“Are you going somewhere?”
“I was thinking of going to soak in some hot springs on the Izu peninsula.”
“That’s a good idea. You’ve been working straight through. Unless one gets some rest, one can get really sick from overwork. Go soak in the baths and ask for a massage and get some sleep.”
The supervisor put his seal on Imanishi’s leave request and submitted it to the section chief.
Imanishi left police headquarters early and rushed home.
“I’m off on a short trip and I’m leaving right away. Would you help me get my things ready?”
“Is it a business trip?” Yoshiko asked, seeing that Imanishi was impatient.
“No, it’s not for work. I’m taking a short break. I feel a sudden urge to get on a train and go somewhere.”
“Are you leaving on tonight’s train?”
“Yes. I want to leave as soon as possible.”
“Are you going alone?”
“Yes, alone.”
“It sounds strange. Are you sure you don’t have some work there?”
“No, I’m not going on work. I’m just going to pay my respects at Ise Shrine.”
Yoshiko laughed in amazement. “I wonder what brought this on?”
The train arrived in Nagoya the next morning. Imanishi changed to the Kintetsu Line for Ise. It took another two hours to reach Ise City. He had come here once, before the war, and the city didn’t seem much changed. He found the Futami Inn right away. It was a five- or six-minute walk from the station. He looked inside, but it seemed very busy as a large group was just leaving. It would be better if he visited the inn a little later. The slowest time for the inn would be around noon. That would be the best time to ask questions.
Imanishi decided to visit Ise Shrine in the meantime. He could not go home without paying his respects to this national Shinto shrine after coming all the way here. The inner shrine did not look different, and there were many worshipers. What was different was the result of the recent typhoon. It had broken branches and destroyed some of the trees in the shrine grounds. Imanishi felt amazed that he could be here at Ise Shrine today when he hadn’t even thought of coming until yesterday.
Normally, on this kind of trip, he would go to the local police and ask for their cooperation. But he had already taken two official trips, to the northeast and to the Japan Sea area, with nothing to show for them. Unsure if he could come up with any useful results, he had felt unable to request permission from his supervisor for another official trip.
When he returned to the Futami Inn, the entranceway was quiet and the cleaning had been completed. Imanishi stood in the entry, which had been sprinkled with water. A young maid, still in her cleaning clothes, came out to the entrance. She greeted him with a bow when she saw him there. “Welcome.”
He was taken to a room in the back of the inn on the second floor. The front of this new wing faced the main road, which led directly to the station, but the back rooms had unimpressive views of the cluttered roofs of the city. In the sky above, an airplane flew by. Another maid brought him some tea.
Imanishi gave her his name card. “Would you tell the proprietor of this inn that I’d like to see him?”
The maid took the card and seemed a bit surprised when she read it. It stated that he was from the First Investigation Section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.
“Please wait just a minute.”
Imanishi smoked as he waited for the innkeeper to come up to his room. From his window, all he could see were roofs. The largest one seemed to cover a movie theater. An ink painting of the woods at Ise Shrine hung in the tokonoma alcove. On the other wall was a painting of the “Wedded Rocks” at Futamigaura Bay. Twenty minutes passed while he gazed at the view and the paintings.
“Excuse me.”
He heard a voice from the other side of the sliding doors.
“Come in,” Imanishi answered, still seated.
A bald-headed man of about fifty opened the door and came into the room. “Welcome.” After closing the door, the man bowed formally. “I’m the owner of this inn. I’m sorry that you had to come such a long way.”
“Please sit over here.” Imanishi invited the innkeeper to sit in front of him.
“Thank you very much.”
The proprietor showed by his respectful demeanor his deferential attitude toward the police. It was not the attitude shown a regular guest.
“When did you arrive?” he asked Imanishi.
“I left last night, and got here just this morning.” Imanishi made himself look as amiable as possible.
“Then you must be tired.”
The innkeeper bowed his head each time he spoke. He seemed to be uneasy. All kinds of people spent the night at inns as guests. Burglaries might occur. Wanted criminals might hide out. These things caused all sorts of problems for innkeepers.
“As a matter of fact, I’ve come from Tokyo to ask for some information,” Imanishi began calmly.
“Yes, is that so?” The innkeeper looked at Imanishi.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about. I just want to ask some questions for background information.”
“Yes?”
“I’d like to know about a guest who stayed here on the night of May ninth. I’m sorry to cause you trouble, but could you let me see your guest register?”
“Yes, yes, certainly.”
The innkeeper picked up the telephone receiver on the table and asked that the guest register be brought up.
“My, it must be hard for the police.” Becoming a bit more relaxed, the innkeeper made small talk.
“Well, yes, but it’s part of our work.”
“It’s the first time we’ve had someone from the Tokyo police here. Being in this kind of business, we often have to deal with the local police.”
A maid came in while they were talking. The innkeeper took the guest register from her.
“Let’s see, May ninth, was it?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The innkeeper leafed through the bound bills.
“What was the name?”
