The late afternoon was still hot and sticky when I locked up the Fukuda house to head home. Akai had left an hour before I did, unable to force herself to spend any more time in Ria’s room than she already had. We’d boxed up the manga, stripped Ria’s bed down to its parts, and started sorting through the clothes in her closet when Akai had had enough. I stayed on longer than she did so I could put together boxes for work the next day and bag up any trash that would be picked up in the morning.
I clutched the bag strap on my shoulder as I walked the three blocks to the bus stop. Where had Ria’s red sketchbook gone? I would search the house again, but I felt certain it wasn’t anywhere I had already cleaned out. I was thorough, opening every cupboard, looking on top, behind, and under everything I came across. Granted, I hadn’t opened up any of the kitchen cabinets like I had with Etsuko’s apartment. Hmmm, I should probably check them.
A slow moving car on the street caught my attention as I shifted my bag to my front. A police car crept up next to me, and my face brightened with a smile. Goro? I crouched down to look inside when I saw Kohei Watanabe instead. Ugh. I snapped back up when he made eye contact with me. I didn’t want to talk to him, ever. For a moment, he cruised beside me before he accelerated and turned the corner, heading in the direction of the station. Despite the heat, I shuddered. That man gave me the creeps.
But thinking about Goro, I pulled my phone from my bag and scrolled to his name. Wherever that red sketchbook was, Akai wanted it found.
“Hey, Mei-chan. What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I’m on my way home after another day at the Fukuda house.”
“Oh yeah. Found anything interesting?” His voice perked up on the other end.
“Does a twenty-year-old rubber band ball sound interesting?”
“It sounds super boring.”
“Yeah. I thought so too. Anyway, I was wondering if you had looked into the old case yet.”
In the background, I heard typing and voices murmuring. The station seemed to be quiet for the day.
“Nope. But I can if you like. It was a missing persons case, so it’s not like we would retain any evidence. There may be photos of evidence and notes, but that would be about it.”
I walked for a moment, looking down at my sandaled feet and wondering what the next move here would be. If Mom or Yasahiro went missing, what would I do?
“Hmmm, well, anything you could pull up would be great. If someone goes missing, how long does the police work on the case? I remember it being quite the stir for a few weeks.”
Goro sighed into the phone, and I crossed the street, nearing the bus stop. People had lined up in the shade of a giant tree, so I joined the queue.
“Yeah, two or three weeks. People go missing in Japan all the time, and they usually stay missing. It wasn’t unusual or anything that Ria was never found. It was just weird she went missing in the first place.”
Hmmm. I thought while I kept walking. Ria had been almost seventeen at the time, and that was about thirteen or fourteen years ago. She was underage, which was why there’d been a big investigation. If she had been a few years older, hardly anyone would’ve budged. She was well-loved, and her life had been scandal free.
“Right. She had a good life. It seemed weird she would want to give it all up to run away.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I’ll look into the case and see what I find here.”
The bus pulled up, and everyone moved forward. I shifted my phone so I could pull out my bus pass.
“The bus is here, so I have to go. Let’s switch to text. I have another question to ask.”
“Sure.” Goro hung up, and I climbed aboard the bus, placing my card at the reader, and took a seat near the front.
“What can someone do if the police can’t help? What’s the next step?” I typed in, waiting for a reply.
“PI. Many take missing persons cases.”
Yes, a private detective. Of course.
“Do you think Ria’s father hired one? After the police were done?”
“Yeah, I imagine he did. But they’re expensive, so I doubt he retained anyone for long.”
“How would I find out who he hired?”
“You either cold call a bunch of local PI’s or ask Akai to go through Ria’s father’s records.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that.” I stored my phone away, believing that was the end of our conversation, but my phone buzzed again.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” Goro’s instincts must have been pricking up.
“Yeah. A red sketchbook of Ria’s that had manga drawings in it. Akai seems to think it’s strange we haven’t found it yet.”
“You looked everywhere in the house?”
I pictured the last few areas of the house we had left to do. “Pretty much. We still have a few places to look, but I wanted to check with you first.”
“Okay. I’ll get on it. Remember. The house is not the only place she could’ve left the notebook. Always think of the whole property.”
I was thinking of the whole property, and I couldn’t discern anywhere else the sketchbook may be. The house stood alone on the lot with no shed or cellar. A large, plastic, locked chest was to the right of the back door and contained Fukuda’s gardening supplies. The backyard was a mix of gravel and herb garden, stone and water feature, then a small grassy expanse under a cherry tree.
