by Constantine
“Yeah, he is.” Saori took a plate of maki rolls from the conveyor belt.
“Nobu said you met at a gokon?”
She nodded as she chewed one of the rolls. Once swallowing, Saori gave a more full response. “It’s not really my thing. But my roommate and some of our friends, they were pretty keen on it. So I thought, why not? Teppei was one of the guys there and we started talking. Exchanged numbers afterwards.”
“But no interest?”
“He’s nice. And he’s cute, smart… But I’m not really into the whole…coupling thing, y’know?”
Kyoko filled her cup with green tea and gave a nod before taking a drink. “I feel the same way.”
Saori finished off the maki rolls and moved the plate to the side. For her next course, she chose a dish with two ebi nigiri on it. “I was telling Nobu I don’t really know a whole lot about his background. And it occurs to me now that I don’t really know a lot about yours, either.”
“I was a cop, you know that.” Kyoko finished off the second maguro and slid the dish to the side. She watched the conveyor belt, trying to decide what to eat next.
“Yeah, I know. But why’d you quit?”
Kyoko hesitated. A plate of salmon nigiri grabbed her eye, so she took it from the conveyor belt. While she avoided Saori’s gaze, she could still feel the girl’s eyes on her as she dipped the first of the nigiri into the soy sauce.
“It’s not important.” Kyoko put the nigiri into her mouth and started chewing.
“It’s a little strange, isn’t it? I mean, I hear cops have pretty good benefits. To give all that up and go into business for yourself, it’s—”
“Crazy?”
Kyoko’s tone was more clipped than she’d intended. Saori flinched at the response, so it was clear she felt the same. Part of Kyoko told her she should apologize, but she didn’t say anything. And Saori continued on with her original statement.
“Actually, I was going to say it’s brave.”
The detective arched a brow and then chuckled with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. Just kind of a force of habit. I’m used to getting criticism about that decision.”
“No, I think it’s pretty cool. Seriously. But it does make me wonder why you did it.”
The chopsticks picked up the second salmon nigiri and dipped it into the sauce. Saori’s gaze lingered on her, but Kyoko concentrated on eating. The girl had come to work for her fairly recently and it really wasn’t any of her business why Kyoko left the police force.
On the other hand, Kyoko had grown fond of the young law student. Part of her wanted to confide in Saori. The hesitation still forced her to be reserved with her words.
“Someone…a woman…got hurt.”
“Hurt how?”
Kyoko sighed and picked up her green tea, drinking down the last of it. She refilled the cup with the powder and then used the hot water dispenser. Looking up while she sipped the tea, Kyoko saw Saori’s questioning eyes searching her boss’ face.
“Was it something you did?” she asked.
Normally, Kyoko only sipped the tea. Today, she drank it all in one gulp, then placed the cup back on the table. Filling it for a third time, she wished it was whiskey instead of tea.
“It was something I didn’t do…something I couldn’t do…” Kyoko sighed, staring into the tea’s cloudy surface. “I realized for the first time just how unequal the laws really are. And I just couldn’t justify it anymore.”
She took another sip, then looked up at Saori.
“What I do now…it may be seen as suspect by society. And in some small way, I’m helping people. This case is something different. Nothing I do will ever bring back Akane Suzuki. But if she was involved with something that got her killed, then I want to know why.”
“Yo.”
Saori and Kyoko both looked up and saw Nobu standing at the foot of the table. He slid into the booth beside Saori. Kyoko was grateful he was here—not the least of which meant she could change the subject.
“Did you find anything out?”
Nobu reached across Saori and took a plate of ika nigiri. He took one of the small dishes and filled it with soy sauce, then grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the box at the end of the table. “I looked up Fukui. Seems he used to live in Nagasaki.” Nobu picked up the nigiri and drenched it in sauce before eating. Once he swallowed, he let out a satisfied sigh. “Damn, that’s good…”
“Nobu, about Fukui?” asked Kyoko, her impatience growing.
