Curled up in the trunk, the flesh-mound spoke in a mish-mash of mannish and girlish words.
The knees of her bent legs pressed so tightly as to appear stuck to her breasts, while the skin near her hips was drawn tight and her rump jutted out oddly. Her hands were crossed behind her head, ruffling her hair and leaving her armpits completely exposed. An unusually shaped being, rounded, peach-coloured, and a very beautiful colour indeed.
Growing bolder, Jun-chan /Yamakawa leaned over the trunk and looked down at the body lasciviously.
‘So it’s a beauty stuffed into a trunk then, is it, m’lady?’
‘Ha, ha, ha. Indeed it is. Here and there, the trunk has little ventilation holes that cannot be seen from outside. So there’s no need to worry about suffocation if the lid is closed.’
No sooner had she said this than she slammed the lid shut, sending up into the excited young man’s face a billow of warm air filled with the scent of her body. Once the lid had been closed, all that could be seen was a plain, black rectangular trunk. No one would have imagined that hidden inside was a mound of sexy, amply rounded peach-coloured flesh. This stark contrast explains why, from ancient times, conjurors have used an unattractive trunk and a beautiful woman’s body.
‘What do you think? No one would suspect that a person might be inside.’
Having slightly opened the trunk’s lid, she sought his agreement with a smile, looking much like Venus appearing from within the shell.
‘Oh! So you… I mean, you intend to put that jeweller’s daughter in this trunk and kidnap her?’
‘Yes. Of course. You’ve finally worked it out, have you? I was only providing you with a little simulation.’
After she had put her clothes back on, she filled him in on the details of her daring kidnap plan.
‘Putting that girl into the trunk as I’ve just shown you is my job and I’ve got everything prepared, including the knock-out drops. Getting the trunk away from here is your job – that’ll be your first big test.
‘You make it appear that you are catching the 9:20 train leaving Tokyo tonight and have the hotel purchase a ticket beforehand and then leave the hotel with the trunk. The hotel porter checks it in as hand luggage and sees you board the train. So, everyone will think you have gone to Nagoya, but you actually get off the train at Shinagawa Station, the first stop. Are you getting this? You disembark at Shinagawa – of course you have the trunk offloaded too – tell the guard you’ve remembered some urgent business or something. It might be somewhat arduous work, but I’m sure you won’t make any mistakes. Next, you return by taxi to Tokyo with the trunk and you go to the Meiji Hotel. Make them think you’re a rich man – act confident, choose the best room and check in. I’ll check out of here tomorrow and meet you at the Meiji. What do you think of my plan?’
‘Well, it’s certainly interesting. But I’m not entirely sure about fooling everyone. I’ll probably feel pretty insecure all by myself.’
‘Ha, ha, ha. You’ve killed people and yet you’re behaving like some nervous rich kid. Don’t worry! The safest way to carry out something bad is to do it confidently and in full view – and not secretly and quietly. If you’re found out, you can just get rid of the luggage and run for it! It’s a breeze compared to murdering someone.’
‘But couldn’t you come with me?’
‘I have to take on Akechi Kogorō. Who knows what might happen if I don’t keep a watch on him until you make it through!? My task is to hold back that interfering detective. And that will probably be much harder than transporting the trunk.’
‘Oh, I see. Yes, that will make me feel safer. But… you’ll be sure to come to the Meiji Hotel tomorrow morning won’t you? If the girl wakes up before and starts kicking up a fuss inside the trunk I’ll be in a real fix!’
‘You do worry about the small stuff, don’t you? Well, I suppose that’s where slip-ups can happen. We’ll gag the girl and tie her arms and legs very tightly. When the knock-out drops wear off, she won’t be able to speak or even to move.’
‘Oh, my head doesn’t seem to be working normally today. It’s because you put on that display. In future, please spare me that at least would you? I’m just a young man you know. I’m still all excited! Ha, ha, ha! Anyway, what happens after we meet up at the Meiji?’
