A Midsummer's Equation: A Detective Galileo Mystery

by Keigo Higashino

  “He said he didn’t mind. And I’ll carry out my own food.”

  “Well, I guess it would be okay.”

  She’d heard the two had been out somewhere playing together most of the day, and they both had bad sunburns to prove it.

  She’d just finished putting out Yukawa’s trays when he showed up with a plastic bag filled with fireworks.

  “Looks delicious,” he said, looking at the cold vegetables with shrimp. He sat down at the table.

  “I’m sorry we don’t have more to offer.”

  “Don’t be silly. I’m starting to think I might need to go on a diet after this trip.” The physicist smiled.

  Kyohei arrived, carrying his own tray with some egg over a ball of rice. He carefully set it down on the table across from Yukawa.

  “That looks pretty good too,” the physicist remarked.

  The front desk buzzer sounded, so Narumi said, “Enjoy your meal,” and excused herself.

  Nishiguchi was in the lobby. He raised a hand in greeting, though he didn’t smile.

  “Something more about Mr. Tsukahara?” Narumi asked.

  “Something I need your help with, actually,” Nishiguchi said, licking his lips before continuing. “I was hoping I could look inside the building a bit?”

  “You want to see Mr. Tsukahara’s room?”

  “Er, no, actually, the entire building.”

  “What for?” Narumi asked, a wrinkle forming between her eyebrows.

  Nishiguchi grimaced and glanced outside. Her eyes followed him out to the front and she stiffened. There was a line of men outside in dark blue police uniforms.

  “Who are they?” she asked, her voice a little quieter.

  “The forensics team from the prefectural police. I’m sorry, I can’t go into any more detail about this. If now doesn’t work, I can’t force you to let us in, but we’d just be back later with a warrant. But if we could just get this finished with now…”

  Nishiguchi was clearly uncomfortable. Narumi gave him another look, then said, “I’ll go talk to my parents. Hang on.” She disappeared into the back.

  Shigehiro and Setsuko were just sitting down to dinner in the living room. Their chopsticks stopped in midair when Narumi told them what was going on.

  “What’s left to see? Weren’t they all over the place yesterday?” Shigehiro asked, disgruntled.

  “He won’t tell me. What should I say?”

  Shigehiro looked at his wife, then got to his feet.

  “I’ll go too,” Setsuko said, and so the three of them went back out front to talk to the detective.

  Back in the lobby, several of the officers had come inside. They were all wearing their hats and carrying bags of various equipment.

  Shigehiro asked for an explanation, and Nishiguchi said more or less exactly what he had just told Narumi moments before. The other men were already looking around, scanning every visible inch with their eyes.

  “Might you be more specific about where you want to look? I’m just worried about disturbing our guest,” Shigehiro said.

  One of the men in the hats took a step forward. “We’d like to see the kitchen first, if possible.”

  “The kitchen’s back there,” Shigehiro said, pointing past the counter. The man nodded and began taking off his shoes. Immediately, the others stepped in beside him and took off their shoes. A few went into the kitchen, and Setsuko followed after them.

  Another of the men from forensics looked between Shigehiro and Narumi. “Can I see the boiler room?”

  “That’s downstairs,” Shigehiro said, walking ahead with his cane. “This way.” He went behind the counter and opened the door to the stairs.

  Another man approached Narumi. “Mind showing me the room the victim was staying in?”

  Narumi nodded and fetched the key from behind the counter.

  NINETEEN

  “There are essentially two kinds of fireworks, but while they operate by the same basic principles, the method of propulsion is slightly different. The first, called an aerial shell, works a bit like a cannon. For example, take that straw.” Yukawa paused here to point at the straw in Kyohei’s glass of cola. “If you stuck a wad of tissue paper into one end of that straw and blew on the other, the wad of paper would go flying in the opposite direction, correct? With aerial shells, you place them onto a mortar tube launch pad, then stick a lifting charge underneath. The force and the gas pressure from the lifting charge is what sends the firework up into the sky. With the second type, a skyrocket, the rocket itself explodes, sending a spray of sparks beneath it, vaulting it into the air. It’s just like the water rocket, except with gunpowder in place of water and air pressure.”

