only going by his age and the clothes he's wearing, but there's probably no mistake."
"Oh?"
"We think it's Kisuke Takeda."
"Takeda!" exclaimed Takemura. "You mean, the Kisuke Takeda?"
Even Takemura, unfamiliar as he was with politics and finance, had heard of Takeda, one of the top two or three businessmen in the northern part of the prefecture, a man who was sure to have his hand in any big real estate deal there. Takemura recalled hearing that Takeda had recently been involved in the promotion of a golf course near the Togakushi Ski Slope, and he supposed also that the man must be active behind the scenes in politics.
"Then there's been a missing persons search request out for Takeda?" continued Takemura.
"Yes, unofficially."
"But we haven't heard a thing about it where I am."
"That's because the chief decided that only the department heads and me and the head of Section Two needed to know. Of course, it looks like the head of Section Two had to put several people on it to begin making private inquiries."
"Which means, in other words, that we're going to have to work with Section Two on the murder, I take it?"
"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves! We don't know yet that it is a murder," said Miyazaki hastily.
* * *
It was on the morning of July 5th that the prefectural police had been informed of Kisuke Takeda's apparent disappearance. At home that day, Chief Shoichi Nagakura had received a telephone call from Governor Masagi, requesting that he pay a visit to the governor's mansion on his way to work, on a matter of the greatest urgency. The subdued voice had sounded quite unlike that of the normally frank, unaffected governor. Guessing it would take a while, Nagakura had a scheduled conference put off an hour.
He had hardly expected to find Representative Hirofumi Shishido at the governor's mansion. Shishido was a member of the ruling party, but not someone Nagakura thought much of. He was the very picture of a man one respected out of fear alone, a man not only publicly active in politics, but rumored to wield considerable power behind the scenes as well.
"Ah, Chief Nagakura, terribly sorry to have called you out so early in the morning." It was Shishido, all smiles as he stood up with extended hand, who greeted Nagakura in the reception room. For Shishido, that was hardly imaginable behavior, and Nagakura was on instant guard.
"Then this matter concerns Representative Shishido?" asked Nagakura, looking past Shishido to Governor Masagi just behind him.
"No, it doesn't, really," replied Masagi, "but Representative Shishido thought it would be better if we got you here."
Masagi would be seventy-two this year. Now past the middle of his fourth term, he was a mainstay of prefectural politics, widely supported by conservatives and liberals alike. Blessed by nature with an elegant head of silver hair, a strong, well-tanned face, and a tall muscular build, he added to those charms a reputation as a man of integrity, who could be counted on to be fair to everyone.
Shishido, on the other hand, was a man of such a different stamp that Nagakura could not imagine what he was doing there. Although he could not have been much past sixty, he looked as old as Masagi actually was. Of short build, with a considerably receded hairline and deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, he spoke suavely, but there lurked about him something so ominous that even his smile was chilling. He was a man quite capable of parting from someone with a smile and then making contemptuous threats behind the person's back.
"Actually, you see, I just heard about this myself last night," said Shishido softly, leaning forward as Nagakura sat down on the sofa, "but it seems that Kisuke Takeda has been missing since the night before last."
"Takeda? Missing?" said Nagakura hesitantly, wondering about the other man standing behind Shishido. "And this gentleman is... ?"
"Oh, don't worry about him. This is Izawa, Mr. Takeda's secretary. It was he who told me the news. Oh yes, Izawa, I guess it would be better if you told the Chief all about it yourself," said Shishido, giving his chair facing Nagakura up to Izawa and sitting himself down deep in the sofa beside Nagakura.
Nagakura could tell that Izawa was extremely tense, apparently not just because he was in the presence of three big shots, but with genuine concern about his employer's disappearance.
"Er, uh, where should I begin?" asked Izawa. As Takeda's secretary, he had to be a capable man, but his voice was shaking pitifully.
"Well, just tell me everything in order from the beginning," said Nagakura. "When did Mr. Takeda disappear, and where did he disappear from?"
"He hasn't been seen or heard from since he left the Koshimizu Plateau Hotel in Togakushi around 7 P.M. on the evening of the 3rd."
"You were in Togakushi with him, then?"
"Yes, for a meeting and party from three that afternoon, to get preparations started for the construction of the Togakushi Plateau Golf Club. The first hour and a half or so was spent in presenting the aims of the builders and the plan for the layout of the course. Then, after a short break, a dinner party began a little after five. Some time after it began, though, Mr. Takeda said he wasn't feeling too well and was going to his room. I went with him as far as his door, but he said he would be all right and I should return to the party. I confirmed the next morning's schedule with him briefly, and then joined the party again. That must have been a little after six. That's the last time I saw him."
"Did anyone else see him after that?"
"Yes, the desk clerk said he saw him leaving the hotel a little before seven, so I guess the desk clerk must have been the last person to see him."
"Did he go out alone?"
"Yes, apparently."
"Do you have any idea where he might have been going?"
"None at all, I'm afraid."
"Had he said anything about going out?"
"No, not a thing."
"So when did you realize that something was wrong— that he had disappeared, I mean?"
"He was supposed to come down to the restaurant at eight the next morning. When he didn't, I waited thirty minutes and then phoned his room, because he had an appointment that required leaving the hotel by 8:50 at the latest. But he didn't answer the phone, and that's when I began to think that something must be wrong. Of course, it never occurred to me then that he could have just disappeared. I was afraid he might have been taken so ill that he collapsed, so I hurried up to his room, but it was empty."
"What did you do for a key? Wasn't the door locked?"
"No, it wasn't. His key was lying on the table."
"Then that means he must have left the hotel without bothering to lock his door, right?"
"Yes, but all he ever kept in a hotel room were personal effects. Anything else, like papers and so on, he always left with me in an attache case. He never kept anything with him that he couldn't put in his pockets, so I don't think he would have worried about locking the door."
"I see. Go on, please."
