by Constantine
“It’s not true!” barked Kosei. Tomiko set a hand on his knee and he took a breath, trying to relax. “Please, you have to help us.”
“Detective agencies in Japan aren’t like what you see in American movies,” said Kyoko. “We mostly deal with infidelity, background checks, missing persons, things of that nature. But potential homicides are best left to the police.”
“The police won’t do anything, we tried to convince them,” said Kosei.
“Please, Ms. Nakamura. You’re our only hope,” said Tomiko. “The inspector said you could help us.”
Kyoko’s demeanor changed when she heard that. “Inspector?”
“Yes, Inspector…” Kosei paused, trying to remember the name. “Inspector Hashimoto. He told us the Nakamura Detective Agency might be able to help.”
Kyoko tapped the pen against her lips. If Takeshi Hashimoto felt there was something unusual about this case, maybe it wasn’t just a simple suicide. But Kyoko had her own cases to worry about. Leaning forward, she set the pen down.
“I’ll do a preliminary investigation. If I find there’s evidence of something suspicious, I’ll take on the case.”
“You will?” Tomiko’s spirits seemed to brighten.
“But, I have to ask that you prepare yourselves for the worst,” said Kyoko. “If I find I agree with the police assessment, will you accept my conclusion?”
“Yes, of course,” said Kosei. “We just want to know the truth.”
“Okay.” Kyoko picked up her pen and notebook. “Now tell me everything about Akane. No detail is too insignificant."
CHAPTER THREE
Nobu opened the kitchen cabinet and took a jar of Maxim instant coffee from the shelf. He removed the lid and sighed as he used the spoon in the jar to line the bottom of his coffee cup.
“Remind me again why we don’t have a real coffee maker instead of this instant crap?” he called out as he pushed the dispense button on the digital water boiler. Hot water spilled out from the spout, melting and mixing with the instant coffee.
“Because the boss only drinks ice coffee,” Saori called back.
Nobu exited the kitchen and returned to his desk, leaning back in his chair. He glanced over to Saori, who was busy at her laptop, reading some news stories online. Sliding the chair behind her, he said, “That doesn’t look like homework.”
“I’m taking a break. Don’t wanna get into another chapter when the boss is going to meet with us once that couple leaves.”
Kyoko’s office door opened. She stepped through first and the Suzukis followed behind. The couple bowed deeply several times to Kyoko, thanking her profusely. Kyoko smiled and gave a similar bow in response, then led them out the door.
“So what’s the scoop? We taking the case?” asked Nobu.
“Their daughter is—was—a pop idol,” said Kyoko.
Saori yelped. Nobu and Kyoko exchanged a confused look and studied their young colleague.
“Suzuki…holy shit, their daughter’s not Akane Suzuki, is she?”
“Good guess,” said Kyoko.
Saori turned her laptop around so Kyoko could read the screen. Nobu had to lean over his desk to see the headline, reporting on the death of Akane Suzuki. After turning the laptop back to face her, Saori looked up at Kyoko.
“I was just reading that story.”
“You know who she is?” asked Kyoko.
“You’ve never listened to Koibito?” Saori had a look on her face as if Kyoko had just told her the world was flat.
Kyoko scoffed. “Oh please, why would I listen to that garbage? Whatever happened to good music?”
Nobu chuckled himself as he sipped his coffee. He leaned back in his chair to watch the two go at it. This would be entertaining.
“Like your parents never said the same thing about the music you listened to,” said Saori.
“Actually, I listened to the same kind of music my dad introduced me to.” Kyoko sat down on the couch and lit a fresh cigarette. “The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, the Stones, Bob Dylan…”
Saori rolled her eyes. “Old people music.”
“I’m what, ten years older than you?”
Saori shrugged. “So? You’re over thirty, that makes you old.”
Kyoko shook her head while giving an incredulous chuckle. “Yeah well, here in Japan, we respect our elders.”
