Kyohei sighed and took the phone.
“Hi.”
“What’s this all about?” his mother asked. “Didn’t you tell everything to the police already? Why can’t you come down right away?” She was talking fast and loud. Kyohei held the phone further away from his ear.
“I’ve got homework,” he said.
“So? Do it down here.”
“I can’t. I’m getting some help with it here.”
“From whom?”
Kyohei rolled his eyes. “Someone I met at Uncle Shigehiro’s inn. He’s a professor at a university.”
“Why is a university professor helping you with your fifth grade homework?”
“I dunno. I was telling him about it, and he said he’d help. He’s staying in the same hotel as us—but he’s out now. He won’t be back until tonight, and I really gotta talk to him.”
He heard his mom snort. “Why can’t your father and I help you, like we always do?”
“He said it’s not good if you do it for me. I have to learn how to do it for myself.”
His mother was silent for a moment.
That shut her up.
“Fine, whatever. Give me back to your dad.”
Kyohei handed the phone back to his father, then opened the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the balcony. The room was right over the hotel pool. He scanned the chairs around the pool, but Yukawa was nowhere to be found. It was a little after three in the afternoon.
He had almost given up when the woman at the front desk had told him Yukawa would be out all day. But when he got back to his room and started packing up his things, a strong urge had struck him to stay and wait for him, no matter what it took. He needed to talk to Yukawa one last time.
Despite the fact that he didn’t even have a good explanation, his father didn’t put up too much of a fight when Kyohei pleaded to delay their departure by another day. Maybe, Kyohei thought, he sensed Kyohei’s deeper reason for needing to stay.
His father put down the phone. “We’re going home tomorrow afternoon, and that’s final.”
Kyohei nodded.
He figured that since he’d told his mom he was staying to do his homework, he’d better get to it, so he spread his books out on the one table in the room. He didn’t feel like playing anyway. He couldn’t imagine enjoying anything right at that moment.
“I’m going to go talk to the police,” his father said. “I want to check in and see how your aunt and uncle are doing. If they’ll tell me, that is.”
He returned a little after six o’clock, empty-handed. “I pushed pretty hard, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. So I just hung out there for a while,” he said.
Kyohei hadn’t gotten much done either. His head was whirling too fast for him to focus on his homework.
They decided to eat dinner in the restaurant on the first floor. Kyohei ordered the fried shrimp platter—one of his favorites. It was a big plate, with three giant shrimp on top.
He was about to dig in when he heard a familiar whiz pop, and Kyohei’s eyes went out to the ocean shore.
“Fireworks?” his father said. “Sounds like someone’s shooting off some big ones down on the beach.”
Kyohei was about to correct him—the sound was definitely a smaller bottle rocket—when memories of that night came rushing back. He felt a large lump in his throat, heavy, like lead weighing on his chest. Kyohei shook his head and put down his fork and knife.
“What’s wrong? You aren’t sick, are you?” his father asked.
Kyohei shook his head. “Nah, just full.”
“Full? You’ve barely eaten a thing.”
Just then, Kyohei spotted Yukawa walking past the restaurant toward the lobby. He hopped out of his chair and ran toward him, calling out, “Professor!”
Yukawa stopped and turned. A momentary look of confusion passed over his face when he saw Kyohei, then he smiled. “Hey,” he said. “You’re still here?”
“I didn’t know what to do,” Kyohei said, the words coming out in a rush. “I couldn’t tell my mom or my dad, I wasn’t even sure if I should be telling you—”
Yukawa held a finger up to his lips. Then he lowered his hand until he was pointing at Kyohei. “This is about the night you set off the fireworks with your uncle, yes?”
Kyohei nodded, relieved beyond words. He knew that somehow Yukawa would understand.
“Then let’s talk about that tomorrow. You should get your rest tonight,” Yukawa said, turning slowly and walking off without waiting for Kyohei’s reply.
