Chapter 22 - Light and Shadow 1 (1–10: Re-searching the Site)
Synopsis so far:
Early morning, June 1995. The body of Yoshimi Tadayuki, a company employee living in Kitami City who had come to take railway photographs, is discovered along the tracks near the Ikutahara-side exit of the Jomon Tunnel on the JR Hokkaido Sekihoku Main Line. It was highly likely that the camera he should have had with him had been taken by someone moving around the area. Murder was considered a possibility, but it was largely judged to be an accidental death caused by tripping over a tree root and hitting his head on a stone. However, the influence of the mysterious person seen taking the camera was considered a factor in the fall.
At the time, there had been reports of "will-o'-the-wisps" in the vicinity of the site for some time (information provided by Aida Izumi, the Boss of the small restaurant/izakaya "Yusen," which Yoshimura frequents), and it was thought possible that Yoshimi had spotted them and panicked, leading to his fall.
Later, through Yoshimura's introduction, a veteran JR driver gave testimony denying the credibility of the series of reported will-o'-the-wisps, and Nishida and the others judged the occurrence of the will-o'-the-wisps to be the work of a human. Seeing that the person had been active in the mountains late at night for several days and seemed to want to hide their presence, they suspected some suspicious activity and the entire station began investigating the area around the site.
As a result, they discovered a memorial monument and grave markers for the countless tako-beya laborers who were sacrificed during the construction of the Jomon Tunnel, as well as several traces of the ground being dug up. Ultimately, from among them, they discovered the body of Yoneda Masatoshi, a university student and railway enthusiast who had gone missing in the area three years prior. Based on the condition of the body, it was determined to be a murder. A task force was established at the Engaru Station, including detectives from the First Investigation Division of the Kitami Regional Headquarters, the superior organization.
The investigation was difficult and made little progress due to a lack of clues. In the midst of this, the possibility emerged that the planned collection of remains of the victims in the vicinity of the site, organized by a group called the "Jomon Tunnel Research Group" which unearths the history of tako-beya labor, had influenced the person behind the will-o'-the-wisps. It was discovered that the schedule for the collection activities had been published in a local community newspaper called the "Kitami Tonden Times." This was also information that surfaced from the Boss of "Yusen" through Yoshimura. The task force speculated that the mysterious person's reason for action was a fear that the area around the site would be "scoured" by the Research Group's investigation. Through questioning Matsushige, the owner of the long-established hotel "Shochikubai" in Onneyu Onsen, Rubeshibe Town, who is the organizer of the group, the name of Tanaka Kiyoshi, a former JNR maintenance worker, surfaced as a person of interest. During that questioning process, they became acquainted with an old man named Okuda Mitsuru, a former colleague of Tanaka's living in Kunneppu.
Also around the same time, Kosaka, a veteran detective from the Kitami Station who was partnered with Takeshita as support for the investigation, revealed that in the case of the disappearance of a company owner named Sada Minoru in the fall of 1987, the former president of the Isaka Group, the late Isaka Daikichi, whom they were planning to go and interview at the time, had been a person of interest. The reason was that Isaka had been at a dinner with Matsushima Kotaro, a member of the Prefectural Assembly, just before Sada's disappearance. Furthermore, it seemed that Oshima Kaiji, a powerful local Member of Parliament from the Minyu Party for whom Isaka was an influential supporter, had been obstructing the investigation. That case had remained unsolved as it entered 1995.
The investigation continued to be difficult, but a man named Kitagawa, a managing director of the Isaka Group, surfaced from data from the trial operation of the N-system (Automatic Number Plate Recognition system) before its full-scale operation. Kitagawa was also Tanaka Kiyoshi's son-in-law and was the person who had responded when Takeshita and Kosaka first visited the Isaka Group for an interview. Kitagawa had risen rapidly within the Isaka Group after Sada Minoru's disappearance, and Nishida and the others suspected that this was related to the Sada Minoru case.
The task force, along with the Kitami Regional Headquarters' Mobile Investigation Unit, kept Kitagawa under thorough surveillance and arrested him at the end of July for a separate incident of a personal injury accident while driving under the influence. It was also confirmed that he had taken Yoshimi's camera from the site.
However, in early August, while being pursued during interrogation by the task force, Kitagawa fell into a coma due to a cerebral infarction. On the other hand, it was discovered that there was another managing director named Shinoda who had been a colleague of Kitagawa's during their JNR days and had changed jobs to the Isaka Group with him (Okuda had been interviewed again before that, and Shinoda's name surfaced then). From then on, Shinoda's words and actions three years prior became the focus.
Also, regarding Kitagawa's coma, an information route was established with a Hokkaido Shinpo reporter named Igarashi, an alumnus from Takeshita's university days, following the publication of an article critical of the police in the Hokkaido Shinpo, which was believed to be due to pressure from Oshima.
And based on Shinoda's mysterious actions (the reasoning that Isaka Daikichi had Shinoda confirm whether Sada Minoru's body was there in the summer of 1992 was also established around the same time), Nishida and the others decided to re-search the site, believing he was also involved in Yoneda's murder.
At 12:30 PM, Nishida and Sawai met up with Sergeant Maruyama at the Ikutahara Police Box. Or rather, since Maruyama was chatting with an old woman who was likely a local resident, it would be more accurate to say they were waiting outside the police box. From the content and manner of the conversation, it didn't seem like a business-like talk about crime damage or the like, but rather just small talk. However, considering that such communication with local residents was also the job of a police box officer, they felt hesitant to interfere and interrupt.
However, after being made to wait for ten minutes, it wasn't just a matter of them getting irritated; they were entering a time frame where they had to consider the people waiting "over there." Nishida kept peeking into the office, and Maruyama would send back a glance, signaling "I know."
Maruyama, who finally succeeded in ushering out the "persistent" old woman, immediately apologized profusely as soon as the person he'd seen off at the entrance was out of sight.
"No, I'm sorry. For keeping you waiting."
"It can't be helped. Old women's stories are long. I also handled many old people's small talk during my days working at a police box in Fukagawa (City) when I was a greenhorn rookie."
Sawai crushed his half-smoked cigarette into a portable ashtray he'd taken from the breast pocket of his dark indigo investigative work clothes, and his eyes looked strangely nostalgic. Then, he suddenly said:
"By the way, Maruyama, do you ever get marriage proposals or the like brought to you by those old women or men?"