“A man named Miki Ken’ichi,” Imanishi replied.
“Miki? Let’s see, yes, here he is.”
The innkeeper passed the register to Imanishi. Imanishi took it and looked intently at the page:
Present address: xx Street, Emi-machi, Okayama Prefecture. Employment: General Store. Name: Miki Ken’ichi. Age: 51.
The penmanship showed uprightness; the characters were written clearly with no abbreviations. Imanishi stared at the words. This was the writing of the unfortunate Miki Ken’ichi. No matter how he tried, Imanishi could not connect the style of these characters with the man’s brutally beaten body.
Miki had no way of knowing that a tragic fate awaited him when he signed this guest register. He had left the mountains of Okayama Prefecture to make a trip he had always dreamed about; he had fulfilled his goal of a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine and had seen the sights along the way. At the edge of the entry, the name “Sumiko” was noted, identifying the maid who had waited on Miki.
“It seems that Miki spent only the night of the ninth?” Imanishi asked the proprietor.
The innkeeper also looked at the register. “Yes, it does.”
“Do you remember this guest?”
“I’m usually in the back office, so I can’t recall him.”
“It looks like Sumiko was the maid in charge.”
“Yes, she was. I can call her here if you have any more questions.”
“Please.”
The innkeeper picked up the telephone again and told the maid to come to the room.
Sumiko was a young maid who seemed like a hard worker. Her appearance was not very tidy, and she had red cheeks.
“Sumiko, this guest has questions he’d like to ask about a guest you took care of. Tell him all you can remember,” the innkeeper told the maid.
“You’re Sumiko-san?” Imanishi asked, smiling.
“
Yes.”
“I wonder if you remember. It says in the guest register that you waited on this guest. Do you remember him?”
Imanishi showed the register to the maid. Sumiko looked at it for a while.
“That was the Bush Clover room,” she said to herself and continued to think. “Oh, I remember. Yes, I’m sure I waited on him,” she said with certainty.
Imanishi asked her to describe his looks and mannerisms. Without a doubt, the maid described Miki Ken’ichi.
“How did he speak?” Imanishi asked.
“Let me think. It was a bit unusual. It sounded like zu-zu dialect, so I thought he was from the northeast.”
Imanishi was absolutely sure new. “Was it that hard to understand?”
“Yes. The sounds weren’t clear. In the guest register it said he was from Okayama Prefecture, so I asked him if he was from the northeast. He laughed and said people often made that mistake. He said the people in the village he lived in for a long time also have this accent.”
From the way the maid spoke, it seemed that Miki had been quite friendly to her.
“Was there anything unusual about his behavior when he stayed here?”
“Well, now that you mention it, he came here after he had worshiped at Ise Shrine during the day, and said he was going home the next day. But the next morning he suddenly told me he would be going to Tokyo.”
“Hmm, so it was the next morning that he said he was going to Tokyo?”
This was the crucial part.
“Yes, it was.”
“What time did he arrive at the inn?”
“It was in the evening. I think it was about six o’clock.”
“Once he arrived, did he go out at all?”
“Yes, he did.”
People from all over Japan came to worship at Ise Shrine. Miki might have bumped into someone he knew on this evening excursion. A chance encounter might have been what caused Miki to decide to go to Tokyo.
“Did he go out just for a stroll?”
“No, he said he was going to see a movie.”
“A movie?”
“He said he was bored, and that he wanted to see a movie. He asked me where the movie theater was, so I told him. Look, you can see it from this window. It’s that tall building.”
“What time did he return from the movie theater?” Imanishi asked the maid.
“Let me see. I think it was about nine-thirty. I’m sure it was about that time.”
“You mean right after the movie ended.”
“Yes.”
Imanishi was a bit disappointed. If Miki had met someone on his way to see the movie, the time that he returned to the inn would have been either earlier or later. Imanishi had to conclude that Miki had not met anyone.
“How did he seem when he came back to the room? Since it was so long ago, you may not remember, but please try to recall.”
“Let me think.” The maid glanced at the innkeeper and tilted her head.
“This is important, so think it over carefully, and don’t make any mistakes,” the innkeeper added.
The maid’s expression became tense.
Imanishi felt a bit disconcerted. “Don’t think about it so intently. Just tell me what you remember.”
The maid finally answered, “I didn’t notice anything different about the guest when he returned. He just asked to have his breakfast served later the next morning.”
“You mean the next day, the day he was to depart?”
“Yes. Earlier, he had said that since he was going home on the nine-twenty train he wanted breakfast at about eight o’clock.”
“How did he change that?”
“He said he wanted his breakfast at ten. And that he might stay until the evening.”
“The evening, huh?” Imanishi sat forward. “Did he say why he changed his plans?”
“No, nothing particular. But he did seem to be deep in thought. Since he didn’t say much to me, I just told him good night and left the room right away.”
“I see. And the next morning, was everything on time as he had asked?”
“Yes. I served him his breakfast at ten.”
