Содзи Симада - Murder in the Crooked House

“Oh?”

Kumi’s responses were so brief that even Kikuoka noticed the change in his lover.

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Obviously, it’s not nothing. You’re in a really crabby mood.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, you are.”

Anyone observing this exchange would realize that Kikuoka was capable of speaking in a low voice after all.

“Let’s go and talk in my room. I was just about to go to bed anyway. Look, I’ll say goodnight and head downstairs. You wait a bit and then casually follow. We’d better look over my schedule.”

Kikuoka got up. From the far corner of the table, Okuma spotted his move and came over to speak to him.

“Ah, excuse me, Mr Kikuoka, if you’re off to bed, please make sure you lock up your room properly. Don’t forget the door. After all that’s happened, you can’t be too careful.”

“I can’t take it any more! I want to go home. I told you I didn’t want to come. I can’t put up with it a moment longer.”

Kumi Aikura was sitting on Kikuoka’s lap, pouting.

“What are you talking about? You know that nobody can leave right now. After what happened we’re under house arrest. What on earth is wrong?”

Right now Kikuoka was displaying an expression of utter Zen Buddhist calm, one that none of his employees had ever even glimpsed (except once in 1975 when the company’s gross income had suddenly doubled).

“You know how I feel, don’t you? You’re so mean!”

This scene had repeated itself over the decades and not once had the women’s lines changed. Why did this never go out of fashion?

Kumi lightly punched Kikuoka right where he sported what he believed to be a fine crop of chest hair. This required some level of skill. The punch shouldn’t be too hard or too gentle. Kumi didn’t realize there were genuine tears in her eyes. Tonight had been so incredibly mortifying. Heaven had happened to send her the most effective tool to get what she wanted.

“You are awful!”

She buried her face in her hands.

“I can’t understand what you’re saying if you cry like that. Come on, love, what’s made you so unhappy? Huh? Was it Eiko?”

Kumi nodded, her face dripping tears.

“Poor thing. You’re such a sensitive soul, Kumi. I’m afraid if you’re going to survive in this world, you just have to get used to stuff like that.”

Believe it or not, his words came from the heart.

Kumi nodded again charmingly.

“But you know I really love that about you—you’re so sensitive, it’s cute how naïve you are.”

Kikuoka put his arms around Kumi and hugged her tight—a gesture that he hoped made him seem like her dashing protector—and brought his lips to hers. But if anyone had happened to be watching, the view would have seemed more like a massive bear devouring its prey from the head down.

“Stop it!” said Kumi, pushing his chin away. “I am so not in the mood for that!”

There was an uncomfortable silence.

“I told you I didn’t want to come, and now Ueda’s been killed! And I never imagined there could be such a bitch as that woman. That’s why I wanted you to go alone, Daddy—”

“I told you not to call me Daddy!”

Daddy was angry. If he didn’t put a stop to it right away, one day she might say it in front of an employee.

“I’m sorry.”

Kumi looked crestfallen.

“It’s not that I don’t want to take a lovely trip with you to a snowy place. I was looking forward to going away together so much. But I never imagined I’d meet such a horrible woman. It was such a shock.”

“Ah, that one—she’s not like a woman at all.”

“Right? I’ve never met anyone like her before.”

“But what do you expect? She’s the daughter of the kind of nutty old man who would build a weird place like this just for fun. You know she’s got to be a bit touched in the head. The crazy daughter. If you take everything she says seriously, then you’re going to end up driving yourself mad.”

“But I—”

“Society has rules. They say we’re all equal but there’s still social status. You can fight against it all you like, there’s nothing you can do to change it. And so when somebody bullies you, you can always turn and look over your shoulder, and there’ll be someone standing right behind you, ready to be bullied too, so you just start beating on them. This world is the domain of the powerful. Just keep on bullying those weaker than yourself. That’s why I have my minions, so I can treat them however I want. In this life there’s no pleasure without pain. You can’t let yourself be the loser.”

From Kikuoka’s mouth these words were very convincing.

“It’s common sense.”

“Yes, but—”

“What is it with young people these days? Always questioning everything. It’s all ‘But… But… But…’ They’re all wishy-washy, can’t make a decision. I just don’t get what they’re thinking, all these airhead types. Just be a man! Go for it! God put sheep on this earth to feed the wolves. Unwind, relax, enjoy life by bullying your minions; it builds up your strength. That’s what we pay them for!”

“Be a man? But what about me? Who am I supposed to bully?”

“Well, you could start with that brown-noser, Kanai.”

“He’s got that wife. I’d be too afraid.”

“Afraid? Of Kanai’s wife? What are you on about? If she says anything to you, I’ll get her husband to start drafting his letter of resignation.”

“But when I think that I’ll have to come face to face with Eiko again tomorrow…”

“You can ignore her. Just nod your head and pretend she’s a turnip or something. You’ve seen me. I bow and scrape to Hamamoto, but while I’m doing it I’m thinking ‘What a moron’. He’s valuable to me in my business, so I kowtow to him. That’s the way of the world.”

“I understand. So then, when we leave this place, how about taking a little trip to Sapporo City? If you buy me something nice, I’m sure it’ll put me in a better mood.”

This was rather a leap of logic, but President Kikuoka nodded effusively.

“Let’s do it. Visit Sapporo and get something for my Kumi. Anything you like!”

“Really? Wonderful!”

Kumi put one arm around Kikuoka’s thick neck and gently pressed her lips to his. It seemed she was in the mood after all.

“Well now, Kumi, you are adorable. You and that crazy Eiko are like chalk and cheese.”

“Hey! Don’t compare me to her.”

“You’re right,” he chuckled. “Probably best not to.”

Right then there was a knock at the door. Kumi leapt from Kikuoka’s lap with lightning speed, and Kikuoka grabbed for a patently dull-looking business magazine. Both displayed impressive speed and agility. Right on the third knock, the door burst open with such force that the visitor must have put all their weight behind it.

The door of Room 14 had been fitted with a much more elaborate lock than most of the other rooms in the main building, but despite his being there with his secretary, it wasn’t Kikuoka’s company office, and accordingly he hadn’t locked the door behind him.

Eiko had realized quite a while earlier that Kumi wasn’t in the salon or up in Room 1, and had a very good idea where she might find her. Ms Hamamoto had the strict idea in her head that no one should behave in a morally corrupt manner in her house (she never stopped to consider that technically this was her father’s house).

Therefore as she opened the door, her eyes went straight to the bed. However, its sole occupant was Kikuoka, sitting upright, deeply absorbed in a business magazine. Kumi was standing by the wall, apparently fascinated by a painting of a yacht.