Nan-Core (22 page)

While Ms. Hosoya bundled him off to one side and took him through the extra hours, I took Chie’s breakfast up on a tray.

To my surprise, she was still sound asleep. I was suddenly anxious that the pills had been too strong, but her breathing was even and her expression placid. Her eyes were moving under her eyelids and her eyebrows were twitching. She was probably dreaming. A faint smile spread like a soft veil across her too-prominent cheekbones. It was as though she knew I was there, like she was smiling at me.

She was back, and that was enough. It didn’t matter what had happened or what kind of work she’d been involved in. As I watched her, there was no doubt in my mind. She deserved my appreciation, if anything, for having made it through such exceptional hardship. My mother had been a prostitute, too. With that in mind, I couldn’t help but find the word “fate”
floating into my mind once again.

The rain showed no sign of letting up, even after lunch. On such days, only the more eccentric of our customers ventured out, usually regulars that knew each other and who liked to relax around a table for hours, gossiping or boasting about their pets. The dogs, used to the routine, stretched out lazily on the floor, as though the gloom and rain were too much for them to handle. They wagged their tails obligingly each time their masters broke into laughter.

The cafe was peaceful, salon-like. I spent the whole time thinking of how I was going to kill Shiomi.

My mother had stopped killing once she met Dad. But it was different for me. If I hadn’t met Chie, I was sure I would have lived my whole life without taking another’s, without the killer inside me ever waking up. This would be the first and last murder. By killing Shiomi, I was protecting Chie. I had to be reborn as someone worthy to be her partner, I had to be strong and filled with vigor, and I had to sever all links with the old, indecisive me. Killing Shiomi would serve as a rite of passage. Successfully pulling it off would prove once and for all that I’d accepted in the truest sense that I am my mother’s son. So I had no choice but to kill him.

I had to avoid being caught once it was done, of course. Getting arrested would mean not being able to make Chie happy. For that reason I needed a little more time, enough to plan and prepare everything carefully. Shiomi wasn’t scheduled to collect Chie from her home in Okayama for two days, so I hoped to have at least that long.

This was, as it turned out, optimistic. Shiomi discovered
that Chie was no longer at home before the day was out, perhaps by calling her home or going over to check on her. He called soon afterwards, a little after one p.m. Instead of the cafe, however, he called Ms. Hosoya’s cell phone. He’d probably gotten the number from Chie’s parents. Her phone rarely rang during work hours, and it was clear from the way her eyes sharpened as soon as she brought the phone to her ear that it was Shiomi.

“Yes, speaking.” She threw a meaningful look in my direction and went out onto the deck. Nachi was fussing over Clutch, the black pug, and chatting to a group of customers. He gave me a puzzled look but I ignored him and followed her outside. “I’m afraid that’s impossible … She’s still ill … No … That’s none of your business.”

I leaned over the handrail and looked around, not caring that I was getting wet. Something told me he was nearby, but I couldn’t see anyone, just the gray of the trees getting pelted by the rain. Ms. Hosoya was giving brief responses into the phone. My clothes and hair were already damp from the gusting wind as it carried a fine, mist-like rain that sprayed the deck. I felt an unpleasant sweat springing up. I shifted my weight back and forth, growing impatient. I wanted to snatch the phone from her and talk to Shiomi directly. I wasn’t sure I could hold back the impulse much longer.

“How much do you want?… No, that’s too much … I can only withdraw so much at a day’s notice. Okay … Fine, I’ll tell him. And you’ll hand over the negatives as well?… I will … And what time do you want me there?”

Their conversation ended abruptly. Ms. Hosoya stared at the phone, dumbfounded, when she pulled it from her ear.

“Sounds like he’s been driven into a corner. He said they’d kill him unless he repaid part of his debt immediately. He was so terrified he was barely coherent. I don’t think he was putting on an act.”

“What did he say about Chie?”

“He knows she’s here. He wanted me to tell you he’d be here soon to sort things out with you. Right now he wants us to buy Chie’s compromising photos plus the negatives. I’m surprised he’s willing to part with those, actually. They would be a cash cow for him. It’s probably a sign of how desperate he is for quick money.”

