Points And Lines Page 14

  Then I remembered the couples at the two Kashii stations the night of the tragedy. One couple, of course, was Sayama and Otoki. Could the other couple have been Yasuda and his wife Ryōko? It was a natural deduction. I found out later I was only half mistaken.

  You also said in your letter, "I wonder what part was played by the woman who accompanied Yasuda. If Yasuda was involved in the double suicide he would need a woman accomplice, he could not execute his plan without her help." I've come to appreciate your insight. As soon as I began to suspect Yasuda's wife, I decided to investigate further. But she was at home, convalescing. The question in my mind, of course, was whether she was capable of making the trip to Kyushu. I went to Kamakura and called on her doctor. He told me she was not always confined to her bed. At times, she would visit relatives in nearby Yugawara. Later, I checked her movements on January 20 and found that she was away from the nineteenth to the twenty-first. This appeared in the doctor's records. He sees her only twice a week and had made a house call on the twenty-second. She was running a temperature that day and he asked for the reason. She told him, "I went to Yugawara on the nineteenth and returned this morning. I may be a little tired."

  I knew at once what that meant. If she left on the night of the nineteenth, she would reach Hakata the following morning. She could therefore have been at the scene of the suicides in time to see them occur. Yugawara must be a lie; she had gone to Kyushu, I felt sure. I went to her home, lured the old servant out of the house and pressed her till finally I learned that Ryōko had left for Yugawara about two in the afternoon in a rented car.

  I located the driver.

  She told the driver first to take her to Yugawara. At Yugawara, she ordered him to continue to Atami. He left her there at an inn called Kaifuso and returned to Kamakura.

  I was excited. I left immediately for Atami and checked the Kaifuso. This is the information I gathered at the inn: Ryōko visited a woman who was a guest. This woman had arrived on the night of January 14, a little after eight o'clock, and had been occupying the room for five days. From her age and the description, there was no doubt it was Otoki. Of course she had not used her real name; she was registered as Yukiko Sugawara. You will remember that Sugawara was also the name Sayama used at the Tambaya Inn in Hakata. When Ryōko first arrived she asked to see Miss Sugawara. Therefore it was evident that all of this had been planned by Sayama, Otoki and Ryōko. No, not planned; plotted, by Ryōko Yasuda. The two women had dinner together in Otoki's room and left the inn about ten o'clock. Otoki's bill was paid by Ryōko.

  Now, Otoki's arrival at the inn around eight o'clock on the fourteenth makes it clear that she came on the Asakaze that pulls in to Atami Station at 7:58. She had traveled with Sayama only as far as Atami. Your reasoning, therefore, with regard to the dining car receipt "for one person" was correct.

  The two women left the inn about 10 P.M. on the nineteenth. Checking the timetable, I found that the express Tsukushi, bound for Hakata, left Atami at 10:25. This train arrived at Hakata, the terminus, at 7:45 P.M. on the twentieth.

  All the pieces fitted. It was about 8 P.M. when a woman telephoned Sayama at the Tambaya Inn in Hakata. The two women must have called him as soon as they got off the train at Hakata.

  I was able to get this far before being stopped once again. Was it Otoki or Ryōko who telephoned Sayama? At first I thought it was Otoki but quickly realized this could not be. Since there was nothing between the two, he would not respond if Otoki called. Sayama had been waiting impatiently for a week for the telephone call so it could not be Otoki. Most probably, it was Ryōko. Because Ryōko was Yasuda's wife and could speak for him. In fact, Sayama was waiting for Yasuda to arrive. So if Ryōko said she had come in his stead, Sayama would react immediately.

  Ryōko met Sayama in order to talk to him about the things that were worrying him. But first she led him to Kashii Beach. We don't know exactly what she said but she must have told him her message required the utmost secrecy and she therefore must choose some quiet spot. Kashii Beach was certainly an important feature of the plan.

  What worried Sayama were the developments in the bribery case at the ministry. As assistant section chief, he knew all the facts and was aware that he was about to be arrested. It was Ishida, the division chief, who urged him to flee to Hakata under pretense of taking a holiday. Ishida was the central figure in the scandal and if Sayama were arrested Ishida would be in grave danger. So he persuaded Sayama to escape to Hakata. He even arranged for him to take the Asakaze on the fourteenth. He told him that Yasuda would give him further instructions, and asked him to wait at the inn in Hakata.

  Sayama did not question these orders from his superior. We should not be too surprised at this. He knew his testimony would be damaging to the man who was his boss and who had helped him in his career. At the assistant section chief level there are many men like Sayama. I know some who have committed suicide under similar circumstances. In fact, suicide is what the criminal in this case was hoping for.

  Ishida probably told Sayama that Yasuda would find a way to cover up the scandal and that he should stay away until it blew over. Therefore Sayama must have been anxiously waiting for Yasuda to arrive. But Yasuda did not appear; his wife came instead. Sayama knew Ryōko from previous visits to the Yasuda home. In fact, Yasuda may have invited Sayama to his house in Kamakura purposely to meet Ryōko.

