‘I’m sorry for the inconvenience,’ Kusanagi said. ‘And I think you should be able to move back into your house any time now. Forensics is done, and our reexamination should be finished today. I’ll let you know.’
‘No, that’s all right. I think I’d prefer to stay here for now, actually. It’s … hard to imagine being alone in that big house.’
‘I can understand.’
‘I know I can’t just run away from the truth forever, but all things being equal, I think I’ll stay here at least until the date of the funeral is set.’
‘On that note … we should be able to return the remains to you shortly.’
‘Thank you. I suppose that means I should be making arrangements …’ Ayane blinked. ‘About the flowers at the house – I was planning on watering them when I went there tomorrow to pick up some more things. But the sooner the better. I know it sounds silly, but it’s been weighing on my mind.’
Kusanagi smiled. ‘Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll be happy to water the flowers for you. The garden as well as the ones on the balcony, correct?’
‘You’re sure you don’t mind? I hate forcing anyone to do my chores.’
‘It’s the least we can do in return for all of your assistance. I’m sure I can find someone else to take care of it if I can’t, so don’t worry about a thing.’
Kusanagi rose and Ayane stood with him. She stared into his eyes. ‘It would be a shame if the flowers there were to wither,’ she said, an unexpected softness slipping into her voice.
‘I understand they’re very important to you.’ Kusanagi recalled how she had watered them the day she got back from Sapporo.
‘I’ve been keeping those flowers on the balcony since before I got married. Each one of them brings back a different memory …’
Ayane’s gaze wandered into the distance before returning to the detective. The look in her eyes tugged at something in Kusanagi’s chest, and he found himself unable to meet her stare. ‘I’ll be sure to water them. Don’t worry.’ He turned and went to pay the bill.
Out in front of the hotel he caught a taxi and headed over to the Mashiba residence. The expression on Ayane’s face as he left her still burned in the back of his mind.
Kusanagi let his gaze wander outside the window until he spotted a large sign for a home repair centre. A thought came to him, and he told the driver to stop.
‘Wait for me here.’
Kusanagi hurried into the store, then returned to the taxi with a spring in his step.
A police cruiser was parked outside the Mashiba house. Just what she needs, Kusanagi thought. More for the neighbours to talk about.
A uniformed officer was standing next to the front gate, the same one who’d been stationed at the house the day Mashiba died. He acknowledged the detective with a silent nod.
Kusanagi spotted three pairs of shoes in the entranceway. The trainers belonged to Utsumi. The other two pairs were men’s shoes: one pair cheap and worn nearly to the ground, the other new and bearing an Armani logo.
He walked down the hallway towards the living room. The door was open; he stepped inside and found the room empty. A man’s voice sounded from the kitchen.
‘I’m not seeing any signs this was touched at all.’
‘Right?’ Utsumi’s voice answered. ‘Forensics said the same thing, that no one had touched it for at least a year.’
Kusanagi peeked into the next room. Utsumi was standing in front of the sink, a man kneeling next to her. He had his face stuck into the cabinet beneath the basin, so Kusanagi couldn’t see who he was. Kishitani was standing next to them.
It was Kishitani who noticed the new arrival first. ‘Hey, Detective Kusanagi.’
Utsumi turned around, a flustered look on her face.
‘What are you doing?’ Kusanagi asked.
She blinked. ‘Why are you …’
‘Answer me first. I asked what you’re doing here.’
‘Is that really the tone to take with someone so devoted to their work?’ came the voice of the man beneath the sink. He extracted himself and looked around.
Kusanagi took a step back, startled. ‘Yukawa?! What are you—’ He stopped and looked back at Utsumi. ‘You were talking to him behind my back, weren’t you?’
Utsumi bit her lip.
‘Well, that’s an odd thing to say. Does she need permission from you before she talks to everyone, or am I a special case?’ Yukawa stood and smiled at the detective. ‘Long time no see. You look well.’
‘I thought you weren’t helping with investigations anymore.’
‘As a rule, I’m not. But every rule has its exceptions. For instance, when I’m presented with a mystery that piques my scientific curiosity. Although, I will admit that this particular case interests me for other reasons as well … but I see no need to go into that with you,’ Yukawa added with a meaningful glance at Utsumi.
Kusanagi looked at the female detective. ‘Is this what you meant by a reexamination? Bringing him in?’
Utsumi’s mouth opened halfway in surprise. ‘Mrs Mashiba told you?’
‘I was with her when you called. Oh, I almost forgot. Kishitani, you don’t look like you’re doing much.’
Kishitani stiffened. ‘I was asked to accompany Utsumi and the professor, so we wouldn’t miss anything.’
‘Great. Then, in the interests of thoroughness, go and water the flowers.’
‘Water?’ Kishitani blinked several times. ‘Flowers?’
‘Mrs Mashiba has vacated the premises of her own accord to make our investigation as easy as possible. We can at least water the flowers for her. Just get the ones in the garden. I’ll take care of the balcony.’
Kishitani frowned, his eyebrows drawing together for a moment, before he nodded and walked out of the kitchen.
Kusanagi turned back to Utsumi and the physicist. ‘So, sorry to make you go over this again, but can you tell me exactly what it is you’re reexamining? Start from the beginning.’ He set down the paper bag he’d been carrying.
‘What is that, anyway?’ Utsumi asked with a glance at the bag.
‘It’s not related to the case so it’s nothing for you to worry about. Well?’ Kusanagi crossed his arms and looked at Yukawa.
Yukawa hitched his thumbs in the pockets of his trousers – Armani too, no doubt, the detective surmised – and leaned back against the sink. He was wearing gloves. ‘The young detective here presented me with a puzzle: “Is it possible to poison the drink of a specific person from a distance, using a method that leaves no trace?” Quite the mystery, right? Even in physics it’s hard to find problems as worth solving as that.’ He shrugged.
‘From a distance, huh?’ Kusanagi said with a glare at Utsumi. ‘You still suspect the wife. You’ve decided that she’s the one, and you want Yukawa to tell you what kind of magic trick she had to pull off in order to do it.’
‘It’s not just Mrs Mashiba that I suspect. I just want to be sure that no one with an alibi for Saturday and Sunday could have done it.’
‘Same difference. You’re after her.’ Kusanagi looked back at Yukawa. ‘So why were you looking beneath the sink?’
‘According to what Ms Utsumi here has told me, the poison in question was found in three locations.’ Yukawa lifted three fingers of his gloved hand. ‘The victim’s coffee cup. The ground coffee beans and filter used to make the coffee. And last but not least, the kettle used to boil the water. But what I can’t figure out is what comes next. There are two possibilities: the poison was either inserted directly into the kettle, or it was mixed with water. If it was mixed with the water, we have another two possibilities: bottled water or water from the tap.’
‘Tap water? Are you suggesting that the water line was poisoned?’ Kusanagi asked with a snort.