Pathway to Japanese Literature
Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.
← Back
The Criminal En RouteAuthor: Hamao Shirō
| Original Title | 途上の犯人 |
|---|---|
| Author | 浜尾 四郎 |
| Genre | Detective & Mystery |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | A man boards a train from Tokyo, unsettled by a gaunt stranger’s unrelenting stare—a face he vaguely recalls from a prior encounter. The stranger’s eerie presence looms like a shadow, his gaze dripping with an unspoken menace that evokes visceral dread: snakes, spiders, slugs. Forced into uneasy proximity during the journey, the narrator—a former prosecutor turned detective novelist—endures the man’s abrupt confession: he murdered his infant daughter, inspired by legal loopholes gleaned from the writer’s own crime fiction. The stranger’s chilling rationale—a twisted blend of jealousy, paranoia, and warped logic—unravels between sips of whiskey, his claims oscillating between madness and methodical cruelty. Yet as the train hurtles toward its destination, reality blurs. Is this a deranged fan’s fabrication, a psychological game, or a genuine criminal’s plea for absolution? When detectives intercept them at the station, accusations spiral into a darker truth neither anticipated. Guilt, obsession, and the specter of complicity linger long after the final stop—a haunting reminder that stories can birth monsters. |
← Return to List← Return to TOP