Tokyo Blues

Chapter 7

The following day I paid Iwase's widow a visit to give her my condolence. She lived in a terrace house in Ikebukuro. Iwase's Peugeot stood in the driveway, along with a children's bicycle.

An elderly woman opened the door and led me into the living room. I took a seat at the low beech wood table and marveled at the expensive furniture in the room. Iwase could not have afforded this from his salary alone, I thought.

Mrs. Iwase was a slender woman in her forties who would have been attractive had it not been for the deep shadows beneath her eyes and the fatigue on her face. She greeted me politely, and the old woman who had let me in, her mother, I guessed, returned with a tray of tea.

"It is very kind of you to come by" Mrs. Iwase said. I admired her composure.

"Iwase-san was a pleasant colleague. I am very sorry about what happened" I told her.

She gave a small smile and took a sip of tea.

"He was working on a dangerous case," I continued, "I deeply regret not being there when he needed support"

"He never talked about work. He did not want me to worry about him" she answered.

I nodded and we finished our tea in silence. There was nothing left to say. It was obvious she did not know anything about the matter, and I did not want to put her in a compromising situation by hinting at Iwase's possible involvement in illegal business. She was suffering enough as it was.

On my way home I picked up some groceries at a Family Mart. I did not feel like cooking dinner and decided on rice and steamed vegetables. I sat down on my futon as I waited for the rice to boil and listened to the Bad Seeds while reading a Gaiman novel.

My phone rang and I picked it up, the book draped across my lap.

"Hai," I answered the call.

"Kitahara Takeo?" A male voice I did not recognize asked.

"Hai." I waited for the man on the other line to continue.

"This is Kudo Yoji. I work at the Koneko No Sumu Ie. We have met before."

I sat up straight, attentive. "Yes," I replied, "I was looking for you yesterday"

I briefly wondered how he had gotten my number but knew it was unnecessary to ask. A guy like him would have no trouble finding out minor tings like this.

"So I heard" Kudo replied. "Are you free tonight? I'm on my way to a bar in Shibuya. We could meet up there."

Stunned, I discarded my book and got up. "Yes, I'm free." I answered and turned off the rice cooker.

"Meet me at 'Grace's."