  These two-Ryōko and Sayama-came out of the Kashii main railway station unaware that immediately following them were Yasuda and Otoki. The latter got off at the Nishitetsu Kashii Station and took the same road to the beach. No, it was only Sayama who was in the dark; Ryōko knew every detail of the plot. Ryōko talked to Sayama. She told him everything was working out well and not to worry. The night was cold and she offered him whiskey. Sayama liked whiskey; he accepted it eagerly. It contained the cyanide and he dropped dead at her feet. The bottle of fruit juice containing cyanide was left at the scene to cover up the murder.

  Yasuda was not far behind. He had arrived at Itazuke Airport at 7:20 on a Japan Airlines plane. He met Otoki somewhere, probably by prearrangement; Ryōko must have delivered the message. Otoki then accompanied Yasuda to the beach. On the way she was overheard by a passerby to exclaim, "What a lonely place!"

  On the dark and deserted beach Yasuda offered Otoki a drink containing cyanide. Then he picked her up and placed her body beside Sayama who was already dead. Ryōko was standing nearby. Very likely not more than twenty meters separated the exact spots where Otoki and Sayama met their deaths. It was night and Otoki could not have seen the other couple.

  After killing Otoki, Yasuda probably called, "Ryōko!" and from out of the dark Ryōko must have answered, "Yes. Here I am." And with Otoki's body in his arms, Yasuda started making his way in the direction of the voice. I cannot imagine a more dreadful scene.

  You remember the beach, I am sure; we looked at it together and found it very rocky. There would be no footprints even if one were to carry a heavy burden. Everything had been skillfully planned. Yasuda must have known the beach well and chose it for the scene of the crime.

  It was a double murder, planned by Yasuda and his wife and made to look like a love suicide. Ryōko not only helped to plan it; she helped to carry it out. While Otoki, without a doubt, innocently obeyed the instructions she had received from Yasuda and his wife.

  A strange feature of the case is the relationship between Otoki, Yasuda and Ryōko. As you may have gathered from the foregoing, it is evident that Yasuda and Otoki had been lovers. The affair was kept very secret; no one was aware of it. It must have developed during the time Yasuda was frequenting the Koyuki. Otoki had charge of the parties he gave there. The man who sometimes telephoned her at her apartment and with whom she spent the nights away was Yasuda.

  But Ryōko's attitude is hard to understand. Why did she travel with Otoki and have dinner with her? The girl was her husband's mistress and therefore her rival. I understood the situation when I learned that it was Ryōko who
paid Otoki's hotel bill at Atami. Ryōko was aware of the liaison and apparently had agreed to it. She even went so far as to give Otoki a monthly allowance. Remember: Ryōko was a very sick woman; she had been forbidden by her doctor to have intimate relations with her husband. In other words, Otoki was Yasuda's official mistress, with Ryōko's approval. It was a curious triangle. We may find it hard to accept but these situations do exist in modern society. Of course, it was common practice in feudal times.

  At first they probably planned to have it look as if Sayama alone had committed suicide. But this was dangerous. Since he would leave no letter, it would appear suspect. So they decided on the love suicide. In such a case, the police investigation is seldom strict, and sometimes there is no autopsy. And there would be no follow-up. This was a safer way to commit the murder. Poor Otoki was chosen to be the innocent partner in the double suicide.

  Yasuda had no real affection for Otoki. To him, she did not count. True, she was his mistress, but he could easily find another. As for Ryōko, she looked upon the girl simply as a pawn in her husband's plans; she used her as a necessary figure in the fake suicide. Yet deep in her heart she must have hated Otoki. Ry5ko was really a frightening woman. Her mind was as sharp as a sword and as cold as the blood in her veins. After the murders she carefully arranged the folds of Otoki's kimono and changed the girl's soiled socks for a fresh pair she had brought along expressly to make it appear as if Otoki had been prepared to die, that she had done so willingly. Ryōko thought of everything.

  That night the Yasudas stayed at Hakata. He took the first plane back to Tokyo the following morning, then changed at Haneda to a connecting plane for Hokkaido. Ryōko returned to Kamakura by train.

  The reason why Yasuda left for Hakata on the twentieth, a full six days after Otoki and Sayama, was because he was afraid it would arouse suspicion if he followed them too closely. Actually, after Otoki's departure on the fourteenth he showed up at the Koyuki Restaurant two or three days in succession. He even listened calmly while the waitresses talked about Otoki and her trip with a lover. He had to give the impression that he was in no way involved. Otoki was kept waiting at Atami for five days.

  Thus Tatsuo Yasuda, prompted by Division Chief Ishida to whom he was greatly obligated, disposed of Assistant Section Chief Sayama. This saved Ishida. And not Ishida alone; there were other government officials under whom Sayama worked who heaved a sigh of relief when they learned of his death. And Tatsuo Yasuda, one of Tokyo's leading dealers in machinery, came out of it with Ishida now deeply in his debt.

