When Kyoko entered the office, she found Nobu sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair, chewing on a Big Mac. She walked over to him and took a fry from the red box with the golden arches emblazoned on the front.
“Did I say you could have one?” asked Nobu with his mouth full.
Kyoko bit into the fry while giving him a smug stare. “I’m your boss, that gives me access to any and all fries you might bring into this office.”
Nobu swallowed and picked up his drink, sucking soda up through the straw to wash down his food. “Don’t remember that in the employment contract.”
“Well, check the fine print.”
Kyoko stole another fry, earning an agitated glare from her employee. She smiled and walked over to the couch, sitting down on it as she took her cigarettes from her jacket. After lighting one of them, she looked in his direction.
“Thought you didn’t really like McDonald’s.”
“I don’t, except when I’ve got a hangover,” said Nobu.
“Rough night?”
Nobu groaned between bites of his burger. He swallowed and then explained. “My guy, Jun. He insisted on having a few highballs.”
Kyoko studied his face—the bags under his eyes, the bloodshot sclera, and the way he seemed to struggle to keep his lids from closing. Not to mention the slow manner in which he was eating. Normally, Nobu devoured everything in front of him within minutes.
“What time did you get home?” she asked.
Nobu shrugged. “I missed the last train, know that much. Had to take a taxi. Damn things are expensive.”
“Was the info worth the hangover?”
“Jury’s still out.” Nobu stuffed the last of the burger into his mouth and chewed. He leaned forward and picked up the cup to take another drink. “He never dealt to Suzuki, that much he was sure of.”
“And Ichikawa?”
“Less sure. Said the guy looked familiar, but wasn’t positive. I sent him a copy of the image, cropped so it was just Ichikawa. Jun said he’ll ask around, see if anyone knows where he might be.” Nobu chuckled. “Oh yeah, and get this. Mr. Hardcore Drug Dealer? He’s a Koibito fanboy.”
Kyoko smirked as she blew smoke through her nostrils. After enjoying the joke, she became all business again. “I checked out the address Saori got on Ichikawa. No one was home. But I ran into a neighbor who said he and Ichikawa sometimes drank together. Seems after a few beers, Yuki couldn’t stop complaining about his girlfriend who was apparently, and this is a quote, ‘a little slut giving it away to anyone she wanted.’”
“Wow.” Nobu picked up the box of fries and ate one at a time. “Don’t hold back, Yuki. Tell us what you really think.”
“And it turns out the last time this guy saw Ichikawa? Around the same time Akane died.”
“That’s not foreboding at all. So we got some suspicions here.”
“More than that.” Kyoko held the cigarette between her lips as she reached into her pocket to pull out a plastic bag. Inside were several pills. She tossed the bag and it landed on Nobu’s desk. “Ask your buddy Jun if he knows anything about those.”
Nobu picked up the bag from the corner, holding it up and staring at the contents. “Where’d you get these?”
“Ichikawa’s.”
Nobu’s eyebrows knit together in thought. “But you said there was no one home? Did the neighbor have a spare key?”
Kyoko took a drag on the cigarette and shook her head.
“So…?”
“I…may have accidentally picked the lock.”
“In the morning? When anyone could’ve walked by? That was pretty reckless, boss.”
“It’s fine, I got in.”
Nobu sighed. “You find anything else?”
“Clothes looked a mess, dishes were stacked up in the sink. Seems he was in a hurry to get out. And there was someone else there. Someone with a key.”
“Who?”
Kyoko shrugged. “I have no idea. I hid on the balcony. He was on the phone with Ichikawa, dropping something off.”
Nobu held up the bag. “These?”
“That’d be my guess. I gave one of the pills to my university contact to run some tests, see what they are, but I’m betting they’re amphetamines.”
“Same stuff found in Akane.” Nobu stood, cleaning up the empty cartons from his meal and stuffing them into the paper bag. He tossed them into the burnable trash bin in the kitchen and leaned against the doorway, looking at his boss.
“So what do we think?”
“Ichikawa’s definitely suspicious. He believed Suzuki was cheating on him. Based on what we know so far, that’s quite possible. It also looks like if she was on drugs, then he was her supplier. But that landlord was pretty shifty, too.”
