Two cord-like objects could be seen swaying in the shadows of iron poles that supported the overhead tank. Straining her eyes further, Yoshimi was just able to make out a tiny shadow playing under the tank. It puzzled her that she could only see the shadow, but not the object casting it. The image she began to conjure up in her mind was that of a little girl crouching directly beneath the overhead water tower.
Ikuko, is that you?
There was no reply. To search the top of the penthouse, shed have to scale the perpendicular aluminium ladder set in the concrete wall of the penthouse. It was a vertical climb of more than six feet that would fully engage both her hands and feet. Though such a climb, crawling spider like up the side of a wall, would normally be difficult for someone of Yoshimis delicate build, she hauled herself up, fuelled by the desperate desire to get a look at what was up there. No more than halfway up, she looked down to gauge how far she had climbed. She spied a dark object lodged in the darkness of the drain that ran the length of the penthouse wall. It was just where it had been the night before, where she had swept it from Ikukos grasp and caused it to roll away. Yoshimis mind began to race in confusion. Something didnt fit. She was missing some essential point.
It couldnt have been Ikuko!
Her right foot almost missed a step as this realization came to her. It could not have been Ikuko whod come up to the seventh floor in the elevator; her daughter was too short to be able to reach the button for the seventh floor. A shiver ran down Yoshimis spine. As she looked up she saw the shadow gaining greater substance. There could be no doubt that someone or something was up there. She heard the joints in her legs crack from the strain.
If it wasnt her daughter, who was it?
She only needed to heave herself up a little further to have her entire face level with the upper edge. Yet her courage failed her. All kinds of images flashed one after another in her minds eye. Her body stiffened, making it difficult to climb up or down.
At that instant, she heard the voice that she most longed to hear, calling out from directly beneath her.
Mommy.
Yoshimis strength nearly left her. Her exhaustion was so great that it was all she could do to keep her hands and feet from losing their hold on the aluminum ladder. Her jaw pressing against her left armpit, she saw Ikuko standing there in pyjamas.
Mommy? What are you doing up there?
There was a hint of reproach in Ikukos tearful question.
In the morning, she led her daughter by the hand to the elevator at the usual time. Once in the elevator, she noticed that the straining sound of the elevator cable was subtly different from how it had sounded late last night, although she couldnt articulate the exact change. All she could say was that the light of day had brought a totally different nuance to the noise. Yoshimi unconsciously tightened her grip on Ikukos hand.
Yoshimi had spent a sleepless night during which she had repeatedly asked herself whether Ikuko had lied, or whether her own behaviour had been the impulsive result of an obsessive delusion.
Ikuko had insisted that shed been in the bathroom when her mother had inexplicably dashed out of doors. You cant imagine how hard it was to go up the stairs to the rooftop by myself! What on earth were you doing there? her daughter had said.
Seeing her mother clinging to the wall of the penthouse, Ikukos heart had pounded violently as if to prove that shed just rushed up the stairs. The anger in her voice came from the terror of having been left alone. As an infant, she would always cry hysterically if she ever woke up to find herself alone. She couldnt possibly have been feigning all this. It must have happened just as Ikuko said it had. Yoshimi had rushed out into the passage without thinking that her daughter might have gone to the bathroom without turning the light on. The numbers on the elevator floor indicator had put the notion of the rooftop in her head. In the absence of any other possible interpretation, she had to take her daughters word for it. While she was ashamed over having behaved like a possessed woman, something still failed to convince her. Why did the elevator stop at the second floor? There had been nobody there. Yoshimi remembered quite distinctly the presence that had sneaked into the elevator. She remembered the moment the warm air had turned chilly inside the elevator.
As soon as the elevator doors slid open on the ground floor, Yoshimi took in the morning sun as it streamed all the way to the centre of the lobby. The powerful rays of the sun seemed to banish the morbid aura of the night before. She spied the super ahead of her, broom in hand.
Morning, maam, he greeted her with a broad smile.
Yoshimi tried to walk past, avoiding his gaze and with only a token greeting. But changing her mind, she stopped and said, Excuse me.
Ah, if its about that bag he offered.
No, its not that. There was something else on her mind that Yoshimi didnt know whether to ask him about or not.
