‘A year and a half,’ she says. ‘Not very long really.’
‘And when did you become pregnant?’ asks Kai –
‘Almost straight away,’ she says. ‘Last March.’
Inspector Kai asks, ‘Not before you married?’
‘No!’ she shouts. ‘That’s a dirty question!’
‘Excuse me,’ says Inspector Kai. ‘And so when were you evacuated to stay with your family in Toyama?’
‘It was last May,’ says Mrs. Kodaira.
‘But your husband stayed in Tokyo?’
‘My husband hated it when I was evacuated back to Toyama,’ she says. ‘He cried at the ticket gate. Wā-wā. He cried on the platform. Wā-wā. He cried louder than a baby. Wā-wā…’
She dabs her eyes. She clutches her handbag –
Questions. Questions. Questions. Questions …
‘I know he has done bad things in the past,’ she says now. ‘And I know he has changed jobs many times. But he was a good soldier and he’s a good father to his child and since his child was born he has worked much harder and he even likes his present job.’
She clutches her handbag tighter and tighter –
Questions. Questions. Questions. Questions …
‘My husband is a very friendly man,’ says Mrs. Kodaira. ‘My husband is also a very kind man. He will talk to anyone and he will help anyone and, in my opinion, this is actually his worst quality because that is why he’s in trouble today. But my husband is not a violent man. Of course he gets angry if I serve him food he does not like or if there is not enough food for us all. But my husband never drinks alcohol and he is never violent and he never tells lies…’
‘I believe you, Mrs. Kodaira,’ says Chief Inspector Kanehara. ‘And that’s why I believe your husband’s confession to be true…’
Her shoulders are shaking. Her shoulders trembling –
No answers. No answers. No answers. No answers …
In the cells downstairs, her husband is waiting.
*
I do not go back to Headquarters with Chief Inspector Kanehara and Inspector Kai. I take the Yamate Line from Meguro round to Shimbashi. I itch and I scratch now. Gari-gari. I get off the train at Shimbashi. I itch and I scratch. Gari-gari. The New Life Market is still cordoned off. I itch as I stand and I scratch as I stare. Gari-gari. Four military policemen in their white summer fatigues stand guard. I itch and I scratch. Gari-gari. Their blue eyes are blank and their black boots are rooted. I itch and I scratch. Gari-gari. Behind the sentries, inside the market building, I can see the rows of empty stalls. I itch as I turn and I scratch as I leave. Gari-gari. I walk down the back alleys and the shaded lanes, through the shadows and the arches to the old wooden stairs and the door at the top of those stairs –
I itch and I scratch. Gari-gari. I itch and I scratch –
But the door at the top of the stairs is closed –
The sign on Senju’s door reads, Gone to War.
*
I walk into Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters. I walk up the stairs to Police Arcade. I knock on the door to Chief Kita’s office. I open it. I apologize. I bow. I apologize again. I take my seat at the table; Chief Kita at the head; Chief Inspectors Adachi and Kanehara to his right; Inspector Kai on his left; the same people and the same place but a different time and a different conversation today –
Today the conversation is just about Kodaira –
Inspector Kanehara, Inspector Kai and half of Room #1 spent yesterday questioning Kodaira while Nishi and I were chasing ghosts out at the International Palace and the rest of my room were walking the streets of Shiba, in the heat and in the dirt –
Investigation is footwork …
‘There are some similarities with other cases,’ says the chief. ‘And so these other cases are going to need to be washed again. Now I know there is a shortage of manpower so, first of all, we are going to need to see how many of these other cases match up with the various places that the suspect Kodaira has lived and worked…’
‘And the first case is that of Abe Yoshiko…’
Shinagawa. Shinagawa. Shinagawa …
‘You might remember that the body of a teenage girl was found by a signal operator on the thirteenth of June this year, just over two months ago now, under a burnt-out truck in the scrapyard of the Shibaura Transportation Company at 7 Hamamachi, Shiba Ward, on the ocean side of Shinagawa train station…’
Adachi has his eyes on me …
‘The autopsy revealed that the girl had been raped and then strangled with her own neckerchief on or around the ninth of June. The investigation headquarters was set up at Takanawa police station and was led by former Chief Inspector Mori who, as you all know, is now unfortunately no longer with us…’
Arrested and imprisoned …
‘The body was identified as that of Abe Yoshiko who was fifteen years old and attended Dai-san Kokumin Gakkō in Hirai. However, investigations revealed she was actually in a fūten group with three other girls who were doing business with American soldiers. The autopsy also revealed that her last meal had consisted of macaroni and sausage, suggesting that she was being given food by American soldiers. There was also a persistent rumour that Abe had been sleeping with a uniformed officer from the Mita police station. As you may know, this officer was identified, questioned and then dismissed because of improper conduct…’
Dismissed and disgraced …
‘However, because of the connection with the Shinchū Gun, because of the possible involvement of American soldiers, former Chief Inspector Mori felt unable to pursue the case and so it was recorded as unsolved and the banner rolled back up –
‘The investigation officially closed.
‘However, on reading through Kodaira’s statements and cross-referencing them with unsolved crimes of a similar nature to the murder of Midorikawa and by further cross-referencing these unsolved crimes with the dates and places Kodaira is known to have lived and worked, Chief Inspector Kanehara now believes the suspect should be questioned about the murder of Abe Yoshiko in June.’
Inspector Kanehara thanks the chief. Then Kanehara says, ‘Kodaira has already denied any knowledge of the murder of Abe Yoshiko. However, earlier this morning, Kodaira’s wife inadvertently told us that Kodaira had mentioned the groups of young women who hang around the barracks and the laundry where he works. It is my hope that we will be able to find a witness who can place Kodaira in the company of Abe on or around the ninth of June this year and then Kodaira will have little choice but to confess again –
‘So our first step will be to trace the other remaining members of Abe’s fūten group. Fortunately, former Chief Inspector Mori interviewed them during the course of the initial investigation and their names and addresses were verified and recorded in the case files. If Abe was familiar with Kodaira then it is also likely one or more of these girls will also have been familiar…’
‘And also,’ adds the chief, ‘there is a slight chance that one of these girls might be able to assist in the identification of the second body we found at Shiba…’
‘Or even be that body,’ laughs Chief Inspector Adachi –
His eyes on me, all their eyes on me now …
I clear my throat. I bow. I say, ‘As you are all aware, as yet we have been unable to identify the body and so I very much appreciate and am very grateful for any assistance…’