At that moment, an image flashed into his mind’s eye. I’m sure he will know.
“Are you all right?” the lawyer asked
“I’m fine. Thank you for your time. I know you must be very busy,” said Koki as he rose to his feet.
2
The intercom on the table buzzed. Naohiro, who was reading through a document, reached out and grabbed the receiver.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Kishida is here,” said Yuri, in a husky voice. Naohiro loved her voice. The sound of it made him feel that all was right with the world.
“Show him in,” he said.
The door opened, revealing the scrawny figure of Yosaku Kishida. He was so thin that he resembled a suit dangling from a hanger.
“Did you run the numbers?” Naohiro asked, moving over to an armchair in the meeting area of the room.
“Yes. I’ll cut to the chase: they’re not good at all.”
Settling himself into the chair facing Naohiro, Kishida pulled a file out of his briefcase and plunked it on the table.
“What’s the problem? Is it the cost of wages?”
“That’s the one. Right now, we’ve got seventy-one part-time and temp employees. We need to get that number down to fifty if we want to see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
“You want me to fire twenty people? That’s crazy. The business will just grind to a halt.”
“Okay then, make it ten. Minimum.”
Naohiro was groaning when the door opened. “Excuse me,” said Yuri, making her way into his office. She was carrying a tray with two teacups on it. She placed one cup in front of Naohiro and the other in front of Kishida. She was tall, with long legs, arms, and fingers. Her skirt ended well above the knee. She wore a silver ring — obviously handmade — on one of her pinkies. It was a present from Naohiro, as was the necklace with a small diamond that hung around her neck.
Her job done, Yuri bowed crisply and exited the room. Naohiro and Kishida hadn’t said a word while she was there.
“Do I really have to fire ten people?” Naohiro muttered. “That’s not something I enjoy doing.”
“Recently, some companies have even been canceling job offers to new graduates before they start. That’s the world we live in. We really don’t have a choice. Ten temporary and part-time workers have got to go. While you’re at it, why not throw in one more and make it eleven? You hardly need a full-time tea maker on the staff.”
Removing the lid from his cup, Kishida took a sip of green tea.
“Here we go again.” Naohiro lips were twisted in a sneer.
“How many years ago did you found this company?”
“Twenty-six.”
“It was actually twenty-seven. When you set up this cleaning service company you were only thirty. I never expected you to get this big, and I thought I’d never earn more than pocket money from working with you. I’d only just started out as a licensed tax accountant myself, and I took you on because I hardly had any clients myself.”
“Yeah, you never tired of telling me that you didn’t think the business would succeed.”
Naohiro pulled his teacup toward him.
Kishida had been a year below Naohiro at university. When Naohiro established his own company, he’d gone to Kishida for help. Kishida had handled all the company’s finances since then. Those twenty-seven years had gone by in the blink of an eye.
“I respect your abilities as a businessman. I’ve always tried to keep my nose out of your business, but I’ve got to talk to you about that girl.”
“Must we go through this again?”
“Yes, just one more time. If it’s difficult for you to get rid of her because you hired her yourself, how about sending her to another department? Having her as your secretary is grossly indiscreet.”
“What’s indiscreet about it?”
Kishida sipped his tea.
“A detective came to see me at my office yesterday. He asked me a bunch of questions, but your secretary was the thing he was most interested in. What’s the nature of her relationship with Mr. Kiyose? When did they meet? I couldn’t very well tell him that; it made me nervous.”
“Nothing to get nervous about. Just tell the guy what you know.”
“What? Should I have said that she used to be a hostess at one of your favorite nightclubs?”
“What’s the problem?”
“I couldn’t do that. I just kept repeating that I didn’t know anything about her. What else could I do?”
“Sounds like no big deal to me,” snorted Naohiro.
“I don’t mean to criticize, but you should know better than to bring your girlfriends into the workplace. You’re a single man now, for goodness’ sake. If you like her, go ahead and marry her. No one will complain about that.”
Naohiro looked at Kishida’s bony face.
“You’re advising me to remarry immediately after the murder of my ex-wife? How d’you think that will look?”
“Okay, forget about getting married. How about living with her?”
“That would look worse. Look, just stop sticking your nose into my private life. I never asked you to manage that for me.”
“I’m not trying to manage your life, I’m warning you—”
Naohiro picked up the file that was lying on the table. “I’ll take a good look at these numbers of yours, and I’ll be in touch when I’ve decided what to do.”
Kishida sighed. He shook his head as he got to his feet.
“Your employees don’t like this sort of thing, either. Of course they look askance when you suddenly bring in a young woman like that.”
“They can gripe all they damn want. I couldn’t care less. Everyone enjoys taking potshots at the boss.”
“I’m worried that we’re running out of time.”
A moment or two after Kishida had left, there was a knock, and the door opened. Yuri came in, looking sheepish.
“Were you eavesdropping?” asked Naohiro.
“I couldn’t help overhearing. I seem to be causing a lot of trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s my company, after all.”
“Yes, but... I was waylaid by a detective on my way home yesterday. A guy named Kaga.”
Naohiro frowned.
“I know who you mean. He’s from the local precinct. I met him when the cops took me around to Mineko’s apartment. What business did he have with you?”
“I don’t really know. He asked me a ton of questions that had nothing to do with the murder.”
“Such as?”
“Such as, ‘You’re very tall, do you do any sports?’ and ‘What sort of accessories do you like?’”
“Accessories?”
“He noticed my ring. Said it was unusual.” Yuri held out her left hand. “He got me to show it to him.”
“Did you?”
“I couldn’t think of any good reason not to.”
“Can’t be helped,” sighed Naohiro.
“What should I do?”
“You don’t need to do anything,” Naohiro replied. “There’s nothing to worry about. There’s nothing that detective can do to us.”
3
They’d arranged to meet in an old-fashioned Japanese-style coffee shop with brick walls and wood-framed windows. Above the red awning there was a sign reading “Founded in 1919” in bold lettering. The interior was simple, with square wooden tables and small stools.
The place was only about one-third full. There were a few businesspeople, but the majority of the customers appeared to be elderly locals who were chatting away merrily. Koki had heard that neighborhood coffee shops were struggling, but this place seemed to be doing well.
“Did you notice how this place writes its name, Kissako, on the sign out front?” asked Kaga, nursing his coffee. “With the ideograms for enjoy, tea, and go?” As usual, the detective was casually dressed, with a white shirt on top of a T-shirt.