The Gate of Sorrows (62 page)

After about an hour, Maeda said abruptly, “Narita’s quitting at the end of the month.”

It took Kotaro a few moments to digest this fresh serving of bad news. “I didn’t know.”

“I think he’s the third chief to leave.” Maeda stared at his monitor. “The move’s been rescheduled. Have you heard?”

“No, nothing specific.”

“It’s not next March. We close at the end of this year. Too much bad stuff has happened. First Morinaga disappears, then we lose Ayuko. And we still don’t know the truth.”

Kotaro felt a stab of guilt.

“What do you think? Tomakomai was a one-off, but is the Serial Amputator real?” he asked.

“I don’t know what to think,” Maeda said. He put his hands behind his head and arched his back to get the kinks out. He turned to Kotaro and smiled ironically.

“I don’t believe anything anymore. Now that I look back at it, that statement the media got smells like a hoax.”

Kotaro wanted to smile ironically too, but something held him back. “I heard that a friend of Ayuko’s and Seigo’s from college disappeared right after the murder.”

Maeda’s eyes widened in surprise. “You
are
plugged in. Where did you hear that?”

“Someone talking.”

Maeda leaned toward him. Kotaro did the same.

“I heard something myself. The police are treating her as a suspect.”

“
Her
? The suspect is a woman?”

“Yeah.” Maeda nodded and paused. He seemed to be sizing up Kotaro’s reaction to this bit of information.

Playing dumb was easy, but it got on Kotaro’s conscience. He looked away and said, “Just like Kenji. It’s spooky.”

“Yeah, but this woman has nothing to do with Morinaga. She has everything to do with Seigo, though.” Maeda lowered his voice to a whisper. “Ayuko was seen with her the night before she was found. A security camera filmed them. They say she also called Ayuko before that, when she was in a taxi.”

“Is she a suspect?” Kotaro fought to calm the pounding in his chest. He feared what he might hear next.

“Seigo had to meet with the cops again today. They’re going to search her apartment.”

So it had finally come to that. Kotaro wanted to clap hands with joy. He wanted to shout. Instead he clenched his fist under the table, fighting back the urge.

He was fighting back something else as well. The police were talking to Seigo again.

They’re not finished with him.

“Seems like there was some kind of triangle, I guess you’d call it.” Maeda scratched his head awkwardly. “They say you can’t tell what happens between men and women behind closed doors. I don’t have much experience in that area, so I couldn’t say.”

“Come on. You must be popular.”

Maeda was muscular and manly, but he just guffawed. Another island member looked up curiously from his monitor.

“You can’t attract women just by going to the gym, okay? Still, I don’t have any problem shoveling snow. I was almost set to go to Sapporo myself, but I’m quitting. I’ll be here to the end. After that I think I’ll go back to my hometown and look for a job.”

“Where’s home?”

“Kobe. Great food. You should visit. Once I leave Tokyo, I don’t think I’ll be coming back.”

Something seemed to occur to him suddenly. He sat up in his chair. “I must be getting senile. I’m babbling on and almost forgot to tell you the most important thing. Morinaga’s father is coming to Tokyo. He says he wants to meet you. You and Kenji were friends, right? The guys on School Island say you knew him even better than they did. His father’s been wanting to talk to you for a long time.”

This was not good news. Kotaro didn’t want to meet Kenji’s father. He wanted to run away.
I know what happened to your son. I know, but I have to pretend I don’t.

“Oh … okay.”

“How’s your schedule?”

“I guess when I’m here in the afternoon would be best. Anytime is okay for me.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Scheduling to fix it up. Sorry, gotta hit the head.” Maeda stood up and turned to go.

“Can I ask you something?” Kotaro said. “Did you decide not to follow Seigo because you lost respect for him?”

Maeda jerked back in surprise, as if he’d taken a slap to the cheek. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, like you said … I mean, if Ayuko wasn’t murdered by the Serial Amputator, if it wasn’t the work of some crazy person, but happened because of some kind of romantic conflict, Seigo would be partially responsible, so—”

Maeda put a hard hand on the top of Kotaro’s head. “That’s enough.” Kotaro’s head was in a vice.

“Too many sad things have happened. I don’t want to bring that baggage with me to Sapporo. Seigo’s doing a stellar job of running Kumar. Of course I still respect him.”

He turned and left the room.

On the way home, Kotaro took the train from Ochanomizu to Akihabara and switched to the Yamanote Line, looking for a station he’d never gotten off at before and probably wouldn’t use again.

He chose Sugamo, the old folks’ Harajuku. He passed through the wicket and found a pay phone.

THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT, TOTSUKA POLICE STATION,
KANAGAWA PREFECTURAL POLICE, IS LOOKING FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING THE MURDER OF SAEKO KOMIYA. IF YOU HAVE DETAILS CONCERNING THIS CASE, PLEASE CALL—

Kotaro punched in the number on the printout. After two rings, a male voice came on the line.

“I have information on the case.” The man started to talk, but Kotaro ignored him and plunged ahead. He wasn’t calling to answer questions. He spoke quickly and crisply.

“The man you want is the gardener for her son’s nursery school. He owns a flower shop. His name is Kosuke Nakasono. You’ll find he’s been missing for a few days. He has a warehouse near his parents’ house in Totsuka. The victim’s leg is in that warehouse, in an oil drum. Match the DNA. He’s been slashing women around Totsuka too. You should be able to connect the dots.”

He hung up. The man on the other end was shouting, but he didn’t pay attention.

He’d thought the call would leave him feeling light and refreshed. Instead, he couldn’t stop shaking. His breathing was shallow and ragged.

Please. You’ve got to help. I erased Kosuke Nakasono from this world, but if you trace the evidence, you’ll be able to prove he did it, won’t you? The truth will give the bereaved at least a little peace.