"Eh? Section Chief Sawai, were you almost made to go on an arranged marriage meeting? I haven't been subjected to that kind of meddling yet, at least for now."
Maruyama seemed more like he was harboring a kind of fear than being surprised.
"Yeah. I was encouraged to go on an arranged marriage meeting by an old woman who often came for small talk, saying 'I have a good girl who'd suit you.' It was a reasonably cute photo, so one thing led to another and I ended up meeting her... But when I actually met her, it seemed the photo was a very good one... The girl in front of me was 20% less than the photo. For your information, that person I was introduced to is, for some reason, currently living with me and has been for many years. I wonder what happened? Anyway, that's how it is, so you be very careful too!"
At the Section Chief's roundabout disclosure of how he met his wife, both Nishida and Maruyama burst into laughter, forgetting their work, but when they checked the clock, they couldn't just keep laughing.
"Oops, this is no time for this. Maruyama! Hurry up and change into your work clothes and lead the way."
"Team Leader. That's right. We don't have much time, so I'll guide you right away!"
Maruyama said this, immediately returned to the office, changed into his police-issued work clothes, and climbed into the four-wheel-drive patrol car.
Yokoyama's house was less than five minutes by car from the police box. Following Maruyama's patrol car into the grounds, the clock still showed 12:50 PM. It seemed they had made it well in time for the appointment. Leaving the Engaru Station early had paid off.
When the Section Chief rang the bell and identified themselves as police, an elderly woman came to the door to answer. She seemed to be Yokoyama's wife. The three were immediately invited into the house. According to the wife, Yokoyama had gone to call a junior from his days at the Forestry Office who was supposed to help with the logging today and hadn't returned yet. Thinking about it, the three felt they'd lost out a bit since there had been no need to rush after all. In the living room they were shown into, a refined-looking old man in casual clothes and Abbot Matsuno in his monk's robes were already sitting and chatting. Naturally, they knew immediately that the old man was Professor Emeritus Terakawa.
"Hello, thank you for your help today."
Sawai stood and bowed first, introducing himself, Nishida, and Maruyama in turn.
"The pleasure is mine; I'm sorry for having you come to pick me up. It's not my house, but please, have a seat."
Terakawa also gave a light bow with a cheerful smile.
"Abbot Matsuno, thank you for coming as well."
"No, no, I'm just joining in on my own to perform a service for the person who recently fell victim to the incident, along with the service for the victims of the tako-beya labor."
He replied to the Section Chief's words with the composed manner of a monk. Even so, Nishida felt an indescribable discomfort at the contrast of three police officers "struggling" in a world mired in the secular, sitting before a refined-looking university professor emeritus and a monk.
"Ippei-chan, who's helping out, hasn't come back from picking up his junior from the Forestry Office. It seems it'll take a bit longer. He said something about borrowing a hunting rifle, so that's probably why it's taking time."
At Terakawa's words, Nishida was reminded once again that the site was in an area where brown bears appeared. Thinking about it, since the first time they'd taken handguns for the initial search, they'd been searching the site several times without carrying any weapons at all. Since even the locals were cautious, it might have been a reasonably dangerous act.
"There was only one report of a brown bear appearing early this spring, so I think it'll be okay, but..."
Maruyama provided information typical of a local police box officer, but Terakawa said, as if admonishing the young police officer who was an amateur on the subject:
"You never know when they'll come; that's brown bears for you. I myself came across the body of someone who'd been attacked in the mountains when I was a kid playing there, and that's the stuff of trauma. It's best to be cautious. They've always appeared frequently in that whole area."
"I know Mr. Uchida, whom Yokoyama-san went to get; he's also one of my parishioners, and I know where his house is, and it's not far from here, so it shouldn't take that long."
On the other hand, the Abbot, with his usual composed attitude, mentioned Yokoyama, whom they were waiting for.
"I know Mr. Uchida too, and his house certainly isn't that far from here," Maruyama said, dropping the bear talk he wasn't very familiar with and changing the subject.
"In that case, shall we wait quietly?"
Sawai took out a cigarette and lit it.
In the meantime, Yokoyama's wife brewed tea for them, so everyone took a break. And during that time, Nishida thought it was a chance in a sense and decided to try bringing up the story of the discovery of the three unidentified remains in 1977 that Okuda had told him about to Terakawa.
"Since it's no use just waiting, I have something I'd like to ask you, Terakawa-san. Would that be alright?"
"Um, what is it? I'll answer anything I can."
Terakawa showed almost no hesitation at the sudden turn of events.
"Actually, it's a story from a bit long ago, specifically 1977, but I recently learned about an unsolved case, or rather a matter, that happened near the site of this search... And, well, among the names of the people who were interviewed as persons of interest in that case, there was the name 'Terakawa Matsunosuke.' Is this..."
It was a roundabout expression, but Terakawa reacted immediately.
"Matsunosuke? That would be my grandfather."
"Ah! So it was your grandfather after all. Given the location and the name, I suspected he might be a relative."
Nishida's suspicion had been correct, and while it didn't mean much, he felt a bit of a lift.
"But did you say 1977?"
"Yes."
"1977, I see... Around then, my grandfather would have been 94... or 95? He seemed hale and hearty at first glance, but as expected, he had some senility, or rather, I think he was showing symptoms of mild dementia. Of course, I hadn't lived with him for a long time by then, so it's just the impression I got when I occasionally returned home or what I heard from my parents... So, the police asked my grandfather something, didn't they? I wonder if there was any point to that... Even so, I wonder why they didn't ask my father, who was living with him, even if he hadn't formally taken over as head of the house?"
Terakawa didn't hide his lack of understanding.
"Was your father already acting as a kind of guardian?" Nishida asked.
"Yes. Since my grandfather was still alive, he was legally the head of the household, but by the 1960s, my father should have been the one responsibly running the family lumber business, forest management, and the small general store."
"I see... In that case, I don't know why they went out of their way to interview or question your grandfather. It's a shame we don't know the reason now, since it was done by senior detectives from quite a long time ago."
Then, Sawai stepped in between the two who were stuck for conversation.
"It's an old story. It's hard to unearth cases when so many of the people involved have passed away."
"Hmm, was it 1977?" Terakawa restarted the conversation.
