by Yasuo Uchida
"It must be awfully rough on you, having to run around to places as far away as Tokyo and Nagoya."
"No, no, that's part of our job. We don't mind. But I'm sorry to have broken in on you like this, when you're so busy."
That was true, and Tachibana made no attempt at polite denial. "I guess you must make a lot of visits that prove useless," he said.
"Yes, of course. We just have to be prepared for that."
"How did you do in Togakushi that day we ran into each other there? Did that visit prove useless?"
"Well, pretty much so. We were there to see an old woman who tells fortunes. Mr. Ishihara's wife was one of her followers, so we thought the Ishiharas might have visited her the day they were murdered. But it proved pretty well useless."
"I guess you might have done better to have her tell your own fortunes."
"You said it!" replied Takemura with an unaffected laugh. "Joking aside, though, Detective Kinoshita here thought she was an insolent old hag, but I was downright impressed with her myself. She could read people's minds just like that. The proof is in all the followers she seems to have."
"What is she called?"
"Her place is called the Hall of Heavenly Wisdom."
"Oh yes, I remember. That's the place you were asking directions to. That's quite an elegant name, isn't it?" said Tachibana with an untroubled laugh.
Takemura joined in. Whatever anyone might say, he did not think Tachibana was going to make much of a suspect. He could not help feeling anger at Shishido's perversity and the police authorities who had given in to it.
* * *
As they emerged from the building, Kinoshita turned and looked up at Tachibana's corner of the third floor. "Do you think he's completely innocent, then?" he asked, with a dissatisfied air.
"Oh yes, he's innocent."
"You seem awfully sure."
"Oh, I can tell that much. Why? Do you see some reason to suspect him?"
"No."
"Well?"
Takemura started out walking briskly. Kinoshita hurried to catch up with him.
Coming toward them along the quiet, narrow residential street was an old man. Looking back and forth between a paper in his hand and the information on the gateposts, he was apparently trying to find someone's house.
"Excuse me, but can you tell me if there's a man named Tachibana living around here?" he asked with a bow when he reached them.
Takemura and Kinoshita glanced at each other.
"Yes, on the top floor of that three-story apartment building over there," answered Takemura, pointing.
The old man, who had an honest face under a head of white hair parted on the side, thanked him with profuse bows and started off.
"He's from Nagano," muttered Takemura, recognizing the accent. "Come on, let's get out of sight for a minute."
He pulled Kinoshita into an alley, from which they peeked around the corner to watch the old man walking on toward the apartment building, stoop-shouldered but briskly.
"What?" exclaimed Takemura, leaning forward. The man passed the building without so much as a change of pace. He could hardly have missed it. He even glanced up at the third floor as he passed. But he just kept on going and turned the next corner.
"What's the matter with him? You pointed right to the place!" said Kinoshita, bewildered, starting to leave the alley. Takemura jerked him back just in time, as the man reappeared, coming toward them again at the same pace. He obviously knew the building was there, but he walked right past the entrance again.
"Uh-oh!" said Takemura, and dashed further into the alley. Though younger, Kinoshita was less agile. He came clumping along behind Takemura, managing to get around the corner at the end of the alley just before the man turned in right where they had been standing.
"He's coming in here!" exclaimed Kinoshita. There was a dead end just ahead of them, making them feel quite like trapped fugitives.
Luckily, the man took only five or six steps into the alley. Soon, his mind apparently made up, he headed out toward the apartment house again. Takemura dashed back to the corner of the alley, reaching it in time to see the man's back disappearing through the entrance.
"He sure took a long time to make up his mind," he said.
"Who do you suppose he is?" asked Kinoshita.
They stood there at the corner of the empty street, motionless as a part of the scenery.
Tachibana knew instantly who the old man was. "You're Keijiro's..." "Yes, I'm Keiichi Noya," he replied, making a deep bow.
