Dogra Magra (41/47)

by Hisashi Yumeno

Let's now turn to the Nogata incident, which occurred two years prior, specifically on March 26, Taisho 13 (1924). On that night, W and M were indeed in Fukuoka City. This is because on March 25, they had, for the first time in a long while, passed through the gates of this university, met with Dr. Saito, who was then a professor of psychiatry, as well as senior and junior alumni, after which they submitted a thesis to the president and received the silver watch they had entrusted since graduation. They decided to stay at the Horai-kan inn again. Furthermore, W, at that time, was living a bachelor's life in a large house in Haruyoshi Rokuban-cho with only an old woman who cooked for him, so it was nothing for him to slip out after dark and return in the morning. In other words, both of them were in a perfect location to prove they were not at the scene.

Around nine o'clock that evening, a new box-shaped automobile departed Fukuoka, piercing through the darkness of the cloudy sky. The person inside, who appeared to be a coal mine nouveau riche, said, "I have an urgent matter, and the train to Nogata has just left, so there's no choice. Please take me to Nogata at full speed."

"...Eh, then Wu Yi-lang's somnambulism..."

Dr. Masaki passed in front of me, then turned back and sneered.

"...It's a lie, a complete fabrication."

My brain suddenly began to spin like a windmill. My body naturally tilted, and I almost fell to one side, but I barely managed to brace myself against the armrest of the chair.

"...If there was such a somnambulism, I would never see it again. First of all, the explanation that the bamboo crossbar at the kitchen entrance fell is extremely unclear, isn't it? Perhaps they tried to reach a gloved hand through the door and grab it with their fingers, but accidentally dropped it at that time... That would explain it. However, it's also possible that they easily removed it and later made it look like it fell naturally... Well, never mind. No matter how many crucial details are missing, if you listen to my explanation, you'll understand it at once... And the reason why I concluded it was somnambulism will also become clear at the same time..."

The rotation in my brain gradually quieted down and eventually came to a silent stop. At the same time, my hair began to rustle, and I closed my eyes, clenching my back teeth tightly.

"...Judge, you must stay focused. From now on, things will become truly incomprehensible, full of terrifying events... Haha..."

"..............."

"...So... Next, if you carefully read and ponder this investigation document, there are two points that feel unusual. One is, as you suspected, that the method of searching for the culprit relies solely on Wu Yil-lang's statement after his memory recovery, completely abandoning other search methods. ...And the other is the special attention paid to Wu Yil-lang's date of birth... These are the two points. Understand...?"

“...By the way, regarding the age of that Go Ichiro, this investigation report includes a newspaper clipping as reference, and according to that article, Go Ichiro's mother, Chiyoko, after running away from home around Meiji 38 (1905), attended a sewing school with a rather affected name at a teahouse outside Fukuoka City for about a year, but it seems she did not give birth to a child during that time. ...So... if he wasn't born then, it can be inferred that Go Ichiro was born from the latter half of Meiji 39 (1906) to early Meiji 40 (1907). ...However, a clipping like this, used as material for estimating age, might, from a common-sense perspective, be considered to have been inserted specifically as a precaution because Go Ichiro was an illegitimate child. Also, a newspaper reporter who suspected an old romantic relationship as the truth behind the 'Beautiful Widow Murder Labyrinth Case,' which was a topic of discussion at the time, might have dug up such a story. However, since the name Migiwa Nijino, which is related to Go Kotei, appeared in that article, it could also be thought that it was incorporated into this investigation report incidentally. But from my perspective, it seems to contain a more profound, different implication. ...That is, December of Meiji 40 (1907), which is estimated to be the year Go Ichiro was born, is the year when the Fukuoka Medical University, the predecessor of this Kyushu Imperial University, had its first graduating class, meaning the year we were born. ...Do you understand...?”

“……………”

“...By the way, from an outsider's perspective, this might seem like a somewhat baseless, unnecessary suspicion, but in fact, it's not. There was a suspicious character among the university students at that time. This investigation report seems to want to say, but cannot quite say, that this person was the very origin of this incident, and that the perpetrator of the Nogata incident must also be that person. ...This is what I call the psychology of confession. It's an manifestation of the timeless proverb that one falls not by questioning, but by speaking. Only W and M know the true date and place of Go Ichiro's birth, besides his mother Chiyoko.”

