The San Francisco Cookie Mystery (Part 2) | Contents | The San Francisco Cookie Mystery (Part 4)
Winter days are short, so it was already dark when I reached home. I contacted Osanai-san at that time.
The story wasn’t that complicated, but it was hard to share subtle nuances over the phone. Thus we decided that it would be better to talk directly, and arranged to meet at a family restaurant along the bypass.
It was past eight o’clock, and if I were to be found by those entrusted with upholding law and order, I could be given an official reprimand. As a petit bourgeois, one must not commit the folly of being caught wandering around at night. The thing that proved useful for getting around that problem was my school bag, which allowed me to insist that they are just returning home from cram school if questioned, even if the bag was empty. It’s a great contradiction that cram schools are open until a time when high school students could be reprimanded for loitering, and contradictions should be exploited.
It was a cold night. As soon as I started pedaling on my bicycle after leaving home, my ears began to sting painfully. I’d only put on a windbreaker for warmth, which was a bit reckless. If I tried to speed up to get there quickly, the wind hitting me would be unbearable. So I ended up heading to the meeting place slowly.
The family restaurant had a variety of customers. Since it was after dinner time, there were no families enjoying their meals. There was a man with his head bowed as he munched on carbohydrates, a woman who was on her phone and wasn’t looking at the food in front of her, a group of college students chattering excitedly about something, a person working on some documents, someone studying… and a small girl in the back of the store, sitting primly with a scarf wrapped around her neck despite being indoors. Of course, that was Osanai-san.
A waitress cheerfully greeted me.
“Welcome. Are you here by yourself?”
“No, I am meeting someone here.”
I answered and moved towards Osanai-san’s table.
Osanai-san was not only wearing a scarf but also earmuffs, and she was still in her fluffy down jacket. Indeed, the seat was by the window where the winter chill was creeping in, but her appearance, as if she had just returned from a ski resort, made me chuckle a bit. Osanai-san, who had been cradling a mug with both hands, looked up and glared at me.
“Why are you laughing?”
Because you’re all bundled up indoors.
There was cocoa in the mug that Osanai-san was holding. It looked warm, and I wanted to order the same, but cocoa could only be ordered as a single item. The all-you-can-drink option was cheaper, so I chose that. When I returned to the table with hot oolong tea, Osanai-san asked without any preamble.
“So, what’s the matter?”
I understood why Osanai-san hadn’t taken off her warm clothes in this cold seat. I also started the conversation while wearing my windbreaker.
“Doujima Kengo wants me to introduce him to you.”
“I do think he’s a good person, but I have to think about whether he’s my type.”
“And what sort of person is your type?”
“Hmm.”
The answer that finally came after a while was:
“Catherine the Great…?”
Why?
Anyway,
“It’s not about introducing you romantically, but rather that he wants me to act as an intermediary. Basically, it all began with a newspaper…”
I started explaining about Shima Taiga’s award, and considering that Osanai-san had solved the mystery of the refined painting last spring, I conveyed Kengo’s request to determine whether Shima Taiga’s painting was truly just a copy. During this time, Osanai-san didn’t say a word and just stared at the cocoa in her mug. The cocoa was probably already cold.
“And that’s how it is.”
I concluded my story.
“If I refuse, Kengo will probably come to you directly. I think he went through me as a step to be considerate. In summary, Kengo wants you to see the painting and, if possible, he wants to grab onto a reed. That’s all.”
Osanai-san continued to stare at the cocoa, tilting her head.
“Strange.”
“What’s strange about it?”
“The cocoa in this kind of shop doesn’t form a milk film on the surface. I wonder why…”
“It’s the action of proteins.”
I wasn’t wrong, but it was a useless remark that didn’t help at all. After taking a small sip of the cold cocoa and placing the mug down, she finally looked up and stared at me directly.
“As for Doujima-kun’s story…”
She started, then continued.
“I don’t want to.”
Well, that was understandable.
I leaned back deeply in my seat. Osanai-san and I had formed our reciprocal relationship to escape from such complicated matters. To avoid danger, we used each other. Last spring, when Kengo asked me if I wanted to know the identity of the strange painting, Osanai-san took on the task of solving it precisely for that reason, but it turned out badly, and she was misunderstood as someone who was knowledgeable about paintings. From her perspective, she wished to avoid any incidents that would further spread that false name.
“Well then, what should we do?”
“Since Doujima-kun is a good person, if he hears that I don’t want to, I don’t think he’ll force me.”
