The Gate of Sorrows (46 page)

“Sorry to drag you out this early. But you’re a student. I guess you’ve got the time.”

It was 9 a.m. the next day, at Kadoma Coffee Shop. A few salarymen were finishing off their breakfasts.

“I’m busy, actually,” Kotaro said. “I ditched a class to be here. You said it was urgent.”

“You didn’t have to play hooky.”

Kotaro had classes all day. His shift at Kumar started at six. Shigenori had insisted on meeting early—before his next shift, if at all possible.

“You’re looking well, detective.”

“Yep. It’s almost like being young again. I’ve just about forgotten the bolts are there.”

After the owner brought their iced coffees, Shigenori pulled his chair close to the table. There were open seats along the windows, but he’d chosen this spot at the rear of the shop. Something was up. Kotaro leaned forward and spoke quietly. “What’s going on?”

Shigenori furrowed his brows slightly. “Tell me if I’ve got this wrong. Seigo Maki is Kumar’s vice president. He hired you, right? He convinced you that cyber patrolling would be perfect for you.”

Kotaro couldn’t remember telling Shigenori about that first conversation with Seigo about his future. Maybe he’d told him in the hospital, after the operation? He’d been so depressed by the change that had come over the ex-detective that he might’ve said anything to cover his disappointment.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“He graduated from your high school. You think of him as a mentor.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. But I guess he’s a major influence on me.”

At that, Shigenori’s brows furrowed even more. He lifted his glass and drank a third of it off.

“I shouldn’t tell you this,” he said in a low voice. “But you’re a good kid and pretty mature for your age. My wife likes you too. I’m going to do you a favor.”

Kotaro could only stare, nonplussed.
What’s coming?

“Yesterday afternoon, an ex-colleague of mine dropped by. He said he was ‘in the neighborhood’ and thought he’d see how I was doing. He’s working on a case—working so hard that he hasn’t been home for days. He’s camping out at Sumida Police Station.”

Kotaro’s eyes widened slightly. “Is this about what I think he is?”

Shigenori nodded. “Ayuko Yamashina. They’ve made quite a bit of progress. It looks like they’re about to crack it, in fact.”

The rest came in a rush, as if Shigenori had uncorked a bottle. “He was a new detective around the time I retired. He’s still one of the younger guys in the violent crimes unit. What he found, though, was eating at him. He knew the brass wouldn’t give him a hearing. Anyway, he got the itch to talk it over with an old fox like me, so he dropped by. It wasn’t like him. He’s not in the habit of gossiping.” He looked Kotaro in the eye. “And neither are you. Am I right?”

“Sure, of course.”

“Can you keep what I tell you absolutely confidential? It’s just that … I thought it might be hard on you if you got this off the web. Or TV. They’re going to have a field day.”

“What, then? What’s going to be hard?”

“Whoever killed the first four victims didn’t kill Yamashina. The letters were a hoax. The killer wanted to make it look like she was killed by the Serial Amputator.”

Kotaro didn’t even try to look surprised, but Shigenori thought his lack of response was a sign of shock.

“I’m sorry, I know this is a bolt from the blue. It must seem unbelievable.”

What’s to believe? I already
know
.

“Do they have any idea who did it?”

Shigenori glanced away for a moment and took another gulp of coffee. Still holding the glass, he nodded once.

“Ayuko Yamashina was killed by a friend.”

Looks like I underestimated the cops after all.

“Listen, Mishima … Your president’s murder was a crime of pa—” Shigenori stopped. He took a moment to reboot. “There was a romance angle to it.”

Kotaro didn’t miss a beat. “A crime of passion? You mean like a triangle between Seigo and Ayuko and the woman who killed her?”

Shigenori’s voice was a low growl. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

But there was no triangle. Seigo and Keiko didn’t have a romantic connection of any kind. It was all her private fantasy.

“Information like that can really hurt the bereaved,” Shigenori said. He sounded genuinely pained, as if he were involved personally. “It will hurt Seigo Maki more than anyone, but the truth will be unbearable for a lot of other people too. You and he are good friends, and you seemed to respect Yamashina. She was beautiful and brilliant. If you had feelings for her, I’d certainly understand.”

Did I tell him that too?