I shrugged my shoulders forcefully, without understanding what I was doing. Dr. Masaki was silent for a moment then, too, but that silence was so deep it felt like it was plunging me into an infinite abyss, striking my chest... or so I thought, when Dr. Masaki continued speaking again.

“...When I realized that, I shuddered. I thought about myself, but there was no room for excuses. Moreover, the world authority on forensic identification methods for determining whose child it is by examining Ichiro Kure’s blood is in W’s hands.”

Dr. Masaki stopped, facing away, by the south window. He seemed to be looking down dejectedly, swallowing saliva.

I pressed my trembling hand to my forehead again. While suppressing the rising tremors, I firmly gripped my kneecap with one hand.

Dr. Masaki let out a heavy sigh. As if afraid to look out the window, he suddenly turned towards me. He silently looked down and, as if to calm his inner turmoil, he walked back and forth in front of me, across the large table, with soft thuds. Then, at the north window, he turned at a right angle and began pacing back and forth along the window. His figure, still looking down, cast flickering shadows on the edge of the table in front of me each time he passed the dazzling window.

Again, Dr. Masaki cleared his throat deliberately.

“More than twenty years ago, when the Fukuoka Prefectural Hospital was rebuilt into a medical university and newly constructed in this Matsubara, among the first batch of students admitted to that university were two young men named W and M. W aspired to forensic medicine, and M to psychiatry, and they competed for the top position in fields that were still developing in the medical world at the time. Perhaps because W was born into a family with a history of tuberculosis, he was one of the most handsome students of his time, with a nervous and practical personality. M, on the other hand, was a short, ugly man with the opposite characteristics, a genius type like a dreamer. They were competing for academic supremacy.”

However, as I still say, W's ultimate goal was forensic medicine and M's was psychiatry, so their respective ultimate goals were different, but their interest in mental science, whose name was not even known at the time, coincided as if by fate. Or perhaps the diametrically opposed characteristics of their two brains happened to coincide, but in any case, for that reason, they sought guidance from Dr. Saitō, who was a particularly authoritative figure at the time. Among them, their research enthusiasm for problems such as superstitions and suggestions, which had little to do with medicine, seemed to have almost broken through the boiling point. This was probably also due to the influence of Dr. Saitō, who was well-versed in Eastern philosophy. As a result, it was rather a natural consequence that both of them were drawn to a famous terrifying legend in a place not far from Fukuoka.

The two, who had previously harbored a kind of animosity and were somewhat at odds, forgot everything and shook hands the moment they turned their attention to this legend. They then exchanged opinions and decided on the general direction of research methods for this problem. W decided to proceed with research from a relatively practical theme such as "Superstition, the Origin of Legends, and Mental Illness," while M put forward flashy titles such as "Buddhist Karma Theory from the Results of W's Research" and "Scientific Study of Reincarnation Theories Contained in Various Religions of India and Egypt." In any case, they were to push forward from two interconnected sides, front and back. However, it is not difficult to imagine the enthusiasm of the two at that time, as they decided on such terrifying research themes without even grasping the true nature of the legend. In fact, both of them were prepared to trample on all human feelings, conscience, gods, and Buddhas to complete this research. Among Western scientists, many killed their conscience for the sake of academia and made extremely cruel sacrifices, and not a few were criticized by society, but all of them resolutely conducted inhumane research in the name of academia and human culture. In that sense, both W and M firmly promised to carry out this experiment thoroughly, regardless of any sacrifice.

Thus, the two cooperated with more enthusiasm than they had in competing for the top position, and began investigating this legend. Conveniently, Y-ko, the eldest daughter of the Wu family, had reached marriageable age and was looking for a husband. However, rumors of the Wu family's mental illness lineage persisted in the countryside, and no one would come to be her husband. So, after various efforts to search, they finally managed to bring in G, a thirty-year-old man who ran a small kyōzome sikka-ya (Kyoto-style dyeing and general goods shop) in Sunoko-machi, Fukuoka. Due to this circumstance, it was very convenient for the research that the legend concerning the Wu family's bloodline, which had temporarily died out, had revived.

