Inspector Imanishi Investigates

by Seichō Matsumoto

  “Do these films have some relevance to a crime?” Imanishi was asked.

  “Not directly. If they were being shown in the movie theaters, I’d go there to see them. They aren’t showing anywhere, so I have no choice but to ask you to screen them for me.”

  “We’ll let you know when the screening room becomes free.”

  Imanishi waited impatiently three or four days. Finally, he received a telephone call. “The screening room will be open this afternoon.”

  Imanishi rushed over. He felt apologetic at having the films shown just for him, but he had to see them.

  The Nan’ei Film Company’s screening room was located in the basement of a theater. The screen was about half the width of those in commercial theaters, but the sound was clearer.

  The first film was a newsreel. Starting with political news, it went on to social events, then scenes of horrendous traffic jams, the opening ceremony for a local train line, and finally sports topics. Next was Windy Clouds of Tone. It was a period film about fights between two gangs of gamblers featuring some spectacular sword-fighting sequences.

  Imanishi watched the action on the screen with unblinking eyes, scrutinizing the faces of all the actors, even the extras.

  Windy Clouds of Tone was over in one and a half hours. When the lights came on, Imanishi let out a sigh. Imanishi had examined carefully all who had appeared on the screen-petty gang members, passersby, and lawmen.

  After a five-minute rest, the projectionist said, “I’m starting the next one.”

  The room darkened and the title One Man’s Rage flashed on the screen. Imanishi knew the cast from the program notes, but he was unable to connect the names with the faces. When he was younger, he had often gone to the movies, and he knew the faces of the older actors, but none of the younger stars looked familiar.

  One Man’s Rage was a modern gangster film with much use of pistols. Imanishi peered at the faces of passersby, bar customers, and gangster henchmen. Because it was a contemporary film, the settings showed many parts of Tokyo: the bar areas in the back streets of Ginza, the crowds in Yurakucho, the interiors of large office buildings, and even the warehouses at Harumi Wharf. This meant that there were many people in the background. Imanishi’s objects of study were not the featured actors. On the contrary, he was focusing on the bit players and the extras.

  When the film ended, Imanishi sat back in his seat, dumbfounded. He had not seen a single face that meant anything to him.

  “We’ve finished showing everything. How was it?” the person in charge asked.

  “Thank you. I’m sorry to cause you all this trouble.” Imanishi rose from his seat.

  The outdoor light was so bright that he had to shield his eyes for a while.

  Miki Ken’ichi had seen Windy Clouds of Tone and One Man’s Rage twice when he was in Ise. There must have been some scene in the movies that had made him curious enough to see these movies twice. The maid at the inn had said that when he returned from the theater Miki was deep in thought. Yet Imanishi had not come across anything that would have prompted Miki’s second viewing of either of the two feature films or the newsreel.

  Imanishi returned to headquarters and found a brown envelope on his desk. The return address on the back of the envelope was Jikoen, xx Village, Kojima County, Okayama Prefecture. Imanishi opened the envelope at once. This was what he had been waiting for impatiently. After reading Kirihara Kojuro’s reply he had written a letter of inquiry to Jikoen.

  To: Chief Inspector Imanishi Eitaro

  First Section, Homicide Division

  Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters

  This is in response to your inquiry regarding Motoura Chiyokichi.

  Motoura-san entered our sanatorium in 1938 through an introduction from the town hall of Nita Town, Nita County, Shimane Prefecture. He received treatment and lived here until his death in October 1957. His death was reported to his registered domicile. (Registered domicile: Number xx, xx Village, Enuma County, Ishikawa Prefecture.)

  During the time Motoura-san was a patient in our facility, he received no letters and had no visitors.

  For your reference, the following is a copy of the information in our records.

