Imaizumi nodded. “Or maybe some random passerby came along, and he hightailed it before he had time to dispose of the whole body. That would also account for his leaving the vehicle behind.”
Sensing someone behind her, Reiko spun abruptly around. She had expected to see Ioka. She was wrong. It was Kusaka, and he was standing right on her heel.
“Making assumptions like that at such an early stage will only hinder the investigation going forward.”
Imaizumi gave an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders.
“Loosen up, Kusaka. I’m expressing a personal opinion, that’s all.”
“Except that if you issue directives based on those personal opinions, the whole investigation will be skewed.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kusaka’s eyes were stern. He was almost frowning.
“I’m talking about the instructions you gave the forensics team to focus on looking for shoe prints and bloodstains at the crime scene. Limiting the scope of their search like that will infect them with an unconscious bias.”
And there it was! The Great Kusaka Doctrine in all its glory—the idea that assumptions or preconceptions of any kind only serve to impede an investigation. Believe only what you have physically seen or heard. Reiko wondered what to call it. Anti-preconceptionism, perhaps?
More than that, how the hell did Kusaka manage to eavesdrop without us noticing?
Imaizumi scratched his neck and grinned sheepishly.
“Maybe you’re right, Kusaka. I was premature in restricting the search like that. I’ll issue a new set of orders to eliminate any risk of bias.”
“Please do. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Kusaka spun on his heel and marched out of the room. All the other investigators assigned to the garage area canvass followed. As far as Reiko could tell, about half the investigators assigned to the riverside area had already gone too.
She sighed.
“That guy’s impossible to work with. He’s a goddamn nightmare. I mean, the crap he spouts—like some goody-two-shoes greenhorn freshly graduated from the special investigation course.”
Imaizumi grinned at her.
“You shouldn’t take that attitude. You are who you are, and Kusaka is who he is. The two of you balance each other out nicely. The force would be pretty screwed up if it were made up of only people like you and me! It’d be like some silly quiz show on TV: everyone in a race to press the buzzer and spew wild guesses about the identity of the perpetrator.”
Reiko knew that when Imaizumi was a detective his style was similar to hers—he went with his gut. He might have spoken with a little more tact, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on, get moving. Your partner’s waiting.”
Ioka was standing by the door, eagerly rubbing his hands.
“So he is.” She paused. “Anyway, Captain, I’m depending on you to get me a new partner for tomorrow.” Please.
“Uh-huh. I’ll think about it.”
Reiko pulled on her coat, switching her bag from hand to hand as she did so.
It would be seriously cold canvassing the area at this time of year.
The perpetrator in this case was already starting to piss her off.
3
From the road, Reiko looked down at the river as it curved and flowed off to the left. She was standing on the precise spot where the illegally parked van had been found.
Long withered grass covered the riverbank. An area fifty meters wide and thirty meters long around the van had been sealed off, all the way down to the water. Not even the detectives were allowed inside. Around twenty forensics technicians were hard at work with their high-powered flashlights and magnifying glasses. The light was fading fast, and the working day was almost over.
Damn, though, it’s cold. Seriously cold.
She had tried to psych herself up for the cold, but it was worse than she’d expected.
I’ll buy myself a down jacket.
She’d be hitting the big three-oh next year. For her birthday this year, she’d bought herself a Burberry Blue Label trench coat to commemorate the final year of her twenties. She adored the color—it was dark beige, almost brown—and the design was fabulous. Its only failing was the length: it was too short to keep out the cold, and she was freezing from her butt down.
“Lieutenant, your legs are trembling. Shall I rub them for you?”
“Pi-piss off,” she said, her teeth chattering with cold. “And shut up.”
The morning weather forecast said today would be “on the warm side.”
Bellyaching wasn’t going to make things any better. It was almost five o’clock already, and it wasn’t going to get any warmer as night fell. The only way to stay warm was to move around.
Reiko’s cell rang. She looked at the display to see who was calling. “Tokyo Medical Examiner’s Office,” it read. It had to be Kunioku. Dr. Sadanosuke Kunioku was the source of everything Reiko knew about forensic pathology. Despite being on the verge of retirement, the old coroner was her drinking buddy—though he insisted on telling everyone he was her boyfriend.
“Hello?”
“Hi there, sweetheart. You’re on standby at police headquarters downtown, right? Fancy coming out with me tonight or tomorrow? I’ve got my eye on this dobin mushi place in Ueno. Shall I make a reservation?”
“Sorry. I won’t be able to make it for a while. I just got assigned to a new task force.”
She ended the call and snapped her phone shut.
“What’s up, Lieutenant?”
“None of your business.”
I need to concentrate and start focusing on the canvass.
The neighborhood canvass was the first stage of any investigation and often the most crucial. The area around the crime scene was divided into distinct blocks and everyone there was interviewed.
