‘What do you think? Is this what Reiko was trying to show you?’
I sifted the evidence, trying to reconcile the face in all the photographs with the fleeting figure I kept seeing in mirrors. ‘How can I know?’
‘One thing’s for sure. This girl could drive men half-mad.’
It was true. I’d never seen her in life, but I was still unable to get her out of my head. If that was the effect she had in death, imagine what it must have been like in life. Here in Kenji’s drawer was evidence of an extraordinary power over people. And it hadn’t just been Kenji. There was Odagiri-san, Shirakami-san and, according to Aya, several other mature, responsible teachers.
Had this apparition really been pointing to the desk, guiding us to Kenji’s secret stash? After all, the desk was the only logical place to keep something like that. We knew already that he’d been madly in love with her and it was hardly unusual for love-struck teenagers to keep some kind of evidence of their infatuation.
‘We should put this back,’ I said, stuffing the photographs back in the folder. ‘Imagine how mortified the poor lad would be if he knew we’d had this out.’
‘You don’t think he could’ve done anything, do you?’ Sarah asked, a little hesitantly. ‘I know he was only a young lad, but you don’t really think he could have anything to do with it?’
‘He was just a teenager in love. No different to everyone else.’ I tied the ribbon and took the folder back to the drawer to lock it away again.
She sat on the bed chewing her nails. ‘It’s a frightening thing, isn’t it? Someone was responsible for killing those kids and they’re just walking around, going about their business. Someone is carrying that burden around. How do they manage to live with that? How can they go around doing ordinary things, when they know they’ve done something so completely evil? How can they live like that?’
‘Because they’re insane. That’s why.’
She shivered. ‘It hurts my head to think of it. It hurts.’
I sat down on the bed next to her and, feeling bold, slipped my arm round her waist. She laid her head on my shoulder and for a long time we sat there, holding each other, drawing mutual comfort and support. I suddenly felt stronger than I had done all week, ready to meet any obstacle, to fight any battle and to slay whatever beast hell could throw at me.
23. ANOTHER DREAM
In a dream I awoke to a strange sound from deep within the house. I sat up, taking stock of my surroundings. A solitary shaft of moonlight cut the floor like a knife, illuminating the sterile landscape of the room. By my side Sarah slept soundly, her hair dark upon the pillow and her naked breast stained silver by the moon.
I didn’t know what the sound was or where it had come from, but something drove me to explore. I slipped out of bed carefully, so as not to wake Sarah, and tiptoed slowly across the room, passing in and out of the shaft of light. I opened the door and entered a long corridor, with doors leading off on either side. At the end were the stairs, bathed in silvery light from a high window. As I made my way forwards, I noticed that my footsteps made no sound. Passing the room where Mr and Mrs Azuma slept, I heard their heavy breathing from within.
I headed down the stairs, out of the light and into darkness. I still didn’t know where I was going, but my feet led me past the front door and into the sitting room where the porcelain dolls and ancestral spirits watched my passage with indifference. I continued through the kitchen and into the utility area where the racks of clothes were hanging out to dry.
Suddenly I realized where I was going. I paused at the entrance to that dark corridor, filled with a terrible fear of what lay in wait at the other end. I saw light seeping out underneath the frame of the door and, slowly, fearfully, I edged towards it, feeling my way along.
The door responded to my touch, opening with a painful creak, like every door in every horror film I’d ever seen, and I stepped in. The freezer room was larger than I remembered it and my eyes took in five large chest freezers lining the walls. All of these were open, flooding the room with light.
I stood there, feeling the chill in the air. Why had they all been left open? How could Mrs Azuma have been so careless?
I moved forward into the room, thinking I should close the lids to the freezers. Then I saw her.
I knew straight away it was Reiko, lying full stretch, her eyes closed and her face deathly white, her arms folded over her chest: a freezer for a coffin. There was a delicate frost on her face and lips, but the blue of her uniform and the red of her ribbon stood out bold against the white walls of the box.
Without emotion I turned from the box and stepped over to look at each of the other freezers in turn.
There they were. Each of the other students: Kanae, Jun, Saori, Hideki, dressed as they were in life, in their standard-issue school uniforms, lying in state with their arms folded over their chests, their faces frosted over.
I stumbled back towards the door, a scream forming on my lips. The horror of the scene threatened to overwhelm me and I reached for the wall to support me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw something move.
‘Please,’ I said under my breath, appealing for clemency.
There was a stirring from Reiko’s coffin and I saw her raise herself slowly to a sitting position, the back of her head white with frost.
‘Please,’ I said again, appealing to her. ‘Please don’t.’
Slowly she twisted her frozen torso towards me and turned her face to look straight at me. And while her forehead was dusted with frost, her eyes were filled with fire.
‘What do you want?’ I stammered, stepping backwards. ‘What do you want of me?’
She didn’t answer. She just looked at me with the same blank expression. And then the expression on her face changed and a half-smile began to form on her frosty lips. And in that smile I saw all the poison and contempt in the world. For the first time in my life I caught a glimpse of hell.
And this time I did scream.
Sarah was shaking me awake.
‘James! James!’
Coming to my senses and realizing where I was, I clutched her for support.