I’d have to look harder once I was at the house again. I must have missed something.
I climbed off the bus back home, and the tea shop was winding down for the day. Yasahiro was inside, chatting with Murata and several other people, his face animated and alive.
I kept to the shadows so I could watch him for a moment. It didn’t matter if it was his restaurant or my tea shop, he was at home any place he was helping other people. Though I gave him such a hard time when we first met, I believed this was what drew us together. He may have more appreciation for food than I did, and I may have more creativity when it came to painting and other physical arts, but we found common ground in helping others.
The spell was broken when Murata looked out the window and caught me snooping. I smiled and waved as I came inside to the air-conditioned space.
“Ahhhh! It’s so nice in here. No wonder no one wants to go home.” I smiled at them as I placed my bag near the cash register and stood under the cool air from the wall unit. I was a hot and sweaty mess. A shower and bath would do me a lot of good.
Yasahiro leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, trying to be discreet while at the same time supportive.
“How was the clean-out today?” he asked, picking up some discarded teacups.
“Busy. But we’re making good progress. I should be able to finish a bedroom tomorrow. Can I help with that?” I extended my arm to take the teacups from him, but he maneuvered them out of the way.
“Nope. Sit down and rest.”
“Listen to your husband,” Murata said, swatting at me to take a seat.
I hesitated but sat across from her, my joints popping on the way down.
“So tell me more about this job you’re doing that’s taken you away from the tea shop.”
I gave her the basics of the situation, and her face widened with each passing minute.
She sighed, shaking her head. “I remember when Ria went missing.”
I tried to stifle a laugh. Of course, she did. Everyone in town remembered! There wasn’t one long-standing Chikata resident that was unaware of Ria’s disappearance.
“I was good friends, am still good friends, with the people who lived next door to the Fukudas. It was a very trying time for them too when she went missing.”
This piqued my curiosity, and I sat up taller in my seat. “How so?”
“Oh, you don’t know?”
“Know what?” I leaned forward, wishing I had a pot of tea so I could refill her empty cup and keep her talking.
“Well, I don’t want to start rumors again…” She trailed off, but I knew that sparkle in her eye. She was ready to gossip. “The boy of the family next door was in love with Ria for a year. They even had a secret relationship for a while, meeting up in their backyards to hold hands or kiss.” She fanned herself like she was talking about pornography. Murata was as sweet as they came. “The police asked them questions for days. It really stressed their peaceful family.”
“What’s this family’s name? Do you think you could introduce me?” My heart raced, and the baby fluttered in time with it.
Murata smiled slyly. “I see you’re already excited about another mystery.” She threw her head back and laughed. “There’s no stopping you now. They’re the Kato family, and I’d be happy to do the introductions. Perhaps tomorrow?”
“Thank you! I’ll discuss it with Yasa-kun tonight.”
My phone buzzed and chimed in my bag, interrupting our conversation. I pulled it out, expecting to see Goro’s name on the screen, or even Mom’s, but it wasn’t either. It was my brother.
“Hirata? Hi.”
I almost never talked to my brother on the phone. We weren’t particularly close and had little in common. I liked him, and as far as I knew, he liked me too, but not enough to talk to each other regularly outside of family get-togethers. If anything, I got along with his wife better.
“Hi, Mei-chan. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”
I stood up from the table, holding a finger up to Murata and whispering that I’d be right back, and made my way to the back of the tea shop where Yasahiro was washing dishes.
“No, this isn’t a bad time. Is something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. In fact, everything’s great. I was wondering if you had time to come out to the house this evening? Sorry to spring this on you so quickly, but I just got word from the bank, and everything’s about to be finalized. We only have a few more steps before this deal is done. So I was hoping we could sit down and hammer out the rest of the details together as a family.”
I stopped dead in the middle of the room, staring up at the ceiling, and trying to make sense of whatever Hirata was saying on the other end of the phone.
“Bank? What are you talking about?”
Hirata was silent for a long moment. “Mom didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?” My voice rose two octaves. Yasahiro turned off the sink and faced me.
Hirata sighed. “I had a feeling I should’ve talked to you before we got this far, but she assured me you knew what was going on. I’m buying the family farm.”
I reached for the nearest chair to sit down before my legs gave out.
“Come out to the house, and I’ll explain everything.”
“We’ll be right there,” I said, my jaw clenched tight.
My brain melted down in the onrush of anger and fury building up in my body.
Mom’s hesitation and avoidance finally made sense.
I was being usurped.