Nobu couldn’t help the quick laugh that escaped his lips, and he found himself on the receiving end of Saori’s glare. He went back to sipping his coffee.
“Anyway, Akane Suzuki. Her parents said she was fired from the group about a year ago. Something about a scandal involving a boyfriend.”
“I’ll say,” said Saori. “The tabloids went nuts over it. You should’ve seen the things fans were saying on Twitter.”
“What was this scandal?” asked Nobu.
“She had a boyfriend.”
“Right, I got that. But what was the scandal involving the boyfriend?”
“You don’t get it—she had a boyfriend. That was the scandal.”
Nobu blinked. He looked down at his coffee, then cast a confused glance in Kyoko’s direction before resting his eyes on Saori once more. “That’s it? Girl’s got a boyfriend and she gets fired?”
“The contracts these talent agencies make people sign are pretty onerous, especially for women,” said Kyoko. “One of the terms is they’re not allowed to have any romantic relationships for the duration of the contract.”
“But why?”
“Projects an image,” said Saori. “A good portion of fans are men, some of them pretty skeezy at that. If an idol has a boyfriend, that destroys the fantasy many of these guys have that they have a chance with her.”
“It also projects an air of innocence and sexual inexperience.” Kyoko sounded disgusted as she spoke those words. “That whole virgin obsession thing.”
Nobu snorted. “I don’t get it. I mean, I’ve been with a virgin. I’ll take a woman with experience any day.”
“Oh, if only all men were as enlightened as you,” said Saori, the sarcasm in her voice unmistakable.
“The scandal broke, Akane was fired, and her life kind of went to shit after that,” said Kyoko. “She didn’t have a whole lot in the way of money and her parents gave her some support. They said she was trying to get back into the music business as a solo artist. The police ruled her death a suicide and suspect drugs were involved. Her parents say that’s impossible.”
Nobu drank the rest of his coffee and sat forward. “You buy that, boss?”
Kyoko took a long drag on her cigarette and sighed. “I don’t know.”
“No parent wants to admit their kid took their own life,” said Nobu. “And drugs involving a fallen pop star? Sorry to say, but not exactly a groundbreaking phenomenon.”
“You’re right, but I also know how the police work,” said Kyoko.
“This really the kind of thing we should be wasting time with?” asked Nobu.
“’Wasting time’?” asked Saori. “A girl is dead, Tsuji!”
Nobu sighed. “I know, but it seems like an open-and-shut case. Plus, we’ve got other cases to worry about. Pop-star suicides aren’t really our thing.”
“I thought we helped people here. Has that changed?” asked Saori. “Because maybe I should go get a part-time job at a convenience store instead.”
Kyoko held out her hand, the cigarette clasped between her index and middle fingers. She raised and lowered it just a little as a gesture for them both to relax. “Both of you calm down, okay? We’re not going to ignore our other cases. I haven’t committed to taking on this case just yet. Instead, I told the Suzukis we’ll do a preliminary investigation, see if there’s evidence to proceed further.”
Nobu relaxed in his chair and as he glanced at Saori, it seemed she did, too. He got up and walked to the kitchen, refilling his cup with more of the instant coffee and filling it with boiling water. Instead of returning to his desk, he leaned against the kitchen’s doorframe.
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“So what’s our next move, boss?”
“Your back-alley connections,” said Kyoko, looking at him, “any of them involved in the drug trade?”
Nobu thought about that while he sipped the coffee. “Yeah, I know a guy.”
“See if anyone knows whether or not Akane or anyone connected to her was involved in the scene. Did she buy from anyone and if she did, what did she buy and how often?”
“Might take a few days.”
“Grease the wheels if you have to, we’ll expense it.”
“Got it.” Nobu walked back to his desk and sat down.
“What about me?” asked Saori.
“If the Suzukis are right and Akane was murdered, that means someone needed a motive. I want you to make a list of anyone who might have wanted Akane dead.”
“Any ideas where to start?” Saori already had a pen in hand and a notepad at the ready.
