Содзи Симада - Murder in the Crooked House

“Oh, don’t. You’re embarrassing me. Anyway, if there’s anything I can do for you, anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask Hayakawa and he’ll come and let me know.”

“Thank you. We will.”

“Well, then, be sure to lock up properly. Goodnight.”

“Yes, we will. Thank you for everything. Goodnight!”

Kumi Aikura wasn’t in the mood to be all by herself in Room 1, so instead she made her way back to the salon and hung around there.

Apart from Kikuoka, the Kanais and, of course, Eiko, everyone was still there. And it wasn’t long before the west-side door opened and Eiko returned from her visit to Room 9.

Mr and Mrs Kanai and Kikuoka seemed to be the only ones concerned about getting an early night for their health. Like Kumi, the others seemed more worried about being alone on this stormy night.

The police detectives, on the other hand, didn’t seem too bothered.

“Ahh! I’m getting sleepy,” said Okuma, stretching. “Didn’t get much sleep last night. Work and all.”

And with that excuse, he got to his feet. Eiko noticed and called Chikako Hayakawa to show him to his room.

The Inspector left for Room 12 and Chikako soon returned to the salon. But that was the only change. No one else from the crowd made any move to head off to bed. Mr and Mrs Hayakawa and Kajiwara could hardly leave before the guests, so they took three of the chairs and seated themselves inconspicuously in the doorway between the salon and the kitchen.

The clock turned 10. The salon had no television, so that normally by this time of night it would be deserted. Eiko went over to the stereo and put on Colin Davis conducting The Rite of Spring.

Togai and Yoshihiko were sitting together at the dinner table. Sasaki was opposite, reading one of his medical textbooks.

“Hey, Yoshihiko,” said Togai. “You know the flower bed, was that a design from a catalogue or something that could be ordered?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. Uncle Kozaburo drew the sketch himself, and called in a landscape gardener to do it.”

“So he designed it himself?”

“That’s what I heard. And when they started landscaping it, he was there for the whole thing, giving directions and stuff.”

“Wow.”

“But that’s only what I heard from my cousin, Eiko.”

“What are you two talking about?”

Eiko came over and took the chair next to Yoshihiko.

“That flower bed.”

“Oh, that.”

She didn’t seem very interested in the topic.

“It’s always a big thing when Daddy has the idea for a design. It’s all, ‘fetch me this, get me that’. You know that he’s an artist at heart. He never really wanted to be the president of Hama Diesel. What he really enjoys doing is listening to Wagner while he paints.”

“Does he really demand that people bring him all kinds of things?” asked Togai.

“He’s quite the autocrat, Uncle Kozaburo,” said Yoshihiko.

“It’s because he’s such an artist. Back then he insisted on drawing all his sketches on aluminium foil. He sent me off to Kajiwara to borrow rolls of it.”

“Aluminium foil? That’s what he drew on?”

“So it seems. And after borrowing it, he never gave it back. Kajiwara told me that he needed it for his cooking, so I told Daddy to take what he needed and to give the rest back, that he was wasting it. But he just told me to go and buy more. So I had to go down to the village to stock up.”

“Wow.”

This time Sasaki was the one to react.

Constable Anan carefully placed his cap on the dining table, adjusted his expression and seated himself at the very far corner. He was immediately accosted by Kumi.

“Constable?”

“Yes?”

Anan kept his face rigidly facing forward.

“Constable Anan, isn’t it? That’s rather unusual. Is it a local Hokkaido name?”

Kumi waited for a reply, but none came. She had just given up and decided to go and try the billiard table, when Anan suddenly spoke up.

“My father’s from Hiroshima. My grandmother was from Okinawa.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Kumi seemed determined to make the constable uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, but I’m unable to answer that kind of question.”

Ignoring his obvious reluctance, Kumi grabbed Anan by the arm and began to pull him from his chair.

“How about a game of billiards?”

“I’m, er… I’m sorry but that’s not possible. I’m afraid I didn’t come here to play billiards.”

But Kumi was not that easily discouraged.

“It’ll be fine. You’ll still be doing your job while you’re playing. You’re supposed to be protecting us, right? Come on, if you haven’t played before I can teach you.”

Chief Inspector Ushikoshi was deep in conversation with Kozaburo Hamamoto, but that didn’t stop him from throwing glances in the direction of the billiard table, where he saw the junior officer start up a game with a young woman.

Eventually Togai and Yoshihiko got up and looked ready to head off to bed. They went over to Kozaburo as if to say goodnight, but for some reason he signalled to them to stay. Then Kozaburo and Ushikoshi both got up, Kozaburo called Eiko over and the five of them headed to the billiard table.

Anan, who by now was enthusiastically potting balls, noticed his boss coming in his direction and quickly stood to attention. Kozaburo smiled and urged him to continue.

Back at the dining table, Sergeant Ozaki was getting bored. He got up, threw a scornful glance towards Constable Anan at the billiard table and whispered in Chief Inspector Ushikoshi’s ear that he was going to retire for the night.

Eiko spotted the interaction and sent Chikako Hayakawa to show the Sergeant to his room. When Chikako returned, she went straight back to her seat next to her husband and the chef.

Kozaburo Hamamoto was in a cheerful mood, enthusiastically demonstrating different shots to the beginner, Anan. Chief Inspector Ushikoshi found himself surprised and impressed by the older man’s skills, but when asked if he’d like to play, he quickly demurred. Like Anan, he had never played before either.

Kozaburo turned next to Eiko and Yoshihiko.

“Constable Anan here seems to have some talent. I’m counting on you two to give him some proper coaching. “Mr Anan, I don’t mind if you’d like to keep playing all night. There are no other houses nearby, and knowing you are here all night staying awake makes me feel safer. I’ll look forward tomorrow to seeing how much improvement you’ve made. And if you’re up to it, I’ll challenge you to a game. But if you come face to face with the killer, please take a break from practising.

“Yoshihiko, Eiko, teach him well. I have a feeling this man has it in him to become quite a player after only one night of practice. And it might be a good idea for you to stay close to a policeman on a night like this one.”

For his part, Ushikoshi hadn’t seen anything in Anan that suggested he might be a billiard genius, so he found Kozaburo’s suggestion rather surprising.

“Now then, Chief Inspector, would you care to visit my room? I think it would be a great chance to get to know each other. I have a rather good bottle of cognac in there. I’m not keeping it to share with some celebrity visitor; I’d much prefer to drink it with someone I can get along with. But more than anything I’m feeling a bit vulnerable tonight, one night after someone was murdered in my house. I think that cognac will taste even better tonight if I’m drinking it with a police officer.”

“I don’t mind if I do.”

Togai, left alone at his side of the table, moved over to sit next to Sasaki. Perhaps he didn’t feel like heading back to his room alone, or maybe he just wanted the companionship.