"That's right."
Nishida nodded, and Terakawa said:
"By any chance, was it around the summer of that year?"
"Yes. To be specific, it's a matter where three skeletal remains were found on your land, and it seems it was in mid-July."
"Ha, I see! I finally understand. In that case, the timing was just too bad... I'm sorry for the police, though it's too late now."
Terakawa began to tell the details with a look that was, in a sense, bright, like a difficult problem had been solved, while looking at Nishida.
"If my memory serves me right, from June to the end of July that year, my father was hospitalized for a heart condition at the Hokkaido University Hospital where I was working as an assistant professor at the time, through my connections... My mother should have been in Sapporo with him, so my grandfather should have been at the family home in Ikutahara alone. My grandmother had already passed away. So the police must have asked my grandfather. They probably didn't go so far as to confirm with my father in Sapporo. My grandfather could manage daily life on his own, so we had him stay here in Ikutahara alone. I don't know what the police asked him, but if they were investigating the facts, I suspect he might have led them in the wrong direction."
"So that's how it was. Then it couldn't be helped. It seems they asked your grandfather if he had any idea about those three people. Judging from the condition of the remains, they seemed to be quite old, and the investigation at the time determined they were likely buried before the war."
Nishida explained calmly.
"Before the war...? Even saying before the war, that's a wide range. That place is where people who died from tako-beya labor were buried all over... My grandfather used to tell me about it often when I was young. My grandfather moved to Ikutahara with my great-grandfather. No, to be precise, was it still Engaru Village back then (Author's note: In 2005, Ikutahara Town was eventually absorbed into Engaru Town, so in a sense, it can be said to have returned to its roots)? It must have been 1899. I've heard my great-grandfather started owning the mountains in that whole area before 1907. Construction of the Jomon Tunnel began in 1912. My grandfather also said he later regretted leasing part of that land to the people who took on the tunnel construction. It was a truly terrible construction project... My grandfather was already around 20 at the time, and it seems he even helped laborers who had escaped from the labor camps. Even so, the fact that the land remained leased, even if the decision-making power lay with my great-grandfather, must have been a cause for lifelong remorse..."
Terakawa spoke haltingly, unlike before. Nishida was also overwhelmed by the atmosphere, and words didn't come immediately. But with a great effort, he said:
"Anyway, I understand the circumstances at the time well. If your father had been in Ikutahara then, things might have taken a different turn, but it can't be helped now. Well, even then, there was the wall of the statute of limitations, so I don't think it would have become a matter for the police. So it won't be a big problem, please don't worry about it."
At that moment, with a loud voice saying "Sorry we're late!", two men barged into the room. He knew immediately that the older one was Yokoyama and the somewhat younger one was the junior, Uchida, who had gone to pick him up. Although he said younger, he looked to be in his early 50s to early 60s. The older one seemed quite tall for his age. Nishida felt he was at least taller than his own 173 centimeters.
"The detectives are already here."
At Terakawa's words, Yokoyama said:
"Yeah, I can see that, Dai-chan! But 15 minutes late... I'm sorry."
He didn't seem particularly apologetic, though.
"Oh, this is my junior from my Forestry Office days, Uchida. It'll be tough for me alone, so I'm bringing him along. Is that okay with you detectives?"
Yokoyama briefly explained the situation to the three police officers and asked for permission.
"That's not a problem at all. Anyway, we're counting on you today. I'm Sawai, the Section Chief of the Detective Division at Engaru Station, this is Nishida, and this is..."
"No, I know. It's the officer from the police box. He takes care of us in this town."
Yokoyama interrupted Sawai and turned a smile toward Maruyama.
"So, what's the plan? We're ready, but is everyone else prepared?"
"Ippei-chan. The detectives have been waiting until now, so you have to let them drink their tea slowly."
Terakawa was somewhat exasperated, but Sawai stood up and said:
"No, we've been waiting, so if you're ready, we'd like to head out right away."
"Dai-chan, see, it was fine, right?"
Yokoyama had a proud face as he headed to the entrance first, taking Uchida with him. The other five followed slowly behind.
Once everyone was gathered outside the entrance, Yokoyama asked:
"By the way, is the Abbot going in his own car? Or will he ride with us?"
"I intend to go in my own car?" Abbot Matsuno pointed to his light four-wheel-drive vehicle.
"Wait a moment. Three police vehicles should already be there, so if we add two more from the police and two from your side, for a total of seven, it might be tight in terms of parking space."
Nishida was concerned about the size of the parking area before the site.
"Is that so...? Then it seems better if I ride in someone's car."
"How about riding in our vehicle?" Sawai joined the conversation.
"It seems Nishida had something he wanted to ask the Abbot, so it's convenient for us too."
It was true that if Nishida could ask Matsuno various things on the way to the site, it would also save time.
"Understood. Then I'll ride in the police car."
"This way, then."
Nishida guided the Abbot to the back seat of his car.
"Then I'll lead the way. Section Chief Sawai and the others, please bring up the rear."
Maruyama said this, got into his patrol car, and started the engine. Seeing this, Nishida was about to get into the driver's seat when Sawai stopped him with his hand.
"You sit in the back and listen to the Abbot. I'll drive."
"No, I'd feel bad making the Section Chief drive."
The subordinate was apologetic, but Sawai said:
"It's fine. If you're in the back, you can show him the old files and such, so do that."
What Sawai said was not just a kindness from a superior but also made sense, so Nishida eventually accepted the offer.
Immediately after, the three vehicles—Maruyama's four-wheel-drive patrol car in the lead, the four-wheel-drive with Yokoyama, Terakawa, and Uchida, and the unmarked patrol car with Sawai, Nishida, and Abbot Matsuno—slowly left Yokoyama's house and headed for the Jomon Tunnel. As usual, they headed toward the Ikutahara town area on the empty national highway, and from there, they would head to the site by doubling back on the mountain road.
"By the way, Mr. Nishida, was it? It seems you have something you'd like to ask me?"
After they had been traveling for a while, Matsuno spoke to Nishida. Nishida, who had been waiting for the right timing, began to speak, taking the approach from the other party as an opportunity.
"That's right. Then I'll take you up on that and start right away..."
Nishida said this and took the booklet with the list of attendees for the memorial ceremony from his bag.