“How much does he want?”

“He said three million yen. When I told him that was too much on such short notice, he said one million would do, for the first time, anyways. It sounded like he’d already heard from Chie that you had nothing left after the two million she took. I don’t think he’s the type to give up because of something like that, though. He made it clear that this would be just the first time, so we can assume he plans to wring you dry, perhaps hoping to make you borrow money from relatives, or a loan shark, even if you have to put up the cafe as collateral. It’s by sheer chance that he doesn’t have the luxury of time right now.”

“A million.”

“He wants the money tonight, at the lookout point at the top of the mountain road.”

I felt so pathetic for not even having that much money. The only possibility was to borrow it from Dad. I felt bad, knowing I’d left without a word after he’d explained everything about my mother, but it wasn’t the time to worry about
such things. We would just about make the deadline if I called and asked him to wire the funds immediately. I was still busily running this through my mind when Ms. Hosoya spoke again, surprising me with what she said.

“Boss, Shiomi said he wanted me to bring the money, not you.”

“He said that? Why you?”

She looked puzzled, but there wasn’t a trace of fear in her expression. “He probably just wants it to be a woman, because we’re not as strong as men. In their wedding photos, he looked shorter than Chie and seemed pretty unfit. And he’s probably hoping I’ll come up with the money if you can’t.”

Is that why he called her phone? What a fucking coward
.

“Shit. Does he really think I’ll just stand back and do whatever he says?” My rage was starting to boil over.

“Please stay calm. Right now our first priority is to get the negatives back, so we should play along for the time being. I shouldn’t have any trouble getting a million yen together.”

“I can’t ask you to do that. I can borrow it from my father.”

“In that case you can borrow it from him later to pay me back. We can’t spare the time to explain the whole situation to your father, not at the moment.”

“But that’s—”

“It’s unlikely Shiomi would offer the negatives for so little in any normal situation, but right now he’s too panicked to consider the consequences, which could work out well for us. If you look at it that way this is an opportunity.”

I didn’t know what to say anymore. I’d dragged Ms. Hosoya so far into this mess, all because she had doted on Chie like a daughter.

“Thank you. Thank you, so much, for—”

“Okay then,” she interrupted. “How about we stop procrastinating and get everything going. I need to withdraw the money and get Chie out of here. We may not have that many customers in today, but the cafe needs to be attended to as well.”

“Wait, there’s just one thing I want to make clear. I’m going to the lookout point, all right? What time did he tell you to be there tonight?” It was the one thing I couldn’t cede. I had to go in person, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to kill Shiomi. I would take the one million yen for show, but I had no intention of letting him touch it.

“Ten. But he’ll be expecting me.”

“I’m sure he won’t complain, not if I give him the money and don’t make a fuss. He needs the money to weasel his way out of whatever situation he’s in. I’m going. I just can’t let you go, I’m sorry.”

She considered this for a while, then nodded. “To be honest, that would be a big relief. I was quite scared.”

I left the cafe at half past eight. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, but thankfully the rain had stopped. I concentrated on each step, firmly planting my feet as I climbed, using a flashlight to light up the muddy path. The lookout that Shiomi had mentioned was some distance below the peak, at the spot where the meandering mountain road came to an end.

If I followed a narrow path little known to common hikers, it was less than an hour on foot from Shaggy Head to the lookout point. I had wanted more time to plan things carefully, but that couldn’t be helped. In my rucksack I had the one million yen from Ms. Hosoya, a long-blade knife I’d taken from the kitchen, a change of clothes, an extra pair of sneakers in case his blood spattered me, a bunch of hand towels from the cafe, and some other small items. I also had my trusty folding mountain knife stuffed in one of the pockets in my chinos.

Ms. Hosoya had gone to the area by the train station to withdraw the money immediately after Shiomi’s call. While she was gone I summarized events for Chie and got her ready to leave. She was still a little spaced out, either from the drugs or too much sleep, and helplessly submissive.

