Points And Lines

8 Hokkaido and Kyushu

When Kiichi Mihara reported to work the next morning he found the chief already at his desk.

"Good morning, sir."

"Good morning." Inspector Kasai was reading some documents. He looked up and beckoned to Mihara. "Come here a moment. Are you rested up from your trip to Kyushu?" He took a sip of tea from the extra large cup at his elbow.

"I've had two good nights' rest; I feel fine," Mihara answered with a smile.

"I'd like to give you some leave but that's not possible under the circumstances. You understand, of course."

"Of course."

"Now, about Tatsuo Yasuda." The chief started to talk business. "Have a seat." Mihara took the chair in front of the chief's desk.

"According to our investigation Yasuda seems to have close connections with X Ministry."

"Just as we thought."

"The amount of machinery he has been supplying is not very large but he seems to be on close terms with Yoshio Ishida, the division chief there."

"Division Chief Ishida?" Mihara looked up at his chief. Yoshio Ishida was an important official in the X Ministry and headed the division involved in the scandal under investigation. He was highly regarded for his intelligence and efficiency. However, the police had marked him as a suspect in the case.

"Yes, they are quite intimate, I'm told. An interesting piece of information!"

"Very!" Mihara thought of Yasuda whom he had questioned the day before. The man was obviously very clever. Those round, friendly eyes that were never still were the eyes of a shrewd businessman. Whether a person with such self-confidence could impose his will upon others Mihara could not judge, but he had certainly felt something attractive and at the same time unapproachable in Tatsuo Yasuda. Indeed, he believed such a man could probably win the confidence of someone like Ishida if he set his mind to it.

"Have we found out anything about Yasuda's relations with Sayama?" Mihara asked.

"You've been thinking about that, too. From what I gather, there seems to have been no close connection there," Kasai answered, holding the oversize cup of tea in both hands. "Of course, we can't be sure that Sayama had nothing to do with Yasuda since he was assistant chief of the section and therefore familiar with the business of that office. But our investigation so far shows nothing more than an ordinary business relationship between the two. We can find no private or personal behind-the-scenes contact between them."

"Is that so?" Mihara took the cigarette his chief offered him and lit it.

"How about investigating Yasuda for a bit?" Kasai thrust his head forward. This was a characteristic gesture when he was especially alert.

"I think it's necessary. I'd like to have a hand in it." Mihara studied the chief's face. The man's eyes were unusually bright.

"It's a question of chance or design, isn't it?" Kasai said, recalling their conversation of the day before. He was in a good mood.

"I would say design. The four-minute plot. There is little ground for believing it was simply by chance."

"You said yesterday that if we looked closely at the plot we'd uncover the purpose."

"Yes, I remember."

"Why did Yasuda want to have others besides himself see Sayama and Otoki leave together on a trip that was to end in their suicide? The fact that he arranged to have a third party there to witness the scene makes the whole episode appear to have been planned. Isn't that what you inferred?"

"Yes, and I believe it."

"Good. So do I." The chief was emphatic. "Go ahead. Start working on the case as you see it."

"I'll do my best." Mihara extinguished his cigarette and made a formal bow.

The inspector seemed reluctant to let him go. "Where do you plan to begin?" His voice was casual, but from the expression on his face it was clear he was extremely interested.

"I'll begin by checking Yasuda's movements during those three days-January 19, 20 and 21."

Kasai stared at the ceiling as if in deep thought. "Nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first. Ah, yes! Since the bodies were discovered on the morning of the twenty-first you'll want to check his movements on the two previous days. Those two days could account for the distance between Tokyo and Kyushu, I suppose."

"Yes. Do you think the twenty-second should also be included?"

"How long does it take by express from Tokyo to Hakata?"

"A little over twenty hours. By super-express, seventeen hours and twenty-five minutes. On the Asakaze, that is." "I see. About forty hours for the round trip, then." Inspector Kasai, a cigarette between the fingers of one hand, the thumb of the other slowly rubbing his eye, was deep in thought.

Mihara was ushered into the same reception room he had visited the day before. The receptionist came in with a cup of tea and asked him to wait: Yasuda was on the telephone. It was rather a long wait. Mihara, absentmindedly staring at a still life painting on the wall, was thinking what a long time a business phone call could take. When Yasuda finally entered the room he was smiling and very apologetic. "I'm very sorry to have kept you waiting." As on the previous day, Mihara felt the force of his personality.

