Togakushi Legend Murders (Tuttle Classics) by Yasuo Uchida

Author:Yasuo Uchida [Uchida, Yasuo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781462903351
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Published: 2012-01-10T07:00:00+00:00

Shizu Kasai received the two detectives apprehensively. Though she was an old woman of inscrutable expression and unfathomable thoughts, they definitely got the prickly feeling that they were not welcome.

"May we come in?" said Takemura.

"Please."

With that brief exchange they were admitted, shown to the parlor and served cold barley tea without another word from Shizu. Either she was very unsociable, or else she was trying to avoid saying anything she didn't have to for fear of making some kind of blunder. Probably both, thought Takemura.

"I imagine you must be lonely, all by yourself in such a big house," said Takemura.

"No." Shizu had apparently taken the comment as a mere attempt at polite conversation.

Takemura smiled ruefully. Detectives are apt to be thought of as brazen, hardheaded people, but he, at least, was rather the reverse. He was considerate almost to a fault of the feelings of the person he was dealing with. When he thought of the position in which this old woman had been placed, he could quite well understand her behavior.

"You're in for some considerable troubles, I would imagine," said Takemura. "It will be hard for you, I'm sure, but you've got to stand up for your rights and secure your own happiness now. If there's any way that we can advise or assist you, please let us know."

Shizu had not expected to hear anything like that. She melted, revealing a lonely old woman trembling with sorrow and anxiety. "Can you really help me?" she asked.

"Of course we can. Just tell us the trouble."

"I'm going to be thrown out of this house."

That was what Takemura had thought. "So Mr. Ishihara's daughter, Hisako, is treating you badly, then?"

"Yes, yes, she is." Once the dam was broken, there was no stopping her. The young Kinoshita looked displeased, but Takemura listened to her patiently. When she had said all she had to say, she mumbled distractedly, "But now that my mistress Kayo, is gone, I can't just stay in this house forever."

"Don't you have any relatives?" asked Takemura.

"No, no blood relatives at all. The only thing I could do is return to my mistress's family home in Suwa, but I'd only be a nuisance to them."

"Nonsense. Besides, the Ishihara family should settle some reasonable amount on you, too, in acknowledgment of your service to Kayo. They can't just treat you as someone who's in the way. If you don't want to return to Kayo's family home, you should be able to live by yourself."

Takemura cheered Shizu up with a promise that he would help her with the procedure and tell her the proper office to go to for whatever she wished to do. She was so happy she almost cried.

After thanking him over and over again, she paused, and then said, "Uh, Inspector, I'm afraid I have an apology to make."

"I know," said Takemura cheerfully. "You lied to me about Kayo, didn't you?"

"How did you know that?" She stared at him in amazement. He smiled back at her. Kinoshita leaned forward, staring at him too, wondering what Shizu had lied about.

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