“Stalkers and idols have a tendency to go hand-in-hand, so I suggest starting there. If Akane had any stalkers, I want to know their names, I want to know their current addresses, and I want to know where they were the night she died.”
Saori jotted down notes, cataloguing everything Kyoko said. When she finished, she looked up. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, Yuki Ichikawa. Find him.”
“Who’s he?” asked Nobu.
“The supposed boyfriend,” said Kyoko.
“Think he’s involved?” asked Nobu.
“Isn’t the boyfriend always involved?” asked Kyoko. “We need to know everything about him, even if it’s just to rule him out.”
“I’ll get started on this right now.” Saori set the pen down and turned her attention to her computer.
“What are you gonna do, boss?” asked Nobu.
“The Suzukis said they went to the police and got nowhere. So I’ll go have a talk with them, see if I can get any information out.”
Nobu lowered his head. He let out an exasperated breath. There was a lot of bad blood between Kyoko the Osaka Prefectural Police. Had been for years.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You want me to go with you? For…y’know, support?”
Kyoko threw a half-hearted smile his way. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m a big girl, Nobu. No one down there scares me.”
She stamped out the rest of her cigarette and rose from the couch.
“You going now?” asked Nobu.
“Why waste time?” Kyoko shrugged. “If this is a suicide, then the sooner we get it taken care of, the sooner we can get back to our real cases.”
CHAPTER FOUR
The route from Namba to the Prefectural Police Headquarters near Osaka Castle Park took about two trains and twenty minutes. Kyoko exited Tanimachi Yon-chome Station. From there, it was a short walk before she came to a stop. She looked up at the tall building with one side composed of nothing but concave glass.
She walked up the steps to the front entrance and let herself in, passing by several uniformed officers. Kyoko’s destination was the Criminal Investigation Department. Kyoko made her way to the First Criminal Investigation Division, which was responsible for homicides and unregistered weapons.
The office was a bustle of activity. Officers moved about, some in plain-clothes, some in uniform. A elder man with silver hair stood outside an office, barking commands at his staff. He made eye contact with Kyoko and his grim demeanor changed to a bright smile.
Kyoko smiled back and crossed the distance to him. She stopped a few feet in front and bowed deeply. He gave a tip of his head and gestured into his office. Kyoko entered and sat in front of his desk—the name plate read INSPECTOR TAKESHI HASHIMOTO.
“Good to see you, Naka-chan.” The nickname was one he’d given Kyoko years ago. Hashimoto was probably the only one who could refer to Kyoko with the diminutive ‘chan’ suffix.
“You too, Sensei,” said Kyoko.
“While I’d like to believe you came down here to take me out for breakfast, my guess is you’ve got another reason for coming.”
“Kosei and Tomiko Suzuki came to my office this morning.”
Hashimoto’s lips tightened. “Ah yes. I thought that might be the reason.”
“What can you tell me about the Akane Suzuki case?”
“I can tell you that there isn’t one.”
“Care to walk me through it?”
“She jumped from her balcony, died on impact. When the landlord took police officers into her apartment, they found an empty bottle of vodka and some vomit. From what her parents said in police interviews, Akane had fallen on difficult times. Conclusion was she fell into a depression, got drunk, and decided to end it all. Jumped from her balcony a little after three in the morning.”
“And yet…?”
Hashimoto raised an eyebrow. “And yet what?”
“And yet you told the Suzukis to pay me a visit. You wouldn’t do that unless you had suspicions that there was more to this case.”
Hashimoto sighed and leaned back. “To be honest, I wanted to give them some peace of mind. They’d been coming down to the station day after day, begging me to open a homicide investigation.”
“Was there an autopsy?”
Hashimoto shook his head. “No, but we did conduct a toxicology test. Tested positive for alcohol and amphetamines.”
“Did she have a prescription?”
“Nothing that we’ve been able to find.”