‘What happens then is top secret. That’s not something underlings need to ask about. You just keep quiet and follow orders.’
And thus was the kidnapping of the young lady organized right down to the last detail.
That night, there was a lively atmosphere in the hotel’s spacious lounge as guests chatted or smoked for a while after dinner. A radio in the corner of the room murmured out the evening news. Here and there, gentlemen leaned back into soft cushions with evening editions of the newspapers spread wide before their faces. The high-pitched voice of an American lady could be heard from a group of foreigners around one table.
Among the guests were Iwase Shōbei and his daughter Sanae. Large for her age, she stood out in the lounge because she was one of the few wearing Japanese clothing – a kimono with bright yellow stripes, a sash shot with shiny silver thread, and an orange haori shawl. It was not only her clothes. The calm and composed young lady also caught the eye for the frameless spectacles, apparently prescribed for myopia, that she wore in front of her white, almost translucent, face.
Stout, clean-shaven and with a greyish bald pate, her father had the appearance of a merchant of some importance. He followed her every movement very closely, as though guarding her.
Business was not the only purpose of this trip; he also intended to finalize marriage negotiations for his daughter with a well-known family in the capital and Sanae was accompanying him so that she could be presented to the family. Now, it just so happened that Iwase had been receiving persistent letters predicting a crime nearly every day for about two weeks before their departure.
‘Watch carefully over your daughter. A fearsome demon is plotting her kidnap.’
Each time the frightening message was couched in different phrases and handwriting. The letters piled up and it seemed to him that the hour of her kidnap was drawing nearer with every day.
At first, he was not particularly worried, thinking it just a prank, but as time passed he became more concerned and finally contacted the police. However, not even the might of the constabulary was sufficient to determine the source of these strange missives. Of course, the letters did not bear a sender’s name, while the postmark – whether from within Osaka, or Kyoto, or Tokyo – differed each time.
Given the situation, Iwase considered cancelling the appointment with the family into which his daughter was to marry, but thinking that a move away from the house to which the unpleasant letters were directed might be better for her he decided to make the journey.
Nevertheless, determined to take every precaution, Iwase requested protection for his daughter from a private detective who had shown his ability in the past when the jeweller had hired him to investigate a break-in at the store. Akechi Kogorō was less than enthusiastic, but giving in to Iwase’s pleas he undertook to prevent the strange ‘theft’ indicating that he would stay in an adjacent room while they were travelling.
Wearing a black suit over his slender frame, the famous detective was now sitting on a sofa in a different corner of the same lounge. Much as expected, he was with a beautiful lady in a black dress and they were talking about something in low voices.
‘May I ask why you are so interested in this case?’
The detective looked steadily at her eyes as he put the question.
‘I’m a devotee of detective novels. When I heard about this business from Iwase-san’s daughter, it seemed exactly like something that would happen in such a novel and I was completely captivated. Then, getting to know the famous detective Akechi Kogorō on a familiar basis made me feel, well, as though I too had become
a character in one of those books,’ answered the woman in black.
Doubtless the reader will have divined that this dark-garbed woman was none other than our heroine, the Black Lizard.
Through her mania for jewels, she had become acquainted with Iwase as one of his customers. When they happened to bump into each other at the hotel, the relationship became closer. Using her amazing social skills, she quickly mesmerized Sanae and they became so intimate that the girl revealed her innermost secrets.
‘But the real world is not like a novel, you know. I think this business is probably just a prank being played by some delinquent.’
The detective seemed very low-key about it all.
‘But I think that you carry out your investigations with the utmost earnestness. I’m well aware that you walk the hotel corridors at night and that you question the hotel clerks about everything.’
‘You must be very interested indeed if you know about that. I can’t hide anything from you can I?’
He spoke with irony, looking intently at her beautiful face.