SIXTY-TWO
Narumi scanned all the sites she could find for any follow-up on the incident but found nothing. The only headline about the case read, “Falling Death in Hari Cove Actually a Poisoning—Local Innkeepers Involved in Cover-Up,” followed by a short article that told her nothing she didn’t already know. It didn’t look like the case was getting much attention beyond the borders of their town.
That didn’t make it any less of a big deal for her, though. Narumi wondered almost constantly how her parents were doing, with no means of finding out. She tried calling Nishiguchi, but he only apologized. “Sorry, I don’t know exactly what’s going on either,” he said. “I’m sure they’re fine, though.”
He said they should get together for a drink once things calmed down, and she told him she’d think about it. Going for a drink was the last thing on her mind.
She was listlessly looking through some help wanted ads when she heard footsteps on the stairs outside, and the door opened. It was Wakana.
“Narumi? There’s someone here to see you downstairs.”
“Me?” Narumi said, putting a hand to her chest. “Is it the police?”
“No, someone who says he wanted to go for a dive. He requested you specifically and said you’d talked about it before?”
“Tall guy? Glasses?”
“That’s the one.”
“Right,” she said, standing up.
She went downstairs to find Yukawa waiting for her. He was looking at one of the stickers they had for sale.
“Hello,” she said.
He looked up and smiled. “Thanks for the other day.”
“My pleasure,” she said. “How did you know I was here?”
Yukawa put the sticker back on the shelf. “I paid a visit to the police department and told them I had a question about my bill from the other night and wanted to talk to the person in charge at the Green Rock Inn. They told me where you’d be.”
“That worked?” Narumi shook her head. She half wanted to ask him if he had heard anything about her parents, while he was at it.
“As a matter of fact, I’ll be leaving town today,” Yukawa said.
“Really? All finished with your research?”
“I think DESMEC can handle the rest. School’s starting up soon. Anyway, I figured this is my last chance to see this ocean you’re so proud of. I believe you promised to take me diving?”
“I did, but—”
She heard a sound behind her and turned to see Wakana step up. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take you out,” she offered. “Narumi’s had a lot going on lately, and she’s probably pretty tired. It’s not a good idea to dive when you’re not at your best.”
Yukawa nodded thoughtfully and turned his eyes to Narumi. “I certainly won’t force you. Though there were some things I wanted to talk to you about.”
Narumi stared at Yukawa’s face. There was a serious look to his eyes, more so than usual. And yet, there was a kindness there too. She got the sense that he had something he needed to tell her.
“I’d rather not do all the prep we’d need to go scuba diving, but I could handle some snorkeling,” she said. “And that should be more than enough for you to see the real treasure of Hari Cove.”
“Perfect,” Yukawa said, picking a pair of goggles off the shelf. “I might have lied when I said I had my diver’s license, anyway.”
An hour later they were in the ocean, at the very spot that
made Narumi a snorkeling fanatic years before. It was a bit of a secret, being a ways away from the main swimming area and most of the popular diving spots. Here, only a short distance off shore, it got very deep very quickly, and the scenery changed dramatically. The seafloor was a beautiful carpet of light, with a hundred gradations of color, and there were fish everywhere.
This is what I’ve been protecting, she thought. Just like it’s been protecting me. She wondered what would have become of her if she hadn’t found the ocean, and the thought frightened her.
Sixteen years ago, when she moved here, she had no guidepost to live by. She’d begun to seriously entertain doubts about whether she deserved to be alive at all. How could she possibly have a right to a happy life after killing one person and sending another to jail for her crime?
Her hands still remembered what it felt like to stick a knife into that woman’s body. She doubted she’d ever forget. And still, she didn’t know why she’d done it. It was like her body had been moving by itself. But she did remember how she’d felt just before it happened. She felt like everything would fall apart, their lives dashed on the rocks.