"The memorial monument and the stone coffin where the remains were placed, for which Abbot Matsuno is performing the service, were those where the remains of the tako-beya labor victims collected in the remains collection organized mainly by JNR employees in 1977 were placed, right? And the 'Okada Sosun' who was the abbot of Koan-ji at the time and the monk 'Okada Koryu' listed here—I suspect this Okada Koryu is the person who is now the abbot of Ko-on-ji in Engaru, judging from the name—it means these two performed the service at that time, right?"
Matsuno studied the booklet Nishida handed him for a while, then replied:
"Yes, that's correct. I've also taken over the services with that understanding. And it's also a fact that Koryu is now the abbot of Ko-on-ji."
"Excuse me, but what is the relationship between you, Abbot Matsuno, and this Mr. Okada? Also, the two Okadas listed here seem to be in a parent-child relationship."
Nishida instinctively said:
"Ah, was that so?"
"Yes. And it so happens that Koryu and I were in the same class at Senryu-ji in Yamagata Prefecture, where we went for training to enter the priesthood."
Saying this, Matsuno looked out at the passing scenery for a while. Then, he began to talk about his own life.
"I was born into an ordinary family in Tokyo, unrelated to the priesthood, but after graduating from university and getting a job, I began to have doubts about living as a salaryman, due to the pursuit of corporate profit and the exhaustion from human relationships... After much hesitation, I ended up entering the priesthood in my third year as a member of the workforce. The place where I entered the Buddhist path was Senryu-ji."
If one considered that Matsuno's reputation as a fine monk came not from "just inheriting it" but from his own sincere will, it made sense.
"Since the Abbot Okada of Koan-ji and his wife didn't have children, after the Abbot passed away, his nephew Koryu took over as abbot alone for a while. However, at his family home, Ko-on-ji in Engaru... actually, Koan-ji in Ikutahara is a temple that was once a branch of the main temple, Ko-on-ji in Engaru... his father, who was the abbot of Ko-on-ji, then passed away, and it became necessary for him to take over. That's when the offer came to me, an acquaintance. As I said, I'm from an ordinary family and had no temple to inherit, and I was simply working as an employee at a temple with an abbot, so I received a message saying, 'In that case, why not live in Ikutahara as the abbot?' and I accepted."
"So that's how it was. I understand well. Which means that the Abbot Okada in Engaru would likely know more about those days than you, Abbot Matsuno."
"I can't be certain, but since he himself attended this memorial ceremony, wouldn't that be the case?"
"I suppose so."
After hearing Matsuno's story, Nishida reconfirmed that he needed to talk to Abbot Okada once, as he'd thought the other day.
"Is there anything else you'd like to ask me?"
Being asked that, Nishida thought he should ask about the three unidentified remains from the case he'd asked Terakawa about earlier, which had ended up being placed in Koan-ji as unidentified remains.
"It's related to the story I was asking Terakawa-san about earlier, but I've heard that the remains of the three people found in 1977 were eventually cremated and entrusted to Koan-ji as unidentified remains. Are you aware of this, Abbot?"
"No, that's the first I've heard of it. There shouldn't be any remains at the temple. If there were, I would naturally know."
Matsuno spoke with more force than usual for him. It was likely from his pride in not performing half-hearted services.
"Is that so? In that case, it's best to ask Abbot Okada of Ko-on-ji, who knows about those days, about this too."
At Nishida's statement, Abbot Matsuno agreed, saying "I think so too," and quietly closed his eyes.
The "group" led by Maruyama, having once headed north to the Ikutahara town area, now headed back in the direction they had come from on the mountain road. After driving on an unpaved road for a while, they arrived at the "open space" where the usual parking area was. The three vehicles—the two carrying Takeshita, Komura, Yoshimura, Sawada, Kurosu, and Oba, and the van carrying the two forensics officers—were already parked there. Nishida thought once again that coming in three vehicles instead of four was definitely the right choice, judging from the amount of space available. Since the eight people had already headed to the site, no one was there.
"There's a maxim that you should visit a site 100 times, but I feel like I've come here quite a lot even if it's less than 10 times."
The Section Chief, who got out of the car first, said as if to himself. It was true that Nishida also felt the illusion that he had come many times. Then, the Section Chief and Nishida, along with Maruyama, helped Yokoyama and Uchida unload the logging equipment like chainsaws and the hunting rifle from the car. After that, the seven of them followed the mountain path to the site, matching the pace of the two elderly men who were nearly 70.
Passing through the dense forest and coming out by the tracks, they then headed back toward Engaru along the grassy area and sparse woods by the tracks. Soon, they saw the figures of Takeshita and the others who had arrived first, along with Forensics Lead Matsuzawa and Miura.
Sawai called out first:
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
Everyone, regardless of who they were, greeted their superior and the "guests." Also, Yokoyama put down his luggage and started:
"Right, tell me where and what to cut."
"We should explain to Terakawa-san first which white birches we're going to cut, shouldn't we?" the Section Chief confirmed.
"That's right. Then we'll have Ippei-chan and the other cut them. They'll also need to cut any trees that'll get in the way when they're felling them, so that kind of assessment is also necessary."
"Understood. Then I'll explain."
Saying this, the Section Chief took Terakawa and Yokoyama and began to point out the trees to be cut one by one. Matsuno, who had been watching this, asked Nishida:
"Excuse me. I'd like to perform the memorial sutra chanting at the monument first... Would that be alright?"
"Oh, please, go ahead. Do as you like. I'll show you where the young man Yoneda was buried after that," he replied with a smile. Hearing that, Matsuno slowly began to walk toward what Nishida and Sawai had named the "Remote Grave Marker." Nishida watched the Abbot's movements and spoke to Uchida.
"Do you think they'll appear after all?"
"Brown bears? Well, I don't think they will, but after all, humans can't read what animals will do."
Uchida said this and left it at that. Feeling a somewhat difficult atmosphere for conversation, Nishida hesitated to continue and walked toward his subordinates.
"Just cutting the trees seems like it'll take a surprising amount of time."
Komura muttered as he watched the Section Chief and the others as if it were someone else's business.
"It's not just cutting them; they have to do it while making sure they don't hit other trees. It takes skill, so we wouldn't have been able to do it ourselves in the end."
Nishida confessed his honest thoughts and gave a wry smile.
