Chapter 8 (1/2)

Oe took the paper bag he had received froawa home to his own apartment If it was found in the office by the chief or by Katori, he would not be able to account for it He took a cheap dinner at a beef-bowl franchise for under 500 yen, and got hoht in the dooras on, and it appeared his wife and daughter were already asleep

Oe went to the kitchen and took out a beer froan to lay out the investigation reports fro table There were about twenty reports, and he sorted them out by year

The oldest was froawa had coencies for two to three e about 400,000 yen per case at the cheapest Continue that for four years, and it added up to 6by this calculation, it meant this man had already spent this ridiculous su one hed―out of exasperation

Oe perused the reports in order fro the kind of difficulty each agency went through because of the lack of information

Soencies had searched for prisoners who lived in the saured they could find out about Douno from other cellmates, but it was difficult to find cellmates based on just their names They had found one man called Kakizaki, however―“Re-arrested and currently serving in prison Unable to secure an interview,” said the report, and that was the disappointing end of that thread

As he read on, Oe learned that Douno had been iht offence, he had coawa but been released before him in less than a year With Douno’s criencies had accessed sites for “train groping” enthusiasts to collect infor of use

Soations by computer and footwork to base their reports on, while another chose the unbelievably inefficienta separate charge for the phone bill Soencies “We were unable to find the target of investigation,” the report said, without even giving details on what kind of investigation was conducted

It was one o’clock in the h all of the reports All of the other agencies had covered thehimself, and some had approached the search froht of If Douno had still not been found after all of this, he was never going to be found It was impossible, no matter how you looked at it

Oe put the , and drained the rest of his beer In his head, he drew up a scenario for the next tio, the agency had called all of the city halls in the four prefectures of the Kanto region, asking if a man called Douno had ever worked there Oe could take that and arrange it a little, saying he had broadened the search by calling the Chuubu region, but had yielded no results Next caion This method was unlikely to draw suspicion, too, since it expanded on an investigation that a previous agency had done

Oe fished out his wallet from his pocket He peered inside The bills amounted to exactly 100,000 yen It was ten months’ worth of his allowance Tomorrow, he would deposit this into a bank account he had e If he continued this for two aas still not suspicious of him, he would continue for another month That would make 600,000 yen It would amount to a small bonus

Oe leaned against his chair-back and stretched backwards The chair legs creaked dully The man with the white shi+rt and black pants flitted across his mind

He was terse, but not a bad man Even with a criminal history, he still had the wits to restrain his emotions

“homosexual, huh,” Oe muttered to himself He was not well-versed in non-heterosexual society, but he at least sort of knew the difference between transvestites and gays Kitagaas probably the gay type, the kind of person who didn’t have to change his body to love other men

sex with another ht of it made Oe feel sick He knew had no say in others’ preferences, and if some people were like that, he had no choice but to accept it Nevertheless, it was not a good feeling

When it cas were probably no less different than those between a man and woman, but he could not help but think it futile They couldn’t marry, nor have children, obviously On top of that, japan was not an accepting place for gay people

Futile, futile, Oe repeated in his head, until he reached one conclusion: perhaps Kitagaas the type to feel romance in misfortune A futile relationshi+p, a futile love, a futile search Oe was merely a chess piece to satisfy the man’s romanticism for the futile

If that was the case, he would investigate and use up the oal to be futile, so the content of his investigation and the money didn’t matter What was i so much money on the search

Rattle, rattle The kitchenfacing the passageway outsideOe out of his seat It was not very loud―perhaps it was just the wind His palpitating heart, however, took a while to calm down afterwards

No ical reason he attached to it, Oe was still tricking athe e

But as the past investigation reports proved, Oe was not the only one to take advantage of this man

“It’s his own fault for getting tricked”

Oe wished he could have another beer

Once past an to carry a sad note No ah to cut the chill of the wind now, and the weather made one want an extra sweater to wear over one’s shi+rt Since Oe spent a lot of his ti seasons Slowly but surely, they were approaching winter

Oe arrived at their ht-thirty Kitagaas sitting on the bench in a white shi+rt and black pants, so unchanged that itthat had changed was the temperature

