which Yutaro was being summoned to the police station for questioning. It got to the point that the family started worrying about having to shut down for good. The restaurant could hardly keep going if the owner was arrested and sent to jail.
The police were questioning Yutaro in connection with two crimes: acting as an accomplice and conspiracy to murder. He ended up not being charged with the former, as he couldn’t be expected to have foreseen what Niikura ended up doing. That left conspiracy to murder.
The facts were these: Yutaro has asked Tojima to procure and put in place the liquid nitrogen, which was used in Hasunuma’s murder. His plan had been to use the liquid nitrogen to frighten Hasunuma. He hadn’t made a final decision on whether or not to kill him. He intended to make that decision only after hearing what Hasunuma had to say.
The problem was, would anyone accept such a rationalization? The police thought that Namiki had made up his mind in advance that Hasunuma had murdered Saori; he simply wanted to get him to admit his guilt before he went on to kill him.
When the detective responsible for interviewing him pressed him on this issue, Yutaro had the following to say.
“I can see why you might see it like that. The truth is, though, that when I asked Shusaku to get me the liquid nitrogen, I hadn’t yet made up my mind. I never really felt that I would be capable of committing a dreadful act like murder... At the same time, I thought I might suddenly feel the compulsion to kill him when that monster... that Hasunuma told me how he killed Saori.”
Whatever anyone else might think about his explanation, Natsumi, at least, was convinced that her father wasn’t lying. At bottom, he was mild-mannered, even timid. She knew that he was mortified at his own spinelessness, when he’d failed to grab a knife and launch himself at his daughter’s murderer when the man had been right there in front of him.
The detective interviewing Namiki seemed to have formed the same impression. Ultimately, the police decided not to charge him with conspiracy to commit murder. And that was how the restaurant was able to open up again for the first time in a while.
If the rumors were to be believed, Tojima wasn’t going to be charged with anything serious, either. At the end of the day, he had only tried to help Yutaro Namiki; he hadn’t procured the liquid nitrogen for Naoki Niikura. His use of the helium tank to create a false alibi remained problematic. Since, however, he had done so without knowing what had really happened, the police expected this issue to settle down with no legal sanctions.
Tojima would probably show up at some point, when word reached him that Namiki-ya had reopened. He’d probably carry on as if nothing had happened. Natsumi looked forward to seeing him being his old generous and openhearted self.
The whole thing had been a dreadful experience.
Following Naoki Niikura’s confession, a series of astonishing revelations had come to light. Natsumi had no idea what had really happened and who was or wasn’t telling the truth.