‘I don’t think this has anything to do with a prank at all. I just feel it – sixth sense maybe. And I think you should be very careful yourself,’ she countered significantly, returning the detective’s look unwaveringly.
‘Thank you very much. But don’t worry. I am looking after the young lady, so she is safe. Not even the most dastardly of villains can go unnoticed by me.’
‘Yes, I am well aware of your capabilities. Still, I can’t help but feel that it might be different this time… that you face a terrifying opponent who possesses tremendous magical powers.’
Ah! How audacious she was, praising herself before the most famous detective of the age.
‘It seems that you very much favour this hypothetical criminal. Perhaps we should make a wager?’
Akechi made the strange proposal with a laugh.
‘A wager, you say? What fun! To gamble with Akechi. Well, let me bet this – my most precious necklace.’
‘It seems you are serious. All right, what should I forfeit if I lose and the young lady is kidnapped?’
‘Why don’t you stake your occupation as a detective? In that case, I would wager all of the jewels I possess.’
It was the sort of outlandish, fanciful thing one could imagine a lady of leisure might say. But could the famous detective sense behind the words the lady-thief’s burning desire to engage him in combat?
‘Interesting. So, you are suggesting that if I lose, I give up my profession? You throw down all your jewels – next to life itself in importance for a woman – while for a man like me work is no great thing.’ Akechi was holding his own.
‘Well, the bet is on! I shall see if I can’t cause Akechi Kogorō to give up his profession.’
‘All right, I accept the bet. I’m looking forward to seeing your splendid jewels come tumbling down! Ha, ha, ha.’
Thus, the joke had all of a sudden become something serious. Just as the incredible exchange ended, Sanae approached all unwitting and spoke genially.
‘Now what are the two of you talking about so secretly? Can I join in?’
She spoke in an improvised blithe tone, but her face could not hide a slight trace of uneasiness.
‘Oh, it’s you my dear. Come, sit down here. Why, just this minute Akechi-san was complaining that he was bored because this business was just some sort of a prank.’
Mme Midorikawa spoke to Sanae with a kindness that belied her heart.
Then Iwase came over and the group of four began to make small talk, tacitly avoiding any reference to the case. Through a natural momentum, two separate conversations developed – one between the two men and another between the two women.
After a while, the pair of women stood up and leaving the men deep in conversation began to walk slowly shoulder-to-shoulder between the lounge seats as though taking a stroll. Apart from the sharp contrast between the pitch black silk dress and the orange shawl, from behind the two looked almost the same in respect of hair style and age. They say that beauty is ageless and indeed Mme Midorikawa, though past thirty, looked youthful and innocent as a maid. Without either woman making any specific suggestion, the pair at length glided out of the lounge and walked along the corridor toward the stairs.
‘My dear, would you come to my room for a little while? I would like to show you the doll that we spoke about yesterday.’
‘Oh you have it here with you? I should like to see it.’
‘Oh, I keep it with me always. Why, it’s my sweet slave.’
Aha! And who could this be, this ‘doll’ of whom Mme Midorikawa spoke? Sanae had not the slightest idea, but perhaps a more apt adjective for the ‘sweet’ slave would have been ‘weird.’ The reader will have guessed straight away that the slave was actually Jun-chan /Yamakawa Kensaku.
Mme Midorikawa’s room was on the ground floor, while Sanae and her father were staying on the second floor. The pair hesitated for a moment at the base of the stairs, but finally they moved on down the corridor to the older woman’s room.
‘After you,’ said Mme Midorikawa opening the door to her room and inviting Sanae to enter.
‘Oh, isn’t this the wrong room? I thought yours was number twenty-three?’
And indeed it was. The number above this door was twenty-four. This was actually Yamakawa Kensaku’s room, which was adjacent to Mme Midorikawa’s room.
Having finished dinner early and returned half-fleeing to his room, the man-slaying pugilist would now be awaiting the arrival of the fateful moment with bated breath. Also awaiting the victim would be a strip of gauze soaked in knock-out drops and a trunk exactly like a coffin.