“Probably. But if he asks you why you don’t want to, how would you answer?”
“Well…”
Osanai-san paused and thought deeply.
“…I can’t say that it’s because I’m not confident about it, right?”
“I don’t think it’s impossible, but Kengo was giving off the vibe that he didn’t want to put psychological pressure on you, Osanai-san. If you take that into account, it might be better to have a different reason.”
“Then, um…”
Osanai-san stared at the simple mug from the family restaurant for a while. I suddenly glanced outside the window. In this February night, there was no snow in the street, and trucks loaded with goods necessary to sustain society sped east and west.
“Kobato-kun.”
“Hm?”
“What should I do? I can’t think of a reason not to see the painting.”
…Indeed.
Of course, if it turned out that the painting wasn’t a copy, Kengo would breathe a sigh of relief and be able to sleep peacefully. It was true that Osanai-san had no obligation to accept, but it was actually hard to come up with a reason to refuse such a small request. If she refused too categorically, Kengo might think that she harbored ill will towards him. According to our spirit of mutual assistance, I should be Osanai-san’s shield in such situations, but even so, I had no idea what to do this time. For now, I asked a question.
“By the way, to put it bluntly, why don’t you want to?”
“Because I don’t want to be relied upon.”
Without hesitation, a clear answer came back. After a moment, she added,
“And if I really understand Shima Taiga’s intention, I’ll end up like a high school appraiser.”
Would a teacup be sold for a million yen just because Osanai-san glanced at it and said “Hatena”1…?
I also answered back.
“Putting aside the bit about being an appraiser… Not to criticize you, but you didn’t seem to mind being relied upon by Kogi-san.”
Kogi-san was a middle school student living in Nagoya, and we got to know each other by chance. When Koji-san was embroiled in a troublesome incident, Osanai-san went to Nagoya to solve it. By the way, I was also taken along at that time, and I think I was somewhat helpful.
Osanai-san released her hands from the mug, looked down, and put them in the pockets of her down jacket.
“I’ve never thought that I want to be fair to everyone.”
“…”
“Kogi-san is a friend. I didn’t choose for it to be that way, but in the end, we became friends. I did as much as I could because Kogi-san, who was crying, asked for help. Even when Kogi-san herself said halfway through, ‘It’s fine, please stop.’ But I don’t intend to do that for everyone.”
Osanai-san suddenly looked up.
“Kobato-kun, what about you?”
“Me?”
“Doujima-kun is your friend, not mine. If the word ‘friend’ doesn’t resonate with you, it can be an acquaintance or anything else. Do you want to do something for Doujima-kun?”
Do something for Kengo, huh.
As Osanai-san had carefully added, Kengo and I couldn’t be called friends. But it would be a lie to say we had no connection with each other. When Doujima Kengo, with his mouth in a frown, said he was the one who informed the TV station about the painting’s existence, and that he was drowning, did I just think, “Oh, that’s tough,” without any further thought?
…I might have thought exactly that.
On the other side of the full-glass window, trucks continue to rush through the bypass. As Osanai-san shrank her body from the cold, I took a sip of hot oolong tea.
“How about this?”
I said something to buy time.
“It’s hard to refuse to see the painting. So, out of obligation, you’ll at least take a look. Then you’ll say it’s beautiful, but nothing else comes to mind.”
Osanai-san let out a small sigh.
“I also thought that was the only compromise. But, Kobato-kun.”
Dark eyes looked at me sharply.
“Just in case… I’m saying this just in case, but if you find a clue and start deducing, that would mean you used me as a decoy.”
Osanai-san’s words were indeed reasonable.
Osanai-san and I used each other. But it must be with mutual understanding. A little mischief was fine, but using someone without their consent was not acceptable. If I dragged Osanai-san out to pretend to take a look, but as a result noticed something and conveyed it to Kengo, that would be disloyal to Osanai-san.
I suddenly found it amusing. We, of all people, didn’t even consider the most likely possibility that we wouldn’t be able to make any progress on the painting’s mystery from the start. Wasn’t that ridiculous and foolish?
Chuckling a bit, the stiffness in my thoughts melted away. Now I understood what we should do.
“Osanai-san.”
“What is it?”
“I want to help Kengo a little because he’s in trouble. But I don’t want to make a big deal out of it, so I want you to be my decoy. Even if I find something, I’ll be careful about how I convey it so that you don’t become famous as an appraiser.”
Osanai-san nodded.
