Кэйго Хигасино - A Midsummer’s Equation

“Any ideas?”

“Only that he’d convinced himself that the only way to know the whole truth of what happened was to find out why she was there. I think he started to suspect that part of Senba’s confession was less than true — maybe something he saw when he was writing up the case report.”

“What do you think he saw?”

“I don’t know. It could’ve just been a hunch, a gut feeling he got during the questioning.”

“If he thought Senba was lying, why didn’t he press him on it?”

“Probably because he lacked leverage. If there’s nothing contradictory in the confession, and all the details check out, what’s there to say? I read all of the records from the questioning, and there really weren’t any head-scratchers in there, save the location. Senba’s claim that he didn’t know why she was out there is entirely believable.”

Kusanagi took another mouthful of the cow tongue, now gone cold, and gave his yam rice a stir. He’d gotten so lost in talking he had forgotten to enjoy his meal.

“Why don’t we do a little investigating into Nobuko Miyake then?” Utsumi suggested.

Kusanagi took a final sip of his oxtail soup and nodded. “My thoughts exactly. I’ll start tomorrow. Not that I have any illusions that this will go smoothly. After all, Tsukahara already tried, and we know he didn’t find what he was looking for.”

“I’ll keep looking into Senba.”

Kusanagi raised an eyebrow. “Just going to wander into every Internet café you can find, showing photos to people?”

“Is that a problem?”

Kusanagi frowned and shrugged. “It’s not that, but...”

“But what?” Utsumi asked, an unspoken challenge in her eyes.

“I was just thinking there might be a quicker way. Instead of stopping in at every Internet café, looking for a drifter, why not go to a place where drifters tend to gather?”

“They gather?”

“Even people without a place to live or steady work need a community — in fact, they probably need it more than the rest of us. That’s how a lot of them survive on the streets.”

Utsumi thought for a moment, her face hard, then her eyes opened wider. “Soup kitchens!”

“Bingo,” Kusanagi said with a grin. “I know a few volunteer groups that run soup kitchens on a regular basis.”

“Good idea,” Utsumi said. “I’ll start there first.” She scribbled something in her notebook.

“Now I just have to figure out where I’m going to start,” Kusanagi said with a groan. “The victim’s from Chiba originally, but she didn’t keep in regular contact with her parents or other relatives. I’m guessing that, as a former hostess, wherever she used to work has long since shut its doors. And even if it hasn’t, they don’t have very good long-term memory at those places. I doubt they’d remember a girl who worked there decades ago.”

The police had done an inquiry into Nobuko Miyake’s financial situation at the time, given the motive for the crime, but found only a mostly empty bank account and a long history of late, usually minimum payments on credit cards. They also uncovered more than a few people who’d loaned her money in the past.

“What about asking at the place where the victim and Senba went to get a drink the night before? Didn’t the proprietor there know Senba?”

“Could be,” Kusanagi agreed. “Still, it’s been fifteen years. I hope it’s still open.”

“There’s a better chance that it is than wherever she used to work.”

“Agreed. I’ll start there, then. Pretty sure the place was in Ginza. Good idea, recruit.”

Utsumi smiled. “I guess that makes us even.”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Kusanagi said, lighting a fresh cigarette.

They walked out of the restaurant and were standing in front of the parking lot when Kusanagi’s phone began to ring. He looked at the display and saw the call was coming from a public phone.

“It’s probably him,” he said to Utsumi before answering it. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Yukawa. Can you talk?”

“Just finished dinner. Utsumi’s here too. Something up?”

“There’s been a bit of a development. I can’t go into details yet, but I’m pretty sure I’ve identified someone with a deep connection to the case.”

Kusanagi’s grip on the phone tightened. “A suspect?”

After a pause of several seconds, Yukawa said, “I’ll leave the choice of words up to you.”

“Okay. So who is it?”

There was another pause before Yukawa said, “The owner of this inn.”

“What? You mean the place you’re staying? What was it called again?”

“The Green Rock Inn. The proprietor’s name is Shigehiro Kawahata. He worked at a company in Tokyo before taking over this place from his father. I’d like you to look into him — no, wait, not just him. You’d better look into his entire family.”

“Good morning.” Yukawa walked in just as Narumi was placing dishes on his breakfast tray.

She turned and smiled. “Did you sleep well?”

“I slept, but I wouldn’t say well. Might’ve had a bit too much wine last night.” The physicist’s face was drawn tighter around the eyes than usual. She poured him some tea, and he nodded in thanks, reaching for the cup.

“Are you going to see the boat today as well, Professor?”

Yukawa raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean by ‘as well’? Is someone else going?”

Kneeling by the low table, Narumi straightened her back a little. “Our group has been invited to an informational meeting on the research boat.”

“Your group? Oh, right. Save the Cove.” Yukawa took a sip of his miso soup. “I can’t see what good seeing it will do you, though.”

“I think it will be very interesting to see what kind of equipment DESMEC plans on using in their survey. That’s a big part of what this is all about.”

“You mean you want to see whether their devices are going to disturb the ocean floor, is that it?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re wasting your time,” Yukawa said. “I can tell you right now the ocean floor will be disturbed. All seeing the boat is going to do is get you angry. Unless of course you’re really willing to put scientific development and humanity’s future on the scales against environmental protection.”

“We’re certainly open to that, but I think we can do better than either-or. Why can’t we have both?”

“Development and protection?” Yukawa chuckled.

“What’s so funny? You think I’m being idealistic.”

“I see no harm in pursuing ideals,” Yukawa said, his smile fading. “But I have a hard time taking you seriously because I don’t get the sense you have much respect for science.”

Narumi glared at him. “Why not?”

“You may be an expert in environmental protection policy, but when it comes to science, you’re an amateur. How much do you actually know about undersea resource development? If you truly want to come up with a solution that allows both, you’ll need to have the same amount of knowledge and experience with both. It’s arrogant to think that knowing only one is sufficient. Only by respecting the other side’s work and way of thinking can you open a path for compromise.” Yukawa turned back to his tray and poured a dollop of sticky natto beans on his rice. “Don’t you agree?”

Narumi frowned. “So, what,” she finally said. “You think we shouldn’t go see the boat?”

“I don’t think it will do you any good, unless you radically change the way you’re thinking about this problem,” Yukawa said, using the tips of his chopsticks to deftly dissect his broiled fish. “But, if you have it in your heart to truly understand the other side, then I think going to see the boat is a great idea. With the right frame of mind, you can glean a lot from observing. And I’m sure that having a firsthand appreciation for the various technologies that have been developed for undersea resource development will serve you well someday.”