This is a story I heard from my Shisho.
1. "Are We Talking About Untouchables?"
It was early in the winter of my second year at university.
Shisho brought me to Takaya General Research. I had been there many times, so there was no reason to be surprised anymore, but this was supposed to be their own corporate building.
"What's wrong? Let's go."
Looking up at it made me want to sigh. It was the same detective agency, but it made me painfully aware of the gap in status between them and our own Ogawa Investigation Office.
When we stepped inside, the heating seemed to already be on. I felt a soft film of warm air, even though winter had just begun and it wasn't that cold yet. I wondered when the heater had finally been turned on at the Ogawa Investigation Office last year.
As always, the desks were lined up neatly, and several investigators were busy filling out paperwork. Since they were all familiar faces, they barely glanced at us for a second before returning to work.
Just as I was heading toward Ichikawa-san, the office worker sitting deep inside the reception area, a loud voice greeted us from ahead.
"Oh my, if it isn't Kanako-chan!"
"Welcome."
The latter voice belonged to Ichikawa-san, the veteran office worker. The one who spoke first was an auntie with flashy, heavily teased purple hair and oversized yellow-rimmed sunglasses.
"Nishina-san, what are you doing here?"
"What do you mean, what? I was just chatting with Icchan here about the recent economic climate."
Nishina-san was the woman who always brought "ghost" cases to Shisho. She was born into a family that had run a broad, long-standing business in O City's central shopping district. After taking in a husband as an adopted heir, she left the business to him and threw herself into various community roles, serving as an officer in the women's association, the chamber of commerce, and other groups. She was a busybody who loved gossip. A huge amount of information gathered around Nishina-san every day, and from that, she would handpick troublesome problems to introduce to Takaya General Research and the Ogawa Investigation Office. Naturally, the cases that ended up at the Ogawa Investigation Office were only the incomprehensible matters that a regular detective agency couldn't handle.
"Kanako-chan. Oh, and Sakamoto-kun, the assistant too. What are you two doing here together? Ah, you've finally decided to switch over to Director Takaya's place, haven't you? I knew it, I knew it. Staying over at a place like that is letting your talent go to waste, even if I feel a bit sorry for Ogawa-kun. I mean, with their top earner being poached, they can't possibly keep going. That's right, Ogawa-kun might as well come back here too. There are so many desks here, surely some are empty. You should do that. Right, Icchan?"
"Well, that's true. The director doesn't seem entirely opposed to the idea either."
"Hold on, what are you two talking about behind our backs? We just came to see the director. I called ahead, didn't I?"
"Oh, was that today? I suppose he's here unless he went off to play pachinko."
Ichikawa-san glanced toward the back of the floor.
"What are you talking about? If you try to go outside from the director's office in the back, you have to walk right past here."
Sure enough, the first-floor office was an open, two-story atrium with a clear line of sight.
In response to Shisho's retort, Ichikawa-san leaned forward as if telling a ghost story and whispered in a low voice.
"The thing is, sometimes he just disappears out of nowhere. He must have inherited ninja blood or something."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Shisho looked exasperated.
"Speaking of ninjas, Icchan, I actually went to the Iga Ninja Village recently."
"Oh my, you didn't bring me a souvenir."
We walked past the two noisy women and headed toward the back of the floor.
"Ah, come to think of it, Kanako-chan."
Nishina-san was still saying something.
"What is it now?"
"Heave-ho."
Nishina-san lifted her heavy lower body off the chair she had claimed beside the reception desk. She approached us with a jangling sound. Her clothes and accessories were so cluttered that it was impossible to tell which one was making the noise.
"Aren't you looking a bit tired lately?"
"Huh? Why do you say that?"
"I've got a good eye for people, you know. It's like, somehow, you're losing your life force."
For a split second, my heart skipped a beat. In my mind's eye, I pictured Shisho going to see his primary care physician, Professor Shikada, for tests.
"Could it be because you're hanging out with such a young guy? You should moderate yourself."
She suddenly burst into a vulgar laugh.
"It's nothing like that."
I protested involuntarily.
"Really? If that's the case, maybe *you're* the one absorbing his life force."
"How absurd," Shisho muttered, trying to walk away. Just as Nishina-san stopped laughing, she grabbed his shoulder and held him back.
"Lately, I've noticed something strange about this town, you know. Haven't consultations about ghosts suddenly increased? A lot of people around me have seen or heard weird things, too. That grating, screeching noise that came from the sky the other day was one of them. It's made me do a bit of soul-searching. Wondering if maybe I've been dumping too many things on you lately."
"No, no, I appreciate it. The cases you introduce are a vital source of income for the Ogawa Investigation Office."
Shisho gently brushed her hand off.
"If you ever have any trouble, come talk to me. I've got connections, you know."
"I am well aware of that."
Shisho gave a wry smile and nodded.
At last, we headed toward the director's office.