‘James, are you all right?’
I stared round the room with wild eyes, taking stock of everything around me. I didn’t know how I’d got from the freezer room to the bedroom, but I did know I’d been down there. I could still feel the chill in my bones.
‘She’s in the freezer,’ I said with finality.
Sarah lifted me up and put her arms round me for support.
‘I saw her downstairs. I saw them all. In the room with the freezers. Reiko was there. She sat up and looked at me.’
I stared into the room, at the shaft of light cutting across the floor, which I had walked through in my dream. I recalled every detail from leaving the room, to the journey into the dark bowels of the house and the freezer room. And I had an absolute conviction that if I were to walk down right now, Sarah at my side, I would find exactly what I’d found in my dream. I would find Reiko.
Reiko was close. That much I knew. Reiko was within touching distance. And come morning, I needed to board that train and leave Izumi far behind. I needed to leave and never come back, because if I didn’t, I was certain I would die. And if the train didn’t arrive, I would leave Izumi on foot. I would crawl on my hands and knees if I had to, but I needed to get out.
24. ODAGIRI-SAN
We woke to the sound of heavy rain outside. How I’d managed to sleep through till dawn, I don’t know. Perhaps it was Sarah’s protective embrace that helped me find peace after such a horrible dream. I felt shaken, but determined. I had seen things in Izumi that I never wanted to relive, but it was now time to leave. I would put it all behind me and resume my life. Whatever secrets the village harboured and whatever I had witnessed, it would all be past history. It had been a doomed expedition from the start. I should have learned from Charlie’s tragic mistake and stayed in Osaka and hung out with Josh.
As we dressed I thought again of my conflicting emotions. There was real relief at leaving Izumi and its dark secrets behind, but also sadness at the thought of leaving Sarah. There had been no passion between us, but she had held me close to her all through the long night. Neither of us said anything about what would happen, about coming to visit me in Osaka, about somehow keeping the flame alive.
‘You made it,’ Sarah said, as we stepped out of the bedroom for the last time. ‘You made it through safely.’
‘I suppose I did.’
I forced a smile, but I still felt the chill grip of the dream. I had tried explaining it to Sarah during the night, but I didn’t know if my descriptive powers had done it justice. I’d had many vivid dreams over the past few days, but none as vivid as that one.
Mrs Azuma seemed in exceptionally good spirits when we appeared for breakfast. She proclaimed herself to be a morning person, which was an ominous sign in itself. She bustled around preparing breakfast, eager to know whether I’d slept well on my last night in Izumi. I told her I’d slept very well, thank you very much, which seemed to be the right thing to say. She said I needed feeding up before my journey and slapped a huge portion of bacon and eggs in front of me. My stomach still felt leaden from the previous night and it was with a heavy heart that I tucked in.
As I sat there, force-feeding myself fried eggs, I thought again of the freezer room and the bodies lying in their icy coffins, still wearing their uniforms, with their hands folded across their chests. Then I thought of Reiko standing by Kenji’s desk, pointing to the secret red folder documenting his obsession. Watching Mrs Azuma beetling around in her inimitable way, I wondered how much she had known of her son’s feelings. But it wasn’t something I was ever likely to know. Later that morning I would be leaving Izumi, never to return. Never again to receive Mrs Azuma’s fine hospitality.
It took a lot of perseverance to stop Mrs Azuma from accompanying us to the station. I needed the time alone with Sarah to say my ‘goodbyes’ and, more importantly, gauge whether she ever wanted to see me again. Mrs Azuma had set me up with a lunchbox, which she packed into my bag, even though the breakfast had probably done me for the day. Then as I was bowing deeply and humbly and thanking her for everything, she suddenly remembered something and began rummaging around in the drawer of a side cabinet. She pulled out a photograph and pressed it into my hand.
‘A souvenir of Izumi,’ she said.
The picture showed a group of high school students in their school uniforms sitting round the table in the Azuma sitting room.
‘This is Kenji,’ she said proudly, pointing to a glum youth with a bowl haircut. I realized this was the first time I’d seen a photograph of the lad. Since he was the cameraman in the school video, I’d only ever seen the world from his point of view. I was about to say what a nice young man he looked when I realized who the other students were. Kanae, Jun, Saori and Hideki sitting round the table with a spread of food in front of them. All of them, including Kenji, looked at the camera without enthusiasm, as though they’d all rather have been somewhere else.
‘This was taken just after Reiko disappeared,’ Mrs Azuma added. ‘I invited them round for dinner to comfort them.’
I wasn’t sure what to say. Why was she showing me this photograph now?
‘It’s a terrible thing,’ she said finally.
We stood there at the door to Mrs Azuma’s house, looking at the picture in silence, as though out of respect for the dead students. I didn’t know if I was meant to be moved that her son was the only one in the photograph still alive. I didn’t even know if I was expected to comment on the photograph or keep it. I just stood there patiently waiting for some sign.
We arrived at the station more than an hour before the train was due to leave. Sarah had suggested one last tour of the town, but somehow the station seemed the safest option. The rain was falling steadily and I was happy to sit in the little shelter and wait. There seemed less chance of bumping into wandering spirits there amidst the cigarette stubs and graffiti.
