Chapter 2 [Ghost], Part 6/7 

Three days later, in the evening.

Gamou had been called to the estate of the British Consul as usual, and after a game of chess, he told Graham that he would not be able to come from the next day onwards.

“I received the red slip.” [1]

His sudden statement had caused Graham to widen his eyes in shock. Gamou shrugged.

“It’s the notice for enlistment, I’ve been deployed to the army. I’ll be joining next week, and before that, I would like to return to my hometown to meet with my relatives. The shop’s let me off duty since today, so this is the last time I played chess with you.”

“Ah, I see, you’re joining the Imperial Japanese Army…”

Graham furrowed his brows slightly, muttering in sorrow. He then stood up, extending his hand towards Gamou.

“May you be glorious in the days to come. Thank you for your care all this time, I look forward to the day where I can play against you again.”

Gamou also stood up and shook his hand, subconsciously letting out a bitter laugh in his heart.

—Thank you for your care all this time.

Graham had spoken those words, but he would never know the weight of the burden they carry. He would never realize that Gamou would be his savior just as he was about to be arrested for being associated with the terrorist bombings.

The Japanese military police had suspected his involvement due to his presence at the communication posts of the terrorist organization. An investigation carried out after the incident also revealed that the paper used for the note that seemed to contain coded instructions was the specialized paper used by the British embassy.

Based on these circumstances, the chances of Graham being the one who was responsible for delivering instructions was very high.

According to the analysis of the evidence, Graham was highly suspicious.

But according to Gamou’s inner conviction he had obtained from his acquaintance with Graham, he was almost completely innocent.

Being faced with such a bizarre difference, Gamou had been struggling to identify what was correct and what was not.

But perhaps both sides are correct?

Graham had been delivering instructions to the contact points, but what if he himself had been oblivious to this?

When Gamou had broken into the estate three days prior, he had thought of the certain possibility Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki had hinted towards him as he was about to leave the vicinity, and after additional confirmation, he had discovered that the possibility was entirely plausible.

Graham, who had preserved his personality of a gentleman, would always bring along an umbrella, hanging it on his arm in the place of a walking cane.

Gamou had examined the umbrella that stood in the stand in the study, and discovered that the handle had been hollow.

If Graham had been used as an “innocent messenger”…that was to say, if he had been unknowingly delivering messages stuffed into the handle of the umbrella,  that would explain the strange contrast. However…

Who, and for what, had been going through all this trouble?

~~~~

—The answer should reveal itself soon.

Gamou played his last game of chess with Graham, and had stolen a glance at the clock.

He had made an anonymous phone call before he had come to the estate.

A phone call to the headquarters of the Yokohama military police.

The military police of Yokohama, who were rushing to carry out meritorious service, had disregarded the suppression from the General Staff Headquarters, and had been about to prepare and leave to arrest Graham.

Gamou had specified for the captain of military police to answer, and had told him the names and occupations of the leading members of the assassination of prominent government figures that was to be carried out during the commemorative ceremony of Kōki 2060.

The captain had been perplexed by the sudden call from an anonymous person, and had doubted the credibility of the information. But Gamou paid no attention, and had hung up after speaking in a threateningly low voice.

—Tonight is the only chance, if you don’t hurry up and go in for the arrest, the culprits would escape.

Speaking of which, this “Plan of the Assassination of Prominent Government Figures during the Commemorative Ceremony of  Kōki 2060” plot was a confidential plan that should never be leaked out in the first place. It would be impossible for the Yokohama military police to turn a blind eye towards the information received in the phone call.  

At least those from the military police would have to time for Graham’s arrest tonight.

Gamou had named around a dozen of suspects. In order to cast a wide net, the military police will have no choice but to split up to carry out the operation. They should be raiding the homes of those who were involved by now, arresting them.

“I’ll be using my knight to capture your queen.”

Gamou had pretended to take no notice of the simple trap Graham had laid down on the chessboard, advancing without hesitation.

—No matter how harshly they interrogate those people, they shouldn’t be able to find evidence to prove their association with the British Consul General, Ernest Graham.

Gamou’s heart was resting assured.

Putting messages in handles of umbrella was a common, old trick. But there were numerous ways to hide and deliver them in secret, and such going through such trouble was unnecessary. The reason Gamou had overseen this during his investigation was due to this, and it could be said that this was his blind spot; but Gamou had always felt that someone had intentionally used this method, and their motive was…

Perhaps to draw suspicion to Graham.

To be frank, to prove Graham’s innocence based on Gamou’s investigation was a rather difficult task.

It is impossible to prove that he is completely innocent.

That would be the typical case.

But to completely clear Graham of his suspicion, there was only one way.

That was to find another actual perpetrator.

The night he had broken into the estate, Gamou had added a contraption to the umbrella.

 The contraption he had added would cause ink to stain the fingers of those who have taken apart the handle of the umbrella. The specialized fluorescent ink had been developed by the army as per the request of the request of the D-Agency, appearing colourless under normal circumstances, but would react and appear coloured under the influence of certain light wavelengths.

In the following three days, Gamou had been following Graham, observing the fingers belonging to the ones that surrounded him.

A few of them had had their fingers react to the contraption, revealing coloured ink.

They were the Chinese secretary who worked at the British embassy, Graham’s cloakroom attendant who constantly went in and out of the building, and the waiters at the coffee house and.

They must have been using Graham as a messenger to deliver the messages.

And on the other hand, Graham’s fingers never appeared to be stained.

From the current situation, the originally “highly suspicious” Graham was now completely cleansed of his guilt.

Turning in the newly found suspects to the military police would be enough to remove the crown of suspicion placed upon Graham’s head. However…

An idea had struck Gamou during the investigative process of ‘confirm whether Graham was guilty or not.’

The bomb plot may be just a guise.

No, the Chinese Gamou had used to replace Graham to turn in to the military police were all extreme patriots, presumably enraged by the activities of the Japanese army in China, and were really about to carry out a terrorist bombing to protest against the Japanese. But on the other hand, the one who had organized the group, giving them directions and guaranteeing the provision of the bomb was a ghost that could never be tracked down even if further investigations were to be carried out.

Gamou believed that the string of disturbances was to urge the military police to arrest the British Consul General, Ernest Graham, worsening Anglo-Japanese relations. The patriotic Chinese who were in Japan had been used.

Seeing that he had seen through the method, Gamou was able to confirm that there were spies of another country at work behind the scenes.

Or perhaps it was merely the Chinese Communist Party that has wished to weaken the Japanese forces in mainland China, and thus had used the patriots in Japan.  Besides this, it could also be the works of the Soviet intelligence department, whom were currently at a confrontation with Japan in northern China, or it could be the result of the serious opposition between Britain and Germany in Europe, and was a trap laid down by the Germans to pull Japan to their side.

No matter what, if there were spies of another land orchestrating this in the dark, carrying further investigations would be no easy feat.

This mission can only go so far.

—No matter the investigation, it is impossible to see through everything.  Do not forget about this.

Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki’s words were in fact a warning, telling Gamou not to delve deeper into the case.