  Yukawa ate while he spoke, barely pausing for bites. The smoothness with which he was able to give his explanation even while swallowing impressed Kyohei more than what he was actually saying.

  “So the fireworks you brought are skyrockets, not the aerial things?”

  “Shells, yes. Real aerial shells aren’t purchasable without a license, and you need to be a registered pyrotechnician to get one of those.”

  They had stopped by the convenience store on the way back from the ocean to buy the stash of fireworks. It hadn’t been Kyohei’s idea—he had only mentioned setting them off with his uncle the night before.

  Kyohei had just finished his rice and was drinking his cola when one of the doors to the dining room opened and a man wearing a blue uniform and a hat poked his head in.

  “Oh! Excuse me,” he said, immediately leaving and closing the door behind him.

  Kyohei blinked. “Who do you think that was?”

  “With that uniform, he’s in forensics. They must be back to do more investigating,” Yukawa said.

  A few moments later, Narumi came with some tea. She apologized to Yukawa for the intrusion.

  “Any idea what they’re looking for?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure, but they seem interested in anything that can generate heat.”

  “Such as?”

  “Well, they wanted to make sure that all the burners in the kitchen worked, things like that.”

  “That’s odd. I fail to see the connection with an accident down by the ocean.”

  “Well, the police say it’s related, but they won’t tell me more than that.”

  Yukawa sipped his tea and said only, “That is how they operate.”

  * * *

  They left the dining room after dinner and ran into several men dressed like the one before, wandering around the halls of the inn. Kyohei and Yukawa were stepping out the front door when the doorway to the basement stairs opened and Shigehiro appeared. “More fireworks?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Mind if we borrow your bucket?”

  “Not at all,” Shigehiro said, his eyes going to the plastic bag in Yukawa’s hands. “Looks like you got some shells in there,” he said.

  “Technically they’re skyrockets—I hope it’s okay?”

  Shigehiro grinned a little sheepishly and scratched his bald head. “Well, we got away with it last night, but really, the fire department only wants you to set off fireworks right by the ocean. Guess they’re worried about brushfires. Normally I wouldn’t give it a second thought, but with our guests tonight…”

  “I understand completely,” Yukawa said. “Wouldn’t want any flying into the inn by mistake. We’ll hold off on the skyrockets tonight,” Yukawa said. Kyohei nodded.

  They stepped outside and went around to the back of the inn where there was a small clearing between the building and the woods.

  Kyohei was about to light a sparkler, but Yukawa stopped him. “Can you explain the basic principle of how fireworks work?”

  “Well, it’s just gunpowder stuck on a stick, right?”

  “If it were, it would explode as soon as you lit it.” Yukawa pulled something white from his pocket—a ball of cotton, which he placed on the ground. From his other pocket, he took a nail and some sandpaper. He began sanding the nail above the ball
of cotton, so that little black specks of metal began to accumulate below.

  “Now we light it,” Yukawa said, touching the flame of a disposable lighter to the ball.

  The ball caught flame immediately, sending up tiny sparks. Kyohei shouted with surprise.

  “Even metal that doesn’t normally burn will ignite under the proper conditions. Fireworks are essentially metal, several kinds mixed together.”

  “Why do they use different kinds?”

  “Good question. Let’s try lighting one of the sparklers,” Yukawa said, holding out his lighter.

  Kyohei lit the sparkler in his hand and watched as multicolored sparks began to fly from the tip. As the sparkler burned, the color of the sparks changed.

  “The blue sparks are copper, green is barium. Red sparks are strontium, and yellow are sodium. All metals. As you can see, each metal and metallic compound gives off a distinct color when it burns. This is called a flame reaction,” Yukawa explained, his quiet voice at odds with the noisily burning sparkler. “Fireworks use this effect to—” Yukawa’s voice trailed off as his eyes went upward.

