* * *
Outside the community center, Narumi said good-bye and got on her bike. Shortly after she began pedaling up the coastal road, she spotted a tall man up ahead, walking along the side of the road. She slowed down and called out, “Too quick, Mr. Yukawa.”
He stopped and turned around. “Hey,” he said, a little weakly. “What’s too quick?”
“You, standing up and leaving the stage before anyone else.”
“You noticed.”
“I also noticed that you weren’t wearing your glasses. It looked like you’d pretty much checked out.”
“I was mourning the loss of a perfectly good day spent listening to that pointless debate.” Yukawa started to walk again, so Narumi got down off her bicycle and starting walking alongside him.
“Going back to the inn? Why not take a taxi?”
“Because I’ve decided that the taxis in this town are useless. You see them drive by all the time when you don’t need them, but when you need them, there’s not a single one to be found.”
“I’m surprised you thought that debate was pointless,” Narumi said. “I thought everyone was very engaged.”
“The DESMEC people just wanted to have on record the fact that they held a hearing, and the opposition was just whining. That’s not a debate. It’s a waste of time.”
“You think asking that the environment be protected is whining?”
“It is when you expect them to adopt some mythical flawless plan offering perfect environmental protection. Nothing’s perfect in this world,” Yukawa said, his pace quickening. Narumi had to trot to keep up.
“We’re not asking them to do anything. We’re asking them to not destroy the environment. It’s not like they have to go out of their way to help. They just have to avoid doing anything stupid.”
“And who decides what’s stupid? You?”
Narumi stopped in her tracks, but Yukawa kept walking. She stood there glaring at his back for a moment before getting on her bike again. Jamming down the pedals, she sped past him, then stopped up ahead, turning back to look at him.
The physicist met her eyes. “Still eager to debate?” he asked. “The meeting’s adjourned.”
She glared at him a moment, then sighed and made a big smile. “You’re still in town for a while, aren’t you, Mr. Yukawa?”
“Until I’m done helping with the survey boat, yes.”
“Then, there’s a place I want to show you. Can you dive?”
“Excuse me?”
“Scuba diving. Ever been?”
Yukawa stiffened, a look of alarm in his eyes. “It might surprise you, but I do have my license.”
“Excellent,” Narumi said. “Then let’s go diving, soon.”
“Is that the place you want to show me? The ocean?”
“Is there any other place we’ve been talking about all day?”
“No, now that you mention it. I’d be happy to go if the opportunity presents itself.”
“It will. That’s a promise.” Narumi put her foot on one pedal and began to push. She couldn’t wait to see the physicist’s face when he saw what was out there under the waters of Hari Cove.
ELEVEN
Kyohei was just looking in the window of a small gift shop close to Hari Cove Station when he heard someone calling his name. He turned to see Narumi approaching on her bike.
“What you up to? Buying souvenirs for home?”
Kyohei shook his head. “I just ran out of things to do, so I came here looking for something fun.”
“Ah, I guess the beach plans fell through?” Narumi asked, a frown passing across her face.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Are the police still up at the inn?”
Kyohei shrugged. “They were there most of the afternoon, so I don’t know. How was your meeting? You have fun?”
Narumi chuckled dryly. “Fun isn’t exactly what I’d call it. Are you heading back to the inn?”
“Nah,” he said. “I think I’ll walk around here for a bit more first.”
“Okay, well, don’t stay out too late,” Narumi said. She got off her bike and started the long walk up the hill.
Kyohei bought a cola from a vending machine and sipped it, considering his next move, when he spotted Yukawa walking down the road. He had his jacket slung over his shoulder.
“Looks like you didn’t make it to the beach after all,” Yukawa said.
“How do you know?”
He pointed at Kyohei’s face. “You aren’t tanned one bit.”
Kyohei sighed. “My uncle was too busy with all the police.”
“That’s unfortunate. I wonder what they’re hoping to find.”
“How should I know? I checked out the rocks a little while back, but they’d already cleaned all that up, mostly.”
“The rocks?” A glimmer of interest shone in the physicist’s eyes. “You know where it happened?”
“Yeah, sure. My uncle told me. Right before he told me to stay away.”
Yukawa nodded. “Show me.”
“Who, me?”
“Do you see anyone else here?”
“Well, okay, but there really isn’t anything left.”
“Doesn’t matter. Let’s go,” Yukawa said, stepping out ahead of him.
Several minutes later, the two of them were standing by the seawall. Yellow tape had been stretched out in front of the wall, but there were no policemen in sight. Yukawa ducked under the tape and kept walking, so Kyohei followed suit. Reaching the seawall, he jumped up and lifted himself to the top in order to look over.
“I think that’s where he fell,” Kyohei said, pointing toward a rock with a reddish stain. “They couldn’t find one of the sandals. Probably dropped into the sea.”
“One of the sandals? So he was wearing the other?”
“I don’t know. Probably.”
Yukawa nodded and adjusted his glasses with his finger. He was staring down at the rocks with great interest, as though there was something there to see.
“What is it?”
