“I used to change her diapers on the tables in Namiki-ya,” Tojima said, grinning.
“Believe me, I understand why you loathed Hasunuma. We felt frustrated, too, not being able to get him off the streets.”
“You felt frustrated? You can’t compare your frustration to ours,” Tojima said. He was still smiling, but there was a fierce light in his eyes. “Ours was of a different dimension, a different level.”
“You don’t mind if we make a record of that?”
“Be my guest,” said Tojima. “If it’s speeches about my loathing for Hasunuma you want to hear, I can keep going all day.”
“What we want you to tell us is what you did because of your loathing him.”
“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”
“Would you be prepared to sign a statement we come up with based on us letting our imaginations run wild?”
Tojima snorted derisively. “Of course not. But if you do produce one, I’d be happy to read it. I’m curious what you think I did.”
“You want us to give free rein to our imaginations? Okay, then. I bet that when Takagaki phoned you last night, you were even more spooked than when we searched your factory. I bet that you never expected us to figure out the liquid nitrogen thing, let alone the treasure chest ploy, too. Some people have exceptional powers of imagination.”
A shadow flitted behind Tojima’s eyes. It was the first sign of insecurity he had shown so far.
“Are you talking about that... that university professor? That Yukawa fellow...?”
“Yes, what about him?”
“If I’m wrong, fine.” Tojima waved a hand. “Just forget about it.”
“Which is why, Mr. Tojima” — Kusanagi stared at the other man with renewed intensity — “it’s only a matter of time before we figure out how all of you worked together to do what you did. Tell us everything now and the penalty you face will be that much lighter. Do you get that, Mr. Tojima? Maybe Hasunuma was a brute and maybe he didn’t deserve to live — but killing him is still a crime. Only the judiciary has the right to sentence a man to death.”
Tojima remained stone-faced. The twinge of alarm he had shown at the mention of Yukawa’s name was gone.
“Except that they couldn’t,” said Tojima with open scorn. “The judiciary couldn’t do it. They couldn’t even bring the guy to trial.”
“So you banded together and bumped him off for the family?”
Tojima endured Kusanagi’s stare impassively and in silence. The silence lasted until there was a knock on the door.
“Come,” Kusanagi said. The door opened. Inspector Kishitani stuck his head in.
“Excuse me one second,” Kusanagi said to Tojima, getting to his feet.
He exited the interview room and shut the door behind him. “What’s up? Has one of them cracked?”
Kusanagi had put Kishitani and his team in charge of interviewing Naoki Niikura and Rumi Niikura. Separately, of course.
“We’ve got a problem,” Kishitani said quietly and with a look of dismay on his face. “The wife collapsed in the middle of the interview.”
40
After seeing off the last of the customers, Natsumi went out to take down the noren curtain from above the entrance of the restaurant. It was about ten past ten at night. Namiki-ya had been busy for the first time in long time.
She was taking the curtain back inside, when she heard a male voice behind her. “Good evening.” She recognized the voice.
“Professor... what are you doing here at this time of night? We’re closed.”
“I can see that. I’m here not as a customer, but as a friend. There’s something important I need to discuss with your father.” His eyes were grave even if his mouth was smiling. He’s different from normal, Natsumi thought.
“Just a minute, Professor.”
She went back into the restaurant and explained the situation to her parents, who were busy tidying things up in the kitchen. “That fellow?” Yutaro said, looking skeptical. He thought for a moment. “Fine, show him in,” he said.
Natsumi went back outside and invited Yukawa in.
Yutaro and Machiko had come out of the kitchen. They both looked tense.
“Good evening. I’m sorry to barge in on you so late.” Yukawa ducked his head apologetically at each of them in turn.
“What’s this important thing you want to talk about?” Yutaro asked, not bothering to sit down.
“It’s a little complicated. It involves the unnatural death of Kanichi Hasunuma.”
“You’re just an academic. His death’s got nothing to do with you.”
“Yes, I am an outsider — and that’s an advantage here. When you know people on the police force, there’s always a certain amount of information that leaks.” Yukawa glanced briefly at Natsumi, before returning his gaze to Yutaro. “I have a friend who’s a police officer. This friend of mine is actually in charge of the Hasunuma case. He doesn’t officially know that I am here now.”
Apparently, this meant that he did, in fact, know.
“I see,” Yutaro said. He turned to Natsumi. “You, go upstairs.”
“No. I want to hear this, too.”
“Natsumi.”
“If it’s okay with you,” Yukawa broke in, “I’d like Natsumi to hear what I have to say as well.”
Her father looked pained but said nothing, so Natsumi sat down.
“Professor, please, take a seat,” Machiko said to Yukawa, pulling out a chair for herself. Yutaro also sat down, albeit with bad grace.
Natsumi bunched her hands into fists on her knees. She knew that whatever Yukawa had to say, it was going to be something extraordinary.
If she was honest with herself, both her parents had been behaving a bit strangely. It started late the night before when Yutaro got a phone call. Natsumi didn’t know for sure who’d called him, but she guessed that it was Tojima.
“The police are learning more and more about Kanichi Hasunuma’s unnatural death,” Yukawa began, his tone bland and uninflected. “They are aware that multiple people were involved in the crime and they have already secured a statement from one of those people. I suspect, Mr. Namiki, that you were already aware of that. The person in question is Tomoya Takagaki, a frequent customer here at Namiki-ya.”
How was Tomoya involved? Natsumi wondered.
“Takagaki said that he did what he did because Tojima asked him to. ‘We want to inflict a hammerblow on Kanichi Hasunuma. Can you give me a hand?’ The police believe that Tojima made a similar request to quite a few people and that ultimately a large group of people collaborated on Kanichi Hasunuma’s punishment. I think their theory is correct. However, I cannot believe that Mr. Tojima would embark on something like this without your blessing. Would I be right in thinking that you were cognizant of the plan?” Yukawa was looking directly at Yutaro Namiki.
Yutaro cocked his head and emitted something halfway between a grunt and a sigh. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”
“As a thought experiment, I tried putting myself in your shoes,” Yukawa continued in a matter-of-fact tone. “First, I imagined there was someone that I loathed with a complete and absolute hatred. Then I imagined myself wanting to get revenge on this person. I knew that if I killed him, suspicion would immediately fall on me. At that point, a close friend of mine proposed killing the man on my behalf. ‘I’ll deal with him,’ he says. ‘You focus on creating the perfect alibi for yourself.’ I’m grateful, naturally, but would I actually agree to his proposal? Any slipups and my dear friend could go to jail. Personally, I wouldn’t accept it. I wouldn’t agree to such a proposal. And I don’t think that you, Mr. Namiki, would do so, either. Well?”