“Don’t forget abalone,” interjected Kaga.
Naoya gasped.
“That’s right.” Kaga nodded and smiled. “Your mother has problems with her teeth, doesn’t she? But she’s still looking forward to eating lots of abalone on her upcoming trip. That’s why your wife wanted to give her these food scissors.”
“I can’t believe it...”
“A woman came in here yesterday to buy a pair of these food scissors. I had asked the boss here to call me if any of his customers tried to buy a pair, so I rushed right over. Luckily, I got here in time to have a word with that particular customer,” Kaga explained.
“The customer — as I’d expected — was a friend of your wife’s. Your wife had asked her to buy the food scissors for her. Your mother’s trip is tomorrow, so your wife must have been panicking. I imagine her friend has given your wife the scissors by now.”
“Maki... for my mother...?”
“Women are complicated creatures, Mr. Yanagisawa. They can appear to be at each other’s throats, when their real feelings are quite the opposite. Or vice versa. For me as a detective, sometimes I think that understanding the psychology of people is my hardest challenge.”
“Did you bring me here to share that pearl of wisdom?”
“Sorry, I’ve overstepped my boundaries.”
Naoya shook his head.
“No, I’m happy to find out what was going on. It’s a relief. What should I say to Maki?”
“My advice would be to pretend not to know anything about it. As for the abalone...” Kaga waggled his index finger. “I bet that what your mother’s most looking forward to is abalone steak, which is a local delicacy. Unlike raw abalone, it’s extremely soft. Okay even for people with bad teeth.”
“Oh, really.”
“Best to keep that a secret from your wife, too,” said Kaga, touching a finger to his lips.
The family store was already closed by the time Naoya got home. Maki was busy in the kitchen putting the final touches to dinner, while Suzue was sitting at the low table, sorting through a bunch of payment slips.
“I’m back,” Naoya sang out.
“Evening,” replied Suzue. Maki didn’t even bother to turn around. Had they had yet another quarrel? Naoya was worried. That would only make it harder for Maki to give the food scissors to his mother.
As he headed for the stairs, to go up and change out of his suit, he noticed an overnight bag in the hallway. Probably Suzue’s luggage, he thought.
Curious to see if Maki had presented the scissors to his mother, Naoya discreetly unzipped the bag. It contained a toiletry bag and clothes. There wasn’t, however, any sign of food scissors. Maki hadn’t yet given them to her, then.
As Naoya was zipping the bag shut, he noticed an envelope in one of its inside pockets. It had to be the letter Suzue had originally hidden in the sewing basket. Curiosity got the better of him, and he pulled it out.
The envelope contained a brochure from an Iseshima gift shop. As he flicked through it, Naoya couldn’t suppress a smile when he came across a page entitled “Limited Edition Iseshima Hello Kitty Products.” Among the goods pictured were an Iseshima Hello Kitty mascot and a Hello Kitty — themed Matsusaka black-haired cow mobile phone strap.
That detective fellow was right, Naoya thought. Perhaps he didn’t need to worry. In their own peculiar way, the two women were already on the same wavelength.
4
The Clock Shop’s Dog
1
Despite the air-conditioning, his armpits were damp. He always sweated heavily when all his concentration was focused in his fingertips. That was why Akifumi Yoneoka liked to keep a spare T-shirt on the premises. I think I’ll change into a new one when I’m done with this, he thought, as he delicately moved the tweezers.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he succeeded in fitting the screw, which was little more than a millimeter long, into its destined hole. The door to the shop swung open. Thank goodness that at least some of our customers are blessed with a sense of timing, he thought to himself. Customers who barged in when he was in the middle of a delicate job didn’t just disrupt his concentration, sometimes they even made him drop components on the floor.
The customer was a man in a short-sleeved shirt worn loosely over a T-shirt. He was carrying a small briefcase. Akifumi put him in his late thirties, a little older than himself. He was fit and muscular, with no trace of fat around the face. He was smiling. That was a relief. There was something about his eyes that suggested he’d be frightening if he got angry.
“Good afternoon,” said Akifumi.
The man grinned amiably, waved, then handed him his business card.
“I’m not actually here to buy a watch, I’m afraid.”
Akifumi tensed as he examined the business card. It said he was a Detective Kaga from the Nihonbashi precinct.
“Has something happened?” Akifumi asked.
“Sort of,” replied the detective, obviously not keen to go into detail. “Is there a Mr. Genichi Terada here?”
“Yes. He’s the owner.”
The store was called Terada’s Clock Shop.
“So I gathered. Is he in?”
“He’s in the back. Shall I get him?”
“If you don’t mind.” Kaga flashed a smile.
In the back of the store was a small workshop, and behind that was the Terada family’s living room. Genichi was standing in the workshop, his arms crossed, contemplating a half-disassembled wall clock. His mouth was turned down at the corners.
“Boss?” Akifumi ventured.
“It’s one of the gears.”
“What?”
“Missing teeth. Two of the darn things.” Genichi pointed to the little gear wheel.
Akifumi looked and nodded. Sure enough, one of the gear wheels in the complex interlocking mass of machinery was broken.
“Shouldn’t be much of a problem for you.”
Genichi looked up at Akifumi, rolling his eyes. “Oh, why not?”
“Why not? It’s not an especially small gear wheel; all you need to do is solder on a couple of new teeth. I can do it, if you want.”
“Are you a complete fool?” Genichi hissed. “Attaching the missing teeth isn’t the problem; the problem is why the teeth fell off in the first place.”
“Wasn’t it just wear and tear?”
“And you think that’s not serious? These two teeth broke off. I can replace them, sure, but that doesn’t guarantee that more teeth won’t snap off later. Then what do you propose? That I just solder on more new ones, and everything will be hunky-dory? Seriously?”
“So are you going to put in a whole new gear wheel?”
“That’s the least I can do.” Genichi focused his attention back on the clock.
Akifumi knew why his boss was looking so stern. The clock was an antique, so it was impossible to find replacement parts. Genichi would have to craft the new gear wheel himself.
The customer who’d brought it in for repair said something about not wanting to spend too much money. Making a new gear wheel would make it more expensive, and from what Genichi was saying, it sounded like he was concerned about the other gear wheels, too. It was probably the thought of a run-in with yet another customer that was weighing on Genichi’s mind.
“Oh, boss, I forgot. There’s a guy from the police outside. Says he wants to speak to you.” Akifumi showed him Kaga’s card.
“The police. What the hell for?”
“Search me.” Akifumi tilted his head to one side.