"I must apologize for bothering you again when you're so very busy." Mihara had stood up to greet him.

"No, no. No bother at all. Do please sit down. Unfortunately I was on the telephone and I had to keep you waiting." Yasuda was perfectly composed. The smile of greeting had not left his face.

"I'm glad to see that your business keeps you so busy."

"Thank you. That long phone call, however, was not on business. I was calling my home at Kamakura."

"Ah, your wife!" Mihara remembered what Yasuda had told him about his wife's convalescence at Kamakura.

"I talked with the maid. My wife's health has been worrying me. Since I can't go to Kamakura every day, I telephone to see how she is."

"You must be very concerned."

"Thank you."

"Mr. Yasuda, I came to ask you a few more questions." Mihara tried to make it sound casual.

"What could they be?" There was no uneasiness in Yasuda's expression. He was still smiling.

"This is rather a long time ago, but were you in Tokyo from January 20 through the 22? I wish to know just for the record."

Yasuda started to laugh. "Am I suspected of something?"

"No, no. Merely for reference, I assure you."

Mihara wondered whether Yasuda was going to speak of Sayama's suicide. From the man's face he could not tell how he was taking the reference to the three days in January.

"Let me see, January 20?" Yasuda pondered for a moment then took a small notebook from the desk drawer and thumbed through it. "I know. I was in Hokkaido."

"Hokkaido?"

"In Sapporo. There's a company there, the Futaba Company, with which I do a good deal of business. That's where I was on that day. I stayed in Hokkaido four days and returned to Tokyo on the twenty-fifth." Yasuda was still looking at his notebook.

Hokkaido! Mihara stared at him vacantly. That was at the opposite end of Japan from Kyushu.

"Shall I go into detail?" He was now looking at Mihara.

"If you don't mind." Mihara automatically took out his notebook and pencil.

"I left Ueno Station, Tokyo, on the 7:15 P.M. express, the Towada Express."

"Just a moment. Were you alone?"

"Yes. On business trips I am always alone."

"Please continue."

"I arrived at Aomori the following morning at 9:09. There, the train connects with the Sei-kan ferry, leaving at 9:50. I went aboard." Yasuda had turned back to his notebook. "The ferry arrives at Hakodate at 2:20. There's a connection there with the express to Nemuro. That's the Marimo, leaving at 2:50. I arrived at Sapporo at 8:34. I was taken directly to an inn called Marusō by Mr. Kawanishi from Futaba Company, who met me at the station. That was the night of the twenty-first. I stayed there through the twenty-third, left Hokkaido for the return journey on the twenty-fourth and arrived back in Tokyo on the twenty-fifth." Mihara took down the details.

"I hope this information will be of help." Yasuda put his notebook on the desk. Again, he was smiling. "I see. Thank you very much."

"Your work must be tedious. These endless investigations…" It was said quietly. To Mihara it sounded like sarcasm.

"Please don't feel offended. These are just routine inquiries." "Of course. I'm not in the least put out. Please come back if you have any further questions."

"I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time." Yasuda saw Mihara to the door. He was still quite calm; there was no sign of uneasiness in his manner.

Before returning to the office Mihara stopped in at his favorite coffee shop in Yūraku-chō. Seated at a table, he took out his notebook, tore out a blank page and again wrote out the information Yasuda had given him:

January 20: Left Ueno 7:15 (Towada). Arr. Aomori 21st, 9:09. Left Aomori 9:50 (Sei-kan ferry). Arr. Hakodate 2:20. Left Hakodate 2:50 (Marimo). Arr. Sapporo 8:34 (met at station).

January 21-24: Marusō Inn. Left January 24.

January 25: Arr. Tokyo

The waitress serving him noticed the schedule. "Are you planning a trip to Hokkaido?" she asked. "Maybe," Mihara replied, forcing a smile. The girl seemed envious. "You are lucky. You've just been to Kyushu and now it's Hokkaido. Why, that's from the extreme west to the extreme north!"

Yes, the case had spread out and now extended from one end of Japan to the other.

Mihara returned to his office and reported to Inspector Kasai. He repeated Yasuda's story and showed him the schedule he had put in writing.

