Inter Ice Age 4 by Kono Abe
“Most precisely on me.”
“The man’s mistress was tentatively taken to be the criminal. But the police were evidently not satisfied. Were they really dissatisfied, or did someone-an accomplice of the murderer-drop a hint with the purpose of frightening us? These points I find most open to question.”
“I agree.”
“One way or another we were cornered. If we did nothing, sooner or later the hand would fall on us. We ventured to ‘analyze’ the man’s corpse in order to provoke the real criminal. If successful, we would have obtained excellent results as our first experiment. But the analysis only showed us that the criminal was someone other than the girl, and the body told some far-fetched story about a fetus broker. Furthermore, we got the bonus of some threatening phone calls.”
“We’ve got to pay special attention to the speed with which the caller got his information.”
“Right. And also I somehow feel I’ve heard that voice before.”
“You still can’t remember?”
“No. It’s on the tip of my tongue. Anyway it’s definitely a person somewhere around us.”
“In my opinion it’s probably someone to some extent knowledgeable about the forecasting machine. That’s precisely why, next, when we were on the point of analyzing the girl suspect, he-or they-sensed danger, and it was necessary to kill her before she was delivered to us. Even so, I don’t understand how the death of the man we chose so arbitrarily developed the way it did, involving someone on the inside.”
“Of course, we can claim it was absolute happenstance. If it was, the trap set for us would in the last analysis be only for the criminal’s own self-defense. But he didn’t know about us. Supposing everything was linked together some way, then the significance of the trap would be much greater.”
“What do you mean?’’
“Perhaps the object is to discredit the machine itself.”
“I don’t get the point.”
“All right, let’s go on. At any rate we have lost all clues.”
“Ostensibly, yes.”
“But our enemies haven’t yet relaxed their efforts for all of that. The threatening phone call was repeated, and a lookout was posted. Then the amazing story about aquatic mammals seems to have occurred to you. As far as I was concerned, I felt like giving the whole thing up.”
“Actually, the aquatic mammals . . .”
“Now let me go on. However, when I got home I found a surprising situation. During my absence my wife had been forcibly curetted.”
“Really!”
“She was less than three weeks pregnant. Furthermore, when she came home they gave her seven thousand yen. Now just a minute, that doesn’t mean that I consequently accept the hypothesis about the buying and selling of fetuses. Maybe someone dissatisfied with mere telephone threats thought this up as a more efficacious means of intimidation. The clever rascal passed out a lot of little lies to cover up one big one. I suspect that he was trying to divert my attention with the seven thousand yen to the most meaningless elements that came to light in the analysis of the dead man. All right, let me finish. His aim was simply to wear me down psychologically.
The purpose is of little concern. What is important is the fact that the one or ones who hatched this disgusting business knew the contents of the murdered man’s analysis. That’s true, isn’t it? Because if we hadn’t found out the business about the fetus broker from the corpse’s confession, the seven thousand yen and the three-week time element would never have made them threaten us. They knew that. Don’t you think they must have? Now, there are only two people in the whole world who know the contents of the analysis. Only you and I. You can’t deny this, can you?”
“No, it’s true enough.” Tanomogi paled. He lowered his eyes and sat for some time motionless.
“Of course you can’t. Because therein lies the real truth.”
“What’s the real truth?”
Slowly I turned toward Tanomogi. “You. You’re the murderer!” I cried, detaching each word as if I begrudged it and pressing my index finger against his forehead.
But contrary to my expectations, he neither collapsed nor was he excited. He could not conceal his tenseness, but he looked me directly in the eyes, unexpectedly composed, and said: “But do I have a motive?”
“If we assume for the moment that you are the murderer, a motive is simple to find. For instance, I met the murdered man quite by accident, but he might have been the one you were after from the beginning. That day we had no particular goal in mind, and we were exhausted too. It wouldn’t have been all that hard to get me to the cafe and bring my attention to the man you had previously lured out with the Kondo girl. You were very successful. You trapped me beautifully. You planned for me to fear the police, yet you managed to avoid suspicion yourself by pretending to co-operate in the pursuit of the criminal. The various props were perfect. What a pity to find yourself exposed by what you least expected. You counted too much on lack of motive.”
“Supposing I had managed not to be discovered, what do you say would have happened then?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? You were waiting for the chance to publish a faked forecast that I had been cornered and had said that the murderer was the girl who committed suicide.”
“An interesting conjecture. So what do you propose doing now, sir, with this conjecture in mind?”
“I can do nothing but report you to the police.”
“Can you? Without explaining that I have no motive?”
“Motive?”
“The motive is still unexplained, I think.”
“You’d better see a lawyer about that. Anyway, I think we’ll take legal action and put you on the machine. But I must say, you’ve stirred up a pretty business.” Suddenly my strength deserted me and I was overcome by a sense of collapse, as if I were submerged to my nose in cool vapor. “To think that you would do such a thing. And I had such hopes for you. It’s incomprehensible, it’s a terrible thing you’ve done.”
“What did Wada say to you when she was here?”