“I knew it would be hard on you—people you respect so much being mixed up in a triangle. Yamashina lost her life because of it. That’s why—”

He’s leaking police information to soften the blow. Well, I don’t need his help.

Kotaro smiled. Shigenori’s face changed from awkward to suspicious.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I’m not laughing. I’m grateful.”

Shigenori blinked slowly. Moment by moment, his eyes cooled.

“Let me ask you something. You said Maki and Yamashina and the woman who killed her might’ve been involved in a triangle.”

Kotaro nodded.
Very good. You haven’t lost your edge, detective.

“I only said there was a triangle,” Shigenori continued. “How did you guess the third person was a woman?”

“Because I know.” Kotaro had confessed.

It was Shigenori’s turn to lose his poker face. The needle on his surprise meter was stuck on peak.

Kotaro went ahead and brought him up to date on everything that had happened since that night at the tea caddy building. When he finished, Shigenori was silent for nearly a minute. He’d forgotten how to blink; his eyes were fixed on Kotaro. Finally his Adam’s apple moved, once. He frowned.

“Keiko Tashiro. Yes, that was the suspect. She’s been missing for a week. The phone company can’t trace her GPS smartphone.”

Of course they can’t. She’s no longer in this world. She’s in Galla’s scythe. Where would that be? Another dimension, maybe. Or maybe she’s in Galla’s region …

“She hasn’t shown up for work. Hasn’t contacted her parents. She’s dropped out of sight.”

Just like Kenji.

“How did they figure out it was her?” Kotaro asked.

Shigenori finally recovered his blink reflex. He needed a moment to make sure the conversation was real. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his face.

“Detective, what was it that made this person a suspect?”

“What?”

“Now I’m asking
you
a question. Please, try to get a grip.”

Shigenori let his hand drop. He’d finally decided the conversation was real.

“The night of the murder, a gas station security camera in Shibuya caught her with the victim. They were in a car. Tashiro was driving.”

“A gas station?” Kotaro was so appalled at Keiko’s stupidity, his voice cracked. “She stopped for gas after she picked up Ayuko?”

“No. The gas station is next to an intersection. The camera caught them waiting for the light to change.”

“Man, I told her she was gonna get caught. Shibuya has cameras everywhere. But she didn’t get it. She actually asked me how she screwed up.”

Shigenori shook his head slowly. Kotaro couldn’t tell what he wasn’t liking. Maybe Keiko’s stupidity? Or maybe it was Kotaro’s tone.

“I might’ve handled things differently if I’d known the cops were onto her. I guess it can’t be helped. In my situation, I think you would’ve lost your temper too, along with your self-control.”

An arrogant, overbearing, self-absorbed woman wallowing in a romantic delusion. She behaved like a spoiled child.

“Now that I think about it, I should’ve asked her how she lured Ayuko to Shibuya. But so much was happening. The timing was never right.”

Shigenori finally stopped shaking his head and stared at him coldly.

“Tashiro was one of the wedding planners.”

“Then she could’ve used that. Said she wanted to talk to Ayuko about something. Ayuko had plans for the evening, but she was happy to meet up with Keiko. It was a happy subject. She was totally in the dark about Keiko’s delusion. She was defenseless. I can’t believe she asked her to help with the wedding. Ayuko was way too trusting.”

And luck had been against her. If she had just reacted differently that night—
Sorry, I’m busy
, or
I’m tired, let’s do it another time
, or
If it’s about the wedding, Sei-chan should be there
—Ayuko would still be alive, still be walking the stairs between floors at Kumar, her high heels clicking on the steps. Keiko would surely have kept watching and waiting for her chance, but still … Ayuko was alone that night, with no one to see until the next morning and nothing urgent to make her turn Keiko down. It was as though the devil himself had been in the saddle.

Kotaro felt emotions boiling up inside that he thought he’d sealed away. Memories of Ayuko gripped his heart.

He realized suddenly that Shigenori was talking to him.

“What?”

The ex-detective’s eyes were nearly iced over. “No regrets, then? You don’t think what you did was a mistake?”

“Why would I?”

“You passed judgment on another human being. You took life and death into your hands. You carried out the sentence.”

Kotaro shrugged. “I didn’t sentence anyone. I took revenge for Ayuko.”