  Father: (unnamed) deceased

  Mother: (unnamed) deceased

  Head of household: Motoura Chiyokichi (eldest son)

  Date of birth: October 21, 1905

  Date of death: October 28, 1957

  Wife: Masa

  Date of birth: March 3, 1910

  Date of death: June 1, 1935

  (Wife, Masa, was second daughter of Yamashita Chutaro, Number xx, Yamanaka Town, Enuma County, Ishikawa Prefecture. Date of marriage: April 16, 1929)

  Eldest son: Hideo

  Date of birth: September 23, 1931

  The records state the above.

  General Affairs Section Chief, Jikoen

  Imanishi stared at the letter as he slowly smoked an entire cigarette. Being conscientious, he immediately wrote a thank-you letter, then another request for information, asking for the names and addresses of any living relatives or close acquaintances of Yamashita Chutaro, Number xx, Yamanaka Town, Enuma County, Ishikawa Prefecture. He addressed this to the police station in Yamanaka, Ishikawa Prefecture. After rereading the request, Imanishi added, “As we are in urgent need of this information, please expedite this inquiry.”

  It was about eight o’clock when Imanishi returned home. The house was dark, and the front door had been locked from the inside. There was an extra key left under a potted plant for Imanishi to use when his wife was out. Opening the door, he turned on the light and saw the note left on the table.

  Oyuki-san has come over, and we have gone out to see a movie. Taro is at my parents’ house in Hongo. We should be back by 9:00. There is some food in the kitchen cupboard if you’d like something to eat.

  Still in his suit, Imanishi opened the cupboard. There was some sashimi purchased at the local fish store, along with a plate of meat and radishes. Steam rose from the thermos container for the rice, a recent purchase. He carried the dishes to the dining table. Since his wife was not at home, he was not distracted. As he ate, he thought over the content of the response he had received that day from Jikoen in Okayama Prefecture.

  He had changed his clothes and was skimming the evening paper with a toothpick in his mouth when he heard the front door open.

  “Oh, he’s back,” he heard Yoshiko say. “I’m home,” she said as she entered the room. His sister came in after her, smiling. “I’m sorry. Since Oyuki-san came, I asked her if she wanted to go out.”

  “That’s not true. I was the one who asked Yoshiko-san to go out.”

  They were covering for each other. The two women continued to talk while they changed their clothes in the next room. Imanishi’s sister was a movie fan and she was talking about the performance of one of the actors. His wife came out in her house clothes.

  “Did you eat some supper?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “We expected to be back before you.”

  “Here, Brother, a present.” Imanishi’s sister held out a bag of roasted chestnuts.

  “Hey, aren’t you going home tonight?”

  His sister was wearing one of his wife’s house dresses.

  “No, my husband is away on business again.”

  “You come over when you have a fight with your husband, and you come to stay when he’s off on business. What can I do with you? How was the movie, was it good?”

  “So, so.”

  Imanishi’s wife and sister continued discussing the movie.

  “Actually, I saw some movies today, too,” Imanishi said.

  “Oh, did you really?” his sister said, surprised.

  “Is that why you were late?” Yoshiko asked.

  “Hardly. I went to see the movies for work.”

  “Hmm. Do detectives see movies for their work?”

  “Depending on the circumstances, yes.”

  “What di
d you see?”

  “One Man’s Rage and Windy Clouds of Tone.”

  “Oh,” his sister laughed, “they came out quite a while ago.”

  “Have you heard of them?”

  “I saw them. It must have been about six months ago. They weren’t any good, were they?”

  “I suppose not.” Imanishi turned his eyes back to the newspaper.

  His wife sat beside him, peeling roasted chestnuts and placing the pieces on the newspaper Imanishi was reading. The articles were not very interesting, but there was nothing else to read:

  Revolution in Boring Holes through Ultra Hard Metal Alloy-Using Extra Strength Ultrasonics.

  Far East Metallurgy Company has succeeded in applying the principle of extrastrength ultrasonics to boring holes through a hard metal alloy, something that had been considered impossible until now. This process will allow for a tenfold increase in manufacturing and has been hailed in various areas as a revolutionary technical accomplishment.