“Wada? She didn’t say anything particularly. She seemed quite involved with you and concerned about you. Yes, unfortunately you’ve even ensnared her. Well, it’s too late now; what’s done is done.”
Tanomogi sighed, shaking his head vigorously. “It was an interesting conjecture, rational, very much like you, sir. Except for one point, a fault quite typical of you.”
“A fault?”
“If fault’s not the word, then let’s call it a blind spot.”
“Don’t prevaricate. The machine’s taking this all down.”
“Quite true. Then shall we have it hand down a verdict?” Simply shifting in his seat, Tanomogi turned toward the machine and spoke into the mike as he manipulated some buttons.
“Prepare for verdict.”
A blue light went on. It was the signal that preparations were completed.
“Is there or is there not a fault in the conjecture just presented?”
A red light went on, signaling the presence of a fault.
Tanomogi connected the speaker and asked the question again.
“Indicate the fault, please.”
In the twinkling of an eye the machine replied through the speaker: “There is an error in the establishment of the first hypothesis. Anyone in possession of information about the buying and selling of fetuses would have foreseen that this commerce would come to light in the analysis of the dead body.”
“Why, that’s the voice on the telephone!” I cried, involuntarily seizing Tanomogi’s arm.
“But it’s your own, sir.”
Ah, it was indeed. When we had provided the machine with a voice, we had simply used mine. There was no doubt, it was the one I had heard on the phone. It was natural I should remember having heard my own self. Someone had used the machine and made a tape of the voice. I cried out in triumph as I pulled at Tanomogi’s arm. I had at last unmasked the fraud. The slippery fellow. A real trickst
Tanomogi remained motionless, his face turned away, making no attempt to contradict me. With bated breath he waited until I should fall silent, and then said in a small, almost apologetic voice: “But this isn’t proof, is it? A voice doesn’t have the individuality a face does.”
I choked up and tears came. I drew my hand back to wipe them away. Avoiding me, Tanomogi crossed to the other side of the chair in two or three steps. “So, as the machine has just said, all your ideas are built on a single blind spot, on the idee fixe that the buying and selling of fetuses is no more than a fantasy of the dead man. Even your impeccable reasoning you went to so much trouble with completely collapses if you insert a question mark after this blind spot. Of course, there’s no real reason why even I should know what the actual nature of this commerce is. However, since I couldn’t very well go looking for clues at the scene of the crime under the nose of the police, there was no other way than to go the roundabout road and take these hints as clues, was there? Of course, it’s only a hypothesis. But if we assume, for argument’s sake, that the buying and selling of fetuses is really taking place, we can get just as interesting results as when you presumed me to be the murderer, don’t you think? For example, according to the bulletin put out by the Welfare Ministry recently the number of interrupted pregnancies is about the same as that of children born. Apparently over two million a year. Now if we assume that the buying and selling of fetuses is a probability, then it is quite believable that it is being propagated by a fairly large-scale organization. If that is so, there is every possibility that the man we chose for our sample case was connected with the organization, though we had the impression our meeting was accidental.”
“Ridiculous. A pretty story for someone with time on his hands.”
Tanomogi, biting his tip and moving his head as if nodding to himself, drew from his pocket a card-sized photograph and calmly placed it on the chair.
“Just look at this. It’s a picture of an aquatic dog. In point of fact, I’ve been at Professor Yamamoto’s brother’s laboratory until just a while ago. I went to request permission to observe and study their work, but while I was about it I got this for reference.”
It was indeed a picture of a dog swimming around in the water. His head dipped down, his front legs were bent and his hind ones extended. A little line of air bubbles flowed from the neck along the line of the back.
“A mongrel. You can see some dark lines there where the neck thickens. They’re gills apparently. The ears look strange because of the picture. After birth, they apparently have to resort to artifices, but the form’s no different from a normal dog. The eyes have definitely been modified, you see. Along with the modification of the lungs, changes have occurred in various glands; since the tear glands atrophy, transformation of the eyes is unavoidable, they say.”
“It’s a synthetic monster they’ve put together by operations, of course.”
“Not at all. A real animal that actually had gills like this would be as big as a shark. Can you conceive of grafting a dog and a shark? This dog has been made possible by the new technique of planned evolution that begins at the fetal stage. If you would just see it for yourself . . .”
“I see now. You’re saying that the trade in fetuses is to produce humans capable of living under the water, aren’t you?”
“The body of a three-week-old fetus is barely an inch and a quarter long. It’s not very good business to pay out seven thousand yen for something like that and then use it for food.” I gingerly picked up the repulsive photo, and as I looked at it, I had the impression that what my eyes saw could not really be. I felt as if it were quite untrue that outside this room were streets and that in those streets people were living. “You mean they’ll let me observe?”
“Yes, I had a hard time arranging it,” he said, leaning forward, “but they agreed, providing you don’t divulge anything.”
“But it doesn’t hang together. Supposing for the moment that this trade in fetuses is true, then the accountant was killed because he was trying to worm the secret out, I imagine. How would such a terrifying secret organization ever even permit us to get near?”
“On the contrary, they may have their own reasons.”