W and M delved deeply into such rumors and legends there. Under the guise of investigating ancient ruins, while W ingratiated himself with the abbot of Kisaragi Temple and secretly copied the temple's historical records, M, who had similarly gained the abbot's trust, took the audacious step of pulling out the head of the problematic principal image, Miroku-sama, to examine it. He then discovered a truly unexpected fact. That is, according to Kisaragi Temple's historical records, the illustrated scroll that was supposed to have been burned by Wu Hongting had, in fact, not been burned. Not only had it remained strictly preserved within the body of the principal image until very recently, but it also became clear that someone had recently discovered it and taken it away somewhere.

This was a truly unexpected discovery for the two, who had intended to be satisfied with merely investigating the historical facts of the Wu family genealogy and the legends surrounding it, and it simultaneously brought great disappointment. However, that disappointment was temporary. The two young people quickly regained their courage, strengthened their resolve more than ever, and began searching for the whereabouts of the illustrated scroll from all directions. And when the results were synthesized, the possibility emerged that the culprit who took the illustrated scroll was, unexpectedly, T-ko, Y-ko's beautiful student sister. "Now, things have become complicated. It might be a bit presumptuous, but as the chief judge, it can't be helped... Hahaha..."

One day, the partnership between W and M unexpectedly came to a clean break. As long as T-ko held the picture scroll, things would be troublesome. Unlike something kept within a temple's main deity, a living person was safeguarding it, making it not easy to steal. It was decided that this research would be temporarily suspended. So be it. Thinking, "Someday again...", their parting was surprisingly abrupt, contrary to their initial enthusiasm. However, the reality was far from abrupt, and they both saw through it. Far from being abrupt, they both sensed that they intended to push forward with this experiment with the same fervent determination as before. It cannot be denied that T-ko's beauty influenced their resolve. However, unlike Wu Qingxiu's loyalty, W and M's sincerity towards this experiment should have been consistent to this day. Of course, both of them were.

Around that time, the area near Fukuoka was in the so-called pioneering era of the academic cap, and university students were highly celebrated, to the extent that geishas would sing, "Will you be a doctor or a director in the end?" Even in ordinary households, the sentiment was "Would you give your daughter to a bachelor?", and works like Koyo Ozaki's "The Golden Demon" and Kosugi Tengai's "Mafu Renpu" were appearing everywhere. W and M both vied for Miss T-ko amidst this, and the outcome clearly reflected their respective characteristics.

Initially, W had the upper hand. After all, W was an exceptionally brilliant young man even among the academic cap wearers of the time, a genius, gentle in demeanor, and kind. M could not compete with this, and he abandoned his studies to roam the fields and mountains, barely finding solace by searching for fossils.

However, W was not a simple man who would be intoxicated by the sweet taste of success. As soon as he had T-ko, he immediately tried to skillfully obtain the picture scroll as planned, saying, "I hear there's a picture scroll of bad karma related to your family line. Would you like to investigate it? Let's study it with the latest scientific knowledge and sever that bad karma. If a boy is born between us, he would have to experience danger." However, T-ko seemed unwilling to part with it, saying, "I don't know anything about such a thing," and did not produce it easily. First, W didn't know where the picture scroll was hidden, so he changed his approach and tried to take T-ko to Fukuoka. He thought that if he took her out, she would surely bring the picture scroll.

Then, fortunately, T-ko's brother-in-law, G, a Kyoto dyeing and finishing shop owner, was an irredeemable lecher who, soon after marrying into the family, began to proposition his sister-in-law T-ko and persistently bothered her. Invited by W, T-ko readily left home and quietly began living with W in Fukuoka. Meanwhile, her older sister Y-ko also vaguely sensed the situation and did not pursue it much, which was convenient. However, the whereabouts of the crucial picture scroll remained unknown. Even with W's discerning eye, he couldn't even tell whether T-ko possessed the picture scroll or not.

Still, W did not despair. He continued to search around T-ko, sometimes even abandoning his school work to track her movements. The alias "Migawa Nijino" that T-ko used, thinking no one but the abbot of Kisaragi-dera Temple and her older sister Y-ko would notice, and the ancient Chinese embroidery she submitted to the exhibition, could not escape W's notice, as he was thoroughly familiar with the stories and history of the picture scroll. It was only natural for him to deduce that T-ko must be hiding it somewhere.

