‘Oh, no. That’s unfortunate.’ She paused. ‘But at least it’s better than an old-fashioned excuse, like women shouldn’t work. My mother used to be an academic, but after she got married, my grandparents pressured her to quit.’

‘What was her field?’

‘Mathematics. I guess I take after her. I love working with numerical problems. I remember my mother used to tell me this.’ She lowered her voice into a whisper, ‘Numbers are magical.’

‘Really?’

‘You don’t believe me?’ She laughed and took a sip of her drink. ‘You’re a writer. Do you feel the same way about language?’

‘I’m more of a journalist,’ he said. ‘Anyway, what I’m trying to say is our family is just an ordinary, middle-class household, nothing special.’

Eri raised her brow. ‘Doesn’t sound that ordinary to me.’

He shrugged, but then he noticed her dark, prominent eye bags. ‘Have you been sleeping well? You look tired.’

‘Yeah, a lot of work recently.’ She took a deep sigh. ‘Ah. Before I forget, my father called yesterday, and I asked about Kazuhiro Katou.’

Shoji straightened up. ‘What did he say?’

‘He doesn’t believe the family influence stretches to Fukuoka. Of course, there are crime syndicates there too, but he doesn’t think they’re related to the group in Akakawa.’ She paused to finish her drink. ‘I’m not sure, Shoji. They might be affiliated somehow, or maybe they’re rivals. I kind of feel that politics and the underworld are just one tangled mess.’

‘Uh-huh.’ Perhaps he had been overthinking it. ‘I take it that your old man is still healthy, running his bookshop seven days a week?’

‘You know him. Retirement doesn’t exist in his vocabulary.’

Their conversation topic moved to Eri’s family bookshop, which had been passed down from her grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather. The family had been booksellers for generations.

‘Business used to be better,’ Eri said. ‘Nowadays it’s in decline. Younger people prefer chain bookshops. Bigger variety, more promotions. Not to mention, these days, everyone has a shorter attention span. Many people prefer to watch television rather than read books. I’ve told my father to diversify the business. I’m not saying we should start selling buns. I was thinking of stuff like stationery and craft materials, but that old man is stubborn. “We’re a bookshop, not a stationery shop,” he says. So strongheaded.’ She chuckled. ‘But that’s what I love most about him.’

Shoji imagined a bookshop selling freshly baked bread and cakes. ‘Don’t you think it might be nice? To have a place where you can sit down and relax, enjoy a cup of coffee and a slice of cake while browsing for books.’

She thought it through. ‘Ah, true. It could be a good idea. I should tell him the next time I call, though he’d probably say it’s another silly suggestion.’

‘Hey, don’t jinx it.’