  A characteristic of this method is that, because the cutter is not rotated, the hole created is not circular. Ultrasonics is considered to be a process having a…

  It was an uninteresting article. Imanishi was easily distracted. His ears picked up the conversation between his sister and his wife.

  “The previews are more interesting than the movies, aren’t they?” his wife said.

  “That’s true. After all, they pick the most interesting parts to show in the previews,” his sister said.

  Imanishi put down his newspaper. “Do they always show previews at movie theaters?”

  The answer was, “Of course.”

  When Imanishi went to the film company the following day, the staff member he had come to recognize leafed through the booking ledger to find this information. “Oh, yes, we did show a preview. We showed a preview of the next week’s film and a preannouncement of a coming feature.”

  “What is a preannouncement?”

  “When we release a major feature, we start advertising about a month in advance. The next week’s preview is, as the name says a trailer of the film that will be shown the following week.”

  “What was the following week’s movie?”

  “It was The Distant Horizon. It was a contemporary film.”

  “And the preannouncement?”

  “That was for a foreign film.”

  “A foreign film? Do any Japanese appear in that film?” Imanishi asked to make sure.

  “Of course not. It’s an American movie, so all the scenes are foreign… But there is some snapshot footage of opening night scenes taken in Tokyo. It was a major film and a prince and princess attended the premiere.”

  “I see. The preannouncement has shots of that event attached to it?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry to ask you again, but could I see both of them?”

  “I don’t know,” the staff person cocked his head doubtfully. “We don’t keep the films of the previews in our warehouse forever. When the time comes, we get rid of them. I’d have to check to find out if we still have that piece of film.”

  “When you say get rid of, how do you do it?”

  “We cut up the film and sell it to a scrap collector.”

  “Could you please check to see if you still have the film?”

  Imanishi stepped outside. He walked around for about an hour, then returned to the film company.

  “I was able to find out,” the staff member said. “We have the preview of the following week’s movie, but we got rid of our preannouncement about the foreign feature. It’s too bad. We sold it to the scrap collector just three days ago.”

  Imanishi was able to see the preview, but it was not informative. It was just a collection of scenes from the The Distant Horizon with the director and the cameraman wandering about as well. It lasted only three minutes.

  “You said the preannouncement was for a foreign film?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was the name of that film?”

  “It was called The Road of the Century.”

  “In addition to scenes from the movie, the preannouncement also had shots from opening night? I hope I’ve understood correctly.”

  “Yes, it did.”

  “There must have been several prints. Would there be one, perhaps, that might still be left somewhere?”

  “I can’t imagine that that would be the case. We usually get rid of all of them at once. But if I find out that there is still a print somewhere, I’ll let you know.”

  “I would really appreciate that.” There was nothing else that he could say.

  Imanishi telephoned Yoshimura. “Thanks for joining me the other night.”

  “No, thank you for treating me,” Yoshimura said.

  “Yoshimura, do you like movies?”

  “Why are you asking all of a sudden? Yes, I like movies.”

  “Did you see one called One Man’s Rage?”

  Yoshimura’s laughed. “No, I didn’t see that one.”

  Imanishi was disappointed. “How about a foreign movie called The Road of the Century?”

  “Yes, I saw that one.”

  “Did you see the preannouncement film?”

  “You mean the one they show ahead of time to advertise the movie?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Let me think… Yes, I did, I saw it.”

  “You saw it?”

  “Yes, the one with the scenes from the opening night, right?”

  “Yes, that’s it,” Imanishi cried out. “I’d like to meet you right away to ask you details about that film.”

  “About the film?”

  “Yes. Please remember as much as you can about it before we meet.”

  Imanishi hurried to the Kamata police station. Yoshimura was working in the detectives’ office, but he joined Imanishi as soon as he spotted him.

