A Cop's Eyes (9 page)

The assailant had left behind a definitive clue. A glove had been discarded near the second crime scene. Bloodstains from the victim on the outside pretty much proved that it had been used by the culprit. He'd been careful about fingerprints but seemed not to have realized that his sweat would be left inside. As long as they had that DNA, even now, ten years later, they could still identify him.

“You … became a cop so you can arrest the perp?” Nagamine asked, hardly able to believe it.

“It's not so that
I c
an … The police must apprehend the perpetrator of that case. Isn't that so?”

Natsume's eyes seem to glint.

The next day, Nagamine and Natsume headed to a door-to-door delivery service distribution center in Minami-Otsuka.

They went to meet with a person in Ayano's cellphone records, a Shoichi Kaitani. At 6:15 on the night of the incident, Kaitani had called Ayano. Kaitani was twenty-eight with a wife and children.

Kai—they needed to meet him in person first, but Nagamine thought that the chances of Kaitani being Ayano's lover were high.

At the front desk, when they explained the reasons for their visit, they were escorted to the parking lot where Kaitani was.

“Mr. Kaitani—there are police here to see you,” the receptionist said, and Kaitani, who had been moving packages to his truck, looked at them with a start. His short, stout build and behavior was reminiscent of a certain fainthearted bear character.

“We are sorry for bothering you at such a busy time.”

As they showed him their badges and approached him, Kaitani met them with obvious fear on his face.

“We are here to ask you about Ms. Ayano Sakurai.”

“What about her?”

No matter how desperately he tried to retain his composure, they could clearly see he was flustered.

“Did you know about the incident Ms. Sakurai was involved in?”

“Yes … I found out through the news yesterday. I was surprised … Such a thing happening to her …” His body was trembling.

“What kind of relationship did you have with Ms. Sakurai?”

“What kind?” He seemed at a loss for an answer. “We were just acquaintances …”

“Since when?”

“I-I wonder since when … I-It must have been about two months back, I think. We were introduced by my coworker Ms. Aikawa …”

Ms. Aikawa—that had to be Miu Aikawa, who worked at the same delivery company. Miu was also in Ayano's call records.

“I was drinking at a bar in Ikebukuro. Ms. Aikawa and Ms. Sakurai happened to be drinking nearby, so that day we all got together and …”

“And after that?”

“We messaged each other on our phones a few times … just chatting a little …”

“One day prior … the night of the incident, that is, you contacted Ms. Sakurai, is that right?”

Kaitani turned pale.

“What business did you have with her?”

“It wasn't anything … I just … asked how she was …”

“Is that true? After that, did you not go to her condominium?”

He shook his head. “I didn't go, I didn't.”

“Where were you yesterday, between the hours of seven and eleven at night?”

“I don't really remember … but I finished work and … wandered around Ikebukuro. I went into the department store and read in a bookshop …”

He thought it was a lie, but at least asked which store Kaitani had stopped by.

“Excuse me … are you almost done? I won't be able to meet my deadline.”

Kaitani hurriedly loaded the packages and got into his truck. Nagamine watched it drive away.

Enough for today. But next time they'd bring hard proof.

“That was suspicious …” he whispered to Natsume, who stood next to him.

“Shall we go see Ms. Aikawa as well?” Natsume said, then inquired at the reception desk after Miu Aikawa.

When they went to a different parking lot, they arrived as Miu was loading her truck.

“Ms. Aikawa, there are police here to see you,” the receptionist called to her, to which Miu turned around.

As far as her appearance went, she was likely the friend witnessed near Ayano's apartment. A hat covered Miu's short hair.
After casting a glance at them, she pulled the hat down over her tapered, makeup-less eyes and approached them. “Is this about Ayano's case?” she asked.

“That's right … We have some things we would like to ask you about Ms. Sakurai.”

“If it's to arrest the culprit, I'll answer any question … But I don't have much time, so can we do this while I work?”

“Yes,” Nagamine answered, and Miu started loading the truck with packages.