Nobuko Miyake rose in her mind. She could see her frown when she heard Narumi’s mother was out, then how she stared at Narumi, a faint smile coming to her lipstick-red lips. “You do look like him, don’t you,” she said.
“Like who?” Narumi asked. Thinking about it later, she wished she hadn’t.
Nobuko had scoffed, her smile turning mean. “Narumi, was it? I bet people tell you all the time that you don’t look like your father.”
Her eyes opened wider. Nobuko chuckled. “Bull’s-eye, hmm? It’s okay. I’m the only one who knows the truth.”
Narumi felt the blood rush to her head. “What do you mean, the truth? You’re crazy,” she said sharply.
“There’s nothing crazy about it, dear. But my, you do look so much like him. Especially the mouth.” Narumi could feel the woman’s eyes invading her space, an unwelcome presence lingering over her features.
“Stop. I’m going to tell my father.”
The woman made a mock show of alarm. “Please do,” she said. “In fact, I’d be happy to tell him the truth myself. I wonder what would happen then? You and your mom would probably get kicked out onto the street, at the very least. Anyway, tell your mother I’ll be back. And don’t make that face at me, young girl. You’ll regret making an enemy of me when the tables are turned—and they will be, very soon.”
Narumi was still watching those ruby-red lips when she realized Nobuko had already left. Her head was a whirlwind. She couldn’t think straight, and yet, her body knew what to do. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen, then went after her.
She ran mindlessly, and yet, there was one shred of clarity at the bottom of her murky consciousness. It was the realization that the woman was telling the truth. She wasn’t her father’s daughter. It confirmed a doubt she’d been holding inside for years.
It started one night when her father came home from a school reunion, unusually drunk. He couldn’t even walk straight, slumping onto the kitchen table when he sat down and tried to drink some water. Setsuko tried to rouse him but he didn’t look like he was listening, until he suddenly turned and slapped her mother full across the face. Narumi was shocked. She’d never seen her father lift a hand against anyone before. Setsuko froze.
“Don’t you say anything,” he growled in the most terrifying voice she’d ever heard him use. “You don’t have the right.” Then he opened his wallet and pulled out a photograph, tossing it on the floor. Narumi recognized it: a family picture of the three of them, taken at a studio. “They all laughed. Said she didn’t look like me. Of course she doesn’t look like me.” And then, drunk, her father fell asleep on the spot with her mother standing over him.
The next day, Shigehiro was back to being her gentle father, a kind husband. He apologized to both of them about drinking too much the night before and said he didn’t remember a thing. It never came up again, and Narumi never asked her mother about it, but she didn’t forget.
Nobuko Miyake brought that memory screaming back to the surface, and with it came the fear that her family would fall apart. She saw the woman walking away, her silhouette floating in the light of the streetlamp. Narumi grabbed the knife tight in both hands and charged. Her mind was a blank. She didn’t stop to think—that this was a crime, that people who did this went to prison.
She didn’t remember what happened next very clearly. When she came to, she was curled up in her bed. She didn’t sleep, she just lay there trembling until morning. When her mother questioned her, she tried to tell her what had happened but couldn’t put the pieces together. Her recollection was too vague.
But she did what she was told, and when her mother came back to collect her, she changed her clothes and left the house with no idea where they were going, what they were doing, or what would happen to her.
A few days later, it was announced on the news that the man who killed Nobuko Miyake—a man she didn’t know—had been caught. Her mother then explained who he was, and why he’d taken the blame. Narumi was aghast. She didn’t want to believe it, she couldn’t believe it. And yet, here she was, free and not in prison.
“You can’t tell anyone this. Especially not your father,” her mother said, her face severe.
Narumi didn’t object. Her chest ached when she thought of this man she’d never met serving her prison sentence. But there was blame there, too, for the married man who had a one-night stand with another woman. And for the child born from that union, there was guilt.