Yukawa blinked, shaking off whatever thought he had been lost in, and said, “Nothing. It’s nothing.” His eyes went out across the water. “Quite the view of the ocean from here. I can see why Narumi is so taken with it.”
“It looks even better earlier in the day. Do you know why this place is called Hari Cove?”
“I assume because of volcanic activity in the area,” Yukawa replied.
“Volcanoes? What do they have to do with anything?”
“Well, hari is an old word for the amorphous substances found in volcanic rock.”
Kyohei furrowed his eyebrows. “No, that’s not it,” he said. “Here, the word hari means ‘crystals.’ You ever hear of the Seven Treasures? Buddhists say there are seven great treasures in the world, and one of them is crystal.”
Yukawa slowly turned to face the boy. “Is Buddhist trivia a hobby of yours?”
Kyohei grinned and scratched his nose. “My uncle told me last night when we were shooting off fireworks.”
“I see. So what about this crystal?”
“Well, when the sun gets to the middle of the sky, it’s supposed to light up the sea and make it look like there are a lot of colored crystals at the bottom. So, Hari Cove.”
Yukawa’s mouth opened partway, and he nodded. Then he turned back out toward the water. “I see,” he said after a moment. “The water here must be very clear, then. Thanks for telling me that. I’ll definitely try to come back here at noon one of these days.”
“Yeah, except you can’t really see it from here. It’s too shallow. You have to go out about a hundred meters first.”
“A hundred meters? No problem, I’ll swim it.”
“Yeah, except you’re not supposed to swim around here.”
“Then I could go to the swimming beach.”
“Yeah, but then you’d have to go even further out from the shore till you got to the place where it’s really pretty. Like two or three hundre
d meters. Past the buoys that mark where you’re allowed to swim.”
“Right, then I just need to go on a boat.”
“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” Kyohei said, his shoulders drooping.
“What, is there something wrong with that too?”
Kyohei leaned against the seawall, folding his arms and resting his head atop them. “I can handle big boats, but not the little boats around here. I get sick right away. My mom says it’s because I’m a picky eater, but I don’t believe that for a second. I’m pretty sure it just has something to do with my body. I’ve got friends who are way pickier eaters than I am, and they don’t get sick.”
“You’re correct. It does have something to do with the body. It’s because your semicircular canals aren’t functioning properly. But there are techniques you can use to remedy it, sometimes completely. How do you do in cars?”
“I’m okay in the car with my dad, but I get sick on buses sometimes. That’s why I sit toward the front whenever I can—it shakes less up there.”
“It’s not just the shaking, it’s where you put your eyes that’s important. For example, if you’re on a very curvy road, inertia forces your body toward the outside of the curves, correct? If you allow your eyes to look toward the outside of the curve at the same time, the information coming from your semicircular canals and the information coming from your eyes don’t line up, your brain gets confused, and you feel sick. But if you fix your eyesight in the direction the car is moving, the effect is far less. That’s why most people who get carsick don’t have a problem when they’re actually doing the driving, because when you drive you’re always looking forward.”
Kyohei lifted his head and looked at Yukawa. “You study that too, Professor?”
“It’s outside my specialty, but I have looked into related technology.”
Kyohei grunted. “Sure sounds busy being a scientist. But I’ll try that next time I’m on a bus. Still, that’s not going to help with the boat.”
“Why not?”
“’Cause I want to see the ocean. That’s the whole point of going out, right? If I’m always looking forward, I won’t be able to look down.”
“That is true.”
“My mom doesn’t let me take medicine for seasickness ’cause of allergies, so that’s pretty much that.” Kyohei stepped away from the seawall, heading back to the road.
“You’re just giving up?” Yukawa asked behind him. “You don’t want to see the crystals at the bottom of the sea?”
“I do, but I don’t want to get seasick even more,” Kyohei said, walking a little further, then stopping. He looked around. Yukawa was still standing by the seawall. “You’re not going back to the inn?”
Yukawa took his jacket off his shoulder and put it on. “You go on ahead. I’m going to be here for a bit, working on my plan.”
“What plan?”
“My plan to show you the crystals at the bottom of the sea, what else?”
TWELVE
Yukawa had requested a seven o’clock dinner, but the hour had come and gone with no sign of the eccentric physicist.
Narumi was wondering what to do, when he appeared, drenched in sweat, carrying a large paper bag in each hand.
“Mr. Yukawa. I was just about to phone you.”
“Sorry. Couldn’t get a taxi to save my life.”
“Will you be heading up to your room first?”
“No, I’m fine like this.”
His dishes were already laid out. Throwing his bags and jacket off to one side, Yukawa sat down at the table.
“I see you paid a visit to the hardware store,” Narumi said, pouring him a glass of beer. She recognized the logo on the paper bags. It was a small place, but vital, as it was the only one of its kind in town.
“I required some materials for an experiment,” Yukawa said, lifting the glass to his mouth, but before he took a sip, he turned to look at her. “Actually, there’s something I want to ask you for, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“What’s that?”
“I need some empty plastic bottles. Preferably something designed to hold carbonated water.”
