Nobody knows what would have happened.
It was fate – that much is for sure.
XIV
Hisako lost her sight before she started school.
I don’t know the details, but apparently she was injured falling off a swing and hitting the back of her head, then she developed a high fever and gradually her sight went.
Her parents were desperate and had her examined by numerous doctors in Tokyo, but no one could give them any hope of recovery.
She didn’t lose heart, though. Being still young, and a bright, sensitive girl, she got used to being blind very quickly and didn’t appear to be at all incapacitated in daily life. If you spent time with her, you’d see what I mean. When you’re with her it almost feels as if you’re the one at a disadvantage, despite being sighted.
She didn’t go to a special school for the blind, either. Her parents must have done everything they could to get her into an ordinary school. She memorized the school layout and the exact details of the route our group had to walk to school every morning, so she was always confident. After she learned how to use an abacus she could calculate with such extraordinary speed it made everyone wonder what she might have been capable of if she were sighted.
She was very mysterious.
I did wonder more than once if maybe she actually could see. I always had the feeling that she picked up on everything, despite being blind. If you were in a room with her, she immediately perceived changes in people’s facial expressions or what was happening around her. Adults often remarked on it too.
Sometimes she made mysterious comments. Things like I became able to see after I lost my sight. She often said that.
She said once it was as though she could see with her hands, or ears, or forehead. I remember feeling very spooked when I heard her say that.
That’s why I tried to visit her in that house several times after it all happened, because I wanted to ask her privately about it. I thought she must have seen everything.
She had to know who the culprit was.
XV
I really don’t know where Hisako is now. Still overseas, I expect.
We corresponded several times when I was writing The Forgotten Festival, but I’ve lost touch since then. With her intelligence, I’m sure she’s managing perfectly well wherever she is. She might even have regained her sight. I enjoy imagining her being able to see again and prefer to leave it that way. I’m not inclined to look her up and find out for certain.
Oh, I knew it would still be humid outside. It’s almost closing time but the heat hasn’t let up at all, has it? My handkerchief’s soaking wet.
Letter? Ah, that letter, you mean.
Ultimately it remained a mystery. Everything about it – who wrote it and left it there, why, and for whom? What did it mean, and who was this Eugenia?
It was never established anyway that it was he who wrote it. The handwriting was analysed, but experts couldn’t say whether it was his or not as his writing hand was injured at the time. There’s no doubt he touched the letter, but we don’t know whether he took it there or simply touched it by accident when delivering the sake.
In the end, however, that letter was treated as evidence of his crazed delusions.
Eugenia…
It’s not a name that strikes a bell, is it, so the assumption was that it must be a quote from somewhere. But despite extensive research the police never did find any clue as to who or what it might be.
I wonder if that letter ever reached its intended recipient.
That will remain a mystery forever.
XVI
Oh dear, a sudden shower. The rain here creeps up on you before you even notice it getting dark and overcast. Let’s take shelter somewhere.
The raindrops are very large, so I don’t think it’ll last long.
Fate… The world spins on fate.
An amazing coincidence happened to me today.
When I arrived at the station, I saw a familiar face. We both recognized each other, but – as often happens – couldn’t remember each other’s name.
We stood there talking for a while, sizing each other up, and then we both remembered at the same time.
It was the policewoman who assisted in the investigation, interviewing women and children.
Meeting her again really took me back. She’s retired now, apparently.
We chatted a bit, then she suddenly brought up the topic of Hisako Aosawa’s interviews, and I learned something that I hadn’t known before writing The Forgotten Festival.
It was about the blue room that I mentioned to you earlier.
Well, it might have been because of the shock, but apparently the first things Hisako spoke of in interviews were memories of when she could see, and she mentioned the ultramarine room in Seisonkaku Villa.
Another thing she mentioned was the white crepe myrtle.
That was a shock – I mean for me. It was a big shock that Hisako had spoken of the ultramarine room and the white crepe myrtle immediately afterwards.
If I’d known this before writing The Forgotten Festival, it would have been completely different.
XVII
What exactly do you want to know?
Do you intend to use my Forgotten Festival to write your own Forgotten Festival?
Me? Write a new Forgotten Festival?
Yes, I could possibly write another Festival, but that would belong to me – not you. There will most definitely not be another Forgotten Festival.
The real culprit? No, that’s not what I was saying. Well, I’m not sure… I really don’t know.
You see, it’s a very simple story.
If there are ten people in a house and nine die, who is the culprit?
It’s not a whodunnit. The answer’s easy – it’s the survivor, of course.
That’s what I’m saying.
Hisako did it?
Well, I don’t know what to think. I can’t confirm or deny anything. There’s no evidence or grounds to think that. But after coming here today, I know this – the last remaining person was the culprit. That’s all.
Oh, it’s so hot. Look how big the raindrops are still. This rain doesn’t look like stopping any time soon. It simply stirs the heat up even more.
Such dreadful heat…
How long will this last, I wonder?
2
TWO RIVERS AND A HILL
The assistant
I
It’s a long time since I took a stroll along this river.
The humidity’s as oppressive as ever.
Indeed it is, and today’s another sultry day. It’s like being in a sauna. This clammy sensation on the skin brings back vivid memories.
Well, from my observations of the city so far, it’s hardly changed in some respects, yet in others it’s considerably different. In all honesty, I don’t recall much. I was an utterly average student back then, not given too much to deep reflection. And it’s been more than twenty years since I helped Makiko Saiga with the interviews for The Forgotten Festival. Well now, let me think, how old was I when the purpose of my travels began to change…
As a young man, I’d travelled with the intention of seeing things I’d never seen before. If memory serves me rightly, I used to say I’d go and see anything once so long as it was new, or had curiosity value, or was out of the ordinary in some way.
However, after I graduated and got a job, I became so consumed by my work that I lost interest in seeing new things. In fact, the aim of my travels became to not see anything I didn’t have to. They were an escape from the daily grind, basically.