“Sorry.” He cleared his throat while he rolled the second piece in the sauce. “I did some digging. Seems a few years back, he was accused of stalking a girl in Nagasaki. Got a verbal warning and that didn’t do it, so then they gave him a warning in writing. Maybe it scared him enough to send him packing, because there were no further complaints. He moved to Osaka not long after. Looks like the building he manages is actually owned by his uncle, which explains how he got the job.”
It was difficult for Kyoko to focus on Nobu’s full explanation. As soon as he mentioned that Fukui was a stalker, her blood began to boil. Things started to make sense now. She had a bad feeling about Fukui from the moment she laid eyes on him. Now, to discover he’d been guilty of stalking in the past, it didn’t seem like much of a leap to believe he would have been harassing Akane in the same manner.
“Son of a bitch…” she grumbled, sliding towards the end of the both.
Nobu rose after her. “Whoa, where are you going?”
“I’m going to go back to the building and get some answers out of Fukui.”
“Hold up, boss. You sure that’s a smart idea?” asked Nobu. “You seem pretty fired up right now, this may not be the best move.”
Kyoko didn’t want to waste time on a debate with her subordinates. “Tsuji, you work for me, okay? I’m going to talk to that man and figure out just what the hell kind of relationship he had with Akane. Now you can either sit here and question my decisions, or you can do your damn job and give me a hand.”
Nobu stared right back at her. He tried to hide it, but Kyoko could tell he was upset. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”
“Fukui’s photo, show it to that Ai girl. See if she’s ever seen him in the club. Find out if he was one of Akane’s customers.” Kyoko took out a wallet and threw three thousand-yen bills on the table, then looked at Saori. “That should cover lunch. Saori, since you’re waiting on Teppei’s call, I want you to look into Star Rise in the meantime. Find out everything you can about them.”
She turned from the table and walked to the exit of the sushi restaurant. Kyoko had a feeling that Saori and Nobu were now talking about her as they finished lunch and she didn’t really care. What she did care about was the thought of another stalker whose obsession pushed him too far. And the thought that he might be able to walk free.
No, that wasn’t going to happen. Not this time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
After ringing the doorbell several times, Kyoko started banging her fist on the heavy, metal door. The intercom beside the bell suddenly came to life. It was Fukui’s voice and he sounded scared. That gave Kyoko a kind of satisfaction.
“This is Kyoko Nakamura, we spoke the other day about Akane Suzuki.”
Silent hesitation.
“What do you want now?”
“Open the damn door, I have to talk to you.”
“I don’t have to do anything. If you don’t leave right now, I’ll call the police.”
“Call them. I’m sure they’d love to know that you had sex with the victim the night of her death. And about those stalking charges in Nagasaki a few years ago.”
Another pause. More silence. Then, Kyoko heard the lock turn. Fukui opened the door just a little, staring at Kyoko with fear in his eyes.
“I didn’t do anything to her, I swear,” he said.
Kyoko pushed her way into the apartment, forcing the door open and shoving Fukui from the genkan. She pointed to the table on the tatami flooring in front of the TV.
“Sit.”
Fukui backed away from her and nodded, doing as he was ordered. Kyoko removed her shoes and walked over, staring down at him with her hands resting on her hips.
“I want to know everything about your relationship with Akane Suzuki,” she said. “And don’t give me any of that crap about how you barely saw her.”
“You can’t do this,” he said, staring up at her. “You don’t have any right.”
Kyoko drew in a sharp breath. She crouched down in front of Fukui and stared right into his beady eyes. Her face hardened and the intensity of her glare would make one think her capable of incinerating Fukui with a simple look.
“I’m not here to play games with you, old man. I’m not some young hostess who will just put up with your bullshit while wearing a pretty smile. I can think of half a dozen ways to destroy your life, and that’s just off the top of my head. And if you cross me, if you don’t tell me exactly what I want to know, then I will not hesitate.”
Fukui swallowed hard. There was a mix of fear and anger in his face. It was clear to Kyoko that he wasn’t used to dealing with a woman standing up to him.
