Кэйго Хигасино - A Midsummer’s Equation

“Not the easiest place to live by yourself,” Nishiguchi said, remembering the abandoned summer home.

“No, it’s not,” Hashigami agreed. “He stuck it out for a while, though. Until things got bad. So he headed back up to Tokyo and started doing work for other electricians. That’s right around when he got arrested.”

Nishiguchi nodded. “I read the file.”

“I guess he was broke, and lonely, and things just kind of fell apart. Not that it makes what he did any better, but I feel some sympathy for the guy.”

Nishiguchi’s chopsticks stopped in midair. “You think Tsukahara sympathized with Senba, too?”

Hashigami mulled it over for a moment, then said, “Why not? He was the arresting detective, so he was probably the one who wrote that report about Senba buying the place in Marine Hills. He might have thrown that detail in there to make things go a little easier for the guy in court.”

“Hmm. You suppose it’s possible Senba didn’t bear Tsukahara much of a grudge?”

“Could be,” Hashigami agreed. “There were still a few people left that knew his wife’s family in East Hari, and they told us that after Senba and his wife moved to Marine Hills, they came over to pay her old neighbors a visit every now and then. They all seem to think Senba was the nicest guy you could know. More than a few of them wondered why he did it, if there wasn’t some bigger reason for the murder. Come to think of it, I could see how that curiosity might’ve brought Tsukahara back to visit.”

“So Hidetoshi Senba and the current case are...?”

Hashigami shook his head. “Entirely unrelated. The prefectural guys lost interest pretty quick, too. Guess we were barking up the wrong tree.”

A game show was on TV, with celebrities trying to complete various hazardous challenges to the laughter of a studio audience. Kyohei wasn’t particularly interested in it, but he sat with his arms resting on his knees and pretended to enjoy the show. Aunt Setsuko arrived with a tray of cut pears, which she placed on the low table beside him. “Dig in,” she said.

“Thanks,” Kyohei said, ignoring the tiny fork she placed next to the plate and grabbing one of the slices of pear with his fingers.

He’d eaten dinner with his aunt and uncle and had stayed on in their small apartment inside the inn afterward. Uncle Shigehiro was sitting nearby, reading a book and drinking tea. Narumi had eaten with them but left as soon as dinner was done.

“What did you get up to today, Kyohei?” his uncle asked. “I didn’t see you outside of your room much.”

“Summer homework, mostly. And I played some video games after.”

“Homework? Good boy.”

“Well, I only just started. But the professor helps me out when I don’t get anything.”

“The professor?”

“He means Mr. Yukawa,” Setsuko said as she stood and went off to the kitchen.

“Oh, right. I wonder how long the professor’s planning on staying,” Shigehiro said.

“He told me he couldn’t go until he was done with his research, but he couldn’t get anywhere with it because the DESMEC people were a bunch of idiots.”

“That so? Well, I suppose he is a professor at Imperial University, so at least we don’t have to worry about him running out of money.” Shigehiro ran a hand through his thinning hair before looking at Kyohei. “Did he say anything about what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, is he upset about that guy dying, or was he wondering about how he might’ve died, or anything like that?”

“Not to me. He did say it was hard to relax with the police coming and going all the time.”

“Yeah,” Shigehiro said and gave a long sigh. “Bad luck for you too, huh. This is supposed to be your time in the sun, and I haven’t even had the chance to take you swimming yet. Sorry about that.”

“I don’t mind. The ocean will always be there next time.”

“Yeah,” Shigehiro said again, when the cordless telephone began to ring. He moved to get it, but it stopped ringing almost immediately. Setsuko must’ve picked it up at the front desk.

Kyohei looked at the time. It was almost nine. The game show was finished. Kyohei held the remote control in his hand and wondered what kind of an excuse he could come up with for staying a little bit longer. Uncle Shigehiro would go take his bath anytime now; he only had to hold out until then.

He flipped through the channels until he found a show starring a popular actress he’d heard about. He’d never seen the show before, but he immediately put down the remote and settled in as though he’d been waiting for it to start.

“You like these shows?” his uncle asked after a few minutes.

“I guess,” Kyohei said without taking his eyes off the TV. He hoped his uncle wasn’t a fan.

The cordless phone began to ring again, except with a different ring tone than before.

“Who could that be?” Shigehiro wondered, not moving to pick up the phone.

The sound of hurrying footsteps came down the hallway and Aunt Setsuko came in.

“It’s your father, Kyohei,” she said, picking up the phone. “Hello? Are you still there? I’ll hand you over to him.” She held the phone out to Kyohei.

“My dad?”

“He’s calling from Osaka.”

Kyohei put the phone to his ear. “Hey.”

“Hey, how’s it going, Kyohei? You doing okay out there?” his father asked in a cheery tone.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“Great, great. Hey, I heard from your uncle that some pretty crazy stuff was going on. Why didn’t you tell your mom when she called the other night?”

Kyohei hadn’t told her because he didn’t want to have to explain the whole thing, but he resisted the urge to tell his father that. “I dunno,” he said. “I guess it just didn’t seem like that big of a deal.”

“I’d say someone dying is a pretty big deal. You okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I was just thinking it must be pretty hard to relax with the police crawling all over the place. You getting outside, doing your homework?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine, really. I’ve been having a good time, and I even got some of my homework done already.”

“Well, that’s good. Just, if you don’t feel comfortable being there, you be sure to tell me, okay?”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Kyohei said, though he wondered what his dad would do if he did say that he was uncomfortable. Would he have him come down to Osaka? Wasn’t he out here with his aunt and uncle because he couldn’t go in the first place?

“Okay, well, I guess you’ll be out there for a little while still, then?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s good. Mind handing me to your uncle? Oh, wait, your mom wants to talk to you.”

“I don’t need to talk to Mom. We just talked yesterday.”

Kyohei handed the phone to his aunt. Setsuko exchanged a few words with his father before hanging up.

“He sound worried?” Shigehiro asked.

“Not too bad. He has a pretty one-track mind, and right now it’s on his work.” Setsuko turned to Kyohei. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want, of course, but if you’d rather be with your dad, just let us know. I’ll have your uncle give him a call.”

“Sure,” Kyohei said.

“Right, well, it’s time for me to get into the bath,” Shigehiro said, finally standing.

Setsuko went back into the kitchen, leaving Kyohei alone in the room at last.

He opened the door to make sure no one was out in the hallway, then went back into the room and opened the drawer next to the television. The drawer was empty except for a single key attached to a thin wooden block with a ring at one end. He took it out and put it into his shorts pocket.