"Well, honestly, it's a help, isn't it...?"
Komura also seemed to heartfully agree with Nishida's opinion, even if his expression was playful.
Terakawa, who had received the explanation from the Section Chief, said a few words to Yokoyama and then called Uchida. Uchida hurriedly took the hunting rifle out of its case and asked Nishida:
"Detective, could you hold onto this for me? I can't work while holding it, but it's pointless unless it's ready to fire immediately, so please hold it."
Nishida couldn't very well refuse, so he received it with both hands and then instructed Maruyama to hang it over his shoulder. It couldn't be denied that he'd handed it to Maruyama as a way of getting rid of a nuisance since he'd never handled a hunting rifle. Even though they were police, they didn't usually have experience with hunting rifles, so Maruyama, like Nishida, seemed to be flinching slightly.
"Right, we're going to start working from here, so it's dangerous; you police people, bunch up over there and watch!"
Yokoyama pointed in the direction to evacuate and started the chainsaw engine. A bit of a roar echoed through the quiet forest.
After cutting the thin trees around the target white birch that would get in the way of felling it, the teeth of Yokoyama's chainsaw entered the first tree. Even though it was a thick white birch, white birches themselves don't become particularly giant trees, so a V-shaped cut was quickly made up to the limit line. Uchida, the assistant, drove a wedge into it. Then, the tree began to make a creaking sound, and finally, it fell completely with a light tremor of the ground. Immediately, led by Forensics Lead Matsuzawa, they rushed to the stump to check the tree rings.
"I don't see any particular changes in the tree rings. It's just that years have passed... It's unlikely that Sada's body was buried here."
Matsuzawa said this disappointedly after checking the condition of the tree rings at a glance. The "underling," Miura, was busily taking photos with a camera, perhaps as study material, while watching him. And for the second tree, they went through the same work process and checked the tree rings of the stump, but the situation was the same. For the third and fourth trees, a flow was established where the pair of Yokoyama and Uchida felled the trees and Matsuzawa checked them.
However, no "abnormality" was found in the tree rings as before, and the detectives were beginning to feel a sense of resignation that it might be impossible to find anything from the tree rings. Since it was a "pursuit of possibility" derived from Takeshita's reasoning—which could be called "bold" at best and "absurd" at worst—it couldn't be denied that the investigation team had a premonition, or rather a pessimism, that things wouldn't go that well.
About an hour after they started logging, the sixth and final thick white birch fell. Matsuzawa slowly approached the stump and, without saying a word, made an X with both hands in front of his face. Seeing this, the Section Chief couldn't help but say:
"No good, huh... It can't be helped. Does that mean we have to just dig up other places at random or something...? I was prepared for this to happen, but now that it has, it's truly desperate."
He spoke in a way that was truly full of a sense of tragedy.
"Now, what shall we do...? Takeshita, any ideas?"
Nishida was also half-lost, but he threw the question to Takeshita as a way of covering it up. While the policy of scouring the site had been decided, in reality, they hadn't really thought about anything other than checking the traces of where Kitagawa had dug—or rather, they had a fundamental consciousness that they didn't want to think about anything else. Perhaps because of that, they had almost no plan for after the "premise" collapsed.
"In this case, I suppose we have no choice but to investigate the roots of white birches that don't look that thick. At the very least, I think it's certain that Kitagawa was digging them up on the condition that they were white birches. First..."
Takeshita said this, but since there were quite a few white birches that weren't that thick, it was obvious that it would be a search that would take a lot of time and effort. They couldn't very well exhaust Yokoyama and Uchida. Since his prediction had been wrong, he couldn't hide his dejection. Then, Section Chief Sawai decided to take a break, half-desperately.
"Oh, enough! Yokoyama-san and Uchida-san have been working non-stop, so let's have them rest for now. In the meantime, let's think about what to do next."
Abbot Matsuno had finished the sutra chanting at the monument and had already returned to the investigation team, but hearing that statement, he asked Nishida and Sawai:
"Then, I'm sorry, but while you're resting, could you show me the spot where the young man Yoneda was buried? I'll perform the sutra chanting for him."
"That's right. Since you've come all this way. It's right near here," Nishida said, and was about to guide Matsuno. Then Terakawa also said to Yokoyama, who was resting:
"That's right, Ippei-chan! I'll have you cut that tree where the body was buried later too. It feels a bit unpleasant to have a tree like that remain... Cut it after the Abbot has performed the sutra chanting."
"Yeah, I'll cut it for you after I've rested, Dai-chan."
Yokoyama readily agreed while sitting and having a smoke. It's true that a tree that has grown by absorbing nutrients from a corpse isn't something that makes one feel very good just by its existence. Nishida also understood that feeling well.
While the sutra was being chanted around the white birch where Yoneda had been buried, Nishida also put his hands together and offered a silent prayer for a while, but he didn't stay for the whole of Matsuno's chanting and returned to where his colleagues were. The Section Chief and Takeshita were talking a little way off, seemingly still unable to decide on what to do next. Nishida thought about joining them, but he decided that he should prioritize Takeshita's thoughts on this matter and chose to kill time by making small talk with Terakawa instead.
"But you own a truly vast area of forest, don't you?"
Nishida started with this, and Terakawa replied:
"In terms of area, I suppose that's how it is. The land itself isn't worth much because it's in a place like this, but back when there was a demand for domestic timber, the trees themselves were quite an asset. Unfortunately, now the value of the timber has plummeted, so it's worth next to nothing. I don't have the right to complain since I haven't inherited it myself, but my sons would only be troubled if they inherited such a mountain. I've already demolished the family home here, and I wonder if it's better to just dispose of everything before I die..."
Terakawa spoke while watching the Abbot perform the sutra chanting, but for some reason, Nishida thought his gaze was directed much further away.
"Are you going to sell it all? That's too lonely, isn't it?"
Yokoyama cut into the conversation. To Yokoyama, a childhood friend, Terakawa's disposal of the forest, which would mean a complete break with Ikutahara in a sense, was likely something he couldn't frankly agree with.
"The bond between Ippei-chan and me won't be broken by something like that. But for my sons, it's just a place they occasionally returned to when they were kids. There's no point in them holding onto a forest... in some cases, it even costs management fees. When I think about that..."
The fact that he was being forced into a very painful decision oozed from Terakawa's tone.
