Dogra Magra (46/47)

by Hisashi Yumeno

I pressed my eyes and mouth to the desk again and pondered deeply. I couldn't for the life of me remember why I had returned here. I stared at the new square cap I had left on the edge of the desk, trying to recall how I felt at the time, but for some reason, my imagination was dull on this particular occasion. I also felt as if I had forgotten something very important in this room... Thinking this, I slowly lifted my head and looked around, and a large incandescent light bulb shone brightly above me.

The entrance door was half-open.

However, the documents on the large table had been neatly arranged back to their original state, as if someone had tidied them up. There was not an iota of difference from how they were arranged when I entered with Dr. Wakabayashi this morning, and not the slightest trace of having been disturbed. The red Daruma ash tray sitting next to them was also facing the same direction as when I first saw it this morning, seemingly continuing to yawn eternally.

Only the documents, such as the "Dark Age of the Madman" folk song and the "Fetus's Dream" thesis, which were sandwiched between canvas-covered cardboard, clearly showed signs of having been touched recently by someone, upon closer inspection. They seemed to have been thrown down, slightly askew and overlapping. However, the blue melton cloth bundle, which Dr. Masaki must have dusted in front of me this morning, was still covered in a fine layer of gray dust, just as it was when I first saw it, proving that no human hand had touched it for a long time. Besides that, there were no signs of tea having been drunk or food having been eaten on the large table. Just in case, I peered into the red Daruma ash tray, and there wasn't even a speck of cigar ash inside; it continued its big yawn, staring up at me with its golden and black eyes.

...It's strange... Was most of what happened this morning a dream...? I'm sure I saw the contents of that bundle... Such a short time, and so much dust couldn't have accumulated...

I slowly stood up. My knees dangled eerily as if they were about to give way, but I managed to support my cotton-like body by bracing both hands against the edge of the large table, forcing myself to stand. With trembling fingers, I grabbed the muslin furoshiki bundle and pulled it closer, leaving a distinct square dust mark behind. I looked closely again at the stripe of dust embedded in its knot, but no matter how I thought about it, there was no sign that human hands had touched it recently. And when I untied the knot, the white stripe of dust vanished without a trace.

I was dumbfounded.

Staring at the space before me, I replayed the memories from this morning in my mind. However, the memory of Dr. Masaki showing me the contents of this furoshiki and hearing that terrifying explanation, and the white dust on this knot, were two facts that could never coexist. They were two precisely contradictory events.

Clenching my back teeth against the unpleasant sensation spreading through my body, I still used my trembling fingers to unfold the blue furoshiki bundle. From within, just as I had seen it the first time, emerged the newspaper package and Dr. Wakabayashi's original investigation documents, neatly stacked in the exact same form as I had recently seen them. Not only that, fine dust that had seeped through the muslin was lightly covering the black cardboard cover of the original investigation documents, and when I removed the newspaper package containing the picture scroll, another distinct rectangular mark was left behind.

I was stunned again. The sheer strangeness made me feel as if I had been pinched by a fox, and with a feeling of needing to confirm my sanity, I first gently opened the newspaper wrapping of the picture scroll. I meticulously examined everything from the folds of the newspaper, the fit of the box lid, the way the scroll was rolled, to how the string was tied. It all looked as if it had been put away by a very meticulous human hand; everything was neat and tidy, with not a single double fold or crooked crease. When I unrolled the scroll, white powder, emitting a strong insect repellent scent, glittered and scattered onto the desk. The investigation documents I opened next were similar; although no insect repellent had been applied, a faint dusty smell wafted to my nose as I turned the pages. In any case, it was certain that no human hand had touched them recently.

Then, just to be sure, I opened Dr. Masaki's will, which was bound with foolscap. I reread the last two or three pages repeatedly, and what had appeared to be fresh, bluish ink marks that had just dried this morning now looked completely black, and there even seemed to be yellow mold between the lines. By no means did it look like something written two or three days ago.

As I was drawn from one mystery to another, I carried the investigation documents out of the furoshiki, just as Dr. Masaki had done initially. To my surprise, I discovered an old newspaper extra laid underneath. This was certainly not present when Dr. Masaki first opened this furoshiki.

I looked around nervously.

I could only think that somewhere in this room, an invisible magician was performing a trick. Or perhaps my mind was once again experiencing a disturbance, falling into some kind of hallucination. Trembling, I picked up the extra edition. Reading the headline, printed in incredibly large type on the upper right shoulder of the single sheet of newspaper, folded into eight, I involuntarily cried out, "Ah!" I stumbled, catching myself on the swivel chair behind me, nearly falling over.

