Tokyo Year Zero (12 page)

*

Mrs. Midorikawa and her two older daughters do not speak in the car to the Keiō University Hospital. They do not speak in the corridors crowded with the dying and the dead, the waiting and the grieving –

She is here. She is here. She is here. She is here
…

They do not speak as we wait for the elevator, as we watch
the elevator doors open, as we step inside and watch the doors close –

She is here. She is here. She is here
…

They do not speak as we ride the dark elevator down, as we watch the elevator doors open again, as the light returns –

She is here. She is here
…

They do not speak as they walk along the corridor to the mortuary, as they put on the slippers, as they step through the doors into the half-light of the mortuary –

She is here, here
…

They bow but do not speak when they are introduced to Dr. Nakadate, as the orderlies remove a stretcher from the refrigerator –

Here is Ryuko
…

They do not speak as they stare at the raised grey sheet on the stretcher, as Dr. Nakadate reaches under the grey sheet, as he takes out a hand from under the sheet, as he holds up a left hand and points out a scar on the left thumb, they do not speak but they weep –

They do not speak but they weep and they weep –

‘I am here because of you…’

They weep and they weep but they still do not speak as Dr. Nakadate slowly pulls back the grey sheet, as he shows them the bleached face of a young girl, seventeen years old –

‘I am Midorikawa Ryuko of Meguro…’

They weep and they weep but they still do not speak until Mrs. Midorikawa finally looks up from the bleached face of her daughter, from the ruined corpse of her child and cries out, ‘Kodaira!’

*

Inspector Kai and I stand in the corridor between the autopsy room and the mortuary and wait for Mrs. Midorikawa and her two older daughters to finish their discussions with the Keiō staff about the funeral arrangements for her youngest daughter. Inspector Kai is smoking a cigarette. Inspector Kai is smiling. Inspector Kai is looking at his notebook, a name written three times –

Kodaira. Kodaira. Kodaira
…

‘This time tomorrow,’ laughs Inspector Kai. ‘This case will be closed and I’ll be drunk…’

Dr. Nakadate’s assistant comes down the narrow corridor. He bows. He apologizes for interrupting our conversation. He hands me
a piece of paper torn from a newspaper and says, ‘This was found folded in the pocket of the skirt of the pinafore dress on your body.’

I open out the piece of newspaper. It is an advertisement –

Salon Matsu in Kanda now hiring new staff
…

It is a clue, at last. It is a start, at last –

‘You never know,’ laughs Kai. ‘Maybe this time tomorrow, we’ll both be drunk…’

I bow and I thank Dr. Nakadate’s assistant as Mrs. Midorikawa and her two daughters step out of the mortuary room –

The arrangements have been made.

Now Inspector Kai puts out his cigarette. Inspector Kai stops smiling. Inspector Kai takes Mrs. Midorikawa and her daughters back to Metropolitan Police Headquarters.

Now it is my turn –

I open the glass doors. I step inside the autopsy room. I walk over to one of the sinks. I take off my jacket. I roll up the sleeves of my shirt. I wash my hands. I dry my hands. I do up my shirt cuffs. I put my jacket back on. I walk over to one of the autopsy tables, octagonal, marble and German in design. I take out my pocket knife, blunt, rusted and Japanese. I cut the string of the three brown paper parcels waiting for me here on the table. I unwrap the brown paper of the first parcel. I take out the yellow and dark-blue striped pinafore dress, the white half-sleeved chemise, and the dyed-pink socks. I lay these clothes out on one of the other autopsy tables. I unwrap the brown paper of the second parcel. I take out the two white canvas shoes with the red rubber soles. I place these shoes on the same autopsy table. I unwrap the third brown paper parcel. I take out the ladies’ undergarments we found near the bodies in Shiba, these undergarments that did not belong to Midorikawa Ryuko. I lay these garments out on one of the smaller separate dissecting tables –

Now I step back out into the corridor –

The four other mothers with their other daughters or their sisters or neighbours are waiting. Four other mothers who have lost daughters aged fifteen to twenty years old. Four mothers who lost their daughters over three weeks ago. Mothers who are wringing their hands and praying they do not find their daughters here at the end of this corridor, beyond these glass doors –

Praying and praying
…

I ask Mrs. Tamba of Ōmori Ward to please step into the
autopsy room. Mrs. Tamba and her two sisters follow me inside –