"Hmm. It's hard for a local to see Ikutahara losing people and becoming deserted. Honestly, my son and daughter are in Sapporo and Hakodate, and I feel like I can't face my ancestors who settled here."
Yokoyama, who heard this, also looked very lonely. It's a prominent example in the aging, depopulated areas of Hokkaido.
"Including forestry, gold and copper were also mined, and before the war, I didn't think this town would become like this..."
At Terakawa's casual remark, Nishida reacted without reading the room:
"Speaking of which, I've heard before that there was a large gold mine in Ikutahara, like Konomai."
"You must mean the Kitano-o Mine? I didn't really understand it at the time because I was a kid, but it seems it was one of the historically significant gold mines in Japan. There was actually a bit of a gold rush in Ikutahara back then. It was bustling in a way that's unimaginable now, and that's vividly remained in my memory. However, it was abandoned during the war, so it was truly a temporary bubble."
"But 'Kitano-o' (King of the North) isn't a name with very good sense, is it?"
Nishida gave a frank impression of the name, showing no consideration for the local area.
"Maybe it was from a desire to make it a large mine? There's a story that it comes from being the king of the north in the industrial world. It might be a childish name."
Terakawa's behavior was entirely adult. Then, Yokoyama changed the subject.
"But a bit of gold was found on Dai-chan's mountain too, wasn't it?"
"I think you could still find it if you looked properly. Though it wouldn't be worth the effort."
Terakawa responded with a wry smile.
"Gold was found here too?"
Nishida raised a voice of surprise, and Terakawa said calmly:
"Yes. If you go a little further toward Engaru from here, there's a stream, and gold dust was found in that stream. Of course, the production volume wasn't enough for a commercial base, and since the abundant timber was more valuable at the time, my family probably didn't think to do anything about it. Also, the general store business was profitable back then because there were many people."
"Timber was that valuable?"
"Yes. We had this much timber. It wasn't at the unit price of gold, of course... On the other hand, it's also a fact that there were mountain men who settled down and panned for gold dust with that as their goal back then."
"So your family wasn't mining gold, but there were people mining gold instead?" Nishida confirmed in surprise.
"That's right. It's a vast forest, so it takes quite a bit of effort to manage... Occasionally, timber thieves also appear. So, in exchange for entrusting the management of the forest, we allowed them to pan for gold in the stream as their wages. But it should have been far more profitable than wages as a manager. There were always a few young men, like drifters, helping with the work. Even if the wages were low, it would be impossible to hire several people unless it was reasonably profitable, right? Of course, it wasn't like tako-beya labor. They built a shack near the stream and lived there while working... I also used to come to the mountain to play occasionally and they'd play with me, and everyone seemed healthy, so they must have been properly fed. Besides, it's fundamentally impossible for one old man to force several young men to work, right?"
"Heh. Even so, your family was very generous. If it were me, I'd hire people and mine the gold myself."
It was a reason that Nishida's sense of money couldn't fathom at all.
"As for that, I don't know what my grandfather was thinking now. It's just my own speculation, but perhaps the guilt of having ended up complicit in things like tako-beya labor made him think it was better not to be greedy if it was just a small amount of gold. I don't think he could have said that if it had been a full-scale gold vein, though. Even I, a relative, can't say he was that much of a saint."
The Professor Emeritus gave a wry smile, but he was likely being honest.
"No, it's not just Dai-chan's one-sided assumption. I've also heard a story that the president of a labor dispatch business involved in the Kitano-o Mine used to be involved in the tako-beya labor in Jomon, and he performed a memorial service because he feared a curse. Don't you think there was that kind of state of mind? (Author's note: It seems such an anecdote actually exists.)"
Yokoyama also cut into the conversation and "supported" Terakawa's theory.
"Is that how it is...?"
The theory advocated by his two seniors was not something that Nishida, who was younger and in a sense harbored burning desires, could heartfully accept, but he saw no particular point in arguing and decided to just let it slide. Then, Nishida tried to change the subject.
"By the way, you said it was abandoned during the war; did they mine it all out?" he asked Terakawa.
"I don't know the details, but it seems certain that it had decreased from its peak. However, the direct cause of the closure seems to have been a law called the 'Gold Mine Consolidation Order' in 1943. During the war, coal and other mineral resources became more necessary than gold, and it became necessary to inject the equipment and personnel of gold mines into those... (Author's note: Gold Mine Consolidation Order http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%91%E9%89%B1%E5%B1%B1%E6%95%B4%E5%82%99%E4%BB%A4)"
Terakawa answered Nishida's question with the erudition expected of an intellectual, but Nishida was once again surprised that the value system that coal was more important than gold was calmly accepted during the war. At the same time, he was painfully reminded of how tight the supply of general goods was at the time.
"Could the people who were mining gold on your mountain still mine gold after that happened?"
"No, that's the thing..."
Terakawa hesitated a bit at Nishida's further question.
"To put it plainly, it seems they suddenly went missing. I have to explain the circumstances in detail in order, so it might be a troublesome story, but is that alright?"
Nishida was asked this, so he said:
"Yes. Please."
"I was born in 1927, and after graduating from elementary school, I entered the old-system middle school in Asahikawa in 1940. I chose Asahikawa instead of the nearby Kitami because my father said a higher level was better. So, by that time, I was no longer able to go to the shack of that mountain man where I used to play often during my elementary school days. That mountain man's name was something like Senzaki Daishiro... My family called him 'Sennin' (Hermit) with affection. We kids called him 'Sen-san.' Well, since he was a man in that trade, he hadn't married even past 50, and his appearance wasn't very proper, but despite living that kind of life, his personality was quite mild. He said he was born in Shinshu, but the reason my grandfather leased land to someone whose origin wasn't clear might have been because he recognized that personality. He was also kind to the young drifters he used, as I said. When I went to play, he'd call me 'Young Master' and look after me in various ways. The young employees also played with me. Ippei-chan also went with me sometimes."
Terakawa talked about his memories with nostalgic eyes. Yokoyama also listened nostalgically while nodding in agreement.
"Then, not even two years after I started middle school—I think it was when I was home for the Obon holidays—when I tried to go to Sen-san's place, my father told me, 'Sen-san and the others have suddenly disappeared as if they were spirited away.' So that would be the early summer of 1941... It would be before the Gold Mine Consolidation Order was issued. It seems it was truly a sudden thing. Well, since we didn't see each other every day, it seems they didn't know exactly when they vanished..."
