David Peace - Tokyo Year Zero

‘But now I want you to think about last month,’ I tell her. ‘Can you remember which days your husband did not work in July?’

She shrugs her shoulders. ‘He worked all of them…’

Inspector Kanehara places another piece of paper on the table. Inspector Kanehara says, ‘Except the eighth and the twenty-second.’

‘Can you remember what your husband did on those days?’ I ask her. ‘Did he stay at home with you? Did you go for supplies?’

‘He often went for supplies,’ she says. ‘Back to Nikkō.’

Now Kanehara, Kai and I all glance up at each other –

‘I never see them. I never really go back there now …’

‘How often?’ I ask her. ‘Can you remember exactly when?’

But she says, ‘We all need to eat, detective. Need food…’

‘We know that,’ I tell her. ‘And we’re not interested in whether your husband bought stuff legally or illegally. We’re only interested in the dates you think he went looking for supplies…’

‘I can’t remember exactly,’ she says. ‘I’m sorry…’

‘What about last month?’ I ask her again. ‘Your husband’s work-sheet says he had the eighth and the twenty-second off.’

‘Then he must have done,’ she says. ‘If you say so.’

‘So can you remember what he did on those days?’ I ask her again. ‘Did he stay home? Did he go out? What did he do?’

‘How should I know?’ she says. ‘All the days are the same!’

‘But surely not when your husband had a day off?’

‘But I can’t remember the eighth from the twenty-second,’ she shouts. ‘How can I remember one day from another …?’

Now Inspector Kanehara says, ‘Then I’ll try to help you remember. Do you read the newspaper in your house?’

She clutches her handbag. She nods her head.

‘Well then,’ says Kanehara. ‘On the eighth of July there was the story of the baby born with two faces in Nagoya…’

She nods her head. She says, ‘I remember…’

‘And the twenty-second of July was the day that all the schools had to destroy their photographs of the Emperor…’

She nods her head again and says, ‘I know…’

‘Then can you remember anything else about those days?’ asks Inspector Kanehara. ‘Anything about what your husband did?’

‘I was sure he went to work,’ she says. ‘I was sure.’

Inspector Kanehara nods. Kanehara says, ‘I see.’

Now Inspector Kai sits forward again. Now Inspector Kai says, ‘This is not your husband’s first marriage, is it? Nor yours?’

‘My first husband was killed in China,’ she tells us.

‘My condolences,’ says Kai. ‘When did he die?’

‘Almost five years ago now,’ she says.

‘And so how long have you been married to Mr. Kodaira?’

‘A year and a half,’ she says. ‘Not very long really.’

‘And when did you become pregnant?’ asks Kai –

‘Almost straight away,’ she says. ‘Last March.’

Inspector Kai asks, ‘Not before you married?’

‘No!’ she shouts. ‘That’s a dirty question!’

‘Excuse me,’ says Inspector Kai. ‘And so when were you evacuated to stay with your family in Toyama?’

‘It was last May,’ says Mrs. Kodaira.

‘But your husband stayed in Tokyo?’

‘My husband hated it when I was evacuated back to Toyama,’ she says. ‘He cried at the ticket gate. Wā-wā . He cried on the platform. Wā-wā . He cried louder than a baby. Wā-wā …’

She dabs her eyes. She clutches her handbag –

Questions. Questions. Questions. Questions …

‘I know he has done bad things in the past,’ she says now. ‘And I know he has changed jobs many times. But he was a good soldier and he’s a good father to his child and since his child was born he has worked much harder and he even likes his present job.’

She clutches her handbag tighter and tighter –

Questions. Questions. Questions. Questions …

‘My husband is a very friendly man,’ says Mrs. Kodaira. ‘My husband is also a very kind man. He will talk to anyone and he will help anyone and, in my opinion, this is actually his worst quality because that is why he’s in trouble today. But my husband is not a violent man. Of course he gets angry if I serve him food he does not like or if there is not enough food for us all. But my husband never drinks alcohol and he is never violent and he never tells lies…’

‘I believe you, Mrs. Kodaira,’ says Chief Inspector Kanehara. ‘And that’s why I believe your husband’s confession to be true…’

Her shoulders are shaking. Her shoulders trembling –

No answers. No answers. No answers. No answers …

In the cells downstairs, her husband is waiting.

*

I do not go back to Headquarters with Chief Inspector Kanehara and Inspector Kai. I take the Yamate Line from Meguro round to Shimbashi. I itch and I scratch now. Gari-gari . I get off the train at Shimbashi. I itch and I scratch. Gari-gari . The New Life Market is still cordoned off. I itch as I stand and I scratch as I stare. Gari-gari . Four military policemen in their white summer fatigues stand guard. I itch and I scratch. Gari-gari . Their blue eyes are blank and their black boots are rooted. I itch and I scratch. Gari-gari . Behind the sentries, inside the market building, I can see the rows of empty stalls. I itch as I turn and I scratch as I leave. Gari-gari . I walk down the back alleys and the shaded lanes, through the shadows and the arches to the old wooden stairs and the door at the top of those stairs –

I itch and I scratch. Gari-gari . I itch and I scratch –

But the door at the top of the stairs is closed –

The sign on Senju’s door reads, Gone to War .

*

I walk into Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters. I walk up the stairs to Police Arcade. I knock on the door to Chief Kita’s office. I open it. I apologize. I bow. I apologize again. I take my seat at the table; Chief Kita at the head; Chief Inspectors Adachi and Kanehara to his right; Inspector Kai on his left; the same people and the same place but a different time and a different conversation today –

Today the conversation is just about Kodaira –

Inspector Kanehara, Inspector Kai and half of Room #1 spent yesterday questioning Kodaira while Nishi and I were chasing ghosts out at the International Palace and the rest of my room were walking the streets of Shiba, in the heat and in the dirt –

Investigation is footwork …

‘There are some similarities with other cases,’ says the chief. ‘And so these other cases are going to need to be washed again. Now I know there is a shortage of manpower so, first of all, we are going to need to see how many of these other cases match up with the various places that the suspect Kodaira has lived and worked…’

‘And the first case is that of Abe Yoshiko…’

Shinagawa. Shinagawa. Shinagawa …

‘You might remember that the body of a teenage girl was found by a signal operator on the thirteenth of June this year, just over two months ago now, under a burnt-out truck in the scrapyard of the Shibaura Transportation Company at 7 Hamamachi, Shiba Ward, on the ocean side of Shinagawa train station…’

Adachi has his eyes on me …

‘The autopsy revealed that the girl had been raped and then strangled with her own neckerchief on or around the ninth of June. The investigation headquarters was set up at Takanawa police station and was led by former Chief Inspector Mori who, as you all know, is now unfortunately no longer with us…’

Arrested and imprisoned …