That lent more credence to the police theory that this was just a simple suicide. The Suzukis claimed there was no way Akane could have been using drugs, but if the tox screen turned up traces of amphetamines, that made their argument difficult to swallow.
“I can’t really tell you a whole lot more than that, but try talking to the landlord. Maybe he can give you something.”
“You got a name and address?”
“He lives in the same building as the girl did.”
“The parents gave me her address. What’s his name and unit number?”
Hashimoto took a pen and scribbled down kanji characters on a notepad. He tore the note off and held it across the desk. “Goro Fukui. So you’re taking the case?”
“Right now, it’s just a preliminary investigation, trying to see if there’s merit in taking on the case.” Kyoko took the note from him and examined it.
“Do yourself a favor and don’t waste too much time on this one, Naka-chan,” said Hashimoto. “Like I said, I just wanted them to have some peace of mind. Hopefully, if a private detective tells them it’s not worth looking into, they’ll just accept their daughter was a troubled girl who didn’t see any reason to go on.”
Kyoko was still staring at the note. Ex-idol, involved in drugs, fell into depression, took her own life. That made sense. Open and shut. But Kyoko’s instincts told her she had to at the very least look into it. Things often weren’t as they seemed in Japan. The last time she ignored her instincts, someone else paid the price.
“It’s good to see you back in this building, you know.”
Hashimoto’s voice snapped Kyoko out of her brief trance. She looked up at him to see his smile.
“Miss having you around here,” he continued.
Kyoko avoided his eyes, looking around the room. “You know that’s not an option for me anymore.”
Hashimoto sighed. “Are you sure about that?”
She looked him dead in the eye and said with absolute conviction, “Positive.”
Her mentor gave a nod of understanding. The look on his face told Kyoko he wasn’t happy about her decision, but he would respect it. He knew a lost cause when he saw one.
“If you need anything else, I’ll help you however I can.”
“Thank you, Sensei.” Kyoko rose from the chair and bowed to him. “I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.
Hashimoto stood and bowed, too. He walked around his desk and directed Kyoko towards the door. “Where are you headed to now?”
“You confirmed what the police think
happened, but I still have some other things to look into. Her apartment, for one. Then there’s the matter of the boyfriend.”
While holding open the door, Hashimoto gave her a questioning look. “Boyfriend?”
“Yuki Ichikawa, he’s the reason Akane was dropped from Koibito.” Kyoko tilted her head to the side. “You didn’t know that?”
“No, I didn’t…” Hashimoto’s eyes stared down and he pulled his lips inward. Something Kyoko knew meant he was thinking. But after a moment, he shook his head. “I’m sure it was nothing important. I’ll walk you out.”
Mentor and pupil left the division and walked through the halls of the police headquarters. But they had barely begun moving towards the entrance when a voice called out from behind them.
“Nakamura?”
Kyoko stopped dead in her tracks. The jovial expression she’d been wearing while talking with Hashimoto instantly transformed to one of disdain. She heard Hashimoto mumble the curse word, “Kuso” under his breath.
Turning, Kyoko saw a tall man about the same age as her, wearing a dress shirt and tie with slacks. His hair was longish, swept across his forehead, and he wore a cocky grin on his face.
“I thought that was you,” he said as he approached. “Don’t they have a rule against disgraced cops coming in here?”
“Arima!” barked Hashimoto, his voice harsh and loud.
“It’s fine,” said Kyoko, fixing her stare on the younger man.
Ryusuke Arima, a rising star within the Osaka Prefectural Police. Smug, barely competent, completely beholden to the rulebook, and did whatever he was told by his superiors without question. He’d clearly risen past the ranks of officer in the years since Kyoko left.
“It’s been a long time,” said Arima. “You’re looking older than you probably should. Still sucking down those cigarettes?” He clicked his tongue. “Not good for your skin, y’know.”
“Dammit, Arima! You will keep a civil tongue!” Hashimoto jabbed a finger to accentuate his point.