  The relations between Yasuda and Ishida were closer than was known to outsiders. Yasuda must have worked hard on Ishida to further his business with the X Ministry. I am sure he gave him many gifts and invited him to many parties. We may take this for granted from the fact that Ishida was at the center of the scandals. Moreover, we know the sort of man he is. Up to this time, Yasuda had not had particularly important business dealings with the ministry. Therefore, we were aware only of their overt relations and couldn't see what else was going on. Yasuda was cultivating Ishida with an eye to the future, using to the full his charm and his money. He succeeded in winning him over. He knew the division chief was worried about his involvement in the scandals that were coming to light, and he took upon himself the responsibility for eliminating Sayama who held the key to the investigation within the ministry. It is even possible that it was Yasuda who suggested this solution and got Ishida to accept. To be sure, Ishida had no intention at the start of murdering Sayama. He probably wanted only to drive him to the point of suicide, as has happened before in similar cases. But that did not seem possible. Therefore Yasuda thought of murder, a murder which would be made to look like suicide. A double suicide would be even more convincing. In the case of a simple suicide, there is always the suspicion of murder, but when a double suicide occurs and a woman is involved, there is far less cause to be suspicious. Yasuda was very clever. As it happened, we were all deceived.

  Ishida may not have suspected that the plot would lead to murder. In the belief that Yasuda only intended to drive Sayama to suicide, he willingly entered into the plan. He procured the blank passenger forms on the Sei-kan ferry; he made the false statements about the trip to Hokkaido, and he arranged for the use of assumed names on the different planes. Because of his position, he travels easily and often and it is simple for him to take along an assistant who will do as he is told.

  Later, when he learned that Sayama and his woman companion had committed suicide by taking cyanide, he took fright. He was certain Yasuda had done it. From that moment, I believe Yasuda started to threaten, to put pressure on him. Ishida now found himself at the mercy of this man. I am sure it was at Yasuda's suggestion that he sent Sasaki, a member of his staff, to the Metropolitan Police Board to give evidence on the train trip in Hokkaido. Of course, this turned out to be Yasuda's undoing.

  Yasuda had lost interest in Otoki and used her as an instrument in the murder of Sayama. The motive for Ryōko's participation was probably more than just a desire to help her husband. She could have wanted to kill Otoki, even though she accepted her as her husband's mistress. This had not changed her feelings as a woman and wife. Because Ryōko, a wife in name only, deep in her heart was probably more than normally jealous. The white fire of jealousy was burning within her like phosphorous, waiting for an opportunity to burst into flames. Otoki is the real victim of the drama. Yasuda himself may not have known whether his real purpose was to kill Sayama in order to put Ishida in his debt, or to get rid of Otoki who had become a burden to him.

  All that I have written to you is my own analysis of the case- aided by the letter the Yasudas left.

  Yes, Tatsuo Yasuda and his wife Ryōko were found dead in their house in Kamakura when we arrived to arrest them. They had taken cyanide. This time there was no attempt at mystification. Tatsuo Yasuda knew we were on his trail. He took his own life, followed by his wife whose physical condition had become critical. Yasuda left no message; it was Ryōko who wrote the letter. In it she admits the crime. Frankly, I am skeptical. I find it hard to accept that a man as tough as Yasuda would commit suicide. I believe that Ryōko, who knew her end was near, could have planned it and taken her husband with her. She was that kind of a woman.

  I must admit I was relieved to find the Yasudas dead, because there is almost no material evidence in this murder case. It is all circumstantial. I am even surprised we were able to secure a warrant for their arrest. It was the type of case which, if brought to trial, one could not be sure of the outcome.

  Speaking of the lack of evidence, this applies also to Division Chief Ishida. He was transferred to another division and, believe it or not, was given a promotion. This may appear incredible to you, but such things happen. He will probably become a bureau chief or a vice-minister, and may even run for a seat in the Diet. I feel sorry for these poor subordinates of his whom he uses as stepping stones. However, even if they know they are being abused, they will try to stay in his good graces by showing their loyalty. Their desire for advancement is pathetic. Which reminds me: Kitarō Sasaki, the man who made the trip to Hokkaido with Ishida and who was of help to Yasuda, was made section chief. Here again, there is nothing we can do. The Yasudas are dead.

  The whole case has left a bad taste in my mouth. Sitting here at home, completely relaxed, a glass of cold beer at my elbow, I don't have the satisfaction I generally feel when a case is solved and the criminal has been turned over to the Public Prosecutor. This is a very long letter; I trust you were not bored. I expect to take my vacation this autumn and, at your kind suggestion, my wife and I will visit you in Kyushu.

  With best wishes,

  Kiichi Mihara

  Seichō Matsumoto

  Seichō Matsumoto was born in 1909 in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu. Now Japan's foremost master of mystery, Matsumoto was forty years old before he launched his literary career. His first work appeared in the influential Weekly Asahi in 1950. Two years later, he receiv
ed the coveted Akutagawa Literary Prize for his Aru kokura nikki den. He also received the Japan Detective Story Writers' Prize for his short story Kao (The Face). Ten to sen, the Japanese version of Points and Lines, became a best seller and created a Matsumoto boom. Several of his short stories have been translated into English. A prolific writer, his work includes novels and essays, as well as detective stories.

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