The Daydreamer Detective Braves the Winter

by S. J. Pajonas

  Murata hummed, picking at the napkin on the table. “You know what’s missing in Chikata? A gathering place for us older folks. It used to be that the community center was that for us.”

  “Right,” I said, perking up. “You were telling me that last week.”

  “What about a central place where people can do crafts?”

  “Maybe they could do crafts, or sit and talk, or have tea. They could even have family gatherings there some days.”

  “Yes, yes,” Murata said, nodding. “If you could figure out how to sell discounted meals there, too, that would be ideal.”

  I slipped away into a daydream of this place. Several low tables and easy seating, crafts on designated days, birthday parties, and grandkids coming to visit, hot tea and discounted bento boxes. A place like this, central and catering to anyone over sixty-five, would be hopping with people. What if it also sold specialty items to help cover the rent?

  “Mei-chan?” Murata sat forward, trying to get my attention. “Your smile is as wide as the ocean.” She laughed. “What are you thinking about?”

  “I’m thinking about making dreams into reality.” I picked up our empty cups and brought them to the counter. “Let’s brainstorm some more on this on the way home. I just had a fantastic idea, and it’s going to involve a lot of planning.”

  “Planning, young lady, is what I do best.” She snapped her hat on her head. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The cafe was busy at 18:00, and for once, I was there and not hungry for the pastries in the case. Yasahiro had left me a huge bowl of curry and all I had to do was make rice for it. Bless him. He knew I was only capable of handling a microwave. I was stuffed to my chin with dinner and sipping on the cafe’s cappuccino was the perfect way to end my night.

  I told the Ne Kitsune administrator that I would meet their candidate between 18:00 and 18:15. I was nervous, but I was in a busy, well-lit place, and no matter what, we wouldn’t be going back to Yasahiro’s place. I was there to question him, and this would be my only shot. Once I started asking questions, I wouldn’t be able to hide my intentions.

  Instead of bouncing my leg and glancing out the window every two seconds, I pulled my eReader out of my bag and got back into my latest novel. It was hard to concentrate because I kept thinking about the ideas I had with Murata. We talked about building a little tea house slash community space for elderly Chikata residents, and she was as excited about the idea as I was. But right now, it was just a dream — a dream I wanted to make a reality, but that was it. I would need funds, an investor, space to buy, capital… Ugh. A lot of stuff I wasn’t sure I could accomplish on my own. I had the knowledge to start a real business, but I didn’t have relationships with investors or any savings of my own. For the time being, I had to be happy dreaming about it.

  I focused on my book, and after five minutes, I was sucked into the story while sipping my coffee and not paying attention to the world around me. This was what I loved about books. Even when my life was low, I was happy to lose myself in fiction and forget about it for a short while.

  “I love girls who read.” A voice broke into my world, shattering the fantasy universe of knights and fair maidens to pieces and bringing me right back to reality. A young man slipped into the seat across from me. My brain was slow to register all of his details and kicked into high gear to keep up.

  Oh no. We made eye contact across the table like we had on Saturday when he followed me through the streets of Chikata. He smiled, pushing his long bangs and shaggy hair, dyed blonde at the tips, away from his face. His eyes were changed, an unnatural violet color, and he was better dressed than most men I’d ever met, his skin smooth and perfectly even.

  “Hi,” he said, his voice quiet and soothing. “I’m Jun, and you must be Mei-san.”

  I glanced left and right as I turned off my eReader and slipped it in my bag. “Uh, didn’t you…?” I stopped, thinking that maybe I imagined that.

  “Sorry I ran away the other day, but I had a feeling we’d meet again.”

  “Jun…” I tested out his name on the tip of my tongue; it didn’t sound familiar. No one I knew had ever spoken of a Jun, never even heard the name in random conversation. “How long have you been following me around?”

  “Just that one time, and it was an accident. You walked past me, and I was sure I had seen you before, and I was right. We have a mutual friend in common. He’s pointed you out on more than one occasion, at that restaurant in town.”