When they had firstfor the classic look, but his outfit this tiawa obviously had nothing to wear other than this white shi+rt and black pants

As Oe approached and got a closer view of the ed Kitagawa had a sturdy build to begin with, though he was not fat In the half-awa’s cheeks had become more drawn, and his face more tan

“Good evening,” Oe said

“How’s it coawa asked immediately

Oe save o a little further out than the suburbs of Kanto, which was the original range Mr Douno doesn’t work for city hall anymore, but if there’s anyone left at his workplace whoht know his contact information”

Oe faithfully recited the scenario he had built inside his head Kitagawa’s face, gloith expectation, quickly turned crestfallen

Oe had originally been planning to repeat the saawa hope by lying about a lead if he had to If Oe cae Kitagawa Dissatisfaction bred suspicion Oe wanted to avoid suspicion at all costs

“We’ve only just begun the search They say a journey of a thousand ribegins from one step If we keep focused on city hall, we’re bound to find a trail that leads to Mr Douno”

He put forth encouraging words Kitagaho had begun to hang his head, lifted his face and uess” Then, he continued to stare at Oe, looking like he wanted to say soaze

“―What’s ri?”

Oe blinked rapidly at the unexpected question

“I’awa said “What’s ri? So?”

“Um, well, a thousand ri is a o, and it’s about―I wonder how long it is in ourdistance So it’s a proverb that means that any kind of journey to a faraway place starts with the step right at your feet”

“Ah,” the man murmured, as if ile step’ was a popular proverb that even primary school students would know If this man did not know it, he either never read books, or was bad at Language Arts class in school, or was “not very smart” as he said, and had not studied much while in school

Oe was terribly curious about Kitagawa’s education, but he was reluctant to ask such a direct question Kitagawa’s education had nothing to do with the search, and it was possible that the

“Mr Kitagahereabouts are you from?”

Kitagawa said he had lived outside the prefecture during ele in this area from middle school

“And your high school?” Froradually narron on what he wanted to know

“I never went,” Kitagawa said “I was in an orphanage, andafter middle school”

Oe was suddenly overcouilt for his nosey curiosity

“But I think I heard from you that you had a mother”

Kitagawa shrugged casually “Doesn’t do ht’ve been better if I didn’t have one at all I always thought she’d come to pick me up one day And when she did show up, all she did was ask to borrow , then clipped his words The street lamp illuminated half of his face, which carried a hint of sadness

“How could I have knoas good and as bad?” he said to himself

Kitagawa had a , she was back to wheedle aas the very picture oflike this

Kitagawa stuck a hand into his breast pocket and retrieved a rolled-up wad of crinkled 10,000-yen bills, held together with an elastic band He thrust it out in front of Oe

“Your next 100,000 That ht?”

Oe accepted the bills from the man, counted theawa stood up froh above his head, and did a big stretch

“A journey of a thousand ri starts from one step huh” Then, he turned back to Oe “You remind me a little bit of Douno”

Oe was not exactly happy to be compared to an indecent assault convict who fooled around in bed with both sexes However, if Oe ree for hiawa less likely to see hiht

“Is that so?” Oe replied with an affable smile that even he knew looked fake

The day after receiving Kitagawa’s money, Oe called a city hall outside the prefecture with a story

“My father is ill in the hospital, with barely days left to live,” he told them “He wants to see my little brother before he dies, butA man called Takafuht knoherefor Douno I heard fro at city hall Does he happen to work at yours?”

His story about his father and brother was a lie, of course But people were more likely to feel sympathy and listen to his story if he talked about ill family members Just as Oe expected, the person on the other line even too the trouble to flip through the registry, but no Takafumi Douno had ever worked there This was also within Oe’s predictions

A single phone call was enough to ot an answer from the other end He knew he could not co for his sake, after all―but he had been kept waiting like this for at least twentyup and asked them to call back, but was sucked in by the person on the line, who made it sound like he could pull up the information in an instant

One phone investigation was over, and Oe was satisfied He had no intention of h to exe at all

Besides, phone calls to other prefectures costa couple of additional ten-thousands in the naainst it He was already awa pay 200,000 ain a factory dorm, with a middle-school level education and a crih Perhaps the ed too much, that would soon run dry, too

