“Dead…?”
Mitsuhiro repeated the words, feeling the blood drain from his body.
“Yes. I consulted with Yutaro Tamai himself long ago, back when he was president. He passed away many years ago, and I suppose it was one of his relatives who took over the company instead of his own son. Or is Mr. Araki the son of the previous president?”
“He said he was.”
His heart raced. It felt like the pieces of this once-incomprehensible puzzle were all falling into place, and it only made him more terrified. Chief Sugawara, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed.
“Perhaps,” he calmly continued, “Araki is also seeing the dead.”
“He did mention his ‘predecessor’ a lot to me…”
So Araki was cursed as well. But since when? Was it because of Mitsuhiro? Or was he like that long before he dove into the ritual hall?
“The fact that you paid for an amulet from him is also concerning to me. I, too, received an amulet from the previous president and had a purification ritual of my own performed…but as long as it was related to our own ritual hall, I never personally paid money to Tamai Construction.”
“What? You didn’t?”
“The previous president said they only accept money from companies and government agencies involved with the ritual halls. There were no personal transactions—that was the rule they stuck to. That’s why they charged so much for management fees, he said. It didn’t seem that expensive to me, since it’s a minimum ten-year contract anyway.”
Mitsuhiro’s astonishment faded and was replaced by anger. He had been potentially swindled out of a large sum of money, which was unpleasant enough, but now he wondered if that amulet Araki gave him, and the whole ritual with throwing the stone into the pond, was actually meaningless. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but worst of all, money didn’t seem to be the only motive here. What if he was doing all this in order to curse someone? What if Mitsuhiro had fallen right into that trap?
No. If he hadn’t been hoodwinked and lost sight of Yoshikazu Hara, he wouldn’t be in this predicament right now. He could’ve just questioned him down there, confirmed his position at Tamai Construction, and then there wouldn’t have been any problems.
Who started the fire?
Appeasement by fire.
He didn’t think he could be surprised anymore, and yet he was.
“If you remember that small fire in the East Wing…I think Sota Araki might have started it.”
It sounded ridiculous even to him, but Chief Sugawara remained calm.
“Why do you think that?”
“I found out that he was in contact with someone who had been slandering the East Wing on Twitter. Based on the images of the ritual hall he sent this person, it’s possible he was trying to get the poster to hurt the reputation of the construction site on social media.”
“What would he do that for?”
“Could he have been trying to lure someone from Shimaoka into the site so he could free the person performing the ritual? Because without that arson, that person would still be at the site. That, and maybe he wanted to put me in a state where, um, I could see the dead.”
“So not only did this person want to interrupt the ritual—they wanted to specifically curse you, Mr. Matsunaga?”
“No, I think anyone would have sufficed.”
Sugawara let out a thoughtful “hmm” at this.
“I know this probably all sounds strange to you, sir.”
“Well, I’d find it completely bizarre if I hadn’t experienced it myself. But maybe we shouldn’t assume that there was a clear purpose for this. If you’re being enticed by someone you care about who should be dead, well, you’d do almost anything for them. You wouldn’t even know what you’re doing.”
Sugawara’s words were convincing. Mitsuhiro didn’t know when he might lose his sanity again, and if he did, he didn’t think he’d be able to explain his actions in any logical manner.
The phrase “do almost anything” suddenly made him wonder if it was Araki who set fire to Takenaka’s house. An “appeasing” fire. Araki himself might have fully believed that he was doing the right thing, too. It seemed very possible.
“We need to see what state Mr. Araki is in. Should we consult with Tamai Construction?”
“Before that, why don’t we confront him directly? If we talk to Tamai Construction, they might cut off our means of reaching Araki.”
“Certainly, if this is a site matter, we need to start by talking to those involved in the incident. All right. I’d like to accompany you, if possible.”
“What? You?”
“This lies under my jurisdiction, including the ritual hall. Whether Mr. Araki is guilty or not, I want to reach a definitive conclusion about the arson. Also, I still have the amulet given to me from their previous leader. That should count well enough as the ‘belongings of the deceased’ for Mr. Araki’s purposes.”
Mitsuhiro unconsciously put his left hand in his breast pocket to make sure the stone and handkerchief were still there. He didn’t know how effective it would be, but if Araki wasn’t of sound mind and they had something that could ward off these visions of the dead, it might be useful. Hopefully, if this was an authentic Tamai Construction amulet, it’d be especially effective.
“Thank you very much. I’d really appreciate that. I’m sorry to put you through all this trouble…”
“Well, we need to consider the safety of the site as well. When will you be meeting Mr. Araki? I can call the office and have him come over if you like.”
“I’ll call him. If I tell him I want to buy an amulet, he’ll come over for me. We usually meet at the East Wing construction parking lot, so I’ll arrange to meet him tomorrow…”
Mitsuhiro craned his neck and looked at the small calendar on the TV stand in the living room. Tomorrow was Saturday. Between the odd hours he’d been keeping lately and the way he’d stopped being invited to meetings, he had completely lost track of the days of the week.
“…Ah, but the office will be closed anyway,” he said, correcting himself. “I’ll try to schedule it for the beginning of next week.”
“Saturday’s fine, actually,” Chief Sugawara said. “It’s actually more convenient. Better to get this done sooner than later. Let me know when you work out a time, and I can drive over, and we can talk in my car.”
“All right. Thanks for all of your help.”
He ended the call, stood up, opened the window, and let out a deep breath. He had taken this call in what was now a hot, stuffy apartment with the AC turned off. The memory of sleeping in the company car came back to him, and he was suddenly afraid of being dehydrated and not even knowing it. Leaving the window open, he grabbed the remote, turned on the AC, and wondered just how coherent he was at that moment.
Was this deep sluggishness because he had neglected to eat and sleep properly? If he didn’t hold on to his marbles now, he’d never resolve any of this. He’d just collapse, and then he couldn’t do anything.
With that in mind, Mitsuhiro went to the air vent, stood under the cool breeze, and called Araki.
“This is Araki.”
“Hello, this is Matsunaga from Shimaoka. I’m sorry to call so late.”
“Not at all. What’s the matter?”
“Well, actually, I need another amulet.”
“Already?”
“I wanted to get a set for the whole family. Would that be tough on short notice?”
“I’ll ask the previous president about it, but it should be fine. If you need anything else purified, we could meet over at the Imperial Gardens again.”
“Thanks, but I’ll just need the amulets this time. I know tomorrow’s Saturday, but would you mind meeting at the usual parking lot at the East Wing?”
“Not a problem. I was planning to stop by the ritual hall anyway. How does eleven in the morning sound to you?”
“That’d be great. Thank you very much.”