  “Who?” I leaned forward, almost knocking my cup off the table. Was he talking about Yasahiro? Did Yasahiro know this young man? My scalp began to crawl, and my heart beat swiftly.

  Jun smiled, but none of the warmth of it reached his cool, violet eyes.

  “When I saw your name come through at work, I volunteered for the job.”

  “You did?”

  My thoughts were a tangled mess of confusion. Who was this guy? How did he know me? Why had he followed me? What the hell was going on?

  “Yes, absolutely. I think you’re perfect, actually.” He waved his hand in a flourish. “You’re single and you live with your mother who is hardly ever home during the day.”

  I wanted to interrupt and ask him how he knew this because I hadn’t been home for almost a week. And hello! I was dating Yasahiro!

  I growled under my breath. No one really believed me, did they?

  “Did I say something wrong?”

  “I’m confused. Who is the friend we have in common? Yasahiro Suga?”

  Jun sat back in his seat. “Never heard of him.”

  Relief rushed through me even though I didn’t expect him to tell me the truth anyway.

  “Do you want to test me out tomorrow after your mother leaves for work?” Jun extracted a small notebook from his bag and clicked a pen. “I do day jobs too when I don’t have other things to do.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course. Plenty of people have night jobs and sleep during the day. I have to remain flexible.”

  I swallowed hard, wondering what kind of life this was. Goro said most of these guys were broke, but he seemed well put together. Perhaps he was one of the more popular escorts.

  Who did we have in common? I thought back through the people I knew in town.

  “Did you sleep with Etsuko Hiyasa?”

  “I’m not obliged to talk about my other clients.”

  Anger boiled up in my gut. “She’s dead, you know? Murdered in her apartment. Her family and her boyfriend are devastated.”

  His face paled, all the heat of it lost in a swift intake of breath. “What?” He pulled out his phone and typed furiously on it.

  “She died a little over a week ago. Didn’t you know?”

  Jun jumped up from his seat so quickly the chair fell over with a sharp crack. Everyone in the café turned to look at us, and I began to bow and try to correct the chair as he spun from his spot and leaped for the door. I lunged from my chair, grabbed my bag, and ran out after him.

  “Wait!” I sped up to catch him. “What’s going on?”

  “Deal’s off, lady,” he said, as his phone pinged at him. “I should have known he’d get me into trouble.”

  “Who?” I grabbed his arm and pulled hard. Talk to me! Tell me what’s going on!

  He cursed at me, throwing his arm wide, and pushed me down with both hands. My feet slipped out, and I crashed to the concrete sidewalk, knocking my arm and head on the ground. All the air from my lungs burst out in a puff of vapor.

  “Busu! Kutabare.”

  My mind blanked; I was in such shock. A moan rumbled through my lungs, trying to refill with air. Jun’s hands searched all over me, patting my pockets and then he yanked my purse from my hand. I tried to open my eyes and get up, but nothing was working. A moment later, my purse landed on my chest and footsteps ran off into the distance.

  “Hey!” Someone else yelled. “Stop him!”

  I rolled to my side and clutched at the back of my
head. My hand came away unbloodied but the point of impact throbbed. When I finally looked around, an older man was crouched over me.

  “Did that young man assault you? Are you hurt?” He pulled me to my feet and I swayed to the side, resting my body against the building nearest me. “I saw him push you down. I was taking out the garbage across the street.” He motioned to the apartment building he must have lived in, his eyes wide. “I haven’t seen a crime committed around here in twenty years! What happened?”

  “I… I’m not sure what happened.” I gathered my wits and squatted down to pick up the things that fell out of my bag. My purse exploded on the sidewalk. Ugh. I hated when that happened. Most everything was there, thankfully. My phone had been in a zippered inner pocket and was unharmed, but I grabbed my wallet, opened it, and my cash was gone. Tears erupted instantly. I had worked hard for that small amount of money, and he just took it.

  “Oh no. Young lady, are you okay?” The old man patted my arm.

  “He mugged me.” Everything I made Thursday, Friday, and today with Murata was gone. It was cold and dark outside, but I slumped down against the building, my butt freezing on the icy sidewalk. This was what I got for trying to be helpful.