When we knocked on the heavy-looking door, a voice answered from inside.
"Excuse us."
"Ah, are you making money, you two?"
A heavy, low-pitched voice welcomed us. It was Hideaki Takaya, the owner and director of Takaya General Research. A former head of the prefectural police headquarters' First Investigation Division, he had left midway through his career to dive into the detective business, achieving massive success and building his own corporate building in no time—a true self-made man.
His skin was tanned a shiny, glossy black from playing golf overseas often, even though it was already winter.
Ever since Shisho had told me some time ago, "You know, he looks just like that kind of cockroach," I couldn't help but see that silhouette overlapping with him every time we met.
"Well, take a seat. Care for some macadamia nuts?"
He must have been over sixty, but he gave an energetic impression that defied his age. As Director Takaya retrieved a large box of macadamia nuts from a shelf, he muttered "Oh?" and pulled a stray hair from his forehead. I was startled.
To me, it looked just like an antenna overlapping with the image of a giant bug, but in reality, it seemed he was just bothered by a single strand of white hair sticking straight up from his slicked-back hairstyle and pulled it out.
We sat on the sofa in the director's office and made small talk for a while.
"Hahaha, well, Ichikawa must have dozed off. I always let her know before I head out."
"To play pachinko?"
"No, lately it's this."
With that, he moved both hands as if shuffling something.
"Free-mahjong? You should take me with you next time."
"Sure thing. But the games I play have stakes like *this*, you know."
He spread his hand wide to show five fingers, and honestly, I had no idea what kind of stakes that implied, but I swallowed hard and shrank back.
Amidst this chatter, Shisho finally brought up the main reason he had decided to visit Director Takaya today.
"Director. You know the headquarters building of Yakumo Pharmaceuticals, don't you?"
"Hm? Of course I do. I've been inside a few times."
"And you know it belongs to the Sonomi Group?"
"Even someone not in the information business would know that."
"Do you know that there is a basement in the Yakumo Pharmaceuticals headquarters building?"
I could tell Director Takaya's smiling face stiffened for a fraction of a second.
"A basement?"
"A subway. They said it was a relic from that. We saw it with our own eyes."
"Oh."
Director Takaya placed a hand on his forehead with an exaggerated gesture.
"You saw that?"
"Yes," I nodded.
"We were caught and chased out almost immediately, but it looked like it stretched out quite a distance. We thought you might know just how far along the construction went."
"Good grief."
He shook his head playfully and let out an affected sigh. "Why are you telling *me* this?"
"After we were caught, we were taken to the Sonomi family's main residence, and that's where we were told about it. They said prefectural, municipal, and police executives all know about it."
"Ho. Sounds like you had quite an adventure."
Director Takaya laughed it off evasively.
"You're a former superintendent in the prefectural police and used to be the head of the First Investigation Division. The Chief of the Prefectural Police and the Chief of Police Administration might not be briefed, but it should have been a handover matter for the career Chief of Detectives."
"Well, I never made it to Chief of Detectives, though."
"I don't know the exact definition of an executive, but it wouldn't be strange for someone at the top who directs operations in the field—other than the Chief of Detectives—to know about it. Especially someone like you, Takaya-san, who was known as a sharp operator and rumored to be a shoo-in for the next Chief of Detectives."
"Hmm. You certainly know how to flatter a man."
When I chimed in with, "Handsome *and* a sharp operator!", Shisho scolded me with a "Shut up."
"Ah, I knew about it," Director Takaya said, spreading his hands as if resigning himself to the truth. "Though, to be honest, I thought it was a tall tale until I saw it with my own eyes."
"You saw it?"
"When you hear about a hidden secret subway, you'd be curious. Just think about it. If you could travel underground to your destination by the shortest route, without getting caught in city traffic, independent of the city tram's schedules and lines, and without being witnessed by anyone—that's a factor that could get involved in alibis for murder cases happening within this city."
"Ah, I see."
It dawned on me for the first time. It sounded like something out of a timetable-trick mystery. No, had there ever been a trick involving a secret subway before? Maybe in a massive metropolis, but in a regional city like this? If I were reading a mystery novel and something like that suddenly popped up, I'd probably get mad.
"So, I went to check it out for myself. That was already over ten years ago. Of course, there were no subway cars placed underground. And as for the tracks, both the east and west ends dead-ended after about 150 meters. They hit a wall. They must have stopped construction while digging through the ground. Or perhaps it was an experimental project on that scale from the very beginning."
"150 meters east and west, 300 meters in total," Shisho muttered, resting his hand on his chin.
"Isn't that a bit too large-scale for a subway construction experiment? Just how much money did that cost?"
In response to my question, Director Takaya replied.
"The Sonomi clan has money coming out of their ears. Besides, it's a whim. You never really know what rich people are thinking."
"Either way, that subway hasn't even completed a single section of a route, right?"