~~~~

After Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki had known of Graham’s innocence, he had to Gamou that the mission has drawn to a close.

This mission ends here.

But Gamou had not lied to Graham. The real Gamou Jirou that had been detained had really been enlisted by the army after a while, and had been sent to mainland China. As long as Graham has not left Japan, even if he had been wounded in battle, he was not allowed to return to the country. With this, there would be no danger of Graham running into the real Gamou Jirou by accident.

The suspects that had been arrested this night also included the secretary from the British embassy, however, the plan of the assassination of prominent government figures during the commemorative ceremony of Kōki 2600 that were to be carried out had never been disclosed to the public, therefore they would probably use “he was arrested for wrecking a havoc while he was drunk” as a reason to explain to Consul General Graham.

Graham would never know of the suspicion he had drawn upon himself, and everything that had happened around him.

~~~~

In the final round, Gamou had allowed Graham to win the game without giving himself away, and stood up.

Graham had uncustomarily seen him to the front door.

“Ah, it’s such a trouble. How would I pass the time from tomorrow onwards?”

Graham extended his hand reluctantly once again. Gamou took the hand that had white hairs littered across the back, just then, Graham suddenly glanced left and right, and whispered to Gamou.

“I’ll tell only you about this, I might leave Japan soon as well.”

“…are you returning to your country?”

“Hm, you know it as much as I do, I love Japan and wish to live here in the long-term, but my wife…”

“How is the Lady?”

“It’s nothing much, perhaps it’s just the effects of neurasthenia…”

Graham’s expression was uncertain, hesitating as he spoke, in the end, he had continued in a quiet voice.

“She said that ‘there’s a ghost in the estate’, and was terrified.”

“…a ghost?”

“My wife said that three nights ago, she had seen the ghost of a man walking soundlessly in the property with her very own eyes, and was unwilling to continue living in here. But think about it, the construction of the estate had been complete just a mere few years ago, and no one has died. If this were like the old houses in Britain that were passed on from generation to generation, then it would be another story, how could a ghost exist in an estate like this?”

Gamou nodded with a hint of a smile on his face, agreeing with his statement.

“You think so too, don’t you? But no matter what I say, my wife has turned her ear away from those words. In the end, she insisted that ‘no matter what, I have to return to Britain’…Speaking of which, I heard that she has used the family ties and arrangement for me to take up a more relaxing job in the government, I have no choice but to return.”

Graham’s expression was helpless as he spoke, but his eyes told a different tale from the words delivered from his lips, an ambition-filled glow radiating off of them.

—A promotion even when I am at this age.

It seems that he had really wanted to find someone to share this joy with in his heart.

Gamou artfully congratulated Graham on his promotion and bade him farewell.

Annotations:

[1] The red slip: The red slip was a notice that was sent to men in Japan that signified their enlistment in the army. A blue slip would signify their enlistment in the defense forces, while a white one would mean they were enlisted for exercises. The name of the recipient, assigned unit, date and time to appear in the unit etc would be stated on the notice.