Reiko had been assigned ten teams of two for her canvass. Seven teams, including the pairs with Kikuta and Ishikura, were going to handle the residential area along the road, while three teams—Reiko’s, Yuda’s, and Hayama’s—would interview anyone they found on the riverbank.
There was a running track about two hundred meters off to the left. A group of kids was busy practicing sprinting. Probably from the local high school, guessed Reiko.
“Nori, those kids over there. Go and talk to them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Hayama marched off down the road with his partner, a sergeant from Kamata Precinct.
“Kohei, I want you to talk to anyone coming in this direction—people walking their dogs, jogging, out for a stroll, whatever. Have they seen anyone suspicious hanging around? Do they notice anything that’s different today from yesterday? Nothing’s too small.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.”
With a frown of annoyance, Yuda headed off to the right with his partner.
“How ’bout we do that spot over there?”
Ioka was pointing to a piece of ground just outside the tape. He had a point. There were several people either following the tape up the embankment or turning around when they found they could go no further. Reiko shook her head.
“No. Our first order of business is over there.”
There was a tent rigged out of white tarpaulin down by the river. As far as Reiko could tell, it was the only makeshift shelter nearby.
“Why do you think there’s only one homeless guy living around here?”
Ioka pointed past the running track off to the left. “There’s a cycling track and a baseball ground over that way. That means decent toilets and running water. Naturally enough, most of the homeless prefer to live around there.”
“All the more reason to ask this guy what he’s doing on his own here, then.”
“Maybe he’s just antisocial.”
As they walked along the embankment, they encountered an old man detouring around the sealed-off zone. He wa
s small and looked to be in his seventies; nonetheless, he was walking at a good clip.
“Excuse me. Sir?”
The man, who had a cap pulled down low on his forehead, raised himself to his full height and tilted his head to look up at Reiko, who was roughly five foot six. She leaned down a little so that her eyes were level with his.
“What’s the problem?”
His eyes were milky and clouded behind wrinkled eyelids.
“Sorry to accost you out of the blue like this, sir. Do you often come walking here?”
Reiko’s voice was a little louder and a little shriller than she would have liked. She was doing her best to sound relaxed. With men of this age, the best approach was to treat them like you would your own granddad.
Me, his granddaughter? Perhaps I’m pushing my luck.…
The old timer cracked a smile and nodded slowly. Operation Granddad was progressing well so far.
“Every single day of the week.”
“Always at this time?”
“Normally a bit earlier. I like to get home before it gets dark, you see.”
“Do you ever come out here at night?”
“At night? No, never. Might be dangerous.” He paused a moment. “Why? Has something happened?”
Reiko shook her head, then went into a half-crouch and pointed with an exaggerated gesture to make sure the old man could follow her finger.
“Can you see that tent over there, sir?”
“Huh? Oh yes, that one.”
“Has it been here long?”
“Been there for ages,” declared the old man with a brisk nod. “One year, maybe two.… In the summertime, I see the fellow there fishing in the river, happy as can be.”
“Is that right?” answered Reiko, amused at his chattiness. “You’ve seen the man who lives there. Can you tell me what he looks like?”
“What he looks like?… Let me see.”
There was a long pause.
“Having trouble remembering, sir?”
“No, sorry, I can’t remember his face. What I will say is that I think it’s outrageous. Sometimes in summer I forget what I’m doing and walk that way—and, oh my God, the smell! It’s enough to make the nose drop off your face. It’s a disgrace.”
“I see. Have you noticed anything else odd, a bit out of the ordinary, when you’ve come walking around here? A suspicious-looking person, perhaps?”
The old man shook his head rather vacantly. Perhaps he was getting cold standing there; he had started clenching and unclenching his black-gloved hands.
I know how you feel, gramps. It’s freezing.
Reiko pulled her badge wallet out from inside her jacket, flipped it open, and showed her ID.
“I’m with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. We had an incident here earlier today. That’s why we’re asking the residents if they noticed anything out of the ordinary. If you don’t mind, could I get your name and address? We may need to ask some follow-up questions.”
“No problem at all,” the old man answered cheerily. He gave his name as Shinsuke Tayama, his address as West Rokugo block 1, number 38, and provided his phone number.
Reiko waited until Ioka had finished jotting down the man’s details, then held out her hand.
“Yes, Lieutenant?”
“Give me one of your name cards.”
“Sure, here you go.”
Reiko’s own cards didn’t have the phone number of Kamata Police Station, so giving them out wouldn’t be of much use.
“Here you are, Mr. Tayama. Give us a call at this number if anything comes to mind. We’re a 24/7 operation, so you can call any time.”
They thanked the old man for his assistance, and after watching him go on his way for a moment or two, Reiko and Ioka resumed walking themselves.
Ioka peered around Reiko to inspect the riverbank.
“So, Lieutenant, are we going to pay a visit to the tent?”
They got to the corner of the sealed-off section and started walking down the slope through the withered grass toward the flat section of riverbank.
“You bet. That guy might have had a ringside seat when the perp was dumping the body.”