  “Should we call the police?”

  “Great idea.” I pulled my phone from my purse and dialed Goro. He arrived in three minutes exactly, lights flashing.

  “I guess that wasn’t so smart, Mei-chan,” he said, pulling me off the ground. “Whatever happened to meeting in a public place?” He turned to the old man, who stuck by me the whole time we waited. “Thank you, sir. I’ll take it from here.”

  “I hope you feel better.” The old man bowed and returned to his building across the road.

  “Are you hurt?” Goro asked, ushering me to the car.

  I probed the back of my head again with my fingers and noticed a small knot where there didn’t use to be one. “I need ice for my head, and I banged up my elbow pretty bad.” I sank into the seat of his police car as he drove off. “And I’m broke now because he also mugged me. He probably figured he wasn’t going to get work out of me so he took everything I had.”

  Goro pulled up outside of Chiyo’s bathhouse, leaned to the side, and yanked his wallet from his pocket. “Here, Mei-chan. This should hold you through till Yasa-kun returns.”

  My eyes filled with tears again.

  “Don’t refuse it,” he said, pushing a wad of cash at me. “We’ve been putting money aside so you can start painting again, and it’s my fault I didn’t come with you tonight. You’re doing the job of a police officer, you don’t have the training for it, and you’re not getting paid for it. It’s the least I can do.”

  I took the money with a shaking hand and mumbled my thanks.

  “Let’s go inside. We’ll get you ice for your head and you can relax with your mom and Kumi.”

  My phone, sitting in my lap, started to flash and ring. Yasahiro’s face popped up on the screen, a photo I took of him in the kitchen one day when he was looking extra handsome.

  Goro glanced at the screen and opened the door. “I’ll give you a minute.”

  I took a deep breath and answered. “Hi! I was wondering when I’d hear from you.”

  “I made it to my hotel in one piece early this morning. It felt like the middle of the day, though, so I took a nap before my first class, and now we’re about to have lunch. I’d really like to go back to bed.”

  I sniffed up and calmed my voice. “Jet lag is such a pain, or so I’ve heard.”

  There was a moment of silence on his end of the phone. “Mei-chan, your voice doesn’t sound right.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, but my voice cracked and gave me away.

  “You are not. What’s wrong?”

  “I… uh, I was just mugged outside of the café.”

  “Mugged?” His voice climbed.

  “Some young man pushed me down and stole all the money from my wallet.” My voice broke, and I hung my head. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I had brought this on myself. “I’m glad he didn’t take my phone.”

  “I’ll be on the next flight home tomorrow.”

  “No! No. Don’t do that. I called Goro-chan right away and he’s taking care of things.”

  “Mei-chan,” he said, wounded. “My heart is breaking listening to you.”

  I sniffed up again and stared at the ceiling of the car. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I can’t believe I have no cash stashed away in the apartment. I usually do but I grabbed it before I left since there was no time to go to the bank.”

  “It’s okay. Goro-chan is lending me some.”

  He was silent again and I imagined him pacing around like he did when he was upset or worried.

  “Don’t worry about me. I just seem to attract bad luck, that’s all.” I switched my phone from my right hand to my left and noticed blood on my pants. I flipped over my right hand and the heel of my hand, near the wrist, was scraped and bleeding. Fantastic. “It’s better off you’re in Paris or my bad luck would be rubbing off on you.”

  “I wish I was there. I’d rather have you and your bad luck than be here in Paris right now.”

  I laughed, my tears going everywhere. “I highly doubt that. Paris before Christmas? I’m sure it’s spectacular.”

  “My room has a view of the Eiffel Tower. I’m looking at it right now.”

  “Of course, it does. I wouldn’t expect anything less.” With a continent between us, he felt farther away than ever.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to come home? I want to hunt this guy down and make him pay.” I shivered at his words because I knew he meant it.

  “No. Stay. If you leave now, they’ll think you flaked out on them. You’ll have trouble getting more of these gigs in the future. And I’d like to go to Paris someday.”