Keiichi looked so much like his father that Tachibana felt he was seeing Keijiro again. Even the polite manner was the same. When Tachibana commented on the resemblance, the embarrassed Keiichi quickly passed the palm of his hand across his face, another gesture of Keijiro's. Tachibana had to smile.
Clumsily preparing tea for them himself, Tachibana apologized, mentioning his wife's recent death. Keiichi was so embarrassed that he bowed almost with servility.
Their conversation began with polite superficialities, an awkward time passing before either of them managed to get to the point, both being too aware of a past that neither liked to talk about.
"I'm afraid I have a particular reason for imposing on you today," Keiichi finally began, after taking a long time over his tea.
Tachibana instinctively went on guard, but there was no escape.
"It concerns my daughter and granddaughter," said Keiichi, his eyes resolutely fixed on Tachibana, every trace of the geniality of a moment ago gone. "I would prefer that you do not speak to or go near either of them again."
"What do you mean?" said Tachibana, almost losing control. "What reason can you have for that?"
"I think you know the reason, Professor Tachibana."
"Then it's true that Katsura and Yuko are..."
"You need not continue," interrupted Keiichi, holding up his rough hands, palms outward. "Neither of them knows a thing about any of it."
"I see," said Tachibana, lowering his head meekly. "I don't know how I can ever thank you enough for what you have done."
"There is no need. It all happened such a long time ago."
"There is just one thing I would like to ask you. Do you mind?"
"No. What about?"
"About Taki."
"Oh, yes. It was a terrible shame about her. She passed away right after the war."
"I'm afraid there's no use trying to hide it. I know she's alive."
"What?" Keiichi's expression darkened, and he took a deep breath. "You do? You know?"
"Actually, I visited the Hoko Shrine shortly after the war, trying to find out about her. I was told then that she was dead, and I gave up all hope. But just recently I found out from a woman who was close to her that she was still alive after all. It was a tremendous shock to me. The woman said that the villagers had agreed among themselves to keep what had happened to Taki a secret."
"That's right. As a matter of fact, it was my mother who asked them to do it. She was dreadfully afraid, even after the war was over, that the military police might come after Taki again. That may sound ridiculous today, but everyone was frightened in those days. Just look what those bastards did to Taki! It drove her insane!"
"Yes, I found out about that, too. But I'm the one who can never be forgiven. It was I who led her into it. I should have died defending her rather than lived on with that shame."
"No, you needn't blame yourself. Taki doesn't blame you. She loves you even now. And my parents wished you well until the day they died. They were very relieved when they learned you had returned safely from the war."
"Then, you mean, they knew I had come back?" said Tachibana, astounded.
"Yes, of course."
"But why didn't they get in touch with me? My family never moved, and your parents must have known our address."
"In hindsight, perhaps they should have. But at the time, it was quite impossible. My mother felt she could not let you see Taki in the condition she was in."
&nbs
p; Tachibana was speechless. The attack that night on Taki and himself came back to him afresh. He had never been able to gloss it over. His remorse at not having defended her to the death had colored his whole life. He had spent the forty years since then running away. On the battlefield, he had run from death, but fear of his superiors had caused him to abandon his principles and fire a gun to kill enemy soldiers. Off the battlefield, he had never been able to endure the struggle for position. He had run from all worldly problems. Ever since that night he had fled a situation he had no right to flee, he had found no pride in anything. He had sought the ivory tower of the academic world as a refuge from his sorrow. His self-esteem was so low that he believed he was such a coward as to even feel relief when told that Taki was dead.