She braced herself in order to lift what looked to be a heavy cardboard box. She was probably about five feet five. She was a little taller than the average woman, and he could tell, even through her work clothes, that she was slim.

“Those look too heavy for a woman's arms. Let me help.”

As Nagamine put his hands on one of the boxes, she scowled, “Thanks but no thanks.”

What was it with this woman? He'd only tried to help. She was headstrong—

“You came to talk about Ayano, didn't you?”

Indeed. This was hardly pleasant; he ought to just ask what he needed to and move on to the next person. “Were you close to Ms. Ayano?”

“Well, yes. We met each other now and then and called and messaged each other …”

“Since when have you known her?”

“It might have been a little over a year ago that I first got to know her …”

“What brought you together?”

“She lived near me.”

So that was it—“In Kasugacho.”

“Yes … We were the same age … so naturally we grew close …”

Just the other day too, right by that convenience store, I saw her being grilled by that guy
—

“Do you know a man named Kamiya?”

“Yeah, I know him. The stalker guy, right? He's a disgrace to men.”

“You were threatened by Kamiya too, weren't you? He wanted you to tell him Ms. Sakurai's new address?”

“You're a great detective, to know that.”

Perhaps Miu had told him Ayano's new address and Kamiya had gone to the condominium that night. “Did you tell him her address?”

“I wouldn't.”

“Is that the truth? We would understand if a fragile woman like you got scared, threatened by a man. Even then you aren't to blame. Please tell us the truth so that we can catch the culprit.”

Miu faced them. She glared at Nagamine. “No matter what, I wouldn't betray someone dear to me,” she said, her eyes filled with contempt.

“Did Ms. Sakurai tell you anything about who she was dating?” Natsume took a step forward and asked.

“I hadn't heard anything about that from Ayano.”

“It seems Ms. Sakurai was dating a man called Kai. Does that name ring a bell?”

“No …”

“Are you close to Mr. Kaitani?”

“Not particularly … But compared to others at this company, we talk more.”

“Would you say that Ms. Sakurai and Mr. Kaitani had been dating? We didn't ask him directly, but we got that impression …”

Miu fixed her gaze on Natsume. Eventually, she laughed out loud. “No way,” she answered, swinging her hand back and forth and saying that it was impossible.

“Is it because Mr. Kaitani is a married man?”

Natsume intently watched Miu.

“Ayano wouldn't settle for just any man.”

“Is that so … We're sorry for taking your time. I have just one last question for you. Where were you last night, between seven and ten?”

“At a gym near Mejiro station.”

“You mean a fitness club?”

“No … A boxing gym.”

“A driver for a delivery service and boxing, when you're a woman. You're one hell of a tomboy,” Nagamine ribbed her.

“Detective, you should watch what you say.” Miu glared at him again.

“Hey, it was just a joke.”

“A joke can still cut deep into someone's heart … Are we about done,” she turned her gaze away from Nagamine and asked Natsume.

“Yes … Thank you for your time and trouble.”

Miu headed to the driver's seat of the truck.

“Oh, sorry, just one more question … Do you live alone in Kasugacho?”

“No … I live with my mother. After we lost my father in high school, it's just been the two of us. What about it?”

“Nothing … No particular significance.”

Watching Miu's truck drive away, Nagamine clucked his tongue. “What a headstrong woman. Pisses me—”

“There are many kinds of people in the world. Shall we?” Natsume said and started walking.

“A day ago … A day ago …” The gym manager traced the attendance sheets along the wall with his finger. “Ahh, Aikawa was here. Well, I did check to make sure, but she comes almost every day to the gym to practice.”

“Okay.” Natsume nodded and looked around the interior.

Seeing the folks here punching sand bags and sparring in the ring seemed to tickle the fellow.

Seeing his partner like this, Nagamine wondered if the sudden suggestion to visit the gym hadn't been made out of sheer personal interest.

By the time they'd finished hitting Ayano's acquaintances, it had been past five in the afternoon. He'd meant to go back to the station from there, but Natsume had proposed out of the blue that they confirm Miu's alibi.