Oe set his target search period to threewell now, and he had a good feeling that he could extend this for one or two et suspicious

Oe told his wife that he had negotiated with the chief and could expect a bonus this year Suddenly, the griping woman turned quiet They had not yet settled on what university their daughter was going to, but his wife see Oe did not think that a h to cover tuition and other costs of a private university, but for the present, he was out of ier

That day, Oe went out for drinks at an izakaya with his junior, Katori Katori was in glooree without paying his entire fee From the looks of it, it see, and was not a case of the quality of Katori’s investigation The chief had considered taking it to court, but decided against it as they would end up paying al expenses than what they had lost in the first place Oe’s innards boiled with anger as he realized that their giving up on court was probably also part of the client’s plan

Katori was apparently atte to drown his sorrows in drink, for he drank quickly, and passed out before long Oe delivered the drunkard to his apartment by taxi, then walked to the nearest station The trains were still running, and hisa taxi home as well

When he turned onto aabout, even though it was past eleven Oe wondered why, then spotted a pro the uniforh school He wondered if he would have to send Miharu to a craet her into a national university, but it was too late now

Oe had approached the last thirty-metre stretch to the station when he noticed the construction sign Pedestrians had to take a detour through a narrow barricaded passage, which would er walk From the other side of the barricade, Oe could hear the intern workers wearing yellow hel even in this chilly weather Oe stopped in front of the detour and thumped his lower back Katori’s liht, and his back was suffering for it

“Mister,” he heard a voice call nearby Oe tuned it out, figuring it was not for him

“Mr Detective”

Startled, Oe spun around A tallon the other side of the yellow barricade He earing a dirty T-shi+rt and light blue construction pants He looked japanese, but the yellow hel his face hard to see

“It’s nize me?”

He knew that voice It was the sucker who brought him a hundred thousand yen every month

“Mr Kitagawa You work here? What about the factory?”

Thehalf of his head His thin face was blackened, frolittered

“This is a part-tiuys cost a lot of money”

Kitagawa’s day job was probably not enough to pay a hundred thousand a month Oe tasted bitterness in the back of his otten until now

“Any luck finding Douno?”

Oe was stuck for words When he reawa cocked his head

“―We can’t expect ied to utter “Let’s be patient”

“I guess,” Kitagawa nodded slightly “A journey of a thousand ri starts with a single step was it? Itso late”

Oe had only been drinking It was probably even harsher for thishis day job It was already past eleven thirty Howto work for?

The weather out here felt chilly for Oe, but sas streaainst the sleeve of his T-shi+rt, like a cat

“You’re sweating a lot,” Oe commented

“Oh, it just gets hot under the light,” Kitagawa explained “We can’t see hts full force”

A burly voice was calling Kitagawa from a darkened area further within the barricade

“Please don’t strain yourself,” Oe told hiawa, can you make sure not to talk to me the next time you see me out in public?”

The man tilted his head curiously

“Today I happened to be on the way hoht as well If I’ht tip et off and scare him away”

“Oh, I see Right I’ll be careful next time”

The voice calling Kitagawa frorily It was practically a bellow

“Noisy bastard,” Kitagawa clicked his tongue irritably “See ya, ht hand He disappeared into the intermittent clamour

Oe swiftly left the preuilt wreathed his heart like a haze, and re the entire walk from the station to his house

By the ti completely worn off the alcoholic buzz in his body and brain, it was already one in the ed into his pyjao to his bedroo in hand Perhaps she had gotten thirsty while studying

“Good night,” he said to her, but she replied with a plea, her head slightly cast down

“Dad, I have a favour to ask you” Oe wondered if she was going to insist that she wanted to go to a private university, or so pain in his heart at being unable to live up to her wants

“Mom said no, but I think I deserve a breather for all the university prep I have to do”

A breather, Oe repeated mentally

“There’s a concert next e But I already spent all my allowance this o I know I’ to the concert is gonna help ive me 3,000 yen?”

So his daughter wasto some band’s concert, whatever their name was, rather than her university entrance exah He felt ridiculous for seriously considering switching careers to send a daughter like this to a private university