That. That was the odd thing. Mr Sato cared about Yoko. He hadn’t said a word about harming her. In fact, it was the opposite. He’d always helped her. Back in Akakawa, he had warned her about the impending danger and facilitated her escape. He wanted to keep her safe and had gone to great lengths to do so, but why?

‘Yoko told me you know her parents,’ Shoji said.

Mr Sato paused. ‘Let’s just say that we do know each other, well. Too well, in fact.’

Shoji sensed hostility in his tone. They weren’t good friends. Mr Sato hated them. But then, why was he helping Yoko? That didn’t make any sense. Could it be …? No, that couldn’t be it. But if his guess was correct, then a lot of things would make sense. He had nothing to lose. Even if he was wrong, perhaps the accusation alone could throw Mr Sato off guard.

‘You’re Yoko’s father, aren’t you?’

Mr Sato’s eyes widened. He stared at Shoji, not saying a word. And then he laughed.

‘You must be a good journalist,’ Mr Sato said. ‘I have to give you that. Yes, she’s my daughter, and you’re the first person to find out.’ He paused and adopted a solemn expression. ‘I was serving my time in prison when my girlfriend gave birth to her. She decided it was better for her daughter not to have a father like me.’

There … he had him. ‘If you knew the company was dangerous, why did you arrange for your daughter to work there?’

Mr Sato shook his head. ‘You’re mistaken. I found her in Tokyo, already working for the company. Before that, I was in Fukuoka.’

‘You used to live there?’

‘For a number of years, yes. There was another woman there too.’ He tilted his head, seemingly reminiscing about the past. ‘I had to move there because there were men searching for me all over Iwate. I lost track of my daughter, until I heard she was in Tokyo. I followed her into the company. A huge hassle, you know, to move over to another group in another city. I had to take on someone else’s identity.’

Shoji swallowed hard.

‘After being in Tokyo for a while, the company placed me in Akakawa, where I slowly climbed the ranks. Eventually, I managed to pull some strings and got my daughter transferred there too.’ He looked at Shoji, chuckling. ‘What I didn’t expect was that you would follow her. Imagine my surprise when I learned it was you she was seeing, of all people. Fate has a funny way of toying with us.’

Shoji clenched his fists. He was slowly regaining control of his body. He had to keep up this conversation, find a way to untie himself, and subdue Mr Sato. ‘Were you the one who set the apartment building on fire?’ he asked.