But if I thought that nothing more would happen to unbalance my equilibrium, I was mistaken. As we approached the small waiting room on the platform we saw a solitary figure sitting there, hunched in a raincoat.
It wasn’t until we entered the room that we realized it was Odagiri-san.
‘Hello,’ he said, as if he’d been expecting us.
‘Hello,’ Sarah said, with impressive composure. ‘Are you waiting for a train?’
Odagiri-san got up with a heavy sigh, walked over to the window and looked out. ‘No,’ he said firmly.
This was a conversation stopper and Sarah and I looked at each other for help. We took the easiest course of action, which was to go over to the bench and sit down, as we’d planned to do all along. On the wall opposite the bench was an old police poster featuring mugshots of wanted criminals, photographs too blurred to be of any use. I wondered who they were and what dark crimes they were wanted for. What if one of those blurred faces was Odagiri-san or someone else we’d met in Izumi?
‘I expect Azuma-san has told you many stories,’ Odagiri-san said suddenly, not turning from the window.
Again, Sarah and I could only look at one another and wonder where he was going with this.
‘I expect she told you some stories about her sons, about the school, about the tragedy that happened there.’ This time he turned to look straight at us.
We both nodded in unison, unable to speak. Odagiri-san had come with a clear agenda.
‘What has she said to you?’
‘I don’t understand,’ Sarah said, feeling her host mother’s integrity was being questioned. ‘Why is it important?’
Odagiri-san sat down opposite us and leaned forward, choosing his words carefully. ‘It’s very important. Maybe you don’t understand the position of the Azuma family in Izumi. It is a very old family. A samurai family, which in the past ruled over Izumi. She thinks of herself as an aristocrat. She feels superior to other people in Izumi.’
Sarah raised her voice, unwilling to let this pass. ‘I don’t know why you’re telling me this, because I’m not interested.’
Odagiri-san shook his head. ‘You don’t understand.’
‘What don’t I understand? Mrs Azuma has been kind to me from the day I arrived. She’s helped me out with everything. She put me up in her house, she showed me around, she made me feel welcome, made me feel at home. She didn’t have to do any of that. I don’t care what you think of her.’
Odagiri-san weighed up Sarah’s words and looked away. At least his speech confirmed that he’d appeared at Mrs Azuma’s house the previous evening out of a sense of duty towards one of the village elders. And it also explained his surly attitude over dinner. And all along I’d thought it was me he didn’t like.
‘Why did you come here?’ I asked.
Odagiri-san looked at me, a little more conciliatory now. ‘I came to defend my name.’
‘Your name? From what?’
He sighed and looked at the ground, wringing his hands together nervously. ‘After the tragedy involving my students, some people in the village suspected me, suspected that I had some involvement. There were a lot of rumours and I suffered a lot. Maybe I should have left Izumi, but it is my home now and I won’t be chased out. Not by Azuma-san. Not by anyone.’
‘You blame her?’
‘She started rumours about me. I know that she told the police. I know that she told many people.’
‘Why?’ Sarah asked, adopting a more conciliatory approach herself.
Odagiri-san got to his feet abruptly, his nervous energy palpable, his emotion breaking through the impassive exterior. He turned towards the window again and looked out at the rain pelting against the glass. ‘You must understand that Azuma-san is very ambitious for her sons.’
‘That’s not so unusual,’ Sarah said.
Odagiri-san shook his head. ‘I was their homeroom teacher. I taught them both and I knew them well. Osamu was a
strong student, but a very unhappy boy. He couldn’t wait to leave Izumi and go to Tokyo. Kenji though was a weak student and Azuma-san couldn’t accept this. She blamed me for his performance.’
Given all we’d heard about her two golden boys over the past few days, it was strange to hear them described in this way by their teacher. I thought of the row of certificates on the wall, of their mother’s pride at their achievements. Was it so wrong, I wondered, to boast about your sons’ achievements, even if Kenji wasn’t setting the world alight? What was Mrs Azuma supposed to do? Bemoan his failures? Pretend he didn’t exist? Wish he’d never been born?
‘She couldn’t accept that Kenji was getting bad grades. She came to me frequently and told me I wasn’t doing my job. I should pay more attention to him and then he would start getting better grades…’
Sarah stopped him in his stride. ‘Why do you care what we think?’
‘I want you to know I had nothing to do with what happened four years ago.’
‘No one said you did. And it’s normal for a mother to care about her son’s education.’
Odagiri-san folded his arms. ‘She doesn’t care about their education. She only cares about her reputation. If they get good grades at school, it reflects well on her. If they get bad grades, it reflects badly. And Kenji always got bad grades.’
I was still no nearer to understanding where this was heading or why he had apprehended us here. He seemed to be on a personal mission to discredit the Azuma family in return for the suspicions Mrs Azuma had raised against him. That he could accept an invitation to dine with her at the same time seemed remarkable to me. It was a fascinating insight into Japanese village politics.
Odagiri-san appeared to sense our scepticism and sat down with a heavy sigh, while the rain began to beat even more furiously at the window.
Reiko Page 19