Won’t it?

I meted out final justice
, Kosuke thought.
He’s not in the world
anymore.

By the time he got home, he was feeling a bit better. Asako and Kazumi gave him a detailed rundown on Mika’s accident. Kazumi was furious about the slippers that students were required to wear in the classroom and corridors. They were old, and it was easy to slip in them. Mika was going to spend a night in the hospital under observation, but she’d be going home tomorrow.

“Hospital food is awful. I feel sorry for her,” Kazumi added.

“But they calculate the calories for you. It’s a good way to diet,” Asako put in.

Their banter cheered Kotaro up. There was more to be cheerful about when he got a mail from Takako.

Ko-chan, many thanks for today. You’re like a big brother to Mika. You helped us both.

He fell asleep buoyed by this feeling. The next day he woke refreshed and rested for the first time in months.

Downstairs, Asako was standing by the stove, eyes fixed on the TV in the living room. Smoke was pouring from the frying pan.

“Hey Mom, the eggs are burning!”

She hurriedly turned off the burner, waving the smoke away from her face.

“It looks like they solved the Akita murder too. The perpetrators came forward and confessed,” she told Kotaro breathlessly.

The perpetrators were a woman in her mid-fifties and her second daughter, twenty-five. The victim was the eldest daughter, who was twenty-six when she was killed.

Mother and daughter had turned themselves in at a police box near their home—not in Akita, but in suburban Tokyo—and were being held at the nearest police station. Reporters from the news shows were clustered outside the station, microphones in hand.

Kazumi had already left for team practice. Takayuki, Kotaro and Asako ate breakfast and watched the news. The killers were apparently cooperating fully with the police, though the details were still unclear. They had turned themselves in at around eight the previous evening.

“It was supposed to be one of those Serial Amputator murders,” Takayuki said through a mouthful of buttered toast.

“Right, the second murder. But I guess it’s not him.” Asako poked at her salad. “I’m starting to wonder if he even exists.”

“But there are three other cases—” Takayuki broke off and looked sidelong at his son. “Are you all right, son?”

“Gotta go,” Kotaro said and went upstairs.

The textboards were boiling, naturally. Comments like Asako’s were all over. What the hell was going on? Was the killer’s statement a hoax? Had someone done it for kicks? People were begging the Serial Amputator to come forward and say something.

Kotaro called Shigenori and got his answering service. He hung up without leaving a message and headed for Kumar.

He ran into Narita at the first-floor elevator. He was carrying a plastic shopping bag from a convenience store. It was probably his breakfast. He’d pulled a night shift; his face was covered with stubble.

“Hey, mornin’, Kotaro.”

“Is Seigo here yet?”

“Um, no, not yet.” He gave Kotaro a slap on the shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll let us know if he finds out anything about Akita from the cops.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

Kotaro wasn’t scheduled to work that day. Kaname wouldn’t be around until the afternoon. Narita knew that, but he wasn’t surprised to see Kotaro. “Just couldn’t stay away, huh? Head for the lounge, you’re not alone.”

The lounge was crowded with off-duty employees glued to their devices. There was little talk, but people seemed to want company, like animals huddling together in the face of an approaching storm.

It wasn’t long before Seigo arrived and asked everyone to report to the third floor. He was going to brief them in person this time.

He looked thin and tired, as though he’d been up all night. Maybe he’d been working, or he just hadn’t been able to sleep. He was pale and unshaven. He didn’t look healthy.

“Sorry to interrupt your day,” he said to the room. His voice was weak. “As you know, the murder that everyone thought was the second by the Serial Amputator has been solved. The details haven’t been reported yet, but the case is definitely closed. The victim was killed by her mother and sister.

“Apparently the murdered daughter was a wild child who’d been giving her mother and sister trouble for a long time. Of course, the deceased isn’t here to defend herself, so I can’t really say. Whatever the trouble was, it was enough to drive her mother and sister to kill her, mutilate her body, and dump it in Akita. The mother said they cut off one of her toes to make it look like the work of the Tomakomai killer.”

The room started buzzing. Seigo must have gotten this from the special investigation unit, as he had with the inside information about the first murder.

“At the time, no one was talking about Toe-Cutter Bill or the Serial Amputator. The Tomakomai case was unsolved. But mother and daughter were alert to the possibility that mutilating the body might put the police off the scent. I guess they were right. They convinced me too. Pulled the wool over my eyes completely.”

He attempted a wry smile, which only made him look more pitiful. Kotaro remembered how convinced Seigo had been that a serial killer was on the loose.

“Everything that might’ve been a clue to the victim’s identity was removed. Apparently the daughter was the one who handled that.”

One of the employees raised her hand. “Nozaki, from BB Island,” she said. “I saw something on one of the boards that said the family used to live near where the body was found, maybe ten years ago.”

Seigo nodded. “Interesting. That would explain why they chose that location. They were familiar with it.”

“The husband—the victim’s father—was posted all around Japan by his employer. This is according to someone who went to high school with the victim in Akita.”

“Thanks for that. Does anyone else have something?”

Another person raised her hand. “The younger daughter’s SNS page says she’s a big fan of police procedurals.
CSI
, shows like that.”

“TV’s getting a little too instructive.” Seigo smiled. Again, it just made him look more pathetic.

A veteran of BB Island spoke up. “The victim was pretty well-known around the neighborhood for being a problem child. Seems she was emotionally unstable. She got married three years before and divorced immediately. After she went back to live with her mother and sister, she hardly came out of her room, but sometimes the neighbors could hear her and the mother having screaming matches. Once she put her mother in the hospital.

“Early last year the father was killed in a traffic accident, and the family got a big insurance settlement. The fighting got worse after that.”