Seichō Matsumoto - Points And Lines

I wonder what part was played by the woman who accompanied Yasuda. If Yasuda was involved in the double suicide he would need a woman accomplice; he could not execute his plan without her help. Now, what was his plan? After I received your letter I went to Kashii Beach once again. I chose to go late at night. It was pleasantly cool, very different from the temperature at the time of the incident. Probably tempted by the weather, several couples were strolling along the beach. The lights of the town were faint in the distance and the couples were mere shadows. An ideal spot for young lovers, I decided. What I want to say is that our two couples, Sayama and Otoki and Yasuda and his woman companion, on the night of January 20 were also mere shadows, moving along the beach like the couples of today. And I also want to point out that it is very dark at that spot, so dark that at a distance of six or seven meters the couples cannot see each other.

I regret that I have nothing more to contribute at this time. I have some vague opinions, but they would be of no help to you.

Let me now refer to your question concerning the inn where Yasuda stayed the night of the twenty-first. I have done all I could but so far I have been unable to identify it. It happened several months ago, many people register under false names and some inns do not even keep a register. I shall continue to check, of course, but I hold out little hope of finding it.

Until recently I believed that the woman who telephoned Sayama the night of the twentieth was Otoki, but could it not have been the woman who accompanied Yasuda? This is just an idea, of course; I have no evidence. But it occurs to me that if Yasuda had had previous contacts with Sayama and knew he would register at the inn under the name of Sugawara, it would be simple to have his companion ask for Mr. Sugawara when she telephoned. It did not have to be Otoki.

And, if we carry this assumption a little further, the person for whom Sayama waited all week at the inn in Hakata need not have been Otoki, with whom he committed suicide, but this mysterious woman. If this is the case, then we can understand why Otoki did not travel with Sayama all the way to Hakata but got off either at Atami or Shizuoka. Isn't it possible that Otoki's part in the tragedy was simply to get on the train with Sayama at Tokyo Station and travel a short distance with him? This possibility answers the question why Yasuda wanted to have someone else observe Sayama and Otoki entering the train together. Perhaps he wanted the witnesses to see these two start off together gaily, like lovers. Why? I don't know. I have no evidence to support my theory. I must give it more thought.

If my assumption is correct, then the next question is where was Otoki from the time she got off the train at Atami or Shizu-oka until she committed suicide on Kashii Beach the night of the twentieth? If we can find the answer to this, we will have a real basis for the assumption. That Otoki did not accompany Sayama all the way to Hakata can be shown by the dining car receipt, made out to one person, which was found in Sayama's coat pocket. I stated this as my opinion when you were here.

As you say in your letter, if it is essential that Yasuda be situated at the scene of the double suicide on the night of the twentieth, then it would be impossible for him to have arrived at Sapporo by the Marimo Express on the twenty-first. If there is no evidence that he used planes then I'm afraid we have overlooked something, while taking other facts for granted. This is what I meant by the ancient story of the old woman and her winter jacket. Please do not leave a stone unturned.

I've been carried away by the pleasure your long letter gave me and fear I have written you a lot of nonsense in return. I am embarrassed to have made you listen to such idle chatter. Unlike you who are young and alert, I am an old, worn-out hack, and you must make allowances for my humble opinions.

If there is anything I can do for you here in Kyushu please do not hesitate to let me know. I would be happy to cooperate to the extent of my ability.

I sincerely hope that your hard work will be rewarded and that soon you will be able to break the case. Please come on a leisurely visit to Kyushu when you have the time.

Sincerely yours,

Jūtarō Torigai

Mihara was tired. The wall still blocked his way. He had been unable to find even the smallest crack in it.

He put Torigai's letter in his pocket, left the office and walked to his favorite coffee shop.

It was still lunchtime and the place was crowded. A waitress noticed him looking for a seat and indicated a table to him. It was already occupied by a young girl, sitting alone and drinking tea. The chair opposite her was vacant. Ill at ease at sharing a table with a strange girl, he seated himself on the edge of the chair and drank his coffee self-consciously, aware that his perplexity showed in his face.

Although Jūtarō Torigai's letter had helped to raise his flagging spirits it was not very encouraging. The old man's ideas were too general. His suggestion that one of the two couples who got off at the two Kashii stations, minutes apart, the night of the twentieth, included an unidentified woman was interesting but, as the old detective himself admitted, there was no proof. The couples might have happened to leave the two stations at about the same time and need not be related in any way. Or, again, it could be that Sayama and Otoki were first seen leaving the Kashii main station, then seen again by a different witness as they walked past the other Kashii station. According to Torigai's own measurement of the distance between the two stations, this was possible.

Mihara was certain that Yasuda was on Kashii Beach that night and that he was in some way connected with the suicides, but to bring a mysterious woman into the situation now seemed too fantastic. Yasuda was not the sort of man to have an accomplice. Why was not clear to Mihara; he just felt it was so. Moreover, Torigai's suggestion that the woman who telephoned Sayama at his inn was not Otoki was based on the vague assumtion that the four people emerging from the two Kashii stations were Sayama, Otoki, Yasuda and the unknown woman.

More interesting was Torigai's opinion of why Yasuda had wanted a witness at Sayama and Otoki's departure from Tokyo Station. He was suggesting that it was to make the witness believe that they were lovers. Torigai was intimating that they were probably not lovers. If that were true, it would be all the more necessary to have a witness observe them gaily boarding the train together. They ended up committing suicide near Hakata, the destination of the super-express. Looked at from any angle, there could be no doubt that it was a double suicide. So here was the problem. Why would two people who were not lovers commit suicide together? As he asked himself the question Mihara could see Yasuda's figure flitting behind the contradictions.

The reason why Otoki got off at Atami or Shizuoka was still unanswered, but it was unimportant. The question had been raised by old Torigai merely on the evidence of the dining car receipt made out to one person. It was an interesting lead, prompted by his daughter's comments, but there was no proof. It was simply an assumption. The old man's perceptions were sharp but he was short of facts, of evidence. He wanted Otoki's movements traced after she left the train either at Atami or Shizuoka, but so much time had elapsed this would not only be difficult to do, the investigation itself would be meaningless.

Mihara, drinking his coffee and still looking glum, had reached this point in his reflections when a shadow fell across the table and a young man took the vacant seat opposite, next to the young girl.

"Sorry to be late," he said to the girl.