I used the outside stairs to sneak out because I knew Nachi would kick up a fuss if he saw us. I stopped Ms. Hosoya from calling a cab and told her she could use the business car, knowing it would be useful to have for the few days she was looking after Chie. Normally, I tried to keep personal use of the car at a minimum, but the situation had to be taken into account. She seemed a little surprised when I told her it was fine because I was planning to walk to the lookout. Instead of asking why, however, she kept her face solemn and told me to take care.

Naturally, I couldn’t drive off in a car emblazoned with Shaggy Head’s logo to kill someone. I was proceeding without the necessary preparation, but I still had to be as careful as possible when it came to witnesses, as well as for fingerprints and footprints.

It was far from something I could really call a plan, but I had a rough sketch of what I wanted to do. Ideally I would enter Shiomi’s car from the passenger side and stab him while he was still inside the vehicle. In such close quarters I could catch him off guard and thrust the knife in deep, then just drive the corpse away. That was another reason why I had to approach the lookout on foot.

There was also the big issue of what to do with the body once it was done. I had considered various methods I knew from films and books—sinking the car in Osaka Bay, sending it off a sharp cliff into a ravine—but in the end decided it would be easiest to make it look like a yakuza hit, taking advantage of Shiomi’s current debt issues. That would be easy enough. All I had to do was dump the car and corpse in the city in the sort of place the yakuza used.

Not that everything would necessarily go according to plan. In order to kill him inside the car, I had to first convince him that we needed to exchange the negatives and money in there, but I had no guarantee he would agree to such a thing. The most important thing was to stay flexible, to be able to deal with whatever happened.

I reached the perimeter of the outlook at 9:25, just as I’d planned. I switched the flashlight off and pulled the towel-wrapped knife from my rucksack and slipped it under the back of my belt. I put on a black wool cap, knowing I might get blood in my hair.

A fine, drizzle-like night fog had settled in, dulling the light of the sole streetlamp and the vending machine. On clear nights during this time of year, it was common for couples to arrive in cars and park here in order to enjoy the night cityscape. In tonight’s gray fog, however, there was only a single car, parked in the far corner.

Earlier on the phone, Shiomi had told Ms. Hosoya that his car was a silver sedan with a plate that started with the number eight, but from where I was, I couldn’t tell if the car I was looking at matched the description. It looked like it might be silver, but maybe it was white. And it was still more than thirty minutes before the agreed time.

I supposed it was a couple looking for some privacy. If it was, I was sure Shiomi would park with enough space between them, so it wouldn’t pose an issue for killing him. In fact, having other people nearby would be a good excuse for carrying out the exchange in his car.

I considered all this as I approached the car. I could smell
exhaust fumes through the fog, which meant the engine was running. I felt no fear. It surprised me just how composed I was. The sense of tension spreading throughout my body was pleasant, if anything.

I crouched behind the car and switched on my flashlight. Indeed, the body of the car was silver, and the four numbers of the plate started with an eight. I got back to my feet and, keeping a safe distance, circled around to the passenger side.

Something was wrong. I was sure whoever was inside should have noticed me by now, but it didn’t feel like anyone was watching me. The engine was still rumbling quietly, but the car was dark inside and I got the sense there was no one inside. The whole vehicle seemed wrong somehow, as though something was deeply and fundamentally out of place. I cautiously edged closer, shining my flashlight in through the glass.

I was right. It was empty.

I wondered if Shiomi had already gotten out, if he was hiding in the woods nearby waiting for the moment to attack. Maybe he had become mad with jealousy from losing Chie to me, and was planning to kill me, just as I was planning to kill him.

As I was thinking this I noticed a blackish stain, something that had at first looked like a shadow in the ring of faint light. There were more stains all over the driver’s seat.

I wanted to get a better look. I walked around to the other side, still keeping a cautious stance. I wedged my flashlight under my arm and put on the gloves I had brought with me. I could see through the window that the key was still in the ignition. The doors were unlocked. When I opened a door the
dome lights flicked on and a nauseating stench of blood wafted out.