Seichō Matsumoto - Points And Lines

Now, Otoki's arrival at the inn around eight o'clock on the fourteenth makes it clear that she came on the Asakaze that pulls in to Atami Station at 7:58. She had traveled with Sayama only as far as Atami. Your reasoning, therefore, with regard to the dining car receipt "for one person" was correct.

The two women left the inn about 10 P.M. on the nineteenth. Checking the timetable, I found that the express Tsukushi, bound for Hakata, left Atami at 10:25. This train arrived at Hakata, the terminus, at 7:45 P.M. on the twentieth.

All the pieces fitted. It was about 8 P.M. when a woman telephoned Sayama at the Tambaya Inn in Hakata. The two women must have called him as soon as they got off the train at Hakata.

I was able to get this far before being stopped once again. Was it Otoki or Ryōko who telephoned Sayama? At first I thought it was Otoki but quickly realized this could not be. Since there was nothing between the two, he would not respond if Otoki called. Sayama had been waiting impatiently for a week for the telephone call so it could not be Otoki. Most probably, it was Ryōko. Because Ryōko was Yasuda's wife and could speak for him. In fact, Sayama was waiting for Yasuda to arrive. So if Ryōko said she had come in his stead, Sayama would react immediately.

Ryōko met Sayama in order to talk to him about the things that were worrying him. But first she led him to Kashii Beach. We don't know exactly what she said but she must have told him her message required the utmost secrecy and she therefore must choose some quiet spot. Kashii Beach was certainly an important feature of the plan.

What worried Sayama were the developments in the bribery case at the ministry. As assistant section chief, he knew all the facts and was aware that he was about to be arrested. It was Ishida, the division chief, who urged him to flee to Hakata under pretense of taking a holiday. Ishida was the central figure in the scandal and if Sayama were arrested Ishida would be in grave danger. So he persuaded Sayama to escape to Hakata. He even arranged for him to take the Asakaze on the fourteenth. He told him that Yasuda would give him further instructions, and asked him to wait at the inn in Hakata.

Sayama did not question these orders from his superior. We should not be too surprised at this. He knew his testimony would be damaging to the man who was his boss and who had helped him in his career. At the assistant section chief level there are many men like Sayama. I know some who have committed suicide under similar circumstances. In fact, suicide is what the criminal in this case was hoping for.

Ishida probably told Sayama that Yasuda would find a way to cover up the scandal and that he should stay away until it blew over. Therefore Sayama must have been anxiously waiting for Yasuda to arrive. But Yasuda did not appear; his wife came instead. Sayama knew Ryōko from previous visits to the Yasuda home. In fact, Yasuda may have invited Sayama to his house in Kamakura purposely to meet Ryōko.

These two-Ryōko and Sayama-came out of the Kashii main railway station unaware that immediately following them were Yasuda and Otoki. The latter got off at the Nishitetsu Kashii Station and took the same road to the beach. No, it was only Sayama who was in the dark; Ryōko knew every detail of the plot. Ryōko talked to Sayama. She told him everything was working out well and not to worry. The night was cold and she offered him whiskey. Sayama liked whiskey; he accepted it eagerly. It contained the cyanide and he dropped dead at her feet. The bottle of fruit juice containing cyanide was left at the scene to cover up the murder.

Yasuda was not far behind. He had arrived at Itazuke Airport at 7:20 on a Japan Airlines plane. He met Otoki somewhere, probably by prearrangement; Ryōko must have delivered the message. Otoki then accompanied Yasuda to the beach. On the way she was overheard by a passerby to exclaim, "What a lonely place!"

On the dark and deserted beach Yasuda offered Otoki a drink containing cyanide. Then he picked her up and placed her body beside Sayama who was already dead. Ryōko was standing nearby. Very likely not more than twenty meters separated the exact spots where Otoki and Sayama met their deaths. It was night and Otoki could not have seen the other couple.

After killing Otoki, Yasuda probably called, "Ryōko!" and from out of the dark Ryōko must have answered, "Yes. Here I am." And with Otoki's body in his arms, Yasuda started making his way in the direction of the voice. I cannot imagine a more dreadful scene.

You remember the beach, I am sure; we looked at it together and found it very rocky. There would be no footprints even if one were to carry a heavy burden. Everything had been skillfully planned. Yasuda must have known the beach well and chose it for the scene of the crime.

It was a double murder, planned by Yasuda and his wife and made to look like a love suicide. Ryōko not only helped to plan it; she helped to carry it out. While Otoki, without a doubt, innocently obeyed the instructions she had received from Yasuda and his wife.

A strange feature of the case is the relationship between Otoki, Yasuda and Ryōko. As you may have gathered from the foregoing, it is evident that Yasuda and Otoki had been lovers. The affair was kept very secret; no one was aware of it. It must have developed during the time Yasuda was frequenting the Koyuki. Otoki had charge of the parties he gave there. The man who sometimes telephoned her at her apartment and with whom she spent the nights away was Yasuda.

But Ryōko's attitude is hard to understand. Why did she travel with Otoki and have dinner with her? The girl was her husband's mistress and therefore her rival. I understood the situation when I learned that it was Ryōko who paid Otoki's hotel bill at Atami. Ryōko was aware of the liaison and apparently had agreed to it. She even went so far as to give Otoki a monthly allowance. Remember: Ryōko was a very sick woman; she had been forbidden by her doctor to have intimate relations with her husband. In other words, Otoki was Yasuda's official mistress, with Ryōko's approval. It was a curious triangle. We may find it hard to accept but these situations do exist in modern society. Of course, it was common practice in feudal times.

At first they probably planned to have it look as if Sayama alone had committed suicide. But this was dangerous. Since he would leave no letter, it would appear suspect. So they decided on the love suicide. In such a case, the police investigation is seldom strict, and sometimes there is no autopsy. And there would be no follow-up. This was a safer way to commit the murder. Poor Otoki was chosen to be the innocent partner in the double suicide.

Yasuda had no real affection for Otoki. To him, she did not count. True, she was his mistress, but he could easily find another. As for Ryōko, she looked upon the girl simply as a pawn in her husband's plans; she used her as a necessary figure in the fake suicide. Yet deep in her heart she must have hated Otoki. Ry5ko was really a frightening woman. Her mind was as sharp as a sword and as cold as the blood in her veins. After the murders she carefully arranged the folds of Otoki's kimono and changed the girl's soiled socks for a fresh pair she had brought along expressly to make it appear as if Otoki had been prepared to die, that she had done so willingly. Ryōko thought of everything.

That night the Yasudas stayed at Hakata. He took the first plane back to Tokyo the following morning, then changed at Haneda to a connecting plane for Hokkaido. Ryōko returned to Kamakura by train.

The reason why Yasuda left for Hakata on the twentieth, a full six days after Otoki and Sayama, was because he was afraid it would arouse suspicion if he followed them too closely. Actually, after Otoki's departure on the fourteenth he showed up at the Koyuki Restaurant two or three days in succession. He even listened calmly while the waitresses talked about Otoki and her trip with a lover. He had to give the impression that he was in no way involved. Otoki was kept waiting at Atami for five days.