  “We could come for a vacation. I don’t have to come for work,” he insisted.

  “Stay,” I whispered back. “I’m going to head into Kutsuro Matsu for the evening and then off to bed. Tomorrow will be better.”

  “Okay. I miss you already.”

  My heart ached. No one had missed me for a long time. “I miss you, too.”

  I hung up the phone and stared off into space. This was all such a bad idea. Why did I never see these things until it was too late?

  With the bathhouse in its last hour of the day, and most people packing up to go home, Kumi, Mom, and I took advantage of the baths, while Chiyo ushered the last of the stragglers out the door at 21:30. Most bathhouses in Tokyo stayed open until midnight or later, but out in Chikata, 21:30 was more than enough time to get in a good soak after dinner and head home, warm and clean, for bedtime.

  “Here. For your hand.” Kumi handed me a length of gauze, antibiotic ointment, and tape. She sat down next to me at a washing station and groaned onto the stool while turning on the hot water spigot. “I’ve been standing all day. I love the new standing desk, but I am so tired by the end of the day.” She splashed hot water on herself and sighed, then pumped soap onto a sponge and got to work soaping up.

  I was already done washing, babying my right hand and keeping it away from the water, so I slathered some ointment on the cut and wrapped it in gauze. “Thanks. I’ll have to keep it up out of the water.”

  “Go join your mom.” Kumi jerked her head at the bath where Mom was already sitting in the water, her eyes closed, her breathing measured. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve guessed Mom was asleep. But she displayed her peaceful face, the one that told me she was content, despite everything going on around her. I envied that. Everything about my life was a mess.

  I gingerly stepped into the tub of hot water and sank into the steamy relief. If there was one thing in this world I couldn’t live without, it was baths. A hot bath could make anything bearable.

  I sat quietly since Mom didn’t budge, and I didn’t want to admit how badly I had been failing lately. What with the resume rejections, or just plain silence from employers, Yasahi
ro gone and succeeding at his job, and me getting in sticky situations and getting mugged, I was a big barrel of fail. If I hadn’t had my elderly clients, I would’ve sunk into a deep depression.

  The water level changed as Kumi got in and sat beside me.

  “Ahhhhhhh,” she breathed out, long and satisfied. “I love this bath. I never thought I’d be married and part owner of a bathhouse. Life is strange.”

  “Indeed it is,” I replied, my eyes closed.

  “Speaking of strange lives, have you, uh… talked to Akiko-chan lately? I saw her the other day, at the pharmacy and we spoke a little about you.”

  I opened one eye and stared at her. “Really? What about?”

  Kumi shrugged her shoulders. “She seemed, I don’t know, sad about how things turned out with you.”

  I sighed and closed my eyes, resting my head gingerly on the tile. “Well, after what happened with Tama-chan, I lost some faith in us, in our friendship. We’re talking a little more, but it’s taking some time.”

  I could have said more, how, deep in my gut, I felt betrayed. I had stood by Akiko through everything in her life, been there in good times and in bad. I had been more than family to her. At least, that’s what I believed. I believed in our friendship, and she let her killer of a brother almost end it all.

  “I guess I don’t blame you.” Kumi’s voice was succinct, true. “You should give her a tiny break, though. I know she feels bad.”

  Without opening my eyes, I reached out my hand in the water for hers and she took it. Kumi had become my best friend over the last few months, and I valued her opinion and insights. I wished the awful feelings I had for Akiko would go away, but they hung over my head like a thundercloud ready to rain. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I’ve done all I can do. Now, I wait to see what happens next.” I squeezed her hand and let it go.

  “Akiko-chan is lucky to have you as a friend, Mei-chan,” Mom said, startling both Kumi and me. She hadn’t said a word in at least ten minutes.

  “Considering how unlucky I am, that’s not saying much.”

  She harrumphed and closed her eyes again. “You’ll see. Good fortune is around the corner for you. I prayed at the temple and washed the Arai Kannon to heal your spirit. Have faith.”