“Oh, that’s it. Did someone ask for that? Someone who wanted you to avenge their grief?” A pale light flickered in his eyes. “No. Everything was in your hands. You took care of her personally. You wanted payback and you got it.”

Shigenori frowned, and a spasm of pain passed over his face. “Did you ever think she might’ve had something to say in her own defense?”

“In her
defense
?” Kotaro gaped at him.

“You decided her relationship with Seigo Maki was a fantasy. Who gave you the right to do that without investigating carefully and weighing the evidence?”

“Of course it was a fantasy. It couldn’t have been anything else.”

“In your opinion.”

“I asked him, detective. He said he barely remembered her. He couldn’t even remember her name at first.”

Good-looking, kind of a narrow face?
As Kotaro recounted his exchange with Seigo, Shigenori smiled, but not with his eyes.

“Maybe that was just for you. No matter how close two men are, one can never tell what the other might do behind closed doors. The same goes for women. It’s very hard to predict how people will behave when it comes to the opposite sex. Even harder for
you
. You’re young.

“In fact, you’re a child. There’s no way a man who knows you look up to him, that you respect him, is going to come right out and say, ‘Now that you mention it, I do have a little something going with her on the side.’ No man I know would do that.”

For a few moments, Kotaro couldn’t quite grasp what Shigenori was driving at. But as he caught on, his anger rose so fast that it almost blotted out his hearing.

“He’s not that kind of guy!”

Shigenori pushed back, hard. “Oh, sure. He’s sincere. A good mentor. That’s how you see him. But how he treats women? That’s a different question.”

“He was in love with Ayuko. You don’t know, that’s all. They depended on each other for years. They shared their sorrows and happiness. Just look what they accomplished—”

“A man doesn’t have to love a woman to sleep with her. Even a deep relationship can become a liability. A man might cut a woman off cold in a situation like that. Sometimes kindness just gets in the way.”

Kotaro’s vision was shimmering from the heat of his anger, like air over a desert road. “You don’t know a goddamn thing!”

Shigenori didn’t bat an eyelid. “Maybe he and Tashiro really were in a relationship. It’s easy to keep a woman on tap if you know how to sweet-talk her. But when he had to choose a wife, he chose Yamashina. Maybe he told Tashiro it wasn’t his fault because Yamashina wouldn’t leave him. Tashiro might’ve been so hurt, she lost her head. Everything was Yamashina’s fault. She was evil. If only she’d let him go.”

Ayuko got her hooks into him and wouldn’t let go.
Keiko’s words echoed in Kotaro’s head.

“She wouldn’t be likely to blame the man she loves. At least part of what she told you about Ayuko could’ve come straight from Maki. That doesn’t justify murder, but still, she had her side of the story. You didn’t even consider it. You sentenced her to death because you couldn’t be bothered to give her a hearing. What if you were wrong?”

“Shut up!”

Kotaro suddenly found himself gripping Shigenori by the collar. The owner stared in astonishment from behind the counter. “I’m sorry. Is something wrong?”

Shigenori gave Kotaro a cool stare and answered in a strong, firm voice. “Everything’s fine. Sorry for the disturbance.”

Kotaro let go. His hands were shaking. Shigenori rose out of his chair slightly and turned toward the counter. “I’m afraid I don’t know when to stop preaching. I’m guess I went too far. We’ll have two more coffees.”

The owner smiled and nodded. The breakfast hour was over; the shop was empty.

Kotaro sat looking at his lap in silence until the refills arrived. The owner took their empty glasses. Kotaro could feel his slightly bitter smile as he turned to go.

“It’s time to end this.” Shigeru sat up straight. “You’ve done something terrible. You can’t let it go any further.”

Galla had said the same thing:
You have done enough. You have good reason to be content.

No!

Kotaro was not content. He wanted to use the power of his left eye for good. He didn’t want to lose it. He wanted to keep hunting. That was the most important thing. It meant something. No one could do it but him.

“I promised Galla I’d find the Serial Amputator so she could harvest his craving.”

Shigenori sighed tiredly. “Give it up, kiddo. It’s a pipe dream.”

Kotaro raised his chin defiantly. “What is? Galla? Her scythe getting stronger with every craving she harvests? Is that a pipe dream? The regions beyond our own, are they pipe dreams?