Six Four (29 page)

‘No, that’s not—’

‘No? Then why the barbed phone call?’

‘This is just . . .’

‘. . . you doing your job, right. I’m asking you if that’s all this is. Are you sure this isn’t just some pretext for exacting revenge on Arakida, on your whole department? Are you certain that’s not what this is?’

‘I’m certain.’

The determination in his voice resonated through his skull.

‘Okay. Well, at least act that way. Sure, Arakida is just some bullshitter with no talent apart from giving out orders. But the brass is the brass. If you really do want to work with us again, you’ll need to pay him – and the department – a little more respect. We can talk after that.’

Urushibara had missed the mark. He’d shot short of any vital areas. It was a chance to open up a new line of questioning.

‘Were you ordered to stay away from the funeral?’

‘Funeral? What funeral?’

‘Toshiko Amamiya’s. I take it you know she passed away?’

‘Ah, sure, I’d heard.’

‘Why didn’t you attend? You were in charge of the Home Unit.’

‘That day, I was—’

‘A detective would have made sure to be there.’

Urushibara started to say something but stopped midway, perhaps experiencing a wave of bitter nausea. The man had done his best at Amamiya’s. No one would have seen anything else.

‘You were ordered not to go. So as not to provoke Amamiya. Tell me if I’m wrong.’ Urushibara’s breath was a forbidding rumble over the line. ‘Where is the Koda memo?’

‘Enough.’

‘Are you prepared to lose your job for a talentless bullshitter?’

‘You’re deluded. Stop obsessing over this crap – and make sure to enjoy yourself tonight.’

The line clicked off.

Mikami’s hand jumped immediately to redial, but he stopped himself from calling back. The build-up wasn’t something he could reproduce. Urushibara’s presence had begun to recede with the silence, and now he seemed as remote as the dead.

Mikami was hit by a sudden exhaustion. This was gradually painted over by a sense of futility. Mikami had tried to throw Urushibara off balance, but the man had been steady on his feet. It was only to be expected. The result would have been much the same, whether he’d had time to prepare or not. Even so, Futawatari’s lack of subtlety was maddening. Mikami wouldn’t have expected to outsmart a seasoned detective like Urushibara, not one to one like that. He’d been testing for a reaction. Out to get a sense of things. But he was reaching above his station. His empty success in Administrative Affairs had given him the confidence to try his hand at cross-examining a detective. But to what end? Urushibara had seen through him. And it wasn’t the first time it had happened. He’d been going from place to place, hawking the Koda memo, only ever managing to aggravate and irritate Criminal Investigations. Like a poor shot, he was shooting wildly to make up for an inability to aim. Mikami couldn’t help but feel discouraged. Mikami was sure Ushibara had been unnerved when he’d brought up the commissioner’s involvement, but he knew that wouldn’t be enough in itself to make a man like him give in.

That left Kakinuma. Mikami’s thoughts were already moving on. He didn’t expect him to shed any light on the matter. Kakinuma was still part of the Investigative Team. He was younger than Mikami and lower in rank, and as such it would be easy for him to put the phone down, saying that he wished to remain uninvolved. Mikami’s only hope was to appeal to Kakinuma’s sense of justice. To get the approach right, he would have to go and see him in person.

Tomorrow
.

Mikami felt weighed down as he got to his feet. He put the
handset back on the cradle in the hall, trying to look normal as he walked back into the living room. Minako was watching TV. The sight reminded him of how things used to be. Had she changed for the better? Or was she just trying to make an effort to do so?

‘Anything wrong?’

‘No, everything’s fine.’

‘I ran the bath.’

‘You go first.’

‘Well, I think I might be catching a cold . . .’

‘Maybe you should go to bed then. Don’t worry, I won’t use the phone again tonight.’

Mikami imagined them in five or ten years, having the same conversation as today. It had become routine for them to worry about each other while pretending everything was normal.

He took a long bath. After this he sat in the living room having a drink, then went into the bedroom. Minako was already lying on her futon, the cordless phone in its usual place next to her pillow. The slender nape of her neck appeared orange under the glow of the lamp.

