Marilyn's Mystery Reads

“I can’t believe Mr. Shiraishi had any enemies.”  That is what Tokyo Homicide Detective Tsutomu Godai hears from everyone he interviews following the murder of Kensuke Shiraishi.  Several people do mention, however, that lately the lawyer seemed preoccupied, not his usual cheerful self.  Could that have anything to do with his death?

Shiraishi’s body was found in the back seat of his car at the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine, with the murder weapon still protruding from his abdomen.  Since he obviously hadn’t driven himself to the Shrine, the questions Detective Godai asks is who drove the car there and why?  And why were his two phones taken (the police discovered that one was for business, the other personal) but not his wallet?

After four fruitless days of investigating, Godai and his assistant Detective Sergeant Nakamachi are sent to interview Tatsuro Kuraki, a man they found through telephone records of the lawyer’s phone.  Kuraki seems friendly and open, explaining that although he had spoken to the attorney on the phone, the two had never met.  He refuses to tell the two detectives what they had talked about on the grounds that there are other people involved, but otherwise he answers their questions.

However, Godai notices a discrepancy when he asks Kuraki about his visits to Tokyo.  The latter says he goes a few times a year to visit his son and doesn’t go sightseeing, especially not to shrines or temples.  But immediately before starting the conversation, the detective notices a votive strip hanging from a pillar just outside the room where they are talking; it shows the name of the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine and a message wishing the visitor good fortune.

When Godai asks Kuraki about the votive strip, Kuraki denies going there, saying it was a gift from a friend who had visited the shrine.  When pressed, he says he can’t remember who gave it to him, trying to make his denial more plausible by saying it “must be an age thing.”  Godai is not convinced by this, and his doubts about the story grow when upon leaving the house he notices a charm hanging from the rearview mirror in Kuraki’s car; it’s an amulet from the same shrine.  Is that another thing that the man “forgot”?

Then, because nothing happens in a vacuum, a thirty-year-old case brings the detective much needed information.  A sleazy financial planner, Shozo Haitani, had been murdered, stabbed to death, and a man named Junji Fukuma was arrested for the crime; four days later Fukama was found hanging in his cell.  Further investigation gives the police information about his family, and when doing due diligence Godai discovers that the Fukuma women own a restaurant in Tokyo that Kuraki visits every time he comes to Tokyo, ostensibly to see his son.

Even more interesting is that Fukuma’s daughter Orie tells Godai she has given Kuraki various gifts from the shrine over the years in appreciation of the presents he has brought from his hometown.  That makes Kuraki’s “forgetfulness” of the giver of the votive strip and amulet even more unbelievable.

Keigo Higashino is one of the bestselling novelists in Japan. He has won the Edogawa Rampo Prize for best mystery and the Mystery Writers of Japan, Inc. Prize for best mystery, among other awards.  His plots are outstanding, and the characters in Guilt are totally believable.  You can read more about him on various sites on the web.

Check out the complete Marilyn’s Mystery Reads at her website.  In addition to book review posts, there are sections featuring Golden Oldies, Past Masters and Mistresses, and an About Marilyn column that features her opinions about everything to do with mystery novels.