  Two forensics officers were coming down the fire escape on the backside of the inn. They looked in Kyohei and Yukawa’s direction and nodded their heads.

  “I wonder where they were. I didn’t see them until just now.”

  “Probably up on the roof. There’s a chimney up there.”

  “Oh?” said Yukawa, raising an eyebrow.

  One of the men, the one wearing glasses, walked over to them.

  “Sorry to interrupt you. You’re the guest staying here?” he asked Yukawa.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “I was wondering if I could have a few words,” he said, pulling something out of his breast pocket.

  “You don’t need to show me your badge, I know you’re a police officer. How can I help?” Yukawa asked.

  “You’ve been staying here for the past two days?”

  “That’s correct. I checked in the night before last.”

  “Right. Has anything unusual happened during your stay at the inn?”

  Yukawa made a face as though he didn’t understand the question. “If you mean what happened with the guest falling on the rocks, I did hear about that.”

  “Not that, I meant anything unusual happening in the inn itself. Did you experience any strange physical sensations, smell any odd smells. Anything like that?”

  “Sensations? Smells?” Yukawa shook his head. “I can’t say I noticed either of those, sorry.”

  “I see. Thanks for your time,” the man said, turning to walk away.

  “Aren’t you going to talk to him?” Yukawa said. The men turned and saw Yukawa pointing at Kyohei.

  “Er, right,” the man said, looking a little bewildered. He took a step toward Kyohei. “How about you? Did you notice anything strange?”

  Kyohei shook his head without saying anything.

  The man nodded, bowed curtly to Yukawa, and left.

  Yukawa looked back up at the inn for a moment, then turned back to Kyohei. “Where was I?”

  “You just told me why fireworks change color.”

  “Right. Let’s discuss the physics of the black snake firework, then,” Yukawa said, reaching back into his bag.

  TWENTY

  It was a little after eight o’clock when Narumi got to the bar. Sawamura was already waiting for her, his laptop on the table in front of him.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said, sitting down.

  “No worries. The police still there?”

  “They only just left.”

  “What are they looking for, anyway?” Sawamura asked with a frown.

  Narumi gave him the same explanation she had given Yukawa.

  Sawamura’s frown deepened. “But why? Didn’t he fall off the seawall and hit his head? Doesn’t seem like that would require a whole lot of investigation.”

  All Narumi could do was shrug.

  “I’m just as confused as anyone, really,” she said. “Still, I have a feeling things will just blow over.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Well, it wasn’t meant for my ears, but—”

  Narumi had just collected Yukawa’s tray from dinner and was heading back to the kitchen when she overheard several men inside talking. She couldn’t hear everything they said, but the general consensus appeared to be that there was nothing out of order in the inn whatsoever. As the police made to leave, Nishiguchi had whispered in her ear, “Hopefully we’ve put this thing to rest for good.”

  Sawamura gave a sigh of relief, even as he shook his head and muttered, “Who knows what the police are thinking? I sure don’t.”

  They began going over their notes from the hearing the other day, but neither of them was able to put their heads into the work. Eventually, Sawamura said, “Let’s call it a day,” and closed his computer. “What do you do at your place once the summer is over, anyway?” he asked. “I know a lot of the inns close for the season.”

  Narumi told him that her parents were considering shutting down for good, and he didn’t seem surprised.

  “Times are tough, huh. Now what are you going to do for work?”

  “I’ll find something. I figured I’d have to search for a job come fall at any rate.”

  “I have an idea,” Sawamura said, a serious look in his eyes. “How about working as my assistant?”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “Well, my writing gig keeps me on the road a lot, but my position with Save the Cove means I also need to be near my base of operations to keep in contact with everyone. Basically, I need someone to hold down the fort when I’m out. I’m thinking I’ll convert a part of my house to an office, and if you could come work there, it’d be a big help. I should be able to pay you enough to make it worth your while.”

  Narumi’s eyes dropped to the table. She hesitated, uncertain what to say. It wasn’t a bad offer. In fact, she was immensely grateful. She wouldn’t have to leave town, and she could devote herself to protecting the ocean. But she was worried about what might be behind the offer.