Still awake. That was the impression Mikami got.

Make sure to enjoy yourself tonight . . .

Urushibara’s heartless jab had haunted him during his bath and while he’d been having his drink in the living room. He hadn’t made love to Minako for a long time. Together, they had brought Ayumi into the world. Together, they had watched her tear herself apart. They hadn’t been able to make love since, either from desire or from a will to create new life.

Mikami breathed silently as he slipped into his futon.

They would have two children. Although they’d never discussed it officially, they had shared the same unspoken understanding. But the desire for a second child had fizzled out after Ayumi, while she was still growing up. It had become clear, even though she had never said anything, that Minako no longer
wanted another child. Ayumi had taken after her father. Had Minako been secretly afraid that their next child might be another girl, but take after her?

Mikami closed his eyes.

He’d been young. Working theft in Special Investigations, First Division. Minako had been based in the annexe, doing an office job for Transport Regulation. A number of cars had been broken into at the station’s riverside car park and, with the reputation of the force on the line, Special Investigations had been deployed to look into the matter. One of the cars had been Minako’s, and Mikami had been tasked with interviewing her. He only remembered her voice. He hadn’t been able to look her properly in the face. The next year, they ended up working in the same district station. They would swap greetings whenever they saw each other. That was the extent of their relationship. She dazzled him, and he’d already decided he was unworthy of a woman like her. One day, without any forewarning, she presented him with a road-safety charm.
It’s a bit silly, but here you go.
She’d looked embarrassed. He had been so amazed he hadn’t been able even to thank her.

He could make out her gentle breathing. She was so close.

Do you regret all this?

Again he found himself silently voicing the question, unable to bring himself to say it.

Mikami drove his car from the house before nine o’clock the next morning. It was Sunday.

Kakinuma had just got married around the time of the Six Four kidnapping and had been living in a police dorm in Chuomachi which had family-sized apartments. He’d entered Amamiya’s home as part of the Home Unit and had afterwards remained on the case as a member of the Investigative HQ. He’d been there ever since, so it seemed safe to assume he would still be in the same apartment.

From the outside, the dorm was easily mistaken for a medium-sized municipal apartment building. Generally referred to as the Chuo Standby Hall, the complex consisted of six individual blocks, and Mikami’s memory from the one time he’d visited before told him Kakinuma lived somewhere on the ground floor of the right-hand-side building. Mikami eased on a baseball cap and a pair of glasses before stepping out of his car. The communal letterboxes were gone, no doubt a precaution against the nefarious activities of the various cult religions.

His memory had been shaky at best. After wandering, lost, for a while, Mikami finally found the nameplate with ‘Kakinuma’ on it on the first floor of the building second from the right. It also displayed the name of Kakinuma’s wife, Meiko, together with those of their three children.

Mikami presumed that Urushibara would have called the night before to make sure Kakinuma kept quiet. It was with this
in mind that he pushed the buzzer. Almost immediately afterwards, a high-pitched female voice shouted, ‘Coming!’ and the door slipped open on the chain.

‘Yes, how can I help?’

Meiko peered out from inside. Mikami could hardly believe his eyes. She looked as young as the day he’d first met her, all those years ago.

‘My name is Mikami. I was with Special Investigations, back when—’

Meiko piped up before he could finish his sentence. ‘Oh, of course! I remember. You were working with my husband.’

She kicked on a pair of sandals and stepped out.

Something about her reminded him of Mizuki Murakushi. She wasn’t particularly good-looking, but had an easy-going smile that could disarm anyone. Her wedding to Kakinuma had coincided with Mikami’s mother’s passing away, so he’d been unable to attend their reception; because of this, he had only met Meiko twice, the first time at a party First Division threw in Kakinuma’s honour, the second when he visited the married couple’s new home with a few colleagues from work. Almost fifteen years had passed since then. And yet Meiko was so full of energy it was no exaggeration to say she looked like a woman in her twenties; she certainly didn’t look like a mother of three.

‘My husband always talks about you. I wouldn’t be surprised if you found your ears burning every now and then?’