“Akane Suzuki. What did you not tell me about her before?”
“She worked at Idol, it’s a—”
“A hostess club. Yes, I know all this. Now tell me something new.”
Fukui took a deep breath. He reached for the can of beer on the table and drank a healthy amount. “Not long after she moved in, I went there. Recognized her immediately, so I requested her. We got to talking. I went back there again and again, about once a week for a couple of months. Always requesting her every single time.”
“Did you ever see her outside the club?” asked Kyoko.
Fukui looked down at the beer can. He took another sip. Then sighed. “A few times.”
“What did you do on these dates?”
“Went to dinner, karaoke, bowling, that sort of thing.”
“I’m told she slept with some of her customers in exchange for money. Did that happen with you?”
“No.”
“You’re lying,” said Kyoko. “When I came here, I warned you I’d tell the police you slept with her the day she died. That’s what got you to open the door. Now you’re telling me you two never had sex?”
“I didn’t say we never had sex, I said I never paid her for it.”
Kyoko blinked a few times. “You don’t exactly seem like her type.”
“That first date. We were at this izakaya, several drinks in. Akane was sitting next to me and she puts her hand on…” He paused, then gestured to his crotch. “She whispers into my ear, asks if I want her. I tell her I do. Then she says for five man, we can go find a love hotel.”
Man, the unit in Japanese that meant ten thousand, and five man was roughly around five hundred US dollars.
“So you went.”
Fukui shook his head. “No, I couldn’t afford it.”
“What did she do?”
“She moved her hand and went to the bathroom. When she came back, she sat across the table from me and barely said another word.”
Kyoko felt the rage beginning to boil up in her again. She grabbed Fukui by his undershirt and pulled him close to her.
“She wasn’t interested in doing you for free. So what happened after that? Did you get sick of her ‘teasing’ at the club and decide to just take what you wanted?”
“Wh-what?”
“Her boyfriend said the day she died, he came to her apartment and found her crying her eyes out. He said there was a condom in her wastebasket. Did you rape her that day?”
“Of course not!”
Fukui’s voice spiked. Kyoko looked into his face and she could see he was on the verge of panic. Wasn’t an easy thing to fake. If he was lying, he was very good at it. He was a pathetic creep, but when he said he didn’t rape Akane, Kyoko thought there was a pretty good chance he was telling the truth.
“I told you she paid rent on the first of the month by leaving it in my mail slot? Well, one day, the first of the month comes around. No rent. I decide I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. Everyone slips up now and then. So the next day comes. Again, no rent. Still, I don’t say anything. After a week passes, I go to her and tell her she needs to pay. She says she can’t, says she’s running low on money. So I…offered her a deal.”
Kyoko released her grip on his shirt, allowing him to pull back. “She fucks you in exchange for living rent-free.”
Fukui nodded. “Every month. Always here or in her place.” He scoffed. “I didn’t want to waste money on a love hotel.”
“When did you have sex that day?”
“Around eleven. I went upstairs, told her it was time to pay the rent. She took me inside, we had sex, and then I left. Had lunch, ran some errands, went to dinner with some friends, and then came home.”
It didn’t seem likely Fukui would kill her when she was giving him exactly what he wanted. Her death had no benefit for him. And that would explain why she was upset when Yuki said he saw her. The idea of sleeping with a guy like Fukui would disgust anyone.
“Do you believe me?” he asked.
“Fortunately for you, I do,” said Kyoko. “You said you never saw Akane with anyone else. Were you telling the truth?”
He nodded. “She didn’t want her boyfriend to know what she was doing. So she did her best to avoid me, except when I came by to collect.”
“What about other men? Do you know if she ever took any of her…clients up to her room?”
“She didn’t exactly confide in me. But when she agreed to the deal, she thought we were going to go to a love hotel. So I’m guessing that was pretty standard for her. She even seemed a little surprised when I said I wanted to do it here.”