“I should have some two-liter cola bottles in the back.”
“Perfect. I’ll need five or six. I’ll come down for them later.”
“What are you going to use them for?”
“Ah. You can ask the resident stubborn preteen that tomorrow.”
Narumi narrowed her eyes. “I take it you’re referring to my cousin?”
“Yes. I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a boy with his particular brand of obstinacy before.”
Yukawa took a drink of his beer, then looked up, noticing Narumi’s eyes on him. “Is there something on my face?”
“No,” she replied, stifling a laugh. “Enjoy your meal.”
Leaving the dining room, Narumi grabbed the master key and got on the elevator to go to Yukawa’s room on the third floor to lay out his futon.
The first thing that caught her eye when she entered the room was a cardboard box in one corner—a package that had arrived earlier that day. He must have had someone express ship it to him, since he hadn’t known he was staying here until just the day before. She glanced at the packing slip and saw that it had been sent from Imperial University’s Physics Laboratory Number 13. It had a large FRAGILE sticker on one side, and the label read “Contents: Bottles.”
Narumi laid out his futon and went down to the living room, where her parents were drinking tea after dinner. Kyohei was nowhere to be seen.
“I put out the futon,” she announced.
Setsuko nodded. Both she and Shigehiro had sour expressions.
“What is it?” Narumi asked, looking between her parents’ faces.
“It’s nothing, we were just talking,” Shigehiro said slowly. “Thinking it might be time.”
“Time?” Narumi echoed, though she knew immediately what they meant. “Time to close the place down?”
“Not sure as we have a choice, with the way things have been. Yeah, the holiday season is over, but even still, one guest? That’s not going to pay the bills. And after what happened…”
“But that wasn’t our fault,” Narumi countered.
“Not sure we can say that. If we’d had someone on staff, we might have known when Mr. Tsukahara went out, and there wasn’t anyone to send out to look for him when he didn’t come back. His widow came by today around lunchtime, and she didn’t have one mean word for us, but I could hardly meet her eyes. She even said she wanted to pay for his night’s stay.…”
“You didn’t take it.”
“Of course I didn’t,” Shigehiro said, shaking his head. “I told her we couldn’t possibly accept that, and even then she insisted, saying it was the least she could do for all the trouble. Took quite a while to talk her down.”
Narumi sighed.
“I don’t know,” her father continued. “It just feels like it’s about time. Fifteen years. I think that’s a pretty good run, all things considered.” He folded his arms across his chest and looked around, as if he was already saying good-bye.
Narumi’s own mind traveled back to when she first came here, still in middle school. Her father had left his job at a company in Tokyo to come back to his hometown and take up the reins at the Green Rock Inn. It had already been several years since his father, Narumi’s grandfather, had been crippled by a stroke, and people had started wondering openly when Shigehiro would come.
She could still remember vividly the day they arrived in town. She had visited several times before, but for some reason, just knowing that it was going to be her home made everything look different. What struck her first and strongest was the beauty of the sea. Her current devotion to its protection was an outgrowth of that first impression.
The sound of a hushed buzzer brought her back to the present. Someone was pressing the button on the front desk.
“Who could that be at this hour?” Setsuko wondered, looking up at the c
lock.
Narumi shrugged and stood. Out in the lobby, she found Tsuyoshi Nishiguchi standing by the shelves where guests put their shoes upon entering the inn.
“Hey,” he said, raising his hand in greeting. “Sorry to bother you again.”
“It’s no bother,” Narumi said. “I’m sorry you have to work so late. It must be rough being a detective.”
“We’re usually not this busy, but when something big happens, well, you know. Can’t really loaf around when there’s been a, er, a loss of life.”
Narumi raised an eyebrow but nodded. “So what have you found out? Do you know how it happened yet?”
“Still can’t say for sure. We’re not even sure it was an accident now.”
Though his tone had been casual, Narumi stiffened at the words. “Wait, what does that mean? If it wasn’t an accident, what was it? Suicide?”
“Like I said, we don’t know. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a suicide, though. Still, other possibilities have come to light.… That said, we’ll probably wind up filing it as an accident after all,” Nishiguchi stammered.
Narumi narrowed her eyes at her old classmate. “You’re saying there’s a possibility it was murder?”
Nishiguchi blanched and scratched his forehead. “Look, we don’t know. Just, it turns out that Mr. Tsukahara was a detective in the Tokyo Police Department. Homicide.”
“Whoa.”
“Anyway, when the widow came down today, she brought a guy who used to be Mr. Tsukahara’s subordinate. He’s a director in Tokyo homicide now. You know what that means? That’s only one rank below commissioner, which is the person who’s directly in charge of investigations. Anyway, that had the local brass sweating bullets.”
“Did he have something to say about what happened?”
“Yes, would be my guess. I wasn’t there, but we showed him the scene, and then he started talking about having to see our commissioner right away. They were in there for about an hour, then the director and the widow went back to Tokyo with orders to send the remains back after them. Not for a funeral, either.”
“For what then?”
“An autopsy,” Nishiguchi said in a hushed voice.
Narumi swallowed.