Seichō Matsumoto - Points And Lines

As he walked down the street Mihara was thinking: Yasuda knows about the four-minute interval. He goes to Kamakura often so he must have noticed it. Well, anyway, it could be…

Returning to the office, Mihara went to see his supervisor, Inspector Kasai. It was not to report. He wanted to see him to talk about the four-minute interval. He mentioned the interview with Tatsuo Yasuda almost as an afterthought.

Inspector Kasai showed immediate interest. "Why, that's most interesting," he exclaimed. "Can it be possible? It hadn't occurred to me."

Mihara took from his pocket the diagram he had made of the arrival and departure of trains from platforms 13, 14 and 15 between 5:57 and 6:01. Kasai studied it intently.

"I see. I see it quite clearly. How very clever!"

The inspector looked up at Mihara and congratulated him. Mihara accepted the praise, but in his heart he knew he owed the discovery to the hint he had received from Torigai. The credit really belonged to that little old man.

"The real question is whether Yasuda and the other eyewitnesses on the platform during those four minutes were there by accident or by prearrangement." He asked Mihara to restate the facts and while he spoke Kasai quickly jotted down the important points:

Yasuda had invited the two waitresses from the Koyuki to dinner the day before. This was in order to have them accompany him to Tokyo Station;

He kept looking at his watch even while they were still at dinner;

He arrived at platform 13 in time for the four minutes in question;

It was Yasuda who saw Sayama and Otoki board the Asakaze and who pointed them out to the waitresses.

When the inspector finished writing he tapped his cheek with the pencil like a schoolboy and looked at the paper. "Good!" he exclaimed after studying it a while. "It could not be accidental. It was definitely planned."

Mihara caught his alert glance. "If it was planned, then the case is very serious."

"Very serious." Kasai was thinking, his eyes closed. Suddenly, he called loudly for one of the detectives. "Tatsuo Yasuda is a manufacturer of machinery. I want you to find how deeply involved he is with the X Ministry." The detective took down the name and other details in his notebook and left.

"Let's see, now." The inspector looked over what he had written as if to study it once again. "If Yasuda did plan this, then the next question is for what reason." He took out a cigarette and lit it. "When there's a plot, it's generally for the purpose of gain. Now what would Yasuda gain by having witnesses present when Sayama and Otoki boarded the super-express to Hakata?"

"He needed a third person to witness the scene," Mihara suggested after some thought.

"A third person?"

"Yes. It wouldn't do for Yasuda to witness the scene alone. He had to have someone else see it too."

"Then Yasuda himself was not the third person?"

"That's right." Mihara wanted to add, "Isn't it obvious?"

The inspector was deep in thought. "Good. Let's work on it," he said finally. "Sayama and Otoki committed suicide near Hakata. They left Tokyo together on the super-express. Yasuda had the two girls watch them board the train together in order to have some other witnesses. Strange!"

Mihara knew what the inspector meant by strange. There was no apparent point in producing witnesses to the departure of two people bound on a suicidal journey. As for Yasuda, what part had he played in the love suicide? It was a puzzling question for Mihara also.

"Yes, there is something very suspect here."

"There is indeed." The inspector nodded in agreement.

"When we put together all the facts they add up to a plot by Yasuda. Yet there is no apparent purpose. There can't be a plot without a purpose and for the moment we don't know of any. But I'm sure if we pursue the case we'll be able to find one."

Inspector Kasai kept nodding his approval. Both men were aroused.

"Can you understand why Yasuda purposely chose those four minutes that would let the girls see the super-express on platform 15 from platform 13? If it were merely to have them observe the scene, why couldn't they have gone directly to platform 15?" The inspector posed the questions as though he were giving Mihara a test.

"That I can understand. Platform 15 is exclusively for long-distance trains; it would look too deliberate. It would be more natural to say that he had to go to Kamakura and have them witness the scene from platform 13. The reason why he took such pains over those particular four minutes was to make it look natural."

The inspector smiled. It meant that he was in agreement. "By the way, we've received a report from the conductor who was on the Asakaze on January 14."

"What?" Mihara leaned forward in his seat.

"Unfortunately, the conductor doesn't recall the vacant seat. He says he can't remember; it happened so long ago. A stupid young man! If he had remembered, we would know where Otoki left the train."

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.