Kyoko stamped out her cigarette in the ashtray and took a breath. “Ichikawa still looks like the prime suspect. He went missing around the time she disappeared, he seems to be involved with the drugs she had in her system, and her infidelity gives him motive.”
A beeping noise came from Kyoko’s phone. She fished it out of her pocket and saw a voicemail notification on her lock screen.
“What’s that?” asked Nobu.
“My mother called earlier, I ignored it.” She stood from the couch and went inside her office. “Talk to Jun, see if he knows anything about those pills.”
“I’ll send him a picture.”
Kyoko left the door to her office open and set the phone on her desk. She brought up the voicemail and played it on the speakerphone as she shuffled through papers on her desk.
“Kyoko, this is your mother. Listen, Kasumi is coming to dinner tonight. Hiro is visiting his family in Kyushu and he took Nao with him, so she feels like having some company. Your father and I would really appreciate it if you could come as well. I understand how busy you are, but it would mean a lot to us. We plan to sit down around seven o’clock. If you decide to come, please call me soon so I know to prepare enough.”
“Right, sure thing, Mom.” Kyoko picked up the phone and deleted the message. She put it back on the desk and continued looking through the papers.
“Whole family’s getting together?”
Kyoko looked up and saw Nobu standing in the doorway. She shook her head. “Just the usual. My sister’s apparently lonely with her husband and daughter out of town.”
“You gonna go have dinner with them?”
“Too much work to do here.”
“How do you figure? We can’t really do a whole lot at the moment. Gotta wait until something turns up on Ichikawa, or until your contact calls back with information about those condoms or the pill.”
Kyoko sighed. “I should meet with the Suzukis, give them an update on the case. Maybe see if there’s anything they know about Ichikawa.”
“I doubt you’ll be able to meet them before tomorrow.” Nobu folded his arms and leaned against the doorway. “What’s up, boss? Why don’t you wanna visit your folks?”
With a grunt, Kyoko sat down behind her desk. She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of Johnnie Walker and a glass, then filled it partway with the scotch.
“I’d offer you one, but I don’t think you’re in the mood.”
Nobu looked up, probably at the clock on the wall behind Kyoko. “It’s just after noon.”
“As long as it’s after twelve, you’re in the clear.” Kyoko took a sip of the scotch, relishing the feel as the liquid burned its way down her throat.
“Things that bad with your family?”
“My sister’s annoying. One of those incessantly cheerful people—”
“Yeah, I can see how that’d piss you off…” Nobu looked away from her.
Kyoko scoffed at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t get me wrong, boss, I love you like a sister. But at times, you can be a bit on the…unpleasant side.”
“Oh shut up.” Kyoko took another sip of the scotch. “As soon as she got pregnant, my sister quit her job and resigned herself to the life of a housewife. Happily, I should add. Now, every conversation with her is all about PTA meetings and Nao’s piano lessons and all sorts of other crap.”
“Okay, so you don’t get along with your sister. What about your parents?”
“My father’s okay. Quiet for the most part. Doesn’t really talk a whole lot. After dinner, he just sits in front of the TV with a scotch in hand.”
Nobu glanced at the glass in Kyoko’s hand. “Guess it runs in the family.”
“Thought I told you to shut up?” She took another sip. “And as for my mother…” Yet another sip—although this one was more like a gulp. “Let’s just say we don’t get along. So why bother sitting through a dinner where it’s going to be all about how wonderful Kasumi’s life is and how it’s such a shame that Kyoko isn’t living up to her potential?”
Nobu took a breath. “Yeah, criticism sucks, I get that.” He looked Kyoko directly in the eyes. “But I can tell you this. If my mom left me that voicemail? I’d be running to catch the next train before the message even finished playing.”
Silence filled the air. Kyoko took another sip of scotch and Nobu rose from the seat, walking towards the door. He glanced back at her. “But hey, that’s just me.”
He closed the door behind him and Kyoko leaned back in her chair. Nobu’s words had sent a rush of guilt through her body. Someone who hadn’t seen his parents in years certainly had a different perspective on the situation.
Kyoko picked up the phone and sent a text message to her mom, letting her know she’d be happy to stop by for dinner.