That posed an interesting question. Now Kyoko had two of the three condoms accounted for. Both Ichikawa and Fukui had reasons for sleeping with her in her apartment. That left a third man unaccounted for. And if he was a customer, what was he doing at her apartment? If he wasn’t, just exactly who was he?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The pianist’s fingers slowly danced across the keys, while the drummer laid down a soft backing. But it was the guitarist who proved to be the main attraction, fingers expertly strumming the strings of his instrument. Kyoko sat at the counter of Sho’s, a cigarette dangling from her lips. Her eyes were closed as she let the music flow through her, helping relaxation roll over her.
“Want another?”
She opened her eyes and saw Sho standing over her. Kyoko nodded and slid the empty tumbler towards him. Sho took the glass, dumping out the water and ice, then filled it with fresh cubes and poured a double of Johnnie Walker Black, his years of experience making him able to perfectly eyeball the amount.
Kyoko picked up the glass and sipped the scotch. That first sip, before the ice had a chance to cool down the drink, always had the most bite. Setting the glass down, Kyoko put the cigarette in her mouth and drew in the smoke. With the cigarette between her index and middle finger, she gestured towards the band on the stage.
“See, now this is music.”
Sho smiled at her. He had a glass of water behind the bar and he raised it towards her. Kyoko clinked the side of her glass against his.
“Somethin’ bothering you, Kyoko?”
“This case…” Kyoko shook her head and took another sip. The ice had done its work, significantly cooling the scotch so it now went down extremely smooth. “Feels like I’m running in place, Sho. I had two people that I thought for sure had done it. But now, I don’t know. They’re both suspicious, but…”
“But who isn’t,” said Sho.
“Hey, you got contacts in the music business, right?”
Sho gave a nod. “Yeah, of a sort. Why?”
“Know anything about Star Rise Entertainment or Jo Miyashita?”
Sho leaned against the back counter and lit a cigarette, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to remember. “Star Rise, I’ve heard of. Aren’t they o
ne of those talent agencies?”
Kyoko nodded. “Mostly deal in those pop idol groups, yeah.”
He took the cigarette from his mouth. “Jo Miyashita… The name sounds familiar. But sorry, no. My friends in the biz aren’t really in the same circles as Star Rise.”
Kyoko could tell that Sho had noticed something, because he stood up straight and set a clean tumbler on the counter beside her. Without a word, he filled it up with a double, straight. A hand fell on Kyoko’s shoulder and she turned her head to see Takeshi Hashimoto standing behind her.
“Naka-chan, good to see you.” Hashimoto took the seat beside her and accepted the drink Sho gave him. With the glass raised in the air, Hashimoto smiled at the bartender. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Sho excused himself and tended to some customers at the other end of the bar, leaving Kyoko and her mentor alone.
“I hope risking my neck for you led to something useful,” said Hashimoto, lighting a cigarette.
“All I really know is that Yuki Ichikawa probably had nothing to do with Akane Suzuki’s death,” said Kyoko.
“Maybe it really was a suicide.”
“Maybe. But something just doesn’t feel right.” Kyoko sipped her scotch. “I found three used condoms in her apartment and trash collection was the morning she died. I’ve identified two of the men, but there’s a third unaccounted for. And that third one may have been the last person to see her alive. Then there’s the matter of the guy at Ichikawa’s apartment.”
“What guy?” asked Hashimoto.
“Looked like bad news. He dropped off some pills, but Ichikawa said he never used.”
“Could be lying?”
Kyoko sighed. “I don’t think so. I’ve got a pretty good bullshit detector. He doesn’t set it off.”
The band began a new song. Hashimoto glanced over his shoulder at the stage for a moment, then took a sip of his drink. “They’re pretty good.”
“Yeah, they are.”
“Ichikawa’s apartment. You were trying to track him down?”
She nodded.
“And this guy…what makes you think he was dropping off product?” asked Hashimoto. “Doesn’t seem like the kind of thing someone is liable to mention.”