“Reasons? Ah, fine reasons indeed. If you want my frank opinion, they’d never give permission if they dreamt I might get wind of their setup. The fact that they did give it means that it’s useless even going there, doesn’t it?”
“Sir,” Tanomogi said faintly, swallowing his saliva, “I think this may be the last chance.”
“You mean it’s going to be closed down?”
“I’m not talking about the visit itself. I mean it may be your last chance, sir.”
“What? Oh come . . .”
“Well, if you say you really don’t want to, I’ll give the whole thing up, but I think you ought to go.”
What was this? I remembered having heard someplace before precisely the same conversation. Yes, they were Wada Katsuko’s very words a little while ago, if I remembered correctly.
“This dog, can it catch fish?”
Tanomogi’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, yes, all kinds. They’re training it now apparently. If we went over there, we could probably get them to show us what it looks like.”
“It’s strange, your being so cheerful when we’re about to set off into enemy territory.”
“Me? Well, if things go well I’ll be cleared of suspicion, won’t I?”
“Have you ever considered that by going there we might not be able to come back again?”
Tanomogi laughed.
“Well then, we’ll just leave a farewell note.”
22
“In any case, let’s adjourn for tonight. I’m exhausted,” I broke off in a weary voice, drawing away the two fingers that I had placed against the desk. The tips, which had whitened and spread with the pressure, did not regain their shape for some time.
“But,” said Tanomogi in his customary voice, still tenacious, “may I remind you once again that if we go at all, it would be best to get it over tonight, don’t you think?”
“What?”
“Going to see the aquatic mammals.”
“Are you joking? It’s already close to eleven.”
“I realize that. But time is important now. There are only three days left until the meeting of the programming committee, and if we’re going to present an agenda to Mr. Tomoyasu in advance we’ve only got all day tomorrow.”
“True enough, but won’t it be a nuisance to the people at the lab if we come so late? By now there’s probably no one around.”
“Yes, there is. Professor Yamamoto’s the head, and he deliberately moved his night duty up to tonight.”
“The head of a laboratory on night duty?”
“It’s like a hospital. They’re dealing with living things, you see. You’d understand if you’d just go and see. Apparently they’re rather more busy at night.”
“Now see here,” I said, lighting a cigarette I did not want and putting one arm on the swivel chair. I doubtless intended by changing my posture in this manner to display to Tanomogi, and to myself, a relaxed state of mind. “I think you’re being something less than candid with me, frankly speaking.” Tanomogi pursed his lips. He obviously wanted to say something very much, but he remained silent.
“I’ve a number of things I want to say,” I continued. “I’m not satisfied with matters, not only theoretically but also from the standpoint of my own feeling. I’m damned unhappy, if you’ll excuse the expression.”
“Yes, I think I understand.”
“Let’s talk about what we definitely know and stop this experimenting. For one thing, we’re cornered. And we’re bound hand and foot by something we don’t understand. Since we don’t know what our adversary’s objectives are, there’s no way of counterattacking. Who’s going to gain what by putting us in a position like this, for heaven’s s
“I should imagine it’s because they’re afraid of the forecasting machine.”
“Impossible. They know positively nothing about it, do they? They killed the girl and didn’t leave a clue. Besides, they’re not the slightest bit afraid.”
“We can’t draw back. In the first place the committee is expecting the exposure of the real criminal and would never consent.”
“On that point alone, we could probably hoodwink them with the analysis of the personality factors of the dead accountant.”
“Well, I don’t know. The police in the highest echelons know that we’re working. They’re adopting a wait-and-see attitude precisely because they hope we’ll come up with something, I imagine, and so they’re co-operating with us. Suppose we’re unable to find the real criminal. Our situation will be awfully precarious, if by chance they should come to suspect us. An impossible situation, absolutely impossible.”
“All right, let’s assume it’s as you say. But it’s credible, isn’t it, that the gang’s trump card in intimidating us-assuming there is a gang-lies in suppressing the eyewitness and in turning the eyes of the police on us? If they’re so inclined, they can be sure we’ll be suspected.”
“Cut it out. Your thinking like this is precisely what they want. The fainthearted always get caught. With a wolf outside, they may know all the time they’ll die of hunger by doing nothing, but they end up expiring like rats in a hole. No, I’m sorry, I’m furious with this whole situation.”
“It doesn’t make any difference. I know all about faintheartedness myself. But since you were kind enough to speak out as you did, it just occurred to me that we’d feel a lot better if we went to the police and told them absolutely everything, wouldn’t we?”
Tanomogi looked up and stared at me, biting his lip in amazement or distress. “I dare say someone would be delighted,” he mumbled. “A lot of our colleagues would like to see us chased out of here and the place made into a mere subcenter specializing in electronic brains. Besides, you won’t recognize the fact that buying and selling of fetuses is taking place, so you think that even your wife’s being caught in the trap is a distracting smoke screen. In fact, the organization is not concealing its existence at all, it’s really parading it openly. This,” he added, drumming lightly with his fingertips on the edge of the machine, his voice suddenly lowering, “can be taken as a warning that they are prepared to use force against you at any time. To cite two cases in point: The man was killed and the girl died.”