"It must be time. Let's go," said Yaeko, rising from her seat.
"Well…" Yasuda, smoking a cigarette, narrowed his eyes as if in thought. "To tell the truth, I'm feeling a bit lonely. Why don't you both come to Tokyo Station and see me off." It was hard to tell from his expression whether he was speaking seriously or in jest.
The girls exchanged glances. They were already late for work. To go to Tokyo Station would make them even later. Of course, it was a pleasant custom, and at the Koyuki they often accompanied departing guests to the railway station. Moreover, Yasuda's manner had suddenly grown serious and it made them believe that perhaps he really was lonely. In any case, after being treated so handsomely to dinner they found it difficult to refuse.
Tomiko was the first to answer. "Let me telephone the Koyuki. I'll tell them we'll be a little late." She returned from the phone booth, smiling. "It's all right; I let them know. Let's go to the station."
Yasuda said he was sorry to give them so much trouble. He again checked the time. The girls noticed the way he kept looking at his watch.
"What train are you taking?" Yaeko asked.
"The 6:12, or the one after that. It's now 5:30. We'll be in good time if we leave right away." Yasuda hurried off to pay the bill.
A taxi took them to the station in five minutes. In the cab, Yasuda apologized once again. "I'm making you late for work," he said. The girls told him not to worry. "We'd feel badly if we couldn't do this for you. It's such a small thing."
At the station, Yasuda bought his ticket and handed the girls their platform tickets. The Yokosuka Line, which serves Kama-kura, leaves from platform 13. The station clock showed a few minutes before six o'clock.
"Good. I'm in plenty of time for the 6:12," he remarked.
His train had not yet pulled in to platform 13. While they waited, Yasuda kept watching the platforms immediately to the east. These were alongside tracks 14 and 15, used for the arrival and departure of long-distance trains. At the moment, there was a train waiting at platform 15. Since there was nothing on the intervening tracks, the three had a clear view of the train at platform 15.
"That train over there is the super-express to Hakata in Kyushu. It's called the Asakaze," Yasuda remarked to the girls.
There were many passengers, accompanied by friends and relatives, milling about the train. The platform had the air of excitement that prevails when a train is about to start on a long journey.
Suddenly, Yasuda said, "Say, isn't that Otoki?"
"What?" The two girls, their eyes round with astonishment, looked to where Yasuda was pointing.
"Well, I never… It is Otoki." Yaeko's voice betrayed her surprise. Otoki it was, walking through the crowd on platform 15. From the way she was dressed and from the suitcase she carried, it was evident that she was a passenger. Tomiko also spotted her at last and cried, "Why, of course! It's Otoki!"
What surprised them most was that Otoki was talking intimately to the young man who was walking beside her. His face, seen in profile, was not familiar to them. He was wearing a dark overcoat and carrying a small suitcase. The two were weaving their way through the crowd and making for the rear end of the train.
"Where do you suppose they're going?" Yaeko asked, catching her breath.
"I wonder who he is!" Tomiko exclaimed.
Unaware that she was being observed, Otoki continued to walk along the platform with her companion. They finally stopped in front of a coach, checked the number, then entered, the young man leading the way.
"She is a sly one! Do you think she's going all the way to Kyushu with him?"
Yasuda repressed a smile.
The two girls stood rooted to the platform. They looked astonished. They stared at the car into which Otoki had disappeared, unable to say a word more. People kept passing in front of them. Finally, Yaeko said, "They can't be going just a short distance; they're on a super-express."
"Did you know Otoki had a boy friend?" Tomiko asked.
"I had no idea! I'm very surprised."
The two girls exchanged excited comments in a rapid undertone, as if they had uncovered something of extraordinary interest.
Yaeko and Tomiko knew really nothing of Otoki's private life. She was not one to talk about herself. She did not appear to be married. She did not seem even to have a lover. Her reputation was very good. Girls working in restaurants belong generally to one of two types: the sort who like to confide in their co-workers, often asking their advice, and the other kind that keep their mouths shut like clams. Otoki was one of the clams. The two girls, therefore, felt they had accidentally uncovered a secret corner of Otoki's life and were thrilled.
"Let's go over and look through the window. I want to see what he's like," Yaeko said excitedly.
"Don't! Leave them alone," Yasuda interposed.
"Aren't you jealous, Mr. Ya?"
Yasuda laughed. "Why should I be? I'm going to Kamakura to see my wife."
The train for Yokosuka drew in to platform 13, blocking any further view of platform 15.
Yasuda boarded the train. Since it would not be leaving for another eleven minutes he put his head out of the window and called to the girls. "Please don't wait. You girls are busy; you mustn't stay any longer. Thank you for coming with me."
"Perhaps you're right," said Yaeko. She wanted very much to rush over and get a good look at Otoki's companion. "Goodbye, Mr. Ya. Have a good trip and come again soon." The girls shook hands with Yasuda through the window and left.
As they walked down the steps Yaeko said, "Tomiko, let's take a look at Otoki."
Although she answered, "I wonder if we should," Tomiko was not at all unwilling. The two girls ran over to platform 15.
They approached the coach they had seen the couple enter and looked through the windows, over the shoulders of the crowd standing close by. The car was brilliantly lighted. They soon spied Otoki and the young man, sitting side by side.
"I say, she's chattering away at a great rate, isn't she?" Yaeko observed.
"Why, he's quite good-looking! I wonder how old he is." Tomiko was more interested in the young man.
Yaeko was gazing intently at him. "Twenty-seven or twenty-eight. No, maybe twenty-five."
"That makes him a year older or a year younger than Otoki."
"Shall we go in and surprise her?"
"Don't, Yaeko." Tomiko stopped her from entering the coach.
They stood for a while, staring at the couple. Finally, Tomiko said, "Let's go. We'll be late." She prodded Yaeko who was still staring and seemed reluctant to leave.
When the girls arrived at the Koyuki Restaurant they immediately reported the incident to the proprietress. She too seemed very surprised.
"Really? Is that so? Just yesterday Otoki asked me for five or six days' leave; she said she wanted to go home. But fancy that-with a man!" Her eyes widened in astonishment.
"That was only an excuse. Otoki's home is up north, in Akita."
"She's such a quiet girl. It just goes to show you; one never knows. They'll probably get off the train at Kyoto and have a good tune." The three women exchanged glances.
The following night Yasuda came again to the Koyuki with a guest. At the end of the evening, after the latter had departed, he said to Yaeko, "I suppose Otoki is off duty today."
"Not just today. She'll probably be away the whole week," Yaeko informed him, raising her eyebrows.
"Is she on a honeymoon with that man we saw?" Yasuda asked, setting his sake cup on the table. "That's what it looks like. Isn't it startling?" "Why should it shock you? You girls should do the same." "No such luck. Not unless you take me, Mr. Ya." "Me? Leave me out of it. Anyway, I couldn't take so many of you." Yasuda left, but, probably for business reasons, returned the following evening with two guests. On this occasion, both Tomiko and Yaeko waited on him and they talked about Otoki.
He returned again the following week, but by this time, as it happened, Otoki and her male companion had already been found dead, in a most unlikely place.