  “We could have tea here, but the others would be curious, so we wouldn’t be able to talk much.” They entered a small coffee shop across the street from the police station.

  “Welcome back,” Yoshimura said to Imanishi. It was their first meeting since Imanishi’s trip to Ise. “How were things there?”

  “That’s just what I wanted to talk to you about.” Imanishi told Yoshimura what had happened in detail. “So I haven’t made any progress since I’ve gotten back. The problem is, what did Miki see that made him change his plans? The only thing I can think of is the preannouncement of the foreign film, but the movie company says it’s already been thrown out. Can you remember the content and tell me about it?”

  “Give me a moment,” Yoshimura said, crossing his arms. “It was quite a while ago, so I’ve pretty much forgotten… The main portion was the introduction of the movie. They showed scenes from the film.”

  “I heard that there were some shots of the premiere in Tokyo.”

  “Yes, there were. The prince and princess were there together to see the film, so there were many shots of them.”

  “What other scenes were there? I mean other than those of the movie itself.”

  “Otherwise…” Yoshimura looked down in an effort to remember.

  “What about some celebrities? Maybe in the shots of the theater…” Imanishi said, giving him a lead.

  “Yes, there were, there were.” Yoshimura raised his head at once. “There were definitely some shots like that. I can’t remember exactly who they were.”

  “Were there any members of the Nouveau group in those shots?”

  “Wait a minute. That’s just what I’m trying to recall.” Once again, Yoshimura lowered his head. “There were lots of them. Novelists, directors, movie stars…” he said slowly as if talking to himself. “The words ‘Nouveau group’ weren’t used, but I have a feeling they may have been there. I think there were some young artists. My memory is vague though.”

  Imanishi thought he had the general picture. He would assume that the members of the Nouveau group had appeared on the screen. Miki had suddenly decided to go to Toky
o after seeing the face of one of the members of the group. The question was, which member of the Nouveau group had that face belonged to?

  Imanishi was still concerned about the latest review by Sekigawa Shigeo. As a detective he was suspicious about everything. Sekigawa’s piece had been fairly easy to understand but Imanishi wasn’t sure whether he should take it at face value. It seemed to be necessary to read between the lines to comprehend what critics really meant.

  Sekigawa was not the only member of the Nouveau group upon whom Imanishi’s attention was focused. Imanishi had received two responses to his inquiries about Waga Eiryo. One was a copy of his family register, which had been sent from the Family Register Section of the Naniwa Ward Office in Osaka.

  Number 120, 2 Ebisu-cho, Naniwa Ward, Osaka City Father: Eizo

  Date of birth: June 17, 1908

  Date of death: March 14, 1945

  Mother: Kimiko

  Date of birth: February 7, 1912

  Date of death: March 14, 1945

  Himself:

  Date of birth: October 2, 1933

  Mother, Kimiko, was second daughter of Yamamoto Jiro, registered domicile: Number 47, San-ban-cho, Higashi, Sendai City; marriage to Eizo recorded on May 20, 1929

  The other response was from the prefectural high school in Kyoto Prefecture. According to this information, Waga Eiryo had withdrawn from the school in 1948.

  Imanishi sat deep in thought. Then he looked at his calendar. The next Monday was a holiday.

  “I’ll be going to Ishikawa Prefecture Saturday night,” he told Yoshiko on his return home that evening.

  “Are you off again?” She made a face.

  “This isn’t a pleasure trip. I can’t take so many days off. So I’m taking advantage of the holiday.”

  “Can’t you make it a business trip?”

  “I don’t feel I can ask again since I don’t know if I’ll get any results. Do we have enough money?”

  “I have some tucked away. Where are you going in Ishikawa Prefecture?”

  “Near a hot spring called Yamanaka.”

  “Well, that’s a nice place you’re going to. Be sure to bring me back a present.”

  Imanishi had never taken his wife to a hot spring. Her comment stung him.