Mikami answered with an awkward smile. The stories were probably of the
Beauty and the Beast
variety.

‘He says it every time he’s had a couple of drinks. “That Mikami, he’s the real thing. Guy’s a real detective.”’

Mikami tried to dismiss her words as flattery, but Meiko was adamant.

‘No, he really means it. He says you’re the only detective he knows who made a name for himself in both First
and
Second
Division. He sounds really proud when he talks about what you’ve achieved.’

‘He’s exaggerating.’

Conscious of eyes and ears around them, Mikami stepped into the entranceway. He heard the pattering of footsteps and a young girl of early primary-school age appeared with a younger child, possibly already in nursery, whose features made it hard to tell what gender he or she was. Another boy was at the end of the hallway, probably secondary-school age, leaning slightly to one side as he looked on.

‘Is Kakinuma in?’ Mikami asked, already sensing that he wasn’t.

Meiko pursed her lips as she scooped up the youngest of her children. ‘You’ve just missed him. He left about ten minutes ago.’

‘For Central?’

While it had suffered a downgrade in both size and status, the Six Four Investigative HQ was still based in Central Station.

‘I don’t think so. It was definitely work, though.’

‘I hear he gets his weekends off these days?’

‘He does. Although I’m not so sure that’s a good thing. Oh, I really hope the kidnapper’s caught. He did such horrible things to that poor little girl.’

Meiko peered into the face of the kid in her arms. The child shrieked with laughter, finally revealing to Mikami that she was a girl.

‘It’s been non-stop since the marriage. Sometimes I wonder if I actually married the case. I know Kakinuma will suffer if the kidnapper isn’t caught. I doubt he’ll ever get over it, you know, if the statute of limitations kicks in and he’s transferred out.’

Mikami made a deep nod.

‘He says he wishes you were back on the case. That he’s sure you’d be able to crack it.’

Mikami felt a sharpness in his chest. A part of him seemed to be watching the scene from above.

‘Your husband will apprehend the kidnapper, I’m sure of it. Nobody knows the case better.’

‘I do hope you’re right. Then, if he gets three straight promotions, I’ll have nothing else to say on the matter.’

She broke into laughter, giving Mikami an opportunity to move in.

‘Am I right to assume you had a call from Urushibara last night?’

‘Oh! Yes, that’s right. And another, from someone called Futawatari.’

This time Mikami managed to keep his expression from changing. He’d been wondering if Futawatari might ring, too.

‘Was that the first time he’s called?’

‘Oh no, he calls every now and then. Although it’s sometimes Kakinuma who phones him.’

‘Sorry, I meant Futawatari.’

‘Ah. Yes, first time. And it wasn’t just the call; he came over, late last night.’

Mikami couldn’t help but feel impressed by the man’s legwork. Yet again, Futawatari had beaten him to it.

Meiko’s smile clouded a little. ‘All Kakinuma said was that he was someone important from Admin. What’s he like?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I didn’t get to see him. We pretended I was out when he came over.’

‘Ah, right.’

‘Is he Internal Affairs, that kind of thing?’

Mikami smiled instinctively. ‘No, nothing like that. He’s in Personnel, joined the force the same year as me. I’m sure it was something to do with that. Kakinuma hasn’t changed jobs for fourteen years now; it’s possible Futawatari was checking in to see if he wanted to try something else.’

Meiko seemed to accept this. ‘I see. How silly of me, I should have introduced myself.’

‘Is your husband . . . looking to move somewhere else?’

‘Yes, I think so. But whenever he’s had a few drinks he always complains that his hands are tied until the statute kicks in.’

His hands . . . tied. It sounded as though someone was holding him back.

The girl in Meiko’s arms began to tug at her hair. Mikami took advantage of the distraction.

‘Kakinuma has a mobile number?’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ She looked up and clasped her hands in apology. ‘I’m under strict orders not to give the number to anyone.’

‘I understand.’

Don’t tell anyone, even if they’re police.
It was something all detectives told their families. Mikami resolved to try again later. He was just about to bow and leave when Meiko spoke again.

‘Although, I wonder if he might have gone there?’

‘I’m sorry?’