Mrs. Tamba and her sisters stare at the yellow and dark-blue striped pinafore dress, the white half-sleeved chemise, the dyed-pink socks and the white canvas shoes with red rubber soles lain out on the autopsy table and they shake their heads. I ask them to look at the undergarments on the other table. They stare again and then they shake their heads again. I thank them and they leave –

I lick the tip of my pencil. I make a note –

Mrs. Nakahara of Yodobashi Ward and her other daughter stare at the yellow and dark-blue striped pinafore dress, the white half-sleeved chemise, the dyed-pink socks and the white canvas shoes with red rubber soles. They dab their eyes but shake their heads. I ask them to look at the undergarments on the other table. They shake their heads again. I thank them and they leave –

I turn the page. I make another note –

Mrs. Hidari of Ebara Ward and her sister stare at the yellow and dark-blue striped pinafore dress, the white half-sleeved chemise, the dyed-pink socks and the white canvas shoes with red rubber soles and finally, after five minutes, they shake their heads. I ask them to look at the undergarments. They look at each other and then shake their heads. I thank them and they leave –

I lick the tip of my pencil –

Mrs. Mitani of Jōtō Ward has no daughter or sister or neighbour with her today. Mrs. Mitani stands alone before the autopsy table and stares at the yellow and dark-blue striped pinafore dress, the white half-sleeved chemise, the dyed-pink socks and the white canvas shoes with red rubber soles. Mrs. Mitani shakes her head. I ask her to look at the undergarments. Mrs. Mitani shakes her head again. I thank her but she does not move. Mrs. Mitani continues to stare at the undergarments lain out on the dissecting table. I thank her again. She still does not move but asks, ‘What happens now?’

‘We will continue to try to identify these clothes so…’

‘Not about that,’ she says. ‘About
my
daughter…’

‘I’m sure the Jōtō police are trying to find her…’

‘How can they?’ she asks me. ‘Have you been to Jōtō Ward? There’s nothing left there. The police have nothing. No buildings. No telephones. No bicycles. How can they find her?’

‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘I’m really sorry…’

‘She was all I had,’ she says. ‘I have nothing now. No family.
No house. No job. No money. Nothing…’

‘I’m sorry,’ I say again. ‘But I promise I will make sure that the description of your daughter is sent to every police station in Tokyo and I hope we will find her…’

Now Mrs. Mitani of Jōtō Ward looks up from the ladies undergarments and the dissecting table. Now Mrs. Mitani wipes her eyes. Mrs. Mitani bows and thanks me –

Now Mrs. Mitani leaves –

I make my final note –

I need a cigarette
…

I walk back down the basement corridor past the walls of sinks and drains, the written warnings of cuts and punctures, the orderlies washing and rinsing their hands and their forearms and I push the elevator button and I watch the doors open and I am about to step inside the elevator when Dr. Nakadate catches my arm and asks, ‘Did you find that file, inspector? The Miyazaki file…’

*

I don’t want to remember. In the half-light, I can’t forget
…

The cars have gone back to HQ. The streetcar full again –

Kai has a name. Kai has a suspect. Kai will get an address
…

I walk back to Sakuradamon, through Moto-Akasaka –

Kai will make an arrest. Kai will get a confession
…

By the river, behind the parliament building –

Kai can close the case. Both our cases
…

Past the imperial moat to HQ –

Both our cases closed
…

Miyazaki Mitsuko forgotten again.

*

I knock on the door of the interview room. I open it. I bow. I take a seat next to the stenographer at the side. Inspector Kai does not look up. Mrs. Midorikawa does not look up; Mrs. Midorikawa sat next to one of her older daughters, twisting and wringing that same piece of cloth in her lap as Inspector Kai confirms again, again and again, the things she has told him during their initial two interviews –

‘So you last saw your daughter on the sixth?’

‘Yes,’ whispers Mrs. Midorikawa. ‘Ryuko left the house at about nine on the morning of the sixth of August.’

‘And this is the house in Meguro Ward?’

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘But it’s not our house, it’s the Yamamotos’ house. We’ve been staying with them since our house was pulled down for fire defences at the end of last March.’

‘And Ryuko was living there too?’

‘Yes,’ she says again. ‘Always.’

Now Inspector Kai asks, ‘And so can you tell me again what was she wearing when she left the house in Meguro on the sixth?’

‘A white summer dress and white canvas shoes.’

‘And did she have any money with her?’

‘She would have had about ten yen,’ says Mrs. Midorikawa. ‘Just for the streetcar or the train fare.’