“But the old geezer just now said he stinks to high heaven.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. There’ll be no smell in cold weather like this.”
Suddenly she squealed as she lost her footing.
“Careful!”
She felt a hand grab her right elbow and another encircle her waist. Ioka was a small man and rather highly strung; Reiko was startled at the lean strength in his arms.
“Thanks.”
“My pleasure, I assure you,” he sniggered.
He kept holding her as they made their way down the rest of the embankment.
“Hands off now.”
“How can you say that? I’d die if anything happened to you, Lieutenant Reiko.”
“Be my guest.”
Even when they reached the flat part of the riverbank, Ioka wouldn’t let go.
“I told you, hands off.”
“There you go again. You’re adorable when you get bashful.”
“I’ll bash you, if you don’t watch out.”
She jerked her arm a couple of times until Ioka had to let go.
“Dammit, what are you thinking?”
“Thinking? I’m thinking of you, Lieutenant Reiko, you and nothing but you.”
“Put a sock in it. Try focusing on the crime for a change.”
“How can I?”
Still, Ioka did pick up the pace. In the last few minutes, night had fallen, and it was now pitch dark. The white tent, which had been so easy to see from the top of the embankment, was now hidden among the tall weeds that grew in profusion by the water’s edge.
“Ioka, have you got a flashlight?”
“Leave it to me,” he replied as he whipped a flashlight out of his bulging shoulder bag. It was surprisingly big.
“Nice. I’m impressed.”
“You can always rely on me.”
“Switch it on, then.”
“Here goes,” giggled Ioka.
A small patch around them was suddenly illuminated.
Looking around, Reiko spotted a gap in the high weeds over to her right. She headed for it, and the light came bobbing after her. Ioka was doing a poor job of directing the light at the ground under her feet.
“Give the thing to me,” Reiko said, grabbing the flashlight out of Ioka’s hands.
“The ingratitude!”
Through the weeds, about three meters ahead, she could see the black surface of the river; the tent was a little way over to the left, on slightly higher ground. The homeless guy must have chosen the place because it would stay dry even when the water level rose. There was no light on inside the tent.
“Come on.”
“Are you serious?”
Reiko carefully made her way toward it.
The tent looked square. The entrance, which was on the side facing the river, was a black aperture. The occupant must have just done his laundry; three pairs of grimy socks were hanging just outside.
“Smells pretty bad to me.”
Reiko blew the air out of her lungs. Ioka was right. The place stank of rotting garbage.
What if the rest of the chopped-up body has been dumped right here?
Reiko peered into the flap, hoping against hope. Inside, it was too dark to see anything without the flashlight.
“Hello?”
Her voice sounded a little funny because she was trying not to breathe through her nose.
There was no reply.
“Anyone home?”
Still no response. Reiko directed the beam of the flashlight into the tent. The interior was bigger and tidier than she had expected.
While the floor was just bare earth, there was a square table with a portable gas stove and a spice rack on it at the back right. A little way closer to her was an old-fashioned TV set. Reiko also noticed a gasoline-po
wered generator (which wasn’t switched on), a bookcase full of magazines, and a chest of drawers.
But where does the guy sleep?
At that moment, a little mound in the middle of the back wall of the tent burst into life. There was a rustling sound, and a head with a woolly hat on emerged.
“What’s going on here?”
It hadn’t occurred to Reiko that the pile of cardboard over there could be a bed. Now she could see that the man was wrapped up in a comforter or a blanket under it all. Reiko’s immediate impression was she wasn’t dealing with someone storing a dead body on the premises.
“Sorry to barge in like this. No one answered, so—”
“You from the municipality? What you doing here so late.”
His voice was a horrible rasp.
“We’re not from the municipality. We’re the police.”
Now Reiko could see the man properly—if properly was the word. He was scowling so fiercely, his face was so grime-blackened, that it was impossible to know what he really looked like.
“Cut it out, will you? I know you’re just winding me up.”
“No, sir, we are the police.”
“What you doing turning up unannounced in the middle of the night? You’re not gonna tear this place down, are you? Where am I supposed to go on a freezing night like this?”
“That’s not why we’re here, sir.”
Thinking she might be used to the smell, Reiko tried breathing through her nose. Big mistake. The old man was right: getting too close in summer would definitely cause your nose to fall off.
“Listen, we’re not here to ask you why you’re here or to move you along.… Were you aware that the police have been working just outside your tent since early this morning?”
The man coughed and brought a hand up to shield his eyes.
“Hey, turn that thing off, will ya? It’s blinding me.”
“I’m sorry.”
She wasn’t pointing the beam directly at him, but to someone who’d just woken up, it probably felt painfully bright.
Reiko switched off the flashlight and everything went black. She would have felt nervous had she been alone.
“Did you not notice them?”
“Huh? Notice what?”
“Like I said, that the police have been poking around in the grass just over there.”
Soul Cage--A Mystery Page 4