It was issued by the Saikai Shimbun in Fukuoka City on October 20th, Taisho 15... the day after Dr. Saito's death, as indicated by the calendar on the wall... the very day Dr. Wakabayashi said Dr. Masaki committed suicide. On the upper left shoulder of the page, Dr. Masaki's smiling face, with his pince-nez gleaming and his dentures bared in a wide grin, was printed in a coarse photo plate, about five by four inches in size.

"Kyushu University Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Masaki, commits suicide by jumping. Simultaneously, a rare and brutal murder case that erupted within the insane asylum is exposed."

At approximately 5:00 PM on the 20th, Dr. Keishi Masaki, Professor of Psychiatry and Doctor of Medicine at Kyushu Imperial University, was discovered as a drowned body. The location was the coast near the aquarium at Maidashi Beach, behind the university's Faculty of Medicine. This discovery plunged the university into a maelstrom of confusion.

Behind this confusion lay a shocking incident that occurred around noon on the 19th. At the "Madman's Liberation Treatment Center," which the professor had independently established, a deranged boy brutally murdered a deranged girl and severely injured several other patients present at the facility. University authorities and judicial officials were bewildered by this incident and are currently conducting a strict investigation in utmost secrecy.

The incident occurred around noon on Tuesday, the nineteenth. Dr. Masaki was napping in his professor's office, and ten patients were each performing their respective delusions in the treatment area. Amidst this, a patient named Gisaku Adachi, hearing the signal for lunch, threw down his hoe and left for his room. At that moment, a deranged boy, Ichiro Kure, who had been targeting him, picked up the hoe and violently struck the back of the head of a deranged girl, Shino Asada. Shino died without uttering a sound.

At that time, Mr. Tota Amakasu, the supervisor of the treatment area and a fourth-dan judoka, rushed to the scene, but it was already too late. Two patients, one a political fanatic and the other a religious fanatic, approached Ichiro Kure to save Shino, but they too fell under the hoe's blade, bleeding. Mr. Amakasu quickly tried to grapple with Ichiro Kure from behind, but his resistance was stronger than expected, and Mr. Amakasu desperately endured. The moment Ichiro Kure stepped into a pitfall made by a deranged girl, Mr. Amakasu seized the opportunity, fell, and lost consciousness.

During that time, Ichiro Kure, with the blood-stained hoe in hand, looked around the area and shouted, "Are you interfering with my work?!" No one could approach him, and the area was enveloped in terror. Ichiro Kure then cornered a dancing-maniac girl in the corner of the field and crushed her forehead. Then, approaching an older deranged woman disguised as a queen, she glared at him, saying, "Insolent fellow. Do you not know me?" Ichiro Kure was surprised and stood still with the hoe in hand, but then shouted, "Ah, you are Lady Yang Guifei," and knelt on the sand.

At that moment, Mr. Amakasu, who had barely regained consciousness, let the fleeing madmen out and then fainted again. Ichiro Kure, holding Shino Asada's corpse in one arm, bowed to the deranged woman in queen's attire, left the bloody scene, and returned to his own room, Room Seven. Those around could only stand by, trembling, and watch the scene unfold.

After that, Dr. Masaki rushed to the scene upon receiving an urgent report. He calmly directed the medical staff, took Shino's body and the hoe from Wu Ichiro, put a straitjacket on him, added shackles, and confined him in Room 7. The victims were given first aid, but two male patients were hovering between life and death, and two girls had their skulls crushed.

Afterward, Dr. Masaki returned to Room 7 to check on the confined Wu Ichiro and found him dead, having repeatedly hit his head against the wall of the sickroom. Another commotion ensued, and after the treatment was finished, Dr. Masaki left the classroom. However, around 2:30 PM, when the medical staff member Yamada tried to report that "Wu Ichiro has a chance of recovery," Dr. Masaki was nowhere to be found.

During that time, Dr. Masaki had gone to the university headquarters and was engaged in a loud discussion with President Matsubara. The content of their discussion is unknown, but he repeatedly stated, "The experiment of liberation therapy for the insane has ended in a great success as expected due to this incident," and conveyed that he had ordered the closure of the treatment facility. He said, "I will submit my resignation tomorrow. I have entrusted the rest to Dean Wakabayashi," and then, laughing, he opened the door and left. The administrative staff who witnessed this suspected Dr. Masaki's insanity and exchanged glances, trembling with fear.

