"After that, I asked the desk clerk whether he had gone out, and I was told that he had been seen going out the night before, but not coming in again. So I had to assume that he had spent the night elsewhere, and all I could do was wait for him. But he never came back." Izawa finished with head bowed, as if in apology.
"And that's the story," said Shishido unhappily. "I wouldn't have thought anything could be seriously wrong myself, but Izawa tells me nothing like this has ever happened before, and he's terribly worried. So I thought it best we consult the police, and Governor Masagi agrees."
"By 'seriously wrong,' may I take it you are referring to the possibility that Mr. Takeda may have been the victim of some kind of crime, Representative Shishido?"
"Er, uh, well, I wouldn't like to put it quite so directly myself, but yes, I guess you can take it that way."
"Do you know of anything in Mr. Takeda's affairs that would suggest that possibility?" asked Nagakura, turning back to Izawa.
"No, I don't. Nothing at all."
"If that's the case, we can act on that assumption. For instance, he might have been involved in a traffic accident. But if there are any indications whatsoever, then we will have to consider the possibility of a premeditated crime. Now how about it?"
Izawa was ill at ease, the perspiration beginning to appear on his forehead. "Well, uh, I still can't think of. . ."
"I'm sure there are some things that Izawa just doesn't know about his employer," interposed Shishido with a smile, to relieve the tension. "I'm afraid Mr. Takeda was no saint, and when you're in business, you can't help but make a few enemies. Some people just take things the wrong way, so it's always possible that somebody had a grudge of some sort."
"Then do you know of any particular possibilities, Representative Shishido?"
"Me? No, no, if Izawa can't think of any, how would I know? I've been acquainted with Mr. Takeda for a long time, but I really don't know that much about him."
"I see." Nagakura sat up straight. "Well, I'll send out orders right away for a search all over the prefecture."
"I'm afraid that won't do, Chief Nagakura," said Governor Masagi. "Representative Shishido thinks the investigation should be kept secret for the time being, and I agree with him. After all, it's hardly been two days, and what if Mr. Takeda suddenly turns up after we've made a big thing of it? Besides, I do think we'd better be awfully careful, just in case he's been kidnapped for ransom, you know."
"You think there is that possibility?" Nagakura frowned, gazing up at the ceiling with his keen eyes. Turned forty-six this year, he had been one of the most promising members of his graduating class at Kyoto University. In a sense, his stint as chief of the Nagano prefectural police was a test, on the results of which his future career would depend.
Unlike the self-governing regions of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kanagawa, with all their big cities, Nagano Prefecture may be thought to be simply a peaceful region blessed with natural beauty and made for tourism, but there are in fact quite a few difficulties involved in its administration. For one thing, there is the great area it covers, fourth in size behind Hokkaido, Iwate, and Fukushima. Moreover, there are differences in the living conditions in the three distinct areas of the northern, central, and southern parts of the prefecture, differences which sometimes give rise to conflict.
In addition, no other prefecture is contiguous to so many others—eight of them, in fact: Niigata, Gunma, Saitama, Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, and Toyama. Thus anyone using a car to commit a crime can cause the police a lot of trouble. Three years ago, for instance, there had been a series of kidnap-murders of female office workers, masterminded by a woman, in which the kidnappings had taken place and the bodies had been left in various places in the three prefectures of Toyama, Nagano, and Gifu, necessitating a widespread investigation with which sectional rivalries had seriously interfered.
With all of the tourists flowing in, the majority there for mountain climbing, there is a never-ending string of mountaineering accidents to be dealt with, too. Nagakura's predecessor, who had suffered through the series of kidnap-murders, had been quite right in telling him, after turning over his duties, that this was an uncommonly troublesome place.
Nagakura thoroughly agreed. And this case would involve one of the most prominent people in the prefecture. He had a premonition that it was going to turn into a big mess. "I don't think there's much chance that he could have been kidnapped for ransom," he said, half to convince himself. "If he had been, we should have been contacted by the kidnappers by now."
"I suppose not," agreed Masagi, "but if not, then what could have happened to him?"
"Well, what bothers me is that he left the hotel of his own accord. If his disappearance is somehow connected with his departure from the hotel, or else, if perhaps he engineered it himself, then..."
"What do you mean?" broke in Izawa, offended. "Are you suggesting that he's absconded with something?"
"No, I didn't say that. But what if he just got tired of work and decided to take off somewhere for a rest for two or three days without telling anyone?"
"I can assure you that Mr. Takeda would never have done a thing like that."
"That's right. He wouldn't," agreed Shishido. "He just isn't the kind of person who would do such an irresponsible thing."
"Then I'm afraid the police will have to assume the worst," said Nagakura, in as casual a tone as possible, which nevertheless caused Izawa to begin trembling. Shishido shook his head most unhappily.
After leaving the governor's mansion and returning to the police station, Nagakura immediately summoned his top-ranking officers and explained the situation to them, ordering a secret investigation to be conducted by Section Two, and instructing his men to be prepared for the worst. At the meeting, he had made a point of telling Miyazaki that if they should be unfortunate enough to discover the worst, he should be sure to put his very best man in charge of the on-site investigation.
"Oh," said Takemura, pulling a long face.
"What's this? You look like you don't much want it."
"I don't. I don't know the first thing about business or politics."
"You can leave that end of it to Section Two. But you're my ace detective, and I've been keeping you on hold for this, because I need somebody who can hustle."
Now that he thought about it, Takemura realized that he and his men would normally have been assigned to the couple of cases that had come up in the last day or two, but instead they had been twiddling their thumbs over a little desk work on some old cases. He could tell by Miyazaki's tone that he did not want Section Two to solve this one first. To be beaten out by Section Two on a murder case would put Miyazaki in an awkward position. An administrator had to worry about a lot of things, and Takemura could sympathize with him.
"Okay, I'll do my best," said Takemura, this time with a little enthusiasm.
* * *
The river which flows south along the west side of Nagano City to its confluence with the Sai near Kawanakajima has the beautiful
