Ruined Map - Abe Kobo [43]
Of course, the thought occurred to me that the link between F—— Town and the husband and the other link between F—— Town and the brother were quite unrelated and independent, but then, the plot was too close to perfect. Since my client was the sister of the one and the wife of the other, both links possessed an inseparable point of contact. Maybe, by having joined the two links perfectly, I was producing more of a fiction. Even the director of Dainen Enterprises and young Tashiro had joined the accomplices by agreeing with what the brother had said, and it was conceivable that they might escape to some zone of safety out of my reach. If I wanted to follow the chief’s advice, I should take the attitude that I was getting money to stop my ears, not to listen for something; to close my eyes, not to look around; to nap the day away, not to accomplish anything.
Well …
For the second time the siren howled like a frightened calf. Finally the brother came back, biting his lower lip, grinding the pebbles under his feet, and making no attempt to hide his anger. The cook at once filled a steaming mug which the brother snatched up.
“Big joke. They told me there were only three girls. Are they up to something or what?”
“You know, nothing but colds just now,” replied the cook, shaking his head vehemently left and right. Taking up a green kettle with an enamelware handle, he filled to the brim another mug he had set out.
“Colds? Come on!” he laughed nervously, turning slowly to look at me. “Bad people do bad things. I give up. I let them do business for a fixed fee—those old bags, nobody else would have anything to do with them. Why don’t they really work hard and earn enough money and get out of the business? They’re too old to be protected by pimps.”
Suddenly the ground trembled and the darkness reverberated. Work had begun. The figures of several men came running down with short, dancing steps, outlined against the band of light that followed the horizon of the embankment. The relief gang was coming, probably after a quick bath or a swallow of saké.
“There are only three girls? What are you going to do?”
This time, before taking the mug in his hands, he bent over and took several preliminary sips. The light that gathered in the bottom of the thick cup glistened. A ray shifted to his jaw, tracing a moon-shaped arc.
“Is this supposed to be your business?”
“Business?” he inquired, sniffing slightly and smiling bashfully. “Well, it’s different from a robber or a highwayman, I guess. When you have a permanent building it’s a bother, of course. But according to the law it’s okay as long as you move around by car. Interesting, isn’t it? The philosophy of the law here is a respect for human life in case of flood.”
“Was it quite some time ago that you started here?”
“Right after the work began. About last July, I think.”
Last July? Let’s see. Yes, the month M Fuel Suppliers became connected with Dainen Enterprises. The points of contact between the two links had strengthened. But were there two links, really? On the contrary, wasn’t there probably only one? In August the husband had vanished. I should make up my mind and ask about this; what in heaven’s name can the basis for shaking the fuel suppliers down be? No, if it were simply a question of asking and getting an answer, he would have exposed the trick himself long ago. Then should I pull in the net of the investigation with him as the object? But if I deliberately closed the net and if I caught my client along with him, then