Inspector Kai turns the page of his notebook. ‘And she told you she was going for a job interview?’

‘Yes,’ agrees Mrs. Midorikawa. ‘Ryuko didn’t really like the job she had as a waitress in Ginza.’

‘And this was as a waitress at a café in the fourth cho me?’

‘Yes,’ she agrees again. ‘But there were not many tips.’

‘And the interview for this new job was in Shibaura?’

‘Yes,’ she says again. ‘With the Occupation Army.’

‘And this job interview had all come about through this man called Kodaira?’ asks Inspector Kai. ‘Kodaira Yoshio?’

Mrs. Midorikawa pauses here. Mrs. Midorikawa swallows. Now Mrs. Midorikawa says, ‘Through that man, yes.’

‘Please tell me again then, in as much detail as you can, how your daughter Ryuko came to meet this man called Kodaira?’

Mrs. Midorikawa sighs. Mrs. Midorikawa shakes her head. Mrs. Midorikawa says, ‘By chance at Shinagawa station.’

‘How was it by chance that Ryuko met this man Kodaira?’ asks Inspector Kai. ‘And what was the date they met?’

Mrs. Midorikawa looks at her other daughter. Mrs. Midorikawa asks her, ‘You said the tenth of July?’

‘Yes,’ says her other daughter. ‘There was an accident at Shinagawa and all the trains were delayed.’

Inspector Kai looks down at his notebook and then asks, ‘And this was when Kodaira approached and spoke to Ryuko?’

‘Yes,’ says the other daughter again. ‘Ryuko told me that he
just came up to her on the platform and started talking to her.’

Inspector Kai asks, ‘Do you know what they talked about?’

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘They talked about work and about food.’

‘Ryuko told him she wanted to find a new job,’ adds Mrs. Midorikawa now. ‘And Kodaira said he had connections with the Occupation Army and that he could help her find a job with them.’

‘How exactly did he say he would be able to help Ryuko?’

Mrs. Midorikawa shakes her head. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Through his connections,’ says the other daughter. ‘That’s what Ryuko told me that he said; through his
connections
…’

‘Did she say what kind of connections?’ asks Kai.

‘He was wearing the Shinchū Gun armband.’

Kai nods. ‘So when did they next meet?’

‘Not until earlier this month,’ says Mrs. Midorikawa. ‘Ryuko fell ill with intestinal problems and so she didn’t see Kodaira again until he suddenly turned up at the house asking after her…’

‘So Kodaira knew where Ryuko lived then?’

‘Yes,’ says Mrs. Midorikawa. ‘She must have given him her address that day in July at Shinagawa…’

‘And so when exactly did Kodaira make this visit?’ asks Kai. ‘This visit to the house in Meguro?’

Mrs. Midorikawa says, ‘The day before she went missing.’

‘The fifth of August,’ confirms her other daughter.

‘And did you both meet Kodaira?’ asks Kai –

‘Yes,’ they both reply at the same time.

‘So then tell me,’ says Inspector Kai. ‘What is he like?’

They are both silent for a moment until Mrs. Midorikawa first sighs and then says, ‘He seemed like a gentleman. He brought us a small gift. He said he was concerned about Ryuko’s health. He told us he was working as a cook with the Occupation Army. He thought he could help Ryuko find work at the same barracks.’

‘Can you remember which barracks these were?’ asks Kai.

‘Number 589,’ says the other daughter. ‘In Shinagawa.’

Kai looks up from his notes. ‘And you believed him?’

‘Of course I believed him,’ spits Mrs. Midorikawa, suddenly. ‘Do you really think I would have let my daughter go off to meet him, if I didn’t believe him? If I didn’t trust him?’

Inspector Kai looks back down at his notebook. Inspector Kai shakes his head and now says, ‘I am very sorry. I…’

‘There are six of us in our family,’ she says. ‘And no man.’

Inspector Kai bows his head and says again, ‘I am sorry.’

‘He promised her a good job,’ she says. ‘Free food.’

Inspector Kai just nods and stares at his notebook.

‘He was wearing the Shinchū Gun armband.’

I cough now. I edge forward on my seat. I bow and then ask, ‘And so Ryuko went to meet him on the sixth of August?’

‘Yes,’ says Mrs. Midorikawa. ‘They had arranged to meet at ten o’clock at the east gate of Shinagawa station.’

‘Ten o’clock in the morning?’ I ask –