Salvation of a Saint (13 page)

‘What’s all this about?’ Ayane asked. ‘Why does she have to go with you?’

‘I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to talk about that right now. Ms Wakayama, if you wouldn’t mind? Don’t worry, we’re not here in a marked police vehicle,’ he added.

Hiromi glanced worriedly towards Ayane, then nodded to the detective. ‘Fine. But I don’t have to stay there? I mean, I’ll be free to go home?’

‘As soon as we’re finished.’

‘I’ll get ready.’

Hiromi disappeared into the back for a moment, then reappeared wearing a jacket and carrying her bag. While she was gone Kusanagi found himself unable to look at Ayane. He could feel her eyes on him, glaring.

Hiromi stepped out into the hallway, following Kishitani.
Kusanagi had turned to join them when Ayane grabbed him by the arm. ‘Wait.’ Her grip was surprisingly strong. ‘Hiromi’s not a suspect, right?’

Kusanagi hesitated. Kishitani was waiting with Hiromi just outside the door.

‘You go on ahead,’ he said, closing the door before turning to face Ayane.

‘I … I’m sorry,’ she said, letting go of his arm. ‘But there is no way that she could have done this. If you’re suspecting her for whatever reason, you’re making a horrible mistake.’

‘I’m afraid it’s our job to look into every possibility, no matter how slight.’

Ayane firmly shook her head. ‘The possibility that she did it is zero, do you understand? She couldn’t have killed my husband. I’m sure you understand that.’

‘Why couldn’t she?’

‘You know, don’t you? About their relationship?’

Kusanagi gaped. ‘So you knew?’

‘Yes. I spoke with Hiromi about it the other day – that is, I figured it out and confronted her, and she admitted to it.’

Ayane began to describe their exchange at the hotel. Kusanagi was astonished by what she was telling him, but not as amazed as he was to have found the two of them here, today, working in the same room. He assumed the fact that her husband was dead had something to do with it; yet he found himself utterly baffled by a woman who would
maintain a working relationship with someone who had betrayed her the way her apprentice had.

‘I went home to Sapporo because I couldn’t bear to stay in the same house with him. I’m sorry I lied.’ Ayane lowered her head. ‘But you have to understand that she had absolutely no reason to kill my husband. You can’t suspect her of this.’

Kusanagi blinked. What kind of person went to such lengths to protect the woman who stole her husband? ‘I understand what you’re telling me,’ he said. ‘But we can’t make decisions based on how we feel about the suspect. We need objectively verifiable physical evidence.’

‘Physical evidence? So you have evidence proving Hiromi poisoned my husband?’ Ayane’s eyes flashed with a hard light.

Kusanagi sighed. He debated with himself under the weight of her stare. At last he decided that revealing the latest evidence wouldn’t cause any further complications in the investigation. ‘We found out how the poison got into the coffee,’ he said, and told her about the traces found in the kettle in the kitchen. ‘And no one is known to have been in the house on Sunday, other than Hiromi herself.’

‘Poison, in the kettle? How does that incriminate her?’

‘It’s not conclusive,’ the detective explained, ‘but as long as there exists a possibility that Ms Wakayama did put the poison into the coffee, she will remain a suspect.’

‘But …’ Ayane said, then faltered, at a loss for words.

‘Sorry, but I need to get going.’ Kusanagi gave a curt bow and left the room.

As soon as they got Hiromi back to the station, Mamiya brought her into an interrogation room to begin questioning. Though normally this would have been done at the local precinct headquarters, Mamiya had chosen the Metropolitan Police Department instead – a sure sign he believed she would confess and turn herself in. Once she’d confessed, they would write up a warrant for her arrest, and only then take her to the Meguro station. It was a setup to give the press the photo op they wanted: a criminal being led off to justice.

Kusanagi was waiting at his desk for the results when Utsumi returned. The first thing she said when he looked up was that Hiromi Wakayama was not the criminal.

When Kusanagi heard her evidence, he frowned. Not because it was another ridiculous theory – in fact, it was exactly the opposite. It made complete sense. If Hiromi Wakayama had put the poison into the coffee, the junior detective explained, she wouldn’t have left the kettle on the stove after discovering the body.

‘So then who put the poison in the kettle?’ Kusanagi asked. ‘And don’t tell me it was Ayane Mashiba, because we’ve already established that that’s impossible.’