The inspector looked at it intently. "Hokkaido is a surprise! The other end of Japan!"

"Yes, quite a distance from Kyushu. Disappointing!" Mihara said it with feeling.

"Do you believe he's telling the truth?" Kasai was still looking at the schedule, elbows on the table, chin resting between his fists.

"Yasuda is no fool. He wouldn't tell a lie that could be easily found out. I'm sure he's telling the truth."

"All right. But check his statements."

"Certainly. I'll ask the police at Sapporo to question the Futaba Company representative who is supposed to have met Yasuda at the station. I'll also have them check the inn where he said he stayed."

"Right. Get that done at once."

As Mihara stood up to leave the inspector stopped him. "Just a minute. How about Yasuda's family?"

"He has a wife who has tuberculosis. She lives apart from him, at Kamakura."

"Yes, yes, you told me that yesterday. Because of the frequent trips he makes to Kamakura he probably found out about the four-minute train interval. Wasn't that the point?"

"Yes. When I called on him today I found him telephoning to Kamakura. He's anxious about his wife's health."

"I see. He's living in Tokyo alone, then?"

"He has a house in the Asagaya district. He lives there with two servants. I've already investigated."

Mihara sent a long telegram to the Central Police Station in Sapporo. There would be no reply until the following day or the day after, at the earliest. However, he was not expecting much from that source. He was sure Tatsuo Yasuda would not be telling obvious lies; he was too clever for that.

He was at a loss. Perhaps, at the back of his mind, he was still hoping for something tangible in the reply to his telegram. But a feeling akin to frustration was growing within him. Brooding over the meager facts in his possession he seized upon a new thought. Was Yasuda's wife really convalescing in Kamakura? Hadn't he better check that part of the story?

She could not possibly be involved in the case. Yet there was the matter of the four-minute interval. Yasuda learned about it because he went often to Kamakura to visit his sick wife. Mihara's suspicions were suddenly aroused. Suppose it was not his wife but someone else who lived there? He was certain Yasuda's trip to Hokkaido would be confirmed; Yasuda knew that would be checked. But regarding his wife, ill in bed, that was something people might easily believe, something so commonplace one was apt to accept it without question.

He looked in on his chief but Inspector Kasai had already left. He put a note on his desk to say that he was going to Kamakura and went out. It would be late by the time he returned.

He bought a box of cakes at a well-known store in the Tokyo Station Building. If he was going to call on Mrs. Yasuda it would look well to take a gift.

He climbed the stairs to platform 13 and got on a train that was waiting there. He looked over at platform 15. As he knew already, his own train and the one alongside at platform 14 prevented him from getting a clear view of platform 15. How very clever to have used that four-minute interval, Mihara again remarked. He was certain it was not just by chance; it must have been planned. Of course! Yasuda must have known he would be questioned and he prepared for it by providing the eyewitnesses. This was why he had other people present at the scene; Mihara was convinced of it now.

The train left the station. Many thoughts passed through his mind during the hour it took him to reach Kamakura. There was definitely something suspicious about Yasuda's movements. But what was it? The case was a simple one of double suicide. What did Yasuda gain by having these witnesses present? What was his purpose?

Moreover, Yasuda had stated that he was on his way to Hokkaido the night of the twentieth when Sayama and Otoki had committed suicide at the other end of Japan. Kyushu and Hokkaido! Kyushu and Hokkaido! They were too far apart to be in any way connected.

At Kamakura Mihara changed to the local line to Enoshima. The car was full of noisy school children on a day's outing.

He left the train at Gokuraku-ji. He was not sure of the house number but the town was small and the residences were closely clustered. If Mrs. Yasuda's house really existed it would not be difficult to find.

Mihara went to a police box and identified himself. He asked the young policeman on duty whether there was a Yasuda living in the neighborhood.

"You mean the house where the sick lady is living?"

Mihara felt strangely let down. He had vaguely hoped to catch Yasuda in a lie.

Since he had come this far he decided to see it through. He walked in the direction the policeman had indicated, carrying the box of cakes. It was a quiet residential neighborhood. A few of the houses had thatched roofs. A small hill rose abruptly to one side; on the other, over the top of some garden shrubbery, he caught a glimpse of the sea.