"That's right. Through circumstances that are now untraceable, it has simply become a confidential, hereditary handover matter passed down through generations. From the perspective of the prefectural police and the administration, they'd love nothing more than to have the damn thing filled in right away. Of course, if they pressed the issue and the owners told them to go ahead and issue a compulsory execution themselves, the budget for such a massive construction project is something they could never scrape together."
Director Takaya let out a sigh.
"Still, you two are sticking your noses into a terribly dangerous place. The Sonomi Group—or rather, the Sonomi family—is a thoroughly untouchable existence, even within the prefectural police."
"Director, do you know a man referred to as 'The Old Man'? A person named Daigo Sonomi."
"Ah… the father of the current group chairman and the speaker of the prefectural assembly. I saw him in person when I was young. From a distance. I wonder how old he was around that time… It was shortly before he passed away, I think."
"What kind of man was he?"
"He was as thin as a withered tree, but his eyes were piercing. He had a kind of compelling force—an unusual, magnetic sort of presence."
"You wouldn't happen to have seen that Daigo Sonomi somewhere recently, would you?"
"Come on now. How many decades do you think it's been since he died?"
"Then you must know Daigo Sonomi's grandson, Hiroki Sonomi, right?"
"Of course. He's the chairman of the medical corporation Yakumo-kai. I even played a round of golf with him on the same course before. What kind of occasion was that again…?"
Imagining two large, sun-tanned men standing side-by-side on a green, I couldn't help thinking they suited each other.
"Do you know about Hiroki's children?"
"Children? I heard there were two of them. I saw the daughter at a golf course. She was still small then. I haven't met the son, though."
"His name is Shingo. He's in his mid-twenties and currently works at Yakumo Pharmaceuticals."
"Ho. So what about him?"
"Have you heard any rumors about him?"
"Hmm."
Director Takaya crossed his arms and sank back deeper into the sofa. He looked at Shisho from head to toe, as if trying to read the intent behind the question.
"No, I haven't. Sorry."
"Not even about Yakumo Pharmaceuticals' psychic research institute?"
"What on earth is that?"
"Just the whim of a rich man. If you don't know, never mind. Sorry to bother you."
"…"
Director Takaya wore a thoughtful expression for a moment, but eventually, he slowly opened his mouth.
"About two years ago, a mysterious corpse turned up within our jurisdiction. I don't know the details, but apparently, an unidentified man died in a state where he seemed embedded in concrete."
" encased in concrete?"
"No, if it were that, it's something that occasionally happens as a settlement among yakuza. But this corpse was in a bizarre state, as if part of its body had assimilated with the concrete. It hasn't been made public, though."
"What is that? That's creepy."
When I said that, Shisho followed up with, "Was the culprit caught?"
"Unfortunately, the case was filed away unsolved. In the end, they never figured out who the victim was, either. However, I heard that an employee of Yakumo Pharmaceuticals came up on the investigative radar. Though that lead seemingly evaporated in the end."
"Why an employee of Yakumo?"
"There were traces of a drug in the stomach contents. An undissolved capsule remained, or something like that. Since that capsule was manufactured by Yakumo, they inquired about the remaining components, and the possibility of a new drug under development surfaced. Once that happens, the nature of the case changes. People start wondering if Yakumo Pharmaceuticals is involved."
"So why was the suspicion cleared?"
"I don't really know. When the process by which suspicions are cleared during an investigation isn't clear, it means it will remain a secret forever."
Director Takaya's Zen-like explanation left me feeling as though I'd been blown off by smoke, but Shisho furrowed his brow and groaned.
"Are we talking about untouchables?"
The director shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.
"You know a lot for top-secret investigative information. As expected, you still have thick pipelines into the prefectural police."
"No, the trick to having an effective pipeline is to make it thin and invisible. Well, I have another appointment coming up soon. If you'll excuse me."
Director Takaya stood up briskly. We had no choice but to stand up as well. As we were leaving the room, Shisho turned back and muttered in a low voice.
"Director. Even though the subway construction stopped halfway through digging under the ground, why do you suppose they laid the tracks? Tracks that don't lead anywhere."
"Hmm?"
"And they left that aborted subway plan—which was presented to the prefectural assembly before the war—sitting there in plain sight. Doesn't it feel almost like some kind of camouflage?"
"Camouflage for what?"
"The subways in Tokyo have all sorts of routes intersecting, and in some places, they're multi-layered to avoid crashes. I've even heard of cases where there's yet another subway running underneath an existing subway."
"Eh?"
Hearing that, I finally caught on to what Shisho was thinking.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Director Takaya seemed to have figured it out too, as he groaned with a troubled look on his face.
"Well. It just goes to show you can never really understand the 'whims of the wealthy.'"
With that, Shisho laughed.
To be continued in "'Poison' Part 2: Marijuana, Hashish, and a Little Bit" (Next Page)