Guilt: A Mystery

A task force was set up that day, and Godai and his team from the Homicide Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department were called in. The meeting was held at 1:00 pm. The local head of CID provided them with a rundown of the case.

Using location data from the smartphone, he explained, they'd managed to trace the victim's movements. The victim left his home at 8:20 am on the morning of October 31 and reached his office at 8:30 am. He'd spent the day in his office until a little after 6:00 pm, when he'd gotten into his car. After roughly thirty minutes, he arrived at Tomioka in Koto Ward. He'd parked in the lot attached to Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine. After spending around ten minutes there, he left and went to the Sumida River Terrace, a little before 7:00 pm.

Given the blood on the smartphone, it looked highly likely that the Sumida River Terrace was the site of the murder. That early in the evening, there would normally be plenty of joggers and walkers along the river. But due to ongoing repair work nearby, the terrace was blocked off, making it the ideal place to commit a crime. The murderer had known the area well, if he lured the victim there.

The dead body was transferred to the back of the car. The victim was thin and only weighed about 130 pounds, so a strong man could have carried him easily enough. The car was found in Minato Ward. It wasn't known if it had been driven directly there or if the driver stopped off somewhere en route, but they assumed the murderer had driven the car. At present, they had no idea why the body was moved.

Once the head of CID completed his briefing, they discussed next steps and decided what the different investigators would do. Godai was paired with Nakamachi, a detective sergeant from the precinct. Nakamachi was a tall, sharp-featured fellow of twenty-eight, exactly ten years Godai's junior, and Godai thought after a few minutes' chat that Nakamachi had his head screwed on right. The two of them were tasked with looking into all the people associated with the victim. Their first job was to interview the family.

Kensuke Shiraishi's house was a modestly sized detached house in the Western style. Godai was a little surprised. Given the address, he'd expected something grander.

He found himself sitting opposite Shiraishi's wife, Ayako, and Mirei, his daughter. The two women seemed levelheaded, despite the circumstances. They had divided up the jobs of arranging the wake and the funeral and of contacting people, they explained. Ayako was petite with a classic Japanese face, while Mirei's features were stronger and more striking. She looks like her father, Godai thought.

After offering his condolences, Godai asked about Shiraishi's behavior when he left the house that morning.

"I don't recall there being anything different about him yesterday, no," Ayako said, a grief-stricken look on her face. "He didn't say anything about meeting anyone after work or expecting to come back late." She paused. "But recently, he wasn't his normal, cheerful self. He often seemed distracted, preoccupied. I just thought he was working on a difficult case."

Neither of them knew what Shiraishi was working on. He never disussed his work at home, they explained.

Godai pushed on with the questioning. Did they have any thoughts about the incident? Had anything out of the ordinary happened recently?

"Can't think of anything," Ayako said with conviction. "My husband wasn't the sort of person to have enemies, though. He was always very straight in his dealings with people. I can't begin to tell you how many thank-you letters he got from his clients."

Surely, though, as the counsel for the defense, he ended up angering the victim? When the wife was stumped by that question, the daughter spoke up.

"Look, I admit that my father could be perceived negatively by the victim. Dad never went into specifics, but he often talked to me about what being a lawyer meant to him. His approach wasn't just about getting a lenient sentence for his clients; he also did his best to make them aware of the gravity of their crimes. As my dad saw it, being a lawyer meant examining every crime carefully enough to understand its gravity. Given that, I just can't see anyone hating him enough to take his life." As she spoke, Mirei grew increasingly upset. Her voice grew ragged, and her eyes reddened.

Finishing up, Godai asked the two women about Shiraishi's movements just prior to his murder. Were they familiar with Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine, the Sumida River Terrace, or Kaigan District in Minato Ward?

Mother and daughter both looked equally nonplussed. Shiraishi had not mentioned any of these places, they said.

Ultimately, Godai didn't learn anything from them. "Call me if you think of something," he said, handing over one of his cards. Then he and Nakamachi took their leave.

Their next destination was Shiraishi's office. It was on the fourth floor of a shiny silver-clad building with a café on the street floor.