Contents | The San Francisco Cookie Mystery (Part 2)
The beginning of a mystery is a newspaper. The first is a newspaper, the next is also a newspaper, and the next one too, and then the next one would be a cookie.
Which means this. One winter day, after returning from school, I opened the newspaper for some reason. I skimmed through the social section, sports section, and the next section without finding anything particularly interesting, and when I opened the local news section, there was a headline in the corner of the page that read “Kira City Native Wins Art Exhibition Award.” It said that a local artist, Shima Taiga, won the Black Bear Award at the San Francisco Biennale with his work <Gaze and Shell>.
On the article, it was written that Shima-shi1 graduated from Funado High School in this city and is 47 years old. It did not explain what <Gaze and Shell> is or how prestigious the Black Bear Award is. There was a photo of him, and he had a gentle smile that was completely unrelated to the sternness one might associate with an award-winning artist.
At first, I couldn’t decide how to react to this information in a Petit Bourgeois way. On one hand, I thought it was small-minded to completely forget about something that had nothing to do with me, while on the other hand, I felt it was quite appropriate to take pride in the success of a senior from my high school who was recognized worldwide. I couldn’t come to a conclusion on this either-or situation, and without feeling the need to conclude anything, I forgot about the article at that moment.
After half a month, I encountered the name Shima Taiga again. When I arrived at school, there was a school newspaper on every student’s desk with the headline “Our School Graduate Wins Art Exhibition Award” written in large letters. It seems that the newspaper club chose to take pride in Shima-shi’s award.
According to the article, the Biennale is an art exhibition held every two years. It mentioned that the Venice Biennale and São Paulo Biennale are world-renowned, and then explained that the San Francisco Biennale is an honor next to the highest award, the Gray Bear Award.
As expected, there was no photo of the award-winning <Gaze and Shell>, but it was understandable that the school newspaper club couldn’t obtain it. Instead, they used a photo from the graduation album, which appeared to be a face shot of him in a school uniform. If Shima Taiga is 47 years old, this would be a photo from nearly 30 years ago. I wondered if they had obtained permission from him for the publication…… I couldn’t help but think about that.
The third time I encountered the name Shima Taiga was during the fifth period of that day. As soon as the class started, Hirata-sensei, the Japanese history teacher, held up the school newspaper with a beaming smile and said:
“You guys, have you read this?”
Hirata-sensei is usually a stern-looking person who teaches about the Fujiwara clan’s tyranny with indignation and teaches about the fates of Raikou and Sanetomo while choking up, and after staring at the school newspaper for a while, he continued with words full of emotion.
“Shima was a classmate of mine. I wondered what he was doing without attending the alumni meeting, and it turns out he has become quite successful. You guys probably don’t understand, but at this age, it’s just nice to know that someone who had been out of touch is alive and well.”
Since Shima-shi is 47 years old, Hirata-sensei is probably around the same age. In fact, I thought he was a bit older. Hirata-sensei continued with a beaming smile.
“This guy was in the art club. As they say, ‘A straw shows which way the wind blows,’ those who grow up are different from the beginning. However, not all those who are different from the beginning will grow up. There are also those who were ordinary in their youth but grow up later. This is about math. Are you guys good at math?”
Watching Hirata-sensei, who was more talkative than usual, I was thinking about the right to be happy. Hirata-sensei joyfully spoke of Shima-shi’s global success as if it were his own, and his tone when talking about their relationship was even somewhat boastful, but I didn’t find it unnatural. So, if I were to take joy in Shima-shi’s success in the same way and act boastfully towards someone else, would that also make sense? Wouldn’t the thin relationship between Shima-shi and me create an ugly situation like an animal borrowing the tiger’s power? Hirata-sensei slapped the school newspaper with the back of his hand.
“He was a strange guy. I remember he was fast. Yes, he was quite fast. It’s nostalgic. But I’ve never seen his work. Koumura-sensei, the art teacher, is also in the same grade, and I’ve seen Koumura-sensei’s paintings, but I don’t remember seeing Shima’s. What a pity.”
Where would the threshold be for being allowed to rejoice in someone else’s success as if it were your own? Do I have the right to rejoice in the success of a fellow alumnus like Hirata-sensei? While thinking about this issue, I listened to Hirata-sensei’s story. In the afternoon of the fifth period, lulled by the warmth of the heater, I was absentmindedly pondering such things.
Also on the following Friday, I encountered the name Shima Taiga again. The name was mentioned by Doujima Kengo from the newspaper club, and the location was in the hallway on my way home. However, it wasn’t that Shima Taiga’s name came up all of a sudden. When Kengo saw me, he exchanged a standard greeting and then scratched his head a bit awkwardly before saying:
“Hey Jougorou, I don’t know if it’s okay to ask you this, but…… could you introduce me to Osanai?”
There’s always a certain level of tension between me and Doujima Kengo.
Kengo thinks of me as a roundabout deceiver, and I think that pretending not to notice such a true thing is a form of kindness. I can’t really say we’re close. It was quite unexpected that Kengo would ask me to mediate with Osanai-san.
“To Osanai-san?”
My voice went a bit high, but I said it anyway.
“Is there something you need?”
Osanai-san, Osanai Yuki, is just an ordinary student in the school. At least, she aspires to be that way and lives a much more inconspicuous school life than I do. There shouldn’t be too many people who know about her original inclination that she wishes to discard.
And Kengo is one of those few people. Last spring, due to unavoidable circumstances, I told Kengo about what kind of person Osanai-san used to be. However, it’s hard to say whether Kengo believed it or not.
Kengo was completely serious. “I have a consultation. You know, I owe her a favor from before.”
Kengo owed Osanai-san a favor……?
“What was it?”
“You forget about other people quickly, huh? It’s about the painting. The most refined painting in the world.”
“…… Ah.”
Of course, I remember.
This was also in spring. The issue was whether to continue storing a painting left in the clubroom by a graduated art club member or to dispose of it. Due to certain circumstances, the newspaper club got involved in this issue, and I was also dragged into it.
“It was Osanai who solved the mystery of that painting. I want to borrow that wisdom again.”
Indeed, that case was solved by Osanai-san. In reality, it was a joint effort between me and Osanai-san, so it’s understandable that Kengo’s phrasing of “I owe her a favor” didn’t quite resonate with me. In other words, Kengo’s evaluation that I forget about others quickly is incorrect. Anyway, the fact that he wants to contact Osanai-san in relation to that case is……
“Is there another strange painting?”
Asking this, Kengo hesitated in his words.
“Strange or not…… well, if you say it’s strange, it is strange…… but it’s a bit serious.”
“I can’t imagine a painting left at school becoming serious. Unless it’s a cursed painting that eats people or something.”
“In a way, that might have been more comfortable.”
Kengo looked around as if to guard against eavesdropping and lowered his voice even more.
“There’s a painting by Shima Taiga left behind. Do you know Shima Taiga?”
“Of course.”
It was good to be able to answer that. If I hadn’t remembered the name Shima Taiga, which was prominently featured in the school newspaper, Kengo from the newspaper club would have felt a bit lonely.
“He won an award at the San Francisco something, right? If that person’s painting was found, it would be a big discovery.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Kengo said this with a bit of hesitation and scratched his head again.
“…… I think it’s better to see the actual thing. Jougorou, come with me.”
I probably should have politely declined, considering that a troublesome situation was unfolding. But I couldn’t do that. Kengo started walking without waiting for my response, and I missed the timing to decline. That too is certainly a fact.
But I have to admit. I was a bit curious about what kind of painting could cause a “serious” problem that would make Kengo want to rely on Osanai-san.