Chapter 70

281EPILOGUE The sea at dusk. A time of peace. The waves, shining red in the setting sun, came from far away to wash against the shore and retreat back whence they came. Just as he had once before, he was sitting alone on the breakwater, staring at the sea at sunset. Chiori… He had been repeating her name in his mind for a while. Chiori, Chiori… He closed his eyes and the fire of that night came back to vivid life. A giant fire of remembrance, which enveloped the decagonal trap that caught his prey and burned through the night. Her image joined that sight in his mind. He tried calling out to her. But she was looking away and did not answer him. What’s wrong, Chiori? The flames danced more furiously and burned brighter. The image of his love was caught in the fire, until its contour was swallowed completely and she disappeared. Silently he stood up. Several children were playing in the water. He stood there, staring at the view through narrowed eyes. “Chiori.” He muttered her name once again, this time out loud. But she did not appear any more, whether he closed his eyes or looked 282up at the sky. A fathomless sense of emptiness tortured him, as if something had been ripped away from his heart. The sea was about to blend in with the night. The waves carrying the last light of the setting sun lapped silently. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around in surprise. “Hey, it’s been a while.” A tall, lean man with a friendly smile was standing there. “I asked the caretaker of your apartment building and he told me you often come down here to the shore.” “Oh.” “You look down. I’ve been watching you for a while, but I didn’t want to disturb you. You looked as though you were thinking about something.” “Not really. But why did you come looking for me?” “Oh, nothing important.” The man sat down next to where he was standing. He put a cigarette in his mouth as he muttered: “One a day.” “It’s been a while since everything that happened,” the man went on. The police seem to be all done with their investigation. What do you think?” “What do I think? Ellery did it.” “No, no, I am asking you whether you think there might be a different truth behind it all.” What is this man trying to tell me? He looked out to the sea in silence. The man looked up at him as he lit his “one a day”. “I told you once I thought that Kō might be the murderer, but as I have an abundance of spare time, I tried casting the nets of my imagination wider and I caught an interesting idea. And I’d like you to listen to it.” 283 Could he have seen through everything? He didn’t answer and turned away from the man’s eyes. This man… Impossible. “Don’t be so cold and please listen to me for a while. It’s a rather incredible idea and you might even laugh at it. You might even scold me again, but just consider it simply a product of my imagination.” “Please keep your ideas to yourself,” he said in a flat voice. “Mr Shimada, it’s a thing of the past now.” He turned around, ignoring the man’s calls, and went down to where the children were playing. He thought it pitiful how disconcerted he felt. Impossible. He shook his head heavily and tried to calm himself. Impossible. He could not have noticed it. Even if that man’s fertile imagination had by chance brought him to the truth, so what? There was no evidence. There was nothing he could do now. Right, Chiori? He asked his girlfriend. But she didn’t answer. She didn’t even show herself. Why? His anxiety turned in an instant into a tsunami. The heavy, wet sand clung to his feet. And then, there at his feet, he saw something glistening. This is… He crouched down with a stunned expression on his face. His mouth twitched and he let out a deep sigh. It was a small green glass bottle. It had been half buried in the sand at the water’s edge. There were several pieces of folded paper inside. Oh. 284 He picked the bottle up with a faint, bitter smile. He turned round to the man who was still sitting on the breakwater, looking at him. So this is to be my judgement? The children were about to go home. He slowly walked to them with the bottle in his hand. “Hey, kid.” He stopped one of the boys. “Could you do me a favour?” The boy looked up at him with puzzled eyes. Smiling as calmly as the sea in the evening, he gave the bottle to the boy. “Could you give this to that man over there?”