The Silent Dead (7 page)

According to Asada, Kanebara's wife had called him Monday morning, looking for her missing husband. When he checked, he found that Kanebara was a no-show. Kanebara's wife had asked whether she should call the police and report him missing. He told her to sit tight for a while. The wife eventually filed a missing persons report at Nerima police station on Tuesday evening.

“Kanebara was a serious fellow, but he wasn't stiff or stuffy. He was very good with people, easy to get along with. The bulk of his work was making sales calls. He was smart, so I also put him in charge of handling all the trade shows and events we took part in.” Asada paused. “You're quite sure it was Kanebara who was murdered?”

From his manner, Asada was having trouble accepting that Taiichi Kanebara had been killed. If he was putting on an act, he was an amazing performer.

“Did you notice anything suspicious in his recent behavior?”

“No,” said Asada, cocking his head. “I don't think so.”

“Was there anything different about him? Had he started doing anything new? It could be anything—maybe someone new he'd met.”

Asada hesitated. “I'm sorry, nothing comes to mind. I really can't think of anything.”

“Could he have done something to make enemies?”

“Enemies? Oh no, he'd never do anything like that. He wasn't that sort of person.”

“You seem very sure. How come?”

“How come? He was a good family man. He worked twice as hard as anyone else on the team.”

“So no friction or conflict connected to his job?”

“Look, we're in sales here. Sometimes we might poach a client from a competitor, but that's hardly the end of the world. I mean, heck, if my sales guys got killed every time they won an account from another company, there'd be no one left on the team.”

“Okay, how about internally? Was there anyone inside the firm he didn't get along with?”

“Absolutely not. Kanebara was popular with everyone. His bosses, his teammates, his subordinates—we all liked him.”

“Was there anyone he was especially close to?”

“Someone he was close to?” Asada thought for a moment. “I can't think of anyone in particular. I know I'm repeating myself, but I just want to stress that Kanebara didn't have any enemies and wasn't a loner or anything like that. With regard to close friends, well, as far as I know, there wasn't anyone here.… To be honest, the man never really opened up to me. Maybe that's just the way he was. I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but our relationship was superficial. It sounds coldhearted, but yes,
superficial
would be the word.”

Asada didn't have the faintest idea what went on in Kanebara's mind.

In the business world, when people paint their colleagues in glowing colors it's usually because it helps the corporate wheels run smoother and it's good for the collective. When they paint one of their number as black, it usually comes down to a direct conflict of interest at the individual level. With people as people, rather than as employees, relationships fall into more of a gray, ambiguous area.

Her interest in Asada was waning fast.

“I see. Did Kanebara have people working under him?”

“He did, yes. He headed a team of six.”

“Men?”

“Yes, all men.”

“Which of them was closest to him, or had known him longest?”

“The answer to both of those questions is Ozawa. Ozawa's about five or six years Kanebara's junior. The two of them worked at the same branch office before coming to the head office here. The sales guys usually look after their own client accounts, but for a while in the branch office Kanebara took Ozawa with him for on-the-job training. I think Ozawa was his favorite.”

“Could you send him in to see me?”

A grave-faced Asada left the room. A minute or two later, a somewhat younger man came in, his face also taut with worry.

“Was Mr. Kanebara really murdered?” were the first words out of his mouth.

Ozawa was speaking too loudly. At this rate, everything he said would be audible in the corridor outside.

“I'm afraid so.”

“But why? Why Mr. Kanebara? Where did it happen? Who did it?”

“To start with, I need you to sit down.”

Ozawa didn't move. The boy was obviously going to be a handful, and the first order of business was to get him to calm down. Reiko crossed her arms and looked up at him.

“Listen, Mr. Ozawa, we want to catch whoever killed your boss. Right now we're busy gathering information. What I'd like you to do is tell me everything that you know about Mr. Kanebara, leaving nothing out.”

“But how was he killed?”