"I was demobilized in the spring of 1946," said Keiichi, averting his eyes from the sight of Tachibana's remorse. "My mother was alone in Yashiro, caring for Taki's baby, not yet a year old. My father had died shortly after the war ended. My mother said the police had beaten him horribly and released him a living corpse. Taki's madness was so uncontrollable that my mother and the Kusumotos had had to commit her. That's when my parents had her baby, Katsura, registered as theirs. So the family register makes Katsura my sister, twenty-four years younger than I. Actually, though, I raised her as my daughter. I never told her about you and Taki. Instead, I told her that I was her real father, and her mother was a beautiful woman who died when she was born. I told her that we hadn't had time to be formally married because of the war, and since there was no guarantee either that I would return alive, she had been registered as her grandparents' child, so that she would not be illegitimate in the eyes of the world. I told her she was the gem that had come out of her parents' love..."
Here, Keiichi's voice broke slightly, and Tachibana suddenly realized that he, too, must be in love with Taki.
"In 1963, a lot of things happened," continued Keiichi. "That was the year that Taki got out of the hospital, and also the year that her granddaughter Yuko was born, in March. I had told Katsura that when she got out of middle school, I would be happy to send her on to college, but she had insisted that she wanted to stay and help around the house. At the time, I had a small cleaning business near Yashiro Station, and I think she must have known that college would have been a strain on my finances. She was always such a considerate girl. Then, before I knew it, she brought home a boy she said she wanted to marry, a boy she said wanted to be adopted into the family and take the family name. He was the third son of a rich family in the neighborhood, six years older than she. If I wanted to put it vulgarly, I'd say she trapped him, but she knew exactly what she was doing. With the money his family settled on him when he married her, we started the chain of stores we've got now, and gradually expanded into a large-scale operation. Katsura must have been born with the power to see the future. Everything she does works out well. Her husband, Masao, is a fine worker—even if he is something of a social climber. We've expanded into a chain of more than ten stores that stretch all the way from Nagano City to near Ueda. With a high-sounding name, too: Hokushin (Northern Alps) Laundry. Our cleaning plant is in Kawa-nakashima, and..."
"Er," Tachibana had been listening intently, but he couldn't wait any longer. "Where is Taki now?"
"Pardon?" Keiichi's expression turned in a flash to one of embarrassment. "You mean you don't know where she is?"
"No. When I heard she had been in a mental hospital, I checked every one I could find in Nagano. But from what you say, she was released a good twenty years ago, right?"
"Yes, but..."
"Then is she living with you now?"
"How could she be? Her daughter and granddaughter don't even know she exists."
"Then where is she?"
"What will you do if I tell you?"
"Go and see her, of course."
"That would not be quite convenient."
"Not convenient!" For the first time since Keiichi's arrival, there was anger in Tachibana's tone. "What do you mean, not convenient? Is my meeting her going to cause you some kind of trouble? All I want to do is apologize for everything I've done to her."
"I understand that very well, but it would not be convenient for you to do that at the moment."
"Is it Taki who doesn't want to see me? Or is it you who don't want her to—because you're in love with her?"
"That's ridiculous!" Keiichi paled, clearly shaken by the direct challenge. "You mistake me badly. Haven't I told you that Taki still loves you? I don't believe her heart has changed or she has grown up at all in the thirty-eight years since you were last together. When she got out of the hospital, she wanted to go right back to the Hoko Shrine. You know why? To wait for you! When I tried to tell her you were dead, she just laughed and said there was no use lying to her. She wanted to go back to the place where her old family home had stood, but unfortunately the land had been sold, so she had to move into a nearby..." Keiichi stopped, realizing he had made a slip.
"So she's back in Togakushi?" said Tachibana, excited.
"Well, er, yes, but..."
"Living alone?"
"Yes, alone. On rare occasions I make a few house repairs for her, or clean something big, since that's my line, but mostly she does for herself."
"Then she isn't sick anymore, right? She's completely recovered, so I can't see why I shouldn't visit her," said Tachibana with an accusing look.
"No, she isn't really well," Keiichi said hastily, with a wave of the hand. "She may appear calm, but she sometimes says or does things that are not ordinary."