"I was in Ikutahara the whole time, but I only found out Sen-san had vanished when I heard it from Dai-chan's father. As expected, after I finished elementary school, I didn't go to play there frequently."
Yokoyama also added.
"They disappeared so suddenly, and you just left it?"
The doubt Nishida harbored was natural.
"Well, since people we'd half-hired had disappeared, it might not be strange to think that, but they were 'those' kinds of people. I think there was a consideration that inquiring with the police or the like might instead lead to trouble for them. On our side, there was no damage at all, like something being stolen, so that's another reason we left it."
Terakawa was speaking in a hesitant way, but he likely meant that his grandfather and father considered that reporting the disappearance of drifter-like people to the police might, in some cases, become a kind of "betrayal." In fact, considering the era when the police instead cracked down on laborers who escaped from tako-beya labor, and that the police were not necessarily on the side of the weak, it might not have been strange for them to arrive at such a thought.
"And you see, Sen-san might have looked shabby, but he should have had a fair amount of money, so I think there was also a sense of security that even if we didn't know the reason they suddenly vanished, they wouldn't be troubled for food."
"They were making a decent amount from gold dust after all?"
"That's right, Mr. Nishida. There's the fact that he could hire people, and he even had gold teeth—I don't know if he mined them himself—so he wasn't poor. I remember they glittered when he laughed."
"Gold teeth?"
Nishida didn't miss the important keyword even in the "old story."
"You just said gold teeth, didn't you?"
Terakawa flinched and took a step back at Nishida's sudden "transformation" as he pressed him.
"Eh, I certainly said that, but..."
"I'm sorry. Considering the era, age, gold teeth, and the fact that the place they were buried was close to where that shack likely was, I think one of the bodies from the case I mentioned earlier might be that Sen-san..."
"Pardon?"
Terakawa's eyes widened at Nishida's unexpected words.
"Wait a moment. I'll go get the investigation files from that time from the car. They're skeletal remains, but there are photos that even show the gold teeth. Do you remember the position of the gold teeth?"
"Well, I think they were around the canine on the right side of the lower jaw..."
"Ah, that should be exactly where they were!"
Nishida was strangely high from having suddenly found a "breakthrough." Of course, solving the case now likely meant nothing, but it wasn't at that level; it was the exhilaration of having correctly answered a difficult quiz.
"Section Chief! You have the car keys, don't you? Lend them to me."
He called out to the Section Chief, who was consulting with Takeshita, and immediately rushed over, received the keys, and hurried down the forest path to the "parking space."
*
In less than ten minutes for the round trip, Nishida returned to the site, out of breath. The Section Chief and Takeshita had already returned here. It seemed they'd realized Nishida had caught a scent of something. Nishida took the investigation files from the bag he was carrying and showed the part with the photo of "A."
"What do you think?"
Terakawa had a grim expression.
"Oh, I'm sorry; it must be unpleasant to look at photos of remains."
"No, it's not that. I said it at Ippei-chan's house too, but remains of someone eaten by a brown bear are far more grotesque. This is completely bone."
Terakawa denied Nishida's words.
"It's not that kind of feeling, but as expected, since it's bone, I feel like the position is correct, but the image of Sen-san when he was alive and the skull don't overlap... However, these clothes are dirty, so the color is different, but they match the image of Sen-san."
"Which means there's a high probability it's him?"
"I think it's a bit much to be definitive, but I think there's a high probability it's Sen-san. The two gold teeth also match my memory. Here, Ippei-chan, you look too."
When he showed the photo to Yokoyama, Yokoyama also said:
"Yeah, I think it was something like this," though it was unclear how serious he was, he lightly agreed.
"How tall was he? According to the files, it says he was around 160."
"I don't know for sure about that. However, since I was about 150 when I was 12, it wouldn't be strange if he was about that height. He was just a bit bigger than me."
"Ah, he should have been about that. I'm 178 now, and I was a pretty big kid back then, but he was about the same height as me. I think I was a bit over 160 then. You rarely meet someone who's my height at my age."
In addition to Terakawa's testimony, Yokoyama's opinion, which seemed to have a bit of a boast mixed in, also matched the information from back then.
"Judging from the testimony of you two, I think we can assume that the oldest-looking individual among the three remains was Senzaki. But then the question is, who are the other two? Any idea about them? First, look at this photo. The height seems to have been around 165."
Nishida showed the photo of the remains of the young man corresponding to "B."
"Hmm... I wonder. Following the flow of the story, would this be a young man who worked under Sen-san? In terms of clothing, it looks like that."
"I don't know for sure. However, judging from the way the remains were buried, I think there's a high probability that there was some relationship between Sen-san and this person. They were buried side-by-side, and the same tobacco was buried with them as an offering. The investigators at the time seemed to think their deaths weren't that far apart in time. In that case, we should at least consider the possibility that B was an employee. There was also a story that he might have been Ainu, judging from the ornaments he was holding."
Following Nishida's answer, Terakawa seemed to be trying to trace his memories deeply. And Nishida watched him with bated breath.
"Now that you mention it, I feel like there was someone among the young men who wore something like this on their hands (Author's note: In Hokkaido dialect, they say 'wear gloves' using the verb for 'putting on shoes'), but I don't remember that person's name, or rather, I don't know it. Everyone's clothes were like this, so in that sense, there might be a high probability it was one of them. There were always about three to four young laborers back then. I don't know about the height. It didn't leave that much of an impression. However, at least as far as I saw, there were no Ainu. Everyone was a general Japanese, what you'd call a Wajin. Well, maybe there was such a person when I wasn't here."
Nishida said "Is that true?" to Terakawa's words that broke the silence, but Terakawa confirmed with Yokoyama before answering.
"What do you think? Do you remember?"
Yokoyama looked at the photo and said:
"Unfortunately, I have no memory of that. I don't have a memory like Dai-chan's," he said self-deprecatingly. Receiving that, Terakawa said:
"That's about it, unfortunately. I'm not as confident as I am about Sen-san's," and then he looked apologetic. But considering the passage of time, it was sufficiently useful testimony. Especially the point that there might have been someone among the young laborers Senzaki hired who wore hand covers seemed quite important.