‘I don’t know who it was. I can only guess that somebody must have gone into the Mashiba residence after Hiromi Wakayama left on Sunday morning.’

Kusanagi shook his head. ‘There’s no indication that
anyone else went in there. It was just Yoshitaka Mashiba. Alone.’

‘We can’t say that for sure. We just haven’t found out who it was yet. In any case, there’s no point questioning Ms Wakayama any further. Not only is there no point, it might be a violation of her rights,’ Utsumi said with unusual force-fulness.

Kusanagi was at a loss. He was contemplating the situation when his mobile phone rang. Feeling saved by the bell, he relaxed as he looked down at the phone display, only to tense up again immediately. It was Ayane.

‘Sorry to bother you when you’re busy. But there is something I have to tell you.’

‘Yes?’ Kusanagi gripped his phone tightly.

‘Finding poison in the kettle doesn’t necessarily mean that somebody actually put poison in the kettle.’

Kusanagi was flustered again. ‘Why’s that?’

‘Well, perhaps I should’ve mentioned this earlier, but my husband was extremely health conscious, and never drank water straight from the tap. Even when cooking, I always used water from a filter. He only ever drank bottled water, and he asked me to use it when I made coffee, too. I’m sure he used water from a bottle on Sunday.’

‘So you think the poison could have been in the bottled water?’

At the desk next to him, he saw one of Utsumi’s eyebrows go up.

‘I just thought that it might be a possibility. It just doesn’t
make sense for Hiromi to have done it. And if the poison was in the bottled water, somebody else could’ve done it. Anyone.’

‘Well, that’s true, but …’

‘For instance,’ Ayane went on, ‘it could even have been me.’

It was just past eight o’clock when Utsumi drove Hiromi Wakayama home. Hiromi had been in the interrogation room for only two hours, far less than Mamiya had anticipated.

Ayane Mashiba’s call was the main reason he’d cut off the questioning. The widow was very clear about her husband’s instructions: the dead man had insisted that bottled water be used exclusively for all coffee making. If that was true, then all the killer had to do was poison one of the bottles ahead of time – which meant Hiromi Wakayama was no longer the only suspect.

In any case, Mamiya had been unable to press her into making a confession. After two hours of the young woman’s tearful professions of innocence, he nodded with reluctant resignation when Utsumi suggested sending Ms Wakayama home for the time being.

Now she sat in the passenger seat, emphatically silent.
She’s probably exhausted,
Utsumi thought. She had seen strong men wilt under the heat of the hard-faced detective’s interrogations. It would take a while for the tears to fade from Hiromi’s eyes. Utsumi settled in for a quiet ride. Her passenger was too worked up to say anything.
And why would she, anyhow, when she knew that she was now a suspect?

Hiromi’s mobile phone rang. She pulled it out of her handbag.

‘Yes?’ she said in a quiet voice. ‘We just finished. I’m getting a ride back now … No, the lady detective … No, not the station in Meguro, the Metropolitan Police Department. It might take a little longer to get home … Yes, thank you.’

She ended the call.

Utsumi took a few steady breaths, then asked, ‘Was that Mrs Mashiba?’

She could feel Hiromi tense in her seat. ‘Yes. Is there a problem?’

‘She called Kusanagi while you were being questioned. She seems very worried about you.’

‘She is.’

‘You talked about your relationship with Mr Mashiba?’

‘Where did you hear that?’

‘Mrs Mashiba told Kusanagi when he came to bring you down to the department.’

Hiromi fell silent, and Utsumi stole a glance at her. Her eyes were downcast, lips curled into a thin frown.

‘I don’t mean to be rude,’ Utsumi went on, ‘but it’s very
strange to me that the two of you remain so close, when most people in your situation would be at each other’s throats.’

‘Well, he
is
dead.’

‘Still, it’s strange.’

There was a pause before Hiromi nodded. ‘I guess it is.’

She doesn’t understand it herself,
Utsumi realized. She waited several seconds before she spoke again. ‘Actually, there are two or three things I wanted to ask, if you don’t mind.’

Hiromi sighed. ‘What else could you possibly need to know?’

‘I know you’re tired, and I’m sorry, but these are very simple questions. And the last thing I want to do is cause you any pain.’

‘It’s a little late for that. What did you want to ask?’

‘On Sunday morning, you and Mr Mashiba drank coffee, correct? And you made the coffee?’