"But that's just her nature. Maybe you don't know, but she's always been like that, ever since she was a little girl. I'm sorry, but unless it's Taki herself who is trying to avoid me, I want to have a look at her just once, at least from a distance."
Keiichi sighed, knowing that continued refusal would be interpreted as being for his own personal reasons. "All right. Since you feel that strongly about it, I won't try to stop you. But I do ask that you not visit her before the beginning of September. In fact, I insist on it."
"I'll agree to that, but why?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you, but I would greatly appreciate it if you do not go near Togakushi again until then. Do you mind?"
Though Keiichi was being as polite as possible, Tachibana could see he would brook no refusal. Overpowered, Tachibana nodded assent. Only then did Keiichi relax and take another sip of tea, which by now was thoroughly cold.
"Oh, let me make some more hot tea," said Tachibana. "I'm afraid I'm not a very considerate host."
"No, no, that's all right. I've got to be going. But it must be inconvenient for you, living alone like this."
"No, actually, some things are easier. Besides, there's a neighbor who's been taking care of things around the house for me. But I'm afraid I'm not very well equipped to entertain guests. Here you've come all the way from Nagano, and I can't serve you anything but tea. Oh yes, I just had a couple of other visitors—I can't call them guests—from Nagano. Maybe you ran into them outside. A hard-faced pair, they were."
"Why yes, now that you mention it, I did. In fact, I asked them directions to your apartment. But I don't know if I'd call their faces so hard," laughed Keiichi.
"Well, maybe not their faces, but their expressions at least. They were detectives."
"Detectives?" said Keiichi with a bewildered look. "Detectives from Nagano?"
"That's right," replied Tachibana, smiling. "This was the second time they've been here."
"What would detectives be wanting with you?"
"Well, it seems I'm a suspect in a murder case. Those serial murders in Togakushi."
"What?"
"I may not look it," laughed Tachibana, but I'm a dangerous criminal. You'd better not get too close to me. Since you asked them directions to my apartment, they'll be on your tail next, I bet."
"But that's no laughing matter! What possible reason could they have for suspecting you?"
"Apparently, this fell
ow Takeda who was murdered had employed a detective agency to investigate me. They said his real name was Tokuoka, and his family had lived near the Hoko Shrine a long time ago, when I was there. I don't recall the name, but he must have recognized me. I can't imagine, though, why he would have wanted me investigated."
"You mean the name Tokuoka doesn't mean anything to you?" asked Keiichi curiously, looking hard at Tachibana.
"Not a thing! Good grief! You mean, you suspect me too?" Tachibana raised his hands in front of his face, as if to hide himself from Keiichi's gaze.
* * *
Emerging from the building, Keiichi took a seemingly casual look around him. Something moved two blocks away in the shade of a telephone pole, but he couldn't tell what it was. Out on the main street, he hailed a cab. After he had gotten in and the cab started moving, he looked back to see two men hailing another cab. Not surprised, he smiled sourly, knowing how suspicious his behavior had been, walking back and forth in front of the building like an infatuated youth.
He got to Ueno Station in plenty of time to catch Asama #11 for Nagano. Buying a luxury-car ticket, he passed through the gate. He did not need to look back to know the two detectives had gone to the ticket window right behind him to ask his destination.
On the train a little way out of Ueno, they came sauntering toward him from the front of the car. He stood up while they were still some distance away.
"Thank you for your directions," he said. "Are you headed for Nagano, too?"
They did a poor job of pretending they were just recognizing him. With nearby passengers eyeing them, they seemed slightly embarrassed.
"Mind if I join you?" said Takemura, sitting down next to him. Flashing his badge, he softly identified himself.
"Police, are you?" said Keiichi, likewise softly.
Takemura smiled pleasantly. "Actually, I'm afraid we've been following you."
"Good heavens! Why?"
"What is your connection with Professor Tachibana?"
"I have none, really. My granddaughter is a student of his. He's been very kind to her, and I just thought I'd pay him a visit to thank him."