"By the way, I mentioned it in the story earlier, but tobacco... were Senzaki and those young men smoking pipes?"
Nishida realized he'd forgotten to ask an important thing.
"Yes, yes, they were certainly smoking pipes. I'm sure of that. Everyone who was mining gold dust here was smoking them."
Terakawa admitted it nostalgically.
"I see. Then combined with the earlier story, the certainty has increased. The remains with the gold teeth were likely Senzaki's. And the one buried with him was likely a young man he hired at the time. But the problem is the other remains. These were buried very carelessly..."
Nishida took out a separate set of files and showed photos of the condition of the remains.
"Since there are no clothes for these, I think you'll know even less than the previous remains... but the height is said to be around 170. I think that would have been in the tall category back then."
Before Nishida could finish, Terakawa said as if troubled:
"As expected, if it's just bone, there's nothing I can say."
"I suppose so."
Nishida had a look of resignation, as if it were only to be expected.
"But, unlike the previous ones, it certainly looks like it was buried carelessly, so I don't think this was a 'comrade' hired by Sen-san. Isn't this a tako-beya laborer from the Jomon Tunnel?"
Terakawa presented Nishida with what was, in a sense, a natural thought.
"Actually, there was such a theory. The idea that by chance, a victim of tako-beya labor was buried near where the two remains were buried."
"I feel that way too. This is treated completely differently from the previous ones."
Terakawa seemed to have confidence in his reasoning as an "outsider."
"Is that how it is...? It feels like too much of a coincidence for the burial site to be so close."
Nishida instinctively raised a doubt, though he didn't necessarily want to show off his professional pride to an amateur.
"I've heard that the remains of tako-beya laborers were all over this area, so such a coincidence isn't strange."
After the exchange with Nishida, Terakawa looked around.
"I see... But thanks to you, I have an idea about two of the three remains. It's enough just to know they were likely the people who were mining gold dust here. In the first place, this is already past the statute of limitations, so there's no point in investigating it now; it's just my own curiosity, even after asking all this."
Nishida sounded exasperated with himself as he tucked the investigation files into his bag.
"However, where did the rest of the group go after the two died and were buried? That mystery remains."
"Terakawa-san, that truly is a mystery. Maybe those people killed these two and vanished. That would explain everyone vanishing without a sound. But then, there's the question of why they buried them so carefully. And who the last remains are. A tako-beya laborer, or someone among those Senzaki hired, or someone else entirely... In the end, the mystery will remain a mystery."
Nishida was trying to accept that this matter would end with the curtain closing while still unsolved.
"Is there a possibility of murder after all?"
However, Terakawa seemed very interested after hearing Nishida's story and didn't seem to intend to let the talk end.
"As seen in the photos, there were traces of depressed skull fractures on the two remains I showed later, unlike Senzaki-san's, so there's a possibility that at least the one who wasn't Senzaki-san was killed. I suspect that's especially true for the last one. But since the cause of death for Senzaki-san is also unknown, he might have been killed too. Well, for now, it's not certain whether it was natural death, accidental death, or murder. And since it's clearly past the statute of limitations, even if there was a murder in there, it doesn't have much meaning, as a criminal case."
Nishida answered frankly.
"I see. In that case, it's pure mystery. It might be rude to you who does this for a living, but I like that kind of thing too."
"No, no. As I said, it's already past the statute of limitations, so it's much the same for me. It's a matter of curiosity. By the way, Terakawa-san, you did English literature, didn't you? Are those also mostly foreign works?"
This time, Nishida took an attitude of being very interested in Terakawa's story.
"No, I like Japanese mysteries too. I also read Agatha Christie and such."
"In English?"
"Yes, that's my profession, so I read them in the original."
He said it with a bit of pride.
"As expected. Well, I suppose it's natural for someone who became a Professor Emeritus..."
"However, while I can speak a bit, I'm a bit weak at it... I might not pass as an authority on English today. Of course, I mean weak at a certain level. But you see, I didn't have the slightest idea back then that Sen-san had died and been buried here... I wish I could have at least said a proper goodbye..."
Terakawa started with a light boast mixed with self-deprecation, but ended by saying it sadly.
Sawai, who had been watching the turn of events in silence the whole time, said:
"That's good. Even if it's too late, the reality has finally come into view. You feel a bit better, don't you? I think the deceased can also rest in peace."
He spoke kindly to Nishida.
At that moment, a voice that was quiet but resonant said:
"I've finished."
Abbot Matsuno, who had finished the sutra chanting for Yoneda, had returned.
"I think the deceased is also pleased."
Sawai expressed his gratitude.
"From what I've heard, it was likely a sudden, regrettable death at a young age, but if he can sleep peacefully, then there's meaning in me doing this job."
Receiving the Abbot's solemn words, Nishida also said quietly:
"That's certainly true."
"Right, let's get cutting!"
Yokoyama's remark, which didn't read the room, blatantly changed the atmosphere of the place. But for Nishida, it even had the effect of refreshing his feelings, as he didn't have time to be immersed in a sentimental mood forever.
"Yeah, I'm counting on you."
Receiving the words of permission from Terakawa, Yokoyama called Uchida and headed toward the target tree.
"There's a danger of it falling in that direction, so move further away!"
Yokoyama's shout echoed, and Nishida and the others moved back about ten meters.
"Is this okay?"
At Terakawa's call, Yokoyama gave his seal of approval, saying:
"Yeah, it'll never reach that far."
Then, the sound of the chainsaw engine echoed, and it quickly changed to the high-pitched sound of the rotating teeth cutting through the wood. It stopped within ten seconds, and then they saw Uchida driving in the wedge.
"Felling it!"
With Yokoyama's voice, the wood made a creaking sound, and the white birch fell about 45 degrees away from Nishida and the others with a light thud.
"Well, good work."
Terakawa spoke to Yokoyama and Uchida. As if that were a signal, Forensics Lead Matsuzawa suggested to Sawai:
"It might be indiscreet, but since we have the chance, I'd like everyone to see as a living textbook how a tree that used Yoneda's body as nutrients has grown!"
"That's true. An opportunity like this doesn't come often. Let's have Matsuzawa give us all a lecture."
Sawai also agreed, and while passing Yokoyama and the other as they returned, they headed toward the stump of the felled white birch.