After leaving the president's office, Dr. Masaki, irresponsibly, seemed to have left the severely injured patients to the doctors and headed home. He apparently drank somewhere on the way and became heavily intoxicated, as when he returned to his lodging in Minato-machi, Fukuoka City, that evening, he was sound asleep, snoring like thunder. After a while, around nine o'clock at night, he reportedly said, "I'm going out to eat," and then casually left the lodging and disappeared. However, rumors also say that he secretly returned to his private room in the Kyushu University Department of Psychiatry and spent the night organizing documents.

Around five o'clock that afternoon, two men passing by the beach behind the university discovered a strange drowned body. They immediately reported it to the Hakozaki Police Station, and Chief Manda and Patrolman Mitsukawa went to the scene to investigate. As a result, it was identified as Dr. Masaki from a business card in his pocket, causing a great commotion. Judge Atami and Clerk Matsuoka from the Fukuoka District Court, Inspector Tsugawa and Police Surgeon Hasegawa from the Fukuoka Police Station, and professors including Dean Wakabayashi from the university rushed to the scene. The examination revealed that the doctor had placed his hat and cigar butt on the stone wall behind the aquarium on the beach, and, still wearing his medical gown, had apparently thrown himself into the high tide, bound by iron handcuffs and leg irons for the insane. Approximately three hours had passed since his death, so no emergency treatment could be administered.

Regarding this matter, Dean Wakabayashi and other concerned parties remained silent, not uttering a single word, and seemingly tried to keep it as secret as possible along with the aforementioned catastrophe. However, the truth was revealed through the agile investigation of the head office. No suicide note was found regarding the cause of Dr. Masaki's suicide, and his study and desk at his lodging were tidily arranged as usual, with no abnormalities observed. Furthermore, it was not unusual for him to return to his lodging after drinking and then go out for a walk, not returning, once or twice a month, so those at the lodging did not find it particularly suspicious.

Regarding this bizarre mystery, Mr. Amakasu Tota, who was a supervisor at the liberation therapy center, spoke from his home with bandages wrapped around his injured chest: "It was a completely unexpected event, and I regret ever having taken on such a role from the beginning. However, the responsibility is certainly mine, and especially since the liberation therapy center for the insane was closed as of yesterday, I will first submit my resignation to Dr. Masaki and apologize. Was that the strength of a madman? He unexpectedly dodged my shoulder just as I was putting all my strength into it with surprising power, and I suffered an unexpected lapse. I fainted twice, and I am utterly disgraced. However, I quickly regained consciousness after the second faint, so I rushed to Room 7 with three doctors to try and subdue Ichiro, but Ichiro, crazed with blood, swung the hoe he was holding and shouted, 'Don't come to see, don't come to see,' making it very dangerous to approach him. When Dr. Masaki rushed there, Wu Ichiro suddenly quieted down and, bowing happily, pointed to the half-naked corpse of the blood-soaked girl Shino and said something strange: 'Father, could you lend me that picture scroll you lent me at the quarry the other day again? I've found such a good model...' Hearing this, Dr. Masaki looked around at us with a very agitated expression, his face so pale that it's still terrifying to recall, but he shouted, 'What nonsense are you talking about!' and single-handedly grappled with Wu Ichiro and subdued him. He seemed to be pale for a while afterward, but after Wu Ichiro hit his head against the wall and died, he seemed to regain his composure and, despite being in the midst of a major incident, immediately gave instructions."I did. (When the reporter announced Ichiro's resuscitation) "Is that true? Is that really true? When I saw him, his face was covered in blood, and Dr. Masaki said that he had a severe concussion and his breathing had stopped, so I thought he wouldn't make it, but he hit his head against the wall while his limbs were disabled, so it probably wasn't that strong." (Next, when told of Dr. Masaki's suicide and asked about the cause of death, Amakasu was stunned, his face turned pale, and he said with tears in his eyes) "Is that true? If it's true, I can't just stand by like this. I owe Dr. Masaki a great debt. A few years ago, when I was wandering in America, I contracted pneumonia near Chicago, and no one helped me. Dr. Masaki took me in and admitted me to the hospital. At that time, Dr. Masaki said, 'If you want to repay this debt, live in Fukuoka and wait for me to return,' and he even gave me a lot of travel money. So, as soon as I returned to Japan, I started working as a judo instructor at Eiwa Gakuin, but as soon as Dr. Masaki came to the university, I immediately resigned and took on the role of supervising the treatment facility. Dr. Masaki was someone who thought optimistically about everything, and I respected him, but he was a person of high character, so his sense of responsibility must have been strong."