“So he spent the rest of the day until evening in his room?”
“No, he didn’t. He went out just after noon to the movie theater.”
“To the movie theater?” Imanishi was surprised. “He must have really liked to see movies.”
“But he went to the same theater. I know, since I had an errand in that direction and went part of the way with him.”
“You mean to say he went to see the same movie he had just seen the night before?”
This time it was Imanishi’s turn to think hard. Why would Miki see the same movie twice while he was on a trip -it wasn’t as if he were a child or a teenager. What about the movie had piqued Miki’s curiosity?
“So after Miki came back from seeing the movie, he checked out that evening?” Imanishi asked the maid.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Do you know which train he took?”
“I know,” the innkeeper said. “I looked up the train schedule for him in the office and gave him the departure time. He called the desk from his room, and I told him that the Kintetsu train connects with an express for Tokyo that leaves Nagoya at ten-twenty p.m.”
“What time does that train arrive at Tokyo Station?”
“It arrives in Tokyo the next morning at five. Many of our guests use this train to go to Tokyo, so I have it memorized.”
“Did Miki say anything special or strange when he left the inn?” Imanishi again turned his gaze to the maid.
“No, I didn’t notice anything. I did ask him why he was going to Tokyo when he had said that he would return home to Okayama the night before…”
“Yes, yes. And…?”
“He said he had suddenly decided to go.”
“Suddenly decided to go. Is that all?”
“Yes. He didn’t say anything more.”
“So that was all.” Imanishi thought for a bit, then asked, “What movie was it that the guest went to see?”
“I don’t remember.”
“That’s all right. I can check that out. Thank you so much for taking time when you’re so busy.”
“Will that be all?” the innkeeper asked.
“Yes. You’ve been very helpful. Could you bring me my bill?”
“Are you leaving already?”
“I think I’ll go back to Tokyo on that same train. There should be enough time for me to catch it.”
Imanishi paid his bill and left the inn. But instead of going directly to the station, he went to the movie theater. It was located in the middle of an avenue of shops. Several garishly painted posters were displayed outside advertising the two historical movies that were playing.
After he showed the woman at the box office his card and asked if he could see the manager, he was led inside. At the back of the theater they came to a closed door. When the door was opened Imanishi saw a worker painting a poster for a coming feature. The manager stood with his hands clasped behind him watching the painter. When he read Imanishi’s card, he welcomed him pleasantly.
Imanishi came directly to the point. “Excuse me for asking this abruptly, but could I find out what movies were playing at this theater last May ninth?”
“The films we showed on May ninth, did you say?” The manager responded with surprise.
“Yes, I’d like to know the names of the films,” Imanishi said.
“Hmm, is it related to a case or something?”
“No, I just need to know for reference. Can you find out immediately?”
“It’s no problem to look it up for you.”
The manager led Imanishi out of the room. They went to the office next to the projection booth. Posters were plastered all over the walls, and the desk was piled high with paper. A young man sat alone figuring, flicking the counters on his abacus.
“Hey, what were the movies we showed on May ninth? Can you loo
k it up?”
The young man pulled the ledger toward him. He flipped through the pages and found it at once.
“One was Windy Clouds of Tone and the other One Man’s Rage.”
“Those were the ones,” the manager said to Imanishi standing beside him. “One was a period piece and the other a modern movie.”
“Which production company were they from?”
“We show Nan’ei films exclusively.”
“I’m sorry to trouble you, but do you have a pamphlet or anything that would list the actors in those movies?”
“It was quite some time ago, so I don’t know if we still have anything. Let me have someone look around.”
The manager ordered the young man to look. He searched the drawers of the desk and the shelves and finally pulled a sheet of paper out from under a pile of posters.
“We’ve found something.” The manager took the sheet and gave it to Imanishi. “This is the cast.”
“Thank you.”
Both Windy Clouds of Tone and One Man’s Rage featured currently popular actors. The sheet listed supporting actors and minor actors as well. It even listed the names of the actors playing maids and children.
Imanishi carefully folded the pamphlet and put it into his pocket. “Are these movies showing anywhere now?”
“Let me think. Since they came out quite a while ago, I don’t think they’re showing even at theaters specializing in second runs.”
“In that case, were the films returned to the film company?”
“Yes. When we’re finished with them, we send them back to the company. These movies are probably in the company warehouse.”
“Thank you very much.” Imanishi bowed.
“Oh, is that all I can do for you? Just a minute, are you on a case related to those movies?”
But by that time Imanishi had turned and left the office.
THIRTEEN A Thread
After his return to Tokyo, Imanishi asked the Nan’ei Film Company for a screening of One Man’s Rage and Windy Clouds of Tone, along with the newsreels that had been shown at the theater. The film company did not grant his request readily. There was no problem about pulling the films out of storage, but the screening room was always booked. New films were completed twice a week, and invitational screenings of these films took precedence. The company was also reluctant to show two films, totaling three and a half hours, at one person’s request.
Inspector Imanishi Investigates Page 23