Sanae had every reason to hesitate. Somehow she seemed to sense something was afoot. Her sensitive subconscious had perceived the hellish scene that was to unfold momentarily.
But Mme Midorikawa kept her poker face.
‘No, this is it. This is my room. Please hurry on in, now!’
And saying this she put her arm around Sanae’s shoulders and passed together with her through the door.
When they had disappeared, the door slammed shut behind them. Strangely, immediately after the door closed, a key was heard to turn in the lock. The door had been locked from inside.
At the same time, there came from inside a faint sound like a smothered cry of pain.
For a short space of time the interior of the room fell silent again as if completely empty. Then came sounds – a tapping, whispering voices, footfalls moving around quickly, and something bumping into an object. This continued for about five minutes, and then subsided. Then a key could be heard turning in the lock again, after which the door opened slightly and a white face with spectacles peeped out into the corridor.
After establishing that there was no-one around, the full figure emerged – and strangely enough it was not Mme Midorikawa, but Sanae. The same Sanae one would have supposed had just now been stuffed inside the trunk.
But, no, it was not. The hairstyle, the spectacles, the kimono, and shawl were just like Sanae, but there was something different. Her breast was just a little too prominent. She was a shade too tall. And more than that, the face… Though the make-up was truly masterful – and made all the more plausible by the hairstyle and spectacles – a person’s face does not change no matter how much it is made up. This was only Mme Midorikawa disguised as Sanae. Nevertheless, to have effected such a transformation in just five minutes was indeed a feat worthy of this self-styled magician.
What, then, had happened to poor Sanae? There can be no room for doubt. The lady-thief’s kidnap plan was progressing smoothly. Sanae had been forced into the trunk. Given that Mme Midorikawa now wore all her clothes, it seemed certain that Sanae had been stripped naked – as in Mme Midorikawa’s ‘simulation’ that morning – then bound and gagged and cruelly squeezed into the trunk.
> ‘Right, I’m counting on you!’ whispered Mme Midorikawa, now transformed into ‘Sanae’, while closing the door.
From within came a deep male voice in answer, ‘Yeah, it’ll be all right.’
It was Jun-chan /Yamakawa Kensaku.
She had a bulky cloth bundle under her arm. Carrying this and trying to avoid being spotted, she climbed the stairs. When she came to Iwase’s room and peeped quietly in, she found that as expected the jeweller had not yet returned. He was still deep in conversation with Akechi Kogorō in the large lounge downstairs.
The suite comprised three rooms, one leading on to the other: a living room – with a sofa, armchairs, and writing table – a bedroom, and a bathroom. Entering the living room, she opened the drawer of the writing table and took out a small box containing Iwase’s Calmotin sedatives. She removed the pills, replaced them with some that she had brought with her, and then returned the box to the drawer as it had been.
Next she entered the bedroom, turned off the bright light on the wall, and after switching on a small stand-lamp she pressed the room-service bell.
Soon there was a knock on the door and a bell-boy came into the living room.
‘May I be of any service?’
‘Yes, my father is in the main lounge downstairs and I wonder if you would let him know it’s time for bed.’
Opening the bedroom door a crack so that her face was in shadow and the living room light fell only on the kimono, she mimicked Sanae’s voice skilfully. A little while after the bell-hop had left on his errand, there was a loud sound of footsteps and Iwase came in:
‘What, you’re all alone? I thought you were with Mme Midorikawa,’ he said as if scolding her.
The only thing visible in the dark bedroom was the kimono and Mme Midorikawa cleverly copied Sanae’s voice as she murmured, ‘Yes, I felt a little ill so I parted with her at the stairs and returned alone. I’m going to sleep. Are you going to bed?’
‘You shouldn’t do that! I’ve told you over and over that you are not to be by yourself. What if this business happens?!’
The Black Lizard and Beast In the Shadows Page 4