Someone needs to teach this kid to listen!

“I'm not at liberty to tell you that.”

“What about … when was he killed?”

“Around eight on Sunday evening. Where were you at that time?”

Ozawa gasped and gave her a poisonous stare. Did she suspect him? It took him a second to realize that the police are obliged to ask everyone connected to the victim to provide an alibi. Ozawa exhaled heavily and sank into a chair.

“I was at a friend's place in the country from Friday evening to Sunday evening. We were stuck in traffic on the way home all Sunday evening. There was an accident that caused a huge traffic jam on the expressway.”

“Who was driving?”

“My friend with the house.”

“Have you got your toll receipts?”

“Guess my buddy should have them, provided he's not thrown them away.”

“I'll need his name and phone number.”

Ozawa had left his cell phone at home that morning and his address book was in his desk. Reiko told him to go and fetch it, sending Ioka with him to make sure he didn't phone or text his friend. When Ozawa returned, she jotted down his friend's contact information and resumed her questioning.

“What sort of man was Mr. Kanebara?”

“He was very serious. He worked hard, played hard; he was a good husband too. He always called to let his wife know when he'd be home late, and he often bought her little presents.”

“Had he done anything likely to make him enemies?”

Ozawa hesitated so briefly it was almost imperceptible.

“Make enemies? No, that's not Kanebara.”

Ioka, who was sitting beside Reiko, inhaled loudly through his nose. Reiko took this as a signal telling her to pile more pressure. She ignored Ioka and tried a new angle instead.

“Did you notice anything different about Kanebara recently?”

“Different? What do you mean?”

“Think about the people he knew, bars or restaurants he frequented, his general behavior, his appearance—it could be anything. Did you notice any change?”

Ozawa was at a loss.

Ioka discreetly snapped his notebook shut. Another one of his “Let's press this guy harder” signals.

Ioka's right. Let's push this up a notch
. Reiko refolded her arms, rested them on the table, and leaned forward. She deliberately changed her tone.

“Listen, Mr. Ozawa. I can't go into much detail, but Kanebara's murder was … let's say … unusually gruesome. Certainly not normal.”

“Not like a random street stabbing or anything?” asked Ozawa.

Reiko just shook her head.

“For the moment, we really don't know what sort of information we're looking for, what could constitute a clue. See what I'm saying? So think again. Was there anything different about Kanebara recently? There must be something you can give us—why somebody might have a grudge against him, anything.”

“He wasn't the kind of person to make enemies.” Ozawa sighed heavily and slumped in his chair.

Reiko could see there was something on his mind, but he couldn't decide whether to share it with them. He was probably worried about soiling Kanebara's reputation or upsetting the bereaved family.

After a pause to order his thoughts, Ozawa began to speak timidly. “This is just my own personal opinion, but, to be perfectly honest, I found Kanebara so gung-ho and intense that just being with him wore me out. I'm not saying he used to give the rest of us lectures about pulling up our socks and working harder. He didn't need to; the way he carried on himself sent a loud and clear message. That was how he put pressure on us. Starting … I don't know, maybe early spring this year, he was especially bad…”

Ioka's discreetly tapped his fingertips on the table. The phrase “early spring” had caught Reiko's attention too.

“I'm not sure quite how to say this. He just seemed to be, like, trying too hard. The difference between branch- and head-office sales is that here at the HQ nearly all our clients are large corporations. Mostly firms with over a thousand employees. We lease or sell them everything they need—not just copiers, faxes, and phones but desks, lockers, shelves, stationery, you name it. We each handle several of these big accounts. You can lose a client in a heartbeat, especially when the leasing contracts come up for renegotiation. If you don't get in there with your proposal well ahead of the competition, they can sneak in and grab the account from under your nose. What I'm trying to say is that in this job we work our asses off just to hang on to our existing clients. Our bosses don't expect us to be bringing in new business. But starting sometime this year … I can't say exactly when … Kanebara really threw himself into trying to win new clients. And I'm not talking about just any old company here.” Ozawa paused. “He was trying to get something going with East Tokyo Bank.”

