Kishitani had interviewed Maya Miyazawa to confirm the Niikuras’ alibi. At the time, they had regarded her as a third party with no direct connection to the case.
“How long did you chat to the Niikuras for?”
“Oh, I don’t know: ten, possibly fifteen minutes.” Maya Miyazawa’s head was at an angle of forty-five degrees and she was looking off into the middle distance.
“Did you speak to Tomoya Takagaki when you got to the finish?”
“I did, yes.”
“You just said hello and nothing more than that. Is that right?”
“Uh-huh, right.”
Kusanagi was about to ask another question when Maya Miyazawa said, “Detective, could I ask you a question?”
“What?”
“I’m familiar with the concept of perjury, but what about remaining silent? Is that also a crime?”
“Remaining silent?”
“Yes. Not lying, but not answering any questions, either. Does that count as a crime, too?”
Kusanagi gave a small shake of the head. “No, it doesn’t.”
“I thought as much. There is such a thing as the right to remain silent.”
“What are you trying to say, Ms. Miyazawa?”
Maya Miyazawa inhaled deeply. “I’m not going to inquire why you’re so interested in these treasure chests. At the same time, I don’t want to make any careless remarks involving people who are my customers and whose patronage I value.”
“Customers. Who do you mean?”
“Everybody who lives around here. No, I’ll rephrase that. By customers, I mean not just the people who live in this neighborhood but anyone who could come into my bookstore. I don’t want to do anything that might be prejudicial to any of them. So, if you’re planning to come and see me again to ask me about my customers, let me just tell you up front that you’ll probably be wasting your time.”
“You mean to cover for them?”
“I mean to keep my mouth shut. I have the right to remain silent if I want,” said Maya Miyazawa with a smile. She turned around and looked at the treasure chest. “If you’ve finished what you came for, I’d appreciate it if you tidied up after yourselves.”
Kusanagi glanced over at the junior officers. “Give the woman a hand,” he said, with a jerk of his chin.
37
Feeling a light tap on his shoulder, Tomoya Takagaki turned around. Tsukamoto, his section chief, was standing close behind him. Although he was a good-natured fellow, he looked unusually tense. “You got a minute?”
“Sure.”
“Okay.” Tsukamoto pointed in the direction of the door and marched off toward it. That must mean Follow me. Tomoya scrambled to his feet.
It was only when they were sitting across from each other in the meeting room that Tsukamoto began to speak.
“Tanaka told me something bizarre. About a detective coming to his apartment the other day. A woman.”
Tomoya gasped.
“I’m guessing from your reaction that you know what this is about,” Tsukamoto said. His voice was low and tense, and his eyes, behind the lenses of his glasses, were stern. “Tanaka told me that the same detective also went to see Ms. Sato. Sato was asking him for his advice.”
Tanaka was one of Tomoya’s colleagues, and a little younger than he was. Sato was a brand-new hire. Tomoya had taken both of them to see the parade.
“What sort of questions did she ask them?”
“About the day of the parade in Kikuno. You took them, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“She interviewed them in great detail about their movements that day. They both said that the detective was particularly persistent about confirming the precise time when the three of you split up to do your own thing.”
Tomoya pictured Detective Utsumi’s intelligent face. When she had the bit between her teeth, she wouldn’t care how irritating she was.
“What the hell is this all about, Takagaki? Have you done something wrong?”
“Me? No, nothing,” he replied reflexively. He had a sudden spasm of blinking.
“Then why are the police investigating your every move? It’s not exactly normal.”
“It’s because—” Tomoya’s voice broke. “It’s because the guy who murdered my girlfriend was found dead...”
“What?” Tsukamoto glared at him.
“And I seem to be a suspect. He died on the day of the parade. That’s the reason they wanted to verify my alibi.”
The blood drained from Tsukamoto’s face, and the skin of his cheeks visibly tautened.
“Just a minute. This guy who killed your girlfriend, didn’t they arrest him?”
“He was arrested, then released due to lack of evidence.”
Tsukamoto’s face was a picture of amazement.
“That’s a serious crime you’re connected to... Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s a personal matter. Besides, I didn’t want to inconvenience the firm...”
“It’s all very well you saying that, but it seems to me the inconvenience has already happened! Tanaka and Sato are both rattled.”
“I’m very sorry.”
Tsukamoto was jiggling his legs nervously up and down. It was obvious that he was annoyed and was having trouble getting his thoughts in order. His eyes swam around the room before finally coming to rest on Tomoya.
“Are we really okay here?”
“Is what okay?”
“I mean you: You didn’t have anything to do with this incident, did you? Well?”
“No... I... uh... didn’t.”
He knew he should have put more oomph into his answer. He had sounded awkward and clumsy. Maybe that was why Tsukamoto still looked less than satisfied.
“Okay, fine. But I want you to let me know if there are any developments. You understand?”
“Yes, sir. I’m very sorry.” Tomoya bowed his head apologetically.
Tsukamoto rose to his feet and opened the meeting-room door. He turned around as he was about to leave the room. “And I don’t want you giving Tanaka and Sato any blowback.”
“I understand, sir.”
Tsukamoto went out into the hallway and slammed the door behind him.
Tomoya waited a moment, then headed back to his desk. Tanaka’s desk was in the corner of the same room. Their eyes happened to meet. Tanaka looked desperately embarrassed. Tomoya, meanwhile, produced his best forced smile.
When the end of the working day arrived, he hurriedly tidied up his desk, then left the office. There was still work he had to do, but today he couldn’t bear to stay in the office even a minute longer.
He was on his way to the station when he heard someone calling his name. He started. He recognized that voice.
He stopped and looked around. He was right. It was her — and she was walking toward him.
“Good evening. I see you’re done for the day,” said Utsumi, by way of a greeting.
“Not again?”
“I’m afraid so. I’ve got lots of questions I want to ask you.”
“Lots?”
The female detective took a step closer. “So, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to accompany me to the Kikuno Police Station. It shouldn’t take long and I can drive you home afterward.”
“Accompany you...?” murmured Tomoya in a stupor. He looked past Utsumi and realized that, at some point, several men in suits had surrounded him.
“If you don’t mind?” Utsumi bobbed her head. Tomoya couldn’t muster a reply.
There was a black car parked nearby. He was ordered to get in. When he looked out of the car window, he got a shock.
Tsukamoto, his section chief, was standing on the sidewalk, rooted to the spot in amazement.
Tomoya, who had never been in an interview room in a police station before in his life, found himself sitting opposite a man by the name of Kusanagi. He reminded him of a recently retired athlete. Kusanagi started by telling Tomoya his name and rank, but Tomoya wasn’t listening. The knowledge that Kusanagi was a battle-hardened detective was enough to make him shrivel up inside.