David Peace - Tokyo Year Zero

Nothing …

‘So she is still missing, then? This friend of Abe Yoshiko?’

I nod. I say, ‘She may be missing, but she’s not our body.’

But Adachi doesn’t give up. Adachi never gives up …

‘And what about all the other girls?’ he asks me –

I shake my head. I ask, ‘What other girls?’

‘All the other girls aged fifteen to twenty years old reported missing in the past two months. These other girls that you have had your own men combing the streets of Tokyo for…’

I curse him. I curse him. I curse him …

‘The enquiries are still ongoing, sir.’

I curse him and I curse myself …

‘So are you then any nearer actually identifying the body?’

I meet his eyes now. I stare back at him. I say, ‘No.’

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no …

‘That’s enough,’ says Chief Kita –

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no …

Now the chief stands up –

It’s finished. It’s over …

And we all stand up and all bow and now all start to leave –

‘Chief Inspector Adachi,’ says the chief. ‘Please wait.’

Chief Inspector Adachi bows and sits back down.

‘And Inspector Minami, please wait outside.’

I bow my head. Then I step outside.

*

Thirty minutes later Chief Inspector Adachi steps out of Chief Kita’s office into the corridor. Chief Inspector Adachi stands in front of me and says, ‘The chief would like to see you now, Inspector Minami.’

I nod and I thank him. But I sit and I wait until he is gone –

Now I open the door. I step back inside the chief’s office –

The blood-flecked scroll on the wall behind his desk –

‘ It is time to reveal the true essence of the nation …’

‘Please sit down,’ he says. ‘You look tired…’

I bow. I apologize. I thank him. I sit down –

Then he asks, ‘What happened at Keiō?’

‘The landlady believes that the clothes found on the body in Shiba Park are not the same as those worn by Tominaga Noriko.’

‘So you said,’ says the chief. ‘And so?’

I shake my head. ‘And that’s it.’

‘But you were convinced that this missing girl could be the body at Shiba Park,’ says the chief. ‘You know the landlady could be mistaken about the clothes. You must have found out more?’

I shake my head again. I say, ‘I’m sorry. No.’

‘You’ve nothing else to say, then?’

I say again, ‘I’m sorry. No.’

Things not to say …

‘So why were you down at Mita police station last night?’

I have no answer. I say nothing. There is nothing to say.

‘You went there to try to find the name of the officer who was dismissed over Abe, didn’t you, detective? Didn’t you?’

I bow my head now. I say, ‘I am sorry, sir.’

‘You went there even after I told you now was not the time, didn’t you, detective? You still went there, directly disobeying me.’

My head still bowed, I say again, ‘I’m sorry, sir.’

‘Did they tell you his name?’ asks the chief.

‘Yes,’ I say. ‘They told me his name.’

‘Did they tell you his address?’

‘No, they did not.’

‘But you still found it out, didn’t you?’ asks the chief. ‘You still went to see Murota, didn’t you?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘I…’

‘Did you ever stop to think why I said now was not the time to be asking about Murota? Did you, detective?’ the chief asks me –

My head still low, I apologize. I apologize and I apologize –

‘Did you ever stop to think I might have had a reason?’

I apologize and I apologize and again, I apologize –

‘Did you ever think of anyone but yourself in this?’

I apologize and I apologize again, over and over –

‘Do you ever think of anyone but yourself…?’

I say, ‘I am sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry…’

The chief leans forward now. The chief whispers, ‘You are being watched. You are being followed. Everywhere you go –

‘Did you know that? Did you even suspect that?’

My head still bowed, I say, ‘I had no idea…’

‘The Public Safety Division has been sniffing around again, seeking to draw up fresh lists of the guilty. There are rumours of a second Purge Directive, this time against lower ranking officers…

‘They are trying to match histories to names…

‘And yours is one of the names…’

I curse him and I curse myself …

I want to know what he knows. I curse him! I want to know what he has heard. I curse myself! I want to know how he knows what he knows. I curse him! I want to know who told him what he knows. I curse myself! But I don’t ask anything or say anything –

I just curse him and I curse myself …

Because there’s nothing to say –

No point. No point. No point –

Chiku-taku. Chiku-taku …

No point. No point –

Chiku-taku …

I am out of time –

‘I don’t know if these are just shots in the dark,’ the chief is saying now. ‘Or if they have some actual information, some witnesses or statements but, either way, it is best you get lost…’

‘Best I get lost?’ I repeat. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I want you to go up to Tochigi,’ he says.

‘Tochigi Prefecture? When?’

‘Tomorrow,’ he says –

Now the chief picks up a file and passes it across his desk. ‘Yesterday we actually had a call from the Utsunomiya Chihō Kensatsu-chō, the Utsunomiya District Public Prosecutor’s Office, about two unsolved murders in their jurisdiction that they wanted to pass on to the Kodaira investigation team. One of the murders was your Baba Hiroko and the other was a Numao Shizue, aged sixteen, who was found stabbed on the thirtieth of December last year, in the jurisdiction of the Nikkō police. Baba Hiroko, as you know, was found strangled with her own scarf on the third of January in Nishi Katamura, in the jurisdiction of the Kanuma Police…

‘But Baba Hiroko was actually living here in Kyōbashi Ward so, before you go up to Tochigi tomorrow, I think it would be a good idea to first speak to her family in Tokyo…’

I say, ‘I want to take Nishi…’

‘No,’ says the chief.

‘Am I to go alone?’

‘Chief Inspector Adachi has recommended young Ishida…’

‘Excuse me,’ I say. ‘I don’t think he’s a suitable officer —’

‘This is not a debate,’ says the chief. ‘This is an order.’

I bow my head again. I apologize again, and again –

And then I ask, ‘How long should I stay away?’

‘Only for a couple of days,’ says the chief –

Now I ask, ‘And then what happens?’

The chief clears his throat. The chief stands behind his desk. Now the chief says, ‘Inspector Minami, as of midnight tonight, I am forced to relieve you of your command of Room #2…’

I am on my knees. I am on my knees …

‘There have been complaints about you…’

I am on my knees in his office …

‘Complaints from your own men…’

On my knees, on his floor …

‘Complaints about your lack of leadership,’ says the chief. ‘Your lack of organization. Complaints about your inability to command. Your inability to delegate. Complaints about the continued absence of Detective Fujita and about your own absences…’

On his floor. In his office. On my knees …

‘But you tell me to lead my men and then you send me away and you demote me. Who will lead my men now …? Who will take charge of this case …? Please give me a second chance…’