“How about we get going? It's almost time for the investigation meeting,” he said looking at his wristwatch, but Natsume told the manager, “Please let us take a bit more of your time.”

Have it your way
, Nagamine spat silently, sitting on a fold-up chair beside him.

“When did Ms. Aikawa start coming to this gym?” Natsume asked the manager.

“If I remember correctly … about one year ago. At first I thought she came because of that ‘boxercise' diet, but she's so passionate about practicing. Great progress over the year. I told her she has what it takes, that she should try out for the pro test, and yet … she doesn't seem to be interested at all.”

“Come to think of it, they green-lighted women's pro boxing.”

“Right, right … At this gym, we've got Puma Asami who's ranked high in Japan, but … Well, speak of the devil.”

He looked at the front entrance, towards a woman wearing a sauna suit who'd come back from roadwork. She entered straight into the ring, mixed in with the male trainees, and started shadow boxing. Her quick footwork put the men to shame as she threw out her punches.

“If Aikawa became a pro, she'd be a good match for Asami, though …” the manager lamented.

“Why did Ms. Aikawa start boxing?” Natsume asked, returning his gaze to the manager from Puma Asami, who was still up in the ring.

“She just said she wanted to become strong … She always says she wants to become stronger. I don't know what's driving her, but … the first time she came to this gym, she had a bruise on her face. I'm not sure how she got it … Well, she's a woman so … I thought maybe something had happened … but it's not the kind of thing you pry about.”

One year ago—a bruise on her face—

Maybe Kamiya had left Miu memories of something even more detestable than his threats.

No matter what, I wouldn't betray someone dear to me
—

Nagamine remembered the hateful look that Miu had given him.

Nagamine and Natsume were watching Kaitani from the shadows. He was sitting at a park bench and drinking a can of juice.

Kaitani threw the can into the trash and headed out of the park, toward his truck.

“Let's,” Nagamine said, and hustled to the trashcan. He put on gloves and pulled out the can carefully so that he was not touching its rim.

“I didn't kill her!”

Kaitani's cry echoed in the interrogation room.

Glancing backward, Nagamine made eye contact with Natsume, who was writing the report by the door.

“You can't talk your way out of this. Your DNA matches the semen and hair we found in Ms. Sakurai's room. How do you explain that?” Nagamine demanded, staring at Kaitani.

“Because … because … I admit that I went to Ms. Sakurai's room that night. I admit that I was in a relationship with her that I shouldn't have been in. But after we had sex, I took a shower and left right after. A month ago, we met by chance at Ikebukuro and had a drink. She was wasted, so I walked her home and I
ended up in bed with her on an impulse. After that, we had those kinds of relations a few times … but I didn't kill her!”

“If you had nothing to feel guilty about, why weren't you honest about it when we met before?”

“We're talking about an affair, I did feel guilty. I really wanted to tell you the truth when you came, but I was afraid of my wife finding out … More than that, if you found out I'd been in her room right before she was killed, you'd suspect me of killing her …”

“I don't buy it. Maybe Ayano Sakurai pressured you to marry her? Or maybe she threatened to tell your wife about the affair … and then you got into an argument—”

“That's not true! It was just a whim on my part, but it was the same for her, too. She didn't think anything of me. She had someone she was dating. Someone called Kai—she told me about him a lot while we were drinking.”

“What are you saying? You're Kai.”

“That's not true. She wasn't in love with me. She said Kai was a much more wonderful man than me … She must have been thinking of him even while I was screwing her.”

“If she had such a wonderful boyfriend, then why would she cheat with you?”

“I'm not sure myself why she would … Maybe something about him didn't satisfy her? That day, right when I was leaving, she told me, ‘Let's make this the last time.' That was my intention too. Even when I was screwing her, she didn't seem the least bit happy. It hurt to look at that expression, as a man … So I said, ‘I understand. Bye …' Anyway, I didn't kill her!” Kaitani appealed for all he was worth.