“I’ve heard that Terada’s is famous for its know-how. People say you’re in a league of your own when it comes to mending old clocks.”
“The boss has an incredible level of skill. He can mend anything. Despite being such a hulk of a man, his fingers can perform the most delicate and intricate tasks. I’ll never get to be as good as him.”
“Why did you choose to work there?”
“It’s not an extraordinary story. As a boy, I liked watches. I’m not talking the ordinary quartz and battery watches — I mean proper mechanical timepieces driven by coil springs and pendulums. I still remember the first time someone showed me the insides of an old watch; the intricacy of it had a powerful effect on me. I was like, This is what I want to do with my life.”
“That’s wonderful.” Kaga nodded. “The Teradas must be very happy to have someone who can carry on the business for them.”
“I’m not ready for that yet. I want to get better, especially as these days there are fewer and fewer people capable of mending mechanical watches. Then again, with people buying fewer mechanical watches, who knows what the future holds?”
“Quality never goes out of style,” declared Kaga forcefully.
They walked into Hamacho Park. After crossing a little plaza of patterned mosaic, they headed toward a patch of grass where groups of people, all with dogs, were standing around chatting.
“This is where the dog owners get together every evening,” Akifumi explained, lowering his voice.
“It certainly looks that way. I heard it was a kind of forum where dog lovers exchange tips,” Kaga replied. He’d obviously made some preliminary inquiries.
A gray-haired old lady with a poodle wished them a good evening. “Good evening,” responded Akifumi. It was all very civilized.
The old lady then turned her attention to Kaga. She looked him up and down. “Oh, it’s you!” Her eyes widened behind her glasses.
“Thanks for your help yesterday.” Kaga slightly inclined his head.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Unfortunately not. I’m having a hard time.”
“Poor old you. Not an easy life being a detective.”
The old lady walked off.
“What didn’t you find yesterday?”
“Her.” Kaga whipped out a photograph. It was the same picture of Mineko Mitsui that he had shown them in the store the other day. “Or, rather, anyone who saw her.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I spoke to Mr. Terada the day before yesterday, he claimed to have seen Mineko Mitsui here in this park at six o’clock on the evening of June tenth.”
“Right...”
“Yesterday evening I came here to speak to the dog-walking brigade. Had any of them seen her? Not one of them had. They all remembered Mr. Terada being here with Donkichi, though. Donkichi’s quite a celebrity around here.
“While I was talking to them, Mr. Terada showed up with Donkichi in tow. I didn’t want him to see me, so I had to leave. That’s when I came around the store.”
“Oh, so that’s why you showed up last night.”
“The thing that puzzles me is why no one except your boss should recall having seen Ms. Mitsui.”
Akifumi now understood why Kaga had been so persistent in asking Genichi if he remembered things correctly.
“Did Ms. Mitsui have a dog herself?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Perhaps that explains why the boss was the only person to see her. Maybe she wasn’t near the area where all the dog people congregate.”
“That just raises another question.”
Kaga pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his pocket. He opened it up and showed to Akifumi.
It looked like a computer printout.
I just got back. I went to the same old plaza as always. I stroked the puppy on the head and bumped into the clock shop man from Kobunacho. We had a good laugh about the way we always seem to go for our walks at the same time.
“You see that bit about stroking a puppy? I don’t think she’s referring to a stray dog or anything. She must have run into someone with a puppy before she bumped into your boss.”
“I see what you mean.” Akifumi looked over at the clusters of dog owners. “Perhaps the person with the puppy was here on the tenth, but didn’t come yesterday or today.”
“I thought the same thing, but so far I haven’t found anyone who fits the bill. The other dog owners can’t think of anyone with a puppy. According to the old lady we just spoke to, they know all the dogs who are walked in this park, even if they’re not friends with the owners.”
I can believe that, thought Akifumi. He didn’t walk Donkichi all that often, but when he did, he always felt that he was being watched.
“That’s a tough job, Detective. Having to check out fiddly stuff like that.”
“There’s no such a thing as an easy job. Investigative work can be fun sometimes.”
“It can?”
“For example.” Kaga paused rather self-importantly. “Questions like, Why was there wasabi in the ningyo-yaki?”
“Wasabi?”
“I’m off to a very fancy Japanese restaurant to get to the bottom of that mystery tonight. Hence the nice jacket I’m wearing.”
“Oh, I see,” Akifumi said. However, in reality, he had no idea what Kaga was going on about.
After a single circuit of the park, they headed back to the shop.
“Who’s the ‘punk kid’?” asked Kaga, out of the blue.
“Huh?”
“It was something Mr. Terada said in his workroom when I was there the day before yesterday. Remember? ‘Bet it’s that punk kid. Probably went and got in trouble with the law.’”
“Oh yeah,” grunted Akifumi. He remembered now. Genichi had said it when Akifumi told him that a policeman wanted to see him. “So you could hear us?”
“Just that bit. Mr. Terada raised his voice. Anyway, who is it?”
Akifumi thought better of trying to mislead Kaga. He’d probably just end up digging himself into a hole.
“He was talking about their daughter’s partner.”
“Their son-in-law?”
“The boss would go ballistic if he heard you say that.” Akifumi gave a twisted smile. “They ran off and got married without permission.”
“They eloped?”
“Don’t tell anyone I told you.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Kaga’s eyes were shining with curiosity.
4
Kanae, the Teradas’ only daughter, had graduated from high school that spring. But she didn’t return home after the graduation ceremony. Instead, she sent a text to her mother’s cell phone. “I’m sorry. I’m going to go and live with the man I love,” it said.
Genichi Terada got into a towering rage and went charging over to the Sawamuras’ house. Hideyuki, the Sawamuras’ eldest son was Kanae’s boyfriend.
Hideyuki was two years older than Kanae. They’d attended the same elementary and junior high schools and had continued to see a lot of each other after Kanae went to high school, eventually falling in love.
Genichi, however, had no time for Hideyuki. That was mainly because the young man had dropped out of college without any kind of full-time job to fall back on. Worse still, while he was going through a motorbike phase back in his high school days, he’d hit someone. Genichi insisted on referring to him as “that Hells Angels fellow.”
“I don’t care who you date — just so long as it’s not him,” Genichi had told his daughter.
Of course, these days a girl doesn’t pay much attention to a demand like that. Kanae continued meeting Hideyuki in secret until they decided to move in together after she graduated.