After that, a large fire broke out in Meinohama. Around 6 PM, a fire started in the back parlor of the main house of Kure Yayo in Meinohama, Sawara-gun, Fukuoka Prefecture. Before people could rush to the scene in surprise, the fire, fanned by clear weather and strong winds, rapidly intensified, engulfing Kure Yayo's house, including several rental properties, in a massive blaze. The fire also spread to the back of the main hall of Kisaragi-ji Temple, which was nearby, and continued to spread. However, the fire departments from the distant city could not arrive in time, and the local fire departments seemed overwhelmed. Then, Kure Yayo (Kure Ichiro's aunt, 40 years old), who was identified as the arsonist, jumped into the raging flames of the temple's main hall and tragically burned to death in full view of the crowd. She had been mentally unstable since losing her only daughter this spring, and upon hearing the rumor that her beloved nephew Ichiro had died an unnatural death that day, she likely became even more deranged, leading to this situation.

――――――――――――――――――――

I lifted my face from the extra edition, feeling as if my head was being pressed down, and nervously looked around.

Soon, in the middle of the blue furoshiki spread before my nose, I found something like a card that had been hidden under the extra edition. "Ah, so something like this was still left," I thought, and stood up to peer at it. It was the back of a government-issued postcard, with about five or six lines of familiar, upward-sloping penmanship written on it.

"I am ashamed.

I was also the one who drank with Mr. S.

I will be reborn and start over.

I entrust the future of my son and wife to you.

20th, 1 PM, from M.

To Brother W."

The extra edition slipped weakly from my hand, fluttering down. At that moment, the entire room, along with my body, felt as if it were sinking into the depths of the earth.

I staggered to my feet and unconsciously approached the south-facing window. Above the two large chimneys protruding from the roof opposite, the full moon shone brilliantly. Below it, the illuminated asylum for the insane was silent and deserted; what had appeared to be a flat expanse of white sand this morning now showed patches of high and low ground, overgrown with withered grass. In the center, five or six paulownia trees, their leaves all fallen at some point, swayed their peculiar branches, gazing up at the starlight.

"...How strange..." I murmured to myself, and when I put my hand to my head, strangely enough, the bizarre headache I had felt since this morning was nowhere to be found, no matter where I searched or rubbed. It had vanished as if wiped away.

As if searching for the whereabouts of that pain, I held my head with one hand and looked around the room, which was creating a silence of yellow light rays and black shadows. Then, I looked again at the moonlight outside the window, shining brilliantly in platinum white.

It was then.

All the truth, transparent as ice, began to line up before my eyes...

...It's not strange.

...It's not strange at all.

...I had been in a double hallucination since this morning. I had been suffering from what Dr. Masaki called "soul-separation sickness."

...I must have been sleepwalking exactly like today, a month ago, on October 20th.

On the early morning of October 20th, a month ago, while it was still pitch dark, I was sleeping in the same posture as this morning on the dirt floor of his Room No. 7, and woke up in the same state as this morning. I had been wandering around, searching for my own name.

Then... after meeting Dr. Wakabayashi and undergoing various experiments, just like this morning, to recover my past memories, I was brought into this room, and in the same order as this morning, I saw and heard various things.

After finishing reading the will, I immediately met Dr. Masaki, the author of the will, and was as terrified as I was today. Then, guided by Dr. Masaki, I looked out the south window, and the scene of the open treatment center, which had been closed since the previous day, spread out before me. At the same time, I fell into a somnambulistic state dominated by the most recent memory in my past, and at exactly that time the previous day, I hallucinated myself watching my grandfather tilling the field outside the window. And at that moment, I unconsciously touched the pain in my head, which I had gotten from hitting it against the wall the previous night, and jumped up.

At that time, Dr. Masaki explained the dissociative disorder to me, just as he did today, and that explanation was indeed true.

However... at that time, I was so deeply caught in a hallucination that I couldn't believe it, and after debating with Dr. Masaki as I did, I completely defeated him. I finally made him truly decide to commit suicide.

However, I didn't notice such a thing and remained in this room, discovering Chiyoko's waka poem written at the very end of this picture scroll. Then, as I did today, I was surprised and rushed outside, wandering through the towns of Fukuoka, when I remembered the picture scroll I had left spread out in this room, and once again, as I did today, I flew back in a daze. Perhaps Dr. Masaki returned to this room later and discovered Chiyoko's waka poem written at the end of the spread-out picture scroll. And perhaps he finally made up his mind there...