  “Well? What do you think?” Sawamura asked with a smile. “I know I’ve said this before, but I think you and I could be great partners. An unbeatable duo!”

  Narumi smiled but her eyes wandered.

  Sawamura had a way of keeping things vague. When he talked about partners, did he really mean just work partners, or was there a more personal agenda as well? It was hard to tell. No, he made it hard to tell.

  They’d only been working together for a short while before she had sensed a personal interest from him. She’d pretended not to notice. She respected him as a journalist and an activist, but she just couldn’t see him as a romantic partner.

  Time had passed, and Sawamura had begun saying things that, depending on how you interpreted them, could be taken as a kind of confession of his interest in her. Maybe he thought that by dropping little hints, he could get her to start thinking of him not just as a friend, but as a man.

  “I’ll have to think about it,” she said.

  “Of course, take your time.”

  He smiled, but Narumi could feel the added weight in the air.

  * * *

  Back at the inn, she found Yukawa pacing in the lobby. He was carrying a bottle of red wine in his hand.

  “Ah, you’ve come at the perfect time,” he said. “I was hoping I could borrow a bottle opener.”

  “Where’d you get the wine?”

  “I had it sent from the university. Looks like I’ll be here a bit longer.”

  That explained the box with the FRAGILE sticker she had seen in his room.

  She returned with a bottle opener from the kitchen and handed it to him.

  “Care to join me?” he invited her.

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Good wine loves good company.”

  Narumi went back to the kitchen and took two of the few wineglasses they had down from the shelf.

  They sat do
wn at the table in the lobby and toasted each other. She took a sip, detecting an oaky fragrance as the flavor spread through her mouth. She swallowed, leaving only a faint, pleasant sweetness on her tongue that made her want to take another sip.

  The label on the bottle read “Sadoya”—a winery in Yamanashi, Yukawa informed her.

  “I didn’t think any Japanese wine tasted this good,” Narumi said.

  “Japanese people are oddly uninformed about what is good about Japan,” Yukawa said, swishing the wine around in his glass. “There are a lot of people out in the countryside doing their darndest to make amazing things, but no one notices. Tokyoites write off this wine as ‘too local’ without even tasting it. Much like you’ve devoted your life to protecting Hari Cove, when an outsider might say why bother when there are plenty of other beautiful coastlines around?”

  “So what we’re doing here doesn’t mean anything? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Not at all. To the contrary, it’s quite important, and should be recognized as such. In fact, just today at noon Kyohei and I saw the sight that gives Hari Cove its name. The sparkling formations on the seafloor—it was remarkably beautiful.”

  Yukawa’s words sounded heartfelt. Narumi made another mental mark in his favor.

  The phone behind the counter began to ring. Narumi stood up, glancing at the clock. It was almost ten at night. They rarely received calls this late.

  “Hello, Green Rock Inn.”

  “Sorry to call so late,” said a man on the other end of the line. “I was hoping I could talk with one of your guests, by the name of Yukawa? Tell him it’s Kusanagi.”

  TWENTY-ONE

  “So we’ve concluded that none of the heating or cooking appliances present at the Green Rock Inn were malfunctioning. Though everything we saw had been in operation for some time, some of them more than twenty years, we found nothing out of order. A thorough search of Masatsugu Tsukahara’s room also revealed no traces of anything having been burned, such as charcoal briquettes, making the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning slight in the extreme.”

  The man dispassionately giving his report on the team’s findings was the chief forensics officer from the prefectural police. Nishiguchi sat in the corner of the conference room, rubbing a hand over his chest. He had been too worried to sleep much the night before. Though he had been with the forensics team at the inn until nearly eight, they hadn’t told him anything, leaving him to infer everything from their tone of voice. Not that anything they said made him think they’d found a problem. His main cause for worry was that he had stupidly confided this to Narumi, which meant he had to spend the entire morning worrying that something might actually come up.