Her days were spent struggling with that guilt. She’d put her real father in jail and deceived the man who had raised her. When her father would come home on the weekends, she would feel such a welling of emotion she couldn’t look into his eyes.
Which was why she didn’t resist when her father quit his job and said he was going to take over the inn. She wanted to leave that place as soon as possible. Her knees felt weak every time she walked past where it happened.
Then, about a month after they had moved to Hari Cove, one of her friends took her to the observation platform on their way back from school. It was the first time she’d really looked out over the ocean, and she was awestruck by its beauty. She remembered then what her mother had said about the painting Senba had given her.
In that moment, she felt like she knew what she had to do with her life. She owed it to her real father. She would protect the ocean that he loved until the day he could see it again.
Yukawa worked his diving fins like a pro, not a bit of wasted movement. Narumi started to wonder if he’d been lying about not having a license. She showed him a couple of her favorite spots, then they went back to the shore and climbed up on the rocks.
Yukawa took off his snorkel mask and smiled. “Amazing. I understand why you’re so proud of the ocean here. Makes me wonder how so many people in Tokyo can go off to Okinawa and Hawaii when there’s this beauty right here under their noses.” He turned to Narumi. “Thank you. When I think of Hari Cove, this is what I’ll remember, and that’s saying something.”
Narumi took off her fins and sat down on the rock. “I’m glad you liked it. But wasn’t there something else you wanted to talk to me about?”
Yukawa smiled knowingly and sat down next to her. His eyes were fixed out on the horizon. “Summer’s ending soon,” he said.
“Mr. Yukawa?”
“My detective friend found Hidetoshi Senba. I met him yesterday, in fact. He’s in the hospital with an incurable brain tumor. He doesn’t have long to live.”
Narumi felt a lump form in her chest, an uncomfortable tightness she couldn’t swallow or spit out. Her face drew tight.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why a physicist would go so far out of his way. I wonder that myself. It’s really none of my concern.”
Narumi searched for something she could say that would explain it all away. But at the same time, she realized there weren’t an
y magic words. He already knew everything.
“The man mostly responsible for taking care of Senba was none other than the detective who arrested him sixteen years ago. Tsukahara had retired from the police force, but that one case still bothered him. I’m not sure what the two of them spoke of, but I imagine that Tsukahara tried everything he could to get the truth out of Senba. And I’m guessing he did, in the end, though he didn’t feel the need to make that public. Instead, all he wanted to do was fulfill an old man’s dying wish to see the daughter he’d traded his life to save.”
Yukawa spoke evenly and calmly, giving each word time to make an impact. Narumi remembered when her eyes met Tsukahara’s at the hearing, finally understanding that gentle look he had given her.
“I don’t think what Tsukahara was trying to do was a bad thing. But it was dangerous. Like trying to open a set of doors on the bottom of the sea. You don’t know what’s going to happen when you do. That’s why no one touches them. And when someone comes along who does, others try to stop them.”
Narumi looked over at Yukawa. “Are you saying it wasn’t an accident?”
“You think it was?” Yukawa asked, giving her a cold look. “Really?”
“Of course,” she wanted to say, but she couldn’t make her lips form the words. Her mouth was bone dry.
Yukawa was looking back out at the horizon. “I didn’t want to say anything, to be honest. There were a number of things about what happened that bothered me right from the beginning, but I decided to ignore them. That is, until I realized if I didn’t take action, it would have a tremendous impact on someone’s life, through no fault of his own.”
Narumi looked at him, not understanding.
“Tsukahara’s death wasn’t an accident, it was murder,” he said, suddenly turning to face her. “And the murderer … was your cousin, Kyohei.”
For a second, everything around her went silent. Even the surface of the sea appeared still, completely frozen. Then, sound returned with a gentle lapping of waves. She felt a gust of wind blow between them. She stared at the physicist. What the hell is he saying? For a moment, she wondered if she had misheard.
A Midsummer's Equation: A Detective Galileo Mystery Page 31
