More Max Danger: the Continuing Adventures of an Expat in Tokyo by Robert J . Collins

Author:Robert J . Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0_8048_1570_4
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Crime and Punishment

RELATIVELY FEW people wear shoes to bed. Mud, caked in the niche between heel and sole, can come loose during the night, spread around on the sheets, stick to the legs, work its way up, and generally cause more trouble than it's worth. Most people don't even think about it—they automatically take their shoes off before going to bed!

The same might be said about wearing shoes in the bath. Most people don't. The leather gets soaked, it takes a long time to dry, and the shine the next day is never quite right. Besides, imagine washing your feet with shoes on. Difficult, right?

Now, some may have noticed that the Japanese take shoes off in their houses. If one is not living in the mud of mud huts, on the logs of log cabins, or amid stones of a stone castle, there's really no reason to wear shoes indoors. And think of all the unpleasant bits they track about the place. In fact it's a wonder anyone would even consider wearing shoes in the house. Some things just make sense.

The police arrived in five minutes—the first on his bicycle from the neighborhood koban. (He was, Max noted uncomfortably, the same man he had nearly killed the day before when the bicycle swerved in front of his car.)

"It's over there," Gloria said, pointing across the room. The glass door leading from the patio to the Homat Cornucopia living room was shattered. "It was that way when we came home."

The bicycle policeman remained immobile, staring at the damage so clearly obvious. Broken glass lay strewn about the beige carpet and sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the windows.

The bicycle policeman was interrupted in his studies by the arrival of reinforcements. He quickly said something to the four new investigators, and then all five policemen stood in the doorway and stared at the mess.

As Max was mentally exploring possible Japanese sounds for "Aren't you going to do anything about it?" his levelheaded daughter Mona came to the rescue.

"Slippers desu," Mona said, indicating to the policemen the little cupboard. The visitors sprang into action, shed their shoes (all of which were identically black and shiny), put on the fluffy rabbit slippers Gloria had purchased in a moment of weakness for the kids, and began the swarming process of police detective work. A crisis—centering on the propriety of footwear in a gaijin household with glass on the floor—was deftly diverted.

"Seems got stopped," said the leader of police after walking around for a few minutes. Indeed, it also appeared to Max that the burglar had been interrupted in his work. Several drawers in a living room cabinet had been ransacked, but nothing else in the apartment had been touched. "You scared away," the policeman concluded.

It is a sobering thought to realize that the sound of rattling keys at the door was all that separated the Dangers from confrontation with a thief bent on crime. Max watched the investigators searching for clues. One was studying the stereo hook-up, another was measuring the height of the dining room table.

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