He no longer held his broom upright, and his hand hung casually by his side as he turned to Ikuko and asked affably, Youll be on your way to nursery school, then?
Its nothing to do with me, I know, but you mentioned that the family that used to live on the second floor suffered some kind of tragedy. What exactly was it that
Yoshimi let her inquiry trail off unfinished. The super reined in the cheery smile, contriving an expression more suited to recounting the misfortunes of others.
Ah, that? Well, it all happened two years ago. The little girl was about the same age as little Ikuko is now. She was playing somewhere around here and went missing, you see.
Yoshimi placed her hands on Ikukos shoulders and pulled her daughter closer to her.
When you say that she went missing, do you mean she was kidnapped?
The super leaned his head to one side. I dont think it was done for a ransom. You see, the police turned it into an open criminal investigation.
As long as there was a possibility that a kidnapping had been committed with a view to financial gain, the police conducted its investigation with utmost secrecy. But as soon as that possibility was ruled out, they usually launched a public investigation and announced it to the media. That way they could obtain more information faster.
So youre saying that they
The super shook his head. They never found her. For. nearly a year, the parents never gave up hope that shed return. In any case, when there was that move to buy up the apartments, it was Mr and Mrs Kawai on the second floor who objected most. They felt that if the apartment block were demolished, their daughter would have no place to return to. But in the end, they probably did give up hope. At any rate, they moved to Yokohama last summer.
They were called Kawai, the family?
Yes, thats right. Mitchan that was the little girls name she was a lovely little girl. There are some evil people in the world, and thats a fact.
Did you say Mitchan?
Her name was Mitsuko; we called her Mitchan.
Mi, Mitchan, Mitsuko the imaginary playmate that Ikuko was talking to in the bath. It all began to take shape, to fit into place, with that name. That column-like figure that Ikuko had fashioned out of a soaked hand towel and set up in the middle of the washbasin, the figure resembling a road side jizo statue that Ikuko had chattered to like a friend, the figure that her daughter had called Mitsuko.
Yoshimi felt the blood drain from her face. Placing her hands on her temples, she sought support against the wall, and slowly let out a deep breath.
Is anything the matter?
She tried to deflect the supers concern by glancing at her watch. There was no time to explain. If they didnt hurry theyd miss their bus. She gave a slight bow in the direction of the super and quickly left the lobby.
To learn more, she could take advantage of the odd spare moment at work to go through the newspaper archives on microfiche. Even without an exact date, she was sure to find an article concerning the disappearance of a small girl named Mitsuko Kawai without difficulty if she looked meticulously through the newspapers from two years ago. From what the super had said, it seemed clear that Mitsuko hadnt been found. She had probably either been abducted by some pervert or had fallen into the canal. Either way, the poor girl no doubt lay dead and undiscovered somewhere.
About eight oclock in the evening that day, Yoshimi had just turned on the hot water for a bath when the telephone rang. She let the water run and hurried into the living room to pick up the phone.
It was from the supers office. Youll have to forgive me. Ive gone and sprained my left ankle.
The supers remark made no sense to Yoshimi, who was at a loss to reply with anything but an Oh. She had no idea why he was calling. It was only after giving an account of how he sustained the injury to his foot that he finally got to the point.
Theres a delivery for you.
She finally caught his drift. The super would often accept her home deliveries because she was seldom home during the day. Usually he brought the deliveries up to her. What he was driving at was that his sprained ankle prevented him from doing so. If the package required urgent attention, he wanted to ask if shed mind coming down to his office to collect it herself. She knew whom the delivery was from, and it was nothing that couldnt wait. Still, she thanked the super for his trouble and, before putting the phone down, told him she was coming right away.
Upon reaching the supers office, she saw that there was a cardboard box on the counter. The super stood with his elbows on the box. As she thought, it was from her friend Hiromi. Hiromi had a daughter who would soon be starting elementary school, and she had kindly taken the trouble to send Ikuko the clothes and shoes that her daughter had outgrown.
She found the box surprisingly heavy and could understand why it had been too much for the super with his sprained ankle.
Is your ankle all right? She affected concern by drawing her eyebrows together.