“Then I understand. I owe you for helping with Kogi-san’s problem, so this will be even.”
“Sorry for asking you to do this.”
“Then, as a down payment, please give me another cup of hot cocoa.”
Why did it turn to me treating her to cocoa when it was supposed to be even? When I her that, Osanai-san hugged herself and shivered. That was probably an appeal for cocoa because it was cold.
Or perhaps it was a gesture saying that she had contracted malaria.
In my view, the facts in this case first needed to be organized.
For that, we needed to strategize a bit more in this family restaurant, so Osanai-san had to endure the cold, which meant we needed to add cocoa. Just as I was about to press the button to call the staff, Osanai-san reached over and pressed it herself, ordering her own cocoa. I couldn’t help but stare at her face.
“Didn’t you want me to buy it for you?”
“…That was a witty petit bourgeois joke.”
Not exactly a joke that was easy to get.
I also stood up, went to the drink bar, and poured more hot oolong tea. By that time, a new cocoa had also been served, and Osanai-san was happily cradling the mug with both hands. The night was getting late, and it was past nine o’clock. It was getting dangerously late for high school students to be wandering around.
“The information Kengo shared about Shima Taiga’s painting was concise, and that’s precisely why it was insufficient. I don’t have the sensitivity to read anything just by looking at the painting. I need more accurate information.”
Osanai-san nodded silently.
“So, what was insufficient about Kengo’s information? What should we ask in detail?”
“Everything.”
A very clear answer.
“…Specifically?”
“What do you think, Kobato-kun?”
Well, it’s true that this matter was originally a request for Osanai-san’s cooperation, but I found it a little unsatisfactory for my question to be thrown back at me. Then again, it was reasonable for me to raise questions as a starting point.
“First, Kengo said that Shima Taiga’s painting was left in school. Where was it? Second, who found it?”
“Hold on.”
Osanai-san released her mug and stopped me.
“How many are you going to list?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You’ll definitely forget later, so write it down.”
That was true, but I didn’t have paper or a pen on me… Just as I was thinking that, a notebook appeared in Osanai-san’s hand. No way.
“Huh? Where did that come from?”
“Where, you ask…”
Osanai-san twisted her body a bit, showing me that she was wearing a thin backpack. It seemed that the notebook had been pulled out from over her shoulder from inside the backpack. While I was surprised by her dexterity…
“Why are you wearing a backpack inside the store?”
“Why, you ask… it’s to prevent getting cold from the back…”
She gave me a look that seemed to say, “Why are you asking such an obvious question?” Was I really being senseless there…? I didn’t think so, though…
Whatever the case, a notebook appeared, and then a ballpoint pen came out of the backpack. I took the pen and started listing the vague points from Kengo’s story as they came to mind.
1. Where was Shima Taiga’s painting?
2. Who found it?
3. Was it found by chance, or was it being searched for? If it was being searched for, who suggested that it might be there?
4. Who is Nicolas de Staël?
5. Why was the found painting placed in an empty classroom? Although I feel like there might not be a significant reason for this.
6. Was Kengo the only one who noticed that the painting was a copy of Nicolas de Staël’s painting?
7. What kind of exhibition was the painting displayed in?
8. How did Kengo know that Shima Taiga’s painting was exhibited, even though it was thirty years ago?
9. What kind of evaluation did it receive at the exhibition?
10. Kengo pointed out that it’s strange that Shima Taiga hadn’t collected the painting for decades. I pointed out that it’s strange for a student’s painting from decades ago to still be in the school.
11. Does Shima Taiga not know that it exists? If he did, why hasn’t he done anything about it?
12. What does the title “The Sight and the Outer, or Fortune-cookie” mean?
After adding some points and crossing others out with double lines, it ended up like this.
The painting Shima Taiga had left in school was undoubtedly a copy of Nicolas de Staël’s, but there were many unclear points surrounding it. However, they should all be easy to find out.
“If I ask Kengo, it seems like many of these things can be found out tonight. It’s already late, but I’ll call him later.”
Osanai-san lifted her mug and drank some cocoa, but then looked up at me and said,
“Ok.”
Just to be sure, I asked.
“Osanai-san, do you have any other points you want to know?”
Then Osanai-san tilted her head and gestured for the pen. When I handed her the pen, she put down the mug and wrote in a slightly peculiar handwriting,
13. Are fortune-cookies delicious?
The San Francisco Cookie Mystery (Part 2) | Contents | The San Francisco Cookie Mystery (Part 4)