Keigo Higashino - Malice

Wait, actually, now that you mention it, he did say something once about another high school that was closer to his house that he could’ve gone to, but he didn’t want to for some reason.

Did he say why?

I think it had less to do with the school itself, and more to do with the neighborhood. He seemed really down on the whole place.

Did he mention his middle school?

Only that the people there were low class. Can you believe it? Low-class town, low-class school, low-class students—stuff like that. He was pretty cool normally, but whenever he’d talk about where he was from, he’d get all worked up. I clearly remember getting sick of it, so he must have talked about it more than once. Yeah, he was pretty strange back then. Most people think the town they grew up in is the best, right?

I think he felt like he’d gotten a bad deal because his father had to move there for work. He used to tell me he was only there temporarily, which is why he didn’t really know anyone in the neighborhood and didn’t play with any of the kids there. Of course, I didn’t care about any of it. It was him telling me all this. Like he was making excuses for something. Besides, he didn’t move away after all, at least not when I knew him.

There was another thing, too…. I think at one point he tried to switch elementary schools, but it didn’t work out for some reason. He told me they wouldn’t let him switch because he was going to school every day. He thought that was pretty ironic, “suffering through that hell day in and day out, and then getting punished for it.” He said there was this kid, one of his neighbors, who used to come and pick him up every morning to walk to school together, which he couldn’t stand. Like it was all some big neighborhood conspiracy to drag him down, right?

I remember thinking, I wish someone would come over and get me to go to school every morning! Talk about nice. But Nonoguchi was always Nonoguchi.

Was Hidaka the boy that walked to school with him?

He never said. In fact, he never mentioned Kunihiko Hidaka at all. This whole thing in the news was the first time I ever heard about him.

On Hidaka’s novels:

Actually, I hadn’t read any of them. I do read, but mostly mysteries. Light stuff, like those travel mysteries where they’re going off someplace and somebody gets killed, you know those? I tend to stay away from the backbreaking stuff. If you have to work to get through a book, it’s not very relaxing, is it?

Anyway, when I heard about the murder, I did pick one of them up. Sent chills down my spine to think that Nonoguchi was the author.

Which book?

Sea Ghost. The one about the artist whose wife cheats on him? It made sense in a lot of ways.

How so?

I mean, you could tell Nonoguchi wrote it. It just felt like him, you know? It was like his personality was stamped on every page. That stuff doesn’t change from when you’re a kid.

Actually, Hidaka wrote Sea Ghost .

What, really? Shows you how much I know! Guess I’d better stick with the light stuff. (Laughs)

Sorry, I’ve got to get to that meeting.

Interview: Yasushi Fujimura

Yes, I’m Osamu’s uncle. Osamu’s mother was my sister.

And as for our request for the profits from those books, it’s not like we’re just mindlessly clamoring for money. Frankly that’s insulting. We just think things should be put right, that the air needs to be cleared. That’s all we’re saying.

But Osamu did murder Mr. Hidaka.

Of course, and he should be punished for it. He needs to pay his debt to society, and I think that was Osamu’s intention when he confessed.

That only makes it more important that everything’s on the table, you understand. It was a terrible thing he did, certainly, but he didn’t do it without reason. It’s important to think about his relationship with Mr. Hidaka, isn’t it? This ghostwriter thing—he was writing those novels for Mr. Hidaka until the day he just couldn’t take it anymore. That’s what everyone—all the authorities—are saying.

In other words, some blame rests at the feet of Mr. Hidaka. It’s not just Osamu who’s in the wrong here. Why should Osamu be the only one punished? What about Mr. Hidaka’s part in all this?

I don’t know much about the literary market, but I hear that Kunihiko Hidaka’s novels sold quite well. He was one of the top-ten highest earners, I hear. But who really earned that money? Wasn’t he selling novels Osamu had written? Does it make sense for only Osamu to be punished, while the money he earned remains in someone else’s hands? I don’t think it does. If it were me, I would return that money. It’s only fair.

I’m not sure the bereaved family agrees.

Oh, I’m sure they don’t. That’s why we’re bringing in lawyers to get everything straight. I’m just trying to help Osamu out here. I don’t want the money. It wouldn’t be my money, anyway. It would go to Osamu.

But isn’t this a matter for civil court, Detective?

Actually, I wanted to talk to you about your sister, and the neighborhood where her family lived.

Oh… so you didn’t come here about the royalties? Right, well, my sister moved to that area shortly after Osamu was born. Built herself a house. Her husband’s relatives sold them some land cheap, which is why they ended up in that particular spot.

Did she like it there?

Not much, no. She told me once that, had she known what sort of place it was beforehand, she never would’ve built there.

What didn’t she like about it, specifically?

That, I’m not sure. I sort of avoided the subject. Speaking of which, why do you ask, Detective? Does this really have anything to do with the case? I understand you have a job to do, but worrying about my sister’s choice of neighborhoods seems like stretching it a bit far!

Not that we have anything to hide.

Interview: Akio Nakatsuka

Nonoguchi? I’ve never heard of any Nonoguchi.

He was your classmate in middle school.

Really? Okay, like I’d remember that.

On the murder:

Sorry, haven’t picked up a paper in a while. And I don’t know anything about any authors.

He was your classmate, too.

Well, whaddya know. So, Detective, what’s this have to do with me? I’m between jobs right now, and I kind of have to get down to the employment center, so I don’t have a lot of time.

Do you remember anyone named Hidaka?

What? Yeah, I remember a Hidaka. He’s the one who got offed? No kidding. Guess you never know how someone’s going to check out till it happens.

So how’s asking about his school going to help your investigation? Didn’t you just say you already know who killed him? What’s left to find out?

We’re just making sure we have all the facts.

Things must be pretty quiet for you to be checking things after the murder’s already solved!

On bullying:

Oh, c’mon. You don’t think I—

Fine, yeah, I knocked Hidaka around a couple of times. Never for any particular reason. Just keeping him in his place, you know.

But that Hidaka, he was one tough cookie. I don’t think we ever got money out of him. Most of those kids, you put the fear into them and they’ll give you a thousand, two thousand yen just like that. So, yeah, we paid Hidaka special attention. Looking back at it, the kid had guts. Course at the time it just pissed us off.

On Nonoguchi:

Look, man, I told you I don’t know any Nonoguchi… wait, unless you mean the Gooch? Yeah, that’s right, his name was Nonoguchi, wasn’t it. I remember him. He was Fujio’s moneybags.

You know, the thing you carry money in? Whenever Fujio needed some cash, the Gooch was good for it. And he had him running errands all the time. Man, what a wimp that guy was.