‘That again?’ Hiromi asked, tears in her voice. ‘I didn’t do anything. I don’t know anything about any poison.’

‘I’m not asking about that, just about how you made the coffee. Do you remember what water you used?’

Hiromi blinked. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Did you use water from one of the plastic bottles in the fridge, or water from the tap?’

‘From the tap.’ Hiromi sighed again.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. Why does it matter?’

‘Why did you use water from the tap?’

‘I didn’t have any deep reason, if that’s what you’re suggesting. I just thought using hot water would make it boil quicker.’

‘Was Mr Mashiba there when you made the coffee that time?’

‘He was. Didn’t I already say this a few times? I taught him how to make coffee.’ There was an echo of irritation through the tears in her voice.

‘Try to recall the moment as clearly as you can. I don’t mean when you were making the coffee, I mean when you were pouring water into the kettle. Was Mr Mashiba standing there?’

Hiromi fell silent, and Utsumi knew that this wasn’t one of the questions Mamiya had asked her.

‘Oh,’ she whispered after a few moments had passed. ‘You’re right. He wasn’t in the room yet when I put the kettle on. I’d just turned up the burner when he came in to the kitchen and asked me to show him how it was done.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Yes, very sure.’

Utsumi pulled over and stopped the car. She put on the hazard lights and turned to face Hiromi directly.

‘What is it?’ she asked, shrinking away from the detective.

‘Ayane taught you how to make coffee at her house, yes?’

Hiromi nodded.

‘Well, Ayane told Kusanagi that her husband was very health conscious, and never drank water directly from the
tap. Mr Mashiba had insisted that she always use bottled purified water, even for making coffee. Were you aware of that?’

Hiromi’s eyes went wide and she blinked. ‘She
did
tell me about that. But she said not to worry about it too much.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yes. She didn’t think it was very economical to use so much bottled water, and besides it takes longer to boil that way. But she told me if Mr Mashiba ever asked, I was to tell him I had been using bottled water.’ Hiromi put a hand to her cheek. ‘I completely forgot about all that!’

‘So Ayane was using tap water, too?’

‘Probably.’ Hiromi looked into Utsumi’s eyes. ‘It didn’t even occur to me to mention it when I was talking to the other detectives.’

Utsumi nodded, smiling. ‘It’s okay. Thank you.’ She turned off the hazard lights and released the brake.

‘Could you tell me why it matters?’ Hiromi asked. ‘Was there a problem with me using water from the tap?’

‘Not a problem. But, since there’s reason to suspect that Yoshitaka Mashiba was poisoned, we need to make sure we know every detail about what he ate on the day he died.’

‘I see …’ Hiromi lowered her gaze, then looked back up at the detective. ‘Ms Utsumi, you have to believe me. I really didn’t do anything.’

Utsumi swallowed, her eyes on the road. She was about to say
I believe you
, but instead she told her, ‘You’re not the only suspect in this case. In fact, at this point, we have to
suspect everyone in the world. If anyone ever told you police work was fun, they lied.’

Hiromi fell silent.

Not the answer she was expecting.

Utsumi stopped her car by Gakugei Daigaku station, not far from Hiromi’s apartment. She watched as Hiromi got out and walked towards the apartment building. Then Utsumi glanced at the building itself, quickly turned off the engine, and got out of the car. Ayane Mashiba was waiting just inside the glass front door of Hiromi’s apartment building.

Hiromi looked surprised to see her. As surprised as Utsumi was. Ayane gave her apprentice a consoling look; then she noticed Utsumi running over and her face hardened. Hiromi turned around and frowned.

‘Is there something else?’ she asked the detective as Ayane came out to join them.

‘I just saw Mrs Mashiba there and thought I should say hello,’ Utsumi said. ‘I’m sorry to have kept Hiromi at the station for so long.’ She bowed apologetically.

‘I take it Hiromi is no longer a suspect?’

‘She was very forthcoming with details. And I hear you provided very valuable information to Detective Kusanagi as well. Thank you.’

‘I hope it was helpful,’ Ayane said. ‘But I should think you have enough to go on without questioning her any further. Hiromi is innocent.’

‘I’m afraid that’s a decision for us to make, Mrs Mashiba. I hope we can count on your continued cooperation.’

‘I’ll be happy to cooperate, but please leave the poor girl out of this.’