10
It was past midnight.
There was nobody left in the decagonal hall. The lamp had been extinguished and only darkness remained.
The faraway booming of the waves played a melody from a different dimension. The stars peeked inside through the decagonal skylight, resembling an open mouth in the darkness.
And suddenly a sharp noise came from somewhere inside the building.
It was followed by a completely different sound, the noise of a living thing sighing. The sighing turned into whining. The whining into a roaring noise which enveloped everything.
The Decagon House was on fire.
The white building was wrapped in a crimson light. Smoke rose in thick clouds. A roar rumbled through the night sky. The gigantic blaze burnt on furiously, trying to scorch the passing clouds.
The extraordinary light was even visible in S—Town across the sea.
✦ ✦ ✦
CHAPTER TEN: THE SIXTH DAY
1
He was awakened by the shrill ring of the telephone.
He finally managed to lift his heavy eyelids and glance at the clock next to his pillow. Eight in the morning.
Morisu Kyōichi raised his body sluggishly and stretched his hand out to the receiver.
‘Hello, this is Morisu speaking. Yes...Eh? Could you repeat what… Yes. The Decagon House on Tsunojima gone up in flames? Are you sure?’
He threw off his blanket, clutched the receiver more firmly in his hand and demanded forcefully:
‘But what happened to everyone? …Ah…’
Energy drained from Morisu’s body as he nodded his head heavily.
‘…Yes. And I am to…Oh, okay. Understood. I’ll be there. Thanks.’
He put the receiver down and reached out for his cigarettes. His sleepiness had been dispelled completely. He lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply and concentrated on keeping calm.
After smoking it completely, he put a second one in his mouth and picked up the receiver again.
‘Kawaminami? It’s me, Morisu.’
‘Ah, hey. What’s up, so early?’ a drowsy Kawaminami Taka’aki answered from the other end of the line.
‘I’ve got bad news.’
Morisu told him. ‘The Decagon House burnt down.’
‘Wha—what!?’
‘I was told everyone died.’
‘Impossible... how could…You’re not joking? April Fool’s day isn’t until tomorrow.’
‘I wish I was joking. I was just told over the phone.’
‘But—.’
‘I’m heading for S—Town now, you’ll come too, I hope? Can you reach Mr. Shimada?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’ll meet you over there then. All concerned parties are to assemble in the fishing union’s meeting room near the harbour. Got it?’
‘Got it. I’ll find Mr. Shimada and bring him along.’
‘Okay. I’ll meet you there.’
✦ ✦ ✦
Monday, March 31st. 11:30 a.m, Tsunojima.
A crowd was milling about in all directions.
The rubble of the Decagon House was still smouldering, resembling nothing so much as the burnt corpse of some grotesque monster.
The sky was clear. The blinding reflection of the surrounding sea was redolent of spring. The contrast between the peaceful background and the dark, tragic scene on the island itself was unbearably shocking to all and sundry.
‘Inspector. We got a message that most of family of the deceased are gathered now in S—Town,’ yelled a young police officer holding a transceiver in his hand.
The portly man in his forties who passed for an inspector yelled back with a handkerchief held to his nose: ‘Okay. Bring them over. Tell me as soon as they arrive. Make sure they don’t come here.’
He returned to his discussion with the medical examiner, who was inspecting a body burnt black beyond recognition.
‘And this one?’ he asked. Heat and a penetrating stench covered the area.
‘A male,’ answered the medical examiner from behind his large mask.
‘A male of small build. Some deep lacerations on the back of his head. Being hit with a blunt instrument would result in wounds similar to these.’
‘Hmm.’
The inspector nodded wearily and turned his eyes away from the body.
‘Hey, how are things over there?’ he yelled as he walked towards another investigator looking at a different body, lying among some bricks further away.
‘This was probably also a male. It also appears this was the source of the fire.’
‘Oh.’
‘Kerosene was probably poured all over here and then lit. Our corpse here seems to have poured kerosene over himself too.’
‘Oh, so it might be a suicide?’
‘Well, we would need to compare it with the other facts, but I think there’s a good possibility.’
The inspector scowled and walked away rapidly. A police officer ran after him with a question.
‘Shall we move the bodies?’
‘Wait until the family’s here,’ the inspector replied immediately. ‘If we’re not careful, we might get all the corpses and the stuff around them mixed up. We won’t be able to figure out who’s who.’
With speedy steps, he moved upwind.
‘I won’t be able to get lunch down my throat like this,’ he muttered to himself, as he removed the handkerchief from his nose and filled his lungs with the breeze from the sea.
✦ ✦ ✦
The bright sea spread out on the other side of the grey, cold blinds. He was inside a large room, plain and bleak.
The meeting room of the fishing union in S—Town.
Chaotically arranged fold-up tables and chairs. Thinly scattered groups of people anxiously holding on to each other. Whispers being exchanged.
Sitting by himself by the window was Morisu, who had lost count of the number of cigarettes he had put out in the cheap ashtray.
The Decagon House on Tsunojima, gone up in flames.
His heart beat furiously.
Everyone died.
It was almost one o’clock in the afternoon when Kawaminami and Shimada finally appeared. They recognised Morisu as they looked across the room and walked straight up to him.
‘Any news about what happened on the island?’ Kawaminami asked, without any preliminaries. Morisu shook his head silently.
‘We’ve heard no details. Some members of the families have just gone to the island to identify the bodies.’
‘Is everybody really dead?’
‘Yes. The Decagon House burnt down completely. From the fire site, they found the bodies of everyone.’
Kawaminami’s shoulders drooped and he stood still for a while.
‘Was it arson? Or perhaps an accident?’
‘No idea.’
Shimada walked to the window and looked outside through the blinds. Kawaminami moved a nearby chair next to Morisu and sat down on it.
‘Did you tell them about the letters?’
‘No, not yet. But I plan to, I brought my letter with me.’
‘Okay.’
The two looked at each other with bewildered expressions.
‘We were tricked,’ Shimada muttered, his eyes still staring outside through the blinds. Kawaminami and Morisu turned around in surprise and Shimada continued in a grave voice:
‘This was no accident. It was murder. Revenge.’
Several people in the meeting room stole a glance at the trio. Shimada quickly lowered his voice to a whisper.
‘We can’t talk here. Let’s go outside.’
Morisu and Kawaminami nodded silently and got up slowly from their chairs. The heavy steel door opened into a hallway and the three happened to overhear some men standing there.
‘—I heard some of the bodies show signs of homicide.’