However, T-ko, who was the epitome of calmness, also sensed something from W's attitude. In other words, she was beginning to feel that W's purpose in approaching her was not simple. Perhaps, that purpose might be the picture scroll. She started to harbor vague suspicions like, "What could be the reason for wanting that picture scroll...?" But because she was careful not to show such doubts, W was left with nothing to do. It seemed he had completely come to a standstill. Furthermore, W suffered an even harsher blow and was forced to retreat with tears in his eyes. That is, he received an unexpected blow from T-ko, whom he had been trying to appease in various ways as the sole clue to finding the picture scroll.

As I have already mentioned, T-ko had vaguely sensed that the other person's love was hidden behind an enemy-centric ideology. However, there is another fact. That is, T-ko only learned at that time that W came from a family with a history of severe lung disease, and his constitution proved that fact. In this regard, it simultaneously became clear that W had completely misrepresented the truth to T-ko.

Furthermore, once it was understood that T-ko's actions did not stem from mere infidelity, her cold attitude could no longer be entirely condemned. Behind her infidelity was a painful, sad desire to continue the family line of the Wu family. This desire materialized amidst the trend of free love. As the judgment of a fragile woman, her desire to have children with the healthiest possible lineage is clearly understandable. The fact that people around her, when T-ko ran away from home, teased her by saying, "Even if she stays at home and looks for a husband, she'll probably only find a man like the wandering G," also supported her feelings.

At the same time, one can understand how pure and rational T-ko's character was. From this perspective, it can also be considered that T-ko was an unfortunate and short-lived woman from birth.

Now, there is one thing I must confess here. It is that M, a rival in love, was the one who secretly informed T-ko by letter about W's lineage and current health condition. This was a secret denunciation attempted by M, who could not abandon his affection for T-ko and his attachment to this research. While acting separately from W and searching for anyone else who might be hiding the picture scroll besides T-ko, M inferred T-ko's feelings from village rumors, and his denunciation hit its mark. However, this was a cowardly act, and there is absolutely no room for excuse towards W. Especially since he began approaching T-ko again using that letter as an opportunity.

However, when I reflect on how much a terrifying price M's cowardice at that time continued to demand throughout his subsequent life, it sends shivers down my spine. That someone who dedicated himself to the study of "karma" would be tormented by the very embodiment of karma and decide to commit suicide—the irony of fate is so profound that it robs one of even the power to laugh.

Nevertheless, how could M at that time have foreseen such a future? Drawn by the psychoscientific allure of this legend and T-ko's beauty, he plunged forward with the resolve that nothing else mattered as long as it was for the sake of his studies. And so, in less than half a year, cohabitation with T-ko began, and gradually, signs of her pregnancy became apparent. Then, as the summer holidays of that year began, she soon started to feel fetal movement... but that fetal movement was also the fetal movement of the demon of fate, intent on thoroughly seizing control of the destinies of both W and M for twenty years.

It was the presence of a fetus, desperately trying to grasp and manipulate the hearts of W and M. Centered on research in psychopathology, a wicked and monstrous drama unfolded, transcending blood, tears, duty, and human kindness. It played a central role in a long, suffocating affair, acting as a demon of fate, manipulating the characters to the brink of life and death. The silent act posed a question to the public: "Whose child am I?"

From that time until today, there has been no answer to this question, neither tangible nor intangible. Of course, W and M must have the answer to this question. However, whether that answer is based on certain facts is something even W, who later became an authority on "blood type methods for parent-child identification," has been unable to investigate. This is because it is not easy to obtain his own blood or M's blood.

Furthermore, T-ko was in a position to clearly testify to this fact, but she became "a dead person with no mouth" and left without leaving any evidence. It would have been good if T-ko had at least given the child the surname of the man she recognized as the father during her lifetime and written it down somewhere, but unfortunately, nothing of the sort remains. The family register simply states "Father unknown - Ichiro Kure," leaving W and M free to either affirm or deny their relationship with T-ko.

Who besides the deceased T-ko's conscience would know whether T-ko had relations with any man other than W and M? In short, the father of the fetus conceived in T-ko's womb will remain eternally and absolutely unknown, unless T-ko is resurrected and clearly testifies, or unless it is recorded as an irrefutable record somewhere.