Let’s say roughly three miles there and back, then. Kusanagi did some rapid mental arithmetic. Assuming that Tomoya Takagaki used a car traveling at an average of twenty miles per hour, the return journey would take him ten minutes. He’d need some extra time for things like getting to the car, finding a parking space, and so on, leaving him with only around twenty minutes for everything else. Could he really accomplish everything required to kill Hasunuma in such a short amount of time? Plus, an average speed of twenty is probably unrealistic in an area like Kikuno.
“There’s no way he could have knocked Hasunuma out with sleeping medication and then asphyxiated him,” sighed Kusanagi. “Tomoya Takagaki cannot have carried out the murder.”
“My opinion, too, sir. In addition, we have no indication that he knew where Hasunuma lived, now or before he moved back into the area. When I asked Takagaki about that, he said the thought had never even crossed his mind. I don’t think he was lying.”
“Okay, so what do we have? The Namiki family are in the clear and Tomoya Takagaki is in the clear, too?” Kusanagi looked down at his half-written report.
“Inspector Kishitani went to interview the Niikuras, didn’t he?” said Utsumi. “What was his impression?”
“Fishy,” he said.
“How so?”
“Naoki Niikura claimed not to be aware that Hasunuma was back in Kikuno. He says that the first he heard of it was last night at Namiki-ya, when some of the regulars there told him. It’s true that he hasn’t been going to Namiki-ya much recently; even so Kishitani thinks that the idea that no one would have told him strains credulity.”
“Very perceptive. I think he’s right.”
“However,” Kusanagi continued, “Kishitani can’t see Naoki Niikura as the kind of person who would murder anybody as an act of revenge, even if that person has killed his favorite pupil. And Kishitani is a good judge of people.”
“What did the Niikuras have to say about the Prosecutorial Review Commission?”
“They knew what it was. And speaking hypothetically, they said that they would probably have teamed up with the Namiki family to figure out a legal strategy, had the prosecutor ultimately decided against indicting Hasunuma.”
“Sounds very reasonable.”
“Yes, as far as we know.”
When Kusanagi had sent Utsumi and Kishitani to interview the persons of interest in the case, he had them find out if the interviewees were familiar with the Prosecutorial Review Commission. Anyone who was would be less likely to murder Hasunuma at this particular point in time.
“What about the Niikuras’ alibis?”
“A little wobbly,” answered Kusanagi, looking down at his report. “They claim to have gone to watch the parade and to have bumped into a number of people they know in the course of it, but no one else was with them for the duration of the event. After the parade, they went to judge the singing contest. There is a brief period that’s unaccounted for between the two events.”
Utsumi put her beer can down on the table and cradled her chin in her hands.
“Since we don’t know how long it took to murder Hasunuma, it’s difficult to interpret these gaps in time. Of course, that’s assuming that it was a homicide in the first place.”
“That’s the problem!” Kusanagi scratched his head and frowned. “There are clusters of petechiae on the body. That means that death by asphyxiation is a high probability. Against that, there are no marks on the body suggestive of manual or ligature strangulation; plus, the petechiae would be much more pronounced, if he’d been strangled.”
“What if he was asphyxiated without any pressure on his neck? By occlusion of the nose and mouth, I mean.”
“Then why didn’t the victim resist? Yes, some sleeping medication was detected in his system, but not large quantities of the stuff.”
Kusanagi smiled at the sight of Detective Utsumi plunged in thought. “What is it?” asked Utsumi testily.
“I met with Yukawa this morning. Turns out he’s a person of interest, too.”
Kusanagi told Utsumi about his conversation with Manabu Yukawa.
“Professor Yukawa’s a regular at Namiki-ya? That’s a surprise.”
“If Hasunuma was murdered, then how was it done? I suggested to Yukawa that he might apply his famous powers of deduction to answering that question. Somewhat to my amazement, he said yes. He asked to look at the crime scene, so I’m planning to take him there soon. There’s a good chance he of all people will notice something that everyone else has overlooked.”
“That sounds promising.” Kaoru Utsumi cocked her head to one side. “But it’s still a surprise.”
“What?”
“From what I hear, Namiki-ya is a very casual and friendly place that’s kept in business by a faithful cohort of regulars. It’s hard to see Professor Yukawa going there on a regular basis. He’s someone who actively dislikes ties of any kind.”
“I see what you mean,” Kusanagi said. “I think he changed a bit after going to America. You should go and visit him. You’ll see.”
“I will. Soon.” Utsumi smiled and drank another mouthful of beer from the can.
22
The young uniformed policeman who was standing in front of the hut where Eiji Masumura lived was looking thoroughly bored. He stifled a yawn. No one’s going to break into a place like this, his fed-up expression seemed to say.
His expression changed as Kusanagi and his companion approached the hut. His eyes brightened and his whole face perked up.
Kusanagi pulled out his badge. “Kusanagi, TMPD.”
The young policeman saluted him. “I was told you were coming, sir. It’s good to see you.” He spun on his heel, and briskly unlocked the door of the hut. “There you go, sir.”
Kusanagi extracted a couple pairs of latex gloves from his pocket and passed one back to Yukawa. Yukawa took them without a word.
It was day three since Kusanagi’s team had officially joined the investigation. No progress had been made in determining the cause of Hasunuma’s death, which left the investigation at a standstill. In an attempt to break the logjam, Kusanagi got permission to show Yukawa the crime scene.
Turning the knob with his gloved hand, Kusanagi opened the door of the hut. Forensics must have been in and out of the place countless times, but the interior looked exactly the same as when he was last there.
He removed his shoes and climbed onto the duckboard floor. “This is a modest little place,” said Yukawa, following his example.
Kusanagi strode directly to the far end of the room and came to a stop in front of the back room. The sliding door was open.
“So this is the room.” Yukawa came and stood beside him. “It’s tiny. It would be unbearable for anyone with claustrophobia.”
“It’s all a question of mindset,” Kusanagi said. “Some people actually enjoy staying in capsule hotels. Hasunuma seems to have been comfortable enough. He spread out a ground sheet, then put a mattress and a quilt on top.”
“You’re the one who described him as a hard-hearted bugger.”
“Exactly.”
“Can I go in?”
“Be my guest.”
Yukawa went inside, took up a position in the center of the room and slowly looked around. After a while, his gaze came to rest on the sliding door.
“Have you noticed something?”
Pulling the door part of the way shut, Yukawa started fiddling with the door hasp to which a padlock could be attached.
“This room can be locked from the outside.”
“Probably because it used to be a storeroom. The lock was to keep whatever was inside safe.”