Keigo Higashino
Silent Parade
Professor Manabu Yukawa (aka “Detective Galileo”): Professor of physics and occasional unofficial consultant to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
Director Mamiya: Head of the Homicide Division
Detective Chief Inspector Kusanagi: Leads the investigation, college friend of Professor Yukawa
Detective Inspector Kishitani: Part of Kusanagi’s team
Detective Sergeant Kaoru Utsumi: Part of Kusanagi’s team and a friend of Professor Yukawa
Detective Inspector Muto: Detective, Kikuno precinct
Yutaro Namiki: Co-owner of Namiki-ya restaurant, father of Saori Namiki
Machiko Namiki: Co-owner of Namiki-ya, mother of Saori Namiki
Natsumi Namiki: Younger daughter of Yutaro and Machiko, sister of Saori
Saori Namiki: Eldest daughter of Yutaro and Machiko
Naoki Niikura: Music impresario
Rumi Niikura: Wife of Naoki
Shusaku Tojima: Owner of local food-processing company. Childhood friend of Yutaro Namiki
Maya Miyazawa: Owner of local bookstore and head of the Kikuno parade team
Tomoya Takagaki: Boyfriend of Saori Namiki
Eiji Masumura: Former coworker and roommate of Kanichi Hasunuma
Yuna Motohashi: Twelve-year-old girl, believed to have been murdered by Kanichi Hasunuma twenty-three years ago
Kanichi Hasunuma: Suspected murderer, never convicted
Note
One million yen is approximately equal to 9,000 U.S. dollars.
Part One
I regret to say I was the very last person to notice what was going on.
— JOHN DICKSON CARR, SHE DIED A LADY
1
Glancing up at the wall clock, he saw that there were only twenty minutes to go until ten o’clock. Think I’ll call it a night. Yutaro Namiki looked around the restaurant. It was almost empty — only a couple middle-aged women were left. When they came in, one of them had said something about how nice it was to be back. Yutaro Namiki sneaked a peek at her. The woman was certainly not one of their regulars. He had a vague sense that he recognized her but he could just be imagining things.
Right about then, the woman announced that she wanted to pay her check. “Coming,” called out Machiko, Yutaro’s wife, who was standing beside him, washing dishes.
Yutaro heard the woman say, “Thank you. That was quite delicious.”
“Thank you for coming,” Machiko replied. “I hope you’ll come again.”
“I’m sure we’ll be back soon. Actually, I’ve been here before. It was quite a long time ago — maybe five or six years ago.”
“Oh, really?”
“There was this amazingly pretty waitress. We ended up chatting and she told me she was the owner’s daughter. I seem to remember that she was still in high school. Is she well?”
Yutaro was busy in the kitchen, putting away the knives, but his hand stopped in midair. He knew that hearing his wife’s response to the offhand inquiry would only cause him pain, but he couldn’t help straining to listen.
“That was my daughter. She’s doing fine.” Machiko sounded perfectly relaxed. She was keeping her feelings well hidden.
“Oh, good. Does she still live at home?”
“No, she’s moved out.”
“Really? She seemed such a well-adjusted kid. Not like mine. They’re getting older but they still look to us for everything. I’m getting sick and tired of it.”
“Oh, I don’t know. That has its own charms.”
“‘Lucky the house with a child to spoil,’ you mean?”
“Exactly.”
He heard Machiko and the woman heading for the exit. There was a rattling sound as someone pulled the sliding door open. “Thank you very much. Good night,” he heard his wife say.
Putting down the knife he was holding, Yutaro walked around the counter and out into the restaurant. Machiko had taken down the noren curtain over the front door and just come back inside.
Their eyes met and she cocked her head slightly. “Something wrong?”
“No. I just couldn’t help overhearing.” Yutaro scratched the back of his head. “You really kept your cool. I know it can’t be easy.”
“It’s no big deal. I’ve been dealing with customers for years. That’s the business we’re in, after all.”
“I know, but still...”
Machiko leaned the curtain pole up against the wall and turned to her husband. A petite woman with a small face, she’d always had a penetrating gaze, even as a young woman. It was hard not to flinch when she made eye contact.
“Haven’t you accepted it yet?”
“Accepted what?”
“The fact that Saori has gone. I’ve come to terms with it. Since you spend all your time in the kitchen, you may not realize it, but people talking about Saori the way that woman did — it happens all the time. It’s the same for Natsumi. She never makes a fuss about it because she’s come to terms with it, too.”
Natsumi was the younger of the Namikis’ two daughters. She was a sophomore in college and helped out at the restaurant when she had the time.
Yutaro stood there, saying nothing.
“Look, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with you holding on like you do. I’m just saying that you don’t need to worry about me.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Can you tidy up the kitchen? There’s something I’ve got to do upstairs.” Machiko pointed up at the ceiling. The family lived on the second floor above the restaurant.
“Sure, no problem.”
“See you later, then.” Machiko started climbing the stairs in the back corner of the restaurant.
Yutaro shook his head feebly. He wasn’t in the mood to go straight back to work, so he pulled up a chair and sat down. He could feel his back rounding into a slouch. Women are so much stronger than us! It was something he felt acutely now — and had felt countless times in the past.
Saori had been their firstborn. A big-eyed baby with glowing pink skin. Yutaro had long been convinced that he wanted his first child to be a boy, but that particular prejudice evaporated the instant Saori was born. She was the apple of his eye. No, she was more than that: He was ready to lay down his life for her.
Machiko was an integral part of running Namiki-ya, as their restaurant was called, so the restaurant became Saori’s nursery. When the restaurant was busy, the regulars would often pick up Saori and bounce her on their knees.
Saori had been a healthy child and adored by everybody. All sorts of people from the neighborhood would greet her on her way to kindergarten. She would always return their greetings in her piping voice. Yutaro felt a surge of pride every time someone congratulated him on Saori’s good manners.
Saori had been popular at elementary school and junior high school. When her homeroom teacher came to visit Machiko, she had said that “what made Ms. Namiki special was that she was nice to everyone, cheerful, and never made a fuss even when things got difficult.”
Saori’s test scores were not that good, but neither Yutaro nor Machiko were overly concerned. Saori was basically a serious and kind person who almost never caused them any grief or worry. She was also a lovely big sister who liked taking care of Natsumi, who was three years her junior.