East Tokyo Bank? That's one of the top five banks in Japan.

“You're talking about a blanket lease deal for East Tokyo Bank?”

“No. A comprehensive agreement to supply their national branch network would be about as big it gets in our business. At the moment, East Tokyo spreads its business around. They lease a lot from an office equipment leasing company in which they own a big stake, as well as from the subsidiaries of that firm. They also deal directly with an office equipment manufacturer that's a major client for their banking services. To win away all that business in one go is just a pipe dream, a fantasy. There's no way on earth it's going to happen. Still, even a fraction of it coming our way would mean a massive revenue boost. It would be a major coup for us.”

“Worth being hated for?”

Ozawa laughed listlessly.

“I don't think so. Because in the end, Kanebara couldn't pull it off. He didn't win the contract, so no one had any reason to hate him. Frankly, if you were serious about winning a contract of that size from ETB, you'd need to pull together a twenty-person project team just to initiate the negotiations. That's the way the business works. One man launching himself at them all by himself isn't such a smart move. If you had personal connections, it might be a different story—but Kanebara didn't.”

“So you guys, his colleagues, just sat there and watched him bust his balls for six months?”

Ozawa's brow creased. Reiko's choice of words was hardly tactful.

“Like I said, our business is mostly about holding on to existing clients. Kanebara was doing a magnificent job at that. None of us had any complaints on that score. As I said, I'm not here to badmouth the guy. He was a real nice guy—amazing, really. There was just this one aspect of his personality that made him … a bit exhausting to be around. I'm ashamed to say that I kind of wanted to keep my distance. I'm being totally honest with you here.”

“Thank you,” said Reiko, and she brought the interview to an end. As Ozawa shuffled out of the room, his retreating figure looked somehow diminished. Was he having second thoughts about having said too much?

Ozawa, and Asada before him, struck her as harmless. Her goal right now was to eliminate any grounds for suspicion, cross the person off her list, and move on.

“The way Kanebara snuffed it—that was going a bit far even for someone who prided himself on being hardcore,” Ioka said, as he threw himself back in his chair and stretched.

Reiko consulted her watch. It was already ten to one.

*   *   *

They gobbled down a bento box lunch from the local convenience store. Asada offered to provide a catered lunch for them, but it was against regulations, and Reiko turned him down. The only thing they accepted was green tea. It was served to them by a female office clerk.

The afternoon kicked off with an interview with a Mr. Nukui from Kanebara's sales team. Unfortunately, the rest of the members of the team were out calling on clients. Reiko would have to postpone their interviews to the next day. Instead, they interviewed two of Kanebara's female colleagues, a man from another division who'd been part of the same graduate intake as Kanebara, and a couple of HR people. By the end of the day they had completed eight interviews.

 

5

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 9:00 P.M.
EVENING MEETING OF THE TASK FORCE

The Mobile Unit, which had taken over responsibility for the neighborhood canvass from Reiko's team, had nothing new or interesting to report. Reiko felt sorry for them. After all, it was hardly their fault.

Next on the agenda were the interviews with the victim's family and other known associates. Homicide was in charge of this line of inquiry, and Reiko was the first to speak. She summarized what she had learned from the first set of interviews at Okura Trading.

“Everyone who worked closely with Kanebara had the same impression of him, as a serious, hardworking man. Within this group, however, a couple of his direct subordinates, Ozawa and Nukui, told me that they found it hard to keep up with him. Kanebara never said anything explicit, but his approach to work was enough to pile indirect pressure on them. Ozawa was very specific about that having started in early spring this year. I'll be interviewing the other three members of Kanebara's sales team tomorrow morning. I also got the names and job titles of the people at the East Tokyo Bank Kanebara was dealing with. I plan to see them in the afternoon. That's everything.”